Channing1964

Not everybody has 5-10 years to invest in their baseball fan careers watching these two rookies play fantasy baseball with their Team. It would be different if I were a fair weather fan but I am not. I can't help it. We all know these fools are gone as soon as a job opens in Texas, or Boston, or for the Cubs. They will flip us off and leave their mess in the Target Field parking structure. Maybe the Pohlads could just retire from ownership and sell the team locally for a real new start?...I dont have the answers but after what I've seen these guys arent it. They are using us as a personal training ground ...

Astudillo is the first cool thing I've seen from my team in way Way too long. I dont care how long it took him....Im happy he's here...Falvine, please don't ruin this for us.

if anyone of sound mind considers this progress i have some ocean front property for sale near Yuma Az. They won in spite of Falvine last year so Falvine made sure they could not win this year..Gaping holes at closer, catcher, 2nd base, shortstop (depending on the Polanco situation) and at least 2 bullpen and 2 starting spots. We're paper thin at 3b unless you really think Sano is durable. The fantastic farm system is 3-5 years from helping out in any of those areas if they do at all. I will be 55 next year. i would like to see a title before i dont know what it means anymore. The team looks to be a replica of the 2014 disaster with no hope for the foreseeable future.h

After the last two months i just dont care anymore. I love the Twins. These two guys are ruining that. How come I havent heard of the 5 year plan. It's because if we had we wouldnt buy season tickets.

The whole thing is a result of what we have become under Falvine. We have decided we suck because we didnt acquire any of these guys so lets force Molitor to employ this Tampa version of lising baseball. I would rather watch the Little League quarter finals.

My bad you guys are exactly right. I am sure we'd be better off with some combination of Morrison, Austin(who couldnt even beat out Neil Walker out for the Yankees 1b job), Garver, and Kepler. I dont see the FO prepared for replacing the people they traded let alone being prepared to push Mauer out the door. I guess that's the answer to my question. They will do the worst, maddening, and unpopular thing available to them. so....bye Joe. 70-92 is prolly a good prediction for the 2019 Twindians.

my point is, why are we talking about this. Is Joe Mauer gonna hold the Twins at gun point forba one year 25 million dollar deal. Hell no, where have you been. If he can't perform he will go home from Florida and retire. Go ahead and try to replace him. He will give it all he's got just like he always has. He deserves a chance to make the team. He wouldn't ask for anything more. If he can stand playing for this front office any more.

Is there anybody out there that really believes Joe Mauer doesn't deserve a chance to go to Spring Training and compete for a spot on the ROSTER?? After what hes done for us doesnt he DESERVE that? Assuming he wants to play baseball any more, would he ask for anything more than a chance to make the team. If you know Joe, and we do. He'll play for whatever they give him...and play well too. Nobody takes his spot unlessnhe let's em do it.

For me its really not about this One thing. I love Buxton but I am thinking that he is what he is. As I have stated before I am an old school fan. I believe that analytics are a great tool in evaluating players, a tool. A keen eye to spot a "winner" is always going to trump a computer print out. I am sure even Billy Beane would agree. Rarely will you find a player that doesn't have some drawbacks in one phase or the other. I would rather have a player like Danny Gladden who is a scrapper and a clutch player than a 5-tool prospect that strikes out way too much and gets hurt all the time. Maybe its not fair to say this but Jeeze...at what point does something like Durability come into play. Is it time to say who cares about an extra year of 10 trips to the 10 day disabled list. Now we are screwing up the continuity and chemistry of the line up and no doubt paying close to 20 million a year for a part time player who strikes out way too much and is hurting more than he is healthy. His body of work is what it is. They should have brought him up. And here is why. This is just another thing that the FO has FUBARed all this season. We can all see they better get some damn quality free agents in here next year. I hear all the promises about how much money they have to spend and blah, blah, bull$hit. Let him play and see that we either have our centerfielder, or not. Byron, get on base however T.F. you can. that is your job. Nothing else. Succeed or Fail. Now we move on. Falvey and Levine dug themselves by this elitist secret plan b.s. game they play with the fans, players and yes..Molitor too. I feel like there is no transparency in their real agenda and they dont have enough quality experience to act that way. in my opinion hiring them was a big mistake. One of them should have had lifelong ties to the Twins organization. Personally i dont care about this Buxton. What i care about is the perception the rest of the league gets from this kind of crap. If you are banking everything on signing some blue chip free agents(with the money you saved tanking 2018 way ahead if time) then why publicly admit you are intentionally screwing players over. The MLBPA, and Buxton wont forget this. The other players wont either,especially the ones in the Twins clubhouse. They F-¢ked up big this time. They should have thought thus one through. But then again after this year, Im not sure they have spent much time thinking. Their focus should have been on 2019 at this point, not 2022. Minnesota Twins fans dont wanna watch two outsiders play fantasy baseball with their franchise. Unless they have the second coming waiting to burst through the door you guys better do something now to fix this and put winners on the field Next Year! Not in 3 or 5 or even 2 years. Good luck Derek, and Thad. You are gonna need it. I for one, hope you can succeed.

