Riverbrian

I draw no conclusions from my list but in response to what you have observed from my list. If the season ended today. 12 teams make the playoffs (not 10) The Guardians, Yankees, Mariners, Orioles, Twins and Royals would represent the American League while the Phillies, Dodgers, Brewers, Braves, Cards and Padres would represent the National League. 11 or more is the top half... 10 or less would be the bottom half. That would place 8 current playoff teams in the bottom half: Cards 10, Orioles 9, Mariners 9, Twins 8, Yankees 8, Braves 7, Dodgers 6, Phillies 4 4 teams in the top half: Guardians 16, Royals 14, Brewers 12, Padres 11. Although... I'd claim that the line between current playoff teams and potential playoff teams is currently a big fat line the size of the Yukon Territories. The Rockies, Marlins A's and White Sox are out and that is about it so I am really hesitant to draw any conclusions from my thrown together list for everyone's enjoyment. The Red sox are good day away from a playoff team with 15 young players helping them have that good day. The Rangers could go on a heater and become that playoff team with DeGrom reducing them to 3 young players. I'd also contend that the difference between 12 and 9 young players which comprises 5 teams is a thin line the size of Highway 61... for revisiting. The 4 teams that are out: A's 20, White Sox 7 is a pretty large canyon. I just don't fear youth. Logan Morrison is much scarier.

Cleveland they must get to the bottom of? Cleveland is the thing that they can't figure out what's going on so they shut it down until clarity arises from some sort of investigation? Congress shuts down Cleveland Baseball and they shut down Lawn Darts. But... other things much more problematic are allowed to continue with proper financial support in the form of campaign contributions. Listen... We all know why this is happening. We all know why Congress all of a sudden has sprung into action. It's the same reason they always spring into action. Larry Dolan is a cheap guy. He takes the same approach to campaign contributions that he does to paying baseball players. He is buying no friends. There was no lawn dart lobby in 1988 and look what happened and Larry Dolan doesn't open up his wallet. This is what happens to the little guy and the little guy is hanging yard signs in support of this system.

I've never met Boras but his reputation sure seems like you describe. So I agree it would be a complication to getting a deal done. The deal... if there was one to be had... would need to be like the one offered to Buxton. Just like you describe. I'd probably be calling Boras today just to see if he hangs up on me.

In the 13 games... Since Martin has been called up replacing the left handed Kirilloff. The Twins have faced 4 left handed starting pitchers. Rocco has trotted out the same lineup for all 4 games. Kepler, Larnach and Martin are the 3 players who have sat each of those games. Losing the left handed Kirilloff and replaced by the right handed Martin overstuffed the right handed batters box. One right handed hitter was going to have sit against a lefty. Instead of a rotation... Rocco has picked Martin consistently. Against those right handed pitchers. Kepler, Larnach, Castro and Santana are the ones who fill the left handed batters box. After including the catcher that leaves 4 right handed hitters will have to lineup against right handers. Lewis, Buxton and Correa are givens. That 4th spot has been Rocco picking and choosing amongst the 4extra choices - Miranda, Margot, Martin and Farmer. In the 9 out of 13 games where a right handed pitcher has started. Max Kepler has taken a maintenance day, Willi Castro has taken 1 maintenance day. Buxton has taken 2, Correa has taken 1. Santana has taken 1. Lewis has taken 1. That's 7 extra lineup spots that need to be added to the one that is needed each of the 9 games. That's a total of 16 lineup spots to cover via picking and choosing amongst, Miranda, Margot, Martin and Farmer. Those 16 open spots were utilized this way. Martin 7 starts against a RH starter. Miranda 5 starts against a RH Starter. Margot 3 starts against a RH Starter. Farmer 1 start against a RH starter. To me... the answer is pretty easy. Remove those 4 starts by Margot and Farmer. Give them to Martin and Miranda. Make it equal -- Martin and Miranda 8 each. Although... It makes even more sense to 2 to 1 Miranda starts because he is hitting the ball real well right now. So Make it Miranda 12 and Martin 4 for those 16 starts needed to fill out the daily lineup card. Which leads us back to what you are saying... Not enough playing time for Martin. Wallner called up for Martin is certainly worth discussion although... Martin certainly doesn't deserve that. It's Farmer that deserves it.

I agree with you And I disagree with you It's a tough one... I have no doubt that he's a superstar and if you can keep him in a Minnesota uniform... I think you have to do it. But Yeah... The Injury history is off the charts in his young career thus far. It sure leaves you with a realization that you will probably be paying for a lot of IL time in that contract. However... I think you have to give it a shot.

You will all be happy to know that I'm stealing the broadcast of Twins games now. Should be able to watch the games going forward. I've always been law abiding... I pay my taxes... I clear the table after supper. I'm sure my mother would be proud of the criminal I have become. The Twins have turned me into a Pirate.

