Riverbrian

Dear JD-Twins I’m Happy about the sweep. My comment is about Wallner who is ****ing hot. Manual Margot has a .726 OPS against left handers. I think Wallner can beat that if given the chance. What is your definition of crushes?

Dear Rocco. First of all. Loved the sweep… keep it going. Proud of you. Second of all. I am willing to bet that Wallner will end up with a higher OPS than Margot against lefties if you let him hit them. When a player is hot… There is no way his OPS is going to fall .500 points. The bet is a dollar an OPS point but you have to let Wallner play against lefties.

Just an addition to this post. On August 7th just 7 days after doing nothing at the deadline. Joe Ryan suffers a long term injury. Ladies and Gentlemen… this is why Buyers Buy. More injuries to come.

I'm the Bag.

This is a beautiful post. One sentence and right on point. Hindsight is the key word to me. It shows that I don't know, You don't know, All the Fans don't know and most importantly the front office doesn't know. Using hindsight... Willi Castro was the choice for 2B all along. In the offseason when the roster was constructed... Castro was barely a consideration. It was Julien and Farmer as the 2B platoon with Castro available for 2B along with many other positions. The front office certainly didn't know that Julien would be sent down to the minors when they traded Polanco. They certainly didn't know that Farmer would crash to the point of little bits of Glass Farmer lying on the floor when they traded Polanco and I assume that they didn't know that Jorge Polanco was going to struggle as badly as he has in Seattle this year when they were able to get a top 100 prospect in return for him. They probably assumed in the off-season that Brooks Lee would be called up at some point this year but preceded to give him a grand total of 9 innings at 2B in St. Paul so it's not like they were lining him up to be insurance at 2B and they probably knew that his debut had a chance of starting out below average like it has. Martin didn't get a lot of prep work in 2024 at 2B either. Just 3 games for a total 26 innings. He was spending his time in the OF. I say these things not to attack the front office. I say these things to illustrate how difficult it is to predict the bouncing ball of major league performance and all 30 front offices miss in this fashion ALL THE TIME. Injuries and disappointing performance happens every single year and they these things lay waste tot he best laid plans... so I laugh at the mention of a log jam. 26 guys WHO CAN PLAY is what I will always ask for. Cull from the bottom until the bottom is raised. I recognize that Polanco has been a disappointment this year. But... I'm not going to use hindsight and apply it to what I was thinking in the off-season. When Polanco was traded... I questioned the logic of it. I felt he was a pretty consistent major league hitter that didn't need to be platooned. It's August now... I still question that logic even after review of his current performance because they didn't pull a fast one on Seattle. They bargained with Seattle like he was a pretty consistent major league hitter that didn't need to be platooned and Seattle traded players in return that suggest that they though he was a pretty consistent major league hitter that didn't need to be platooned. Anyway... Great Post... It simply says what needs to be said. If the Front office had this evaluation thing down to a science. Castro would have been named the starting 2B on Day one and Julien would have started in St. Paul.

In the off-season Twinsdaily posters and writers speak of log jams. At the trade deadline the front office speaks of liking this team and not really needing anything. We have an article here that talks about players returning which is great yet injuries to come are going to come and these injuries will negate the gains of this group of returning. On August 3rd Last year... 3 days after not doing anything at the the trade deadline. The contract of Dallas Kuechel was selected and on August 4th... just 4 days after not doing anything at the trade deadline. Jordan Luplow was signed off waivers.

Small list. I think you ignored everybody else on the roster.

I have always taken them seriously. For anyone just starting to take them seriously. Uff Da

I remember that... it was rough on the people of Alexandria. They had to drive all the way to Sauk Centre to check out a book and all they had was Sinclair Lewis and no books explaining why they use the British spelling of "Centre".

I understand what you are saying when you say "can only have so many high performing players on your roster". History says that you are correct. I am saying that those limitations you mention are at least partially self imposed when you say "get used to Margot and Vazquez" and I will throw in Farmer. You don't like the odds of churn from the bottom... I don't either when I have to get used to struggling vets because they can't be replaced. So... how about churn from the trade deadline then. I'm not going to make any outlandish claims that I know that Keirsay Jr is ticketed for 100 Plus OPS Plus. But I will claim that Margot is 78 OPS+. He's the next man up when injury happens. I wouldn't lock that in because injuries happen. The Yankees can lock in on Torres and Verdugo... that's their choice. They can send down Ben Rice if Rizzo comes back... that's their self imposing decision.

