Twins & Wild

Firmly entrenched in last place with nowhere to go but up.

I predict the Twins will be one up from last place in 2015. Still 2 additional solid starting pitchers away…even if Buxton and Sano make it up for part of this season.

Find a contender without a 3rd baseman and trade Plouffe for more pitching…

FryDog62 wrote:

I predict the Twins will be one up from last place in 2015. Still 2 additional solid starting pitchers away…even if Buxton and Sano make it up for part of this season.

Find a contender without a 3rd baseman and trade Plouffe for more pitching…

Who are you picking for last? I would love to see Ryan find a taker for Mauer. Major league pitching, prospects and draft picks. He is a fit for the Dodgers if they could get him behind the plate again.
They have to get center field figured out.

I think Sano will be up sooner than later, so Plouffe will be good trade bait for a playoff contender. I’m tired of Mauer, but I just don’t see him going anywhere. My gut feeling is the Tigers are going tumble. I doubt last place but, who knows? Last years team was still Jim Leylands team and most good teams that change managers do good for a season or two and then start falling some. As far as last place, it’s the AL Central, so once again, who knows?

With Mauer’s no trade clause I don’t think he’s going anywhere..

If he has a slow start the fans will turn on him. I think if Ryan brought the right situation to him he would wave a no trade. Why not? Twins aren’t winning anything with or without him. I was a big defender of the way the Twins handled their payroll. Now I’m not so sure. All around baseball even the bad teams have money to spend. There are a bunch of good pitchers coming up in free agency next off season. I would like to see the Twins dump Mauers salary and go make a play for 2 front line starters.

Likely won’t happen but they need to do something.

Zach Paris >>>>> Joe Mauer

Heck, Nate Prosser >>> Joe Mauer

Now stop pushing my buttons

Not trying to rip anyone, but what am I missing?
Trevor Plouffe has trade value? For a starting pitcher?

I think sometimes people get caught up in the “who can we get rid of on our roster” and believe there’s a team out there ready to gobble him up. The Twins have lost 90+ games and while it’s not Plouffe’s fault, one of the reasons is that he’s our 3B! A power position. And he doesn’t hit for power, except for 1/2 of a season 4 years ago, and he’s not a good fielder, yet he starts for us!!! That’s why we are losing 90+ games a year, we actually play guys like Plouffe!

If the Twins were playoff contenders, Mauer would hit sixth vs. righties and 7th vs. lefties, and Dozier would hit 8th or 9th. But on a 90+ loss team, they bat 2nd and 3rd.

I know we statistically scored runs last year, but why wouldn’t we? The other team was already up by 8 or 9 runs and they didn’t need to run out their best RP’s.

I love the Twins and have been a season ticket holder now for 7 years, and I’m hoping that Sano, Buxton, can come in here and hit, and we can continue to build a pitching roster. We haven’t had a dominant strikeout pitcher since Santana or Liriano and we couldn’t figure out how to make Liriano happy.

Here’s to hoping the new coaching staff can make better decisions.

ET

Even if the Twins move up a spot out of the cellar this year I really don’t think they can contend for another couple years. Someone like Trevor Plouffe is now at his peak and probably about as good as he is going to get as an overall average to slightly above average player. He logically wouldn’t be a factor in the hopeful re-emergence of the team in a couple years. Maybe, but if you could get pitching prospect(s) for him than I think by all means you should.

Billy Smith’s 3 year impact on the team as GM probably equates to a 6 year recovery. I honestly think Terry Ryan can re-build the team but it will take time and pitching, pitching, pitching….

You never have enough quality arms and need to stack em up and hopefully (but not realistically) have a surplus. Average third basemen, I’m sorry to say are not a “dime a dozen” but much easier to come by then a quality pitcher.

tbro16 wrote:

Trading Mauer is the LAST thing on the agenda for anyone high up on the Twins totem pole. Some “fans” dont quite realize what Mauer still does for this franchise. He’s still the face of the team and will be until he retires.

On the bright side, bringing in a whole new coaching staff will be huge for this team (not a huge fan of Gardenhire towards the end of his tenure, and huuuuge hater of Rick Anderson), but I dont see how they dont finish last again this year. All the teams in the AL central are decent, just not among the leagues best, nor the leagues worst. Some people dont realize that the Twins were 7th in the league in scoring last year (5th in AL). We will be good as the pitching staff allows us… which isnt very good, obviously. Like everyone else has said, give it a few seasons for guys like Buxton, Sano, and Rosario to make a big impact… still have to find consistent pitching though.

Go Twins!

Attendance is falling every year. Mauer provides zero leadership (as far as anybody in the clubhouse will say) Micheal Cuddyer hit more homeruns in 30 games than Mauer did all year. Mauer as the primary #3 hitter drove in an embarrassing low amount of runs. While a nice guy and a good role model for a athlete he provides little to the Twins that can’t be replaced.

