yarnivek1972

Which reminded me of the Twins trading away Matt Lawton for Rick Reed in 2001. The Twins never win the division without Reed in 2002, true enough. But they were very much in the hunt in 2001 and they traded away their most consistent and most experienced offensive player. Like you said, MOST contenders don’t do it that way. That’s why it’s the Twins Way.

Buxton’s biggest flaw has been pitch recognition from day one. If it wasn’t addressed prior to his reaching the majors, that’s a total system failure, not one guy. And, the one guy who was responsible for the system that was in place was fired.

Duke, Belisle, Rogers and Magill have thrown a combined 21 pitches in the last 5 days. At some point, either MOY needs to use these guys or at least one should be replaced by a position player.

It works if Sano and Buxton produce. If they don’t, the Twins are probably looking at building around Berrios, Romero, Rooker, Gordon and maybe Rosario.

Lot of posts here suggesting that Mauer in 2019 is a foregone conclusion. I think it is far more likely that he retires. He’s well aware that he isn’t an everyday player anymore. In this era of 13 man pitching staffs, you can’t roster a guy at a power position that you know will be unavailable for at least 1/4 of the games.

My recollection is that they replaced - or “reassigned” a handful of people. Meaning an awful lot (and by that I mean they are an awful lot) of them are left. Given the glaring failure of the player development staff under the previous regime, the changes made seem token at best. It’s a department that needed (and still needs) a complete overhaul. The Twins need to have the best player development program they can get because the majority of their core players are always going to come through the system. It should have been their first priority. Now, how many of the picks they made the last two years are going to be taught poorly by the staff from yesteryear? Falvey and Levine have not had any kind of coherent plan from day one. Poor roster management at the MLB level and now an apparent unwillingness to break up the “old boys network” from the previous regime. I’ll wager that most new GMs and heads baseball ops that have been hired in similar situations weren’t so slow to make changes. They haven’t impressed me at all.

So, MOY using Rodney on 0 days rest in a non save situation. I’d bet Rogers can get 3 outs without giving up 4 runs. Oops. Somehow I thought this was the game thread.

They clearly haven’t hired enough of the right people in player development.

I don’t understand calls for a 6 man rotation. Wasn’t this idea shot down as impractical a month or so ago? How do you have 6 starters, 8 relievers and still have any semblance of a bench? Having 6 starters certainly doesn’t preclude the need for 8 relievers. It’s not workable. It worked for the Angels because one of their starting pitchers was also their DH.

I'm not trying to be a jerk here, but I legitimately don't understand this statement.

Regarding Molitor, I think I stated my "should be" scenario some time ago. Basically, if I'm Falvey, I sit down with Jim Pohlad and say, "Well, we tried it with your guy, and here we are. Again. So, decision time sir. Him or me."

Even if it means getting a lesser than that prospect in return for him now? I thinl the chances of Dozier accepting it are slim to none. He has a better chance convincing other teams that 2018 was an abberation due to being on a bad team than he does coming back, risk having another subpar year or getting hurt and being a FA another year older. Falvey and Levine are all about analytics and numbers, supposedly. I think the numbers say roll the dice that he won't accept.

I guess if I am Derek Falvey, I put all my chips on the table for 2019. That means banking on big turnarounds (and health) from Sano AND Buxton. That means keeping (and extending or QOing) Escobar and Dozier. If they still leave, so be it.But, I definitely QO both. Probably not going to get a much better prospect for either in return anyway. Keep Reed and Gibson. Possibly look at extending Gibson. At least feel him out. That doesn't leave much in terms of tradeable assets, I know. Rodney, Duke, Odorizzi and Lynn is about it. None of whom will fetch much, certainly nothing likely to be useful in 2019. Get the guys that need to be evaluated as possible contributors in 2019 up here and in games. Obviously, that becomes complicated if the Twins don't trade Escobar or Dozier, but I don't think so. There is still a DH spot for someone. I don't think Dozier would accept the QO, Escobar probably will. Meaning there is still an infield opening. Maybe that's Sano. Maybe it is some combination of Gordon, Adrianza and Austudillo. I think Mauer retires. I just don't see him being able to play everyday and in this era of 13 man pitching staffs there is no way a team can carry two guys that essentially only play first base. So, what does "my" August 30th roster look like? sp Berrios sp Romero (depending on IP) sp Gibson sp Mejia sp Santana? sp ALT1 Slegers sp ALT2 Littell cl Reed rp Pressly rp Rogers rp Hildenberger rp Moya rp Busenitz rp May rp Curtiss rp ALT1 Bard rp ALT2 Littell rp ALT3 Duffey c Garver c Austudillo 1b Mauer 2b Dozier 3b Escobar ss Polanco lf Rosario cf Buxton rf Kepler dh Sano if/of Adrianza of Cave I don't suspect Mauer or Dozier will play much in September. Maybe 3 starts a week. As for Erv, if he does somehow manage to make it back this year, I think it would be a nice gesture for the Twins to allow him to take his turn every 5th day to showcase himself for his next contract. September call ups: Gonsalves Gordon whoever is next in line as a catcher to allow Austudillo to play a super sub role in September. Of course, the success of this all banks on Sano and Buxton. If they don't come through next year, the Twins basically will be starting at square one around Berrios, Romero, Gordon, Rooker and maybe Rosario.

