Borealis

My belief is that Mauer will retire. From a baseball standpoint (aside from family), here’s why: - No chance to compete next year - ZERO belief in the current FO

On the positive side of the ledger, I’d also add that we might have gotten a glimpse at next year’s closer today if the Twins chose to address this role in-house. Trevor May was dominant in the 8th and 9th today against a real hot team in a tough environment. I get that he’s been uneven on his road back, but if today was an indication of where he will be next year, save the FA money and spend it elsewhere!! Certainly don’t want to gloss over Gibson’s gem today - he’s been our most consistent starter this year - but May’s emergence is something newsworthy I think.

I suppose I didn’t explain clearly. If the guy is shut down and put on the DL until his foot was healthy, everything plays out differently. He would have had a boatload of more time to work his way back into the lineup (whether starting on rehab assignment, triple A etc). btw..my argument has never really been about the money lost (that’s secondary). This is about relationships, team building, culture for me. At the end of the day the FO has taken a gamble. Levine has even come out and said from here on out they need to repair this fractured relationship (or something to that effect). There are posts out here that say the FO is looking at the big picture. And I say the big big picture could end up being that this mess hurts their ability to sign him to a long term contract down the road. Honestly, if i was him I’d remember this and would be inclined to look at playing for an organization that believed in me and had my back. Funny how all of our opinions on this subject could be mute/in vein if Buxton doesn’t start living up to at least half his potential. He could be a complete bust, but I still have some hope for him. At least a little more hope than I do for Sano at this point.

I think everyone agrees that some of this falls on Buxton. The flip side is that if management shuts him down when his foot was fractured like they should have, it’s quite reasonable to speculate we all wouldn’t even be having this whole Sept service time argument whatsoever. By best guess is that Buxton is most frustrated by how he was used while we were still in the hunt. He tried to be a gamer and play with the fractured foot for the good of the team and this is how he is rewarded. Somewhat relatedly, it’s hard enough to hit with two feet (or two wrists). Now I get there’s a slew of data where he was healthy and didn’t perform, but how they managed his injuries is the crux of my displeasure and likely his.

He says he wants to build a long term, sustainable organization that will have a chance to compete every year. How can that possibly be done without fostering a culture built on honest and open relationships? The Dozier saga, the Sano saga, the Escobar trade, and now with the handling of Buxton all are communication breakdowns and/or relationship casualties. Now if someone were to argue that lack of communication isn’t phony, I’d give them that. I would disagree, but I would concede to another’s viewpoint. But to me, operating in secret (see T-Wolves lol) is disengenuous and phony. Seth, I get that you were trying to rein me in a bit - I actually appreciate it. When I wrote this, I was ticked and frustrated. The year of service time thingy was sort of the straw that broke the camels back for me and this frustrating season. At the end of the day I hope I’m wrong about this FO. I’d be happy to eat crow and see these guys prove me wrong.

Dunno. Maybe cuz they’ve been actual baseball players longer than Falveys been... well anything. We all drank the cool aid cuz he wasn’t TR 2.0. So far Falveys getting his ass kicked by 1.0

Other teams have had other front offices embrace the “team” idea. This is part of what I’m getting at. We all give the FO high marks in deciveness. Hell, I even bought into their “long term” perspective. But building the team idea, I have serios doubts. Perhaps we could engage mientkiewicz or dozier on their thoughts?

This is horrible optics for the FO, no other way to put it. If I’m a free agent, I want no part of coming here. More importantly, if I’m a prospect, I’m walking on eggshells. I respect the Twins Daily’s writers quite a bit, but all but one or two of you actually supported your grading with reasoning. Even the incompletes seemed to be copping out a bit. Is anyone else concerned that Falvey is a flat out phony that most likely doesn’t know a damn thing about baseball? Scary times for this Twins fan.

It’s almost like NOT playing Morrison, Santana, and Odorizzi would actually increase the likelihood of another team taking a flier on one of them. Like George Costanza - his presence in his office could only hurt him lol. Same goes for Addison Reed now that I think about it. Had such high hopes for him too. I for one, feel there’s something wrong with him physically that he’s been playing thru for quite some time. His stuff was pretty filthy upon arrival - especially the breaking ball. Now, not so much.

Agreed on the statement of not picking up anymore loose arms. I can’t describe how frustrated I was the other night watching Dereck Rodriguez pitch for the Giants. We’ve already had to let go of too many high upside arms recently and really feel like we’ve been blowing it on that front.

Both the arrows and the tilted cap are tributes to his late father. I find it rather admirable that he does the tributes regardless of what anyone else thinks. But yeah, on the surface it can seem unsportsman like and I get why many find it irritating lol. Agreed on A’s! They often times become competitive seemingly out of nowhere, playing fundamentally sound baseball. Kinda like the “Twins Way” pipe dream we hear about, but actually living it in real life lol.

Nice perspective Ted. Contrary to many, I think we need to stick with him a bit longer. Rodney had a terrible April last year and then went on to have a pretty good season. No guarantee he will repeat this, just really hopeful he does because of the negative trickle down effect it would have if he needs to be replaced. Reed seems perfect as our jack of all leverage version of Andrew Miller. And though the idea of Presley in the closer role does have some intrigue, it would lead to another high leverage vacancy. I get that fans are disheartened and some are looking for a fall guy, but there’s plenty of blame to go around. Man the pitch today reminded me of the Adam Jones pitch. Two terrible results on two good pitches out of the zone. Closers that get a track record can shake off bad luck this, so that’s the hope here.

Berrios is ridiculous. Can’t even wrap my brain around the idea of him developing his change up. Forget about it.

LMAO!!!

Snakebitten. Chi Sox pitcher sure isn’t fooling anyone. Yet we have nothing to show for it! Is that sustainable? lol