Rosterman

You have ownership and the Executive Committee, who look at the bottom line,see the empty seats, count the profits, see the increase in franchise worth, worry about getting the middle finger shown to them when riding in their chauffered limos about town. Right now we have a president who is brand, image and business minded, compared to one who would delegate those jobs to three vice presidents, oversee the brand, and also have some knowledge of overall baseball operations from drafting to player development to seeing what is on the field and making decisions to improve that part of the brand. Of course, would have a top flight general manager who would oversee all of the above and make suggestions and reports with more expert knowledge. Maybe the GM doesn't have to rely on a farm director totally for the farm, or an assistant to totally negotiate contracts. The guy in charge of players and how they fit into the longterm picture of the organization. We have the manager, who takes what the gm gives them. Discusses the type of team and play that should happen at the major league level, and runs with it. Defense? More hard throwers? Runners? Sluggers? Has a plan, and also a fleet of coaches who work with that plan. We aren't changing ownership. If anything, we have a passive owner who doesn't look for even the glad-handing of other owners. A laid back Scrooge McDuck with the Moneybin. The current president is not a baseball man. He's a businessman with a love and understanding of the business of baseball and if nothing else proves it, it is the fact that Target Field was the expression of the Twins brand the first couple of years and the constant talk of this guy from new drinking clubs to bigger and brighter scoreboards. Our general manager is an old school baseball guy who likes watching games and viewing players and evaluating skill sets initially. I'm not sure how much he himself enjoys moving names around on boards, looking not only at who the guys are and their attitude (or maybe looks for just certain attitudes) but maybe consults a bit too much with people being inbred with "The Twins Way" which really seemed to be an offshoot of something Tom Kelly did back in spring training one year that was adapted by the system as a whole and makes for good all-around baseball...if baseball was still run by teams and if the players weren't employed, basically, by teams acting in the interest of major league baseball and the player's association as a whole. Our current general manager scores big on dumpster diving, but somehow comes up short in the department of hanging onto folks too long and see the investment become worthless. And even though we complain about purse strings, he ahs made a lot of a-okay players very rich if they wish to come to Minnesota, which will be harder to do than ever if this season plays out as is...not that we need any free agents with all the prospects. Which brings us to manager. Something is not clicking. Is it the leader, is it his crew. If it is the players, then there is something missing between the players and the field crew that is far from comfortable. Do we need a hardnose. Do we need a good-old clubhouse guy. If anything, ownership has to make the decision of partnering with someone, anyone, who has real baseball smarts. Offer them the world to make this baseball club into a top flight organization. It will cost money. Or you keep it as a family everyone works for and is happy and secure and all we have to do is give the illusion that we are competing and hope we do compete and maybe get lucky and something tremendous, like a World Series, happens again. I would love to see someone come in and totally run the organization. It would be a challenge, and I'm sure there are guys that would be honored and happy and loved to be paid to do this. But they become the New King, have a spot on the executive committee, and hire other really solid baseball guys that WILL take the team in a direction...any direction...but the one they are going now.

Even Nunez and Abad would egt us nothing but a mid level prospect. The guys worth worth -- Dozier, Gibson -- have a horrible start. No one will touch either right now. Plouffe will either be available as a non-tender at year's end, and thus a negotiable contract, or a team wants him bad enough that they will trade and sign him long-term. But a $10 or so million payday in 2017 isn't attractive for a one-time use of Plouffe. Nolasco needs to pitch solid and Santana needs to shine to get us out from under their contracts. Hughes is Nolasco 2016. We have to hope that he can possibly comeback. A team would have to be hurting pretty badly to want to go after Suzuki as a replacement for an injured body. Even someone like Rosario had value before THIS season started. Happily, Arcia could get us someone something, and the Twins should consider doing it now if he doesn't fit into future outfield plans. He has worth right now, period. Perkins has to come back strong. But even then, compared to last year at this time, a team would only want him for setup at this point. They would rather trade for Abad (cheap) or Trevor May (not happening). Jensen is practically untouchable right now. So it doesn't say too much for a number of names who won't be here in 2017 and definitely won't be here in 2018, does it? You have to create or develop players that other teams might want, not just take when they are on the downside...and they can usually wait until they are non-tendered or released (see Milone, Fien, Graham and O'Rourke). When you are stuck with players that you have given up on, who are now clogging up your farm system, and don't give me that "we might get one more good look at them" crapola. Right now, the Twins could trade Polanco, Sano, Buxton, Arcia, Duffey, Berrios, Kepler. But we don't want to trade these guys. And even names like Tonkin won't have people knocking down your door for his few innings in nothing situations. And even if Meyer is up for grabs, that would be as throw in to make someone give us something more for one of the vets. We will be adding names like Gordon, Walker, Blankenhorn, Turner, Cabbage, Palka and maybe Javier to the mix. Our who-who of upcoming pitchers is dynamtie: Stewart, Baxendale, Gonsalves, Thorpe, Reed, Bard, Charglis, Burdi. Add in Mauer and we have our team of the future minus a second catcher for now.

