chopper0080

Didn't they have 3 aribtration years availabel with Dozier though? Why not pay as you go while you can, and then make the deal with the progress of your farm system in mind? I agree that he earned a raise, but I just don't understand the business reasoning behind giving up so many arbitation years with a roster as bad as this is.

Yeah, waiting on prospects is kind of like gambling your pay check every month. It can work out, but the odds of it doing so aren't great, and you can't really expect folks to understand if it doesn't. The entire front office responsible for the baseball product on the field deserves to be fired after this season, and anything short of that tells you how much the organization cares about winning. It doesn't matter what competitive progressdevelopment is made, if the team loses 90 games again, everyone deserves to go.

Agreed, though I am worried about why our front office decided to extend Hughes when they had him signed to a pretty cheap, multi year, contract already. That is money that could have been spent elsewhere. Same question with Dozier. Two signs that point to an office trying to look like they are spending rather than making smart financial business decisions.

I expect the Twins to execute a plan and stick to it. I expect them to be professional enough to not cave into public pressure when their crap roster of players plays like crap. I'm not excited about this team, and haven't been for years, but that is what happens when the team is ok being awful while they wait for prospects who may, or may not, develop. What I want...I want this team to try and win. I want this team to invest in solid baseball players that are worth watching. I want this team to adapt, adjust, evolve, and compete every year. I want this team to be embarrased to put an awful team on the baseball field. Essentially, I want them to operate like the St. Louis Cardinals. However, the Twins do not seem interested in doing so, and so I will see if they do what I expect of them rather than what I want.

Ok, I will put on my tinfoil hat for this one. 1-Terry Ryan is a smart man and did not suddenly forget how to build a baseball team. He may be behind on some things, but not 90 losses for four seasons bad. 2-Target field got built, and the team gets significant money from corporate seats and local media contracts. 3-Twins ownership is still the same family it was. Terry Ryan is executing the plan that the owner and front office have agreed to. The money is secure, the media deal is in place, and now all we have to do is sell hope. So, the Twins are selling the prospect/farm system rebuild with one or two vet players added every year to appease though concerned about spending. They hold onto any fringe vet signing that shows success so they can show they are trying to contend, and give the fans another reason to come to the park. But, and I am certain of this, the Twins are willing to wait on their farm system, and are ok with whatever it produces. I do not believe ownership is concerned with consistently being competitive as much as they are concerned with only spending if their prospects pan out and they are close to a title. Regardless of what is said otherwise, I believe their actions reflect this plan/mindset the most accurately.

What is funny is that for all of my critique of the Twins front office, and their roster construction, making a full flip just makes them look worse. Incompetence is just as bad ignorance. Either they were lying that the young players weren't ready, or they aren't, and this would just be another kneejerk reaction doomed for failure. If it is me, and it isn't, you just keep trotting out awful baseball until your young players force their way up. Yes, you are going to lose fans, but you made that choice in the offseason when you assembled this mess. If Hicks is better than what we have, move him up. If not, don't. If there are better RPs bring them up, but if not, don't. This is the sort of flip flopping that has caused us to make no progress in a rebuild process that is 4 years in. Make a plan. Stick with the plan. See how it plays out. If that means we aren't competitive until 2017 and Terry Ryan gets fired...oh well. That can happen when you back the prospect train.

