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I think that this article was a bit rediculous. Molitor is going with his best options, and it is working, so I don't see why you called the article "When Will Molitor Start Making Adjustments?" He has made his adjustments, moving Hunter out of the cleanup spot, moving Santana out of the leadoff spot etc. Eduardo Escobar is a quality hitter, he has proven himself that he deserves to be in the lineup everyday, plus he is better than any of Molitor's other options. Vargas was not hitting for power, and Suzuki was once again Molitor's best option, unless you want to put Eduardo Escobar there, or you could call Eric Fryer, who is doing way better than Pinto, and make Fryer the everyday catcher, but I don't think you want that. Josmil Pinto is hitting .247 at AAA, and his power has not been above average, plus Hicks did not deserve to make the opening day roster, hence him staying in the minors for six weeks. And Molitor is once again going with his best option in batting Mauer 3rd, and just to let you know, first base is just as valuable a position as shortstop, as the first baseman can save the other infielders of an average of 5 errors a year, and when you start stereotyping how someone should hit because what position they play is rediculous also, look at Joe Maddon, he was hitting his catcher leadoff for awhile, and it worked, when you start expecting someone to hit 30 home runs a year because of a position switch once again you are being rediculous. I thought that you were giving Molitor criticism for things that are out of his control, and that you were being unfair to a lot of people.

Mauer has also hit off the charts with runners on, and he doesn't strike out nearly 35% of the time, not to mention Rosario's OBP of less than .300 should be no where near the top of the lineup right now.

Trading Plouffe and hicks right now would be a monumental mistake. Plouffes "salary" hit is a complete non factor, you aren't going to find anything close to that value on the open market.

The Mauer thing is really going to cost this club in the coming years, unless they are much braver than I expect them to be. Of all the things you list, the Escobar one is the one I get the least. He has zero track record to rely on, to think he should be an everyday player. I really struggle to understand this one. Clearly I agree on the preference for veterans, just look at the bullpen.....which you didn't even mention (since it isn't clear if that is Molitor or Ryan, probably).

Ummm Nick, Paul has made adjustments all season and has the Twins playing way over their heads.

How do you justify Escobar being a quality hitter, because he puts the ball in play a lot? When did that become the stat to measure things by? He has a.228/.250/.345/.595 line, .283 BABIP, an almost 25% K rate, a paltry 2% BB rate and a 117 ISO. Honest to god how does any of this describe a "quality hitter". That's rediculous. Ridiculous

I would disagree that Escobar is a quality hitter and NEEDS to be in the lineup. IMO he is a decent util guy and a decent stop gap at SS but a terrible option in LF/DH

Plouffe, Dozier, Hunter.

2009: Cuddyer hits for the cycle https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58izn14ejww

Terry Ryan was saying he wouldn't trust a scouting report from a guy that only read the stat line. He's saying the same thing about Baumann. He trusts his evaluator's reports because they've seen the player. His decisions as GM are based on reports from people that have seen the player play and have done their statistical homework. He does some scouting too, but there's only so many places one guy can be. His argument is that he trusts his scouts to help him make decisions, and he doesn't trust the opinion of a writer that has only done half the job that a scout does. He's saying Baumann's article is lazy scouting. Not saying I agree with Ryan 100%, but I don't think he's contradicting himself at all. The Twins are benefiting from mistakes by the opposing teams, and so to me the question becomes, how much of the Twins actions (aggressive base running, good fielding, timely hitting) are forcing mistakes, and how much of it is just luck? That question something that could be explored by watching the games in person, or on tv (not just the highlights, the whole game)... How long can a team be lucky before they are actually good?

I see that "smoke and mirrors" has been replaced on ESPN by "they are beating bad teams." I have to laugh at how much love the White Sox are getting.

