October 11, 2011
Got a question, comment, or topic idea for this week’s podcast?
We're running out of post-regular season, pre-offseason topics to discuss on the podcast, so for tonight's "Gleeman and The Geek" episode John Bonnes and I thought it would be good to solicit questions, comments, and topic ideas from the audience. If there's something you'd like to hear us read, answer, discuss, or argue about during tonight's show you can send it to me via the comments section, e-mail, or Twitter. And they don't all have to be Twins-related.
Besides your own two sites, which other Twins blogs would you recommend?
Comment by Andrew — October 11, 2011 @ 1:39 am
When will the Twins come into modern times and have a hispanic coach at the major league level? It might be nice with the hispanic talent they have. Also lets hope Dozer has some speed and doesn’t fall into the JJ Harris mold that Gardenhire didn’t like.
Comment by Rich — October 11, 2011 @ 6:19 am
What are your guys thoughts on the grades handed out in John Sickels preliminary top 20?
Comment by Billy — October 11, 2011 @ 6:35 am
Which prospects will the Twins add to the 40 man roster this offseason.
Comment by The Twin — October 11, 2011 @ 6:35 am
Who is JJ Harris?
Comment by spoofbonser — October 11, 2011 @ 7:05 am
I’d like to hear you guys discuss Manager Ron Gardenhire, at length.
Whats the deal with his number 2 hitters and where do those ideas come from?
What are his view points on sabermetrics?
How influential is he with Billy Smith and the 40 man roster moves?
In other words, was he responsible for running guys like Garza and Hardy out of town?
Does he have what it takes to rebuild a bullpen and consistently write down winning lineups?
What does he do well? What does he not do well?
How long will he be coaching?
Who would be likely internal managers? Paul Molitor sooner? Jake Mauer later?
Comment by spoofbonser — October 11, 2011 @ 7:15 am
I’d like to hear your prediction on when the Twins will be in the world series next. It has been 20 years, will it be another 20?
Did you notice the batting average with runners on base for Nick Punto this year? (admitting small sample size but still amazing)
Do you pull for former twins to do well after they’ve left the team?
How long will it be before the twins realize that promoting from within every time is not working?
Comment by JT — October 11, 2011 @ 7:39 am
Since I won’t be the first to drop the name, how surprised are you that our middle infield was so bad that many in Twins Territory would welcome back Punto? Compared to Nishi and company, LNP is an all-star…
Comment by grubah — October 11, 2011 @ 7:45 am
I hear cuddy is headed to the Cubs. Thoughts?
Comment by TL — October 11, 2011 @ 7:47 am
Oh, and one more question. How long can you continue to do a podcast with a guy who drinks only water?
Comment by grubah — October 11, 2011 @ 7:47 am
1) What do you think about the possibility of persuing Jorge Posada as a C\1b bench option next year? assuming he can still look like a catcher….
2) Commentary on who you think are the most promising prospects. who gained\lost stock as a prospect?
3) For all the Punto-angst in past seasons, do you find it ironic that if you averaged out his years as a Twin into a fictional 2011 that he would have been our best infielder (considering offense and defense) according to WAR?
4) Is “ironic” or “really, really, sad” a better choice of words?
Comment by Steve K — October 11, 2011 @ 8:04 am
I would like to see a comprehensive look at the effect of playing in Target Field compared to the dome. Use your statistical powers to see the effect of the field dimensions, playing surface, winds etc.
Comment by Ray Christensen - not the famous one — October 11, 2011 @ 8:42 am
What one or two specific offseason moves would you do as GM to make the Twins a better team next year? That is assuming players come back as healthy as possible.
Comment by Cory — October 11, 2011 @ 8:44 am
Including minor league parks, what are the best ballparks in America?
Comment by Andrew — October 11, 2011 @ 8:44 am
Well, this isn’t really Twins related or baseball related (looks like I’m the first to go off the reservation)-
Discuss the hot women that make up NBC’s prime time lineup and rank them by hotness (which you can define your own way, of course). If you really need to connect it to baseball, you could draw a correllation to which Twins player they would be. Like- Whitney Cummings is the Randy Bush of the lineup- she gets the job done but how she got there isn’t always pretty. Or Alison Brie is the Frank Viola, because when she is on, she’s amazing. Etc.
Comment by Kirk — October 11, 2011 @ 8:58 am
What are your thoughts about us going after CJ Wilson? Especially considering his HR rate and how the change from Ranger’s Ballpark to Target Field would help.
Also, since Liriano is Dominican, do you think playing up that he pitches better when it’s hot and then trading him to a team playing in a hot climate for most of the year for whatever we can get is a good idea?
