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I think the TD consensus is to trade BD and install Polanco there. That's where I am. That said, Polanco does have value. He's young, has 5 or 6 seasons remaining under control, has had stellar minor league numbers, and pretty decent major league ones. Is there risk there? Sure, but it's low. The question is what the reward would look like. That said, I think it would be downright foolish for the Twins to trade him. I really hope option 5 is not on the table here. I've got to think it's option 2. I'd rather him not be the SS, for no other reason than I think it would be odd to rely on BD knowing he is either gone after 2018 or very expensive during what would be his decline phase (which to be fair could start as soon as this season, asking him to hit another 40 HR is asking a lot). I've got to think the smart move is trading BD. Polanco won't likely upgrade Dozier. He may never upgrade Dozier, but what he can be is above average with the bat and glove at an up the middle position. A high OBP and a low 800s OPS with above average defense is still a fine player, and if trading the 900s OPS guy with sub par defense nets a top shelf pitcher, the team is better off in both the short term and long term.

Really? He's made several top 100 lists the last couple of years. It'll be years before the Twins, or any team, considers waiving Polanco.

He just turned 23 and has been remarkably consistent through all levels - .280/.340/.410 ish throughout his minor league career with a 109 OPS+ in his limited time with the big club. He certainly has trade value; the question is whether he has more value as a young player on a rebuilding team than he would return in a trade. I suppose the supplementary to that question is whether Polanco + the return from a Dozier trade > Dozier + the return from a Polanco trade. It all depends on the trade market, but I would plan to roll with him as the starting SS in 2017 unless the Twins are blown away in the offseason in a trade for Dozier, in which case I'd happily slide him across to 2B. There's a reasonable prospect Dozier gets traded in the next 18 months anyway, if not this offseason, at which point you put Polanco at 2B and hope Gordon is ready at SS.

I will continue to bear the drum of trading Dozier and letting Polanco take over 2B full-time.

In February of 2012, we merged four prominent Twins blogs into one. It was the start of Twins Daily. We are quite proud of the community of Twins fans that we have established here at Twins Daily. Our forums are busy, filled with generally intelligent, civilized discussion on Twins topics, positive, negative or informative. We encourage you to create your own blog on our site for more discussion. If you’re like us, you’re not just a Minnesota Twins fan. Many of you, presumably, are Minnesota sports fans. We have Monday morning quarterback tendencies and have all had our moments of Vikings disappointment. That’s true even if we were born since the last time the team lost a Super Bowl. Names like Herschel Walker, Mike Lynn, and Gary Anderson cause a reaction inside us. It is the same reaction many Minnesotans still get when they hear the names of Norm Green or Nick Leddy. Minnesota fans love Minnesota sports, at least a couple of them.Tonight, the Minnesota Wild will take the ice in St. Louis for their first game of the 2016-17 season. This should be an exciting season for the Wild. Last spring they fired Mike Yeo. He was replaced by Bruce Boudreau. The 2016-17 roster is a nice combination of veterans like Zach Parise, Ryan Suter and newcomer Eric Staal. They also have a group of 25-and-unders that remain exciting. Names like Mikael Granlund, Jason Zucker, Charlie Coyle, Erik Haula and Nino Neiderreiter need to take a step forward. Two years ago, we launched Wild Xtra with the same goals and the same mission as we have here at Twins Daily. We look to provide quality articles that provoke thought and discussion. We would love to have a intelligent, civil discussion. We want to encourage independent writers to create their own blogs on the site to share their thoughts on the club. The Minnesota Vikings are the NFL’s lone undefeated team as they enter their bye weekend. Even with injuries to their quarterback, future Hall of Fame running back, several offensive linemen and others, the team has played very well. The offense has been all right. The Vikings defense is elite, one of the best in the game. Vikings fans have had reason for optimism in various years over the last decade or so. This year is something different. There is a feeling that this defense can carry the team to the Super Bowl. There is a lot of season remaining for that to be the case, but the team and its players are certainly deserving of its accolades to this point. We launched Vikings Journal a little over two years ago. It has undergone several changes but there is a core of writers each week that provide content. As important, there is a community in the forums that civilly discuss the goings-on with the Vikings and the NFL. Twins Daily, Vikings Journal and Wild Xtra are tied together under the MinnCentric family. If you are registered at Twins Daily, you can use the same Username and Password on the Wild Xtra and Vikings Journal sites. That makes it easy to go from site to site and comment or blog. We would really like to help build those communities. Obviously we appreciate you spending some of your time each day reading and commenting at Twins Daily. But today we want to encourage you to take a couple of minutes of your time to visit Wild Xtra and Vikings Journal. Register your username and spend a few minutes reading the content, and commenting in the forums. Also, if you would like to express your thoughts on the Wild or the purple, start your own blogs. You can follow the MinnCentric sites on social media: Follow Twins Daily, Wild Xtra and Vikings Journalon Twitter. Like Twins Daily, Wild Xtra and Vikings Journal on Facebook. Give these sites a chance. We really appreciate all of your support despite the losing we have seen from the Twins over the last half-dozen seasons. The Minnesota Wild and Minnesota Vikings both have a good chance to make the playoffs and an opportunity to do some special things this season. Hop on the bandwagons and help us grow. Click here to view the article

Have you seen Brian throw? I think he would be pretty bad defensively at 3B.