Its the organization's job to develop players. Part of that is putting people in a position to succeed. The Twins can't even figure out what positions their top prospects play and their field staff doesn't seem to be on the same page either. Its a complete mess. Amen. Seems we see a lot of, okay, let's try this guy out here. Is there no long range planning? If Plouffe is your once and future third baseman, then start playing Sano elsewhere earlier. Is Kepler an outfielder for the corners. Is he heir to Joe Mauer at first base? Minors is where you sort this out. Move Danny Santana back to infield reserve, then better get him time playing there -- in the minors. Yes, it is nice if ALL players can play ANYWHERE. Dream on. If you got a dynamite prospect, then you move aside the aging vet who is playing predictable ball for that prospect, or you flip that prospect for somtehing you really need. Period.

What would the Twins record be if we took Jepsen AND Fien out the equation since the beginning of the season. Sadly, clearly, Jepsen isn't getting it done. He's had every opportunity. Shades of Ghost of Ron Davis!

Is there a fear that an external candidate might clean the house too much, from manager and coaches down to minor league coaches and the way to do things, that prospects would be jettisoned randomly rather than looking at a potential bigger picture (and realistic) that the Twins will compete come 2018, not 2015 (the surprise) or 2016 (the dream). The talent is there. They just need the seasoning, the exposure. But whoever becomes general manager also has to realize that the couple of missing pieces, when the team IS ready to make a push, may be expensive and also a roll of the dice. Not just surrounding the core with mid-level (and expensive) middle of the rotation guys, or castoffs from other teams. Any player added to the roster from outside the organization should be a player that another team might covet, not ignore. I would vote YES for an outside the system general manager if the Twins were in shambles. If there was no talent on the farm. If there is a shakeup, it will be on field management. Do you promote the guys who have been working with the future (Dougie M, Jake Mauer, etc.). Yes, the rebuilding process will not sit well with the common fan who spends dollars to watch a game and buys the shirts and whatnot. The Twins have to figure out a way to put butts in the seats, or be content that their profits may dwindle (and, I guess, the payroll really shrink). But the payroll can't really shrink too much, and shant shrink come the time to compete, which may not be fullout until 2018 with victory in 2019 if so many pieces fall into place.

