savvyspy

Sano is 250lbs with one foot on the scale! There is no way Sano is less than 275lbs. Putting him in the outfield having never played the position and at that size borders on criminal negligence. Could be entertaining though.

Agree times a million!!! Lockdown bullpen, solid defense, and get on base will take you places in this league. Twins don't really do any of those well.

Sano is the outfield is going to be a short lived train wreck. There is absolutely no other team in the majors that would see this as anything but laughable. Sano has played zero innings in the outfield ever. He is closer to 300 lbs that he is 260. Dave Parker was a big outfielder. Sano is is WAY bigger than Parker and never played the position.

Sweeney is probably better than Shane Robinson who tied up a roster spot all season so there's that I guess.

I think all of this talk about the Winter Meetings boils down to this. ANYONE trying to make economic decisions needs to have an established market. Otherwise there isn't enough information to know whether or not you are making a wise decision. Generally prior to the Winter Meetings the market isn't set and usually it is set during the meetings. This season was no different. When Ryan traded Hicks neither the market for a starting center fielder nor a backup catcher was set and Ryan acted anyway. In hindsight, Ryan did not get good return for what he gave up. This isn't surprising since he didn't know the market and was HOPING acting earlier would work. He basically gambled and lost. It was foreseeable and what was the most likely scenario played out. He overpaid for a backup catcher. Fast forward to the Winter Meeting when the bullpen market was set and movement of players began to happen. Ryan now has all of the information needed to make a decision and yet he does nothing. Not all teams make good decisions with better information but the odds are better that you will. In the long run people making decisions in set markets will do better than people trying to guess the market. In the end, its not the timing itself, its the decisions you make given the time you make them. If you are going to make a decision prior to a set market you need to be blown away. It needs to be obvious that the offer is above market or a player is signing well below market in the case of free agency. This is rare to be sure so the amount of deals done in this time period should be minimal. In Ryan's case he seems to prefer making all of him moves prior to the Winter Meetings. This usually doesn't work out well because it isn't likely to work out well given the information you have at the time about the market and comparative value of the assets. He then compounds the problem by sitting out the Winter Meetings where the markets are being set and there are plenty of willing teams ready to deal and free agents looking to sign. It is possible that Ryan did have all of the information and understood the market and didn't view any value in any of the trades or possible signings. Its certainly not likely but you could believe with all of the deals being made Ryan just didn't encounter one that made sense economically nor filled a need. That might explain this season. But Ryan has a history of doing this almost every year. In the end Terry Ryan is like the Blackjack player that sits on 13 and hits on 18. Technically he's playing blackjack he's just doing a very predicable poor job of it.

That is the job. Its not the timing aspect that has most people concerned, it is that he consistently makes bad decisions within the time frames he acts. There was zero reason to trade one of your best assets early in the off season before the market had time to set up. To go and get a marginal return is flat out a bad decision. On the bullpen front, that market was set at the Winter Meetings. Players began to move and Ryan, to no one's surprise sat on his hands and did nothing. What he did do was waste the entire time trying to unload an untradeable asset (Nolasco) and explaining how the Twins just missed on making some deals. That is Ryan's tired go to card every year. This is a consistent pattern with Ryan. It doesn't excuse him from getting the well deserved heat he is.

It is so much more difficult to stash a position player on a major league roster than a pitcher. I doubt Michael is far enough to stick on a MLB roster for an entire year. He likely gets taken but the Twins have a great shot at getting him back if they want to. If Michael does perform I think you tip your cap because he beat the odds.

This is a pretty typical Terry Ryan move. Create a problem (giving Suzuki a ridiculous extention) and try to solve it by dealing actual assets. Murphy is an upgrade of what we had which was the worst catching rotation in the majors and it was probably a sell high on Hicks. Its hard to get to wound up about it. Are they a better team for it? Probably not.

How Pressly is the 2nd best bullpen option by far this year when he is sitting in Rochester getting crushed? And why are we wasting MAJOR LEAGUE roster spots for an entire year so have a minor league replacement level pitcher the following year? I just really question this practice when your bullpen is already as bad as this one is. And this is nothing against Pressly and Graham at all. What they are asked to accomplish having no business being in the major leagues is amazing. It has to be crushing for Graham to give up a grand slam to ARod in a close game. Teams should really only be using the Rule 5 on the rare occasion. The Twins seems to be using every year to stash a barely above average bullpen arm that can't contribute beyond mop up duty and them getting really nothing more from them after that. I think common sense would tell you if a player doesn't have a defined role on your team he shouldn't be on your roster period. Just offer him back or swing a trade if you are convinced he's going to be a player in later years. But there isn't really anyone that is looking to either Graham or Pressly to be the building blocks of the future. So what's the point?