Put the big kid (sorry can’t remember his name) at 1st. Make Plouffe the DH (because as Eric said who wants him). Set Sano at 3rd and lets go. Put Santana at short, Dozier at 2nd. Start the year with Hicks in center, if by May 15th he still sucks bring up Buxton and let Hicks go.

Take a look around the central, the Twins are falling farther behind the other teams (except Kansas City) every year and it won’t get better.

If I was a season ticket holder I would be irate with the currant plan.

While Mauer has been a disappointment since signing his big deal, no one will take on his contract for a low power hitting first baseman. I agree and think he’s a great guy, but he’s very proud and I don’t think he’d waive his no-trade clause and admit he isn’t cutting it.

Best chance of the Twins getting out from underneath his contract is that Joe decides to retire, and attribute his decline to his ongoing leg issues or post-concussion syndrome.

Unlikely again because he is a proud individual. But if he really tails off further I don’t think he takes the abuse until 2018..

FryDog62 wrote:

While Mauer has been a disappointment since signing his big deal, no one will take on his contract for a low power hitting first baseman. I agree and think he’s a great guy, but he’s very proud and I don’t think he’d waive his no-trade clause and admit he isn’t cutting it.

Best chance of the Twins getting out from underneath his contract is that Joe decides to retire, and attribute his decline to his ongoing leg issues or post-concussion syndrome.

Unlikely again because he is a proud individual. But if he really tails off further I don’t think he takes the abuse until 2018..

I agree but these athletes all want the validation of a World Series ring which is something he will never get here. On MLB radio they were talking about the post concussion syndrome being Mauers problem last year. They expect him to bounce back to the .325 – .350 he has been in years past. Even so, unless he drives in 100 runs he doesn’t have enough value for me to keep him around.

But as you said, he isn’t going anywhere.

He may bounce back average-wise and I do think that he probably has had lingering concussion symptoms. Imagine how hard it would be to hit a Justin Verlander fastball any way let alone with a tad bit of blurred vision or slower reflexes.

That being said, I’m not sure that even if healthy we will ever see a Joe Mauer batting average above .325 again. Biggest reason is the zone defenses the opposing teams set up when he comes to bat. They are working. I’ve heard a few analysts say that has cost Mauer 20-30 points off his batting average. And unless he has the ability to hit the low inside pitch for anything but a soft grounder to second, or to turn on pitches for home runs to right field (highly unlikely for him at Target Field) then I don’t know that he will ever get back to where he was.

Ouch, $23 mil a year for a guy that hits .300 and 10 HR’s a year will really hamstring a team like the Twins from a budget standpoint. …And the ability to attract and pay for front line, free agent starting pitchers..

I believe Joe has the ability to become any type of hitter the Twins would like, but that he has had no one pushing him on the coaching staff.

My hope is that Molitor asks for and demands run production instead of on-base percentage and that Joe delivers.

I don’t expect 30 HR’s but he can put the ball in the gaps and in the corners and waltz into second base.

45+ doubles would be awesome!

Eric

Bottom line is we got a new manager and pitching coach and I liked Bruno as hitting coach. So, I’m going give them the benefit of the doubt. (well at least for the first month or so) For the most part, I’m pleased with the signings, so lets see. Got to be optimistic, it’s a new season.

Travis, Mauers value vs cost isn’t close to what it needs to be. I don’t care that he makes 23 million, he earned every penny of that contract. What I’m saying is you have one asset worth anything (Mauer) that can free up 25% of your pay-roll if you can get somebody to take him. What does this team need worse…..Mauer or a front line starter? You can’t have both, which do you want?

Today I would take one mediocre starter and a couple class AA pitching prospects if somebody would take his contract.

I don’t fault the Twins for not signing a front line starter the last few years, they didn’t have the offense to back him up. And please don’t roll out that bogus stat on their run production last year, as I’ve said before, when you’re down 7-1 in the late innings, the opposition doesn’t care if you get 2-4 late runs.
I don’t disagree that we need starting pitching help, but you should never sign a top free agent pitcher when you’re best offensive player is Brian Dozier, a guy that should be hitting 8th or 9th on a good team.

Now if Sano, Buxton, et all get here and start performing (A. Hicks!)then we should sign a top free agent pitcher, or god forbid, develop one!!

Minnesota is a tough place for free agents to want to go to. Especially pitchers that risk higher injury to their arms in the coldest average climate in MLB. In our favor is that Target Field favors pitching due to its dimensions.

The bottom line is winning teams attract top free agents. Winning teams also tend to have higher revenues to pay top salaries. This is where our hometown team struggles to compete and primarily has had to build from within the farm system. That takes time and can be very cyclic.