Monkeypaws

One of those prospects that really rounds out the system. Elite tools are worth drafting with the hope the rest of their game can follow suit.

If you are doing something and you know it is illegal, are you going to tell your friends, or keep it to yourself?

I completely forgot Joe Crede played for the Twins - poor guy only had 2 seasons with more than 500 ABs. Him and John Castino could share some backache stories and shoulda woulda couldas on their eerily similar injury-shortened careers.

At first glance I thought it said Emily and Marney Mauer. whew.

I've noticed that with Oswaldo before.

Kind of like with Morneau - why trade him if the return has little to no chance of ever being as good as Duensing is now?

Thanks for the nightmare Tom

Don't think you will find much disagreement there - he is to baseball what Tom Chorske is to hockey: "who told him he needed hand gestures to get his point across!?" They look like they need someone to choke. Bloody FSN!

I thought this funny money didn't matter.

I prefer Coomer - his insight on hitting, coupled with Bert's knowledge of pitching, makes for knowledgeable commentary. TK has knowledge, just a delivery I find dull. Each to their own....

By extension, Morneau could have a lot more RBIs too. Right?

Florimon is a classic shortstop with some pop. Dozier is a classic second baseman with some pop. (Classic = very good fielding / somewhat light hitting). I think they've been one of the success stories of this season. However, Dozier needs to be the utility guy here. Following in the shoes of Denny Hocking and Nick Punto ain't bad. Give that boy some practice at 3rd and short next spring. If Plouffe got comfortable at the IF/OF corners, this could be the foundation of a pretty nice bench for years to come.

Yet he is our best run producer. Guess there is work to be done!

Building a friendly competition sounds like a good plan.

To me, a franchise where you are trying to address fundamental needs through free agency is an upside-down franchise, equivalent to a home with an upside-down mortgage. Free agents compliment a solid fundamental roster - trying to build from the ground up with free agents is a recipe for Cubs. Once the essential pieces are in place, Sano, Buxton, Rosario, Meyers, then you can complement a solid roster with missing pieces. The Twins are just lacking in too many areas the last few years to go there.

Do intangibles enter the conversation with baseball fans? As a hockey fan, we often talk about what else a player brings to the table besides what appears on the scoresheet. Morneau ain't what he was if you look purely at numbers, but might there be other things he brings to the team that don't translate into numerical analysis?

Trading Justin to a contender would be nice for him, for sure. OTOH. I think we often see guys over the hill before they actually are. The Ex-Twins team would mop up the floor with the current team.

I'd rather keep Morneau than trade him for middling prospects. It would be nice to see the Twins allow at least one player to stay with dignity instead of trading them off like chattel, especially a former MVP. Maybe I'm to sentimental to be a good sports owner, but wouldn't it be fitting to have Morneau rediscover his power and come to Target Field next summer as another ex-Twin All Star.

It's very easy to take risks from the cat-bird's seat, and call anything else pantywaist, timid, cowardly, etc. I'm sure TR would get some real-world heat from his employers if he went mad with REAL money and wasn't 100% spot-on in his investments. This is real money folks, not Monopoly money or fantasy baseball.

It is fun to have young guys like Stewart and Berrios to track through the system. Every draft should have at least one of these HS studs in it.

No prob. I'm not defending the dog doodoo signings. I'd rather they tried doing it from within than going the nibble-nuts route. (Although I think Pelfrey was a good gamble). And yes , I also agree you fill holes with free agent signings. You don't fill canyons. Better to suck royally and get some Buxton, Stewart type talent in the system than settle into mediocrity. Limited resources a la Pohlad. I don't expect these conservative midwest bankers to be spendthrifts. It's not like the Twins are owned by oil shieks. My expectations are tempered by just being realistic given their frugal history. Just to be clear, i am not a fiscal conservative. However, I don't consider those who are as being timid or passive. Wrong-minded maybe? Opportunity/cost is just basic micro-economic theory. I wouldn't call it passive or timid, but strict and draconian. We may just be arguing semantics here....

Let's not confuse incompetence with timidity. I always considered Philip Humber's perfect game major league baseball's attempt at trolling the Twins.

If the player fails a la Nishi, it's the cost of lost opportunity - those dollars won't be available for other free-agents. I'm just being realistic; these are the Twins, not the Yankees. The big salary days of year 1 of Target Field were an aberration. I saw a slideshow on Yahoo today about empty seats around MLB - the Twins were 14 of the 15 shown. Yeah, the product stinks, but Target Field, while considerably improving revenues, is not a bottomless pit of money.

A steady stream of above average to excellent talent bubbling up from the minors. Music to my ears. I remember back in 2004 the Twins were winning and also had one of the better systems per BA, and were named organization of the year. We got half the equation so far. I just hope guys like Walker, Hicks, Stewart, Berrios, Vargas, Kepler, etc. can keep the ball rolling as the cream gets skimmed off the top. A lousy finish to the season will at least bring in another 5 star prospect hopefully.

One thing to consider: throwing a ton of money at 1 player might be a good strategy if said player will turn you from a pretender to a contender, or a contender to a favorite. If it will turn you from a doormat to an also-ran, not so much, and not so attractive to players who can pick their destination. Fiscally, having a young, homegrown core to build around has been a pretty good formula. The Twins are getting there, and will get there within the financial constraints the Twins have always operated under. Buying high, especially for a wild-card player with no MLB experience, is risky business. For every Ichiro there is a Nishi, for every Yu Darvish a Dice K. Reusse might call that timidity, but I'd call it common sense, or responsible, as opposed to gambling with limited resources. If the guy works out, great, but if not, you've set the franchise back; again, this is less catastrophic for a teams that have already assembled a competitive core. There's nothing timid about considering the cost of lost opportunity.