Rosterman

Yeah, I would pencil in Mejia and Gonsalves and even Stewart. It won't be pretty, but you have to see what you have at some point. I would put Kyle Gibson on a very short leash. I doubt that Hughes will start the season strong. Santana could be trade bait, but you will probably get prospects and maybe a promising starter a year away. Santiago is the question. Is he worth $8 million, or do they want to put those dollars in their pocket. Sadly, the Twins will dumpster dive and/or sign a rebuilding project for a year contract. Instead, they should just bite the bullet and let the rookies learn on the job, at this point. Some shuffling between majors and minors. Why they didn't add Wheeler to the 40-man and give him some major league face time is beyond me at this point. I don't see Albers or Dean staying on the 40-man. And I wish they would try Duffey in long relief, 4-5 appearances before the season ends to see if he can pitch more than one inning out of the pen. May will have to build up to 175 innings next year. So he could also be a slow starter. So, right now, it doesn't look good.

And with the amount of no shows, you have all these concessions but no one to purchase them. Since Target Field opened, the Twins have tried to make it the venue, not the product. They got a boost last year with their play and Torii Hunter coming back. But short of winning games...they have no franchise player. Mauer is worn out. No one really cares about Molly. You can get excited about the rookies, but the common fan doesn't give a lick until the team starts to win. With Vikings grabbing all the spotlight, the Twins have to revert to grassroots. They have to take a hit on season tickets, maybe even roll back some prices for 2017. They have to get out into the community. Not only the (new) front office, but the new players. The Twins need to conarct with a dozen current and an equal number of alumni to work ALL the small town events (and in-town events) that they can to keep word-of-mouth alive. They need to print up a ton of promotional material and get it out in an organized way to sell not only Target Field all over again (the honeymoon has now passed) but the concept of watching a baseball game They do have to get the front office in place, but Dave St. Peter should be pulling back from on-field operations and concentrating solely on figuring out ways to reach out to the midwest. It will involve more little things to bring the people back to the dome. It will involve getting kids (and then parents) excited about baseball, to get youth, church, community groups to come to the game. But sadly, don't see that happening. Just announcements of more strange foods, killing off another section for some corporate monies. But who is giving a dead last club advertising money on a radio station that fades in and out when you drive around town and a team that can't even put on a good front at an event like The Minnesota State Fair (yes. I harp on that - the one BIG opportunity to promote Twins - giving away cats and jerseys and posters and stuff THAT YOU AS A TEAM PAY FOR -FORGET ALWAYS GETTING A SPONSOR to make people proud to wear the brand and think about supporting the brand. Twins, you gotta produce 100,000 of your own caps to hand out at events - from church fun fairs to halloween gatherings to Christmas parties. You gotta tie in with The Winter Carnival (your crosstown Saints will). Otherwise, 10,000 fans in the stands makes for an empty park!

Considering he was a half-season player. The Twins are in last place. What would his stats be if the Twins were actually good, perhaps? No eyes at all are on the team, sadly. If he would win the home run title, come in close in RBI and keep an average around .290, he will get recognized, but not with the trophy, sadly.

The secret is to make the other team lose.

How does this compare to last year? So many promising guys in the lower levels. So sad that ALL those relief guys that might've got a cup-of-coffee this year might only get a cup-of-coffee next year. Sigh!

Maybe there is a reason the team hasn't hired outside of the organization in the past. Know MacPhail was grabbed when Carl Pohlad took over, and he was quite hungry and looking for the advancement opportunity amidst the challenge (and remember how he was questioned at wanting Tom Kelly and they brought on Ralph Houk just in case). We had the couple of guys that left to play elsewhere, Krivinsky, Gebhard for example.

Or, do they really know what they want. Asking someone to come in and explain a five-year plan but not knowing what the organization really wants? The Twins job may seem like an opportunity, but do you grab onto the big position, knowing you might have to wait a season or two to really start things moving? If Cherington was a viable candidate, you would have someone sitting in an office tomorrow starting the whole process, who might have a bit more power than they do in Toronto, working over a general manager rather than sharing a VP position. But it may be as long as off season as it has been a season.

I guess Cherington's personal issues involved signing with Toronto to be VP. So the Twins didn't move fast enough on this front.

