Doomtints

Pineda is just using the Twins contract to get a bigger contract going forward. I'm guessing he will perform as a solid #3, possibly even a #2, before he bolts. Being a #2 would be playing above his long term potential, mind you. Pineda was never that great. I still don't understand why the Twins gave him the deal they gave him. The Twins needed help last year.

I imagine someone who needs a #5 will make him an offer. How he performs in the spring will probably determine if he plays and how much. This assumes of course he still wants to play. He might not, he's a family guy and he saved most of his money.

I posted the data to support this recently in another thread.

This is true for the NL, not the AL.

I'm thinking it's typical for a #3/#4 starter, though, which is what he is.

This is the signing that most people around here wanted, so I hope it works out. Signing old guys was in Terry Ryan's wheelhouse, so I'm skeptical. I would like to be proven wrong.

This organization has a severe communication problem. No organization, sports or not, can survive if people aren't talking to each other. Buxton isn't the first player to say he has no idea what the organization wants from him. Sano was the last to learn he was moving to the OF and the last to learn he was moving back to 3B. Dozier said he had not spoken to Falvey or Levine *ever* while heated trade rumors were going on involving him. All three of these players saw there performances take a nose dive in the 2nd year under the new regime......

Hicks was terrible his first year as a Yankee. I credit Hicks's turnaround to the Yankees hitting coaches who figured out the issue and turned him around. Hicks would have never turned the corner in a Twins uniform.

We have seen Buxton play. We know he isn't a quitter. Having him sit out the last month was obviously going to rub him the wrong way and was a gross miscalculation by the Twins. None of this means he will instantly play well next year, that this was a "wake up call" or whatever -- because as I said, Buxton was never a quitter. The problem is something else, and by sending him home the Twins lost the opportunity to figure out what the problem actually is. The Twins did not have to play him over the last month, but they certainly had to work with him.

Hughes is interesting. For all the articles that were written at the beginning about Hughes improving due to being out of the limelight/pressure in New York, in the end he ended up being statistically the same pitcher for both franchises -- with the Twins paying him a lot more cash because they started to believe their own press and gave him a huge extension. So much for small markets! Maybe we need to coin the phrase "smart markets" instead.

Locking up a 31/32 year old #4 pitcher for 3-4 years is crazy talk. Gibson looked like he had things solved three years ago, too. Let someone else take on this risk. Best case is he has a good start and a contender needs someone at the trade deadline. Odorizzi is younger but he's just a #3 pitcher. Big deal. Sure, sign him because you need solid #3s, but it's just not that exciting of a deal.

Some commenters are questioning the timing or the reason for this. But didn't we all know his number would be retired? I hope no one is actually surprised....

I know every team makes these moves. Let's just say I have a hunch. You should have a hunch too. Even if you don't agree with all of these points, you probably agree with two or three of them: 1) The owner said he doesn't see the team as having much to spend this year. 2) Falvey/Levine said they learned their lesson about signing players late as they may show up unhappy about their situation and not play well. It's not "late" yet, sure, but they won't wait long after signings start en masse (which should be soon), assuming they wait for the big teams to start making moves before picking up the phone. 3) The press is reporting the Twins are all but done with signing people this year and pieces have been written about the internal options the Twins will use in relief. Not all of these articles were written in a vacuum. 4) St. Peter and Pohlad probably still have bitter memories about Bill Smith's obsession with signing relief pitchers and might be skeptical about the whole process, and might want Falvey/Levine to do the exact opposite of point #2 and instead wait until the last minute to pick up whoever is left (and cheap). Who wins that standoff and what's the end result for the team? Contrary to popular belief, good relief pitchers are not cheap, though the deals are shorter.

I'm starting to question the logic of getting new blood in the front office just to do the same thing. It is still early but I think the current roster is largely who we can pencil in. Don't bet against Trevor May being the next closer.

I think the floors and ceilings of these two pitchers is about the same, with either of them performing in the top halves of their potential equally likely (to which I mean ... I wouldn't bet on it). I don't think it matters if the Twins pick one, pick both, or pick neither. All options are rolling the dice.

It was September -- everyone's playing time gets reduced except for the minor leaguers getting their taste.

The three of you are not making bad points but consider we all talked about this over five years ago now and don't want to keep plowing the same ground. Mauer was the golden boy, we all know that. Sano is under scrutiny all the time, we know that too. As I said earlier, if it were me, I wouldn't film my workouts for the front office if I were in Sano's position. News flash, life isn't fair!

Last year the Twins built a pitching staff to compete with Cleveland, which worked. I have no clue what they will do this year. Building a pitching staff to compete with the AL East is off the table, and ultimately that's the only build that would matter.

I'm going to hazard a guess that 90% of players who lay an egg like Buxton did last year never play in the MLB again. Buxton still has a legit beef for being sent home in September because we all know he will be back. Maybe the F.O. just didn't want him working with *Molitor* again.

% is good to see the mix each team is doing. The Twins are definitely unbalanced in comparison, but the other teams are also better at doing what the Twins do....

This was a good analysis until you threw in the percentages. Houston and Boston have lower percentages in the draft bucket, but higher WAR in the same bucket. They're both better at drafting players.

Schoop is like Morrison in that he is being signed based on one good year. It's doubtul Schoop is as bad as Morrison was. I'm OK with the signing and I think it will probably work out as well as signing a non-elite bat can.

I was always more bullish on Kinsler than many other people are. Signed at the right time, Kinsler could have had as big of an impact on this team as Ervin Santana did. However, that ship has sailed. Grab the younger/better guy.

I dunno. If a team made me film my workouts for them, they'd probably get videos of me flipping off the camera while eating pizza. Unless Sano's IQ is so low that he needs to be treated like a child (it isn't), this is offensive. What are the Twins gonna do if he stops sending videos? Cut him? Yeah right. Heck, do the damn videos and send them to the Yankees or any other team who might consider picking him up off of waivers or accept a trade. Send the Twins videos of him playing video games. If they want to make sure Sano is working out, there are some sane options: 1) Get off their keisters and check on him. He is, after all, part of the "family." 2) Hire a trainer to work out with him regularly. There is no I in team, Twins Brass. Work with people.

Sending Buxton to the minors was the right move. No one questions that. We all would have done the same thing. Sending him home after the minor league season ended instead of calling him up to play with the Twins was the WRONG move, in capital letters, 15 exclamation points, and a bullhorn. I think some people don't register that Buxton was sent HOME when baseball was still being played. This isn't how you treat adults. There was no reason for this, it's a message to HIM and not to his performance. He is not dumb enough to not take this personally. It was personal. The message was we just don't want you around the clubhouse. The minor league season is over, just go home or whatever it is you do. We would rather eat the roster spot than have you on premises. Mike Zimmer fired a kicker after a very bad game but even he wouldn't have done this to a player that the team is betting the farm on for the next five years.