caulfield12

The Red Sox and White Sox also have very good bullpens, certainly one of the strengths (more of an individual analysis of their arms/talent/ability rather than "pitching under pressure" in tie games or with 1 run leads/deficits, that's been a definite weakness). Papelbon is walking a ton of batters so far, though. What is curious is both teams have upper-echelon rotations and both have failed to show up quite a bit to start the season.

Except Juan Pierre is a flyball hitter without having any power...

QUOTE (hogan873 @ Apr 19, 2010 -> 01:07 PM) I agree that no major change would occur. I was alluding to the fact that there would be "boos" and much internet and newspaper callings for the heads of those responsible. But imagine heading off on a road trip to Texas and New York with a record of 6-13. Ugh. Our new offensively-challenged team is not built to compete at either of those 2 stadiums. The pitching HAS no other choice but to kick it into gear and carry this team for a month, like coming out of the gates in 2008. Otherwise we're cooked.

http://espn.go.com/mlb/powerrankings White Sox are 25th, still ahead of the Royals, who outscored opponents 50-35 but only went 3-3. They need the "real" Zach Greinke back. See notes on A's (Sweeney highlight), Rays (winners of 8 in a row on the road now, dating back to last season) and Mariners (4 game winning streak). The "perfect storm" is hitting USCF this week. What will happen? The guy with the White Sox comments pretty much hit the nail on the head. Lance Berkman comes off the DL this week, by the way. Are the Twins better than the Yankees or Rays? Probably not. Which is scary, because they're clearly better than us and DET.

How about KW signs Kenny Rogers for peanuts in 2003 for nothing and we walk away with the division, actually having a 5th starter and depriving Minnesota of aforementioned "ace"...better than a 5th, the way he performed that year? Same thing applies to this year....sign O-Dog and Thome, take them away from Minnesota, and we're at least even with them.

Cue the Nick Swisher discussion again....joking!

I think we're about to play the Rays, who have won 8 in a row on the road now...dating back to last season. They just swept the Red Sawx in a 4 game Fenway series for the first time in forever. Which means that we actually have a chance to win a series. No team can stay hot like that. If they do, there'll be even more booing in Chicago than BOS.

How many Boras clients do the Twins have?

QUOTE (Knackattack @ Apr 19, 2010 -> 06:42 AM) Did I really just see a post clamoring for the return of Juan Uribe? Yes, 100%, absolutely.....he and Jose Valentin have been two of the most underrated and underappreciated White Sox players in my lifetime.

Teahen also knocked us out of one Indians game (erasing the good of the superstar performance for one game in TOR)....his defense has been poor, to put it gently/mildly.

What the White Sox actually did right... Brandon McCarthy, 17th round, 2002, $40,000 signing bonus Chris B. Young, OF, 16th round, 2001 Aaron Rowand, 1998, 1st round (35th overall), $575,000 Joe Crede, 1996, 5th round Mark Buehrle, 1998, 38th round, $150,000 signing bonus Ryan Sweeney, 2003, 2nd round/52nd pick, $785,000 Jeremy Reed, 2002, 2nd round/59th pick, $650,000 Brandon Allen, 2004, 5th round Chris Getz, 2005, 4th round, $225,000 signing bonus Gio Gonzalez, 2004, 1st round, 38th pick, $850,000 Anthony Carter, 2005, 26th round Daniel Hudson, 2008, 5th round, $180,000 Clayton Richard, 2005, 8th round, $78,000 Jon Rauch, 1999, 3rd round/99th pick...would go on to become the #1 prospect in baseball before the torn labrum and surgery Dexter Carter, 2008, 13th round Trayce Thompson, 2009 And, of course, Beckham and Andrew Mitchell, who I will never fault KW even if he never makes it back from his injury, it was a great "upside" pick.