Where has Park disappeared! I thought for sure the Twins would call him up and put him on the 60-day? Does he report to Target Field every day for rehab BEFORE returning home to Korea in the off-season. With all the guys on the disabled list and working out at home, I wonder why the Twins don't press them into a little more "public service" or face time for the team. The Pro Shops have been pretty void of player appearances. We see that a couple ran around the State Fair for a day. We hear of the occasional hospital appearance. Hughes, Perkins, Santana, Plouffe would all be welcomed bu hardcore longtime Twins fans. Hughes and Perk at the State Fair for partial days would have been a wonderful experience for out-of-town Fair goers. The worst they would hear is comments about "Hope/When you coming back" as most Minnesotans and midwesterners tend to be nice. Especially in a lost season coming from a franchise that has a major downturn, some player appearances and such would be so welcomed (remember the days with the pub panels, remember the summer autograph party, remember when Joe Nathan was signig in grocery stores). Are players NOT required to do any of this promo stuff anymore for the team? Do they need to be pid extra? Hey, just setting up a Twins booth and a meet and greet with a disabled player in rich Wayzata for their James J. Hill days this weekend would keep the Twins in the community eye. That's how you start to sell the next season, folks. Not letters from Jim telling you we are doing same old same old. Summer in Minnesota, especially with a team that is losing, is ripe time for current players and especially alumni working with the marketing department and appearing in small town parades and setting up booths at weekend fairs. But seeing the bored faces of staffers at the State Fair and people looking like refugees from a garage sale picking thru the most lackluster bunch of T-shirts, hats and jerseys that I have ever seen, the Twins have no idea, no idea. Put the guys to work. Team up Park with a former player and get him out there into the community during his last month in Minnesota before the winter! We still do love our Twins thru thick and thing!

Wonder how many more games we would've lost without Robbie Grossman in the lineup...and Logan Schafer!

Wave goodbye to Paul Molitor and the coaching staff!

Did I hear mention that the job description was changed from President of Baseball Operations to Director of Baseball Operations on KSTP-1500 this morn ing?

When I keep hearing and seeing quotes on the Twins from Pohlad and Molly, I keep wanting them to just say "All I want is for this damn season to end."

The Twins will still come in on the underside of two million in attendance, which is remarkable. But they have a tough sell ahead for next season. A #1 pick. Whew! You have to take the best player available depending on your needs (pitching or hitting) and go from there. Be interesting to see how this year's crop of draftees comment on the possibility of being a Minnesota Twin. We have had high draft picks in four of the last five drafts and where are they, that is the question. We even managed to grab a high one from another team and allowed him to move on. Sarcastically, I can see someone in the front office complaining about losing and now "we have to pay top dollar for a draft pick!"

Hey, you have an opportunity to put Mauer AND Dozier at DH. Of course, does Polanco need to play some second base? Vargas SHOULD play some first base to increase his value and SHOULD be in the lineup every day. Sano SHOULD be at third base every day because....he can be there. You have to see how he does, watch him stay in shape during some winter ball, and run him out there in spring training. We know Escobar can play shorstop. We only have three firckin' weeks of baseball left. Like having Murphy catch 304 out of 5 games SHOULD be a given. You need to look hard and coach the guys who will be a part of the team next year, so you can direct them what to work on in the off-season. That is what coaching is all about, isn't it? You have the ability to try pitchers in other roles, too. Berrios NEEDS to start, even if he only lasts a couple of innings. You have to look at Duffey, Dean and Albers and see if they can pitch three innings, possibly twice thru an order, in three innings. The Twins need a long guy or mop-up talent. But only one of these guys needs a place on the 40-man. You have to figure out what works best for Wimmers, O'Rourke and Light...and then try them in totally different situations to see if they can adapt. These guys will be on the 40-man for sure, but will have a spring training battle ahead. May, figure out his role NOW. Future closer? Set-up. Long-man or starter. Put him in a starting position for the rest of the season, making four starts, doing the proper pre-start warmups. You don't need him to pitch 3, 4 or 5 innings. Just see if he can get a routine down in three weeks and if he can stretch his arm out to 60-75 pitches in that time...successfully. And, PLEASE, it is not too late to bring Adam Walker into the mix. you could use his bat off the bench in 10 of the next 19-20 games, if nothing else. So he strikesout. It will be fun to watch.

