nicksaviking

So who had Aaron Hicks improving his batting average by 80 points and his OBP by only 10?

Link? I took tomorrow off, I'm going to need something else to boil my blood.

Sure, for Ricky Nolasco. And cash.

I think it was waived without us knowing when the front office let the bullpen lose a dozen games but didn't do anything to fix it.

You can do both, look at the A's. That would be great to sign and trade for vets that you can trade right back if needed, but the free agents Ryan signs and the contracts that he gives them are not going to help the rebuild. There should be some pause with every signing where the GM thinks, if thngs go belly up, will I be able to trade this guy and this contract to recoup some value? 30+ year old mid rotation starters should not be signed to four year deals, particularly when your team has been awful, no other GM wants that contract. agreed with Brock, they should have gone big, otherwise get flippable pitchers, that usually means guys with strikeout potential but have other question marks. And if you want a RF because you think the young guys aren't quite ready, yolu should be sgning one that you can trade when the young guys are ready, not a guy who's area reputation and ties to the team will make it impossible for the organization and fans to tolerate moving.

Still, the radar gun isn't guessing. MLB hitters don't swing and miss at too many 90 MPH heaters from RHPs regardless of the type of fastball it is.

I think at this point it might be wiser to dangle Plouffe, Hunter, Perkins, the SS crew, Milone or any other starting pitchers.

It seemed to me that Ryan gave up on the rebuild when he started signing multiple 30+ year olds to the rotation, a 40-year old for RF, picked Suzuki and gave him a boneheaded extension in lieu of giving Pinto a chance, refused to promote the minor league relievers when the vets crapped out, and at minimum supported the decision to remove May from the rotation. Seems pretty easy to see how his actions and inactions might make some folks think the rebuild was over and he was now going for it.

Agreed, this is distracting from the main problem. Anthony Slama could fix this wretched bullpen if they'd just give him a chance.

It's not Ryan's fault that he's signing sloppy ball players? The KC relievers have taken the loss five times this year. The Twins relievers have taken the loss 16 times. Not so coincidentally, the Royals have a 9 game lead on the Twins. The bullpen is the easiest and cheapest area to fix and it should have been fixed in June if not sooner. Ryan was short-sighted putting together this bunch of noodle armed meatballs and then he was too stubborn to fix the problem when there was still time to fix it. I'm fine looking ahead to 2016 and beyond, but Ryan's insistence that the team was going to be relevant and then signing veterans instead of promoting young talent like he should have demonstrated that he wanted to win now, and he got plenty of people's hopes up. Yet here we are, two months removed from when he should have started addressing the team's problems but instead he has sacrificed the season without making any effort to fix the glaring needs. It's fine by me, I'll tank every game if it means tons of at bats and innings for all the young guys who need to develop, but if he's in the same frame of mind, then he needs to man up and tell the fans that he actually isn't playing for this year. Letting fans continue to think that this team can win, without putting any effort into actually winning is pretty dirty if you ask me. I'm not putting that all on Ryan, but it certainly does seem like an illusion to get fans into Target Field.

Damn it, again guys? How many times do you have to be warned, no open flames around Boyer please.

Maybe just if he platoons at catcher.

Not the positive kind anyway.

And BB don't tend to be based on luck. Unless Joe West is always behind the plate.

May will be here next year and needs to continue to develop. Prlfrey will be gone. What's the point in starting Pelfrey?

I wouldn't want the last three years of that Shields contract, but I would be very curious what kind demands San Diego would be willing to met to get out from that AND the $8M to Benoit next year.

No not any particular fans. I was just musing about some of the moves or non-moves and this thought keeps coming to me. 1. Torii Hunter Details: Signed in the offseason with the Twins as what was percieved to be some kind of legacy deal perhape propelling him to future employment with the team. Perhaps his next biggest suitor were the Royals. The Royals are running away with the AL Central which isn't all that surprising. What is surprising is the Twins are holding on to a WC spot by the skin of their teeth. Upon leaving Minnesota, many veterans complained on and/or off the record that the Twins would never "Go for it." Here Hunter is, once again back in contention with bullpen guys getting all across the league getting moved left and right and not costing a ton and the Twins lose yet another contest because their relievers are abysmal. Even if the Twins do get some pen reinforcement, it probably should have been done weeks or months ago, as the current crew cost this team multiple games. Man, he's got to be pissed! (full disclosure, I've been a total trade deadline buzzkill myself) 2. Drew Storen Details: He was a 1st round pick of the Nationals in 2009 and made it to the big leagues by 2010, becoming the team's closer once the Nationals laughed their way through the Matt Capps trade. He held the position in 2011 and into 2012 before an injury caused him to take a backseat to Tyler Clippard. All was good in 2013 however when Clippard lost the closers job, oh, except the team signed and gave Rafael Soriano the closers gig for the next two years despite the guy being close to washed up and unable to strike batters out. Things looked up for Storen in 2015 as he took his rightful place as the closer, until the team decided they needed to bolster the bullpen and signed the good, but inferior Jon Papelbon who had his own set of demands. Those demands of course are that he became the defacto closer ($10 bucks says that can't legally be written into a contract) AND his option is picked up for 2016 as well. Too bad for Storen that 2016 and 2017 are his final arbitration years and that closers get paid a ton more than set-up men. Now he gets to sit next to Papelbon every day for the next year and a half knowing that a guy in his twilight years who has already made about $90 million in his career screwed him out of millions of dollars. Man, he's got to be pissed! 3. Every traded vet and free agent signed by San Diego this off season Details: Seriously Man, they have to be pissed!

The Twins might have blown it. It's going to be hard to tell though as going to Toronto and hitting in that ballpark and among those sluggers is probably the next best thing to Coors Field. Heck, it might be better than Coors Field. I'll definately concede I was wrong though if his offense is passable and he can still play SS the last couple years of that contract.

Yes, and the Twins aren't even to that point. The young Royals core players Perez, Cain, Hosmer, Goron, Butler and Moustakas all had more than a few months under their belts and their bullpen wasn't half the disaster the Twins is.

I'm also very curious what happens with Shields. I don't want another aging pitcher, but I bet when we see what extra players/incentives San Diego has to throw in to get rid of his backloaded contract, many of us will be envious.

How about Clint Barmes? He's probably one of the most boring players around, but he's actually playing pretty well in part time duty in San Diego of all places. He couldn't cost much but still can play defense and looks better offensively than what's in Minnesota.

I don't get the outrage though. Everyone keeps pointing to the Royals but the Royals didn't start trading the farm until they were ready to win. Does anyone seriously think the Twins are in that position yet? There will be superstars available at next year's deadline, and the deadline after that and after that. Perhaps some won't even have terrible contracts. If the Twins are actually a good and team worthy of contention at that time, then we can all join together in indignation when Ryan once again is too indecisive to act.

I think the Teins can learn from both teams. Pull the trigger and make bold moves when your team is able to win it all (they aren't right now). Perhaps just as important, trade for and sign guys to attractive contracts. Even if the A's haven't always made the right trades, they are always in position to make good trades. Short deals to vets appear to be most attractive.

He's not a good one now. His range factor is negative and that generally doesn't increase with age. If he's a SS in 2017 it's only because Toronto has nowhere else to put him, he's definately on the Hanley Rameriz train to Cornertown.

I really doubt Tulowitzki will be a SS in 18-19, maybe not even 17.