177 thoughts on “October 4, 2012: Stretch”

    1. Isn't it, though? I have to decide whether I want to get it for the TBS games or not. It seems like kind of a waste when I get FOX and they end up with most of the games.

        1. there are special box seats for very important persons if they wish to attend. simply look up the acronym, immediately followed by the first highlighted entry.

        3. At the bottom, they seemed to mention that a couple DS games would be on MLB Network, which doesn't help me at all. I do actually get TBS, but I hate it when baseball gets relegated to cable.

          I could be wrong on this, because it's just a hunch, but it seems like more and more, sports are moving to cable not because they are unpopular, but because that's where networks can make the most money off of them. Sports seem to be the hottest thing on TV, and as such, the cable sports networks make a ton of money in subscriber fees, in addition to advertising. On broadcast TV, you only get the advertising money.

      2. In the past, it hasn't been an option. Just some random stadium cameras plus the radio broadcast. With no replays and no production, it wasn't anything like watching on television. I think if you are overseas, you might be able to stream the playoffs.

          1. In the past, MLB has not blacked out international subscribers for national broadcasts. That's essentially why there is no MLB.tv for the postseason--all of the postseason games are national broadcasts, so even if there was an MLB.tv package, all of the games would be blacked out. You'd have to poke around mlb.com to figure out what they're doing for this postseason, though.

          2. International package is 25 Clams.
            US TV-Broadcast-Audio and camera feeds package for non-FOX-broadcast games is a mere fin. It sucks, but it doesn't cost too much. I might go for it.

  2. I got a call last night from one of my bosses - it sounds nearly inevitable that I'll be promoted again within a couple of weeks, and that I already have a strong reputation up at the district level. I never considered myself a lifer in this kind of business, but I don't dislike it, so inching closer to moving to the corporate office in MN and not working nights anymore is a nice long-term goal outside of writing and acting.

    1. Sometimes as we go through life, our dreams and our goals change. They did for me, anyway. I'm not saying you should give up on anything, just saying that we never know what direction life may take us.

      1. A couple more promotions would be a great series of events for my writing, strangely enough - particularly if I move up high enough that my schedule always has me working at the same time of day like most sane people. Part of the reason my writing rhythm is broken up so easily is that my schedule is all over the place and it always leaves me feeling like I have no time for writing.

          1. That's just it, though. When I have structured time, I do less of that and way more writing.

            My best writing by far happens when I'm not working at all, but that's not so realistic.

            1. This is me too. Once you have enough/consistent time to do writing you end up doing more and more of it.

        2. You need to move up the corporate chain in order to do the research for The Corporate Office series you are gonna write.

      2. I slept horribly last night thinking of them. I guess I'm not in a minority here in counting Neshek among my favorite former Twins. From having followed him through his website from the minors, the funky delivery, the much-needed outs when he was with the Twins, and the high-level of fan interaction - as a fan himself. I was excited that after the injuries and rehab, he had made it back, and was headed to the playoffs. Excited to hear of his newborn boy. And now I'm just floored as if I've heard the same news about my good friend and co-worker who gave birth today.

        When folks here (or on fb, I guess) share personal bad news, I rarely speak as I feel I don't know what to say. I know Beau and the Padre have said that it's best to say something, but I get all self-conscious about those things. I work better in trivialities. I'm not good at consolation.

        [Rambling here, it's all about me and not about Pat or Stephanee or Gehrig, but I'm just gonna post it rather than keep re-writing it until I decide to trash the whole thing.]

        1. I discovered today that I have a FB friend (read: someone I knew back in school) who is close to the Nesheks. She put up a status about a friend losing a baby, without once mentioning anything about baseball. It was just an entirely personal status, which made it even more devastating.

          1. Right, one of my neighbors growing up was a co-worker of Gehrig's grandpa. The Neshek's have close ties that just makes it even more painful to think about.

