Article: BREAKING: Nelson Cruz Agrees To Deal With Twins

[Dman]

 

Austin was worth a half-year of Lance Lynn's worst. I don't think other teams are champing at the bit for his skill set. He's shown promise, but I view him as expendable. 

 

I am curious about the 40-man move they'll make. Granite makes sense to me. While Granite's skills serve a role on a 40 man roster, he's also coming off a terrible season. Now is the time to try to drop him if they're going to.

 Looking at the 40 man I would get rid of Granite or Reed.  They fill pretty much the same roll and Lamonte Wade kind of fills that role as well.  We also have Cave in a somewhat similar role.  To top it off Kiriloff could be knocking on the door by the end of the year or next year as well.  Too many outfielders with little to no Pop.  I think we can afford to lose one.

 

I know Austin has a lot of swing and miss but he also hit 17 homers in MLB last year as well. Hate to give up on him this early but we do have Rooker and possibly Weil who could fill that role down the road as well.

 

Still my preference would be Reed or Granite to be moved.

Edited December 28, 2018 by Dman

[AlwaysinModeration]

To be technical, Forsythe as well, especially since he effectively replaced Dozier...

I’d say more than effectively.

[Kelly Vance]

 

I know, right?

 

Austin in RF would be sweet. Let Austin, Cave and Kepler battle it out for 2 spots. 

There is just 1 spot.  Keps will win it. 

 

The DH position is filled.  1B is filled too, although Austin may get some starts. Cave is a 4th OFer, unless he beats Keps out. He won't. 

[Kelly Vance]

 

Btw.... Once again we see money is more important than going to a more certain playoff team

 

 

Mike, for all you know he likes walleye fishing. You don't get to tell us what his values are or what his reasons are. You owe the man an apology. 

[Twins33]

Cruz' agent said the Twins gave the best offer (could mean $ and/or option year) and said it was clear the Twins wanted him the most and that was important to Cruz. I'm certainly surprised he chose the Twins, especially over the Astros. Happily surprised.

 

http://www.1500espn.com/touch-em-all/2018/12/bonus-show-nelson-cruzs-agent-came-twins-astros-rays/

[diehardtwinsfan]

 

Btw.... Once again we see money is more important than going to a more certain playoff team....

I'm assuming you're trying to make a point here and not complain about Cruz being only interested in money... cause if you are, I'm going to call you out for complaining about how the Twins never spend the money

[jorgenswest]

I agree that there’s only spot but based on last year, Cave has already won it to start the season. Much higher OPS, OPS+, more power, more SOs but those come down with time, and was the manager’s choice to play CF meaning he is as good or better in the field than Kepler. Cave should get the initial shot in RF with Kepler and his .727 OPS (after two years below .740) at a position that demands at least .775 on a good team as the LH hitting 1B and 4th OF while Cave gets 150 ABs to see if last year was real. If it’s not or if Buxton fails again, then Kepler gets another chance. Kepler has had 3 years and 1500 ABs to win a starting OF job and he has failed to hit enough to win that job. Cave hit well enough in half a season to earn that same chance. Performance matters. Handing jobs to guys who don’t perform is why this team has been consistently mediocre or worse. It needs to stop and it needs to stop NOW.

Stats in small samples are not a good measure of future performance. Cave doesn’t have near the sample to project forward based on last year’s major league slash stats. They are not near enough sample to support an argument that he has earned a job.

 

The only traditional measures that become reliable short of a full season of regular play are strike out rate and walk rate. Those measures from last year can give a good picture of plate discipline.

 

Danny Santana had an OPS of .824 in 430 plate appearances his rookie year at 23. He also had 98 strike outs and 19 walks. The Twins should only have paid attention to the strike outs and walks at that sample. They were the best measures of his ability to perform.

