COtwin

IF. Button moves into the lead off spot it changes things, but I don't see that happening right away. I think they put him in the at 8/9. That will limit whatever impact we are projecting him to have. And I think we are at least very good in CF already. Don't get me wrong i am pumped for Buxtons arrival. I just think the black holes that are Mauer and Suzuki are MUCH larger problems than our solid defending and improving at the plate CF. every time I see someone reference that Hicks doesn't hit well enough to play a corner OF spot, I think that Mauer doesn't hit anywhere near well enough to be taking 1B on a rebuilding club. And Mauers salary is much more prohibitive.

Excited to see him up, but he doesn't really fill a void right now. The Twins problems are Suzuki, Mauer, Plouffe,and Hunter. In that Order. Suzuki has a .489 OPS in his last 15 and that is inflated by the 5 hits in two games last week. That coupled with him being used in an important spot in the lineup until recently and you have the worst hitting catcher in ALL of Baseball with more than 140 AB. Outside of a couple timely hits, Mauer has been absolutely useless, and more actually a detriment with his weakly hit groundball double plays. Plouffe is in a slump, but I think he will recover. Hunter is probably playing more like we expected of late. Point is, Buck does't fix any of these problems. He is really replacing what Hicks provides, and Hicks is the least of the Twins problems.

Waaaaaay to early to make assumptions about Arcia. He doesn't even have 800 major league ABs yet. As soon as he starts hitting down in AAA again for an extended stretch he needs to be back up here. This year has been fun, but we still need to realize that this was the year we finally sell out for the rebuild and player development. Nunez, Robinson, Hunter and probably Suzuki are not part of the long term. At some point the major league AB they are taking need to be given to guys who could be in our future. I would like us to keep playing like we are and maybe we get "lucky" and make the playoffs. But we need to not think that this roster is going to make us a World Series contender in the future and sell any part of the future for the now.

Santana down. Vargas up. Esco to short. Nunez utility. Waaaay to early to give up on Santana at short. Need to see if we can rebuild Esco value. If Santana sees an uptick at bat and in field bring him back and trade one of Esco and Nunez. Preferably Nunez. Santana was not a good center fielder so he shouldn't have started there this year and he shouldn't be sent back. His value will be based on him recovering as a shortstop. He needs to learn some pitch recognition and plate discipline. For a guy who just throws that bat out at the ball he sure misses the ball a lot. You would think his swing was built for contact , but the results don't show that.

We had a close game going and we didn't even try to manufactur a run with the hicks bunt and error. I know we lost by 5 but that was a really poor decision late in the game to not bunt him over and home.

Not sure that I like trading young talent for bullpen help at this point. The last time we made a major trade of young talent for a bullpen arm we got taken big time.

What's with the obsession with batting Suzuki 5th? Rosario has 100 points of OPS on Zuk and has been driving in runs. Plouffe deserves a bit more protection as I don't think that Zuk instills much fear in opposing pitchers. Just a thought. I get that they like the string of speed at the bottom that this line up supplies, but it seems like Suzuki is like a speed bump in the middle or maybe a construction barrier between the two parts of the lineup.

I saw last year and keep hearing this year about pinto's defense being a problem. Anyone actually seen him play much this year? It wouldn't take to much to replace Suzuki in my mind. He isn't hitting very well and I feel like a ton of pitches are getting by him or are not fielded cleanly. His throw to second is easily replaced as well. Teams seem to steam at will on him.

Anyone in the cities? Is the rain going to stop enough to play on time?

He says that he hasn't been able to get his 4 seamer up enough and he is leaving them down in the zone. My impression is that he is missing on pitches that should be below the strike zone and his four seamer is staying right down the middle. Seems like what he did wrong with Pedroia is what he is consistently struggling with. Why throw a 4seam fastball low anyway? Seems like you want your 2 seamer to appear in the lower part and then drop to the dirt. Thoughts Parker?

Here we go

I think TR would love it if we could trade Nolasco and Pelfrey and reinstate Santana and call up Milone. As a matter of fact I would live that too.

I honestly didn't get pulling Hughes last night with 89 Pitches. I was completely surprised to see him not go out. He had like six or seven pitches in the 7th. Here May is cruising just like Hughes and Molitor pulls him??????????

If the ball survives reentry to land or be caught it would be referred to as a homerite. While in orbit it would be referred to as a homeroid.

I like this move. Not for the long term mind you, but it will give hime more chances to work on what is wrong. Waiting 5 days to go against live opponents can't be as affect as getting in and seeing what works or what doesn't multiple times a week. Or I could be way wrong. Just like to see a change for the guy.

He isn't advocating that TR pull out his calculator and make up a new metric, that is what a degree in statistics is for. He is advocating that the trends that statistical analysis can provide should no longer be poo-pooed by our favorite baseball team. If you are looking for an edge than advanced analytics can provide a bit of that. Data analysis isn't just for Bill James. Anyone who can see a trend in numbers can do it, someone who has years of experience can do it better. I think he is pointing out that data analytics is moving into many facets of life and that if people managing billions of dollars will risk the GNP of a small nation using it, than maybe we could risk shifting the infield more or make our next free agent signing using a bit more number crunching.

Staufer coming up. Looks like the Twins brass set the bar pretty low for him, cause I swear he tripped over it. 2 innings 5 hits 2 walks and 3 runs. His WHIP must be close to 47.3. But on the bright side. He did strike 1 guy out. And Oliveros still can't get even a shot of espresso with the big league club.

I do love that some of these moves have paid off and we are watching some decent baseball but I paid a solid chunk of change to watch the aaaa teams that Ryan has been building, so he and the twins organization better not feel smug about anything. They still need to not make any silly move like being buyers at the trade deadline and giving up prospects for a rental so we can just make the playoffs.

Ryan will have earned the right to be smug when he wins a World Series. Or when he fields a team that is generally accepted to be a title contender. Not just a team that can make the playoffs and then see what happens.

It is nice to enjoy watching the Twins with the expectation that they could win again. It has been so long. Feels like were are in just about every game. The last few years I have known we were going to lose and watched to see guys development. Way more fun this way. I hope we can continue this stretch and be playing meaningful games at the end of the season, but this is not the year to buy at the trade deadline. Part of my problems with the Twins in the past was a tendency to play for the playoffs, not the World Series. We were never really a threat since Santana and Lirianos killer year. I don't want to see us trading away a solid prospect for a 3 month rental of a number oneish type pitcher. And we definitely better not trade for bullpen arms, we have a ton of options in the minors and in the rotation.

Anyone else thinking that Mauer might need to start playing better or he is going to be the weak link? If Vargas, Pinto, Arcia, and Sano ever "arrive" then Mauer is going to have some serious competition. He already has 7 GIDP versus 12 all of last year.

It seems to me that he is just missing on a lot of his swings early in the count. You can see him not watching a strike early in the count. He is making aggressive swings and hopefully as he starts seeing more major league quality pitching he will start to catch those early offerings with solid contact. Most of his hits have been later in the count, with a more contact oriented swing. Excited to see him drive some of the misses as he starts to catch up.

I find Zuk at 2B even more interesting:)

Why do they treat Kurt like he is a good enough hitter to bat anywhere in the lineup?

He needs repetitions at the plate and in the outfield. His fielding can and probably will improve. Same goes for at the plate. He has the AB's of slightly over one full season. We need to have patience with these guys. We need a full roster of good players, not a couple of superstars. Way to early to be making permanent decisions about his offense or defense. I have actually seen some improvement at the plate and he can get more solid in the OF.