Well, he did make out okay in the AJ trade. I think, and I'm not the first to say this by any means, that he struggles in understanding how a team scores runs, developing hitting talent and choosing an effective manager. Amongst other things. He does not seem to have a plan - last year Bartlett got 6 weeks. If Bartlett was the plan, then 6 weeks is too quick to give up. Cuddyer got 4 weeks at 3B. If Cuddyer was the plan then 4 weeks was too quick to give up. My suspicion is that he just didn't have a plan to speak of.
Or something.

I think Ryan got caught up in trying to plug holes that were beyond his payroll. Once the ChiSox landed Thome he should have just jettisoned what he could and went back into rebuild mode (which is where they are now anyway). Instead he tried to contend with bargain-basement deals which subsequently got overhyped to sell tickets. You have to be concerned that the Twins haven't been able to develop a single power hitter in the last 20 years (Ortiz nonwithstanding (Ouch)).

Also, in response to the article, Piazza wanted to catch full-time which is why he went to San Diego, and the Big Skirt was tainted goods for a team that values clubhouse chemistry.

Woo-boy...

TR and Gardy have made some really questionable decisions the past 8 months.

- Letting Castro start while we have a shortstop of equal defensive prowess playing in AAA who continually hits over .300.
- Moving Cuddyer away from 3B after he settled in there in the second half of 2005.
- Signing Tony Batista.
- Not getting Corey Koskie back when he had the chance because he promised the job to Batista.
- Breaking camp with Batista.
- What's that... Batista is still on the team??
- I liked the Rondell White signing, who knew he would be THIS bad? Although I was hoping for Nomar or Thomas instead.
- Should have traded Lohse, he's never gotten along with Gardy and we had many prospects who could have stepped into the back of the rotation.
- He should have traded Crain long ago... that low K/BB was a sign of trouble, although, ironically his K/9 is higher now but he's giving up more runs... small sample though.

None of this is on par with giving a $100M+ contract to Mike Hampton, but we've had better options available than the moves he's made (or hasn't made).

It is also a little unfair to criticize Ryan for not trading Lohse this offseason. While interest in him was widely reported, that doesn't mean that anyone made a reasonable, concrete offer, or even a concrete offer at all. It takes two to trade, and fundamentally, he's Kyle Lohse - what team was going to give up something useful for him?

Signing Luis Castillo was a good move - their lineup has desperately needed OBP for a while, and he was cheap and likely to provide that, even if he was unlikely to play in 140 games. 120 games of a 370 OBP would be a huge improvement over the Twins 2005 2Bs.

Rondell White is a good hitter who has fallen off a cliff this year. This is another good gamble gone bad.

Signing Batista was not the worst move - a #8 or #9 hitter with good power and top defense at 3B can be an asset - although less so for the Twins, since it bumped Cuddyer into a crowded OF mix. However, even if it was worth trying, they should have looked at the team coming out of training camp and realized that Batista's defense and power were no longer good enough to tolerate his OBP. This kind of move works better when you and your manager are on the same page and have a coherent plan, and feel comfortable admitting mistakes.

The moves that have really cost them are playing Batista and the Banjo-Hitting Shortstop collection, instead of Cuddyer and Bartlett, and the collapse of the pitching staff. It's not too late to rectify those things. The Santana/Liriano/Baker/Bonser/somebody rotation could be pretty good and very cheap, and if Jason Morneau is really a top-20 hitter, their future is bright.

Their future is also now. They've got nothing to lose by taking the rest of the season to find out if Bartlett is a major-league shortstop, if Morneau can be coached to get better, if Liriano/Baker/Bonser are ready, if Kubel is ready, etc.

I've been reading this blog for over a year and these are some of the most thoughtful comments I've seen a) on one topic; b) focusing on one team.

I've always respected the Twins as an organization and felt that they are a team with intelligent fans (I'm a Red Sox fan myself, and I'll admit that we run the gamut as far as baseball savvy goes): the comments preceding mine seem to prove this out.

It seems that two teams with high expectations that are currently underachieving are the Angels and Twins. While the former can be attributed to their lack of offense (no surprise coming into 2006), Bartolo's injuries, playing the wrong Weaver for too many starts, and somehow playing the shoddiest defense in the league, it is difficult to think how the Twins can have been so unfortunate as to have an ineffective Silva AND Radke, an AWOL Rondell White, and an injured Sierra. Maybe it is payback for getting Santana as a Rule V pick!

That said. there aren't too many teams that will sympathize with a rotation that includes Johan, Liriano, and Bonser.

Good luck, but after 6/15/06...

The Twins are designating Bautista for assignment and calling up Bartlett.

Sorry this comment is so late, but I've been catching up on a couple of months worth of Musings, and I stunned. You must do an incredible amount of research to have found an article in the Sioux Falls (SD) Argus Leader.