Lets not be a Margot Kidder. Those numbers you post are his numbers since May 27. 72 PA's - 62 AB's over that span. 32 PA's - 28 AB's vs Left handed pitching: .429/.469/.649 (1.112) 40 PA's - 34 AB's vs Right Handed Pitching .206/.325/.294 (.619) Still facing more right handers than left handers. I'm not really in a Margot mood right now. Unless he lost that ball in the ceiling. That McCarthy 258 foot lazy fly ball for a single should have been caught by simply continuing to move his feet. Wouldn't even needed to dive for it... he could have just run under it... like a routine play from a routine outfielder. It would have been the third out in the 4th inning. It cost Festa 3 earned runs. His 4th inning would have been (should have been) HR, K, K, 1B, F9. 1 Earned Run

Yep... They started all of their left handed bats against Povich and won the game 3-2. Kwan, Gimenez, Brennen, Schneeman, Naylor and Naylor all started the game and those 6 are every single pure left handed hitter on the roster. Starting the game on the bench for that game: Rocchio(S): Primary SS Freeman(R) Hedges(R): Backup catcher Rodriquez (R): sent down shortly afterwards They don't appear to be messing around with platoons. I'm sure they make left/right decisions game by game but the left/right thing doesn't appear to define those game by game decisions.

I didn't know this article was coming. I've been doing some looking at Cleveland and was posting some elementary stuff on another thread. Stuff that would be more appropriate posted here so I'll repeat it here. For those who fear the young player. For those who like vets with a little track record. 16 of the current 26 players on the Cleveland Roster have less than two years service time. 9 of those 16 players were listed on the MLB.com Top 30 prospects last year. To compare and contrast. The Twins have 8 players on the current roster with less than 2 years service time. 4 of those 8 players were listed as top 30 prospects last year. Cleveland is doubling the production of the Twins from the farm. The Orioles who most think of as a young up and coming team have 9. I'm not making a statement that youth is the way to go because look at Cleveland. It works both ways. The Rockies currently have 13 players with less than 2 years service time on their 26 man roster so youth isn't the answer at the edge of the mountains. Granted... since I'm looking at current rosters,.. the amount of youth on any given roster at any given point of time can be greatly influenced by the amount of injuries a team is dealing with, Cleveland for example currently has 5 guys on the IL who have more than 2 years service time which in theory provides 5 roster spots for players with less than 2 years experience to replace them. However... With 16 young players on the roster regardless if that number is inflated by injury... Cleveland just rattled off 7 straight W's before losing last night so that influx of youth isn't costing them for the time being. The only conclusion that I can draw and it's a conclusion that I settled on a long time ago. There is no reason to be scared of youth. We don't need a boat load of vets to win. The thing to be scared about is bad performance regardless if it's coming from youth or coming from vets. After you move past the superstars of the game into the general baseball player masses that make up the bulk of most rosters. I believe that vets are just as capable of producing bad performance but they typically get to continue producing those bad results. The answer IMO isn't more youth... the answer isn't more vets... it's less tolerance of poor performance regardless of experience. The answer is less playing time for those struggling regardless of experience, The answer is less 26 man roster spots for those struggling regardless of experience. Youth that struggles can be sent down... Vets that struggle just stay and take you down. Anyways... I'm not afraid of youth. Cleveland is doing really well with it. In case any one is curious on where the entire league stands on the less than 2 years service time scale. Here are how all of the teams in MLB rank using current rosters with no regard to how many injuries have been suffered by each team that will influence the current totals. I draw no conclusions from the numbers posted below other than... I'm not afraid of youth. A's: 20 Guardians: 16 (7-3 in last 10 games) Red Sox: 15 (8-2 in last 10 games) Royals: 14 (3-7 in last 10 games) Astros: 14 (8-2 in last 10 games) Pirates: 14 (6-4 in last 10 games) DBacks: 13 Rockies: 13 Marlins: 13 Brewers: 12 Tigers: 11 Cubs: 11 Reds: 11 Padres: 11 Giants: 11 Angels: 10 Cards: 10 Nats: 10 Orioles: 9 Mariners: 9 Rays: 9 Twins: 8 Yankees: 8 White Sox: 7 (Yuck... This should be 26) Jays: 7 Braves: 7 Dodgers: 6 Mets: 6 Rangers: 5 Phillies: 4

The Twins have 8 players on their current roster with less than 2 years of service time. Lewis, Miranda, Martin, SWR, Festa, Funderburk, Rodriquez and Sands. Cleveland with the best record in baseball has 16 out of 26 players with under two years service time.

Too many lefties.

Look up the top 30 Cleveland Prospects last year on MLB.com. Count how many of them are on the current 2024 roster. The Answer is 9 The best record in baseball in 2024 has 9 out of their 26 players on the roster who were ranked prospects in Cleveland's system in 2023. Once you look at what the youth is doing in Cleveland. Don't look at Margot. You develop kidney stones if you do.