Being in Phoenix, I don't get to see the local broadcast team. I really wish I could. But I would like to share my take on Polanco. This is not really a fair sample of what I expect from him but his overall body of work on the field considering his age and experience level is definitely encouraging. At this point all things considered I am way more pleased with his performance and potential than I am with either Sano or Buxton's. After he and I a little private chat about his role in the 2018 fiasco we would both understand that there would be no need to ever comment on it again. Then i would go commit suicide for letting both Escobar and Dozier go for a Low A crap shooting squad. Polanco should be easing into a role that currently is Adrianza's. On the days Sano is at third and the regular infielders are in their spots he could definitely be the DH because his bat is one that needs to be in the lineup everyday. His everyday slot probably will be 2nd base but we dont have time to wait for Gordon or Lewis at shortstop. Playing Adrianza every day at short is not the answer. If im the Gm a priority is signing a front line shortstop with a winner's mentality. By that I dont mean Iglesias OR Machado. I don't know who will be available but it doesnt have to be the one with eye popping offensive numbers. It should be a guy similar to what Gagne was. Long term its prolly Lewis but Jeeze doesn't the front office owe something...Anything to the fans?? I would feel better if in this off season we address the glaring needs that are obvious to even the casual fan. Shortstop, 2nd base,( sorry Forsythe you are not the answer) closer, and one or two veteran starters that know how to win not necessarily aces(I miss you Lance Lynn). on last thing...Why do I always cringe when someone mentions Aaron Hicks and on the other channel J.R. Murphy is striking out for the fourth time in the D-Backs game.

Being

i could say i told you so but other than that I am speechless. I can't wait to see the actual attendance figures for the next home stand. I mean Actual attendance not advance ticket sales. Does anyone know how many years we would have to eat if we fired the Falvines before the winter meetings?

It has happened once in Twins history i think. Rick Aguilera was traded to Boston and re-signed here for the next year. I think it all depends on how deep the D-Backs go in the playoffs.

It has happened once in Twins history i think. Rick Aguilera was traded to Boston and re-signed here for the next year. I think it all depends on how deep the D-Backs go in the playoffs.

In a response to mlHouse's post ...I had been thinking about that very same thing so i decided to look at the entire organization to see if there is some secret weapon hiding in Chattanooga or something. There isnt. When you look at the body of work for the entire year its easy to surmise that there is no long term plan in place here. They are getting rid off everything in the organization that drafted, acquired, traded for, or signed before they took over The Sano situation, the Buxton fiasco, and the way the Escobar trade announcement was handled makes it clear to me that the next year will be even worse than this year. There are no midfle infielders that are major league ready until at least 2020. Yes i do mean Nick Gordon too. If Sano or Garver should seriiusly hurt themselves we are in soooo much trouble. The trades at the deadline weren't about anything except saving money. If they cared at all about bettering the team then why didnt we get at least one top tier catcher, 3rd baseman, and 2nd baseman? Jeeze we dont have enough 40 man spots to guve innings to the pitchers we already have. If Buxton has a future at all here then why did tgey acquire so many A, and AA outfielders? I dont think even they know what the hell they're doing anymore than i would in that job.Talking about it is just....sad.

Yeah this has just got to be a Falvine idea. I mean how does this sound. Hey thanks for the idea Tampa Rays....Thadeus and i have been watching all your success and we're going to implement that fantastic analytical strategy!! Thad ,get Molitor up here and tell him to get me a Starbucks on the way. I am sure going to miss that guy....

yeah Bombo i mean i know there were some years when we were way way out of it and i get that. This year i just feel helpless, empty, sad for the players, sad for myself, and sad especially for Molitor. i live in Arizona now and I even work at Chase Field. Can you imagine how hard it is to see Escobar in another uniform every day. Its like a bully came in broke up our sand lot team AND stole the ball. If we're out we're out but if we got a shot LET US PLAY. Do you remember the '87 ALCS? Nobody gave us a chance..4th best record in the AL. Man that was so special. It cant happen if dumb and dumber dont want to let it happen.That would mean they'd have to admit they were wrong.