[Mike Sixel]

I'm assuming you're trying to make a point here and not complain about Cruz being only interested in money... cause if you are, I'm going to call you out for complaining about how the Twins never spend the money

I have no issue with Cruz's values, as far as I know. My point is clear, all those posts saying players won't come to Minnesota because it's Minnesota, or they aren't good enough, well. ... As his agent said, they gave him the best offer. Many of us have said, players mostly follow the money.

[Mike Sixel]

Mike, for all you know he likes walleye fishing. You don't get to tell us what his values are or what his reasons are. You owe the man an apology.

Apology for what? And, his agent said they made the best offer. I think players should choose money, so I have no idea what I'd apologise for. Help me understand.....

[Riverbrian]

 

Stats in small samples are not a good measure of future performance. Cave doesn’t have near the sample to project forward based on last year’s major league slash stats. They are not near enough sample to support an argument that he has earned a job.

The only traditional measures that become reliable short of a full season of regular play are strike out rate and walk rate. Those measures from last year can give a good picture of plate discipline.

Danny Santana had an OPS of .824 in 430 plate appearances his rookie year at 23. He also had 98 strike outs and 19 walks. The Twins should only have paid attention to the strike outs and walks at that sample. They were the best measures of his ability to perform.

 

I agree with you 100% about small sample sizes. 

 

But... have we reached critical mass with Max Kepler? Isn't it fair to say that Max hasn't earned a starting job?

 

 

And doesn't the small sample size earn a chance to become a bigger sample size. 

 

Saying it's a small sample size, dismissing and moving on from the small sample size will only kill the small sample size and not allow it to become critical mass/stable data. 

 

LA Vikes is right. Max has to start singing for his supper. Personally I'd use the options and start Cave in Rochester but he's earned the right to challenge Kepler for the job. 

[TheLeviathan]

Apology for what? And, his agent said they made the best offer. I think players should choose money, so I have no idea what I'd apologise for. Help me understand.....

He declined to play for one of the top 3 teams in the league in a better climate. He chose money. As would most all human beings.

 

I’d like to think this is our nail in the coffin scenario for the “it isn’t all about the money” nonsense.....but I’m not that optimistic. Cruz is the norm, not the exception....so good for him to cash in on his success.

[jorgenswest]

I agree with you 100% about small sample sizes. 

 

But... have we reached critical mass with Max Kepler? Isn't it fair to say that Max hasn't earned a starting job?

 

 

And doesn't the small sample size earn a chance to become a bigger sample size. 

 

Saying it's a small sample size, dismissing and moving on from the small sample size will only kill the small sample size and not allow it to become critical mass/stable data. 

 

LA Vikes is right. Max has to start singing for his supper. Personally I'd use the options and start Cave in Rochester but he's earned the right to challenge Kepler for the job.

 

I am saying that data in smaller samples should not be considered in the decision making process. We rely on the eyes of a skilled staff. The Twins also have a wealth of pitch level data that we don’t see. We rely on the talents of the staff interpreting that data. One partial year of slash stats should have no weight in the decision making progress. There may be pitch level and batted ball data that supports Cave but we see little of that data. It will be a race for organizations to learn how to interpret that data and its reliability in projecting performance.

 

As for Kepler I find the progress in strike out rate and walk rate encouraging. He has good command of the strike zone. He now needs to improve his ability to recognize those pitches he can attack and be aggressive. It was the same with Hicks.

[mlhouse]

 

This doesn't move the needle much? You are going to take a guy out of the lineup that OPS runs in the .650-.700 range and replace it with a guy that is in that .800-900 range and is also a patient, professional hitter with tons of pop. This moves the needle a pile. 

 

That list you named. It's Sano. That's it. The rest of them are nothing and bench players on a good team. If they get little to no playing time because of this signing, that's a good thing, not a bad one. 

 

Adding high end talent, however you can get it is never a bad thing. 

 

To your last point, let's say they do have a couple seasons like that. Fine, it's at least competitive baseball. Who says you have to go full rebuild in 2 years? Will Sano, Buxton, Rosario, Berrios, etc etc not be right in the middle of their primes then? Still controllable also. 