Why isn't there more interest in moving Dozier to third?

My plan would be for Polanco to open the season at SS. No, his defense is not at the level that you'd want, but his offensive upside makes up for a lot of that. Plus, if he's not the starting SS, I don't think Eduardo Escobar is enough of a defensive upgrade to justify putting Polanco in a utility role.

This is hands down the best community-driven Twins site on the web. The Vikings side could use more activity and it will grow with time. The Wild and Wolves are a bit past my days in Minnesota so I don't follow them, but there is no reason this can't be the place for fans of both. One question. Though users can use their Twins Daily accounts on the other sites, there is still a bit of a registration hoopla one has to do in order to post on sites you didn't initially sign up on. Why not make this completely seamless? You register for one, you can post anywhere. One registration and you are automatically a member of everything on the site. I will certainly be blogging for the Twins and possibly the Vikings in the future. Great thanks to Seth and all the others who made this place an open community where everyone can contribute and express their opinions. I was once a regular on 'another' Twins forum where the comments can get a bit disrespectful. I assumed this was because the site was lightly moderated and simply accepted it as a place where people could freely express themselves. After some time I learned that the people who were disrespectful were all of the moderators. At that point I realized it wasn't a place where people can express themselves at all, but it was a place where the moderators were bullying people. Once I figured that out I left and never came back. Twins Daily is a site where I know this would never happen.

Thanks for all the great work you do on this site. It's my first click in the morning and has brought me much closer to the Twins in the last few years.

Dozier barely has the arm strength to make the throws from 2B. The left side is not an option for him.

I see it as a matter of time before Polanco gets shifted to 2B with Gordon coming down the pipe. Why not capitalize on Dozier's season and trade him now? Move Polanco to 2B and use Escobar at SS until Gordon is ready to come up. A utility role for Polanco would be a complete waste. Polanco seems destined to be a 2B regardless of his defensive abilities at SS. With that considered, Dozier wouldn't seem to be in the long term plans for this team and frankly shouldn't be. They've got to let this core group of youngsters grow as a team together. Keeping Dozier, in my view, is a wasted opportunity to improve the club and free up space for younger players that figure to be a part of the resurgence of this club.

Why no love for the Wolves?

Hard to criticize the guys defense at SS when the Twins have moved him all over the place the season after Baseball America rated him the best defensive SS in the FSL (scroll down.) One has to realize that Polanco, outside of the Twins farm brass that for some reason do not like his play at SS, has been seen as a better than average defender. In addition to the above, BA rated him the Twins best defensive infielder in 2009 and 2010 (same link.) The Twins' talent "evaluators" and "developers" messed with him by not letting him develop in the position. It is hard to play SS well right away, after you play 2B only for 2 seasons. Let the kid play a full season or two at SS and then we can talk about his defense.

Take heart, h2oface. Over the years, there have been a lot of fans who have needed glasses when it comes to the early stages of a player's big league career. We don't know which of these guys will end up more like Torii Hunter versus Marty Cordova, but it's not drinking koolaid to be optimistic, for example that Berrios will get it figured out any more than it might have been to excuse Frank Viola or Brad Radke for a shaky start. Or Brian Dozier. Or Gary Gaetti, especially defensively. Or Byron Buxton. Kepler. Sano. There's been plenty of evidence beyond the raw numbers that are telling discerning baseball people that Buxton and Sano still have the makings of future stardom. That's reality. In short, I think it's reaonable to be optimistic that most of the players you mentioned with fulfill expectations eventually, and I think it's reasonable to be optimistic about this next wave too, as long as we remember they don't quite have the elite pedigree of Buxton or Sano.