Let's compare with White Sox blown draft picks 1999---Jason Stumm, 1st round/15th pick, $1,750,00 1999---Matt Ginter, 1st round/22nd pick, $1,275,000 1999---Danny Wright, 2nd round/64th pick 2000---Joe Borchard, 1st round/12th pick, $5,300,000 2001---Kris Honel, 1st round/16th pick, $1,780,000 2002---Royce Ring, 1st round/18th pick 2003---Brian Anderson, 1st round/15th pick, $1,650,000 2004---Josh Fields, 1st round/18th pick, $1,550,000 2005---Lance Broadway, 1st round/15th pick, $1,570,000 2006---Kyle McCulloch, 1st round, 29th pick, $1,050,000 2007---Aaron Poreda, 1st round, 25th pick, $1,200,000 CAN SOMEONE PLEASE GET OUT A CALCULATOR AND ADD UP ALL THAT WASTED MONEY? That's SEVEN picks between 10-20, a lot more than the Twins have had. Plus Dave Wilder's skimmed bonuses for the likes of Silverio and the Dominicans, Anderson Gomes, Paulo Orlando, etc., we lost a lot of money there and damaged Dominican relationships for years. I can't even remember our last Dominican, maybe it was JESUS PENA? Anderson Gomes was caught with PED’s after being in the Futures Game and Paulo Orlando’s hyped up speed is a myth. Both are Wilder’s “sign-and-collect” prospects. * our Latin stud 16 year old SS Juan Silverio is actually 20.5 years old, not 16. * Outside of Wilder – Regier was the single most despised person by our entire staff. He was the one who made the “decisions” on who went where & when. Wilder was Regier’s “pimp” in that he hired Regier and told him where to put his players. The funny thing is – a Farm Director makes about 100K/season (not peanuts, but not extravagant either) and Regier was driving around in a $150,000+ Porsche and wearing a 15 K Rolex watch with $500+ dollar shoes & belts. You don’t make that kind of money as a Farm Director

SAVED YOU THE TIME....INCOMPLETE HIGHLIGHTS 1997 Michael Cuddyer, 1st round/9th pick, $1.850,000 signing bonus 1999 Jason Morneau 3rd round/89th pick, $290,000 signing bonus 2001 Joe Mauer, 1st round/2nd pick, $4,000,000 signing bonus Nick Blackburn, 29th round 2002 Denard Span, 1st round/20th pick, $1,700,000 signing bonus Jesse Crain 2nd round/61st pick, $650,000 signing bonus Pat Neshek, 6th round/182nd pick Jose Mijares signed as FA 2003 Scott Baker, 2nd round/58th pick, $650,000 2004 Glen Perkins, 1st round/2nd pick, $1,425,000 Anthony Swarzak, 2nd round/61st pick, $575,000 2005 Matt Garza, 1st round/25th pick, $1,350,000 Kevin Slowey, 2nd round/73rd pick, $490,000 Brian Duensing, 3rd round/84th picks, $400,000 2006 2007 Ben Revere, 1st round/28th pick, $750,000 2008 Aaron Hicks, 1st round/14th pick, $1,780,000, Carlos Gutierrez, 1st round/27th pick 2009 Kyle Gibson (future monster/ace) The Twins DON'T MISS VERY OFTEN with their first round draft picks. Michael Restovich is one of the few blown calls. Look at how well their 2nd round picks have done. 2009 Kyle Gibson RHP Missouri 22 2008 Carlos Gutierrez RHP Univ. of Miami (Fla.) 27 2008 Aaron Hicks OF Wilson H.S., Long Beach, Calif. 14 2007 Ben Revere OF Lexington (Ky.) Catholic HS 28 2006 Christopher Parmelee OF Chino Hills (Calif.) HS 20 2005 Matthew Albidrez-Garza RHP Fresno St 25 2004 Kyle Waldrop RHP Farragut HS (Tenn.) 25 2004 Glen Perkins LHP Minnesota 22 2004 Trevor Plouffe SS Crespi HS, Northridge, CA 20 2003 Matthew Moses 3B Mills Godwinn HS 21 2002 Denard Span OF Tampa, FL 20 2001 Joe Mauer C Cretin-Derham Hall HS, St 1 2000 Adam Johnson RHP San Diego, CA 2 1999 B.J. Garbe OF Moses Lake, WA 5 1998 Ryan Mills LHP Arizona State U. 6 1997 Michael Cuddyer SS Chesapeake, VA 9 You can see in 98/99/00, they blew 3 very high draft picks, Top 10 guys. All busts. All of their other "bad" picks have been in the 20's.

YES, BUT...the Twins have been a top-notch organization since the 2001 season (when they threatened the Indians for most of that season before falling back) and have had mostly lower draft picks than the Sox in the first round....yes?

QUOTE (scenario @ Apr 18, 2010 -> 07:28 PM) Shelby is a streaky player. When he gets hot, he gets 'carry the ballclub' type hot... lots of extra base hits... seems like he can't do anything wrong. When he's cold, he can't buy a base hit. Seems like there's not much in between. It would be great to see him even out and become more consistent. I really wish he could play 2B. That would allow us to move Beckham...although the odds of Beckham playing SS with Guillen as manager seem to be 5-10% at best. As an outfielder, he's arguably going to have to hit at an 825-850 OPS to be a corner, unless he can trick Ozzie into believing he's a leadoff guy more in the mold of Wise/Lillibridge/Owens/Pods/Pierre.