Comment by Stuart — October 11, 2011 @ 9:20 am
When do we decide that Aaron Hicks may not be a top prospect? Do we have him give up switch hitting? Convert him to a pitcher? I have a lot of tools, but I’m not a handyman.
Comment by bill — October 11, 2011 @ 9:33 am
you have a long, long winter….and you may have hit on some of this already, I’ve only heard half of the podcasts…..
1. What is best about Target Field? What would you change? Would you bring back the trees?
2. Do you agree that Joe C is basically Twins’ PR, as many call him on the comments section of the STrb? Would you like the coverage of this team to change?
3. Who should be the Twins’ radio team? What do you look for in a good announcer? Do you think that is what the Twins look for?
4. Will Aaron ever finish his Twins’ top 40 players of all time?
5. What do you think of the new tv shows, are any of them any good at all?
6. Assuming they can only add 1-2 legit MLB players next year, should they even be doing that, or should they be rebuilding some?
7. If you could describe your philosophy for building a team, how close is it to the Twins’?
8. Why do we care if the Twins win or not? It’s not like we own them, or know a bunch of the guys.
9. Why does anyone care where Joe Mauer was born? If for some bizarre reason you do care where someone is from, shouldn’t those people like someone that chooses to live here, rather than someone that moved the first chance he got? I really don’t get why anyone cares, but they do.
10. Critique of the national baseball coverage right now.
11. Comparison of the philosophy/players/teams in teh playoffs vs the Twins (even assuming they are healthy, there are differences in approach).
12. What do you like beat about baseball? What drives you crazy? What would you change?
Comment by mike wants wins — October 11, 2011 @ 9:47 am
Imagine you are the present GM of the Twins. What moves would make and how would you go about getting the team back on track? Take everything into account–need to fill the seats, field a competitive team again, balance payroll, short term, long term, etc.
Comment by Elvus — October 11, 2011 @ 9:50 am
What do the Twins do with the 2nd overall pick? Verlander like arm, or elite MIF prospect?
Also how much would 5 of the top 60 pick (assuming we lose cuddy and kubel) boost the farm system?
Last one, any chance the Twins go after a 2nd tier free agent pitcher like Edwin Jackson or the Japanese guy they lost out on to the A’s but now is an outright free agent?
Comment by Jon — October 11, 2011 @ 9:57 am
Focus on one position at a time; for example, “closer.” Bring Nathan back? At what price? Is there an under-the-radar arm out there who could thrive as closer if given the chance?
Alternatively, you could discuss the merits and PR value of bringing in Micah Owings to pitch and play DH (career .820 OPS!) for the team next year.
Comment by BR — October 11, 2011 @ 10:09 am
Who is the Twins’ 2012 opening day starting pitcher?
Or, if that’s too easy, who the hell is going to hold down the rotation next year? What’s Liriano’s future? Will Slowey really get another shot at a starting gig? Is the Duensing experiment (mercifully) over? Without Gibson in the mix, which minor league starting pitcher has the best chance of being at least a solid #3-4 starter next year, if any? Without a major free agent acquisition, can this organization put together anything resembling a division-winning rotation any time soon?
As you can probably tell, I’m really concerned about the starting rotation. I won’t even ask about Blackburn because we all know he’ll have one good month surrounded by five months of awful, like always.
Comment by Dylan — October 11, 2011 @ 11:59 am
A question for your podcast — Anderson and Gardenhire seem to have a preference for players who resemble themselves as players. Anderson was a high 80s pitch to contact pitcher and Gardy a hard-working infielder who couldn’t hit much. The Twins in recent years have had plenty of both types of players. Is this deficiency rooted in Anderson’s and Gardenhire’s backgrounds or are there additional reasons for it?
Geek — I teach poly sci at your alma mater.
Comment by Steve Schier — October 11, 2011 @ 12:24 pm
Is Gardy really biased against college educated players, or are Garza, Slowey, Valencia, Bartlett…..just coincidences?
Comment by mike wants wins — October 11, 2011 @ 12:48 pm
I’d like to hear you discuss what I call “Gardy’s Guys” and how Gardy’s influence has led to poor decisions on individual players. Examples: Duensing and Blackburn (Gardy’s Guys) being proclaimed starters early in spring training. Gardy wanting more “speed” in the middle infield contributing to not resigning Hardy. Butera and Tolbert being “Gardy’s Guys” even though I don’t think they are major leaguers. Loshe and Garza not being “Gardy’s Guys” and being traded….Valencia next?