I have no real complaint with the hitting... other than my complaints with the back end of the roster and I'd like to see the back end improved. Last year I complained about the strikeouts. It was just too much and would have liked to seen a decent hitter that puts the ball in play more. I'm much happier with this offense even if the OPS is about the same. This year... I'd like to see Margot replaced with someone who could push the next tier down. We don't know who will be healthy come playoff time. I never look at 9 players and say we are set. If someone is replacable on the roster... I'm ok with replacing them. Keep culling from the bottom until the bottom is raised.

I was talking to a friend this morning about the Twins. He was griping about the team like he usually does and I defended the Twins like I usually do. I read that line and told him that the Twins have won 9 of their last 10 series. Now I have to call him back and correct myself. Which he is going to cause him to think his griping is correct and worse yet. Next time I'm riding in a car with him... I'm going to tell him about the deer that is crossing the road and he isn't going to trust what I'm saying and he's going to strike the deer and I will end up with an antler lodged in my face. 😉

The head to head matchups with Cleveland and Kansas City will obviously be critical but if Cleveland run away with the AL Central crown the wild card spot is still in play for the Twins and that makes every game against every team critical. Starting pitching health is going to be the most important factor. Come playoff time... a manager can manage with a two or three starters. However, getting to the playoffs, making the playoffs is much harder with holes in the rotation. I expect injuries to come because it's pitching and injuries always come. The injuries to come will test our depth beyond Lopez, Ryan, Ober, Woods-Richardson, Paddack and Festa. What can Dobnak or Zebby or Varland do when they are called upon. They will be called upon. As far as the offense is concerned... as much as I complain about the strict platooning being done and as much as I question the necessity for Margot and Farmer types on the roster to maintain the platooning they are fully committed to. From a team results standpoint... I don't have a leg to stand on. That doesn't mean that I will stop complaining about our strict commitment to the platoon system we use but I do recognize that the Twins have gone from setting a strikeout record in 2023 to ranked 9th best in the K department. I also recognize that the Twins offense is: Runs: 9th BA: 9th HR: 9th OBP: 7th SLG: 5th OPS: 6th That's pretty good With concerns about starting pitching depth and regression... along with an offense that is clicking pretty good... I know this is going to sound odd but I'm going to stick with what I said this off-season. The Pitching isn't going to be as good as last year. Fedde of Flaherty isn't going to change that. We need more offense to cover for the pitching that won't be as good. The Rangers showed everybody last year that your offense can make up for pitching deficiency. Starting pitching is expensive to acquire. Zebby and Festa are going to be needed today and into the future. I like the current team offensive stats but I also recognize that in 2023 we ranked pretty good as well. Runs: 10th BA: 21st HR: 3rd OBP: 12 SLG: 7th OPS: 7th Pretty comparable to last year with a big improvement in K's and batting average at a little bit of expense to homers... just to end up with nearly identical OPS and runs scored. IMO... the offense was still SHORT in the playoffs. In the end... Starting pitching will determine if we make the playoffs... Hitting will determine if we win some games in the playoffs. One last thing... Bullpen. It's ok... but we really need a left handed arm. IMO... The most unsteady members of our bullpen are the left handers. As it stands today: Orioles: 5 left handed hitters (Cowser, Henderson, O'Hearn, Mullins and Holliday) Yankees; 6 left handed hitters (Verdugo, Soto, Wells, Chisholm, Rice and Grisham) Red Sox: 6 left handed hitters (Duran, Yoshida, Devers, Abreu, Smith and Hamilton) or switch hitters Guardians: 4 Left handed hitters (Kwan, Gimenez and the Naylors) Royals: 5 left handed hitters (Pasquatch, Melendez, Massey, Isbel and Frazier) KC Left handers don't scare me that much. Astros: 2 left handed hitters (Alverez and Singleton) Tucker will be back just the combination of Tucker and Yordan requires someone who can get them out. Mariners: Not worth mentioning... They are terrible in the left handed batters box. Only Luke Raley can utter a little boo to scare anyone just a little. Bottom Line on the bullpen. We can't spend all of this time worrying about our left handed hitters and not worry about our left handed pitchers. If the splits are severe enough that we must pinch hit Wallner early so he doesn't have to face them in the 5th inning... Shouldn't we have some left handed arms of our own so we can attack the guys listed above come playoff time.