 

82 wins is not moving the needle.  It is just continued mediocrity at best and it is nothing but a short term salve to make all of the believers hope done at long term cost of extending the rebuild on and on and on.  

[USAFChief]

82 wins is not moving the needle. It is just continued mediocrity at best and it is nothing but a short term salve to make all of the believers hope done at long term cost of extending the rebuild on and on and on.

what possible delay to a rebuild could this signing cause?

 

Whether or not the Twins cam contend in 2019, or should be "rebuilding", this one yr, very tradable contract hurts absolutely nothing. The alternative is money in ownership's pocket.

[mlhouse]

 

what possible delay to a rebuild could this signing cause?

Whether or not the Twins cam contend in 2019, or should be "rebuilding", this one yr, very tradable contract hurts absolutely nothing. The alternative is money in ownership's pocket.

 

Money in ownership's pocket means more money available in the future when the team develops its core players and needs to fill the remaining holes to be competitive.  

 

There is one reason why this delays the rebuild.

 

The next is that it delays the development of the next level of prospects.  Players like Brent Rooker who now will sit behind a 38 year old and be pushed back to the minors.  Getting these players up and developing on the MLB level needs to be the priority, not signing aged players that will not contribute to any type of success the team will have in the future.  

 

If Brent Rooker, and Lewis, and Kirilloff are not bona fide players, all the Nelson Cruz's int eh world are not going to turn around this franchise.

[AlwaysinModeration]

Money in ownership's pocket means more money available in the future when the team develops its core players and needs to fill the remaining holes to be competitive.

 

There is one reason why this delays the rebuild.

 

The next is that it delays the development of the next level of prospects. Players like Brent Rooker who now will sit behind a 38 year old and be pushed back to the minors. Getting these players up and developing on the MLB level needs to be the priority, not signing aged players that will not contribute to any type of success the team will have in the future.

 

If Brent Rooker, and Lewis, and Kirilloff are not bona fide players, all the Nelson Cruz's int eh world are not going to turn around this franchise.

1. There isn’t a ton of evidence in Twins history that money saved one year gets spent in future years.

 

2. Rooker isn’t knocking on the door yet. Cruz as a Twin in 2019 isn’t impeding Rooker. (Austin, potentially, yes, but Austin is kind of marginal—at least not likely a centerpiece of a future Twins competitive team.)

 

3. Lewis and Kiriloff are, but throwing them into your point is a red herring. How exactly does signing Cruz have any impact on Lewis or Kiriloff?

[sweetmusicviola16]

 

Money in ownership's pocket means more money available in the future when the team develops its core players and needs to fill the remaining holes to be competitive.  

 

There is one reason why this delays the rebuild.

 

The next is that it delays the development of the next level of prospects.  Players like Brent Rooker who now will sit behind a 38 year old and be pushed back to the minors.  Getting these players up and developing on the MLB level needs to be the priority, not signing aged players that will not contribute to any type of success the team will have in the future.  

 

If Brent Rooker, and Lewis, and Kirilloff are not bona fide players, all the Nelson Cruz's int eh world are not going to turn around this franchise.

And what of rushing a player to the Big's? Lewis is only 19. Kiriloff just turned 21 but missed a whole season of ball. Rooker has only 2 seasons of pro ball under his belt but is 24. So I could see him being close. But considering Cron is also in the picture Rooker could still be a mid-season callup and Cron/Austin traded. Rushing a player to the ML's can cause a lot of damage. A late season call-up for all of these guys isn't going to hurt us present or future imo. A year of Cruz is the best thing for our future and present. His very sweet contract also makes him a very valuable trade piece should the team fail as well. Win Win

[diehardtwinsfan]

 

82 wins is not moving the needle.  It is just continued mediocrity at best and it is nothing but a short term salve to make all of the believers hope done at long term cost of extending the rebuild on and on and on.  