The Mauer contract is the most defensible but is absolutely killing this team right now. Its not so much the money as he does nothing for you at first base defensively and he's Doug Mientkiewicz offensively. Nolasco was clearly damaged goods which is a miss but happens. They are the only FO in the league that would have extended Dozier and got nothing for it but that hasn't hurt us yet. Suzuki should be a fireable offense but obviously won't be because there is no expectation of winning with this team. Honestly the Twins are no better or worse at signing free agents than they are at anything else. They can't manage a roster, are embarrassing at the trade deadline, try to invent starting pitching out of relief pitching prospects, and let their best talent sit in the minors longer than every other team for no apparent reason. This is all just the "Twins Way" and will never change until this entire organization is cleaned out from the owners to the front office to the scouts and coaches. Its all just rotten to the core. In the meantime we can enjoy Sano

What is JR Graham's true upside? Because if torpedoing your bullpen for a year so you get another AAA 4.00+ ERA bullpen arm like Ryan Presley is the goal then you are doing it wrong. Its too late to fix this year but can we please stop this practice moving forward? The Rule 5 draft should be an afterthought not the central building block that it seems to be for this front office.

This team's starting pitching is like watching deer cross the interstate at night.

I would start by giving him the 71 games where Nunez, Robinson, and Escobar started as either the DH or a corner outfielder. Hicks still can't hit left handed pitching so there's a few ABs there as well. If a 40 year old Hunter is taking significant playing time from the the #1 prospect in the league then you have issues. If a 40 year old Hunter is taking playing time away from a team that the GM quit on and is a dozen games under .500 after the break, that's malpractice. I just don't buy that at bats are at such a premium that you have to stash your top talent at AAA when 29 other teams figure it out.

I just hope that statue is of Mauer grounding into a 4-6-3 double play. In all seriousness, I would never suggest cutting Joe but they have to figure out how they can at least move him out of the #3 hole or down in the order and free up some playing time at 1B. He is not a major league caliber 1st baseman and he hasn't been an elite bat in almost 2 years. He can still get on base which makes him a better hitter than 2/3rds of the options this team has on its roster. I would like to see an extended look as the #2 hitter just to maybe take advantage of his remaining asset, he can get on base. Beyond that he really isn't providing much in the way of value.

I don't for one second believe Ryan was using patience as a strategy. There isn't evidence he can do anything but sit on his hands at the deadline. Every season its new rationalization for not being a seller when the team blows and doing nothing when the team is in the playoff hunt. That pattern does more to explain ineptitude than being a savvy GM. Your point is valid. It made no sense to trade valuable assets when the numbers suggested the team was playing way over its head and was ripe for a correction. The fact that the correct move was the one the Twins took has more to do with chance than purpose. Its a case of a broken clock being right twice a day.

Which puts you back to the original comment that you dump Robinson and bring up Arcia. Robinson is a below replacement player that can literally be found with a phone call at a moments notice in the form of dozens of random outfield options. Arcia doesn't solve the Twins ills alone but he is a material talent upgrade over what they have today. Its not a solution, its a start. Having Arcia at AAA at this point is the Twins front office valuing teaching a young player a lesson in the "Twins Way" over maximizing the talent on the major league roster.

The difference between these two teams is stark. The Jays made deals to shore up flaws and their fans are excited. There is tons of baseball to play but they look like a team making a run. The Twins sat on their hands and look like a team that is dangerously close to quitting. They couldn't even be bothered to start their highest paid player in a key series with a team they are in competition with for the playoffs. If that's not mailing it in I don't know what is.

I disagree on Arcia. I think he's being mismanaged by the front office. There are about 3 people in the league with power that don't strike out a lot. He has more offensive upside than almost anyone on the current Twins roster. I also this the "attitude" issue is something this front office floats when they aren't successful getting players to change their approach. The Twins have a storied history in this area with guys like D. Ortiz, K. Loshe, and Garza. There are talented players out there that resist changing their approach especially when the alternative is an unproven and HIGHLY unsuccessful Twins way. Other teams know the Twins try to turn everyone into an everyday player that is able to hit to all fields. Not every team is designed this way. A team that is looking for a power bat that can hit RH pitching in a platoon situation would be highly interested in Arcia. He's young and has a plus bat against RH pitching. That has value in this league if you focus on what he can do and not focus only on what he'll never do.