Comment by Bruce — October 11, 2011 @ 1:17 pm
1. Who are you all-time favorite Twins players? Why?
2. Will the organization’s focus on pitch-to-contact pitchers and “scrappy” defensive players ever be good enough to win in the playoffs? It’s fun to win the division, but not fun to get creamed in the playoffs.
Comment by Eric J — October 11, 2011 @ 1:27 pm
Twins ownership seems to overly value loyalty when it comes to the front office and the on-field staff. What do you make of what’s going on with the Angels shedding everyone from the GM to a longtime scout? Would the Pohlads ever even think of doing this to shake up the organization?
Comment by Kathy D. — October 11, 2011 @ 3:59 pm
Would like to hear a speculative discussion of the 2015 team. Who is the team built around? Where is Mauer? Which prospects are playing a prominent role? What percentage of the 2015 roster would you guess are currently in the Twins organization?
Comment by AM — October 11, 2011 @ 4:14 pm
Who’s the worse GM, Spielman, Kahn, or Smith?
Comment by mike wants wins — October 11, 2011 @ 4:33 pm
Focus on one position at a time; for example, “closer.” Bring Nathan back? At what price? Is there an under-the-radar arm out there who could thrive as closer if given the chance?
I would say that for a team that may not have a winning record next year, closer is probably down there on a list of needs.
Save for the angst of deciding whether or not to retain the best reliever in Twins history, all the twins have to do is look to aquire decent arms. Whoever will be the closer can easily be figured out in spring training.
Alternatively, you could discuss the merits and PR value of bringing in Micah Owings to pitch and play DH (career .820 OPS!) for the team next year.
Comment by BR — October 11, 2011 @ 10:09 am ,/i>
I’m pretty sure this franchise isn’t use to doing that much thinking outside-of-the-box.
I’m also not very sure it’s a very good idea as he hasn’t been that good of a pitcher in the NL. It’s also a bit short-sighted make a call on his effectiveness as DH based on an .800+ OPS as he’s only had 217 lifetime plate appearances. There is no guarantees he can hit like that when given regular at-bats after comming to the AL.
Comment by Steve J — October 11, 2011 @ 5:17 pm
Bracket-style argument over the best and worst Twins teams of all time
Comment by Abe — October 11, 2011 @ 6:18 pm
Why am I Mr. Sparkle?
Comment by Mark R (Columbus) — October 11, 2011 @ 8:06 pm
What are the chances of the MLB doing a realignment? If this was enacted how would MLB teams react and adjust to this change? Would the Twins and the current central division stand a chance?
Comment by Gary — October 11, 2011 @ 8:39 pm
I am having a hard time articulating or understanding the Twins plan. 1. How would you describe the Twins current plan – including the pre-injury riddled 2011 season plan? It seemed to be – bring back the band, get faster, younger and cheaper in the MI, and the bullpen will sort itself out. Then it was get healthy, get faster in the OF, trade value low for generic wild project arms (see Baseball Prospectus “wish casting”)
2. Compare this plan to the Twins wandering through the wilderness years 1973-1983, 1994-2000. Have one or two stars, trade low, expense mgmt, find cheap veterans and hope that everyone is healthy / recovers from injury and has career years.
3. What should the plan be from your view? Asked by others – goal is World Series. Go. Is this a one year rehab job or is this a 3-5 year plan?
4. Aaron, loved your article on MI defense. If we are going fast in the middle and fast in the OF with guys that do not get on base and are not great fielders, who will hit? The A’s, Seattle, even Phils prove that you must play all phases of the game – must hit – even with strong pitching.
5. How is this NOT Gardy? The moves have his fingers all over them – save Punto split. Is there a manager is baseball that has more power in an org than Gardy?
Comment by Sean — October 11, 2011 @ 9:14 pm
Due to the subpar Twins season on both the minor and major league levels, will you only be selecting at top 20 twins prospects of 2011?
Comment by Lundar — October 13, 2011 @ 10:23 pm
so my theory is that most closers are failed starters. Think Guardado, Aguilera, and even Nathan. If you accept that premise, then doesn’t every organization have several options for a closer? Does it make sense to pay 12 or even 6 million for a closer? Does it make sense to trade Wilson Ramos for a closer? In a perfect world cost is no object, but in the real world doesn’t it make sense to let Nathan and Capps go and had the closer job to Perkins who has looked good as a setup guy, knowing there are plenty of failed starters lining up behind him? Keep it up guys – I am so glad to have a Twins podcast to listen to.
Comment by Chris Walker — October 16, 2011 @ 6:33 pm