TheLeviathan

I think Arcia's season has gone as expected, he had a lot more to work on than some thought preseason and we're seeing the fruits of his struggles now.

They might not....and if they don't you don't move him. I'm simply endorsing that we shop him because it would make sense from a value standpoint and for getting Santana back to where he needs to be playing.

People keep pointing out the problem with "sell high" is that no other teams will want him because he's a likely regression candidate...but then they argue he's a really valuable guy to keep around because of his production in future seasons. I'm a bit confused how we want to have it both ways.

Possibly, that's the risk in buying high, but teams do this. The Twins should shop him before he goes pumpkin and see if there are any takers. The team needs to find plan Bs, but if you can take one of your Plan Bs and turn it into a Plan A - it's worth exploring.

Except this is based on the premise that 2014 Escobar will be 2015 Escobar and I have serious doubts about that.

Of course no one is going to come calling drunk on love for 360 plate appearances. But they may see him in a more positive light than they would otherwise. Especially given the dearth of shortstops out there. It's a scarecrow to think "sell high" means you're going to get Alex Meyer or something for him. No one is saying that. You might, however, find an interesting young OF for him so you can slide Santana where he needs to be.

I agree diehard, I'd shop him not just because he's a great "sell high" guy but also because Santana needs to be the SS Longterm and I'd rather gamble on him maintaining his production than Escobar.

I think shopping Escobar now for an elevated return is worth pursuing.

You have to look at the context of that quote, it was in a story about Vargas having shifts getting in his head. So he was trying to overcompensate in his approach to beat shifts. I don't think the Twins as heavy-handed about their "slap it the other way" approach for a few years now.

That's exactly what it means - and it's great!

It boggles my mind that people are so opposed to a poor reflection on the organization that they'd rip these kids for what they are working on just so there isn't the slightest negative criticism. This team was too heavy handed for a long time in their player molds and, much to Ryan and others credit, that's no longer the case. So let's relish in this new, better way of operating as a team and coaching staff and not be so damn defensive of the poorer methods left behind.

I don't get why we have to dog Arcia and Vargas for something that comes with their game. They are under 25 years old - one of their best strengths is turning and driving the ball. We should be celebrating that the Twins are working to build on strengths and improve weaknesses rather than trying to completely reinvent every guy into Slappy McGoTheOtherWay. Yeah, Arcia and Vargas aren't all-star finished products. Give em some damn time and be thrilled at how they are managing to drive the ball with authority. David Ortiz pointed, more than anything else, at the mental relief to not feel pressure to be something he was not. He still had to learn to improve his game, but he also felt free to play HIS game. Let's be happy these kids are coming up, playing to their strengths at a young age in MLB, and finding some success.

I agree, but if you're trying to source the reason for people playing doctor - that uncertainty is precisely why. When Adrian Peterson busted his knee, no one felt compelled to play doctor. Why? Because we knew what was wrong, there was no reason to. Likewise with every other injury that is clearly labeled. To the contrary, when someone has an "upper body injury" in the NHL that could be code for anything from a concussion to a shoulder. But with the uncertainty you have people start to play doctor. It's human nature to try and fill in the gaps of what you don't know when you have part of the puzzle. So some of the push-back Mauer got on that injury was precisely for that reason. I'm not speaking about this positively or negatively, just tracing the source of the issue. To Seth's dubious counterpoint - as fans we "need to know" absolutely nothing but teams are generally open about injuries precisely to avoid silly speculation. You also invite speculation when you sound like you got your diagnosis from this guy: http://static.comicvine.com/uploads/square_small/0/7203/161847-12776-dr-nick-riviera.png

This doesn't exactly mesh with your version Seth. This indicates he was telling his manager it wasn't his knee, but other parts of his lower body. I think something was definitely wrong, not that he was soft. However, I also remember getting exasperated with all this vague, made-up sounding nonsense at the time. It was the precursor to the "lower body injury" nonsense we see in the NHL and NFL now.

This points to the real cause of the "everyone is a doctor" thing: the mystery surrounding his prolonged absence. It was as much a public relations bungling as it was anything.

This isn't a hindsight issue - over at BYTO that was always the chief complaint about Ryan. Everyone knew his hands were being tied by ownership, but that didn't make his FA choices any easier to swallow. Last year he stepped out of that box, let's hope he stays there.

Right, using the pitching, defense, and hitting. The winning pitcher is only partially responsible for one of those three things.

Counter-factuals like this really aren't a valid argument. I know it sounds like it is to say "yeah, but what could've been better" but it eliminates the trade market among other things for how resources could be allocated. The issue is the approach, not necessarily the results. Now results like Ramon Ortiz, White, Cirillo, Ponson, etc. tend to verify my problem with the approach, but that's not the issue. The truth is in 2007 there was 9M dollars worth of dead weight on a team with a 70 million-ish payroll. That's pretty significant and something we saw consistently through our competitive years from Ryan.

And that's all it indicates. The factors that determine whether it was "well enough" combine a whole host of factors well beyond that player's control. No one is saying it's useless, just far from the go-to. (Far, FAR from it)

There is and it was a wonderful breath of fresh air. But let's not pretend Ryan's dabbling in FA has ever made much sense. Even under restrictive payrolls he nickel'd and dime'd rather than sought true upgrades. (Just look at some of the wasted millions between 2005-2008 that, if combined, might have actually added someone who could play baseball effectively) So fair or not, Ryan has a reputation he has to buck to make people believe he's changed his stripes.

You lost me at "W" is the most telling statistic. Sorry.

Gibson has taken a really positive step forward. If he continues this kind of pitching he's a real asset and probably better considered a #3 and a solid one at that.

Looks like they moved him to the pen with a promotion to AAA, so far so good on the experiment but nothing notable. Just solid production.

It's nice to see difficult adjustments being made successfully. Very promising for this kid,

Huzzah!