USAFChief

Yes.

I agree.

I think you have that backwards. Did emptying a good portion of their minor league system for Miguel Cabrera kill the Tigers?

I'd at least look into it.

Kemp is owed $21m for each of the next five years, which will be his age 30 thru 34 seasons. He put up a .850 OPS (140 OPS+) this year, right in line with his career average. He's probably not the superstar he once looked like, but he's a good bet to post similar numbers, and a huge bet to be way better than anything the Twins are likely to put in left field for the next few years. If the Dodgers want prospects in return, no. If its nothing but money, well the Twins have that, and should be going over budget the next few years anyway if they're going to meet their famous 52 percent promise, considering they've been below it for a couple years now. I'd take Kemp off their hands, put him in LF, and not look back. They still could buy any pitching they want, if they were so inclined.

Concur. I strongly think Mauer would be a disaster waiting to happen.

I doubt very many KC fans consider that trade a mistake. They havent played past the regular season in 30years. They got to follow a team in contention, playing games that mattered, all season. Tbey might get more. The trade worked, no matter what Myers does in the future.

If LA trades Kemp it will be to dump salary, so a team willing to take on Kemp's entire contract could probably get him for almost nothing. No team is going to both take on the salary AND give up real prospects. Same for Crawford. Do it.

1. Gardenhire is completely gone from the organization. No hanging around the team, casting a shadow over the new staff. 2. The hire comes from outside the organization. Young-ish, open to new ideas, major or minor league managerial experience. 3. The new hire is allowed to fill out his own staff. If he wants to retain any of the current coaches, great. If not, also great. But it's his choice.

Dave Martinez would be my preferred candidate. It absolutely has to be from outside the organization. If not, it will be viewed as more of the same....probably because it will be.

Not surprised. 1. They are going to have enough trouble selling tix this winter as it is without trying to sell "same old, same old. Nobody ever loses their job with the Twins!" 2. He deserved to be fired. 3. He wasn't going to get another contract after 2015, so what's the point of bringing him back for 2014? 4. It doesn't take nostradamus to see how this would have played out in 2015 if they retained him and they stumble out of the gate. He would have been a dead man walking and they would have been forced to fire him in-season. They had no choice.

I think it's basically impossible to predict anything about anything in baseball for the next " 5-6 years." Heck, it's difficult to predict next year.

the stagnating traffic and activity on sites like ours, Not to derail an excellent thread but...you guys are planning on hardballing the mods over salary in contract negotiations this winter, aintcha?

Hopefully articles like this remind people just how good Bert Blyleven really was.

This was pretty easy to see coming...this article could have been written last year. So it's hard to have much sympathy, and it's hard to believe they'll do what is necessary to turn this ship around. And if they think Sano andBuxton will solve all their problems things are only going to get worse.

I can give them a pass on the first, as if I remember correctly they had 2 doubleheader in two days. The second one not so much.

I would prefer he work on rotation "topth" rather than depth. I don't think improving the options for fifth starter will have the impact that improving the options for opening day starter would. Although I do agree it's rather disheartening to see Swarzak getting more than one September start.

Great stuff. Thanks!

Anyone else get the feeling we've seen Adrian Peterson's last Viking game ever?

1. Mauer put up a .729 OPS (102 OPS+) in an injury shortened 2011. His numbers are almost identical this year. He came back to put up .861 and .880 OPS's in 2012 and 2013, hopefully he can rebound similarly in the future. Good, but not great numbers. 2. I'd hope to see a FA LFer, and Hicks starting in CF, hoping one of those works out and Buxton arrives by midseason. I can live with Schafer as a 4th OFer, but ideally I'd want someone better for that role, too. I am pretty confident in predicting everyone currently in love with Schafer will be asking for a divorce if he gets regular playing time next year. It's too bad pitching staffs have grown to12 or 13...in the old days he'd have been a good 5th OFer...a guy who rarely starts but is useful off the bench. Alas...it's difficult for teams to carry 5 true OFers these days. As an aside...I don't worry much about corner OF defense. Plenty of teams have won, and won big, with questionable corner OF defense. 3. I don't see the current options as enough to form a decent starting rotation in 2015. So either sign someone better than anyone they have now, or accept that the team won't compete in 2015. I'd like to see a serious effort to sign one of Lester or Scherzer. I doubt that happens, though. 4. They'll win more...at home and on the road...when they field a better team. 5. The time is long past for new leadership in the dugout. Maybe that will help. 3.

Ugh.

I want a new manager because this organization has come to expect losing. Nobody...not the players, not the fans, not the GM, not the coaches, and not the manager, expects to win. It becomes a habit, or a culture. Losing. I want a new voice, from outside, who expects to win,and goes about trying to make that happen because he knows his job depends on it. A manager looking to make a name for himself, rather than one trying to hold on for dear life because of the past. A manager who will embrace new ideas, maybe even come up with a few of his own, rather than resist change at every opportunity. The Twins should have changed managers already, certainly by last winter. It's inevitable. Putting it off farther into the future only reinforces in everyone's mind the perception this organization is a losing one. Ron Gardenhire had his time, and he was once the right choice. But that time is over. He'll be fine. Move on.

They all should be gone, unless Dave Martinez wants to bring any of them back as part of his staff.

And if they do bring them up, don't be surprised if they're not "productive major leaguers" right away.

Gotta disagree, Ash. If big league playing time and exposure is valuable (for May, or anyone else), it's valuable no matter the situation. And giving it to Bernier just makes no sense to me. I'm with ya on Nunez though.