As we gear up for a crucial Minnesota Twins offseason, we have talked – and will continue to talk – about pitching a great deal. But on the other side, Jorge Polanco stands out as one of the most pivotal figures in the organization's planning. Today, we'll take a look at five options for handling the talented young infielder heading into 2017.Polanco has been a longtime star in Minnesota's system. He has been among the Top 10 on Twins Daily's top prospect list each of the past three years, performing well at each level of the minors. In 2014 he became the youngest Twin to debut in the majors since Joe Mauer a decade before. And this year, in his first prolonged taste of the big leagues, he put up very strong numbers and looked every bit the part of an everyday MLB player. But the problem now, as it has been for the past few seasons, is that there's no obvious full-time opening for the 23-year-old switch-hitter. And while patience has been an affordable luxury in the past, that is no longer the case. Polanco will be out of options in 2017, meaning that the Twins will need to keep him on the roster out of spring training or lose him. That reality will weigh heavily as they lay things out for next season. As I see it, the Twins have five different routes they can take with Polanco. Let's run through the merits of each: 1. Starting Shortstop For a few reasons, this would appear to be the most likely outcome. First, because the Twins don't really have another strong candidate for the position. Eduardo Escobar is the only alternative and he had a tough year that ended on an extremely sour note (.384 OPS in September). Second, because Polanco was Paul Molitor's exclusive starter at shortstop in the final six weeks of the season. That would seem to set the stage for a full-time assignment going forward. However, there's a problem here, and it's a big one. Polanco is not a good defender at shortstop. The organization had essentially given up on playing him there in the minors before he was called up. Defensive metrics rate him very poorly at the position. Even Molitor, the manager who wrote his name in at shortstop daily in the final stretch of the campaign, would only say that Polanco "handled it fairly well" and was "not going to get an 'A' grade." The Twins need to vastly improve in terms of run prevention, and defense is a big part of that. Outside of catcher, shortstop is arguably the most important position on the field. In my opinion, rolling with a subpar glove like Polanco is simply not an option. 2. Starting Second Baseman I think everyone can agree that this is Polanco's best position. It minimizes his primary weakness (his arm) and allows his strengths to shine. It's where he spent all of his time in the Dominican Winter League last year and in Rochester this year before joining the Twins for good. Of course, he happens to be blocked at this position by Minnesota's best player. As long as Brian Dozier is on the roster, second base is off limits. I do think the possibility of a Dozier trade is reasonably strong, so Polanco could still end up here. But as things stand, it's not an option. 3. Starting Third Baseman Sort of an intriguing possibility. If the Twins want to move on from Trevor Plouffe and his expensive 2017 commitment but aren't ready to entrust Miguel Sano with the position following a very shaky defensive showing this year, Polanco could be a solution. He didn't look especially good in his nine starts at the hot corner this year, but could improve if it is his focus heading into the offseason and spring training. However, the downsides here are clear. His arm might play a little better at third than short, but still would hardly be an asset. And while his bat stands out at a middle infield spot, that's less true at an offense-driven corner position. This year, American League third basemen posted the highest OPS of any position other than DH. 4. Backup or Utility Man This idea has its appeal. In a utility role, Polanco would be able to fill in a few times per week around the diamond, and would be an excellent fallback if (when?) one of the starters fizzled or got hurt. With his ability to swing from both sides and his solid speed, he would be a handy piece of have on the bench. Yet, it feels like a bit of a waste. It's also not especially fair to the player. Polanco has shown enough during his time in the majors to justify an everyday role. He's still in a developmental stage and that could be hindered by a lack of regular playing time. 5. Trade Him I really wonder if this is what they are leaning toward. In the latter part of the season, Polanco was constantly playing shortstop and frequently batting third in the order. Does the team really view him as that caliber of player, or were they simply showcasing him for the rest of the league? Everyone knows Polanco would be fine at second, but now teams have plenty of film to evaluate and make their own judgments about his proclivity at short. The Twins know that if they want to acquire impact talent via trade, it might mean giving up some of their own coveted young players. Polanco is among the only ones among that group that could really be viewed as expendable. What it comes down to is how much the rest of the execs around the league value Polanco. It doesn't make sense to give up a young, controllable middle infielder who has proven his capabilities at the major-league level unless you're getting a significant haul in return. Given that Polanco has a well-rounded yet unspectacular skill set, I do wonder if a sufficient offer is going to come. What would be your plan for Polanco this offseason? Click here to view the article

Thanks for all the kind words in the post (that I erased in the quote out of modesty). The registration isn't as seamless as we would like it to be between the sites, but it's the best we can do for now. It's just technically very tricky to make two separate site use the same security IDs and such and keep them in sync. In fact, if you remember, the original Twins Daily platform that we had until two years ago, the whole reason we switched was because there was just no way to do it with that platform. We had to build this one from the ground up just to have the IDs be able to be used across the platforms. So I appreciate your patience. We will work on that along with some other changes when we have a little more bandwidth.

Starting next week I will be in Jupiter for the Perfect Game WWBA World Championship. Last year saw the likes of first rounders: Matt Manning, Ben Rortvedt, Alex Kirilloff, Jason Groome, Josh Lowe, Delvin Perez, Carter Kieboom, Cole Ragans. Of the Top 50 HS players (rated by PG), the majority will be playing in the tourney: 2 Jordon "Jo" Adell OF 4 DL Hall LHP 6 Hans Crouse RHP 7 Alejandro Toral 1B 10 Conner Uselton OF 14 Calvin Mitchell OF 16 Tanner Burns RHP 17 Nick Allen SS 18 Brady McConnell SS 21 Cole Brannen OF 22 Adam Hall SS 23 Jeremiah Estrada RHP 25 Mitchell Stone LHP 26 Garrett "Hunter" Ruth RHP 27 Kyle Jacobsen OF 28 Mervyl "MJ" Melendez C 30 Mark Vientos SS 31 Drew Waters OF 32 Jayson Gonzalez MIF 34 Caleb Sloan RHP 36 Oraj Anu OF 37 Jordan Anderson OF 38 Jacob Pearson OF 40 Terriez Fuller OF 42 Ricardo De La Torre SS 43 Luis Campusano C 45 Jacob Gonzalez 3B 46 Logan Allen LHP 47 Tim Elko 3B 48 Philip Clarke C 49 Johnathan Rodriguez OF 50 Heliot Ramos OF

Agreed. At this point they will really win fans over by winning.

Individual players don't sell tickets, not Brian Dozier. How many less people buy tickets if they trade him? 50? 100? 1000 (no way)?