The secret sauce that is making this team win is subtle, and has many different spices in just the right proportion. The luckiest part has already happened - we have a combination of young players on the rise, like Hicks, Rosario, May, and Gibson. We have younger veterans that are nearing their peak potential, like Plouffe and Dozier. We have several solid veterans that hold their own and stabilize the team. We have Torii Hunter, a unique personality that helps pull it all together and inspires everybody to bust their butts. Even struggling Danny Santana is doing everything he can to get better, and it's showing. Oh, and Joe Mauer is hitting about .380 with runners in scoring position. To that you add a coaching staff that is one of the best in the business. Gene Glynn, Paul Molitor, Neil Allen, Tom Brunansky and Eddie Guardado. Then, to top it off, you've got management that has enough sense to not meddle with a good thing. The only weakness I've seen in this team so far is, when they face a Cy Young candidate on a good day, they don't do very well. Otherwise, the Twins look like they can beat anybody.

The Minnesota Twins need to let loose. They need to believe that they can’t be held back by expectations, by the culture of losing created by four straight 90-loss seasons, by the numbers that say that they have outperformed their capabilities up until this point.For the most part everyone in the locker room appears unhindered by outside speculation, ignorant or at least cleansed of the team’s previous losing ways. They feel that that they are, as a unit, more talented than people give them credit for after a 20-win May — the first time the Twins have reached that number in a month since 1991 — given that they have played everyone in the AL Central, as well as teams like the Pittsburgh Pirates, Toronto Blue Jays and Boston Red Sox, and taken a series from everyone except the Detroit Tigers. This is why the dance party was so vital for this team. Veteran presence and leadership get thrown around any time a team brings in an older player, but Torii Hunter’s influence on this team is tangible. It’s hard not to notice something different when the clubhouse is so full of smoke that Mike Pelfrey and Glen Perkins, who occupy the corner lockers next to the entrance, can’t see Joe Mauer and Hunter, who have the lockers by the players-only section of the room, when they are getting changed after games. Entering the Twins clubhouse is like entering the high heavens, and it’s hard not to laugh when Hunter is running around saying, “It’s all medicinal. I have a card,” or at the notion of Pelfrey, all 6-foot-7, 230 pounds of him, dancing in the middle of a group of his teammates as a laser show takes place in the background. “I actually danced [and got] a lot of cheers, but I think they probably cheer for everything,” says the maligned starter, who is having his best season as a Twin. “I can’t imagine a 6-7 white guy being that good.” “He doesn’t dance too much,” says Plouffe, beaming. Why it works is that everyone on the team, except for Hunter of course, is a bad dancer. “It’s a ton of fun,” said Nolasco, another free agent signing who’s had his fair share of struggles, after picking up his 100th win. “Dance moves are all right,” said Aaron Hicks, smirking. “What I learned in high school.” “He took his shirt off and waved it in the air,” said Hunter, making fun of Hicks. “We got a lot of guys dancing, and we figured out a lot of guys cannot dance.” While the post-game celebrations are unlikely to turn anyone into a contestant on Dancing with the Stars, it has allowed everyone to let their guard down. Plouffe, who came up as a shortstop in 2010, was converted to a third baseman who struggled at the hot corner before this season, has been able to joke around with the pitchers about his defense even though it is much improved. “I think I started at about an aluminum glove and then plastic and then I’ve moved my way up,” he says. “I still got a ways to go, but I’m improving, which is good.” “He’s been unbelievable,” says Pelfrey. “I made a little joke, he might have started off with a plastic glove and every game he keeps moving up — he might even be at bronze right now. We’re working towards that gold glove.” Plouffe admittedly has had his ups and downs in his major league career, and at times has become upset with criticism he got from fans, media and presumably his fellow players. “I mean, you hear it, but it’s not something I dwell on, because if baseball teaches you anything, it’s that if you fail, don’t give up,” he says. “Did I hear it? Sure. Did it deter me from working hard and believing in myself and being confident? No.” Players have been outspoken about both their teammate’s strengths and weaknesses this season, something that has been taboo in year’s