The only reason people aren’t more angry is because they’re so down on our pitching prospects. Nobody really thinks that Liam Hendricks is going to step in and throw a sub 4.00 ERA, and this team has brought up a legitimate prospect who could miss bats since Liriano (acquired from another organization). This is what happens when you spend year after year on draft picks trying not to fail (conservative pitch-to-contact college pitchers with low walk rates) instead of aiming high and drafting guys that have the potential to be aces. It’s unfortunate that the one time they DID do that (Gibson), he blew his arm out, so we’re probably 12-18 months from any meaningful contribution by him.

I agree with others that the Twins are rebuilding, and, sorry to say, this is what a rebuild job for a mid-market team looks like. They’re not going to throw an extra $30M at a half dozen holes the way “big market” clubs (with big TV deals) do. On the other hand, they won’t simply go into ST like the Padres, Pirates or Royals with a bunch of AA players fighting for 10 roster spots.

Instead, they’ll go halfway, picking up cost-effective vets like Carroll, Doumit and Marquis. They’ll hope those guys slightly outperform their projections so that if all goes well, the team could dream about competing in a relatively weak division. If not, maybe they can deal one or two of them at the deadline or when younger guys are ready to be promoted and pick up some useful parts for the future.