Indians don't really scare me because of their bullpen....their idiotic trade of Franklin Gutierrez and bringing in Kerry Wood...I don't know, without Hafner and an ailing Sizemore, they're just not as dangerous to me. Cabrera looks like he could be a keeper...but for every Choo, there's a Peralta, Hafner, Marte or Josh Barfield behind them. They're going to need a lot more quality pitching, and that takes time to develop. Westbrook won't be around much longer, and Carmona's been inconsistent (good this year, but 2/3 starts were against us). Losing Lee and Sabathia really set them back. Masterson's looked very good for them. You're right, they really replenished their minor league system with all those trades (DeRosa and V-Mart too), but I'm not seeing them coming close to Minnesota, simply because their woeful attendance will depress their payroll and put them into the same situation the A's are in with young talent getting into years 4-5-6. That said, I think they have a much brigher long-term future than the Tigers, who are a veteran ballclub but they also have Austin Jackson, Sizemore, Raburn, Clete Thomas, Ryan Perry, Porcello....a lot more good, young talent than the Sox I'm afraid.

aarongleeman.com Longtime assistant Bill Smith takes over as GM and will no doubt attempt to keep the key components of Ryan's regime in place, which means that the Twins will likely continue to focus on scouting and player development. Ryan excelled on the macro level, turning the Twins into one of the premiere organizations in baseball on a limited budget by putting a system in place that thrived at identifying, acquiring, and developing young talent. From Johan Santana, Joe Mauer, and Justin Morneau to Torii Hunter, Francisco Liriano, and Joe Nathan, Ryan found a way to stock the team with star-caliber long-term building blocks despite monetary limitations making it extremely difficult to acquire such players via free agency. He presided over a string of productive drafts that can be traced back to the strong emphasis on scouting and had an unmatched knack for getting incredible value from veteran-for-prospect trades. When it comes to the big things, namely bringing in and developing talent, few GMs can match Ryan's track record. However, as fantastic as Ryan was at managing the big picture, he often struggled on the micro level. While he set the Twins up for success by putting championship-level building blocks in place, Ryan seemingly had difficulty fully trusting all the young talent he had assembled and frequently blocked young players by bringing in mediocre veterans to surround his stars. Ryan's day-to-day weaknesses as GM also happened to be the areas that are easiest for outsiders to analyze. It's difficult to offer insight into large-scale organization building or scouting principles, but it's easy to see that someone has failed to fill gaping holes in the lineup while choosing to surround young talent with the likes of Juan Castro, Tony Batista, Sidney Ponson, and Ramon Ortiz. For people like me, who view the Twins from a distance, it's a lot easier to sweat the small stuff. However, at the end of the day excelling at the big picture and struggling with the details gets you four playoff berths in six seasons and it's not difficult to see Ryan's finger prints on nearly everything the Twins have done during their current run of success. There's little question in my mind that Ryan was a very good GM who had many strengths, but he also had some very noticeable flaws and an extremely risk-averse approach that held the Twins back at times. For Smith, being Ryan's right-hand man for so long is certainly a plus, but Wayne Krisvky was also a longtime Ryan assistant before leaving to take over as GM of the Reds and has proven to be miscast in the job. I suspect that the smallest impact from Ryan leaving will come in player development, where Minor League Director Jim Rantz and Scouting Director Mike Radcliff (now in a new role) remain after playing huge parts in the draft and minor-league system. What will perhaps be most difficult to replace is Ryan's uncanny ability to synthesize the information given to him by the scouting department while uncovering low-level minor leaguers with potential from other organizations. Whether it's hitting home runs with guys like Santana and Liriano or targeting unheralded prospects like Jason Bartlett and Alexi Casilla, Ryan repeatedly found a way to squeeze unseen value from trades. Smith likely won't match that ability, but might be more willing to make deals for major league-ready talent. Under Ryan the Twins have done an amazing job stockpiling talent, but they've struggled at times to utilize it optimally. Whether it's parting with some young pitching to acquire help for the lineup or not wasting money and playing time on washed-up veterans, there's room for Smith to make a major impact without straying from the organization's strengths. With that said, Smith faces a very difficult task. Hunter becomes a free agent this winter, and both Santana and Nathan hit the open market following next season. Toss in the new ballpark opening in 2010 and this is one of the most important points in franchise history. Ryan indicated at his press conference yesterday that the stress of trying to negotiate contracts with players and agents was part of what burned him out on the job, and it certainly won't be any easier for a first-time GM. Ryan will reportedly remain with the organization in a significant player-evaluation role, indicating during the press conference that getting back to his player-development roots perhaps fits his current skills and passion more than working on contract extensions, dealing with the media, and filling roster gaps around the team's building blocks. The franchise will miss having Ryan at the top, but he was part of an effective organizational structure that remains largely intact. If Smith is able to continue utilizing the strengths of Rantz, Radcliff, and a scouting department that apparently now includes Ryan, there's a strong chance for stability. If he can do that while moving away from Ryan's team-building weaknesses, there's perhaps even room for improvement. The timing is odd, the move comes as a surprise, Ryan will be missed, and Smith will be forced to hit the ground running immediately, but the Twins are a franchise that remains well positioned for success.