past. Things have always been congenial in the Twins locker room, but never this loose — at least not when the media are around. In the past, players deflected questions about one another if asked about a shortcoming, resorting to a select few stock answers. Now they are more honest than ever. That’s the magic of a veteran like Hunter: After all, if a player is able to make a fool of himself in front of all his teammates with music blasting, lasers firing and smoke filling the room (and flowing into the manager’s office and the corridors of Target Field), why should he be embarrassed when he makes a mistake on the field? So what if the fans see it? The players know that they have each other’s backs, and that’s what counts. It should be noted that Hunter did this on his own, and that new manager Paul Molitor could care less that he didn’t ask permission. “It was a nice surprise, kind of a little something different. I didn’t know that it would pick up steam, if you will,” he said (get it?). “It turned into a ritual as far as winning here was concerned, but I didn’t then, and I don’t have issues with it. It’s kind of them being able to establish their own thing that they do.” Molitor could have been insecure as a first-year manager and cracked down on the practice, either because he was upset about all the smoke in his office, or because he thought Hunter was trying to undermine him in a power struggle. But Molitor and Hunter played together with the Twins and formed mutual trust. What Hunter is doing is good for the team, and therefore it’s not going to be questioned. The whole ethos of the Twins is predicated on everyone doing their thing, and it comes from the top. General manager Terry Ryan says he won’t look at the player he’s going to draft with the No. 6 overall pick — he’ll just rely on his scouting reports. “I hate to break your heart. Who do you want me to go look at?” he asked the media. “You gotta pick and choose what you’re gonna see. If I go in there and don’t like him, am I going to go to the 12 scouts that have seen him and say, ‘We’re not taking him’?” It’s not an uncommon practice for him — he only saw Tommy Milone pitch a few times before trading for him, for example — and it’s something that can easily be criticized: The Twins aren’t winning because their manager doesn’t know who the team is acquiring. But what it means is that he has faith in his scouts and in the protocol that they follow. Even with decisions regarding the 40-man roster, he’ll allow Molitor to have his say before the final decision is made. “I’m not that hard to work with,” he says. “There’s no unilateral moves in this organization, everybody’s gonna have a say. Ultimately it’s gonna land in my chair — somebody’s gotta make a decision.” That is why he gets upset when national media covers his team. “I don’t particularly like a guy dictating our future that has never seen us play,” he said when informed that Grantland writer Michael Baumann questioned whether the Twins were for real this year. “You base your opinion on visual, plus statistics — that’s fair.” I reached out to Baumann — whose article not only represents popular sentiment at a national level, but in the Twin Cities as well — to get his take. Baumann is very active on Twitter, and responded right away by saying he relied mostly on statistics, many of which aren’t very complicated, as well as his general knowledge of baseball. He also said Ryan probably wouldn’t say that the team’s start was all luck, while acknowledging that it is a small sample size and difficult to predict a team’s future at this point in the season. “Well, if he was sitting here, we could talk to him and see what he thinks,” says Ryan, who meets with the media every day, of Baumann, who is quoted above, “but he’s not here and he wrote that, and he hasn’t seen us play, right? That would be like me taking an evaluation that’s never saw a guy play, he just read the stat page. I would call that invalid.” The bottom line is that the Twins have to keep winning, and perception will change. Plouffe, who came up as a rookie in 2010 who was looking to please everyone around him, has now taken a leadership role with this team and remembers what it was like before the team collapsed, says that he gets the same feeling in this locker room as he had before. “This year we’re a little bit more of a dark horse, I guess you’d call it, which is fine for us,” he says. “But it is similar in that we show up to the field expecting to win every day.” Tom Schreier can be heard at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesdays and Fridays with Ben Holsen and Mike Morris and co-hosts a morning show 8-10 a.m. on Sundays on 105.1 FM. This post was originally published on the Cold Omaha section of 105TheTicket.com. Click here to view the article