  4. time to bring the hand and ball guys fantasy basketball league out of the basement. i’ll resurrect the league shortly, but for those that participated, is there a strong desire for keepers? also, we could probably use a new team or two. i dunno, what do you all think?

    your current champion of the stick and ball league (boo-yah),

    joe

    1. I'll play again, not because I know any more about basketball this year than I did last year, but because I have a sickness and a compulsion for these sorts of things.

      As for keepers, you guys can decide that.

    2. I'm most definitely in. It wouldn't be right for last year's League Champion to not play again.

    3. Speaking of competitions, anyone want to manage the 2012 Great WGOM MLB Playoff Brackef Competition? Looks like we have until Friday 4 PM CDT to finish.

        1. I had planned on doing it, using a 1-2-4-8 scoring system. If you already have things set to go, though, do it as you will. One isn't significantly fairer than the other.

          1. Also, there were small bonuses last year for correctly picking the number of games in a series if one guessed the right team. That was a decent addition.

            1. 1-2-4-8 seems fair enough. i'm thinking of keeping the x2 for correct number of games guessed, and to add a little more spice, 5 pts if you correctly guess the score of the wild card game. cool?

              1. Might be a lot of points for something so arbitrary, but everyone that's going to play is going to play no matter the points scheme, so it's all the same to me.

                1. my thinking was 1) it's something that will be difficult to predict, so few will get it and 2) that kind of makes it a wild card! get it!?

                  meh. like i said, i'm not married to the scoring system, so i'm happy to entertain suggestions. if the people demand change, then change they shall get.

        2. Seems like the scoring should relate to the number of possible teams that can win the series. For the World Series, that's ten teams; each LCS has a possible five teams that can win it. The divisional series is different however; two of them have a possible two winners while the other two have three winners.

          Using that model would imply a 2-2/3-5-10 scoring model, for a possible 34 points. But that seems like a lot of weight to correctly guessing the World Series winner. However, in order to get to that point, someone is going to need to be right about at least one team the entire way, for a minimum of 17 or 20 points. Someone who gets everything else right would earn 24 points.

          Eh, 1-2-4-6 seems good enough to me.

    4. I'll play this year. I'm not a fan of keepers, though. I've seen how they make coaches of bad teams completely give up on the league in my other leagues - I think that would be even worse in a non-paid league.

    8. i'm hearing mostly ambivalence regarding keepers, which is more than fine by me. i'll probably get around to this tomorrow.

      oh yeah, there's the hockey league too, but, you know...

  5. From the recent meeting with season ticket holders:

    What has been the most frustrating thing about this season?
    Ron Gardenhire (RG): Some of the fundamentals haven't been there like getting bunts down and hitting the cutoff man. The Twins take pride in those things and it isn't showing up on the field. Coaches continue to work hard with the players in practice but the results haven't been showing up on the field.

    If only the Twins could do a better job of bunting.

    1. Of course, I don't exactly expect Gardy to come out and say "have you seen the crap pitchers my boss gave me to work with?"

      1. But boy do I wish he would have. He, at times, throws certain other guys under the bus, why not his pitchers?

            1. I dunno. Should Gardy really publicly complain about his own boss? That seems highly unethical to me, and he's known and worked w/ Terry for a long time, and probably trusts that Terry is doing his best. Not sure a manager should ever publicly complain about the talent he's getting.

    2. In some sense, I can see how that would be the most frustrating part of coaching a team. Each team only has so much potential, but they ought to be able to get the simple stuff right to maximize their potential.

      1. Right, that's something they should be able to fix.
        "Look, guys, you're almost all marginal big-leaguers, so make the most of your opportunity by not playing with your head stuck somewhere uncomfortable."

    3. and defensively, hitting the cutoff man is the least of his concerns. The infield defense was pretty mediocre too. StatCorner says -34.6 fielding RAA. By comparison, Detroit's was -5.5. (that number for the Twins seems so outlandish that it almost has to be incorrect, right??)