You have HIT some important unanswered questions. CAN SANO PLAY THIRD. We have 20 games to figure that out, right now. Let him make 20 errors. But play him everyday. The move to the outfield was a mess and screwed up the twins bigtime. We ended up losing Arcia (maybe no loss, but then we blank out Walker for a looksee). But what if we had opened the season with an outfield of Arcia/Santana/Rosario. But then we had the Plouffe mess of where to play and Park at DH and...the Park decision was the real killer here. Buxton needed to start the season at AAA (as did Gomez and Hicks). Hindsight kills. CATCHER OF THE FUTURE. Man, I would've started the season with John Hicks as backup and Murphy regular at AAA after spring training. But Murphy comes up and stinks, Hicks disappears because of the roster mishap that shouldn't have happened, and we see a lot of a guy named Centeno. We start the 2017 season with the same questions, but no Suzuki, which is a blessing in the long run. TREVOR MAY. Even if you were going to send him to the bullpen, you groom him to be Anthony Swarzak 2016. You have him pitch multiple innings. None of this one worthless inning a day for 3-4 days scattered throughout a game. You establish a role so if a starter goes down, he can step in. that didn't happen. And they even skunked on grooming him as a closer. The whole Jepsen mess was a disaster. THE BULLPEN. In an era where you start to clearly define the duties, the Twins overuse Pressly and Tonkin, have no longman, no strikeout king, and Kintsler is the closest they have a ground ball guy but they made him closer so he can only pitch when it looks like we will win. Even signing a bunch of guys like Abad, Ramirez, Mujica, Boshers, Burnett, Walden...it did nothing but get us...Light...who we could've signed in the first place ages ago and needs to be protected or will probably be claimed and sent to the minors by another team. POLANCO. Did someone think that the team that couldn't rid itself of Plouffe was going to get blown away on an offer for Dozier, so this guy played second ALL year at Rochester. He didn't play one minor league game at shortstop, and he needs to stay come 2017. It looks like he will stay, at shortstop, for 2017 AND 2018. He can always move to second if Dozier becomes too expensive and Gordon or someone is the new shortstop. Nunez was the best thing about the team in the first half with power, stolen bases, average and it didn't matter if he made the plays because the team was losing. Once he left, it should've been Polanco right away. The miscues can continue at short and third base if you don't improve the pitching. THE BIG STARTER. It is Ervin Santana and will be so again. You hope he has one more year in his psyche. But being the #1 starter and not getting to 10 victories because....... When was the last time a Twins team had no winning percentage starter. Ervin is making good money and wants to make more as much as he wants to win. That no one blew the Twins away with an offer is beyond me. But I don't see Gibson OR Hughes coming to that spot in the rotation. We may see Berrios, may see Gonsalves, may even see Stewart surprise us...in 2018 or 2019. THE JOE MAUER DILEMMA. A lot of money. His is a good solid player, but not doing anything thing...flashy. He's there. Being Don Mattingly now. Or Doug Mientkiewicz during his solid seasons. And he will remain there. You'd think if anyone would take him off our hands and if he has a chance to play with a contender, he would go for it. He was the dream of the team when we thought he would be our catcher thru eternity at best, a C/parttimeDH at worst. After the 2016 season, we have no sure answers. We will be starting 2016 all over again in 2017. Can Sano play 3rd. Where does Plouffe go. Too many power hitters who strike out. A centerfielder that may/may not come to the ballpark and play. A rotation that is expensive but uncertain. A bullpen that is a total mess and all those prospect arms are, again, a year away. Do we stick with catching that is defensive or sign another old guy who is...an old guy. Nothing NOTHING was accomplished this year. Some guys shined after a year of not shining, but then the new guys this year may have an off-year next year. When will ALL the pieces come together and work together. 2015 was a winning season, a winning season just, and a surprise. It was something to build, possibly a tad on. But to die in a division which, on paper at the year's beginning was pretty even, but the Twins were still coming up behind because they didn't make many off-season changes - no one NO ONE thought they would outdo (still yet to see) their prior run of four losing seasons. If one thing happened, Jim Pohlad recognized TOTAL SYSTEM FAILURE but is still stymied on how it got there and how to fix it.

Yeah, where would the money come from to double, say, the size of the front office and actually pay people. Of course, the Twins do have 45% of their budget for non-salaried baseball players....which is somewhere towards $100 million to run the baseball operations (compared to $45 million pre-Target Field days). I'm not sure what they currently dedicate to the front office, to baseball operations, to minor league operations. Know they spend $10-12 million on draftees, it seems. I would assume they paid off their own Target Field debt sooner rather than later (so they could borrow against the team worth as Uncle Carl was noted to do). Someday I hope someone gets a detailed look into a decade of finances of a major league team and where the money comes from and where it does go.

It is/will be at his highest tradability this winter. He also will be a free agent in 2019 and if he puts up similar numbers in the next year AND two, he will command big money as a free agent. If a team is going to extend him, they take the gamble this winter for 1-2 years and an option and they MIGHT still get a good price, because Dozier also knows he could...FALL. But is he the best second baseman and do any teams really need a 30-year-old second sacker coming off the year of a lifetime? That is the question. I mean, would you trade a promising 25-26-27-28 year old starter with some good major league experience, and possibly another prospect, for Dozier. Or would you keep the pitcher. It will be a most interesting offseason.