"I'm going to Miami," said manager Ozzie Guillen, who planned to watch his youngest son Ozney play baseball for Monsignor Pace High School. "I might not come back." Guillen was joking, but the Sox already have lost seven games against AL Central opponents, including five to Cleveland. The 4-9 start equals their worst since 1997, a season that resulted in the White Flag Trade. mark gonzales/trib

From everything I read, I always had the idea Jocketty had concerns about giving up a young pitcher with that kind of talent...and there were mysterious rumors about an injury or loss in velocity floating around too, but he was around St. Louis enough to know the value of both Dave Duncan and quality young starting pitchers. My recollection is that Jocketty wanted more than just Dye (maybe a financial subsidy), but maybe I'm completely wrong. I do remember that was the one that the local writer (I think Hal McCoy) actually broke the story that it was a done deal and then it was mysteriously retracted...maybe when the backlash against the deal mounted in the Reds' scouting department?

Well, you can also argue we didn't get shut out by the Rays, haha....we won one game and were leading in at least two of the others without Quentin and Crede, right? I do think things would look a little more bleak if you flipped Rick Hahn's son upside down and we lost Game 163 up at the Dome. Then we have only 2000 and 2005 to throw up against 2002-2004, 2006, 2008 and 2009. 6 to 2 versus 5 to 3 is a HUGE difference psychologically...that we finally proved at least ONE time that we could beat Minnesota in a post-season game was worth waiting through 6-7 years of Piranha-derived frustration. Still, six out of 9 titles would be quite an achievement, definitely. Especially since the White Sox and Tigers have outspent the Twins for much of that period In some ways, 2008 was almost more fun down the stretch than 2005, because of the stress of almost blowing the lead...such a high, the improbable way we won 3 games in a row, even with the fact we pretty much knew we would be sunk playing on artificial turf against Longoria and company. That was just the Rays' year, pure and simple. The almost completely unexpected seasons from Quentin, Ramirez, Danks (well, he was a stud when we got him, but didn't pitch so well in 2007) and Floyd beocoming "men" and not just boys...I'll never forget that either. Or Vazquez/Cabrera/Swisher, on the downside of the ledger. http://bmoorespecific.blogspot.com/2009/06...ark-wilson.html I'm not sure if this is a direct link that's down/broken or it's being blocked by the "GREAT FIREWALL" here in China, but it looks worthwhile.

If Gonzalez would extend past the end of 2011, but what are the odds of that? 5-10%, at best...plus I'm not sure that he would even want to get involved in the revolving Ozzie Guillen Soap Opera Clubhouse, either. It's certainly not for every type of player and invidual mentality (see Swisher/Cabrera).

No, Baltimore or TOR wouldn't have a chance in our division either. If Baltimore's young talented pitching develops, sure, maybe...but the everyday line-ups with the Twins or even Tigers and Orioles are not exactly comparable.

Why would we want Berkman if we're in 3rd-5th place?

Beckham and Nix makes the most sense of our internal options...they already tried Teahen (Royals) at 2B and it didn't take at all. Heck, with as bad as things have gotten, I'd almost gamble on Beckham at SS and Sergio Santos at 2B. Lillibridge always has a chance to get another go-around this year, but I hope they'd have the sense to look at Nix first, if Ramirez really tanked to the point where they had to do something. But I see him as having a "middling," 725 OPS season that doesn't end up getting him benched.

wcsox has been suggesting $20 million/3 years for Konerko. I think that's fair, it doesn't insult it him, it keeps the 2nd most popular Sox player (#1 to 1/3rd) in the fold. However, I do think two years with option/s for the 3rd would be the route I would take at his age, and with the uncertain economic future of the franchise. The long-term deal has turned out to be something of a financial straightjacket for the team, along with Contreras as well. If the minor league guys had to bet, I don't think they'd see Viciedo as being ready in 2011 (yes, the jury's far from out, but premature evaluation is murky at best), and Flowers would have to be converted mid-year or in the AFL to 1B.