bcs4

Look, it's a shame, but Buxton is no longer an outfielder. The guy is made of glass. I'm not saying that he's a wimp, I'm saying the guy's body can't take playing the outfield any more. That leaves two choices, either permanent DH or part time DH and 1st base. And yes, I know that he can be hurt running the bases, but that's moot. If he plays baseball, he has to run the bases, so it's really not a consideration. Taking him out of the OF might cut his injuries in half. Well, that may be a bit optimistic, but it would protect his 50 year old body and keep him in the lineup a bit more. We have guys that we can put in CF. There isn't a reason to pretend that Buxton is one of them.

I honestly don't know and I think the best way to decide it is to play rock paper scissors between 10 or 12 guys.. Let the players choose.

The Twins are lucky he wasn't caught sooner. They might be behind the Indians. I don't think he'll be back. If they lose in the post season he'll take a good part of the blame whether he deserves it or not. If he does decide to come back he'll be dodging batteries.

Realistically, this should only be 2 losses at the most between now and the end of the year depending on how the Twins take it. Hopefully this will motivate the other pitchers and the rest of the team. This will matter the most if they make the playoffs because he's been the Twins best pitcher in the second half.

Good article. I would never have imagined an older power hitter would be able to change from a low heat power hitter to a high heat power hitter that quickly - let alone ever. That's a guy I wouldn't want to pitch to. I like him even more now, and I liked him a lot before I saw it.

I think the front office did a pretty good job. Going in to the start of the season, I thought they did a really good job of picking up some guys that I thought would contribute a lot more than they did. I didn't see that many people complaining about the guys that they brought in. Well, except for Lynn. Frankly though, the other two that were in the running stunk just as much or way more. I'll let you guess who the "way more" was. Once the Twins had pretty much been eliminated from the post season, I think they got a pretty decent return on the guys that they traded. Finally, I was really happy to see youngsters get the opportunity to put in some real time in the majors. I see some guys there that could be contributors, and they were the only reason to watch the Twins over the last couple of months. That sort of thing hasn't happened much in the past. All things considered I'd give them a B+ for acquisitions before and during the year, a B+ for having the guts to fire Molitor, and an A for playing youngsters. I'd give them Bs and Cs on most other stuff that they had control of. This may sound strange, but overall I think they're doing fine even though the team had a rotten year. I'm looking forward to what they do next year. At least I think that they will be working hard, and making (in my opinion) pretty good decisions..

Agree on Buxton and Sano. They're always hurt too. Buxton's injuries are understandable because of the way he plays. I can't say that for Sano. Sano needs to start in AAA, and I'd probably only bring Buxton in for defense at the end of a game, or base running. I'd take Cave over Kepler, and if Austin is in the lineup too, I think it improves the Twins against the Yanks. As far as who replaces Sano, I want Escobar.

The Twins' pitchers have a combined ERA of 3.06 in May. Polanco isn't going to produce offensively when he returns. I gotta think he's going to take 2 months to get over the suspension. Adrianza is getting better ABs though. Sano and Buxton won't turn into Sano and Buxton this year either. I don't mind Buxton because he's so good defensively, but Sano is a marginal 300+ pound player with bad legs. I know people are thinking that he might turn into Ortiz if they get rid of him, and maybe he will, but I don't think Ortiz would have turned into what he became if he had stayed with the Twins. I never thought I'd say this, but they need Mauer back at first. Hopefully they can get something for Dozier, This might be the year where he puts 2 bad halves together. Hopefully they'll convert Gordon to 2B Did I read somewhere that Lewis or Gordon is getting some time at 2B? In any case, what a waste of a month. I bet it's the best full month (not counting what's going on tonight) going all the way back to Liriano and Santana.

It will be interesting to see if the Twins get some swagger this year. Great teams expect to win close games and they take ABs like they're down 3 runs every inning. From here on out it's mental. I think they have the pieces in place. It was sure fun to watch Odorizzi and Reed. I'm trying to remember the last time I saw a Twins pitcher mix it up that much. Baltimore couldn't sit on anything. Really fun.

I can't remember a time in my entire life that I trusted management this much. Feels weird. I think Granite is at risk in the Cave trade. I know that some here still want Archer, but I don't see a lack of SP in the Twins organization (did I just say that?).

There are risks in bringing a player up too soon, but there are at least as many if they wait too long. There's no way to know who can mentally handle MLB and who can't. I think longer time in MiLB actually adds pressure more often than not. It also seems that if a team isn't comfortable bringing up a youngster there's more of a tendency to bring someone up just because they've put their time in.

I think Vargas is probably the odd man out too, but I think this is just as likely protection in case Sano is suspended/injured/doesn't grow up. Another nice move, but I hope they keep some money around for Dozier.

The only place that I'm seeing it is on FSN+. Doesn't look like I'll be watching.

Gagne with a spoon.

I think maybe we're talking past each other. Here's what I said: It's a weighted calculation. By definition it manipulates by including or not including selected statistics and their uses them in a way that is based on the designer's opinion. It doesn't take parks, schedule, defense, league, surface and many other factors into account that would all have a significant impact on projection. I wasn't saying that it was a projection by itself, I was saying that based on excluded factors it's not that useful on projection, and especially in this circumstance.