Well, first off, you are going to have a high draft pick. Next, you have to look at who will contribute to the 2017 Twins and at what cost. You have to look realistic at the farm system and see who is in line to come onboard first parttime and then fulltime in 2018 and 2019. You have to further look at your depth beyond and who you can keep or use as tradechips. Do you need, say, both Weil and Diaz, or at some point is one a popular prospect to trade. You look at your budget limitations and how much you can afford to writeoff each season. This season, the Twins have basically written off Hughes and Perkins and Plouffe. They did a swapout of Nolasco. They spent a lot of money in one full shot on Park (although they probably are spreading that out). They lost money on Jepsen, Fien and Milone, the final two should've never been resigned. You are always going to writeoff salary in bad contracts or the disabled list. You have to look at Mauer and what he gets paid as outside of the spectrum. It was basic public relations for a franchise player to serve the franchise at one moment. You have to be willing to gamble. But you realistically have to look at each and every play and evaluate where they sit in the organization, the opportunity you will give them, try to predict the results of the willingness and ableness of the coaches to work and improve the player. I mean, if Ploufe is your answer at third and you want to sign him for three years and an option, keep Dozier around for two more after 2018, be happy with Park for the next four years, believe you can work in Palka or Walker...then go ahead and trade Sano. If you can't work with Buxton, let him join the ranks of former centerfielders and make Granite your new guy until Kril comes up. Is your rotation Berrios, May, Gonsalves, Stewart, Jay etc.......or do you earmark $25-40 million a year for one or two bodies, or $10-12 for an end of the rotation. You want to think Ryan and Company have been doing this. But suddenly a prospect rich organization has no one NOT on the current roster a real prospect for next year. I would disagree on that and say there are 5-6 guys who could jump AAA and play more often than not on the Twins next season. They will be terrible for the most part, but they will play and play hard and learn and probably be just as good in 2018 or 2019 than if they wait and come up for the first time in those seasons. Sure, they may cost a bit more down the way, but between this season and another rebuilding year next year we get even more draft picks to take their place 5-6 years down the road. And, quite frankly, the wins and their 55% is hogwash. It was 55% when they had a $50 million payroll. Now they have $110. What are they spending $100 million on that they were spending $45 million on before? Tell me? Not to mention WHAT is the real revenue figure the team each season from the cash rich Target Field?

You could even add Tyler Duffey or Michael Tonkin or Byung-Ho Park or Eduardo Escobar or Hector Santiago or even Adam Walker to the list, not to mention one or two of the guys who topped out at Ft. Myers. Oh, and Alex Wimmers and Ryan O'Rourke aren't necessarily givens. Jeez...we are looking at half the roster as expandables! The question is when is the absolute best time to start non-tendering players. The day before rosters need to be set in November, or right after the World Series, or even now? Note that a lot of teams seems to be making additions to their 40-man rosters right now with some prospects as September callups and jettisoning some bodies. I was doing some rough estimating and the Twins will need 6-8 spots to protect anyone that really needs protection, although I'm probably wrong on a few of the names. Hurlburt will have an opportunity to be a minor league free agent, There's no other organization names that will be missed if they depart in this fashion (maybe Van Steensel at the worst). I believe. Names like Garver, Baxendale, Granite, Gonsalves, Jorge, Palka, Steward, Jones and Wheeler all come to mind. I don't see other organizations grabbing Turner, Goodrum, Busenitz, Westphal, Slegers, Peterson, Ortiz, Michael, Harrison, Eades, Hicks or even Thorpe. But this is where it all gets difficult. You need to move out guys if you aren't seeing their potential to impact the major league level at some point, as this year's Twins have shown you can always fill in holes from the scrap heap if need be, with an occasional gem. But five guys on the current 40-man who weren't a Twins prospect and basically picked up during the year and off-season on the waiver wire seem to be waaaay too much, unless, of course, you do need bodies to jettison before you do a real 40-man again. Plus look at the names above. 3/4 of them would probably happily resign with the Twins as minor league depth (although it does cost the Twins more money to pay minor league free agents with experience than prospects still on a learning curve). And you also need a couple of stray bodies in case you sign a free agent, something about 40-man adds in November have to stay put thru spring training. If they do keep Plouffe and Santiago, then there really won't be much of a payroll difference between the Twins at the beginning of 2016 and the beginning of the 2017 season. But who knows what a new president of baseball operations and his general manager and staff will do once that time comes. But the off-season has basically begun and one the World Series is done, it does move pretty darn fast.

