DocBauer

If Meyer was 2 inches taller, I wonder if he would have been the #1? Everything is seemingly there except the traditional worries about downward plane and endurance not having that "classic" build.

Articles like this are always fun/interesting in a perverse kind of way. But they always remain pointless at the end of the day. The Trout example has always made me shake my head when brought up because most teams passed, therefore, all but 1 team made the same mistake. The Oelkers pick does hurt though as it proved to be so bad, and it was such a high pick.

And with the crazy state we find ourselves in, I wouldn't be surprised. All logic would dictate a college pitcher. Even at 27, it would appear the great depth this year should bring someone the Twins really like. But as crazy as things are, it wouldn't surprise if a HS player slipped down that far. I forget his name right now, but there is a TOP HS SS I've read of that might be right in the Twins wheelhouse if things play just right.

While owners, and ownership partners, make money off MLB, the very fact that CAN buy a team (in any professional sport) means they have the financial ability to do in the first place from all their other business and investments. Yes, they make a profit off that team, but they generally buy said franchise for the sporting/fun aspect or ego, or both. While it is very possible ownership cooks the books to some degree...not saying yes or no...the basic financial numbers don't appear to be in dispute. A full, normal ML season brings in around $10B. Half a season is around $5B. That's just easy math. No fan attendance would be anywhere from 25-40% of that revenue depending on what source you cited. So $5B easily becomes something like $3B, once again just doing basic math. There will be no milb season, yet many teams, including the Twins, are still paying their players. A pittance? Perhaps, but as pointed out, they are also still running their franchises and paying personnel, including a lump sum to the players previously, with ZERO $ coming in. Tell me again how there is no red at this point? The owners have every right, as owners of a business, entertainment or otherwise, to at least mitigate their losses for 2020. And let's be clear, not all teams and all financial situations are equal. Due to media deals and the such, it's possible teams like the Yankees or Dodgers, etc, might eek out a profit or break even without fans. Maybe. But what about the Twins, the Royals, etc, that are mid or small market teams? Ownership is going to lose money. Period. They are willing to do so because they also want baseball and none of them seem to want to sell. (Though this would be a poor time to do so if they did). But all that being said, they also can't expect their primary employees to play for 15% of their contract. (The Trout example of $30M being only $5M on the initial proposal). For the good of the sport, for any HOPE of harmony in the next CBA, they need something better than their initial sliding scale offer to the players. BUT, it is also on the players to decide getting paid is better than not getting paid. It is on the players to have a better grasp of the situation in the world taking place and to offer their own olive branch toward the people who pay them to keep their sport solvent and viable going forward. Are they so naive as to believe a world wide pandemic and a CBA around the corner, much less next offseason's market aren't going to be affected by all of this? Do they want baseball to be kicked in the shins and take multiple years to recover? Or would they rather join in the effort to make any financial losses, including to them, be short term vs long term? Sorry, but this is a 2 way partnership and a symbiotic relationship. Not picking a side, this is just reality. Both sides can play this smart for the good of careers and earnings and the continuation of the sport. OR, they can do what they have mostly done for my lifetime and bicker and argue about who "wins". If and when this gets settled and we have baseball in 2020, the best thing BOTH SIDES could do is look to the NFL and NBA with their revenue sharing and cap situations, whether hard or soft. The health and growth of those sports simply can't be ignored by MLB and the union any longer. And I put the onus on both sides, but more so on the players. It's time for a cap that also comes with a floor. But it also means even more sharing of revenue by ownership. Both sides have a lot to lose and so much to gain.

This exercise was fun to read, and I'm sure you guys had a BLAST doing it. (With the exception of a few choice curse words when you lost someone you were hoping to pick, of course, lol). I'm not as plugged in to information that you all have, but I follow the draft, the international signings, season stats, milb reports, every milb ranking I can find, and, of course, the TD prospect handbook. Even still, being a Twins and Twins milb fanatic, it's hard to remember everything about everyone. Still, I went through each list and graded each category to the best of my ability/opinion. I tried to dismiss "closeness" in my mind and just look at talent and projection. I used a 6-1 point system. And believe it it was difficult at times, especially in regard to the OF, SP and BP. I dismissed the extra pitcher and extra hitter simply because those spots were just so hard to evaluate across the board. So I struck to main construct, and you can hate on me all you want for not getting extra credit for your selections there, lol. With all that being said, here was my final tally: Matt: 31 Seth: 30 Steve: 28 Ted: 27 Cody: 27 Jeremy: 25 Again, there were some tough choices here! I'd love 2/3 of something and have to make a judgement call. C: Matt INF: Matt OF: Steve SP: Ted RP: Seth You all did let Jeremy know what was going on, right?