      1. That seems off.

        Team TZL DRS UZR DefEff
        Min 3 28 29 .690
        Det -83* -33 -28 .678

        Every single metric rates the Twins as better.

        * Holy [redacted] did TZL not like Detroit.

        1. Wow! If TZL also didn't like the White Sox, Yankees, Red Sox, and Redskins, it'd be my new favorite stat.

        2. the StatCorner thing is specific to the infield. The outfield number is +30.7, compared to Detroit's -47.7. So, if those numbers can be added, the Twins net out to a -3.9, Detroit to -53.2.

  6. Minnesota Twins fWAR for hitters and AL rank (amongst qualified hitters):

    #9, 5.1 fWAR -- Mauer
    #19, 4.0 fWAR -- Span
    #20, 4.0 fWAR -- Willingham
    #31, 3.1 fWAR -- Revere
    #54, 2.4 fWAR -- Carroll
    #64, 1.7 fWAR -- Doumit
    #69, 0.9 fWAR -- Morneau

    Frankly, for such a terrible team, that's awfully good. Here are the rankings if we limit to players with 200+ PA:
    #9, 5.1 fWAR -- Mauer
    #19, 4.0 fWAR -- Span
    #20, 4.0 fWAR -- Willingham
    #31, 3.1 fWAR -- Revere
    #61, 2.4 fWAR -- Carroll
    #85, 1.7 fWAR -- Doumit
    #97, 1.2 fWAR -- Casilla
    #98, 1.2 fWAR -- Plouffe
    #104, 0.9 fWAR -- Morneau
    #142, -0.1 fWAR -- Dozier
    #148, -0.4 fWAR -- Parmelee

    The last time the Twins made the playoffs, they also had four positions players over 3 fWAR. They need to figure out how to get some pitching without giving up their top-end offensive talent. I wonder what kind of trade value Morneau has. With just one year left on his deal, you might find some takers.

    1. I'm still terrified we'll trade Span and not get what we deserve for him, believing Revere is an adequate replacement. I'm okay with trading Span if it means a solid #2 or #3 starter or a near-lock pitching prospect, but does the front office feel that way?

      1. I would hope that they realize that we've got a truly top-tier centerfielder.

        So, they ought to be able to at least get a proven closer for him.

      2. I understand the concern, but what have we seen from the FO that gives us the impression that they don't like Span? From the beginning, they were higher on Span than most of the fans, they seem to love him as a character guy (good teammate, etc.), and he produces on the field. Gardy's never had any problems with him and I've never heard TR say anything bad about him. It's not like we're talking about someone like Jason Bartlett here--I think the Twins know what they have in Span.

        If you're willing to accept that they value Span highly, the concern is really how they value the other players in a potential trade, but that's a problem with any trade involving any player. I'm more worried when they are trying to trade guys like Bartlett, Garza, and Hardy, who seem to bother them in one way or another even though they have a lot of on-field value.

          1. The report at midseason was that the Twins had "laughable" demands for Span. Remember, they also signed him to his current deal before the 2010 season, after just two seasons. I think they at least like him.

    1. Yeah, that'll help. Obviously, one of the big problems this year was the job Rick Stelmaszek did as bullpen coach.

      2. I don't think that's a fair comment. His contract is apparently up--what has Stelmaszek done to earn his next contract? Even if the bullpen wasn't a big problem, it's not like it was a huge bright spot, and can we really say that Stelmaszek would be the right guy for the job next year? We don't know what his rapport with the players or the rest of the coaching staff is like. His contract is apparently up, so it's as good a time as any to make a change. It's not like the Twins have been cycling through bullpen coaches on an annual basis.

      3. If you are going to make a 96 win leap in 2013, you have to do some radical things. Like fire the guy who makes sure the bullpen is fully stocked with bubblegum and sunflower seeds*. That's how I see it.

        *Not saying Stelly did this job, but I'm sure there was hell to pay if it didn't get done.

      4. From Tim Brown:

        26. Minnesota Twins (66-96; Previous: 26) – Twins relieve bullpen coach Rick Stelmaszek of duties. Now good to go for spring training.