I think as a veteran minor league guy Beresford probably pulled in close to $40-45 grand. If he was on the 40-man, he would've gotten more for the season. There is some reward in minor league salary if you hang around. But, yes, this will be a nice $50 grand payday!

Lots and lots of fun names. I think both Fundeburk and Hill continued with long careers as coaches in the minor leagues. But just hitting home runs in the minors doesn't guarantee a major league career, or even a long stint in the majors. Both Walker and Palka might fall into that category.

Someone somewhere mentioned that Dozier leads off and Twins batters get to see more pitches since he can take a walk or work a count. Unfortunately, he quickly shows a pitcher the one pitch he shouldn't throw again.

It is such a tough call. Dozier might be his most valuable after this season. A bad 2017 would bring him back to his former level or tradeability, plus he would be verging on free agency. It is the most important job of the new President of Baseball Operations and his General Manager. Who to extend and keep. Who to trade for now or not trade for future. Who do buy. I hope he/she is given a clean slate and no one will wince if a certain first baseman is jettisoned, a foreign born guy is released, a top prospect or two is moved, some field staff fired, and changes are made to the minor league system If nothing else, it will keep the Twins in the news and might help sell some mroe season tickets.

We are seeing the Twins future lineup right now. Murphy catching. Eitehr Garver as backup (although they might want him to catch fulltime) pr Centeno. I don't see the need to keep Centeno on the 40-man roster, though. It's a gamble that someone would sign him for their 40-man. Mauer, Dozier, Polanco, Plouffe. I see Plouffe staying, now. Don't know why. If he puts up really great numbers, he will be a sought after free agent. Maybe that is the tradeoff, he NEEDS to put up great numbers to increase his value. For abckup, you got Escobar. Outfield. Buxton, Kepler, Rosario. You have Walker, Palka and Granite in the wings at AAA. You have to choose between Grossman and Santana as the 4th outfielder (no brainer here, right). Or maybe you bring back Schafer (not). Actually, all three could be non-tendered and you should be able to find a suitable 4th outfielder...anywheres. DH. Sano. Of course, you can shuffle him between third and Plouffe at firs tand so on. Back up will have to be either Vargas or Park. Park will have to go back to Korea and work all winter on hitting, or find a winter league to work in. He can be sent to the minors AGAIN if need be. Vargas can't. I'm curious to see how Vargas is used in September and he needs a topflight spring training. I think he would thrive in the foreign leagues and draw a bigger paycheck than over here. We have Santata. We have Hughes. Gibson needs to do something. Santiago is still on the bubble. Berrios will improve. May is only good for 130 or so innings, so he could start the season as a long man in the bullpen. (Albers, Dean, Milone are all gone). We do need to look at Wheeler as being in the mix in case of injury. Meija is also thesuitable abckup. Hopefully Rochester will have otehr Lookout pitchers on their starting staff (Stewart, Gonsalves) uistead of Dean, Darnell, Albers. Kintzler is a one-inning pitcher we have discovered. Don't let him sit between outs, Molly. If Perk is back, he will be given the chance to close with Kintzler in the wings and possibly Presslye. You need long guys. Why Rogers didn;t pitch multiple innings more often is beyond me. He is my choice (not Dean). Duffey is my choice for right-handed longman. I want to see the Twins put him in that situation here in September...not starting. I would like to see Reed step up and open the season with Chargolis. Then we need some specialioty guys. Who egt get a fly out. Who can get a groundout (Kintzler). Who can get a strikeout. Baxendale, O'Rourke are in the mix. Tonkin will still be around. Wimmers and Light may need to stay, so their September and spring training will make their careers. It is still a catchall and will be an interesting spring training. Zach Jones should be in the mix, too. Burdi, Bard, Cederoth, Hildenberger are all getting close. But what we see here, now, in September is pretty much what the new GM will work with, unless he trades prospects for vets and they decide to make a go fot it in that way in 2017. But please, Twins...we have seen enough of Albers, Dean, Milone, Centeno, Suzuki, Santana (wait, he's disabled), Grossman, Schafer, Boshers. If you are going to give these guys playing time, don't. Give it to Walker, Garver, Palka, Reed, Meija, Wheeler, Landa. I listed nine guys NINE GUYS who shouldn't be on the 40-man come November. We lose games with them playing anyways. So let's lose games with guys who need to feel the excitement of major league ball, who dream of playing major league ball, and are a part of the Twins organization past, present and future.