I mentioned in my last post that I was looking forward to covering the Twins' historical trade and free agency woes and a very flawed mindset they have when it comes to the two. That post, is this post. Now I know that hindsight is always 20/20, but after several on top of several mistakes, being accompanied by only a small handful of triumphs, I would think that something would start sinking in. Whether it be for the purpose of seeking younger prospects with future potential greatness, the unwillingness to pay a player the amount of money they're seeking, the idiotic explanation of a player not matching the current system in place, or just a complete misunderstanding of player value, the Minnesota Twins have let a small army of superstars out into the baseball world to find other places of employment. So many in fact, I constructed two charts below to show the team's notable trade and free agency history over the past 10 years (listed in no particular order). Also note that a player name highlighted in red indicates that player is still on the Twins' current roster.
Remember those guys? Its almost kind of shocking when you take a closer look at the caliber of players the organization has let go and compare them to the players it has welcomed aboard ship. Also shocking is the amount of players traded for and signed that were shortly after given up on and re-traded away or let go to free agency. (Note: Deolis Guerra remains in the Twins organization but is not highlighted in red. He pitched 3 games for the team's rookie affiliate in 2013.) Only one trade, where AJ Piersynski was sent to San Francisco in exchange for Francisco Liriano and Joe Nathan, provided the organization with any sustained success whatsoever. And, the free agent signings are for the most part, almost laughable. When looking at all the opportunity squandered and all the talent above, I got to thinking, "You can almost make an All-Star Team out of this group!" So I did. Below I produced a table that combines a number of these players above that were sent away by the Twins, with a handful of current Twins to produce an optimal "What could have been" 2013 Minnesota Twins lineup. Just to put everything into perspective.
That's right. 9 All-Stars. The 2nd highest Team Batting Average and Slugging Percentage in the AL, and the 3rd highest On-Base Percentage. 2nd lowest Team ERA, 3rd lowest Team WHIP, and the fewest BB/9 in the AL. And more than likely, a team that would still be battling deep into the postseason. You'll notice that a realistic and move-sensitive roster is put together here. For example, both Carlos Gomez and JJ Hardy could not be placed on this team as, although they were both former Twins, the two were traded for each other, and could never realistically played on the same team. The amount of Games played by hitters equals 165.6 which very closely compares to the 162 game season the team would play. And, the 5,513 At-Bats and 6076 Plate Appearances further prove that this lineup would be fully plausible. Again, the Games Started total of 165 coming from the 5 starting pitchers and 1 spot-starter, Sam Deduno, closely relates to the 162 game season and the 1427 total Innings Pitched is also extremely comparable to the actual Innings Pitched totals from teams around the league. Also something that I found surprising, the optimal team's total payroll equals $141,054,339. This total seems substantial to what Twins fans are used to, and is almost double the amount of the teams actual 2013 payroll of roughly $76,012,500. However, the $141 million payroll would still rank outside the top 5 highest payrolls in the League, it would still be roughly $87 million less than what the 2013 New York Yankees paid their roster, and it would really only be one major "max-like" contract above the Twins 2011 payroll of $112,737,000 just 2 years ago!
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Yes, Captain Hindsight is always right, but hopefully if information like this can do anything, it can show the Twins exactly what its past mistakes have been and the exact failures they have resulted in. The organization needs to reevaluate its determination of player value and overall talent, and needs to eliminate any fear of spending too much money. With this off-season's player departures, the Team can easily afford to spend $60 million in the upcoming free agent game. Mistakes are okay as long as they are used as learning opportunities and changes are then made. Hopefully this Twins Organization can take the necessary steps to turn our, What could have been's into present and future success.
This is disgusting. It makes me sick. Sure you could call it hindsight, but I'm not so sure I would. Didn't MOST Twins fans know exactly what kind of potential Ortiz had? It was the front office that mis-managed him. Didn't most Twins fans question the Garza trade, and the Hardy trade? And Ramos for Capps, everyone knew that was boneheaded!
ReplyDeleteIt's not hindsight. It's common sense! The other problem is, you took each player's current salary. If some of those players would have been retained early, they would NEVER be making that amount of money. That $141,000,000 would actually be less!
I remember having this conversation during the All-Star Game this year with you. There shouldn't have been another fanbase in baseball watching with more gutwrench than the Twins fanbase. Seeing all our former players, mismanaged and let go, playing in the All-Star Game. Makes you wonder about our coaching staff . . . this organization has had a lot of talent over the last 10 years and not much to show for it outside AL Central crowns.
I want to see a World Series in my lifetime! Without learning from these mistakes, we never will. Money needs to be spent and talent needs to be rewarded and retained.