ewen21

"Even if Buxton’s bat struggles again, he continues to provide value through his defense and base running abilities." His 162 game average in 518 at bats is a .230 batting average, .285 OBP, .672 OPS and 180 Ks. That is like having a black hole in the lineup. He is too easy an out for the other team if he isn't going to get on base AND he's going to strike out so often. Anything worse than his historical average and he does more harm than good by being in the everyday lineup.

Berrios and Rosario warrant a discussion. The others do not

He needed to do exactly this. For that reason I am pleased. HOWEVER...…. Do we really need to read another quote from him about running into walls four lines into the article?

Trevor May is a gamer, as in video games. Oh. OK.

Right off the bat we get this: "If I want to play the way that I want to play and run into walls, I've got to have a little bit more cushion," Buxton joked. Joking or not, this is getting into facepalm territory for me.

I don't understand this lament about bunting. It isn't part of today's game and quite frankly I don't miss it. When bunts aren't properly excuted (which is often) you are simply giving outs away with a totally non-competitive at bat. Ultimately we want Buxton to be a gap hitter with 25 home run power who can hit about .280 Encouraging him to bunt once a game

Neither. I think both are overrated and both have rotten attitudes. Machado's little sililoquy on not being "Johnny Hustle" and some of his on field tantrums are enough for me. The guy has a .282 lifetime average playing in that bandbox in Baltimore. Don't like the guy one bit and in fact I hope Chicago signs him so he can set them back. As for Harper, he rejected a 300 million dollar offer. In what fantasy is he even worth talking about as a Twins player? Seriously. I hope both of them are still unsigned when spring training starts.

Cruz had a solid year last year by any standard. When did Ryan ever sign a FA who hit 37 home runs and drove 97 the year prior? YOu might want to check your timeline on the Thome signing. Smith was still GM when he was signed. Do you know for sure that Ryan was responsible for the signing in spite of the fact that Smith was the GM? If so you have the floor on that one. That's all. I am sorry. I just have no interest in a discussion on how Falvey and Levine are similar to Ryan.

I am not a fan of these two at this point and yet the underlined part to me is so off I have to say something. Ryan never once found multiple FAs who where weren't on their last legs during the offseason. He went out and got players like Phil Nevin, Brett Boone, Jeff Cirillo, Rondell White, Jose Offerman and felt like he accomplished something. THese were players that were nearly middle-aged making their last stop on their baseball journey. Most of them hadn't had a good season in at least three seasons. These two deserve criticism, but to lump them with Terry Ryan simply isn't fair. I don't think people are willing to accept just how horrendous Ryan was the last 6 or 7 years he was GM. Possibly one of the five worst In baseball.

If he doesn't change his odd obsession with running into walls then all the potential is wasted. I have very real concerns about his propensity for danger in the outfield. I am old enough to remember Garry Maddox. He was probably the greatest outfielder of his generation and he was not one to make insane diving catches or have scary collisions. Imbedded in his amazing aptitude to play the outfield was the fluidity with which he played his position. Devon White, much the same. There is plenty of room for concern with the way Buxton plays the outfield because of how recklessly he goes about doing what he does. I read an article where he went on and on about the famous Jim Edmonds catch and how he is on a quest to make a catch like that. I think there were times he added danger to a situation just to make it more interesting. Garry Maddox, Devon White, some of the other great outfielders of the past made things look much for effortless.

THe message would be..... We have given up on you as a hitter

I don't buy the "injuries held him back", excuse He hit like dogmeat out of the gate again and he was injury free the first 12 games he played until we went to Puerto Rico. Who is to say he wouldn't hit .150 in April like he always has if he kept playing? I hate to say it, but he has been an atrocious hitter save those 7 weeks at the end of 2017. I am not sure if that is a mirage yet. You are right to be concerned about injuries, though. I am concerned about that and how he hits out of the gate. If he is hitting .156 by my birthday (4-20) I am not going to be a happy camper. Quite frankly, I think he needs to learn how to settle himself down. The guy is wound up like a top and he seems to let that get the best of him. Hopefully he is over that

This idea that he should bunt that much makes me want to vomit. Is destined to be Willy Mays Hayes or can we expect more out of him?

I would be elated if I never heard anyone say "meh", "random" or "literally" ever again.

