Riverbrian

I'm with ya. It seems to be the process none the less. I also want to state that I have a problem with the tip system at restaurants and I can't do anything about it. Every single time I order that Prime Rib at Texas Roadhouse... it costs me 20% more for some reason beyond my control.

That may not matter based on the strictness of the process.

Can't stop now. Commit to the bit. Is September the time to turn to your young left handed hitters and say... Hey... Go Face those foreign objects that we have protected you from? The bill is coming due.

Yep Another consideration was the unavailability of Santana. Some sort of Illness I guess. Right now... Rocco figures he has 9 better than Kiersay against right handers while he closes the door and yells at those 9 better. 😉

Your sentence is absolutely true. I'll add that even if inserted into the lineup. He will not be allowed to fully replace Buxton because he is left handed. Martin or Helman will need to handcuff to him so it takes two players to fully replace Buxton. The way things currently stand. We have 4 left handed hitters. 3 of those left handed hitters play OF. Do we have enough right handed cover for 3 OF'ers that Rocco has consistently shown that he doesn't want facing lefties? Is September the time to say to those left handed hitters. Hey... Go face these strange looking things that we have kept you away from?

I was flipping back and forth between the Vikings and Twins yesterday. The Vikings would run a play and I'd flip to the Twins and get back to the Vikings before the next play. In those moments of watching the Twins. Wacha looked brilliant. He's been good this year but I can help but wonder how much we helped him go from good to brilliant. I was also wondering if the Vikings defense was making Daniel Jones look worse than he was or will be.

There is a Cenex, or Holiday every exit around these parts.

Check out the Tigers

I agree... would have rather seen things like this done in June or July. Waiting until September kinda puts the ole' back against the wall unnecessarily.

Y'all can look into a clubhouse and talk passionately about the lack of leadership eh. I just wanted to see if I could start a sentence with a southern expression and finish the sentence with a Canadian expression. Leadership is a funny thing. On August 1st the Tigers were 52-57. Leaving Detroit were Carson Kelly, Andrew Chafin, Mark Canha and Ryan Flaherty. They completed the vet cleanout when they just DFA'd Gio Urshela on August 15th. While calling up Jung, Sweeney and Torkelson from Toledo. The last of the last vets. Javier Baez got hurt on August 23. He is done for the year. The reason I mention the Tigers. I'm kinda curious if those who can see into the Twins clubhouse and speak so passionately about leadership... can you also look into the Tigers clubhouse and tell me who is leading that club? They are 21-14 since the trade deadline. 15-8 since August 15th and have made up 6.5 games of ground on the Twins. They have 25 million on the books next year for Baez along with 10 million for Maeda and 4 million for Colt Keith. On top of that... only 6 players Arb Eligible, only Skubal due a huge Arb number. Anyway... just wondering... who is leading those Tigers.

Maybe the Royals don't like sliders? Dunno. I'm too lazy to research on this Sunday. Friday night... I couldn't figure out why Rocco all of sudden loaded up on left handed hitters against Ragans. Later I looked it up and found out that Ragans has been tougher on right handers.

I'm not going to defend nor assail Rocco. This morning when looking the Twins results over. This was my only question. Why Duran in the 8th to face 6, 7 and 8 in the order. Actually one more question. How quickly did Jax get up and warmed. Out, Single, HBP Single and Duran is out? When would you even start thinking about pulling Duran. After the 1st out? No After the Fermin Single? No After the HBP.? Maybe but probably No After the Isbel Single... Most likely you start thinking about getting someone warmed up at this point. But for some reason Jax was already ready to go. J My Guess... Rocco already wanted Jax over Duran to face the top of the order and that's why Duran in the 8th. Just some guessing from someone who didn't watch the game because I was watching North Dakota come from behind to beat Montana.

I do that... It's on Channel 695 in HD on my cable.

The key to effective messaging is repetition. I'm not targeting all ya on Twindaily. 😁

The runner behavior is just another indication that the actual act of stealing in that situation basically negates the mindset of a double play.

I had to do a double take looking at the lineup... I think I'm seeing it correctly. Wallner, Larnach and Julien in the lineup against a left handed pitcher? I won't have anything to complain about. I'm going to have to find some things that my wife does that bug me and have a conversation with her.

Same Consideration for both. I'm Ok with Lewis at SS if it gives us the best team when you consider the context of the rest of the team. If he is the best option at SS... then yeah... I'm OK. And that's why I was OK with Polanco at SS back in 2019. He was the best option at the time and we won 180 games that year. It's not that I thought Polanco was the best SS. It's not what you strive for but in 2019 the choice was basically Polanco or Adrianaza. I'm putting a 6 next to Polanco's name if that's the case. All I'm asking in this discussion is for everyone to just look at the current context of the team. What gives us the best lineup? In the current context of this team... September 2024. I think the best lineup includes Lewis, Miranda, Santana, Larnach, Wallner and Kepler. Although... I will strongly consider Castro over Kepler... I'm just thinking that Castro will be needed elsewhere. In the current context of this team... right now... at this moment. If you want Lewis, Miranda, Santana, Larnach, Wallner and Kepler in the lineup. Someone has to move off the corner and into the middle. Lewis makes the most sense. He will be fine. Get him comfortable and he will think everything is Ok like I do.