        27. Cleveland Indians (68-94; Previous: 27) – Indians kick themselves for not thinking of the bullpen coach thing.

      1. This. He's officially a coach, so he's going to have a talk with Ryan, too.
        If they do replace the bullpen catcher, can it at least be with an undrafted guy who never even had a cup of Sanka at AA?

    3. Dang, Stelmaszek had been with the Twins longer than I've been alive. I'm really not sure the bullpen coach makes any difference one way or another, but it seems like when Gardy first came on the job, the Twins were able to scrape together a bullpen better than they have lately. Is any of that on Stelmaszek? Who knows.

      What's the general consensus on Rick Anderson? I think it'd be pretty hard for me to let him go. He's never really been a miracle worker, but there have been some success stories and I'd probably give him a chance with a new bullpen coach to see if the bullpen coach could complement him.

      1. agreed. Bullpen was a bright spot this year and has almost always been a bright spot since 2001. Not sure I get this move, but also not sure it matters a whole lot.

        1. You think it's been a bright spot since 2001? I can't remember the last time I felt like the Twins had a truly top tier bullpen. Some numbers:

          Rank in AL reliever fWAR:

          9 -- 2001
          1 -- 2002
          2 -- 2003
          3 -- 2004
          3 -- 2005
          1 -- 2006
          10 -- 2007
          8 -- 2008
          8 -- 2009
          5 -- 2010
          14 -- 2011
          13 -- 2012

          The bullpen's been above average one year in the last six. And in 2010, it was only just above average. I know a lot of that's on Bill Smith, but what evidence is there that Stelmaszek's been doing a good job?

          1. Is the bullpen coach really in charge of doing actual coaching with the relievers? I'd have thought that was the pitching coach's job. On the other hand, I'm not sure what the bullpen coach actually does, other than answer the bullpen phone, relay the message to the appropriate reliever, and, as SBG said, make sure the bullpen is well-stocked with bubblegum and sunflower seeds.

            That's why I made the comment I made above--I don't know that the bullpen coach really does much of anything. Thus, I don't see how firing the current one will make any difference one way or another, and it seems like firing him is not a good way to treat someone who's given you many years of loyal service. On the other hand, I suppose it's entirely possible that the bullpen coach is an extremely responsible position and that Stelmaszek isn't very good at it. If so, though, it seems like it's taken them a long time to figure that out.

            1. I understand that the bullpen coach probably doesn't make much of a difference one way or another. But I don't understand why everyone's so keen to keep Stelmaszek around. Sure, there are bigger problems, but if you're going to have a bullpen coach, you might as well have a good one. We know that Stelmaszek can do the job, but we don't know that he's doing it well. Additionally, this has not been advertised as a big fix. TR's just going through his off-season checklist and changes in the coaching staff come before changes in the roster because 33% of the players in the league are still playing. This isn't like getting rid of the hitting coach in the middle of the season because your hitters haven't been hitting.

            1. Sorry. Partly I wanted to check for myself, since I feel like the bullpen really started to struggle, especially after Nathan was injured, whichever year that was.

      2. I'd struggle with letting go of Anderson as well; he's done decent given the talent he's had (I heard someone today say he's not even had "good pitchers pitching well" - what good pitchers has he really had to work with in the last two years? The good ones have been injured), and he seems like a decent guy. However, I also like the idea of giving Bobby Cuellar a shot. I'm not sure how Cuellar would feel about being bullpen coach, but maybe that's why Stelmaszek got let go? What about Cuellar as pitching coach and putting Anderson in as the bench coach?

        Edit: Reading that Cuellar is bilingual makes me want him to be a part of the coaching staff even more.

