Game Score: Twins 4, White Sox 3

2 hours ago, Mike Sixel said:

There is a zero percent chance Kepler is not on this roster next year to start the year. Most likely Sano also. 

1 hour ago, insagt1 said:

OK--I think kepler and or Sano could be traded during the offseason, given the right deal. I doubt its slamdunk that they will return unless they really have a great final 6 weeks. 

I wont argue that they've both put up less than impressive numbers, but given Kepler's contract, age and potential and Sano's (minus the contract part) they'll both be back unless some team wows the Twins with a trade offer during the offseason.

Thats where I sit with both of them. Kinda expected this sort of season from Sano...but I am very disappointed in Kepler. Thought he was much better than this.

Don't get me wrong, I'm cheering for the Twins and their players to perform. I'd just much rather not see Palacios put up a 3 win season as a starting shortstop with another team next year or have the Twins hang on to Donaldson until mid-season before Miranda puts up All Star numbers staring mid year when Donaldson goes down with a hammy.

6 hours ago, ashbury said:

He does no such thing.

He did contribute in yesterday's game, so hurrah - he's on my team and I root for that when I watch a game. The trouble is that he needs to do it more frequently. They keep statistics on players, and guys like Polanco and Donaldson contribute frequently enough to be a net positive for the team. Guys like Sano and Simmons and La Tortuga do the opposite, by that I mean their positive contributions at the plate do not balance out the more frequent inability to get on base or move runners over to score.

It doesn't require modern analytics like WPA, either. Just look at the RBI and Runs racked up this year by Astudillo, per plate appearance. Neither number is any good at all. He's been a little better in other years.

I want him to do better. We all should.

If he played more he might.  It is hard to hold part time irregular players to the standards of starters

4 hours ago, mikelink45 said:

If he played more he might.  It is hard to hold part time irregular players to the standards of starters

Astudillo is a known quantity. He'll be 30 in two months so he's not some prospect who could find another gear. Honestly, I think Astudillo would potentially be able to keep a utility spot on an MLB team if he dropped 50-60lbs, but he's more likely to find a niche on a MiLB contract as an emergency catcher someplace.