So True... Sometimes injuries actually make your team better.

Yep... Don't forget Profar. I'll never understand this fear of moving players around.

Yep the Red Sox moved him to the OF because of the presence of Dustin Pedroia. OF was how he could make an impact quicker because Pedroia was going nowhere. Not only do clubs move players around based on team needs when they are vets... they do it when they are young.

These are the types of players that you move around to find a place for their bat. You are not taking a large hit at his primary position if they move. You don't move Arenado off of third base because he is an exceptional 3B perhaps the best in history. You are going to take a fairly large defensive reduction at the position. With that said... If St. Louis found themselves in a situation where Jordan Walker for example is available to play 3B, they had a decent OF to fill in for Walker for example... and they were just plum out of SS's for whatever reason injuries or an OPS of .108. They would move Nolan to SS to fill the massive hole and present the best lineup they can. With that said... Lewis is an OK defender at 3B and he will be an OK defender at 2B. He would be an OK defender in the OF. He isn't Arenado but he's OK. Getting Miranda, Lewis and Santana, Wallner, Larnach and Kepler into the same lineup makes the team better. Will we need it come playoff time? That's yet to be determined but it's certainly possible when you look at the current landscape. I have no problem with Lewis at 2B. My problem is that we should have considered this sooner and we would know for sure if there were going to be massive problems with him at 2B. Maybe tried it as soon as the combination of these things. 1. Lewis is healthy and playing 2. Miranda and Santana are looking like productive important members of the team. 3. Julien was not looking like a productive member of the team. I don't like the desperation end of the season switch but I'm grateful it's happening late in the season instead of Game 1 of the playoffs. Once he gets a little confidence and comfortable... He won't be as concerned about it.

I've never thought of this but... thinking about it. It's a fantastic idea. Major league pitchers have pretty good control but one problem is the value of pitching inside is to rewarding. The high inside fastball is real hard to catch up with. If you throw high and inside you'll plunk some guys. MLB wants more offense... this could create it. Good idea at first blush... I'm on board.

I actually agree with a lot of what you are saying. It's your first sentence that is going to be the dark cloud, not a silver lining. With the rigid unbendable platoon system that the Twins have devised. In order to keep our lefthanders away from left handed pitching. They have actually made Margot and Farmer somewhat critical to the operation. If Margot and Farmer are removed from the roster. If they get hurt or we just cut them at this late date in the season. Who does Rocco call on to face the left handed pitcher. Lee could replace Farmer and short side it the rest of the season but we barely have a need for that since Julien isn't guaranteed a playoff spot. Helman can replace Margot but what do we have in Helman? Or what do we have in Lee for that matter? What we do have is Wallner, Kepler, Larnach that because of the absence of Margot and Farmer that will have to all of sudden have to face the left hander because of the lack of alternative options. There are two bad scenarios. 1, Margot and Farmer are not available mainly Margot and needing Wallner and Larnach to play against lefties when it really really really matters. 2. Other players are not available meaning that Margot and Farmer need to be relied upon vs Right Handers. This is called painting yourself into a corner and using low value paint to do so.

I agree that the margins are small. I also agree that not making plays... giving teams an extra out increases the odds of a crooked number and I believe the crooked number creates losses. We are not arguing that point. I disagree that good managers don't ask that from their teams. This isn't a Twins thing. All teams move players around based on team needs. Some players will remain at the same position but you will see in-season adjustments from managers based on need. My fantasy baseball league has multi-position eligible players all over the place. 😄

Betts spent the off-season and spring training preparing for 2B in 2024. Lux was preparing for SS in 2024. Lux at SS didn't go well so they moved Betts to SS and Lux back to 2B. Managers make decisions like this based on what makes the team better. Betts moved back to the OF because the Dodgers sent Outman to the minors. Later on they sent Pages to the minor leagues and they released Jason Heyward because the OF hasn't been performing. Last year it was the IF that was struggling and getting hurt. Rojas is hitting better this year while the OF collapsed on them so Betts flows to the low spot. It was 2023 when the Dodgers abruptly moved Betts to 2B and SS out of the Dodger blue. The reason they did that. Necessity is the mother of invention. Dave Roberts will play his players wherever it makes his overall lineup stronger. Vargas and Rojas were not hitting the ball in 2023. Peralta, Outman and Heyward were holding down the OF and producing so Betts goes IF. The Dodgers move players around all the time to fit what the team needs of them and they do it all the time.