I would trade BD. I think the defense is close to a wash, with Polanco eventually being better than Dozier. And while Dozier had a four month stretch like few before him, I think Polanco is easily a much better pure hitter, and will continue to be so. Will he hit 40 HR's? Nope, and I really don't think Dozier will ever do that again. Or for that matter 30. They have added done and in to off the plate in how he is being pitched, and it's been very effective. He will still hit his 20 HR's, which is nothing to sneeze at. But I would sell as high as I can on him, while I can.

My then wife and I went to the Metrodome for the welcome home party. The people at the Metrodome later told me (I did some contract work at the Metrodome for a while and got to know a few of the people who worked there) they were stunned at the crowd that showed up to welcome the Twins back from Detroit.

Isn't this the kind of thinking that helped lead them to their run prevention mess this year? I've seen enough, honestly. He doesn't have the arm to be an asset at the position. He can play it serviceably, but they need more than that. Pointing to Baseball America's accolades from 2 or 5-6 years ago doesn't really support a strong case. Instead of pointing to those maybe you could look at what BA said about him in their most recent profile, from last year: "He has averaged 34 errors the past two seasons since moving to shortstop, showing fairly soft hands but an average arm that strains at times to match the added burden of the position. His range is only average and his play clock gets sped up, leading to unforced errors. Quiet and intelligent with a grinder's mentality, his makeup is strong. With all-star second baseman Brian Dozier locked up through 2018, Polanco is blocked at his best projected position"

Love Twins Daily. My view of Vikings Journal has been that it lacks good content and rarely has enough of it. That isn't helped that the comments sections are rarely entertaining to read - no one making an argument or starting a discussion. Maybe it's due to the basic difference between baseball and football? Baseball's stats make it easier for an everyday fan to make an argument and playing everyday keeps stories going. Football is significantly harder to understand and there's only 16-20 games a year.

Having both Dozier and Polanco on the same team is a sub-optimal use of their talents, as they belong both at 2B and putting one at SS or 3B diminishes his contribution. The question for me is whether trading either one brings back enough to exceed the suboptimal combination. (SydneyTwinsFan among others also expressed this point of view.) Therefore, before making any other decisions, I would shop both Dozier and Polanco hard. I want to know concretely the return either player would bring. Tactically, I think letting it be known both are being shopped will slightly increase the offers for the one who other GMs want more, probably Dozier - "I don't especially want Polanco, but if I lowball on Dozier, the Twins might accept an offer on Polanco from someone else, and then Dozier won't be traded". Dozier is at an age that he'd be the natural one to trade, if your business model is to exploit your minor league talent pipeline. We may look back and realize 2016 was his career year. On the other hand, if he's achieved a new level of performance, it's enough above average that he's the kind of player you want to retain. There is also the public relations problem with trading your best player, something that can not be ignored. So I want a lot in return for him, if I trade him - high upside starting pitching, to start with. The point of putting together a contending team is to fill all your positions with above MLB-average players. Those don't grow on trees. We finally have one. Polanco, as has been stated by others already, is less likely to bring back much in trade right now. If that assumption proves wrong, he's the one I probably deal. He projects as an above average 2B eventually, so I don't let him go for scraps in return. If neither trade option works out, I would roll with Polanco at SS for 2017.* I have been a harsh critic of Polanco's arm for a couple of years now, and I remain very skeptical he can ever become even an average shortstop overall. But his bat looks like it's good enough to make up for it, during a transition season; and unlike some players, being in over his head on defense didn't seem to harm his offensive production. Keep the channels open for a trade during 2017, and re-evaluate a year from now if I still have both players. * An option I haven't seen discussed: move Dozier to SS instead of Polanco. Both players are about average at 2B; if Dozier might provide marginally better defense at SS then that change has to be considered. The old regime seemed to give undue preference to veterans in their choice of positions; maybe under Falvey that changes. I think Dozier sees himself as enough of a team player to accept the challenge of being a mediocre SS for the good of the team. It's something Molitor wouldn't have asked of Dozier mid-season, but perhaps now he would.

Every single one of the scouts assigned to the international draft had more influence about both who should be signed and for how much than Billy Smith. And anyone who thinks they should all be fired is frightfully ignorant about the Twin's comparative success in the international arena. Smith's influence on the international effort, in truth, began much earlier than his short and disastrous tenure as GM. He, along with Andy MacPhail and Jim Pohlad, waged a long battle with Carl Pohlad before Carl finally capitulated and approved a massive budget increase that allowed the organization to finally build the necessary infrastructure of facilities and staff to build relationships and compete for talent in the D.R. This initiative took years, but they now have a beachhead there. Smith was a huge part of building this, and is still leaving his prints in this effort in very positive ways. The most striking recent evidence is the new joint facilities there, and anyone familiar with how the organization works will tell you that Billy Smith has been one of the people at the center of this undertaking.

Yeah, the problem with this is that the regime at Target Field is changing. So any alleged showcase could be dismissed with the presence of Derek Falvey. Personally, I think the trade Brian Dozier scenario is the most likely given where the Twins are at and what they need. You trade Jorge Polanco when you need to trade for a veteran because you're close to contention. You trade Brian Dozier when you need prospects to help your team improve. This team is definitely in the latter category.

stick him at short with sano at third. let them take their lumps.

