So if this is the direction the team goes, which very well could be, why on earth would Molitor want to remain the manager? After just turning 60 and only 1 year on his contract, this job is probably not a long term play for him. It will be interesting once this disaster of a season is over if Molitor just says I'm done. 

Back to pitching, there's so many question marks with the established players (Hughes, Perkins, May) on the roster... It's going to be very risky to trust the young prospects like Gonsalves to not regress in 2017. We've been down this path the last 2 seasons with Burdi, Chargois, and all of the other RP prospects. 

Long story short, if they stay at status quo and wait another 1-2 years for the prospects, we could chalk up another year of the worst ERA in the game. 

So if this is the direction the team goes, which very well could be, why on earth would Molitor want to remain the manager? After just turning 60 and only 1 year on his contract, this job is probably not a long term play for him. It will be interesting once this disaster of a season is over if Molitor just says I'm done.

Like Ryan before him, Molitor shouldn't be given that opportunity. He's been awful this season more often than not, and should be shown the door as soon as the new GM steps in the building.

I had my pitchfork out when I read your header. But I don't disagree with the basic text of your post. I personally would trade Dozier if I could get a SP who is solid and under 30. Can I? I have no idea. But aside from the valid points you made, your post brings up this sad fact. It will be 2018 before there is a semblance of hope for a competitive team, and then only if a new GM bites the bullet, and really does some proactive work. 8 years just to get back to the "possibility" of being competitive. Whoda thunk it? It borders on embarrassing!

I had my pitchfork out when I read your header. But I don't disagree with the basic text of your post. I personally would trade Dozier if I could get a SP who is solid and under 30. Can I? I have no idea. But aside from the valid points you made, your post brings up this sad fact. It will be 2018 before there is a semblance of hope for a competitive team, and then only if a new GM bites the bullet, and really does some proactive work. 8 years just to get back to the "possibility" of being competitive. Whoda thunk it? It borders on embarrassing!

Yep, the rebuilding has been awful because Ryan never committed to it. He was all about band aids and didn't develop much of anything.

If you can make the stipulation that Dozier returns a controllable starter under 30 that's at least a number 2, I move him. I just don't know if that's logical.

There is absolutely no reason to wait. BA shows we have 6 starting pitchers in our top 10 prospects and you can add Mejia and Thorpe. Trader Rob at the deadline showed it's all about winning now when he traded for 4 pitchers, all at AAA or above.  It's time to open up the farm system and trade for established pitching.

You have to know that ANY prospects promoted will have some rough times up here. That is what the coaches and the manager are around for, to make sure they do work out or...goodbye. Not every player is a rookie-of-the-year superstar in year one, or even year two.

We do have arms like Gonsalves and Stewart and Jay and Cederoth and someday Jorge and Thorpe. Plus guys like Wheeler who can't be any worse than Dean/Duffey/Milone. 

But we won't know until they get a shot.

And May will be a partial starter because he needs to stretch out and get his routine back together.

What we have learned is that we shouldn't spend $150 million on three middle-of-the-order guys longterm.

I tend to agree with the sentiment of the post. I think it's a mistake to count on Hughes for anything at this point. I'm sure the Twins know more about his status, but I just can't believe at this point anyone can expect the old Hughes, or when to expect it, if at all.

There is nothing of value on the FA market, IMO, unless it's a question year flyer. But Santana, Gibson and Berrios is a start. Then comes May. Duffel has shown flashes, Mejia could be a steal. Wheeler deserves a shot at some point.

Gonsalves and others aren't ready...yet. But there is some real talent there. I know we get tired of words like patience, and you can't just say "wait until next year" every year. But there are some arms to work with in 2017.

I understand the idea of moving Dozier for help. And you can never have enough pitching. But unless you truly can come up with a front line, top of the order pitcher in return, I still think the team is better with him, and working with the veterans and kids in '17.

If you have 7 starters that could be in the majors, but you are LAST in ERA and K's for what feels like a lifetime (at least 6 years) do you really have any starters that should be on a major league staff? Isn't it imperative they try and acquire 1-2 starters (at minimum) who are above average major league starters? Then, if the rookies from AA come up and can help right away, great! Otherwise the Twins don't HAVE to depend on unproven players once again.

One of the key mistakes that Terry Ryan made was to give long term contracts to guys that were 30+ years old.  The numbers will show that guys not named Roger Clemens tend to fall off a cliff at or just a little beyond the big 3-0.  That goes for relievers as well as starters.  Yet we kept making the same mistake over and over hoping to defy the odds.  It was the definition of insanity.  At some point we need to cut the cord on the pitchers that are 30+ and go with youth.  Rather than sending them down after 1 bad start, we have to ride it out...especially in a season that was lost in April.