Where have all the prospects gone? They haven't arrived yet. And too many of them are just that, prospects. You draft 40-50 a year. You maybe trade for a few. Sign a few more from other teams when their rosters get too big, or from the international pipelines. But it can take a minimum of 3 years, and often five before a prospect reaches the majors, and then 9 out of 10 times there are still growing pains. To recap, let's look at the Twins draft choices who made it to the majors - with or not with the Twins - since Joe Mauer was drafted in 2001. (-) = # of players drafted that are still playing ball in a pro organization major/minor. 2001 (2) Joe Mauer, Jason Vargas, Nick Blackburn, Matt Macri, Kevin Cameron, Jose Morales. 2002 (4) Denard Span, Pat Neshek, Brock Peterson, Garrett Mock, Evan Meek, Clete Thomas, Jesse Crain, Kyle Phillips 2003 (1) Scott Baker, Levale Speigner, Travis Metcalf, Steve Pearce, Mike Holimon, John Gaub 2004 (3) Trevor Plouffe, Glen Perkins, Kyle Waldrop, Matt Fox, Anthony Swarzak, Matt Tolbert 2005 (4) Matt Garza, Kevin Slowey, Brian Duensing, Steve Tolleson, Yonder Alonso, Alex Burnett, David Hernden, Charles Leesman, Rene Tosoni 2006 (7) Chris Parmelee, Joe Benson, Danny Valencia, Tyler Robertson, Brian Dinkelman, Anthony Slama, Jeff Manship, JP Martinez, Andy Oliver 2007 (6) Ben Revere, Seth Rosin, Chase Anderson, Chris Heston 2008 (11) Aaron Hicks, Tyler Ladendorf, Mike Tonkin, George Springer, Adam Conley, Aaron Barrett, Kolten Wong, Tyler Anderson 2009 (7) Kyle Gibson, Brian Dozier, Chris Herrmann, Mario Hollands, Pat Light 2010 (11) Pat Dean, Logan Darnell, AJ Achter, Ryan O'Rourke, Cody Martin, Eddie Rosario 2011 (17) Kyle Barraclough 2012 (20) Byron Buxton, Jose Berrios, Tyler Duffey, Taylor Rogers, Zach Jones (DL) 2013 (20) - 2015 - still waiting. Yes, the Twins are pretty lucky with signings like Kepler and Sano from outside of the country. But it is players from 4 years and six years back that are just entering major league roster hood. So rebuilding takes a lot of time. Even those names NOT ON THE 40 MAN that will probably get a callup this season, will just contribute next season as they get their major league legs. And another crop from a rich organization will make their debut in 2017. Boy, there is a lot of names of guys that the Twins couldn't sign that made it with other teams. And rally, when you look at the BIG draft picture and the amount f money doled out, the results aren't knocking you off your chair. You have two issues with building a PROSPECTS-BASED TEAM, either they all come up for big contracts in roughly the same 3-5 year period, or your minor leagues are so rich, you lose guys because you don't have protected roster space for them. Which means you constantly trade down...the 2nd/3rd/4th guy on your ladder to the majors for a lower level prospect who MIGHT make it. Or veterans for mid-level prospects (i.e. May and Meyer are examples) that could flame out or have entirely different roles than when you traded for them.

O'Rourke was assigned. But Graham still seems to be out there in limbo!

They wanted him rested in case they needed to call him up for a double-header today or tomorrow, if their "no rain" rainout happened and they could schedule it.

I want to see more from Berrios. But the Twins starters haven't been making the rain-out requirement much in the past week. Is that a rain cloud over Dave St. Peter leaving the Target Fields offices right now?

Santana in center. Mastro called up to play center. Kepler can play center. Looks like we have too many centerfielders. Maybe a BIG TRADE on the horizon for another top pitching prospect!

It's 9:00 p.m. Anyone see any rain yet!?!

One of the BEST Twins benches ever: Mauer, Dozier, Suzuki, Santana. It msut be a tough line-up to crack. Let's give Duff every chance in the world to win this game!

So we should be playing ALL the rookies together, at some point. Humm. Look at the AAA roster this year and the last few. How many of these guys would you actually see, long-term, in the majors. Seems the AA roster is the last "core of youngsters" development stop. Filling your AAA franchise with minor league free agents, so many so that some spill down into AA and even high A means you may have something wrong, overall, in your player draft system. Not enough guys making it past year one or year two to hold fort and PUSH these prospects playing at, say, AA ball into AAA...even if overmatched? Must you always wait half-a-season and move guys up, if you feel like it. Or go ahead and have Baxendale, Burdi, Reed, even Gordon START at a higher lev. You can always go backwards for a tune-up. But then, we are bad if we do bring up Meyer, or Kepler, or Buxton (or Hicks, or before that Gomez) and watch them be overmatched on the major league level, not getting proper coaching advice (?) and having to go back down and be a superstar in the minors. What is the TRUE development answer. Let the guys play together and win in the minors (as they have been) and then lose in the majors? And, yes, the Twins did overpay for some rotation fodder. They answered the call of the fans who thought the organization was stingy and keeping large profits for their own purses. And then we turn around and bash them that they didn't get the right guys...and overpaid. That's a tough one. Who wanted to come to Minnesota and pitch after the dreadful four seasons of losing. Will a player go somewhere if they are rewarded handsomely, rather than just give a contract that they could probably get anywhere else? Damned if front office does, or doesn't. Ryan knows what he does right. Molitor is a solid manager. We need to fear, it seems, someone totally different coming in and really throwing everything out the window and starting all over and maybe making a shambles of things, or if they come in too comfortable, then it is still the same-old same-old with different names. Hey, did you catch all the new foods at Target Field and the new bar in centerfield. Plus concerts now at the park. And no lines!