I agree with Shane- starting SS. He actually is NOT horrible, and would be a great bridge to 2018. His bat will make up for a lot of defensive questions.

Parker, I love your writing. If you wrote a book I'd buy it in a second.

Starting SS.

Polanco as SS could be dicey if Sano is playing 3B. I think some of the offensive that Polanco may lack at 3B can be found at 2B by Dozier, 1B if Vargas platoons, and an improving OF of Rosario, Buxton, and Kepler. It isn't an ideal fit but giving up a little offense at 3B won't devastate this team. I agree, a utility role isn't appealing, but if Molitor uses Polanco like Dantana (i.e. playing him nearly every day) then I can stomach the utility role. Obviously 2B is the preferred spot for Polanco. I can see scenarios where options 1-4 work out. If somebody is traded, I hope its Dozier. He'll absolutely return more than Polanco, and he has only 2 years left on a good contract before free agency. Given the outlook for 2017 I think it makes much more sense to trade Dozier.

“What an unlikely bunch of champions we’re looking at here.” Those were the words NBC’s Bob Costas offered overlooking the on-field scrum of Minnesota Twins players as they pushed from the initial contact point near first base and moved as a horde toward second base across the historic Tiger Stadium infield. Costas’ assessment couldn’t have been more accurate. Most experts believed the Twins would be vastly outgunned by baseball’s winningest team in Detroit. The Tigers had the ability to score runs, they had the starting rotation depth, and they had the experience, having just won the World Series in 1984. Most believed the contest would last five games and end in the Tigers favor, not Twins.Across the board, pundits anticipated a Detroit Tiger filled World Series. Washington Post’s Thomas Boswell picked the Tigers in five saying that “this series isn’t going to be worth watching unless the Twins can get a game ahead somehow.” In Detroit, Tom Gage of the Detroit News summarized the baseball world’s opinion on the Twins by saying “the Twins really aren’t a good team.” Tim Kurkjian with the Baltimore Sun wrote Tigers in five because “they’re simply the better team.” So when closer Jeff Reardon speared the Matt Nokes comebacker and ran it toward the imposing Kent Hrbek before flipping him the ball and following his throw into his first baseman’s arms (before their teammates joined them in the infield, creating a mess of grey pinstriped jumping jubilation at the corner of Trumball and Michigan), the Twins had virtually done the near impossible. They had outscored Detroit 34-23 and manhandled the Tigers’ vaunted pitching staff. A staff that included trade deadline acquisition Doyle Alexander, who went 9-0 with a 1.53 ERA in 11 regular season starts including two wins against the Twins. “The Twins did everything better than we did this series,” Alexander said after going 0-2 with a 10.00 ERA against them in the postseason. The Twins also roughed up Jack Morris at the Metrodome after he had gone 2-0 in his two regular season starts against Minnesota. While the Tigers bullpen pitched well, rookie stopper Mike Henneman got touched for six runs in five innings while issuing six walks. For their part, Minnesota's pitchers kept Detroit’s big bats quiet throughout the series. Alan Trammell and Kirk Gibson were held silent, to Michigan’s dismay. “It’s obvious that I’ve stunk in this series,” said Gibson who finished 6-for-21 (.277) with 8 strikeouts. “I didn’t try to strike out, contrary to some people’s beliefs.” “I wished we would have showed what kind of offensive team we were,” Trammell added. The Tigers averaged the most runs per game, hit the most home runs, and held the highest slugging percentage of all American League teams -- it just wouldn’t show in the five-game series. "We were prepared for the series, mentally and physically," said Tigers centerfielder Chet Lemon. " We sent our guys out there. The Twins just outplayed us." “They were overwhelming underdogs,” NBC’s Tony Kubek said in analyzing the Twins’ victory over the heavily favored Tigers, “but they put together a championship series, taking advantage of every mistake the Tigers made.” No, fortunately for Minnesota fans, the overwhelming underdog was celebrating on the field that afternoon. **** Moments later, the Twins were ushered into the creaky and leaky bowels of Tiger Stadium, where cameras and reporters followed the team’s alcohol-soaked celebration. The questions from the media revolved around the team’s ability to prove doubters wrong. With each inquiry, a Twins player or coach responded that while outsiders may have not respected their capabilities, the team had every ounce of faith that they were good enough to play with the best. Gary Gaetti, who was announced as the series’ MVP, was inundated with post-game interview requests. He was not entirely thrilled by the process. “I’ll tell you the truth,” the Twins’ award-winning third baseman shared with the Star Tribune’s Dennis Brackin, “Winning this award spoils a lot of the fun that I wanted to have after the game. I got led around like a dog on a leash: ‘Go do this, go do that.’ I really wanted to be with my teammates. Even now, I can’t be with my team, doing what I want to do, because I have to answer the questions.” It took almost an hour after the game for Gaetti to pull himself away from the media horde and join his teammates in the jubilation. In tow, Gaetti had the ALCS MVP award trophy, a bronze bowl that he used as a large chalice to consume the celebratory bubbly. When he finally spotted outfielder Tom Brunansky, Gaetti sidled up next to him and demanded his teammate pour some of the champagne into the trophy. Gaetti took a swig and then shared it with Brunansky. “I thought it was still up in the air. I didn’t know a final decision had been made,” Gaetti said after finding out he was chosen by the writers for the honor. “I thought maybe they were going to grab Bruno, too. I felt pretty sad afterward because I really felt like he deserved it. Maybe they saw something that I didn’t.” The decision to give the award to Gaetti had not been made easy by Brunansky. After all, Bruno matched The Rat’s home run total (2) but had driven in nine to Gaetti’s five and gone 7-for-17 (.412). Voters pointed to Gaetti’s intangibles that separated him from Brunansky which included starting the scoring off in Game 1 with a big blast off Alexander and -- the play that Tigers’ manager Sparky Anderson considered the most crushing of the series -- the pickoff of Darrell Evans in Game 4. **** When you review why most writers favored Gaetti's candidacy over Brunansky, it was the pivotal Game 4 pickoff of Evans at third base that most consider as the difference-maker. In the sixth inning of Game 4, the Twins were up 4-3 but the Tigers had just tacked on a run and had sacrificed the 40-year-old Evans to third base with one out and the top of the lineup due up. In that scenario, Baseball Prospectus’ Run Expectancy Chart said the Tigers were likely to score 0.94 runs -- almost a guaranteed tie game. Tom Kelly had brought in his strikeout pitcher Juan Berenguer -- Senor Smoke, El Gasolino -- to dispatch Lou Whitaker and Alan Trammell. With Berenguer on the mound facing the left-handed Whitaker, inspiration struck Gaetti. There was an inherent risk that ran with trying to throw the ball down the line with ninety feet separating the Twins from a tied ballgame, a lot could go wrong including throwing the ball away that could result in Evans trotting home uncontested. But that’s the attitude the 1987 Twins brought with them: To hell with it, it’s just a game. He gave Tim Laudner a signal that alerted his catcher to throw the ball down to third. ''Gary and I have a predetermined signal, and he put it on,'' Laudner said later. ''If he puts it on, I'm going to throw it down there.” Once on the same page as his catcher, Gaetti then turned to third base umpire Joe Brinkman to be ready for a play. Gaetti added that he was having a “nice little conversation” with Evans right before putting the play on, lulling him into a false sense of security. “I gave Laudner the sign because I’ve seen Darrell off there a long way before. You’ve got to know your runners. He was about 20 feet off.” Evans was no further off the base than Gaetti as runners are directed and as Berenguer delivered his pitch, he shuffled closer towards home for his secondary lead. Evans, however, was still moving in that direction when Laudner sprung up from his crouch, rescuing a fastball from a date with the dirt. It was only when Laudner cocked his arm that Evans’ weight slammed down hard on his right leg and he tried in vain to scramble back to the safety of the base. Laudner’s throw was head-high and Gaetti, Evans and the ball reached the base at the same time. Gaetti snared the ball and in one motion slammed it on Evans’ back as he stretched for the bag. Brinkman raced in from his position on the third base line closer to the cut of the outfield grass. As he reached the scene, Brinkman gave an emphatic "out" signal. http://i.imgur.com/HhNLYXU.gif From his vantage point, you could certainly question whether Brinkman had the best angle to see the play. On his knees, the veteran Tiger pleaded his case and kept his hands on his hips to display his frustration. Without any replay, the argument fell on deaf ears but any argument was moot: NBC cameras situated along the third base line captured the play which showed Gaetti applying the tag with several inches to spare between Evans and third base. After the game, Evans told reporters that he was completely caught off-guard by the play. ''I wanted to get a good jump on a ground ball or have a chance to score if the ball's in the dirt,'' Evans said in the Tigers clubhouse, trying to justify why he was so far off of third base. ''I kind of hesitated because the ball was almost in the dirt. I was trying to read it. That's why I didn't get back right away. I would have liked to have been back another foot. Then I would've gotten back. He had a little trouble catching the ball, but when he did, he came up throwing.'' Gaetti, no doubt a fierce competitor, had mixed emotions about the play considering Evans had been one of his heroes. “[Evans] is a guy I have looked up to for a long time, so you hate to embarrass him,” Gaetti said. “But because I like him, I have watched him a lot in the past. He has a habit of wandering off the base. So we tipped off umpire Joe Brinkman so he would be ready and knew the play was coming. There is no doubt we got him and that play might have won the game for us.” In spite of the baserunning blunder, Evans’ 1987 season was special and he was one of the reasons the Tigers had won the AL East. During the regular season, Evans became the first 40-year-old to hit 30 home runs in a year. But with the combination of the baserunning gaffe and a muffed ground ball at third that led to a Twins run, Detroit fans turned on Evans and booed him. That emotion would be short-lived, however, as fans gave Evans a standing ovation when he came the plate for his first at-bat in the deciding Game 5. "I think it was well-deserved," Kirk Gibson said of the adulation. "Let's put it this way. A select few fans booed him last night. I don't expect it to happen to me when I swing at a bad pitch. I didn't expect it to happen to Darrell. It was a nice gesture." **** The in-series decision-making by the Twins’ skipper would turn out to be critical, too. Tom Kelly’s juggling of his rotation was met with at least some bit of resistance. For Game 5, Kelly opted to go with veteran Bert Blyleven on three days rest rather than Joe Niekro. Had it backfired and the Tigers come away with a win, Kelly would have been forced to use either Niekro or Les Straker in Game 6 and have Frank Viola as the insurance policy in the event of Game 7, rather than just set his rotation for a more conventional Blyleven/Viola combination for the series’ last two games. Following the game, NBC’s Marv Albert pointed out that