        1. I guess if there's anything about Anderson that I'm currently skeptical about, it's his ability to keep his pitchers healthy. Assessing fault for the health of the pitching staff is an incredibly tricky thing, though. In no particular order, you have potential issues with the coaches sending pitchers out to pitch when the pitchers have given them signs they shouldn't go out there. There is the possibility that a pitcher is not doing his part to keep himself in good shape. There is the possibility that a pitcher is taking bad strength/conditioning advice in the off-season and comes into the year as a risk to get injured. There's obviously the medical staff, which everyone is keen to jump on. But also, it presumably matters what work the pitching coaches have the starters doing between starts which makes a difference in keeping them healthy. And then there's dumb luck, too.

          So, I don't know. Maybe a different pitching coach could keep the staff healthier. There's more to that than pitching counts, at any rate.

    4. The only way this makes sense if it allows the Twins to have Bobby Cuellar and Rick Anderson both as coaches for the Twins. I could really get into that.

      1. I know Cuellar has been great at teaching pitchers certain pitches; not sure how his overall coaching ability is, but yeah, him and Anderson both sounds win-win to me.

    5. maybe Paul Molitor can fill Stelly's shoes

      Phil Mackey ‏@PMac21
      Paul Molitor tells us he would have interest in interviewing for a coaching position if anything opened up. #MNTwins

      1. Boy, the Twins hitting sure did suck last year. Seriously, why reassign Joe Vavra while Scott Ullger gets to continue to collect a paycheck?

        1. Is Ullger going to continue to collect a paycheck? His meeting with TR was supposed to be in progress when you made this comment. Jerry White is scheduled for 2pm central.

          I'm as ambivalent about reassigning Vavra as I am about firing Stelmaszek. Where's the evidence that Vavra is good? Sure, the hitting on the team was better than the pitching, but that's because there was more hitting talent than pitching talent. It's possible that no one was really listening to Vavra (hitters are notorious for taking advice from just about anyone other than the hitting coach) and maybe they do feel like putting someone like Paul Molitor there would improve things, even if only slightly.

        2. I assume to make room for Brunansky.

          I remember a while back people thinking that Ullger could be a choice for a manager position for another team. I'd love that. Especially if it was an AL team.

            1. In addition to him failing at every job he's had (3rd base coach, hitting coach, bench coach, major league player), he has been the replacement manager the past few seasons whenever Gardy is unavailable. In those games, he gets extremely aggressive (maybe it's because he's finally handed the "car keys" so he feels obligated to try out his shiny toys) and calls a TON of hit-and-runs and goes completely crazy with reliever matchups.

                1. True, true. I suppose he could make a really good manager for the 2013 Cleveland Indians. After all, after Manny Acta, how much worse could the next manager be? and the answer is none. None more worse.

              2. I guess. Frankly, I don't think I've really noticed him over the last few years. I have never heard of a well-liked 3rd-base coach, and any kind of record as a replacement manager seems like a SSS issue. I don't think he'd be a good manager, but I haven't seen him do anything that makes me think he'd be worse than a lot of other guys out there.

                1. The last two Twins managers were both promoted from third base coach. Gardy didn't stand out as a coach, but I remember TK being really aggressive and known as a very good coach. Then again, I was young and may have believed whatever I was told by Twins announcers.

    6. The latest from LEN:

      UPDATE: Rick Anderson remainds as the pitching coach. Twins to issue a release on all the moves shortly.

        1. As he should be if that were to happen again, unless the Twins go extremely young and overhaul the talent.

          1. Even if they get younger, I would expect them to improve. They couldn't get a whole lot younger than they did in 2008, and even though I think that team was pretty lucky w/RISP, it was still a .500 team on talent.

    1. And was even less durable.

      Rk Games
      1 Joe Mauer* 147
      2 Josh Willingham 145
      3 Jamey Carroll 138
      4 Justin Morneau* 134
      5 Ryan Doumit# 134
      6 Denard Span* 128
      7 Ben Revere* 124
      8 Trevor Plouffe 119
      9 Alexi Casilla# 106
      10 Michael Cuddyer 101

      1. Noted pussies Mauer and Morneau each played dozens more games than Cuddyer. He should just turn in his man card right now.

