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I haven't heard anything from anyone as far as the players or even talking heads are concerned...

Demi wrote:I haven't heard anything from anyone as far as the players or even talking heads are concerned...

Hunter was pissed. Actually, so was Castillo. I'll try tofind quotes later. But not only did they get nothing for a .300 hitter, they didn't make any other moves. How many pitching prospects does one team need?

Demi wrote:I haven't heard anything from anyone as far as the players or even talking heads are concerned...

Strange. To borrow a phrase from Abby Hoffman, Minnesota must be a "hotbed of rest."

DanAS1 wrote: Strange. To borrow a phrase from Abby Hoffman, Minnesota must be a "hotbed of rest."

More like a "hotbed of content"

I mean, look at all those division championships! I am sure excited about the future!

Now we'll lose a player or two that makes this team competitive and hope we can keep plugging in no names "prospects" and not lose a step...or five.

I heard on KFAN that there was an article (I don't have time to actually look for it) where Santana is very P.O'd about not making a move (other than LOSING Castillo. The last thing we want to do is piss Santana off.



http://www.startribune.com/179/story/1336318.html

edit, there's the link. I think everyone in MN feels hispain right now. Terry Ryan is a gutless coward. In a way, I'd rather have a GM like McHale than Ryan because McHale tries to improive the present (he just SUCKS at it), but Ryan doesn't try to improve anything. I cant believe the only move he made was to trade away Castillo. Like we need more prospects? Like we don't need a second baseman?

[quote="PurpleMustReign"]I heard on KFAN that there was an article (I don't have time to actually look for it) where Santana is very P.O'd about not making a move (other than LOSING Castillo. The last thing we want to do is piss Santana off. [quote]

Santana wants out. And who can blame him? He wants to play in the World Series, not to begin each season thinking that the best the team can do is lose in the first round of the playoffs.

This truly was a sickening move -- an insult to all baseball fans who have a clue about what kind of players a team needs to excel. No, you don't pay a non-power hitter like Castillo $20M a year, but you sure as heck don't give him away either. Given the support for a new stadium with public funding, if I lived in Minnesota, I'd think seriously about not going to any more games this year just to make a statement to Pohlad and Company.

DanAS1 wrote:This truly was a sickening move -- an insult to all baseball fans who have a clue about what kind of players a team needs to excel. No, you don't pay a non-power hitter like Castillo $20M a year, but you sure as heck don't give him away either. Given the support for a new stadium with public funding, if I lived in Minnesota, I'd think seriously about not going to any more games this year just to make a statement to Pohlad and Company.

WEll said, my man. Not only did Ryan NOT add a player, he threw away a starter, and a guy who was hitting .305 on a team that can't hit!! How pathetic.

PurpleMustReign wrote: Not only did Ryan NOT add a player, he threw away a starter, and a guy who was hitting .305 on a team that can't hit!! How pathetic.

You know that cliche that says "even the thinnest of pancakes have two sides"? I think we may have found an exception to the rule here -- what the Twins did is indefensible. I've heard guys defend McHale's move, but nobody defends what the Twins did. I couldn't even figure out an argument.

The only thing I've heard is Castillo was going to be a free agent...and they got *something* for him. But even then they follow that by blatantly lying about not giving us, and feeding us more lines. I hope no one shows up at that stadium until they put a competitive product on the field...

The only thing I've heard is Castillo was going to be a free agent...and they got *something* for him.

Castillo was an aging veteran that had a $5 million contract. The Twins are a small market team in a non revenue sharing league, and MLB is exempt from anti-trust laws unless Congress acts to specifically make laws otherwise.

Get pissed about Castillo, but Hunter, Santana, and Morneau could all be gone in a few short seasons, and there isn't much we will be able to do about it. As many of you have stated in other threads, you really don't want the government to get involved on regulating major league interstate sports.

If Castillo really wanted to be here, he could sign with the Twins in the offseason. Of course, Ryan has just about killed any thought of that with his, "we are a better team now" remarks.

DanAS1 wrote: You know that cliche that says "even the thinnest of pancakes have two sides"? I think we may have found an exception to the rule here -- what the Twins did is indefensible. I've heard guys defend McHale's move, but nobody defends what the Twins did. I couldn't even figure out an argument.

I don't like the move, but Castillo didn't really get on base as much as he should have. He got the hits, but his OBP was nothing special for a leadoff man. With the way his hits fall (almost all singles), walks are nearly as good (besides that guys on base only advance one base), so I'd rather have a guy who gets on base more but has a lower batting average.

The team already has enough guys in his mold (absolutely no power, good defense, decent speed.) They need to find some guys who have some pop in their bat besides Morneau and Hunter. Its pathetic who is starting at DH and the corner OF positions; some of that is the limited budget but most of that is stupid moves (or non-moves) the team has made. The team obviously looks for guys who are quick and have defense, and if they can get 3 HR in a year its a bonus; this organization thinks its still the dead ball era evidently.

He's also got a big contract and the team is trying to sign Hunter and hold on to other guys who are about due for a new contract. Someone had to go.

Now that being said, they got nearly nothing for him. The replacement will get on base even less and likely won't be as good with the glove. They might as well stuck with him for the rest of the year and make another playoff run. If they couldn't sign him in the offseason, so be it.

There I tried. Not a great argument, but its something.

wang_chi7 wrote:
There I tried. Not a great argument, but its something.

And much appreciated. I'll spare you the counter-argument, since you don't buy what you said either. But I'll agree on one point -- guys who don't hit for a lot of power need to walk, walk, WALK! I've often thought about whether OBP should be substituted for batting average when evaluating non-power hitters.

DanAS1 wrote: I'll spare you the counter-argument, since you don't buy what you said either.

LOL!

I;m not mad that we got rid of castillo, I'm mad that we got nothing for him, and didn't make any other moves to improve the team.

PurpleMustReign wrote: LOL!

I;m not mad that we got rid of castillo, I'm mad that we got nothing for him, and didn't make any other moves to improve the team.

Me too. He was nothing special and had too big of a contract. But there was no reason to just give him away.

DanAS1 wrote: And much appreciated. I'll spare you the counter-argument, since you don't buy what you said either. But I'll agree on one point -- guys who don't hit for a lot of power need to walk, walk, WALK! I've often thought about whether OBP should be substituted for batting average when evaluating non-power hitters.

OBP has at least become a standard on Internet columns where you see three numbers like .290/.350/.439 where its AVG/OBP/SLG. Those numbers are very important (much more so than RBI anyways.) It hasn't really caught on during broadcasts like it should, and the announcers like to ignore the last two numbers (the important ones) and go back to the more traditional (and incomplete) stats.

A high AVG means a guy has a skill at getting hits, but OBP is more important to look at (especially for a guy like Castillo.)

FWIW guys with power need to walk to make up for their high K's and lower AVG too. Patience at the plate is a virtue.