Squirrel

Oh, you and me both. I hated the how and why that Santana was traded ... that was just bad. I'm hoping the FO sign Buxton. I mean ... that would be as bad as losing Santana. They are of the same calibre, imo.

He has more at stake and more to prove with the Jays. But he's always been the player who has always bet against himself.

I think you give way too much credit to Berrios. There were a lot 'ifs' in proclaiming him 'ace to be'. José is what he is ... a solid pitcher, but not an ace, not a No. 1. (Well, a no. 1 on a bad team, but over all a solid no. 2 pitcher on a good team.) I mean ... 'if not for his starts giving up 10 runs' ... lol Hmmm ... favorite player who left ... once they leave they are dead to me. Okay, not really. I kept tabs a bit on Greg Gagne when he left. Morneau when he left - it nearly killed me when he signed with the White Sox, but that didn't last long. Hated to see his career go the way it did due to the concussions. I was hoping Pittsburgh would go further into the playoffs that year, and glad he found a little of himself again in Colorado. And Escobar and Rosario. Esco is just a treasure wherever he goes. And as much as I love Rosario, I really haven't followed too much about what he's doing. He is who he is and I loved him on the team and just don't want to think about him elsewhere.

True. But I'd have liked to see what the trade deadline would have looked like had we been winning, so it really does go back to the beginning for me. The FO and players themselves put us in this position. As I said above, they bear the most responsibility here. And if we'd been winning from the start, those two would bear the most kudos.

I'd be curious to see if people judge it roughly the same or wildly different

I think Brock's pie chart is about right. The lion's share should be the FO and the players themselves, with injuries and the coaches/manager rounding it out. imho. Thanks. Didn't we already have a thread assigning percentage blame?

But however it works, getting time for Miranda at 3rd I think means Arraez is traded

At some point I think is more realistic ... but ... if he is up next year and doesn't work? Then what? I see Donaldson still on our team next year, starting at 3rd, and then we'll see

I don't think Miranda will start the year with the Twins ... he has had no time in the majors yet, and as we all know, no matter how great a minor leaguer seems to us, that transition doesn't always work. I'd rather have Donaldson as our starter at 3rd ... and bring up Miranda when needed ... or he's up as the backup. If he's doing well in the majors, yes, then I see them transition over ... but not to start the season. The person to trade is Arraez ... and maybe Kepler. I also think everyone is way overestimating what they think we will get for Donaldson if we traded him

Donaldson ... what can I say ... I wanted him back when he was with Oakland and was so mad the Twins didn't trade for him when he went to the Blue Jays. All this 'trade him' talk is nonsense, imo. He is not the one to trade.

Great write up! Go Twins!

I hate prognosticating because I'm usually really bad at it. Starting 9: C - Garver 1B - Kirilloff 2B - Polanco 3B - Donaldson SS - FA signing LF - Larnach CF - Buxton RF - Kepler? I don't know about bench players or who will share positions, but maybe Gordon, Rooker and ??? are there? Kepler is a ? because he could be an off-season trade candidate. I also think Arraez could be (should be) traded as well.

Do it. Minor leaguers are already doing it. As more minor league pitchers graduate to the majors across the league, it shouldn't be a big deal to start enforcing it. More and more will be used it as time progresses. But get rid of 7-inning games, please!

Duff striking out the number 2, 3 and 4 hitters was pretty amazing, too, imo.

The only concern for Donaldson is his health ... and that was a concern when we signed him and the Twins knew it, too.

Wow ... Duff K's the 2,3 and 4 batters ...

Wow ... the Duff freezes Vlad, Jr

Well, if you walk into traffic and don't stick to the sidewalk, I can see why Rick O'shea is scared of it ... dude's gotta learn to stick to the sidewalk!

wow ... that was a nice catch

THREE IN A ROW!!!!!!

And please ... do NOT TRADE DONALDSON!!!

okay ... that's the way to make up for that throw

gggggeeeeez ... Polanco ... you have a great bat ... but I hope you aren't playing SS next year

A run! A run! We got a run!!!!