        2. Mauer also played ~89 more defensive position innings than Cuddyer during the season. He played more innings at C than Cuddy did in RF (and more at 1b as well). Not to mention that catcher is just slightly more taxing than RF.

          1. And his OPS was 55 points higher. And his wOBA was 30 points higher. And his WAR was 4.1 wins higher.

            TRAED JOE MAUR!!!!!11

  9. Here are your latest Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominees:

    Rush
    Deep Purple
    Heart
    Joan Jett & the Blackhearts
    Donna Summer
    Chic
    Public Enemy
    N.W.A.
    Kraftwerk
    the Meters
    Albert King
    Procol Harum
    The Paul Butterfield Blues Band
    The Marvelettes

    I'm guessing Public Enemy, Rush, Albert King, and perhaps Kraftwerk are shoo-ins.

    2. Hey, I own albums from all of your shoo-ins!
      Needs more Ministry. Who else did I complain about last year?

    4. It is an embarrassment to the R&RHOF that Albert King isn't in already.

      Rush and Kraftwerk for sure. I have no real opinion on Public Enemy (I'm too ignorant).

      Heart seems to me, like Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, to belong in the Hall of Very Good.

    2. ouch. Thankfully, I'm the only person named Beau S. in the world, according to public records.

      There was a professor at ARCC named Richard Jewell, so I felt kind of bad for him in 1996, but this is way worse.

  11. So Alan Sepinwall recapped each episode from Deadwood season 1 two summers ago, and season 2 last summer (I would expect he would recap season 3 next year). During season one, Jim Beaver (Ellsworth) would comment sharing his memories of the episodes as well as really interesting anecdotes from behind the scenes. I'm finally reading the season 2 recaps (mainly because I finally got back around to finishing season 2 again...) and, in addition to Jim Beaver, Keone Young (WU!) and Garret Dillahunt (Mr. W, Jack McCall) also were sharing their thoughts by the 5th episode of season 2. Just really fascinating stuff for anyone who enjoyed the show.

    I give the reviews two thumbs up.

  12. So, question for all of you:

    Which season was more disappointing: last year or this year? I'm leaning toward this year. With all the key additions to the club and with Mauer and Morneau back to a reasonable facsimile of their former selves, they still lost 96 games. After last year, you could at least point to M&M being hurt and say, they'll be back. Now, I'm dreading a long stretch of darkness.

    1. I'm not sure. I certainly had very little hope the Twins would compete this year despite the additions, because I had no confidence in the pitching staff. Last year I had some hope going into the season (they had just won the division handily in 2010), so I'd say last year probably.

      This year was certainly more fun to watch because of the occasional offensive explosion (though that tailed off heavily the last couple months). But yeah, there's even less hope now going forward than I had previously.

    2. Last year. This year was predicted and predictable, particularly after Baker went down.

      I actually took considerable comfort in the return of M&&M to something resembling their past exploits, plus Consuela, plus the burial then ditching of Nishi, plus the relatively decent performance of the bullpen (TRA of 4.24, PRAA of -17.3; compared to a TRA of 5.56 and PRAA of -87.4 for the starters). Burton, Dunce, Fien and Perk make for a pretty good core bullpen group (collectively +27.3 PRAA)*.

      *all numbers from StatCorner

    3. last season disappointed much more than this season. we had several good seasons from Twins batters and baserunners, really it was the starting pitching that suh-hucked. We were _elm_nless, B.Jeebus was healthy and playing, and we eventually ditched a lot of deadwood by season's end. With some proper moves in the starting rotation over the offseason, we'll see how it tempers my expectations going forward.

    5. Related to this, I was thinking about TR's last offseason over lunch. What worked out and what didn't work out?

      He got the biggest move (Willingham) right. Doumit and Carroll contributed pretty well in the end. (Of course, Doumit is a free agent again now, but it's hard to look down on a $3M contract for a 1.7 fWAR performance.) The Perkins extension looks like a good call. Letting Cuddyer walk was the right move. Kubel hit 30 HR this year and still didn't quite get 2.0 fWAR. I really like Kubel, but I think that not out-bidding Arizona worked out well. Burton and Fien look like decent relievers and he got them for free.

