Steven Buhr

Can't say I would necessarily agree with this strategy, but at least it would demonstrate that the Twins do recognize Hunter's (and Arcia's) shortcomings defensively and that having them both in the same outfield is probably not wise. Whether I agree with such a plan or not, I'd take some comfort in discovering there actually was a plan being played out.

Of all the really bad moves the Twins could make, this one probably will be the least offensive to a significant segment of the fan base. So, there's that.

Knowing the TD crew would have this topic covered well over here, I simply posted my thoughts over at Knuckleballs, rather than both sites. If you care to read my thoughts, here's the link. Basically, I tried to make sense of what just doesn't make much sense.

Not sure who I would even consider dropping from your list to make room for them, but three guys I would feel pretty good about having around "just in case" at some point would be Kanzler, Vielma and Hu. I think all 3 have potential to be regular big league players down the road.

Glad you reminded me of that. Yes I believe they did honor him at the Diamond Awards event.

For some reason, Kaat has never seemed to get the same love and respect from the Twins organization that others from his era have. I've never understood that. Maybe there were hard feelings on one side or the other after his days in the Twins booth were over or some other acrimony with the Twins. I don't know. I do know that the Twins gave up on him too early... twice. Once, as a pitcher (he won 20 games for the WSox twice after the Twins gave up on him as a pitcher) and once as a broadcaster (he went on to be just about the best analyst in the business after his time in the Twins booth). I don't know the reasons why he was traded or why he stopped broadcasting Twins games, but the Twins were worse off without him in both cases. Regardless of whether he gets voted in to the HoF, I don't think any other former Twins player is more worthy of being the next to get honored by a statue at Target Field. The fact that the Twins have put up statues of two owners, a writer and a mascot before honoring Kaat is simply an embarrassment.

I do not believe you make that kind of long term deal with any player at a position you feel you have a better replacement for who is expected to arrive within a year. Plouffe looks like a good ballplayer, but Miguel Sano is Miguel Sano. You're expecting him to be a dominant hitter and play 3B for years to come AND you expect him to be ready in a year or less. In those circumstances, I just don't think you give the incumbent a 4-5 year contract. It's simply not necessary to take that kind of financial risk. Dozier was a slightly different circumstance. The Twins MIGHT have a replacement ready for Dozier in 2-3 years and even so, the prospects moving up may or may not be any better than Dozier. An extension in that circumstance makes more sense than for Plouffe, with Sano knocking on the door.

I wonder... if the Twins REALLY love Polanco, for example, and see him as potentially ready to be a MLB regular 2B as early as 2016 or 2017 at the latest, wouldn't you just go year by year with Dozier? There's still value in trade market for a guy in his arb years and, worst case, you make him a qualifying offer the first time he's FA eligible. Not a terrible outcome if Polanco or someone else really is as good, or better, within a couple years.

I'm probably in the "wait a year" camp, too, but I wouldn't strongly object to an effort to lock him up now. However, if I'm structuring the deal from the club perspective, I might front-load the contract more. The money is available this year and next to "overpay" a bit, in return for dropping the rate for the final 2-3 years of the deal. That would potentially make Dozier a more valuable asset in event you're looking to move him in order to make room for Polanco, Gordon, et al., by 2017-18.

If the price is excessive, you don't make the deal. My point was simply that you keep an open mind. Going in to an offseason with a mindset of, "we won't spend over $100 million," or, "we won't trade prospects," is foolish. It costs absolutely nothing to listen to any proposal. The thing you ask yourself is, "will making this move make a championship, at some point, more likely or less likely?" Then say yes or no, accordingly.

I'm ok with taking a flyer on an Anderson/Masterson-type with upside. I'm all for taking a shot at the Korean pitcher, if it turns out they did win the bid for him. But my preference, with regard to pitching, is to acquire a guy who is as close to a top-of-the-rotation arm as they can get, provided it comes with 3 years of team controlin some manner (years/options). How they acquire such a pitcher, whether through free agency or trade, is secondary to me. I'm not saying you pay any asking price, whether in dollars or return talent, but money and prospects are both essentially assets and you shouldn't rule out using either form if you believe you can improve your team over the next 3 years.

That's understandable. It's an uneasy proposition. Still, the downside of having a relatively stacked farm organization is that the time will come when you can not make room on your MLB roster for all of your legitimate MLB-ready players at every position. You would like to hold on to them until you're relatively certain which are going to turn in to the best big leaguers, but part of being a GM is knowing when to take a calculated risk and turn some of your projected "surplus" of talent at one position in to big league talent at another position where your organizational depth is more shallow. If the Twins could turn some of their minor league OF/MIF talent in to big league pitching that will be around for a while, that would be a risk I'd consider worth taking at this point.

Yeah, I admit I tend to overuse the term "overpay" at times, too. You can argue that whatever the "winning" price is for a FA contract, it was what the market would bear, so it is not "overpaying." Then again, you can argue that the "winning" bid is pretty much always more than any other team deems to be the appropriate value for the FA, so every FA signing is "overpaying." When I use the term, I'm usually defining it as, "more than what the specific team should reasonably expect to receive in value, given the player's likely performance over the term of the contract."