 

This move might affect their draft order. On the flip side, it's a move where they can get a prospect if it doesn't move the needle enough. There's a good solid core of young players here now. You have to put talent around them. Expecting them all to do well immediately is a recipe for a never ending rebuild. 

 

This was a great move for a team in their spot. They get a guy that can help, and if the 2019 follows a similar path to 2018, they can flip him and get some talent for him. 

[diehardtwinsfan]

Money in ownership's pocket means more money available in the future when the team develops its core players and needs to fill the remaining holes to be competitive.

I have a real tough time believing this is true. The 2018 payroll would be your best example of this, and it was still a below average payroll for a team that has the resources to spend more.

 

There is one reason why this delays the rebuild.

 

The next is that it delays the development of the next level of prospects.  Players like Brent Rooker who now will sit behind a 38 year old and be pushed back to the minors.  Getting these players up and developing on the MLB level needs to be the priority, not signing aged players that will not contribute to any type of success the team will have in the future.  

 

If Brent Rooker, and Lewis, and Kirilloff are not bona fide players, all the Nelson Cruz's int eh world are not going to turn around this franchise.

None of the guys you bring up are even ready for the bigs. Rooker is the closest, and will likely be forcing the issue at some point in 2019, but that doesn't mean hand him the spot. As others have noted, that destroys depth. Let Rooker earn it (same with Lewis and AK for that matter). We don't need a repeat of Hicks, Buxton, Gomez, etc. 

[Riverbrian]

 

I am saying that data in smaller samples should not be considered in the decision making process. We rely on the eyes of a skilled staff. The Twins also have a wealth of pitch level data that we don’t see. We rely on the talents of the staff interpreting that data. One partial year of slash stats should have no weight in the decision making progress. There may be pitch level and batted ball data that supports Cave but we see little of that data. It will be a race for organizations to learn how to interpret that data and its reliability in projecting performance.

As for Kepler I find the progress in strike out rate and walk rate encouraging. He has good command of the strike zone. He now needs to improve his ability to recognize those pitches he can attack and be aggressive. It was the same with Hicks.

 

I'm not knocking the skilled staff. They know more about baseball than I do...  but let's be honest... it's a hard job and the margins are thin, and the production level rises and falls. Bottom line... they are frequently wrong. If they weren't sometimes wrong... David Ortiz would be in the hall of fame as a Minnesota Twin. I'm not knocking them for it... I'm recognizing the difficulty of the assignment and pointing out the reality of mistakes being made often.

 

I trust that they have advanced data that is not available to me... I trust them to use that data to staff the 25 and 40 man rosters and make decisions with as much knowledge as humanly possible. However... once the ball is hurled toward the plate, the paradigm shifts and if a player is playing well... get out of his way.  

 

I'm not saying that Kepler should be tossed aside and I don't believe Cave should be tossed aside either. I'm saying let the best man win and last year the best man was Cave. Nobody is going to convince me that Kepler is better because he is supposed to be better.... If Kepler is supposed to be better... Please make him show it. He's had a few major league AB"s by now.  

 

The list is lengthy... Jose Ramirez wasn't supposed to be better,, JD Martinez wasn't supposed to be better, Tommy Pham wasn't supposed to be better, Matt Moore was supposed to be amazing. Solar and Alex Gordon were supposed to rule the world. The list goes on and on. The skilled staff has burned the last ounce of any trust I had that they got this thing down pat... They don't and the reason is because sometimes the players have something to say about it. Otherwise I wouldn't be standing here tapping my foot waiting for Sano and Buxton to be real. 

 

If the skilled staff is looking at someone out producing someone else and saying that he shouldn't be out producing, just to go with the guy who is being out produced. They deserve their fate... but I as a fan do not and last year was the last year I will tolerate this fundamental, easy to fix, error.  

 

A good small sample size deserves a larger sample size. If the skilled staff doesn't allow it because they know better they will lose by their own hand and deserve their fate. 