It is tough being a general manager. You do have a budget and you weigh the costs of keeping a player, signing a player for a long-term contract, and what happens when you do make mistakes and how many mistakes can the organization absorb each season...that is essentially letting go of guys like Fien and Milone, and also having fellows on the DL for extended time (Perkins). Sometimes you make shrewd signings,like you did for Span, and able to flip him for some pitching (which hasn't panned out yet). You could say that Dozier is in a similar boat, decent contract that another team would like. Perkins was a very valuable commodity before the All-Star break last year. But it is a challenge to move players like that when you don't know what you have coming up. Do you get rid of the slugging of Dozier for the speed of Polanco? Do you make May (or Meyer) a closer, but what is THAT timeline. Closers always don't become closers overnite. And STOP making players play out of position. If you want them to be an outfielder, make them an outfielder. If you want them at second, do so. But have a plan and a reason and start them there in the minors. Yes, you can always find a bullpen guy on the slush pile. There are only so many jobs. Or you can do the Twins syet and find 3 or 4 and rotate them in and then out in that LAST bullpen spot, maybe one of them developing into a multi-year bargain. But don't get all happy about doing that and making that a big moment in your life. Every team does that, I'm sorry. The main issues right now is development of play vs. being competitive in the big leagues. You have no idea how a minor league guy will play, and then adapt as the league adapts with them. Period. It is very tough to predict both. The Twins did shine a bit last year, but because of weaknesses by other teams in the division, they placed better than they really did (that brilliant March). Line up construction, bench construction, coaches that will work with your plans. And patience. Yes, we had four losing seasons of patience as the Twins tried to fill the minors with the future. We might just have to wait longer. Anyone think it was 2016? Most saw rebuilding still happening in 2017. 2018 would be the big push year. It still can be!

System failure?" I don't really think the system, as in farm system, is really a failure. There is always a lot of talent. Maybe the "system failure" is that the process of mixing raw rookies with free agents and solid veterans isn't working anymore. Maybe a bit of thought has to go beyond "The Twins Way" and more into how the game is actually played these days against a variety of opponents. Yes, the Twins thought they had no where to go but up after last season, where they broke the .500 mark, was in a wild card contention to the last weekend of the season, and came in second place. Whew! Sounds like a gem of a team. Yet the central division which, on paper, looked to be pretty even this season...well, even though the Twins have lost a lot of close games, they dropped the ball, so to speak. Bad line-up construction. No skills in generating offense or moving runners around...it is the big inning or whatever happens, or so it seems. Money was spent on a rotation. Someday they might all be healthy at the same time and get us consistently into the 7th inning. Otherwise, rebuild. The bullpen? Cast-offs, journeymen, stopgaps. I've seen a lot of pitchers just looking to get a couple of outs this year. A lot. I'm trying to remember who the coaches are on this team and what their duties are. Some guy at third and first who work with the infielders and outfielders. A bench guy who keeps stats. Two hitting coaches. A couple of pitchers running the throwing arms. A manager who was a great player (shades of Ted Williams). Does the team have a clubhouse leader? Did they believe that they could easily do whatever they did last year, as management looks down and says "if we are at least competitive, we succeed." Target Field is quite beautiful empty. You realize how insipid the music choices are, how lame some of the scoreboard antics really are, how much advertising and branding happens consistently...like look at the lights instead of what's on the field.

The decision to offer arbitration when you MAY HAVE the ability to resign them at a low rate outside of arbitration (i.e. see Duensing, Boyer or others). Basically Rogers can replace Milone as a long guy in the bullpen, and any number of players can replace Fien (we will probably see Graham stay). What the Twins do with the two open 40-man spots remains to be seen. A catcher perhaps? Someone will pick up Milone since the Twins will be paying his bill. And he was a top hitter this year!