1-Joe Mauer is relevent every time the Twins talk about payroll and payroll limitations. When they set a spending cap for themselves which limits their ability to sign depth and above average MLB players, Mauer's contract plays into that. That is a fact. 2-I agree, the team needed to rebuild, but why haven't they done it? Rebuilding doesn't mean 4 years in you are worse than when you started. I expect a rebuilding team to sign good players, which they haven't. If they are going the prospect route then I expect them to flip those players for more prospects. Also, if you are going the prospect route, those prospects better work out or you should be fired. You can't tank a franchise for four years, not get any results, and then be excused. Regardless of your approach, you have to recognize the uncertainty of prospects, and continue to add quality MLB players while those prospects develop. 3-You honestly believe that Twins haven't pushed Buxton and Sano as the future of this franchise? You don't believe we haven't added a legitimate MLB CF in two years because of Buxton? You don't believe the Twins have chosen to hold down their self appointed payroll budget in order to wait for their top prospects to be ready? If not, then you are essentially stating that the Twins are awful because they want to be awful rather than because they are waiting for the Sano/Buxton prospect train to roll in. 4-If Ryan isn't trying to fool fans than why did he claim this was a roster that could compete? He is either incompetent or putting forth a false narrative, you tell me which it is. Also, if we have better players available, why wouldn't they break camp with us? Why wait 6 weeks from now? What is that telling your fans? I'm never just blamed the pitching and defense. You just put those words in. I said that we are outmatched at almost every position on the field, every game we play. I said I blame this organization for not having one single thing they can count on. Their starting pitching is bad. Relief pitching is bad. defense is bad. Offense is bad. There is not one single aspect of baseball that this roster does well.

Somebody tell Terry Ryan that "can't hit, can't pitch, and can't field" is a poor roster building philosophy, and doesn't make you a contender.

Agreed. We bought low and then gave an extension, rather than using those savings to build a better roster. The same applies to Dozier is some respects. Why are we extending players who he have under team control for multiple years? Who knows what the team is going to look like in two or three seasons, and if we are going to even want to pay Hughes and Dozier. One more example of how this rebuilding has been FUBAR'd.

If Hunter is your #4 hitter, you're building your roster wrong.

Terry Ryan is just secretly trying to recreate the movie Major League in 2016. Joe Mauer as Jake Taylor Alex Meyer as Wild Thing Rick Vaughn Bryan Buxton as Willie Mays Hayes Miguel Sano as Pedro Cerrano Brian Dozier as Roger Dorn Paul Molitor as Lou Brown

To be fair, Nolasco getting paid $11.5 million for his mediocrity isn't really his fault. He just took what was offered. I find it hard to believe he is trying to play this poorly.

Absolutely, but that is why it is important to build in room for error. The Twins have not done that at all which is why when normal situations occur, it impacts the team so much.

It is the home opener. The interesting conversation is in June and July, are local fans so limited in things to do that they will still be at the park and care to boo. My hope is that the seats are empty like they are in Florida, it starts to generate national TV attention with how empty the new park is, and the Twins are forced to clean house, or admit they just don't care.

John, I respect the access you have, your opinions, and that you share the information you have. I want to state that before i disagree with you. Re: Ryan. Lie might be a strong term, but Terry Ryan sold this team as a team that was going to compete this year. The level of talent on the team is pretty clear prior to and so far this season. Terry Ryan knows talent, and knows baseball. If his statement wasn't an outright lie, he was selling an absolute best case scenario because this team as a group is a trainwreck, and that has been clear to me since the beginning of spring training. I have a tough time buying that he just missed on all of these areas. Re: Hunter. Management can be skeptical of defensive metrics, and still have clearly seen Hunter's issues last year. You say it wasn't a marketing ploy, but why else would you give Hunter that kind of money for what he brings in terms of skills if not to play to nostalgic fans? They had a need, wanted to show spending, and needed to drum up interest from fans. I don't believe it was coincidence that signing Hunter hit all of these areas. Re: defense...if they can't see defensive issues this clearly, then I question the organization from the top down because ignorance is just as bad as incompentence. I don't think they planned on the starting pitching to erode as fast as it has. I'm sure Santana and Nolasco were a gut punch to Ryan and the rest of the front office. That being said, there is a huge arguement to be made that this team is worse than it was four years ago, despite being sold as the year the team turned the corner. My opinion is the team decided four years ago to go the prospect route, failed to clearly identify the time frame in which it's players would be ready, and have been scrambling these past two years to try and get fans to the park. Ijust have a tough time buying that these guys are so ignorant that they didn't see this coming.

But we still had Span and Revere in the organization, so athletic OFs were still flush and cheap.