 

 

[bird]

 

82 wins is not moving the needle.  It is just continued mediocrity at best and it is nothing but a short term salve to make all of the believers hope done at long term cost of extending the rebuild on and on and on.  

 

 

This move does nothing but accelerate "the rebuild", whatever that is. (To me, it's a useless label). Cruz is another huge asset and it didn't cost anything but cash.

 

This move is not being made in a vacuum.

 

This move blocks absolutely no one. Do you really believe that plugging Rooker into the lineup here in 2019 makes a lot of sense? There's still a very solid chance Rooker flops at the next level. Who knows, he may not be as good as Todd Sears or Paul Sorrento were. 

 

What hat was that 82 win number pulled from?

 

This team wasn't all that far away from mediocrity LAST year. And that happened with a below-average manager and coaching staff, Sano and Buxton disasters, Polanco caught cheating, Erv injured, Lynn and LoMo pouting on their locker room stools, and with about a zillion rookies getting their first taste of the big lights.

 

Sano, Buxton, Rosario, Kepler, Polanco, Castro and Schoop. Not all will improve in 2019 over 2018 unless we experience a perfect storm. Some will, no?

 

Cron, Cruz, Garver, Cave, Austin, maybe Astudillo. Not all of them will do worse in 2019 than they did in 2018, right?

 

Pitching still needs a boost, no question, although the situation's not as bad as some portray it. I'd love to find wagers where I could bet the pitching will statistically be league average in 2019.

 

Cheer up. 

Edited December 29, 2018 by birdwatcher

[drivlikejehu]

 

Money in ownership's pocket means more money available in the future when the team develops its core players and needs to fill the remaining holes to be competitive.  

 

There is one reason why this delays the rebuild.

 

Completely incorrect. The Twins ownership has explicitly said this is not the case, and in fact MLB teams in general do not operate the way you seem to think.

[DocBauer]

I'm not knocking the skilled staff. They know more about baseball than I do... but let's be honest... it's a hard job and the margins are thin, and the production level rises and falls. Bottom line... they are frequently wrong. If they weren't sometimes wrong... David Ortiz would be in the hall of fame as a Minnesota Twin. I'm not knocking them for it... I'm recognizing the difficulty of the assignment and pointing out the reality of mistakes being made often.

 

I trust that they have advanced data that is not available to me... I trust them to use that data to staff the 25 and 40 man rosters and make decisions with as much knowledge as humanly possible. However... once the ball is hurled toward the plate, the paradigm shifts and if a player is playing well... get out of his way.

 

I'm not saying that Kepler should be tossed aside and I don't believe Cave should be tossed aside either. I'm saying let the best man win and last year the best man was Cave. Nobody is going to convince me that Kepler is better because he is supposed to be better.... If Kepler is supposed to be better... Please make him show it. He's had a few major league AB"s by now.

 

The list is lengthy... Jose Ramirez wasn't supposed to be better,, JD Martinez wasn't supposed to be better, Tommy Pham wasn't supposed to be better, Matt Moore was supposed to be amazing. Solar and Alex Gordon were supposed to rule the world. The list goes on and on. The skilled staff has burned the last ounce of any trust I had that they got this thing down pat... They don't and the reason is because sometimes the players have something to say about it. Otherwise I wouldn't be standing here tapping my foot waiting for Sano and Buxton to be real.

 

If the skilled staff is looking at someone out producing someone else and saying that he shouldn't be out producing, just to go with the guy who is being out produced. They deserve their fate... but I as a fan do not and last year was the last year I will tolerate this fundamental, easy to fix, error.

 

A good small sample size deserves a larger sample size. If the skilled staff doesn't allow it because they know better they will lose by their own hand and deserve their fate.

Yep!

 

For the record, I like Kepler a lot. I still believe he is just about ready to take off. I say this dure to talent,flashes and some slowly improving numbers.

 

I also like Cave a lot. There is fair talk about his SO rare and somewhat SSS. But he is just as likely to "progress" as "regress" in his second season.