I don’t think anyone considers Garver a “mainstay”. Maybe as a back up. His defense is well below average. His offense isn’t good enough to make up for it to justify an everyday role. Nor is it good enough to justify taking others out of the lineup (well, THIS year it would be) to play him at 1b or dh or elsewhere. A multi-year controllable catcher should definitely be a primary target when trades are made. I have no illusions of coming away with a star catcher with the pieces the Twins will likely try to move. That’s not really what my ideal candidate would be. I want a good, not necesarily great, defensive catcher that can positively contribute offensively. Basically, the 2017 version of Jason Castro.

Who has determined that one WAR is worth $8 mil? The Twins last year had a total WAR of about 36. Payroll wasn’t $280 mil. The Yankees, by way of comparison had a total WAR of 52. I’m pretty sure their payroll wasn’t $400 mil. $8 mil per 1 WAR sounds like something made up by an agent to me.

To say 2017 was not an abberation is correct. The Twins were definitely the 6th best team in the American League. The problem is that at least 4 of the 5 better teams last year were light years better, and still are. Also, the other 9 teams in the American League last year were very bad. So, depending on your point of view, the Twins were either the best of the worst or the worst of the best. Either way, it was not a team that was going to make noise in October.

Aren’t there some TD contributors who hold press credentials?

There have been a few cold weather postponements in MLB. And certainly because of rain or snow. I don’t think those conditions are any less dangerous than what the players faced yesterday. And you don’t always feel it right away. Indeed, here in Minnesota it’s much cooler and less humid than Friday or Saturday. Yet, I more or less fainted at work today. I think (and doctor agrees) that it was because of working the last two (I am kitchen manager at a Perkins) in the heat and going from hot kitchen to cooler/freezer and back again.

Escobar is reverting to the mean. He’s been slumping the last week or so. Anyone who thought he was going to be a 150 OPS + guy was likely a little optimistic.

Yes, let’s pretend Molitor isn’t in his office watching the game relaying instructions. How about a real answer?

The problem with “using your eyes” is that they are often misleading. The reason you don’t recall Sano’s play at third costing the Twins games is because he’s only played 25 games there. The reason the Twins have lost most of their games this year has typically been because of their offense and occasional bullpen blow ups. Doesn’t mean Sano isn’t a terrible defender. I for one don’t care about how Sano “rubs” people, his weight or his motivation. I care about results on the field. His were not good in 2016. They were inconsistent, though better, in 2017. They are downright abysmal this year. He is at the stage of his career where he should be showing improvement from year to year. He’s going completely the other way. That’s a problem.

You lost me at “doesn’t field his position poorly”. Second worst in the league. That’s poor.

Only the MOY having a 9 man bullpen would use one of 4 guys that pitched yesterday in a game that was not winnable. I’d like to hear a Molitor defender justify that move.

Are you suggesting that his success or failure isn’t directly tied to the success or failure of the franchise as a whole? Perhaps the reason so much is written about him is because he is THAT important to this franchise.

I wish I could explain Kepler. He isn’t striking out at a rate anywhere close to Sano or Buxton. He’s hitting line drives at MLB average rate. His BABIP is horrendously low. This year and career wise. I suspect shifts, but I wish someone with more knowledge and who is better at interpreting data could confirm or offer another explanation. Not hitting into shifts I think would be fixable at the MLB level. He made tremendous strides hitting lhp at the MLB level.