      I'd call Joe Nathan a push. He got $14M/2yr guaranteed, which is looking pretty fair, but the Twins likely would have had to bid over that to keep him from signing with a contender. Slowey also turned out to basically be a push, given that he didn't make a major league roster this year. Zumaya was a push, too. They kicked the tires, it didn't work out.

      Marquis was a bust, though looking at his season in total, he's got a 4.03 xFIP and there could be some bad luck mixed in there. But it was a 1-year, $3M deal, so not too bad, really. Capps was a big bust. If the press reports were correct, that contract was for more than just baseball reasons, and I hope they just cut bait on him. You can burn some money in the goodwill pile every so often, but you can't make a habit of it.

      To me, that looks like a good but unspectacular offseason. TR was not able to add to a weak starting rotation and it really showed this year. However, I think the team is better off today than it was a year ago. In that sense, I guess this season is less disappointing--at the end of 2011, things were headed in the wrong direction and everything seemed terrible. Right now, I think they have fewer weaknesses, which makes them easier to address.

        1. Aha, so he did. When I googled the extension, this laughable analysis is the first thing I ran across. Sometimes it's like analysts don't even bother looking at the cost of a contract. Sure, Doumit's past 30 and he's not going to be a star, but he's only getting $3.5M/year. He complements Mauer and Morneau well and given how short the modern-day bench is, having a backup catcher who can credibly PH seems pretty great. Maybe that contract's a problem on a $40M payroll, but that looks pretty good to me on a payroll anywhere north of $80M.

          1. I tend to agree with the theory of what he's saying (if I was somehow making this decision I probably would've offered Doumit just 2013 this summer), but I think he went a little overboard - it's not like they gave Doumit five more years, they gave him one more than this guy would think they should have.

            I do wonder how much of Doumit's relative health this year - this was the most he's ever played in a season, I believe - had to do with how the Twins used him, like this guy pointed out. If they can keep that going then there shouldn't be any problem with two years as opposed to one.

              1. I rolled my eyes pretty far back in my head when I originally read it.

                I'm guessing that Doumit would get close to what the Twins are paying him for the next two years on the open market after his season this year. Also, $3.5 million a year just to reduce Butera's playing time is worth it. Getting decent production on top of that is just gravy.

                1. SEND HIM!!!!

                  Also, $3.5 million a year just to reduce Butera's playing time is worth it.

                  SEND HIM!!
                  PACKING

      2. You forget that the Twins are assuredly going to lower payroll and have indicated that free agent pitching is not on their radar. So, they will most definitely be trading for pitching, which probably means getting less for Span than he's worth. Willingham had a career year, unlikely to be duplicated. Yes, they have money coming off the books, but I think we'll be looking at an $85-$90 million payroll. Of course, they could just call up a bunch of their prospects that are just knocking the doors down in AAA and AA. I expect another 400,000 to 500,000 drop in attendance, to about 2.4 million, which will no doubt be followed by further cuts to payroll. I will be happy to be proved wrong.

        2. I think they'll improve even if they keep payroll around the same level or slightly lower. The last couple of years they've gone into the offseason with some contributing players entering free agency, but at least off the top of my head, that doesn't seem to be the case this year. Sure, Willingham had a career year (maybe Plouffe, too), but someone else could have a career year next year. He's still a solid player to have under that contract.

          We'll see how the pitching hunt goes. I know they're not going to fill in all the pieces in one offseason, I'm just hoping for some steps forward. I'm not convinced that Span will be traded. If he is, I'm glad that TR is pulling the trigger and not BS.