And then we have Houston and their rebuilding process. Will the Twins suffer same status next year?

The toughest part is that for the majority of the games, the Twins have been in the game. They had a chance, but blew it because of not moving runners, bad veteran relief work, too many strikeouts. They could've been at best, or worse, at .500 right now. There are always ups and downs, and a blowout like last night can work wonders on a pitching staff that overall has pitched as well as the hitters have hit, which isn't saying much for the hitting. I never expect a prospect to come leaping onto the field and being a superstar. That rookie of the year honor is hard to obtain, and often it is given to someone less than stellar, because most rookies still have a bit to learn, like one or two seasons of ball be it part-time or full-time. I would love to be that fly-on-the-wall when the organization discusses the players in the system. I often wonder what does go thru the minds of the manager and coaches each day when preparing for a game, especially with so much information available. I wonder how much players worry about what they are doing for team play rather than looking towards the future paycheck, which naturally comes if you just play the game...well. After the success last year (box office, so to speak), I expect things will level off tremendously this season. What the Twins have in the bank due to pre-season sales is pretty much what they will have at the end of the year, and hopefully the on-field watching will still create beer and brat sales...if you can figure out ways to get people to come. Going to a game IS an experience. The average fan doesn't care squat about who is coming up in the minors or why Alex Meyer only pitched four bad innings or "when did Gardy stop managing." They come because it is a reasonably priced evening of entertainment and solid watching of baseball. If the Twins do play bad baseball...on the level of the Saints, let's say, but against opponents who dominate...then they might lose a few bodies to St. Paul (providing tickets are available). For the love of me, I can't figure out what the Twins marketing scheme was for this season...except players driving around with TC in a car wearing sunglasses and people doing selfies, whatever.....

Joe Beimel is looking for a job. Seriously, there has to be some major roster fallout, some trades for low level prospects, with eyes on who will also be on the roster in 2017 (and who will not). Sadly, most of the names mentioned from Fien to Milone to Vargas to Dean would probably not be claimed and the players would become a free agent and the Twins would be on tap for all but the MLB minimum of the salaries. A player like Vargas may/may not have the opportunity to refuse AAA assignment. Which is probably why the Twins were hoping to flip him abroad during the winter (similar to what they did with Albers and Kris Johnson and Colabello). You egt something back. But the rebuilding has started, wrapped around a crop of veteran starting pitchers. I was there was more guys in the minors to flip with those in the majors...like catcher!

You can send Rpsario down, but who replaces him. You pretty much only have Dean (and maybe Rogers) as the flex guys on the 40-man right now. Of course, Vargas is also an expendable asset. Your two most valuable trading chips are/were Gibson and Dozier. They both have to play to prove their worth. Same with the big spenders in the rotation. Once they show life and any interest, I would listen to offers for Santana, Hughes and Nolasco. I'm not sure what can be done wit Milone. He's the type of guy that team's will wait to see if the Twins play him out and he becomes a free agent, or if he is dumped and picked up for the minimum. Of course, Plouffe is on-the-block. And if anyone calls about Suzuki. I would sadly cut ties with Fien at this point. I would put guys like Pressly, Graham and Tonkin on short leashes. I would be hard-pressed to see anyone leaping out and grabbing them if they were DFAed. Right now, Sano should be the third baeman, If he stays, we can always have Park at 1B. Kepler is also a 1B guy. Yes, Sano can move there, but any third baseprospects are still 4 years away from regular duty, I believe. The outfield is crowded. Arcia should have staying power. Eventually Buxton returns. You need to find spcae for Kepler. And Walker be a bat at DH or RF. That means Santana is probably expandable, at some point, since he is not your idea outfielder or infielder (Gordon WILL be the shortstop in another season). But right now, aside from eating salary, the Twins don't have a lot of options. We have to get 40-60 days into the minor league season before you really start moving those guys around, and you cut loose some of the deadweight on the 40-man. I will keep saying, the Twins team is a team of opportunity. If you want to play major league ball, now is the chance. Maybe the front office or the field staff is working against you and you talents, maybe not. It will be a long season in Minnesota as we watch the Twins battle the Braves for the number one draft pick of 2017!