Agree on swapping this version of Stashak for Littell. Makes sense. But I also believe Hill could make a huge difference and I want him and Wisler up to help the pen. Problem is I also want Adrianza up to help with depth and resting guys. So I'm not sure I can help much here. If my hands are tied...and they are...i vote pitching. Hill and Wisler and make the Littel/Stashak swap. And let me state once again, for the record, how much I DESPISE the new limited call up rule! Hopefully it will be changed before 2021 gets here. It's not just short sighted it's actually stupid.

FWIW, RHP Carmen Miodzinski from South Carolina has been mocked to the Twins a couple of times, including Baseball America. Read a mock today where SS Jordan Westburg from Miss St could go there. Big kid with hit and power potential who could stick at SS. I don't see it. Perfect year to go hard after good college arms.

First round picks wash out all tbe time, or never reach anything regarding great success. But 3 in a row like that really hurt, especially considering such a need for pitching at tne ML level. I was never that excited about Garbe, he just seemed too raw, but IIRC Mills and Johnson were pretty highly regarded. Was it bad luck or poor development from the old guard way of doing things back then? Considering neither Mills or Johnson did anything with anyone else, I'm going to go with bad luck. While nothing is proven yet, sure seems like the current FO and the new approaches have built up a system that could start paying real dividends in the field and on the mound soon.

While the Park signing was interesting, maybe a little exciting, it just didn't fit the construction of the team at all, especially with Sano moving to the OF. But the worst move was the trade of Hicks to the Yankees. He was rushed...just like Hunter had been years before and like Buxton was...and then dumped with no viable option to replace him. It wasn't trading him for Murphy that was so awful in of itself, it was not having a backup plan.

I also found his decision puzzling. I'm sure it can't be financial considering Big 10 money, but who knows. Wish I cod remember his exact comments, but again, something it not being fair to other seniors who weren't athletes losing out so no preferencal treatmen. Still puzzling to me.

College seniors can go back for another year or the NCAA, but there are catches there. 1] Can they afford to go back for another year of partial scholarship money and risk another year? 2] Is there money even available to them considering the state of athletics and funding across the country? 3] Will their school even let them come back? Wisconsin, for instance, stated they would not let seniors return as it was unfair to non athletes and the such who missed out. I think if you're a college senior selected in these 5 rounds you are pretty motivated to sign up.

Just throwing this out there. And probably deserves it's own OP. But despite some labor issues, and a couple work stoppages, the NFL and NBA have still seen far less labor angst than MLB. In fact, though tables could turn post-covid...and there is already early expectation/speculation...the NFL and NBA have vastly grown worldwide. Meanwhile, baseball is still stuck in some mire I don't understand. Is this the epitome of the "old boys network" we used to hear about? Is it remotely possible MLB owners are still carrying on archaic ideas from original ownership dating back 100yrs? Or are they just smarter than the players union where they see the realities of loss and diminished return that could have far reaching affects? (Already early reports the NFL could be cutting payroll next year by 40% vs normal annual raises)

UGH! Should cover it. But to be fair, Terry Ryan meant SO MUCH to this organization. He was a tremendous scout. And while his teams never won a WS, and he could be convicted of being guilty of never making a BOLD move because he was too conservative, he was the GM over those teams in the early century who had a shot. Maybe he shouldn't have been brought back for a 2nd tenure. But we should always remember that he brought a lot of good seasons and competitive ball to the Twins.

Cody, you're a fan of horror movies aren't you?

The diversified approach makes the most sense on the surface. And while the FO has done a decent job of playing the salary game the past few drafts to shell out extra for a sliding player, this draft is only 5 rounds. So how much sliding will actually take place? Especially considering that HS players are almost guaranteed to go to college unless they are a TOP 2 round selection. Unless a team is going to overdraft a college senior who can't go back to school...and they are out there...or just doesn't want to, in a 5 round draft how many "steals" will be available to over-sign? While the ML draft is ALWAYS a crap shoot, you don't want to just waste a draft selection either. The system is healthy and one of the best and deepest around. It turns out this is one of the best and deepest college drafts in years, especially in regard to pitching. Now, all of this applies to ALL teams, not just the Twins. So you have to rely on your scouts and analytics perhaps even more, hoping you are smarter than most organizations. Do you become a gambling team and cross your fingers and hope any saved money pays off? Or do you get conservative and draft chalk? For this draft, I'd trust my scouts and the new approach I have laid down over the last 3yrs. The Twins FO is not immune to absolute talent. But when it comes to pitching talent, they look very much to projectability. And that aspect may not be more true than this crazy year. And they know so much more about the prospects available than any of us, not only in regard to projection, but signability factors. If there is a HS player they love and think they can get, go for it. But I would be focused 100% on college players. If there is a position player you love and believe in, grab him. But for this crazy, short 2020 draft, I would focus on the 4 best college arms I could find and run with it.