One of the key mistakes that Terry Ryan made was to give long term contracts to guys that were 30+ years old.  The numbers will show that guys not named Roger Clemens tend to fall off a cliff at or just a little beyond the big 3-0.  That goes for relievers as well as starters.  Yet we kept making the same mistake over and over hoping to defy the odds.  It was the definition of insanity.  At some point we need to cut the cord on the pitchers that are 30+ and go with youth.  Rather than sending them down after 1 bad start, we have to ride it out...especially in a season that was lost in April.

That's really the greater point of this article. The Twins aren't going to compete next year. Don't go out and sign mediocre FA pitchers just to have bodies. You have bodies with high ceilings, let them throw. Then heading in 2018, evaluate what works.

 

Here's the reality, the Twins already have Phil Hughes and Kyle Gibson as guaranteed rotation arms to start 2017.

I don't think Hughes is guaranteed to be healthy for the start of 2017.

Good essay - I am all for throwing the young pitchers into the rotation and pen and riding with them.  Only Santana looks like a real pitcher among the vets we have and he can be there as a steady influence for four rookies or near rookies (at this point if May goes back to starting he is a rookie again).  And yes to your young bullpen.  I am not excited about another possible ride to .500 - I would like to see us higher ceiling and its time to make significant strides towards that.  Our young batters could really blossom in the next two years, but if we are looking at Gibson as a number 2 we are just overvaluing our own players - again.  

But the Twins did go out and got better-than-average starting pitchers. Starting with Correia and continuing thru Pelfrey, Santana, Hughes, Nolasco. We, as fans, clamored that the Twins needed to spend money on PROVEN talent -- not just keep it in stockholder accounts.

The pain was they we overpaid. We gave Pelfrey more years that necessary. We did the same with Hughes. The team, committed to being competitive, did what it took to get fan interest away from them stockpiling dollars from the cash cow of Target Field to actually putting some dollars on the field.

That the powers-that-be are afraid to gamble $100 million or more, going back to the days of Hunter's contract demand and what it would've cost to retain Santana, is the kink. Who could've predicted that the majority of these paydays to guys who came here because of their payday would so totally go south for the Twins that they would be in a similar boat if they had fielded a staff of cheaper alternatives and One Big Stud.

And we were competitive last year because...so many flukes.The top teams were heads-and-tails above everyone in their divisions, and pretty much all the other teams crashed and burned. Coming up from behind, we didn't crash because you couldn't be any lower than you were the year before.

The sad point is that unless some guys perform brilliantly in the Fall League, we have this great crop of candidates: Gonsalves, SMejia, Stewart, Cederoth, Jay, maybe Wheeler, Romero, Slegers, Hurlbut, Jorge, LeBlanc, possibly fillers like Greenwood, Bencomo and the still young (25) Duffey. But NOT ONE of these guys is going to throw 150 innings this year and asking any of them to do 200 next year may be impossible. Yes, at this point, it would've been nice to see 2 or 3 besides Berrios get a call to the majors instead of whom we are throwing out there, even if we went with a 6-man rotation in September, and if the 40-man spots existed (yes, the dreaded 40-man, don't add anyone before their time...right now management is probably wishing they hadn't added Berrios until the need this November). 

It's thinking ahead, but I actually do wonder if the Twins suddenly saw the weaknesses in their drafting ways and were hoping that the BIG signings would carry them thru to 2018 and into 2019 with patchwork from other free agent starters while the offense carried the team.

It all boils down to the disaster that became Meyer and May, two guys the Twins traded to be starters, that haven't become starters, and you can readily assume that if Meyer was still with the Twins and if May is converted, neither would be able to give us 150 innings in 2017, which shows you the time that was wasted doing whatever with these two talents.

Yet we don't want to part with our prospect talent sooner rather than later, and although the checkbook is open to spend, anyone can spend money, but what you get in return for the money is the true value. And sometimes you overspend for quality because it is quality and maybe you have to hire one less assistant general manager or a couple less ushers and ticket people as your payroll goes beyond that 55% hogwash of your cash cow Target Field, now being replaced in the public eye by the Vikings boat full of human-interest cash machine.

The Twins have signed one mega deal, which imploded on them, because they would have been crucified for not signing Joe Mauer to play in Target Field. They made a couple of bad trades in an effort to stay competitive. They signed back-end inning eaters to get back to being competitive.

But they have NEVER, since the Andy McPhail days in the early-mid 80s, truly committed to rebuilding. It is amazing watching the jerk young players around. Sano is a perfect example - a guy who has never played in the outfield. So what do they do? Put him in the outfield so Plouffe can play third base. How about commit Mauer to DH, trade Ploufe and one of the back-of-the-rotation starters to a contender for a good AA prospect or two? Bring up Vargas, let him start at first and Sano starts at 3rd. If Sano can't field, too bad. He gets sent down for a few weeks to know the team is serious about him being a good all around player.

The whole Berrios tipping his pitches issue is another thing. No one in AAA saw that? Really? That's indicative that the big league club isn't inspecting/scouting their own system and holding the farm teams accountable for producing solid all around ball players.

Whomever they hire as President of Baseball operations has a mandate to fire everyone after a 100+ loss season.