    6. Last year was easily more disappointing. This year I had the WGOM to help me through, last year I didn't.

    7. I'm with Stick. In April if someone told you Mauer, Morneau, Willingham, Doumit, Spann, and Plouffe would have the seasons they did you would have thought that the Twins were a 90 win team.

      1. If in April, I was told that the Rotation was Diamond, Hendricks, Duderino, DeVries, and Walters, and that two of the four most-frequently used relievers were Burnett and Gray, I would have been worried about 110 losses.

    8. Last year was was a bigger disappointment for me. I didn't think they'd be a 95 win club again, and some of Smith's moves were awful, but I didn't think they'd lose nearly 100 games. This year I figured they'd be around .500, maybe a bit under, and possibly contend for the division if Baker & Liriano were lights out. Well, we know how that worked out. They were bad, but I'm not all that surprised.

      Let's look on the bright side: they're only almost a full starting rotation from being decent again!!!1 I hope they bring in someone like Edwin Jackson or Annibal Sanchez (or preferably both) for sure, try to get Baker back on board, and maybe bring in someone else. I doubt they'll be able to get Greinke or Peavy, but that'd be decent. Dan Haren was only okay down the stretch, but he's been very dominant. I'd prefer they bring someone like him to the team for the one year, low risk deal than 2013's Jason Marquis/Sidney Ponson/etc. With 2-3 MLB pitchers + some mix of Diamond, Hendriks, Deduno, and Gibson later in the summer I think they could make pretty huge improvements. But they're going to need to pay for that.

      1. I'm all for the Marquis/Ponson/Pavano/Ortiz/Livan/Zumaya signings if they are minor-league signings, and all parties realizing that it's a lottery ticket.

    9. Last year I thought they'd be mediocre and they were terrible. This year I thought they'd be pretty bad and they were terrible. So last year, I guess.

    10. Last year was more disappointing for me. This year, I was more prepared for the Twins to not do well.

      TR had some decent signings before the season, and then there were trades and demotions during the season that should help the team next year. I don't remember that happening last year.

      Still not excited by how the Twins mishandled injuries and the DL throughout the season, but at least they made some tougher decisions and trimmed some dead weight from the 40-man roster. Now, if there was only some decent new prospects to put on it...

    11. The key additions this year only replaced the players that contributed last year for the most part, since Willingham, Doumit and Burton replaced Cuddyer, Kubel and Nathan. Those players didn't feel the gaping holes the team had the year before, they just filled the ones created after the season.

  13. Sounds like the bloodbath is complete for today.

    Stelmaszek, White, McWane & Liddle were let go. Vavra, Ullger to be reassigned. Anderson remains pitching coach

    Sounds like Vavra & Ullger have been reassigned to "infield instruction" and "outfield instruction" respectively.

    And it sounds like Gene Glynn, Tom Brunansky, and Bobby Cuellar will be coming up to fill in those roles. And Paul Molitor is interested in joining the staff as well. Next year could be interesting.

      1. For some reason I thought I heard that White was done after this season either way... I could very, very well be mistaken.

          1. Reading a bit more, it was probably Liddle that I was thinking of.

            Maybe New Guy's friend will be working for the big club now!

      2. I guess I'd be a lot more skeptical about these moves if the Twins did it all the time, but I'll give TR of the benefit of the doubt since the Twins historically have had very low coaching turnover. And like Algonad said above, if the Twins lose 95 again next year, Gardy will be gone at the end of 2013. The player acquisition part of the offseason will be way more important, but that doesn't start for another six weeks or so.

    2. Jon Krawczynski ‏@APkrawczynski
      Ullger and Vavra will stay with the big league team, working with the outfield and infield, respectively.

        1. I don't think just for that, but I don't think this will be their only responsibilities. I think they were just given the duties of departed coaches, which I think went to the fired base coaches. My guess is other duties will be handed out as the coaching staff takes shape.

    1. Construction, which will be entirely paid for by the Twins...

      Who else would have paid for it?

          1. I initially read that as "concussion monies". I figured that after the last few years, the Twins very well could have a fund like that.

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