Can we please just get Vargas up here and give an actual DH option? I am confused more and more each day that he is not up with the team.

I read an article a few years ago on fangraphs or baseball analysts or somewhere about line-up construction. The first point is, it really doesn't matter much. Fans always overrate it. But the second point was you want your best hitters in the 1,2 and 4 spot. They said the 3 spot was overrated and you just want a guy who can get some RBIs and your 5th spot should be all power. Go for broke in the 5 spot, IIRC. So anyway, I think Molitor's line-up is about as good as it can be right now. The 3 best guys are in the 3 most important spots.

As long as mauer is hitting very well with runners on I would keep him in the #3 spot, he is just in a slump right now with the bases empty. He will snap out of it.

Heh.... Years ago, I was in Damn Yankees, back in college. I played Smokey, one of the Senators. Did that high part in ' You Gotta Have Heart.' Any chance at hitting those notes again faded away long ago, along with the hairline. Wish I could be there on Date Night!

For me I see Molitor using the middle of the lineup on hitters that take quality at bats and put the ball in play. I am sure he would be happy to slot a power bat like Vargas or Arcia - but until the club is convinced that they can make more consistent contact, I have no problem going this route. While the numbers are not there - I think opposing teams see Mauer as the one proven and quality hitter in that lineup. As a result, I think where he sits in the lineup impacts the way teams pitch to Hunter before him and Plouffe after. If Plouffe can continue to put together at bats like he did in the 9th yesterday, Joe is going to get better opportunities. Obviously he needs to deliver. Vargas may be ready to for another shot - but I have little problem with Molitor is doing given the pieces he has.

Dozier is great at leadoff. I wouldn't mess with that. If Hunter is your 3, they who is your 2? Plouffe is your cleanup and I don't see any other candidates for that.

Why can't folks simply disagree? Just like the recent Cameron thread, generally these "national writers" are not unaware of what we see as major factors behind the Twins success/projection, they simply disagree with them. There's nothing wrong with disagreement. You don't always have to characterize the person you're disagreeing with as having some failure of effort (i.e. not watching every game).

Seems the popular opinion is that any story/article/evaluation that shows the Twins in a positive light is considered well done, well researched, well reasoned, etc. and any that doesn't show the Twins in a positive light gets nitpicked and labeled poorly done, poorly researched, bias against the Twins, etc.

That struck me as an odd juxtaposition too. I also don't like the general attitude that certain opinions are invalid simply because the experiences behind them aren't identical to yours. I see that attitude used to justify a lot of unjustifiable things far too often, not that TR is employing it for those ends here. But I feel like he would make similar defensive statements even if the Twins record matched the underlying stats, or if the opinion was from a local scribe or a fan here who indeed had watched the team a lot, so how meaningful are these statements, really? And what's wrong with being humble? If a national writer says the Twins are all luck and are likely to be the worst in the league going forward, obviously disagree with that, but say that there are certainly areas where we need to improve to stay on top -- after all, that is simply what much of the recent stat analysis is saying. Then say we feel like we are addressing them and already seeing evidence of improvement. All that said, I am enjoying the ride and discussing all facets of it. Just not necessarily the "us vs the haters" type mentality on display here.

Dancing and team unity and chemistry are all very good but they are probably a result of success as much as a cause of it. Hunter's influence didn't seem to matter much until he hit 3 run homers to back it up.

Look, I'd love Santana to produce like last season and move Dozier down somewhere. Right now, he isn't. I'd also love to bring P olanco up, slide him in at SS, hit somewhere at the top of the lineup, juggle the order, and not look back. But I think its kind of premature to look to a AS SS as our lineup savior. The lineup, right now, is the best it can probably be. Think Hunter at 3 and Mauer at 2 is better? I can see that. But you cant just bash Mauer, say move him, without having a logical stepping stone process. And, I kind of understand the Vargas move to get untracked, but I still maintain he never should have been sent down. Not only was he starting to turn it around, but he's a completely different breed of an option in the 5 hole than anyone else.

God bless you Hrbowski for being the lone Escobar defender. I don't agree with you, but still respect your opinion. Even Christian Ponder had apologists until the bitter end of his Vikings career. Escobar needs one person on his side on TD.

Vargas was slugging .561 in May before being sent down. That's 30 points lower than Escobar's OPS this year.

There is no salary cap in baseball. This isn't the NFL.

If you exclude the last 10 games Mauer has a .705 OPS, which I would still qualify as bad for a 1B. http://www.fangraphs.com/statsd.aspx?playerid=1857&position=C&type=2&gds=2015-04-06&gde=2015-05-24&season= That would rank 24th our of 27 qualified 1B this year: http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=1b&stats=bat&lg=all&qual=y&type=1&season=2015&month=0&season1=2015&ind=0&team=0&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0&sort=10,d

Eduardo Escobar does not need to be in the lineup everyday, especially when they stick him out in LF, where his fielding is terrible.