 

From what I know and have seen and read of both guys, Kepler SHOULD outperform Cave and be the better player. Doesn't mean he is, or will be. But I agree the absolutely worst thing you can do is get wrapped up in "should".

 

Kepler and Cave should both play and both audition. May the best candidate win...but even still...there is a role for each of them.

[mlhouse]

 

And what of rushing a player to the Big's? Lewis is only 19. Kiriloff just turned 21 but missed a whole season of ball. Rooker has only 2 seasons of pro ball under his belt but is 24. So I could see him being close. But considering Cron is also in the picture Rooker could still be a mid-season callup and Cron/Austin traded. Rushing a player to the ML's can cause a lot of damage. A late season call-up for all of these guys isn't going to hurt us present or future imo. A year of Cruz is the best thing for our future and present. His very sweet contract also makes him a very valuable trade piece should the team fail as well. Win Win

 

Rushing players to the big leagues doesn't cause "damage".  Sorry, but players all over the major leagues and throughout major league history have been "rushed' to the majors. 

 

Kent Hrbek went from A+ ball to the major leagues.  The claim, made often here, that modern baseball development is different is specious.  By 1984, he was the runner up in MVP voting in a year that with the current Twins approach to development would have put him in AAA ball without any major league at bats.  

 

Aaron Judge was in the major leagues in his 3rd professional season;  in 2014 he was in A and A+ leagues.  In 2015 he was in AA and AAA.  In 2016 he started in AAA and finished in major leagues.    Alex Bregman was in the majors in his 2nd professional season.

 

And, as I have pointed out over and over again, what makes those rosters (check out how they developed their players) different from the Twins is that somehow they move their players up through the minors and into their starting lineups and develop them into STAR players on teams that are actually good and very competitive.  WHen was the last college player that the Twins drafted that made their major league debut at 22?    

 

Brent Rooker is already 24 years old.  

 

The claims of "rushing" these players is specious.

[mlhouse]

 

I have a real tough time believing this is true. The 2018 payroll would be your best example of this, and it was still a below average payroll for a team that has the resources to spend more.
 

None of the guys you bring up are even ready for the bigs. Rooker is the closest, and will likely be forcing the issue at some point in 2019, but that doesn't mean hand him the spot. As others have noted, that destroys depth. Let Rooker earn it (same with Lewis and AK for that matter). We don't need a repeat of Hicks, Buxton, Gomez, etc. 

 

"Being ready"!!   WHat a quote.  The issue is not that htey are ready but whether you want to develop them on the major league level.   The reason why Hicks and Gomez did not develop has nothing to do with when they were brought up.  Instead, it was the toxic, anti-developing player that caused them to dail in Minnesota and be more successful elsewhere.  If Hicks or Gomez made errors the management did not tolerate them, and they did not fit the mold so like David Ortiz they were shipped out.

 

Likewise, "earning" it is an idiotic concept for a team trying to build into contention.  

[Mike Sixel]

Excellent use of specious, btw.

[mlhouse]

 

Completely incorrect. The Twins ownership has explicitly said this is not the case, and in fact MLB teams in general do not operate the way you seem to think.

 

 

From experience, this is exactly how the Twins ownership has operated since the advent of free agency in major league baseball.  

[jorgenswest]

I'm not knocking the skilled staff. They know more about baseball than I do... but let's be honest... it's a hard job and the margins are thin, and the production level rises and falls. Bottom line... they are frequently wrong. If they weren't sometimes wrong... David Ortiz would be in the hall of fame as a Minnesota Twin. I'm not knocking them for it... I'm recognizing the difficulty of the assignment and pointing out the reality of mistakes being made often.

 

I trust that they have advanced data that is not available to me... I trust them to use that data to staff the 25 and 40 man rosters and make decisions with as much knowledge as humanly possible. However... once the ball is hurled toward the plate, the paradigm shifts and if a player is playing well... get out of his way.

