nicksaviking

I wouldn't be surprised if the high/low strike variation is due to Mauer's hight. I'd imagine an umpire who is used to seeing a pitch caught at the catcher's knees might inherently assume it is a ball while Mauer might get the high calls due to the opposite reaction. Also, as umpires tend to give calls to pitchers who are consistant or experienced, there's a good chance framing plays little role in the umpire decision when facing the Twins as they already have it made up in their mind that the Twins staff is made up of wet-behind-the-ears junk-ballers.

I don't think many people realistically thought going after Grienke was a good move, but there are many levels of free agency between the Grienke's and the Marquis'. While signing a bigger free agent is a risk as they may not pan out and you may want the money to acquire future assets, when the time comes, won't you then be questioning whether the future asset is a good deal? Sure the Twins don't normally have the margin of error a big market club does, but it's not like they need to sweat free agency. With a commited payroll of just over $50 million next year and no uber-prospects in need of a large commitment for at least a half decade, the Twins have about as large of a margin of error as any team.

That's rediculous, no one on this board argues the Twins should spend like the Yankees and Red Sox. The comps they most often get her are in regard Detroit and St. Louis. No one asks for a top five payroll, most don't even argue for the 2010 payroll, people are just frustrated that they don't use all of the resources available to them. And don't think the Rays wouldn't spend more if they got the new stadium they have been after. Would we all be happy with a Rays level of success right now? Obviously, but they are winning due to being terrible and getting high draft picks. Hopefully the Twins plight will result in the same fortune. However, the Rays are also succeeding due to an eager use of Sabrmetrics and continued success in identifying and developing pitchers. The Twins have proven an ability to do neither, hence the need to acquire pitchers from outside the organization. You say the Twins should save their money to retain their top prospects, that's great and they sure as hell better, but those contracts will not be an issue for the better part of a decade. I'm not a fan of a six year deal as you mentioned above, but it would have little affect on the ability to retain a Buxton or Sano, and a more likely three, four or five year deal would have zero impact. Also, it is way too early to assume the top prospects will pan out enough to require mega-contracts. I hope they do and I anticipate they will extend at least one, but counting on the prospects alone, like some here want to, is very dangerous.

Ha AZ just makes terrible, terrible trades. The two additional pieces they got for trading top prospect Trevor Bauer are already released, at least they still have the poor hitting Gregorius. I'd take Sipp, but I suspect with the Twins severe aversion to the BB, they will not.

I hope it is a tired arm issue because the growing pians bit doesn't seem to be affecting many other top prospects. Gibson was a top prospect, but maybe he was never a "top prospect." How many other stud pitchers have recently come up and are now destroying the competition? I sure hope Kohl Stewart is one of those guys because no one else is crusing through the system like Matt Harvey, Shelby Miller or Jose Fernandez. As Storm mentioned, Gibson just doesn't miss enough bats. The youngstes that do seem to have a much eaiser transition.

Ouch, what an awful day for many of the prospects we are pinning the future on.

Everyone knows Chicago restaurants only serve sausages and they only serve them in gluten filled buns.

I'm thinking the diet is positively boosted by the now settled concrete.

But why would you assume any free agents won't be part of "Operation 2015?" You really wan't to rely on Joe Mauer and 24 24-year-olds to win the World Series? That's not a winning formula, that's a recipe for disaster. You can't rely on prospects alone, the 1987 and 1991 teams sure didn't, though no one ever accuse Andy McPhail of being passive. Additionally, the issue with Santana was not failing to resign him, it was the bizare decision to only extend the 24-year-old Cy Young Award winning lefty but only buy out one free agent year. Why Santana didn't get a six-year extension is beyond explanation.

I don't think I understand what you are trying to say, it seems like every sentence in this paragraph is a contradiction to the previous one. Is your final arguement trying to say the reason the Twins haven't been winning was not because of payroll but because of Drew Butera?

Please, are you truely arguing that a higher payroll offers no advantage? If the big market, win-now Yankees, Dodgers and Red Sox didn't think payroll was significant, why would they utilize those resources. Feel free to argue that a small payroll can still win, but don't pretend that you aren't in need of the stars aligning to do so. Increased payroll gives you a much larger margin of error.