Just speculating, but maybe it was because the Twins asked them to play him in LF because they wanted to get a look at him out there?

While I'm not at all concerned with who they name 1B coach (assume it will be someone inside the org, with abilities to coach specific positions), the bench coach position is something I'm much more interested in seeing where they go. I'd like to see someone with MLB managerial experience in this position. It's essentially an "assistant head coach" position and, while there's a ton of baseball coaching experience among the already-named (or rumored) coaches, there is absolutely no big league managing experience. I'd feel more comfortable if one guy on staff has been there, since the manager has not.

Mike Berardino now Tweeting that source close to Allen insist he has not yet been told he will be the new Twins pitching coach. You just kind of have to laugh, don't you? This is SO "Twins Way." I don't know if the Strib just found out Willis had been told he didn't get the gig so they assume Allen did (not an unreasonable assumption, I suppose, but it's dangerous to make any assumption when you're dealing with the Twins FO) or if Allen was told by the Twins that if he leaked the decision before the Twins announced it, they would pull their offer. With as super-secret as the Twins are with everything they do, I could honestly see that being the case. It's all just kind of amusing.

Not to go off topic, but last I knew, the Cubs have a bench coach opening. I suspect Martinez is more likely to end up there than in Minnesota. I'm still wrapping my head around the Neil Allen hire. I find it kind of fascinating that Molitor and the Twins have hired a guy that their new manager has no history with at all. That just seems... odd (but not necessarily in a bad way). I honestly expected a pitching coach hire from outside the Twins immediate organization, but with some kind of historical relationship with Molitor. I'm very curious to see how this turns out.

There's nothing wrong with pounding the zone, but ever pitcher needs a reliable out pitch - something he can throw to miss a bat when it matters. The Twins pitchers have largely lacked that for years. I know it's not because their minor league coaches and managers don't believe it's important. I've heard enough of them talk about how important that is. I guess I'm hoping Allen and Guardado can somehow help the current and future Twins pitchers to develop that kind of pitch.

Guess I simply see no point in signing any FA to a 1 year deal unless it has at least 1 (and preferably 2) team options for reasonable amounts. What's the point in allowing a SP to rebuild his value with the Twins on a 1 year deal if expectations are that contention is, at best, a remote likelihood in 2015? Just as TR wasn't interested in Nolasco/Hughes a year ago unless they could be signed for enough years that, if they did work out, they would have a chance to be part of some better Twins teams beyond 1 year, he shouldn't be any more interested paying anyone else this year to rebuild his value without an option to retain. If the guys you sign work out well, great, and if May/Meyer turn out to be even better, that's wonderful! You've got some trade chips with SPs on club-friendly contracts. And if May/Meyer don't pan out, you aren't back to square 1. None of the reclamation project SPs are going to create financial hardships in years 2-3 if they have marginal guarantees or buy-out prices on their options.

Maybe I'm missing something, but isn't one main benefit of a podcast that you don't have to worry about time constraints? It's not like you have to fill 90 minutes or end up with a bunch of dead air like you would with a commercial radio program. I thought 30 minutes worked well for the amount of material there was to cover this time. Maybe next time it will require 45 minutes. Maybe not much is happening and you can rip through it in 20. Anything that runs over an hour, I typically have to break down to listen in multiple sittings and that runs a pretty good chance of me not getting around to ever going back to the last segment.

Anderson is my preference among the players on that list, primarily because I see him coming cheaper than Masterson and he's a lefty, which the Twins rotation could certainly use. But I'm also in the camp of seeing little value in signing any of them strictly to a 1-year deal. Now, if you can get a reasonable 2nd year team option that rewards the pitcher if he does bounce back well, yet stays affordable for the team to retain (and increases the pitcher's trade value), I'm significantly more interested.

A little bit maybe. Not very severe, imo, and I have a few other pictures of his delivery where the arms are almost straight across. Frankly, I'm not sure how you pitch without getting into at least as much of that position as Reed is in that picture.