I don't believe there is a manager in baseball that could win with this roster. You have to have talent to coach, and this team doesn't have talent. No manager can make Hunter 32 instead of 39. No manager can make Arcia a plus outfielder. No manager can make Shafer/Robinson legitimate MLB players. No manager can make nearly our entire bullpen not fringe players. No manager can make Nolasco healthy/interested. No manager can make Santana clean. No manager can make Santana and Vargas not avoid their natural regression. I think Molitor is getting the most he can out of this group of players which speaks to the level of talent on it.

Why bring up prospects early this year, when you can bring them up later, and then sell their struggles next year as hope during another losing season? Some may see this as a "tin foil hat" arguement, but I am serious. This team marketed it's farm system development for four years, and Buxton/Sano for three years despite being in A ball. They are clearly putting all on their eggs in that basket, and so there is no rush to bring those prospects up. They can do some mid season call ups. Then sell their success as hope next season, or their struggles as youth next season. Either way they still sell tickets, and have an excuse why the team is terrible.

This leads to my biggest question regarding Hicks. Is he really not better as a fielder than Robinson or Shafer or Hunter? If not, than he was a bust as a pick and as a prospect. If he is, than why isn't he on the Twins and working towards a gold glove?

You could be right, but I give Terry Ryan the credit of being a very smart baseball man. He was one of the early champions of pitching and defense winning baseball games. I have a tough time believing he suddenly has forgotten this in a time where defense and pitching are at an all time high. The truth is, as defense has become more important, it has also become tougher and more costly to acquire. Arcia is cheap. Hunter was a marketing ploy. Willingham was cheap. Robinson and Shafer are cheap but look the part despite being bad defensively.

He isn't. The Hunter signing was a way to spend money while also placating nostalgic fans. Another marketing ploy to cover up one of the league least talented rosters.

They will adjust the marketing like they have the past 4 seasons. The laughable part is that I give Terry Ryan more respect than he gives me. I know he is smart enough to realize the talent that he put on the field this year despite his claims of a roster that can compete. He knew he was putting an awful product on the field, but he obviosuly doesn't believe his fans are smart enough to see it.

So, this is the Twins organization essentially saying that the fans have nothing better to do, and they have enough corporate seats to keep the stadium full despite the quality of the product as long as they do a few small things to generate irrational hope. The first was the Mauer extension. The arguements can go back and forth on his value, but for a team that is unwilling to spend to compete with other teams, it was a crippling contract. No player in MLB can have the impact needed for a player that takes up that much of the team's spending. But, the Twins did it to give their fans something to come to the ballpark for. Next, they sold the idea of rebuilding the farm system knowing that they would be able to save in terms of spending for a couple years with the promise of by building a prospect base. Then they sold Buxton and Sano as the future of the team despite both being in A ball at the time. Fans started to generate time frames, and multi year plans in regards to one of the most uncertain development processes in professional sports. Top prospects fail all the time, but the Twins sold the idea that these guys were can't miss, and were going to immediate stars. This offseason they still sold that, but also sold that the fans deserve a better on field product, and then still gave them this absoluet crap product on the field. In the year where Terry Ryan said he thought we could compete, we may end up with the worst record in baseball. You can't tell me Terry Ryan isn't smart enough to know what he is putting on the field. He is just banking that the fans aren't which is what upsets me the most.

To blame Molitor is to ignore a real truth about coaching. You have to have talent to coach, and the Twins roster does not have talent. The blame goes on Terry Ryan, and has this whole time. You can't take 2, 3 and 4 years to retool a team in today's sports, especially when you have very little to show in terms of progress. Ryan either misevaluated where his farm system was at, which is his fault, or he thought that this group of players actually was talented enough to win, which is also his fault. Any way you cut it, this team is worse than it was during it's first 90 loss season in terms of starting pitching, relief pitching, offense, and defense. That is a travesty. Good teams, especially those who exceeed expectations, win because of their level of talent. My issue heading into the season with those who thought we could compete was, we simply don't have the talent to do so. When we play the Royals, they are almost better at every position on the field than we are. It is tough to win 3 or 4 game series when this is true for almost every team you play.

This roster is a joke.