Kelly had been aggressive throughout the series. Kelly, in his always low-key manner with the media, agreed. “We try to be aggressive, we try to entertain the people, that’s one of our philosophies coming into spring training. We’re gonna try to take the game to them.” One example of the team's aggressiveness came in the former of Randy Bush. Bush, a career platoon player who had just turned 29 days before Game 2, found himself feeling frisky on the bases. Up until this point in his career, the part-time outfield had swiped 19 bases in 28 tries in 641 games with the Twins. Of those 19 stolen bases, 10 of them came under Kelly's watch in 1987. So when Bush laced a single to center in the bottom of the fourth, Kelly saw an opportunity to catch the Tigers sleeping. Tigers' ace Jack Morris had a big leg kick and a darting split-finger that made it difficult for his catchers to handle and throw. As such, his battery mates were able to only nab 9 of the 40 runners. While the Tigers owned the league's third-lowest caught stealing rate (26 percent), Detroit's catcher that day, Mike Heath, had been very good at thwarting base larceny. Heath had caught 39 percent of would-be base-stealers, fourth-best in the American League that year. On the first pitch to Brunansky, Morris barely comes set before going into his high leg kick. Bush bolted on first movement. Morris’ fastball runs in hard to his arm side and Heath almost picks it off of Brunansky’s back foot. To his credit, Heath fires a strike down to second but the big leg kick and pitch location gave Bush an advantage. His head first slide beats the play. Now on second, with a 2-1 count to Brunansky, Bush surprises everybody by heading to third. While the steal of second was predetermined from the dugout, Bush said later that he had confidence that he could take third. Bush gave third base coach Rick Renick the signal alerting him that Bush felt he could take the base and waited for the green light, which he got on the 2-1 pitch. Again, Morris’ delivery to the plate resulted in a ball running in on Brunansky. For a moment it appeared that Heath was going to receive the ball and throw in one motion behind Brunansky’s back but the Tigers catcher bobbled the ball in the exchange and that fraction of a second gave Bush the base. How surprising was the move? “Well,” Kelly told reporters later, “[bush] very rarely gets to second base.” The commotion rattled Morris. He would walk Brunansky and then Greg Gagne before striking out Launder. With the bases loaded and two out, Morris was especially careful when pitching to Dan Gladden. His darting and diving repertoire had resulted in 24 wild pitches in 1987, ten more than the next closest pitcher. After falling behind Gladden 2-0, Morris threw two fastballs for called strikes. The location of those strikes, had it happened today, would have prompt people on Twitter to screengrab the Statcast strike zone and snarkily demand robot umpires. After fouling off several fastballs off the plate to stay alive, Morris finally hung Gladden a curveball that caught too much of the zone and Gladden happily pulled it through the 5.5 hole, scoring both Bush and Brunansky and giving the Twins a lead that would put Game 2 out of reach. The Minnesota Twins would take a 2 game lead into Tigers Stadium. They certainly took the game to the Tigers. The veterans from the Motor City were outgunned by the young offensive upstarts from the Twin Cities. While the Tigers beat their opponents into submission by scoring 5.53 runs per game (roughly 13 percentage higher than the league’s average), the Twins scored 6.8 runs per game in the series. Kelly’s 1987 squad was no slouch when it came to the long ball either -- they mashed 196 home runs, fifth in the league but 29 fewer than the AL East-winning Detroit club. Opponents pitched around many in the heart of the order but no one more than Hrbek. That year, teams opted to put Hrbek on first 12 times rather than tangling with him. Only Wade Boggs, George Brett and Don Mattingly garnered more respect that season. Still, Kelly knew what type of club he had, one that was built for power not for speed and had some weaknesses past the meat of the order. He would have the likes of Gagne, Lombardozzi and Newman sacrifice runners along to set up Puckett, Hrbek, Gaetti and Brunansky to drive them in. "Tom Kelly is a manager who worked hard in the minor leagues and came forward and taught these players to go out and have fun and play," Tigers manager Sparky Anderson remarked about his managerial compatriot in the opposing dugout. **** Following the game, Anderson complimented the Twins on their series, noting that they were the superior team over the course of those five games. Anderson also paused and gave a word of advice for the Twins’ next challenger: “And those Minnesota fans? Good luck to those two National League teams that have to go listen to that noise.” Fans had been at the forefront for the entire season, helping in the team’s 56-25 home record. The fans were front and center during the ALCS, making racket, waving the white Homer Hankies and adding to the Tigers’ on-field confusion. In addition to the noise, the white roof and lighting added to the lethal combination for visiting players. Don Baylor, whom the Twins acquired at the waiver deadline in August had plenty of experience playing in the stadium as a guest before calling it home. "The lighting here is something you never get accustomed to if you're a visiting player. You can always see a fluctuation of lighting. By the time you get over that feeling, you're down by two runs." As the post-game celebration continued -- with the Twins’ roster and coaching staff dripping in champagne and cheap beer -- KARE11, the local NBC affiliate broadcasting the game, notified viewers that the team would host a welcoming party that night at the Metrodome. The gates would be opening at 9 PM. It would be a homecoming that a generation of Minnesota Twins fans would never forget. Click here to view the article