Pretty much what I said. I also said things don't look good ODAY and maybe it emerges this year. We aren't too far off

Not sure how we can boast about draft signings TODAY. We have had great draft positions for years now. Where is the beef? Maybe it emerges this year, but we have not developed well by any stretch of the imagination. If we had we would be better

I am not looking to argue either. I am simply wondering, after distinctly I spoke about a certain time period and of those only coming through our system, why you'd create a new list that included free agents and guys brought up way before '06? We are an organization that HAS TO do better bringing young players along and we have done an absolutely horrendous job of it for years. One needs only to look back on the pitching we have raised over the last 13 seasons before Berrios arrived. Did we produce anything worthy of note? Gibson had one foot in the grave toward the end of 2017 and he finally turned a corner. Other than him, where were the pitchers we have raised since Garza was called up in 2006 (until Berrios)??? That is an awful long drought and dare I say a serious problem. I think the "piranha mentality" destroyed this franchise. All this pride in the "little things" when we don't have any real starting pitching or a strong lineup that can slug the baseball. Can't do the real important things but......Oh boy we do the little things! Good for us. Do we get cookie? That mentality needs to be annihilated. I don't ever want to hear about the "little things" because those things are fundamental. Running out pop outs and the like is really cute and all, but that isn't to be bragged about or cited as "hustling" Hustle to me is smart baseball. Any braindead player can run the bases hard. Run them smart

I said players CALLED UP SINCE 2006. Why did you quote me?

Is baseball the only bastion of forever-increasing spending? If the next 20 years were like the last 20 with he mean salary increase we will surely see players signing qualifying offers for 150 million dollars. I think this is a sort of confusing time for baseball executives. They are starting to ask WHY spend 200 million on ANY player? I think that is a good conversation to have.

I think the biggest issue within this organization is culture. And although that may seem vague and hard to fathom, it exists. I think all of us see it to varying degrees. There hasn't been a whole lot coming from the system over the last 15 seasons. I would say the last time I saw a couple of young players really carry the organization was with Johan and Frankie in 2006. There just has not been much of anything consistent or impactful coming through the system. What kind of pitching have we raised? Aside from Sano where is are players who came through our system since 2006 ended who has been in an ASG? It's abysmal. It is embarrassing. Make no mistake there are reasons for that in the ways the Twins attempt to raise young players. There cannot be NO CONNECTION I think the development of these current young players the Twins committed to dictates the course of action for this current regime in the next two seasons. I think the young guys: Sano, Buxton and Kepler have the next two seasons. If they become consistent performers along with Rosario and Polanco THEN I would like to see us dig into the free agent market. What are we supposed to do? Sign a top tier free agent to play with a bunch of over-hyped under-achieving players? I am hoping Cruz and Baldelli are guys who will shift the culture. I have only praise about Nelson Cruz. He is a big tough hombre, more of a silent leader you want players to emulate. He's got the strong work ethic and a stature about him. I was not fond of Rocco visiting Sano at first, but I totally get it and I think it was 100% positive. I think getting Baldelli signals a shift. He is "Falvine's guy" and I think they had the right idea signing him. My greatest concern with the move is that Rocco is too much of a player's manager and an inexperienced game manager.

Those events have notthing to do with my thought process and I do not support signing big free agents right now. You are doing what Mackey did, trying to me in a box Watch it brother :shoot: :shoot: :shoot:

I am going to be somewhat of a dissenter here. I am not disappointed in Falvey and Levine all that much because I don't think all that much of them or the Twins right now I can totally see why they are using this strategy because the young players that were so often bragged about are now in their mid 20s and have not really distinguished themselves as major leaguers. These were the guys they were planning on building around and these young players: Sano, Buxton, Kepler, etc....just have not been as advertised (bragged about). We really need to get over it and move on from "XYZ propsect has a ________ ceiling" or "his numbers at this stage of his career are the same as Torii Hunter's so we need to believe he can do the same thing" It is high time we treat prospects as assets and that we stop getting so attached to them. This team is where it is because these alleged blue chip guys aren't "all that" as it turns out. Now we have our new coach making personal visits just to see where their heads are at. I am far more concerned about where the culture is than I am with the FA market. Sorry. THat FA market isn't going to save us AND if the culture here doesn't change we are going to be able to do much better than what we did last winter and this winter for a long LONG time. The young players not living up to the hype (I did not create the hype, nor did I buy into it) is what the problem is right now. If they approached anything resembling where the pundits said they'd be by now I am certain our GMs would be more aggressive in the FA market. I, quite frankly, don't see it as a smart strategy to outbid the market just to sign a name guy. Not unless the team is going someplace.

I saw that clip on You Tube a while back, quite unintentionally. Amazing that I remember that reference. And that is the only time I heard "toot sweet" Sounds like 1940s slang

The GREAT David Johansen on Johnny Carson. Watch 3:10 to 3:20

The average Joe just has no idea