Sometimes he stares too long before he moves. Like Delmon Young.

Most doctors that I've spoken with are generally in agreement that holding your breath is a bad idea. The only time I'd recommend holding your breath is while free diving or entering a porta-potty at WE Fest.

It fits 1. Your Tender Age obviously. 2. On Twinsdaily you consistently display the ability to plow straight forward for long distances. 3. You can also go sideways hard in the blink of an eye.

If this was chess... you are seeing the whole board.

Logic perfectly applied. If this was Chess... You are seeing the whole board.

Well... Good News on the Horizon I assume. Falvey has publicly stated that money wasn't the issue this trade deadline. Well... if money isn't an issue... we should be good to go this off-season. I fully expect ownership to be fully supportive when we splash some cash to pick up Mark Canha to replace Margot and Wilmer Flores to replace Farmer.

The Astros shouldn't have used "Password" as their password.

I find myself pretty impressed by BTV. It my be imperfect but I've never found anything less imperfect. 60% of the time... it works every time.

I have no problem believing that anyone is willing to do dumb, irrational things and you know that I agree with you about MLB baseball taking short term dollars to put off the solving a longer term problem. Blackouts by 28 baseball teams in the state of Iowa since the Herbert Hoover administration is all you need to know about that. I agree that a degree of better is also a possible consideration. Let's just use the all things being equal and assume... OK... let's not trade in our division. In the case of a tiebreaker... Let's screw the Twins. I could buy that. What I can't believe is an organization, dumb, irrational or not: Saying in a room full of people who are judging you like co-workers judge you. Saying... Man... I really like this Keaschall guy but we can't take him if it helps the Twins. Let's take somebody we don't like as much. It's just more important that we screw the Twins. We can try to get better later.

Here's another thing that bugs me about this whole thing. Why would anyone in the Twins organization... Whoever this source is. Why would anyone in the Twins organization tell some social media guy that the Twins were willing to move Keaschall? Why would anyone in the Twins organization actually let his mother read this sentiment publicly. Why would anyone express that Jenkins, Lee and Emma are untouchable but Keaschall... Touch him all you want. On top of that... Why would anyone in the White Sox organization tell some social media guy that they wouldn't take a better offer from the Twins? Why would they express to some social media guy that they had had no interest in Keaschall? If Keaschall hits the majors and wins rookie of the year with a 4 digit OPS. The White Sox are going to look bad for having no interest and the Twins are going to hear from Keaschall's mother because she has no confidence in an organization that was willing to trade the next Nolan Arenado. If any of this true. The Twins organization and the White Sox should be hunting down this source with a pink slip in the other hand. Now what I can believe is this: Some Social Media person took something from someone, somewhere and another social media person took it from there to another level and then the readers, viewers, consumers took it another level beyond that. And pretty soon we are storming the Capitol.

I've never met Greenberg or Getz nor watched them work. Both of them are fairly new at their jobs. But... I think they should be allowed some time to build what they are building so I really don't have a judgement on them. When I do have a judgement... it won't be worth much when I spend my time on the couch watching Twins games on Cable. I'm simply not ready to believe that new at their jobs or not that they would turn down a better offer from the Twins. Do I believe what they asked of the Twins was high... Absolutely. But I don't believe it's a division thing. I'd tend to believe that the ask would be high from all general managers. I believe it is possible that there is a significant drop off between the value of Jenkins, Lee or Emma and the value of Keaschall. I believe it is possible that the difference in valuation between Emma and Keaschall is large enough that a Liranzo could slide in between. Therefore Detroit never has to move off the original ask of Jenkins, Lee or Emma. But If I'm the Tigers... Why wouldn't I ask for the Moon incase a team becomes desperate enough to give you the moon. If the White Sox want to send Fedde, Kopech and Pham and get back Vargas and a couple of decently regarded Low A prospects in return. That's there choice. If the White Sox turned down more from the Twins for Fedde alone. Getz won't be in the job long.

I believe he was. My post was in agreement with Chief. It is directed at Dan Hayes and others who think that professional GM's are going to refuse a better deal from a team in their division.