I admit to an obsession with combating that dogged obsession of yours and others to paint a false picture of things. You aren't obsessed about crediting Smith. It's all about discrediting Ryan. It's actually unfair in different ways to both men. They spent big because it was Sano, Mike. No odd coincidence involved in any way whatsoever. Wander Javier probably garnered similar conviction from the scouting staff and therefore was signed at what constitutes a greater organizational risk than Sano represented, and this was not done under Smith's "watch". The point I have repeatedly made is that the GM's role in all of this is being overplayed, often for the sole purpose of getting in another dig at Ryan. So let's have a truce. You guys give up your obsession at blaming Ryan by crediting Smith, and I'll give up responding with a very accurate description of how a whole lot of people should get the credit and why both Smith and Ryan are practically bit players in the scheme of things. If Wander Javier turns out to be a stud, and you start to obsess about crediting Ryan for signing him (now THAT'S funny!), I'm gonna be there.

The 87 Twins were a raucous bunch that played with a chip on their shoulder and won it all. The 91 Twins were a professional team through and through, took care of business and won it all. Be nice to see one or the other show up in the near future with Twins teams.

As I continue to read the thread I see my questions have already been answered.

I'm surprised how many people are fine with him playing ss considering how frustrated we have been with our overall defense. The Twins have to start playing guys at their best positions which is 2nd for Jorge.

I think baseball is a much more nuanced game than football. Hitting the cut-off man, a player not properly covering a base, loafing while getting into position, all of these factors can affect the outcome of a baseball game. Football, at least the last time I watched, was about pass, pass again and then pass some more....with the hopes of getting a "completion" via a phantom "pass interference" call. I find football to be boring and predictable. Plus, the players and the on field celebrations for making a first down have become reminiscent of the touchdown celebrations of a decade ago. However, with baseball, I can safely say that even with the hundreds of games I've watched, there will always be something that happens that I've never seen before.

Interesting, it almost seems like I'm plagiarizing your material, word for word.

I am not sure how many of the stadiums with have Pitch f/x, but the first two games have. It is great to be able to 'watch' the quality and location of the prospects pitches. One thing that really stands out is how (relatively) poor their command is! For MLB games, you rarely see pitches miss the plate by 6 inches, but I bet 25% of the tracked pitches in the AFL are off by that much. Even more noticeable is how many times the hitters swing at them!

If Berrios was still a "prospect" he'd certainly still be the Twins #1 prospect.. I assume Ted would agree?

I watched that game 5 with pals at Stub & Herbs- what a game! And that night at the Dome, when the team returned to a full house- wow, one of my favorite sports memories of all time. It was a special time, and a special team. I gotta find those old photos from that rally sometime- if I do, I'll post 'em here. If anybody else has some, please do the same!

I give Billy Smith credit for being one of a number of people who advocated in favor of opening up the wallet and taking the risk on Sano. Contrary to your myth, he wasn't even the most adamant voice, or the most influential. I doubt he even offered an opinion about Kepler, Polanco, or any of the others. He never saw Kepler play a single inning of baseball, and wouldn't know what to make of it if he did. Howard Norsetter had multiple times more influence on that decision, financial and otherwise, than Smith. I admire Billy Smith for who he is and what he's accomplished for the organization. I wish you and others gave him the credit he deserves for the things he's actually done instead of making up your own incredibly false history in an opaque attempt to continue to smear Ryan.

Agreed about the first 3, but English went 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts. If that is "not bad", then what is "bad"?

Yeah, but we knew he wouldn't. IIRC, the consensus was the Twins would nab the pitcher that was left - Appel, Gray or Stewart. There was some discussion of the two Georgia OFers but they were secondary to pitching.

Speaking of first base, I am eagerly awaiting our bi-annual tradition of celebrating Mauer's health! We're probably 5 months away from that "Mauer feels like he's 19 again!" newspaper article and about 11 months from the "Mauer: I used a walker in the hallways between games but kept playing like a trooper" follow-up. Play Vargas.

http://mlb.mlb.com/images/0/5/0/187004050/062916_sano_med_ok9rqg9t.gif ..............

Jeremy, none of us say it enough, but thank you for the work that you do on here. It is always good discussion, and reading about the potential players is exciting. I appreciate it.

Jay (if throwing out of the bullpen) can be 95-98, with a great slider. OK, maybe not Andrew Miller... how about Glen Perkins. I'd say that would be great too. And, there are plenty who don' think that Gordon will stick at shortstop, and there are as many who think he will, probably more. Some of that will depend on others as well.

I miss those pinstriped unis...like them better than our current away ones. The Evans play is my favorite all time Twins' defensive play....I will never forget watching that. Thanks Parker!