And then we had the evening of May 4th!

Someone honestly believed that the Twins would contend bigtime this year. Hey, they came in second last year! The fact that theri record was barely above .500 was never considered. Yet the rotation started out gangbusters this season with a putrid offense backing them up. The bullpen vets blew games all over the place. Somehow, the offense has stopped its strikeout binge, but now both the rotation and the bullpen have come down from the stars. We continue to point fingers at Ryan and Co., and bring Molitor into the conversation. The line-up seems all over the place. Catching is a big hole. There are no empty 40-man spots. The Twins have prospects that need to play (Polanco, Kepler, Buxton, Meyer, Berrios). All of their hot bullpen arms are still at the AA level, many still struggling and wonder if they can make the jump not just to AAA but to the majors. The Twins DID spend money on a rotation. But the front office still doesn't quite know what direction to take. They traded off too many centerfielders, but can't move a Plouffe and balked at moving a Gibson or a Dozier when they might have more value and there are guys coming up or in the system that need playing time and capable of being the next best thing (not to mention you can always grab a first baseman/DH from Korea or a 2B/3B guy from Cuba - maybe). Last season the team was very lucky, having a modest season ticket base that got excited and few tickets were sent to StubHub so the Twins reaped the ahrvest of $$$ by controlling the majority of empty seats. But if this keeps up, there might be less than 10,000 fans in the stands (although 18,000 seats will have been sold) and many a bored concession booth person getting sick of leftover hot dogs. I'm not even sure what the marketing plan was for this season to get fans excited (oh, I know, new bar in centerfield, or maybe it is to listen to the Twins on a radio station that does no pre or post game stuff, and because of the ill will in the radio biz, no one else really cares to talk about the Twins with a Vikings Stadium about to open on the horizon. Is the problem the top of the organization? Is it the field staff? What are the coaches doing? Do the players listen or care? Is there a leader in the clubhouse? Is there anyone the Twins can bring in to do something behind-the-plate? At least Park is hitting them out of the Park and if that continues, along with substantial gains from Arcia and Sano, the Twins will offer some batting excitement to go with promises of a quality hard-throwing pitching future.

So, will Hughes have some phantom injury? Will we discover that Fiend is throwing some phantom ball? You gotta pinch-hit for Murphy. Even a pitcher could do better in THAT situation, probably. This IS HOUSTON! Why!?!

Milone didn't exactly show the ability to go thru the order not just once but twice and not be...bad. Meyer is still young. He will get his innings. But is he out of options next season, or does he have two years left. Either way, the Twins DON'T want him to fail, otherwise those trades of Span and Revere netting us the middle relief of May will look really bad. Quality offense to build up a pitching staff FOR THE FUTURE. Looked good on paper. We have no crystal balls. But, yes, May does deserve to be in the rotation. Meyer, too. Berrios. Duffy as the swing guy. Let's just hope that Nolasco, Gibson, Hughes and even Santana develop some value and teams come a calling, offering us more minor league depth if nothing else. But Meyer's short stay should work miracles, or he doesn't want the major league money and job enough. He knows what he has to work on. AAA is not the major leagues by a longshot.

He as kinda forced into the centerfield environs last season (who else was there). He does have blazing speed and Carew and Molly and others have been working with him. But that doesn't work if he doesn't get on base. Bunting is a skill and you have to have a certain comfort level. As well as slapping the ball. Buxton seems to want to work on just his natural hitting more so than develop things that may keep him from adding to his own personal strengths. That's a tough call with players these days (see the Twins and Carlos Gomez, for example, where they tried to work on his speed rather than jsut hitting skills). Buxton IS also young. He has had the big league experience. He has to learn that there is no necessary showboating, just getting the job done. And it is a team sport. I think he will be more than fine. He has to be as good as Span, better than Revere (whom everyone seems to hate, but the guy gets on base and steals them...what more can you ask there). Now let's talk Kepler, also in a similar overmatched boat and coming up on being out-of-options sooner rather than later and needing a place in the outfield.