Terry Ryan and Gardy

[darin617]

Clete Thomas' signing is only a good move, if he's played less. 13 strikeouts in 22 at bats?

I thought Clete Thomas was brought in to be the 4th outfielder not the starting RF. That is my problem with the move. I would rather see Ploufe play more than Thomas.

[darin617]

I agree with you that they are reacting quicker and making more moves, but my impression is that they are nibbling at the edges. Plouffe playing for Casilla is a nice move but I don't believe that Casilla feels that his starting job is in jeopardy, he's had what, four tries at it so far? They need to do something that will really send a message. I would suggest that they:

 

1. Send Liriano down to AA or even A ball if he stinks again. Bring Diamond up, he's 4-0 with a 1.07 ERA and a 1.03 WHIP. Could he do worse than Liriano?

2. Send Valencia down to Rochester if he continues to be un-coachable. Play Burroughs. Bring Luke Hughes up and work him out at 3B.

3. If Capps fails again (only a matter of time) promote Perkins to closer.

 

Make some significant noise, send some real messages. If I were a player and I saw how much failure someone else can endure with hardly any consequences, why should I be worried about my status? Coupled with last year's practice of players telling the coaching staff they would rather not play there is little reason for players to feel their job is threatened.

Luke Hughes now plays for Oakland and Liriano is out of options and cannot be sent down without clearing waivers.

[darin617]

My bad, I was not aware that Luke Hughes had been cut. Liriano could go to the pen but then he has no trade value come July. He needs to get his act together as a starter.

 

 

 

Who plays 3B? Please don't say Valencia...

I feel any player who is not a superstar in the last year of a contract has little value since they changed the way draft pick compensation is done now. Any team trading for Liriano would not receive any picks if he signed with another club.

[James]

I feel any player who is not a superstar in the last year of a contract has little value since they changed the way draft pick compensation is done now. Any team trading for Liriano would not receive any picks if he signed with another club.

Just because a team wouldn't get compensation for Liriano signing with another team wouldn't mean a team wouldn't trade for him. They wouldn't trade for him because he looks awful right now. Or, they just wouldn't give the Twins much in return for him.

[one_eyed_jack]

Terry Ryan was re-hired in November. Don't you think he should be given more than 5 months to try to repair the damage done by Smith?

 

Also, the "fire sale" approach of trading every established player for propsects never work. You don't want to become a team that is perpetually building for tomorrow. Ask a diehard Royals fan how they've like being the team of the future for over a decade now.

 

There's enough here to remain at least competent if not competitive while the cupboard is restocked. There's no need to go to the extreme of fielding a minor league team. Fans will not show up for that. And what established free agent will want to come here to babysit a Romper Room roster of kids who would be better off in the minors?

[Mr. Ed]

I thought Clete Thomas was brought in to be the 4th outfielder not the starting RF. That is my problem with the move. I would rather see Ploufe play more than Thomas.

Agreed.Clete gets too many at bats for this team. Already.

[Coach J]

Understand what your saying about the financial committments made to Willingham/Marquis etc, but I'm not sure throwing prospects to the wolves and making them struggle and play before they are ready could really hinder their development. These are 20 year old young men, its never good for anyone much less kids with fragile psychis to hit near the mendoza line

[Alex]

Liriano and Blackburn looked really good in spring training. What the heck happened? I think Liriano might be better off in the bullpen as he seems to do fine for an inning or two. I don't know how many innings our starters averaged last year, but it didn't seem like they pitched anymore then than they are now (except Pavano.) A few clutch hits by our offense would also make the starts a bit more confident. It's a mess...

Spring training numbers rarely mean anything (Valencia and Hughes had big ST, too.).

[ashbury]

This team is not a small market team--two years ago before the passing of Carl the franchise was listed as the richest in all of baseball.

You are mixing two different concepts.

[Mchans24]

Valencia has one of the worst swings in MLB. I don't know if he is coach able or not but he looks like a power hitting 12 year old with the foot in the bucket swing up there!! Will NEVER hit a big league breaking ball!! Liriano may do ok as a 6th or 7th inning guy but I don't see him thriving under late inning pressure. Has Casilla been that bad? Last I saw I thought he was hitting .270-.280? The biggest problem i have seen is the lack of production from Mauer/ Morneau with runners in scoring position and often with less than two outs. Yes, pitching has been bad but these guys have to drive in runs. A .300 hitting 3 hole with 65 RBI does nothing for me. We know the pitching will be bad, Mauer and Morneau have to make up for that. I don't see how we can move Carroll off of SS until we are ready to totally give up. We are only 18 games in. It's most likely going to be a tough year. Ryan has us positioned well to get some decent prospects back at trade deadline with Willingham, Carroll, and possibly Span.

[Thrylos]

The biggest problem i have seen is the lack of production from Mauer/ Morneau with runners in scoring position and often with less than two outs. .

 

Ok, Morneau is .063/.318/.250 with RISP, but Mauer is .389/.450/.667 with RISP. Cannot ask for much more...

[Shane Wahl]

Yes. His peripherals, other than BB/9, HR/9 and BABIP, which are less than last season, are the same as last season. When they regress to the mean he will be the same pitcher he was last season. And that is worse than Liriano. Heck, Blackburn last night was worse than Liriano

BB/9, HR/9, and BABIP are pretty significant though. The guy was extremely unfortunate to have that Rochester defense behind him. I think he will continue to improve this year and become a real option at the bottom of the rotation, and certainly better than they other options.

[Mchans24]

Mauer may have good number but we have lost two games because of his inability to drive a runner in from third with less than two outs late in games. I may be knit picking there I just expect Hume to come through in that situation every time.