David HK

Hopefully it follows them to Minny....

I heartily concur. I can see Daniel Murphy's point about not bunting because he's more valuable if he hits one in an alley- but he's Daniel Murphy. Taking a team like, oh, say, one that's not as good as the Cubs-- hmmm... With the plethora of banjo hitters the Twinks had this year, why not go for this kind of strategy? A return to the Piranha days would have been just the ticket for a moribund year like this. If they lose to the Yankees, for example, why not frustrate the hell out of 'em in the process, and who knows? Getting guys on base, anything can happen. They played around with the "opener" a bit so far, why not play around with dinkin' and doinkin' the ball around the yard, too?

Congrats to the Miracle Men! Well done all around! It looks like this is where the future is brewing, and things are cooking-- A big tip of the cap to Seth- It's a lot of work and bother to go through every day and sift through the box scores and such to bring us such a great load of info. Especially in this lost season, I know I'm not the only one who looked forward to the minor league updates regularly, for some glimmers of hope. So thanks to the Miracle, E-town, and the Kernels who played playoff-caliber baseball, and to all the players and coaches who toil in the fields in pursuit of a dream. Good luck, one and all.

Why, Lord? Jake Reed: since June 1st, he has a 1.43 ERA and 38 strikeouts in 37 2/3 innings. August was his best month as he didn’t give up runs, didn’t allow base runners and even walked less than he did over the course of the season. Opponents hit just .143/.234/.167 (.401) off of him in the month, and he missed a lot of bats. Nick Anderson: one tough outing in early August, but mostly been lights out lately- overall- 60 IP, 88 Ks, 1.13 WHIP Heck, even- DJ Baxendale: since June 1st, he has a 1.43 ERA and 38 strikeouts in 37 2/3 innings. August was his best month as he didn’t give up runs, didn’t allow base runners and even walked less than he did over the course of the season. Opponents hit just .143/.234/.167 (.401) off of him in the month, and he missed a lot of bats. But noooooo.... we can't see any of these guys. We get Belisle, and Ollie Drake and more Addison Reed- even though he's either injured or completely gassed and needs a DL shut-down. Cripe, Nick Anderson is 28, he has no time to lose. Don't you wanna see how his stuff plays against MLB hitters? I do, no matter the result. Is MoY still under the delusion of catching Cleveland? This is September in a long-lost season. We don't need to see more of the same that got us here. Screw this team's management.

I totally second all these motions. Every single one of 'em. And you can DL A.Reed for good measure the rest of the year, and skip a start or two for La Maquina, who looks completely gassed.

Omg... I can't unsee that in my mind... Damn, you Platoon!

Ditto Ditto Ditto all the way. So, we experimented with the "opener." Didn't go well. OK. Throwaway game, get our brains beat in. OK, it happens. At least the kids on the roster got some experi.... wait a minute... If we're going to lose these games this way, why in the *heck* are we losing them with the likes of Giminez (at 1B!), Field, Belisle, Duffey, A Reed, Grossman hitting cleanup- it's like Falvine and MoY just decided to B-slap the fans for showing up. THIS was how the owner's plan was supposed to go in the Major League movie. I saw that one already. It was much more entertaining. Cripe, Curtiss is on the 40-man, not called up. Instead we get Duff, a known quantity, and the other usual suspects. Thorpe is on the 40-man, why not give him a little taste? And WHY is Belisle there at all, taking up a September spot when any number of bullet-throwers from Roch are cooling their heels. A. Reed has been gassed since June, why not just shut him down? He's not going to regain velocity NOW! And then, maybe J. Reed can take his spot, and they don't even have to stitch another name on a jersey. Just sickening. I'm done now. Been done for a while, but at least still interested. Now the interest is gone, too. Gonna go follow the Cubs the rest of the way. I'm still willing to hang on for a bit longer with Falvine, but this latter part of the season shakes my faith. And if MoY is in the dugout next spring, I'm not even going to bother.

Well, now I'm wondering where the next window to contention is going to open. So many of us had expected that Sano-Bux-Rosie-Berrios axis would lead us to meaningful fall baseball, but... Interesting the low minors teams are looking good overall, but the top 2 levels su-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-ck. Might be a while for the new axis to emerge.

I'd also include La Maquina in that rest period. He's looked completely gassed since August began.

God. If they don't, and give innings to Belisle, I'll lose my mind. The 40-man issues with Reed and Anderson I can understand, but I can't understand not getting every available arm up here, and giving more innings to those who are not part of the future.

Yay! Building for the future!

Maquina needs to be shut down. He just looks mentally weary. There are plenty of other arms to look at in September, and a full boat in the bullpen now.

True dat. Should be counting our blessings, I guess. As long as MoY doesn't start playing Gimenez as much as he played BWlison.

Why?

In jest or not, I'm likin' me some Luis Arraez. I hope he gets a good look in the spring. We might have a baby Altuve on our hands. Nothing would please me more than to get Esco back, too, but that is FAR from a given. Seems to be a lot of posts that reflect some wishful thinking there.

I've been on record too many times on these boards railing on the guy. I give him at best a D. Loved Molly as a player, former Gopher, and well-deserved Hall Of Famer. But as a manager of my home team, nope. While it's true, issues like Morrison, Sano, Buxton, Dozier and others woefully under-performing are beyond his purview, the measure of a mgr is putting his team in the best position to compete, despite these challenges. That means not putting slumping players in the middle or top of the order and just leaving them there. Bullpen, lineups, in-game decisions, lack of fundamentals, all of those issues and more have been debated to death here, and all of them show the mgr lacking. My latest case in point- a conversation related on-air by Dick recently, in which he queried Molly about which players on the roster he trusted to get a bunt down. His answer: Two. My question: WHY ONLY TWO?!? My God, if you have a fundamental problem on your team, get those coaches and players moving in the direction to fix it! The baserunning lately? The brain-farts in the field? Why is this stuff not being addressed?!? And here's the kicker-- it's not a season in which we're going to be catching Cleveland. That has been apparent for weeks now, if not months. Molly's complete lack of faith in younger players, and unwillingness to give them a decent shot when called up is not the way to move forward. I'm sick of seeing quick hooks, sick of seeing young guys called up and then sitting on their butts for days on end, sick of seeing guys, when they do get a chance to play, wildly out of position! (Astudillo, anyone?) Lastly, where is the fire? No, not everybody needs to be a rah-rah cheerleader, but during a game, that dugout looks like a morgue, and Molly looks like a disinterested spectator. I want to see someone in that dugout next season, encouraging some emotion and passion in there. Heck, even if you have to fake it, at least the team can LOOK like they care. I wanna see someone like Ozzie in there next year.

This was a tough one, with 2 woeful teams trying to give the game to each other. It was a race between the Twins' woeful pitching vs. the Tigers' woeful hitting, and fortunately the Twinks were not as good at being bad today.