If I had to grade them on this year i would expel them from school. Im an O.G. Twins fan. The first game I saw ever saw was in 1970 at The Met vs the Senators. Coming into 2018 I felt really good but before the season even started the course of events were ominous. First the Polanco thing. I cant remember exact dates but wasnt he around everybody for awhile at Spring Training? Nobody noticed anything? Nobody reached out to him about this? After Santana, i never thought this would ever happen again to our organization. Then everybody wanted to complain about Lynn. In my opinion everyone should have known those pitchers that basically got locked out would start slower. I thought it was a great move. Then again i am a fan of proven winners and players that come in from winning organizations a la Lynn, Duke, Rodney etc. This is kind if old news but then i learned how Derek Shelton came to be the bench coach. I researched his career and needless to say i was not amused nor am i a Derek Shelton fan. If he is being groomed to replace Molitor i will absolutely be mad as hell. Buxton has something that is prolly going to work out as he reaches a level of maturity that all young men reach at different stages of their lives. We all hope it is sooner rather than later but either way patience will be the key. Messing with his service time and publicly admitting it is one of the most monumental boneheaded moves i have ever seen in my 54 years. How he reacts and who he takes advice from will tell all of us what kind of Twin he either will or won't become. Oh jeeze then there was not informing the Field Manager about the Escobar trade. This almost stinks horribly like a childish slap in the face to show Molitor who was calling the shots. I felt so bad when I saw the look on Molitor's face as he found out about it on the TV in the media room at Fenway Park. A lot of my people let me know that they never thought they'd see the Minnesota Twins pull such a classless and bush leage stunt like that. i have to agree. It saddened and angered me. The trading frenzy, when you look at it realistically was a fire sale reminiscent of the dismantling if the '03 Marlins. Out of all those distant prospects and suspects not one of them play any of the positions that the big league club needs desperately such as catcher, middle infielder, closer,team leaders, heart and soul etc, etc,etc. Somebody and again I dont know who, has to be blamed for the whole Miguel Sano fiasco. Im thrilled that he's doing better , but Really? How did he make it through six weeks of Spring Training and nobody saw this? No wonder the kid is a borderline basket case. Instead of leaving them in Fort Myers you're gonna send him ALL THE WAY DOWN IN JUNE? I get it that it needed to be done. What I don't get is that neither one of our famous dynamic duo could notice this in March rather than June. What a great show of confidence for our starting(and only) third baseman. I dont know if anyone saw the 5-7 minute video of Dakota Chalmers after he was acquired for Fernando. I did. He is pitching like an inning in low A ball. I could still rake off him. Im not sure what happened there but i assure Billy Beane fell out of his chair laughing at the dynamic dolts after he hung up that phone call. I am sure the worst is yet to come. The classless way they have treated the coaches, players, and fans is definitely going to hurt them as they go out and spend Pohlads money. The word travels fast around the league and the MLBPA. I wish i could just go to sleep and wake up finding out it was all a bad dream. I would give anything to see what would have happened if we could have kept the core group intact. If I were a season ticket holder i would be soooo Royally Pi$$ed off i would burn the rest of my 2018 stubs. Never in my 48 years as a Twins fan have I felt this way. We quit because we hired 2 guys away from our enemies that have no grasp of what tradition and resolve we have as a fan base. The Twins Way is a good place for any team to follow. I have never Ever seen our team throw a season away when there was even one fan left that still Believed. Shutting down a season at the 100 game mark is not what we do around here. For these reasons i would not grade them i would kick them off the campus and take away their keys.

Gosh is it just me or is it hard see any evidence of a long term plan being in place here. I have seen a lot of talk about Escobar and Dozier leaving as free agents but I didn't see any multi position middle infield prospects being acquired in this forest fire sale. Its really hard not to be mad as hell. I see the FO talking about losing players to free agency then trading those players for absolutely nothing that will ever fill those positions. If something were to happen to Sano right now who is the back up 3rd baseman. Does anyone think we can make the playoffs with a whole year of Forsythe at 2nd? Hildenberger at closer? Moya at set up? Im sorry but this is reminding me of the Calvin Griffith era. They spent all the money they wanted to last off season and for what? I still say we had a chance to pull this off with Polanco and Sano coming back and the way Lynn, Duke, Rodney, and Pressly were pitching. They must have real confidence in their ability to sign top tier free agents. ummm ....that was up until they failed to inform Molitor or Sano about the trade in Boston and then screwed around with Buxton's sevice time. I am really not happy with the Falvines at all. Maybe they arent ready either. just sayin.

Austin has extremely high strikeout rates with low walk rates against right handed pitching. It isn’t a big jump to think that Mauer might be a better hitter against right handed pitching next year. I hope they find a way to put Austin in the line up against every left handed pitcher. I also hope they have a 1B plan for right handed pitching. If not Mauer, then maybe Kepler with Cave taking over RF.

All i have to say is its a great read and if Mauer isnt at first base and Buxton isnt in center then....(1) who is ...and (2) if they arent then i fear we are in for an even more miserable and maddening year in 2019.