Regardless of whether you believe the Minnesota Twins extended search for a new manager was thorough or a sham to cover for what was a foregone conclusion all along, the wait is finally over and Paul Molitor is taking over the manager's office at Target Field. Molitor wasn't my first choice as manager, but I do believe he is qualified and potentially could be a very good choice. In fact, when you boil down all the criticisms of the choice of Molitor, they really come down to two points: He was already employed by the Minnesota Twins.He has never managed at any level of professional baseball.I get that a certain segment of the Twins fanbase flat out did not want a manager who had any prior connection whatsoever to the Twins organization. I understand that position, though I do not agree with it. I do believe that part of the Twins' problems has been that, as an organization, it has become a bit too insular. I think that it was important to hire a manager who brings a fresh approach to the manager position and who will be more open to new ideas than Ron Gardenhire appeared to be during his tenure with the Twins. I just don't believe that the only way you get that is to hire someone with absolutely no prior ties to the club. I think we'll quickly notice that a team managed by Molitor is not simply Ron Gardenhire Part 2 (or Tom Kelly Part 3, if you prefer). It sure appears, based on everything I've read and heard from people who know Molitor and have seen him work during his time as a minor league instructor and major league coach, that he not only genuinely enjoys teaching the intricacies of baseball to young players, but he also continues to strive to learn more about the game himself. Many former elite ballplayers come across, as they age, as guys who think they already know all there is to know about the game because they were very, very good at it when they laced up their cleats - as though all knowledge of how to play the game is a finite base of knowledge that can never be improved upon. Others simply seem to have trouble teaching the game to young players who, in most cases, simply do not have the kind of natural talent that they had during their playing days. Neither of those factors appear to be the case with Molitor, so while I would be more comfortable with this choice if he did have some managing experience at some level of professional baseball, I don't necessarily believe it should be considered a disqualifying factor for Molitor. I don't believe that general manager Terry Ryan stretched out the process simply to appease the fan base before making the hire he intended to make all along. I think anyone who does believe that is being extremely cynical. Of course, the Twins have given their fans plenty to be cynical about lately, so it's not al- together unrealistic to suspect the worst in this case. Perhaps I'm just a bigger believer in Terry Ryan than many are, but I trust that he set out to conduct a thorough search for the best candidate and he was not going to announce a hiring until that process was complete. I also think it is possible - though not probable - that Ryan actually preferred Red Sox coach Torey Lovullo over Molitor, but was overruled by Jim Pohlad, who, by multiple reports, has had a strong relationship with Hall of Famer Molitor for years and strongly favored Molitor since the time Gardenhire was dismissed (if not before). Honestly, since we're on the subject of Pohlad's relationship with Molitor, let me just throw out now, for the record, that I won't be one bit surprised if, ultimately, Molitor succeeds Ryan as the Twins general manager. I can envision a scenario where Ryan may have favored Lovullo, but was unable to convince Pohlad that Lovullo was such a better choice than Molitor that Pohlad would be willing to risk seeing Molitor walk away from the Twins organization altogether.. However, since this choice is likely to determine how Ryan's legacy as Twins GM is ultimately judged, it is difficult for me to imagine him agreeing to hire a manager he did not personally believe was the right choice to help him turn the club's fortunes around. I think Ryan is the sort who would resign rather than allow the Twins ownership to impose a manager on him who he did not support in this situation. If, in fact, Ryan had a slight preference for Lovullo, but not so strong as to resign over Pohlad's insistence on Molitor (if such was actually the case), then I could only conclude that the GM is very comfortable with Molitor, as well. In the end, I'm encouraged that Ryan's top two choices for the job both have reputations for utilizing technology and advanced metrics to prepare their teams for success on the field, something Gardenhire had a reputation (deserved or not) for resisting. Along with the rest of Twinsville, I'll be very interested to find out who Molitor and Ryan will decide upon to fill out the Twins big league coaching staff (could Molitor really bring in Robin Yount as a bench coach, giving the Twins a pair of Hall of Famers in their dugout?). Naturally, I'll also be interested to learn the organization's minor league assignments. It has certainly been an interesting first few weeks of the offseason for the Twins and it certainly appears it will continue to be the case as we move toward coaching decisions and free agency season. (This article originally appeared at Knuckleballsblog.com) Click here to view the article

A couple days ago, I posted several videos I shot at the Arizona Fall League games I attended last week. Today, you get still pictures. I wish I had had an opportunity to get more pictures of Jones, Adam and Rogers, but I only saw Jones pitch once and chose to shoot a video rather than try to get pictures through the netting, Adam didn't pitch at all in the games I saw and Rogers, of course, is injured and did not pitch. http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Salt-River-Field-2.jpg Salt River Field - Home of the Rafters and the D'Backs/Rockies spring training site http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Salt-River-Field-BattersEye-2.jpg Salt River Field Batters Eye - Wonder if the hitters complain about it like the trees at Target Field http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Rosario3.jpg Eddie Rosario http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/JakeReed1.png Jake Reed http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Kepler2.jpg Max Kepler http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Rogers1a.jpg Taylor Rogers http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/AdamJonesRogers.jpg (L to R) In the bullpen, Jason Adam, Zack Jones, Taylor Rogers http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Rosario9.jpg Eddie Rosario http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Kepler6.jpg Max Kepler http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Reed12.jpg Jake Reed http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Rosario7-400x600.jpg Eddie Rosario http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/KeplerDarinEverson.jpg Max Kepler and base coach Darin Everson (Rockies) http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Reed10.jpg Jake Reed http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Rosario8.jpg Eddie Rosario http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Kepler3.jpg Max Kepler diving back in to first base on an attempted pick off http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/ReedAutograph1.jpg Jake Reed signing autographs http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/KeplerAutograph3.jpg Max Kepler signing autographs