 

I'm not saying that Kepler should be tossed aside and I don't believe Cave should be tossed aside either. I'm saying let the best man win and last year the best man was Cave. Nobody is going to convince me that Kepler is better because he is supposed to be better.... If Kepler is supposed to be better... Please make him show it. He's had a few major league AB"s by now.

 

The list is lengthy... Jose Ramirez wasn't supposed to be better,, JD Martinez wasn't supposed to be better, Tommy Pham wasn't supposed to be better, Matt Moore was supposed to be amazing. Solar and Alex Gordon were supposed to rule the world. The list goes on and on. The skilled staff has burned the last ounce of any trust I had that they got this thing down pat... They don't and the reason is because sometimes the players have something to say about it. Otherwise I wouldn't be standing here tapping my foot waiting for Sano and Buxton to be real.

 

If the skilled staff is looking at someone out producing someone else and saying that he shouldn't be out producing, just to go with the guy who is being out produced. They deserve their fate... but I as a fan do not and last year was the last year I will tolerate this fundamental, easy to fix, error.

 

A good small sample size deserves a larger sample size. If the skilled staff doesn't allow it because they know better they will lose by their own hand and deserve their fate.

I will only argue that slash stats don’t give a good picture of performance. They are far too heavily influenced by BABip and other factors not independent to the batter.

 

I look forward to measures derived from the pitch level and batted ball data. Baseball Prospectus has a new DRC+ that I want to dig into. I would love to see how Kepler, Rosario and Cave measure up. I expect teams are designing even better models.

 

Before the Cruz deal, Kepler was projected for the most WAR among the Twin position players (fangraphs/steamer) for 2019. That projection is based on his numbers the last three years.

 

As always I appreciate the your thoughtful responses. Thanks for the debate.

[mlhouse]

 

This move does nothing but accelerate "the rebuild", whatever that is. (To me, it's a useless label). Cruz is another huge asset and it didn't cost anything but cash.

 

This move is not being made in a vacuum.

 

This move blocks absolutely no one. Do you really believe that plugging Rooker into the lineup here in 2019 makes a lot of sense? There's still a very solid chance Rooker flops at the next level. Who knows, he may not be as good as Todd Sears or Paul Sorrento were. 

 

What hat was that 82 win number pulled from?

 

This team wasn't all that far away from mediocrity LAST year. And that happened with a below-average manager and coaching staff, Sano and Buxton disasters, Polanco caught cheating, Erv injured, Lynn and LoMo pouting on their locker room stools, and with about a zillion rookies getting their first taste of the big lights.

 

Sano, Buxton, Rosario, Kepler, Polanco, Castro and Schoop. Not all will improve in 2019 over 2018 unless we experience a perfect storm. Some will, no?

 

Cron, Cruz, Garver, Cave, Austin, maybe Astudillo. Not all of them will do worse in 2019 than they did in 2018, right?

 

Pitching still needs a boost, no question, although the situation's not as bad as some portray it. I'd love to find wagers where I could bet the pitching will statistically be league average in 2019.

 

Cheer up. 

 

Cheer up?  In most ways I could care less.  The ownership of this team has screwed their fans over for decades now, with the only exception being the short generation of 1987-1991.  

 

Even when the team was quasi-competitive in the 2000's, the ownership was too cheap to put the money into making a true competitive team when even $15-20 million more in payroll may have made those Mauer-Mornea teams truly competitive, not jsut a team that won in the weakest division in the majors and then got swept in the playoffs.  

That is why the development process of those World Series teams needs to be followed by the current rebuild, and frankly, it is not.

[USAFChief]

From experience, this is exactly how the Twins ownership has operated since the advent of free agency in major league baseball.

 

Your arguments about rushing minor leaguers, or not rushing them, are opinions, and you are certainly entitled to them.

 

But your argument about saving money for future years is demonstrably false, both through history and through the direct statements of the team itself. They don’t put available payroll in a rainy day account. Either it’s spent this season, or it’s gone.