I agree that SS is what they need to aim for. I have a feeling, unfortunately, that his adaquacy at the position is not something that will be able to be accurately judged until he is actually playing organized ball, and he won't be doing that until he signs a contract. I think if a club thinks there is a reasonable chance he sticks, you're going to need to pay him like there is a 100% chance and I hope the Twins are willing to do so. I think there are likely plenty of guys who have been moved from SS over the years due to percieved weaknesses when in fact they likely could have adaquately performed at the postion. In fact, I always thought that had JJ Hardy been in the Twins orgainzation, he would have been moved to 3B long before he made the majors. I think his size, lack of speed and percieved lack of range would have caused the move long ago.

Yeah, the chances the Twins would have taken any of the high school arms were zero, they were not willing to take HS arms at the time. That doesn't mean many, or perhaps even most Twins fans weren't still championing the cause. You don't really think every one of those teams that picked their top 100 HS arm really would have picked Wimmers over their high upside stud? So many people were predicting him to go to the Twins and many even said it was a good pick, but nearly everyone said he was also a back end of the rotation arm. Many people who said it was a good pick were saying it was because he fit into the "Twins mold," meaning low velocity, low ceiling. Sure he would have been taken in the first round, but 20 other team passed up the "sure thing" why was that? I don't remember any local reactions to the pick more positive than blase. Round One: Minnesota Twins Select Alex Wimmers - Twinkie Town

Hicks has just one multi-hit game in his last seven and his average has dropped to .255. He has had only two multi-strikeout games over that same period however while drawing 5 walks and scoring 6 runs.

To be fair, I think McPhail was still technically the GM when Winfield got traded. But to be more fair, it was Ryan, his understudy, who was the GM when they agreed to the new terms of the deal. I suppose Ryan's dinner might have been worth it, I heard they went to Shakey's.

Yes, but the players simply making it to the majors isn't going to turn this ship around, they need to produce and they are not at this point. Three of the big prospects have come up this year, Arcia, Hicks and Gibson. So far each has not shown what we need to be a factor in rebuilding.

Top Ten Reasons Bleacher Report Sucks

How dare you imply a team of Joe Mauer and 24 players 24 and under won't be playoff bound.

I agree with much of your post, but I think we better be prepared to be disappointed with next year's free agent pitching class. The Twins absolutely SHOULD be in position to snag a big time pitcher on a 4-5 year deal considering they will likely be about $60 million below the 2010 payroll. But who would that pitcher be? Matt Garza is really the only reliable arm and I don't see him coming back, even if the money was on the table, and that's supposing Texas doesn't lock him up while they have exclusive negotiating rights. They'll want him back next year, and they have money to spend. Josh Johnson has been terrible and the Blue Jays have already indicated he will be getting a qualifying offer, as have the Giants with Lincicum. Now we're not just talking about overpaying for an extremely questionable arm, but the Twins would be giving up a high draft pick in a very well regarded draft, and since every team will be thinking the same thing, those pitchers may have to accept the offer. Eving Santana? Possibly but he tends to follow good seasons with terrible ones. Who else could the team possibly look to as a legit ace? This is why I think the not so good Phil Hughes is in for a big payday.

I had been against sending Hicks down, I never saw any reason why a rebuilding team would demote any prospects, but letting him work out his struggles at the majors doesn't appear to be working. At this point I guess I don't care any longer, if the majors aren't working, I guess I can see some reason to give AAA a chance.

Surely Albers will be tabbed, but the rotation spot doesn't come due for five days. Last time they wasted a spot with Gibson doing nothing for four days between starts, I'm guessing Tonkin gets called up until the Diamnod/Albers start.

Arcia now has OF and pitching duties! He really should have been rated higher as a prospect.

Nice round up. If you're going to do one for August, you better start early. It looks like Diamond is going to make you waste your time by adding a lot of extra digits to his stats.

Can we get a dateline stamp on that quote? I'm not sure which game he's talking about.

OK, overlooking the cash option, I decided to make my prediction. Michael Thomas Minor League Statistics & History - Baseball-Reference.com Michael Thomas, a 24-year-old lefty relief pitcher in AA. His numbers look way too good for a Butera like return but he's not on the Dodgers top 20 prospect list and he is after all only a reliever (until the Twins transform him into an All-Star starter!)