You are on thin ice here. I suggested that MAYBE Mauer could take some ABs in RF to free up some ABs for Arcia (having Sano or Plouffe play 1B sometimes) coming up and it was treated like I had suggested throwing me out there. Even though that is literally one of the most common position switches in the majors. I mean the Twins had Chris Colabello do it last season but having a better athlete do it makes zero sense?? As you said, the team carts utility infielders and backup catchers out there like its their first option and Mauer couldn't do it? Then you wouldn't have to carry a well below replacement Shane Robinson on the roster and you could get Arcia's bat (but avoid his awful OF defense everyday) back on the roster. He has nothing to prove at AAA anymore and the team needs bats.

I don't think standing pat is a huge deal. This team isn't good enough across the board to make noise in the playoffs this year. If Ryan can get a guy that's part of the future in the pen, SS, or catcher then go for it but a rental makes no sense. The team has overachieved their talent so far and that's great. They are fun to watch and some of the young guys like Rosario and Sano have helped. I would bring up Arcia, Tonkin, and any other viable bullpen arm they have internally and see how they handle this slump. If they collapse then you know what you have and can fix it in the offseason. But maybe they learn to overcome adversity and it helps them down the line.

I am far from a Mauer apologist but until this front office figures out how to manage a roster, Joe is the least of our problems. Mauer's OBP is only behind Dozier (having a great season) and Nunez (Playing way over his head) and exactly the same as Torii. So until there are ANY viable options Joe is the best player we have. As long as the Twins continue to show an epic disdain for rookies, Joe's job is going to be pretty same for years to come.

Which is why you use him as a platoon player against LH pitching instead of Schaffer and Robinson who both are HORRENDOUS against lefties. Its like this team doesn't get that its not mandatory for a player to be equally effective against different pitchers. That's why platooning works for small markets because the guys that hit everyone are expensive and the Twins refuse to spend money on elite talent. So you have a philosophy that demands its players to be elite while not giving its young players the leash to play in the majors and refuse to sign elite free agents. A real solid plan. But maybe next year we can do the exact same thing and this time it will work.

The thought that this team is suspect of defensive metrics and not only watched yesterday's dumpster fire but the dreck they've been tossing out there the last 4 season but are actually ok with it leaves me absolutely dumbfounded. Dozier butchering the double play was a mistake. You have to turn your body, plant, and throw the ball to Santana not backhand it from 25 feet. That stuff is fixable. Sending Hunter and Arcia out there to lumber around the outfield not getting to routine balls in the gap, miss multiple cutoff men, and drop pop ups is malpractice by Terry Ryan. Both are DH only at this point period. The arrogance Ryan of prioritizing teaching Hicks some sort of BS "Twins Way" lesson in favor of going north with TWO center fielders that absolutely cannot hit LH pitching is fire able in my mind. Its just Terry Ryan being a stubborn old man at the expense of fixing this mess. Until that behavior changes this team has nothing but the #1 pick to look forward to.

On the bright side, Terry Ryan didn't recall Eric Fryer.

I'm almost buying into the conspiracy theory that TR made the bullpen this bad to cover up the fact that he has the worst outfield in the 50+ year history of the team. The starting staff, Mauer, Dozier, and Plouffe are going to need to have MONSTER years for this team to even be in the same zip code of .500. This is really the most disappointing roster of the last few years. They did nothing to improve from outside the organization, don't trust any of their young guys, had a little bad luck (Pinto), and are going into year 5 of a rebuild by not starting the rebuild for the 5th straight year. This front office is really a mess right now. No strategy, no plan, and they frankly are inept at managing a major league roster. This is like a random draw of players. None of them fit a specific plan. You could make a VERY strong argument that none of the four outfielders should even be on the team. Arcia should be on a roster as a DH. He is a horrible fielder. Shaffer is going to be exposed playing everyday. He's a decent platoon player but they can't platoon because Robinson is a worse hitter from both sides of the plate than he is. But instead of finding suitable platoon opportunities Ryan needs to punish a young player, Hicks by sending him down to AAA again even though he hits lefties better than either one of your CF options. You would think they'd be embarrassed to head north with that bullpen but nothing surprises me with this team anymore.