That was another fantastic Twins/Brewers game. I thoroughly enjoyed Anthony Swarzak's first career start in 2009 -- that was actually the game where TwinsCentric was created and ultimately produced TwinsDaily.com. So, really, we all have Anthony Swarzak to thank for this website.

Dozier needs at least on hitter in front of him....right? 1. Hicks/Rosario 2. Dozier 3. Hunter 4. Plouffe 5. Vargas 6. Mauer 7. Suzuki 8. Santana 9. Hicks/Rosario Mauer could bat as low as 7th, but this will probably never happen. Hesitant with the Hicks/Rosario portion of this. Hicks has started to walk a bit and seems to be getting on more consistently OBP is 348 over his last 7 games.

I agree with most of this, with one exception: I think Vargas should be up, but I thought Hicks was in the minors no more than a week or two too long, so that's not a big deal. Pinto has done nothing this year to show that he's improved and may be a minimal improvement over Herrmann as the backup, but not much. And, yeah, Arcia should absolutely be in the minor leagues. He is a mess. Other than that - which I don't even disagree with vehemently - I agree with the other things.

The money quote: "He just needs to cut down on his strikeouts." Simple, right? Hey, I wonder if any of his coaches have suggested that to him.

YESS!!! Extremely pumped to go, especially with my Mrs. Peanut!

Not happy at all with what's happening with Kohl Stewart. He's obviously young, and deserves more time to get things straight, but he is going in the wrong direction, which is alarming for an alleged top prospect pitching in a pitcher's park.

I was going to do the same thing. Caught myself just in time! And that Swarzak game was awesome. Did we go to Murray's after that?

When Buxton, Sano, and other better hitters show up, Mauer will get moved down in the lineup. Right now Molitor doesn't have any better options. Leave Hicks down at the bottom of the order!!!!! The less pressure the better! If Santana doesn't start hitting SOON he'll get sent to AAA, Escobar will be the regular shortstop, and the uprising here at TD will be over.

I think the bottom line is that they won't make any wholesale moves if they keep winning. I think they're afraid to upset the apple cart.

The June 17, 2007 Morneau walk off: https://youtu.be/rvU5B3EAx98 Didn't Justin also hit the longest home run in Miller Park in 2003?

He did. I agree with him. True talent level needs to improve to sustain.

One thought I have had on luck/randomness in the context of baseball analysis is that it might be too much of a go to phrase to explain the things that currently can't be captured objectively. Saying we aren't sure is not as interesting as saying it is luck/randomness. I suspect that in the near future some (if not much) of this will be captured in some way. And for the Twins, I think the main reason for the current record is clustering. I don't know if this is luck or random but likely unsustainable (which all might be the same thing). My much more cynical thought on this is that people who really, really accept baseball metrics and use them to completely explain the game and expected outcomes struggle when things fall outside the model. Easier to describe as random/luck than to look at possible intangible explanations and/or emphasize errors in the models. (And by errors I don't mean they are necessarily "wrong" but difficulty in capturing outliers). All that said, I don't think the Twins are a magical team that will defy all metrics forever. They are going to have to improve their true talent level one way or the other to stay in the playoff race. And I am an economist by training, so I am just practicing my ability to speak out of all sides of my mouth.

He does have a cool name though. Actually there are a few cool names - Funkhouser, Dansby, Kolby, oh and Kirby!

I was hanging around the stadium on opening night - very fun atmosphere that extended all the way to Mears Park. Very nice add for downton St. Paul.

Yup. Right there. Exactly. As for Mauer, I wonder if it makes sense at some point, possibly sooner rather than later, for him to stop trying to pull the ball so much. It was certainly worth a shot, but right now the difference between Mauer as a .675 OPS hitter and a .750 OPS hitter is a big one that could really help this team.

More that they are read, but don't generate much commentary. to the point of the article, very nicely written. Thanks.

I guess it's beginning to show that I've been mingling with the wrong crowd lately.

'If my memory serves me right' … sounds like something Chief would say! Look forward to reading more!

But if it only a surplus because we are stuck with an underperforming and untradeable vet at 1B, that's not as good of a problem.

Nothing like the smell of a good puff piece in the morning!

You know how many times last year that I heard "next year's draft is going to be so much better than this one"? A lot. You know what those people are saying now? "Last year's draft was better than this one."