I was and always be a Gardy fan. But it was time for a change and a new voice. The Santana signing was exciting and despite how it ended in career ending injury it was a good and important signing. It stunk, of course, that the team couldn't finish the deal and earn a WC spot. But we started to SE our team win again and hope was offered by a new manager, a quality SP signing, and the kids starting to play and tease what they could become.

It's been reported by a national writer...sorry but I forget who at the moment...that read the agreement made in March. In it is language to continue discussions if there are no fans. I also am frustrated by both sides. I do, however, think the owners last proposal was mostly fair and I was really intrigued by the profit sharing split of all post season $. Where the owners made a mistake was the sliding % scale to the highest earning players, who also seem to have the most power in the union. They also could have put in a provision for additional sharing if fans do indeed come back. I thought the players proposal way way off. Especially the part about deferring additional pay so they could recoup more later. Most everyone and every business is taking some sort of hit through all of this.

That was a riot!

Interesting. Don't care. Because the Twins are going to nab someone really good at 27 this year.

What I remember most was how good Hughes was. He may have earned a new contract, but it shouldn't have happened after just 1yr. And I don't know if he would have made a big difference the next couple of seasons or not, but I would have like to see what a healthy Hughes could have done for the duration of his deal. The second thing I remember was just how good Santana was. While miscast as a CF, he didn't stink and was put in an awkward spot. With his athleticism and potential...I remember breakdowns during games how quick and strong his wrists were when turning on a ball...I thought we had found a really, really good super utility player. Ugh! What might have been for both guys.

I'm hoping not in regard to Celestino for obvious reasons. Despite pitching depth, I may have made the OP about 4 players and included Duran.

While he missed time here and there, as most all players do, I believe he was a starting catcher for 9yrs. Now that's not 12-14yrs, but it's a long time. Multiple All Star games, MVP, THREE batting titles, etc. IMO his career behind the plate speaks for itself. And then you look at some of the other criteria posted in the OP, and the arguement for him in the HOF just continues to grow. IMO, baseball writers are "smart enough" about all he did/was behind the dish before the move to 1B and won't hold it against him. In fact, his ability to still be a solid player and re-invent himself in to a Gold Glove worthy 1B should only enhance his resume. Again, IMO. A lot of guys may have faded away overnight or hung it up. Don't see any way he's 1st ballot. But I think he's in.

A little surprised Wade was selected. I think the kid still has a chance despite a poor 2019. A good eye and solid OB skills with solid defense just don't go away. But it feels like he is a tease at this point. He seems to have all the ability to be a perfect 4th OF who can fill in anywhere and who can do everything well, just not great. With that being said, he seems to posses enough overall ability to mature in to a potential starting corner OF...who could fill in at CF...and have the triple slash line to be productive and even dangerous as a #1 or #2 hitter along with good defense. (A better Cave). But I need to see a step forward we haven't seen yet. Really interested/excited by Seth's selection of Chalmers. If I could pick ONE GUY in the entire system who gets potentially screwed with no milb season, it's Dakota. (Though he could/should be on any proposed taxi squad). How many times have we seen a big arm have issues early on and then find the right place and time where he is healthy, learned and grown, and then is ready to rock? IF he is 100% and ready to go he has to work on control, duh, and find a 3rd pitch to keep him as a SP. Changeup, palmball, splitter, cutter, SOMEBODY find him a 3rd reliable pitch and you could have something solid to special. Who cares if injury set him back a full season or so. The wait could be worth it. I just think it's a mistake to speculate he's a RP waiting to happen. And he could be a great one! But I would be willing to give him at least another season, perhaps two considering where we are right now. Stud RP or quality/potential SP? I'm OK with the RP idea. I just want to give him enough time to know for sure.

"Daddy, when is the scary part over?"

I know there is so much to scouting and projection than just some basic numbers and observation. And I fully appreciate the reports presented here in this list. Maybe it's just me, but I seem to be as excited, or more so, for the pitching prospects in the last list.