And I'm just a Cat trying to read you.

I have no problem with that path either... other than the price being young prospects which could leave a future hole just to patch a current hole. Either way... we need to produce either a player or produce a trade chip in our pipeline and we will need to produce more than one. Every Bundy we sign to eat innings at a 5.00 ERA gets in the away of finding more than one.

Twelve year old me wasn't at that game but I can tell you that Rod Carew was my hero and still my favorite Twin ever. In 1977 I spent almost the entire baseball season trying to copy Rod Carew's batting stance. It was my only bad year at the plate and I do blame Rod for this.

We are not signing Gerrit Cole this off-season or anyone like him. I'm reasonably sure of that. I absolutely do not want to sign innings eaters like DeSclafini or Bundy. The only solution to this is to develop pitchers. It's the only way that we will end up with a pitcher like Gerrit Cole in the future. The pipeline produces or we will draft very high the following year. Festa getting a 40 man roster spot and the ball on Thursday is how it is supposed to work... It's how it needs to work.

Day Game

I love Major League Debuts. I don't want to miss it.

If Festa starts on Thursday and it sure looks like that's what they will do. I would love to be able to watch that game on TV. Do you hear me Major League Baseball, Joe Pohlad, Dave St. Peter, Diamond Sports and Comcast/Midco? They don't hear me

They will need to try out youngsters when the injuries occur. They will have no choice. We are healthy now... We won't be in the future. The day is coming and it will be necessary to stay in the race for the wildcard. When that day comes... That's when the Lee discussion starts... That's when Wallner walks back in... or Julien walks back in. I don't see the Twins moving on from Margot and Farmer so injuries is what will open the door IMO. I'd rather see Lee get some more AAA AB's added to his resume but if the time is coming soon... it's coming soon. However... if you consider that we will have 4 open positions next year to fill and little money to spend... it's important to point out that Lee can only fill one of them. Lee with 64 AB's at the AAA level leapfrogging Wallner or Julien who we will also need next year isn't ideal in my opinion.

I can wait on Lee a little but we will need to see him before the season is done. Hope he keeps hitting the ball in St. Paul. In the meantime... I'd like him to start playing much more at 2B and get Julien work at 1B. Ultimately I'd rather they don't sign Rosario and Refsnyder types this off-season. Unless they change style abruptly... they pretty much have to.

Farmer should be added to your list. Some key players Lewis, Ober, Ryan, Jax will be entering arbitration and getting significant raises. For Jeffers it's year #2 of Arbitration with a bump coming and Every Day Willi Castro will be in year #3 and a significant bump most likely coming. 2024 Payroll is around 129 Million 2025 Payroll is currently around 95 Million without Arbitration. The Arb bumps in pay will most likely eat up the majority of that 34 million difference between this year and what is on the books for next year. From the current roster... We will be down the 4 position players listed plus Thielbar in the bullpen. Unless any one expects a payroll jump... I don't. Therefore... I see no reason to think the Twins will be fishing in the big fish bay of the free agent lake this off-season. Therefore... those 4 position players will be filled by players from the farm or once again... cheaper... right handed hitting specialists to fill the Farmer and Margot roles. Probably a combination of... Because... Left Handed hitters Julien, Kirilloff and Wallner are still the players most likely to fill in from the farm and they require the right handed hitting handcuffs. Cheaper Free Agents like Amed Rosario and Rob Refsnyder are the type of free agent I expect to see the Twins Target. The Twins may have to shed Kirilloff (out of options) to make it work. Will Brooks Lee be fulltime on opening day? 2B is where he can get that full time work. Something like this? DH - Julien or Larnach/Lewis C - Jeffers and Vazquez 1B - Miranda 2B - Lee 3B - Lewis/Rosario SS - Correa LF - Castro/Martin CF - Buxton RF - Wallner or Larnach/Refsnyder Just a guess but I'm pretty sure Pete Alonso ain't showing up. I suspect we will need those youngsters to fill roster space and too many of them are left handed so Rosario and Refsnyder types have to take up roster spots. I'm sorry is this too soon? I realize that 2024 isn't over yet. You just got me thinking.

It's a rather impressive commitment to the bit. After running low on left handed hitters, the Twins are turning Austin Martin into a left handed hitter to fill the void. Austin is playing against right handed starting pitching and sitting against left handed starters. Here's the current platoon template. Vs. Right/Vs. Left DH - Larnach/Lewis C - Jeffers and Vazquez 1B - Santana 2B - Castro/Farmer 3B - Lewis/Miranda SS - Correa LF - Martin/Castro CF - Buxton RF - Kepler/Margot 5 Players are primarily every day against both hands: Santana, Correa, Buxton locking down 1B, SS and CF while Lewis( 3B against RH and DH against LH) plus Castro (2B against RH and LF against LH) handle two positions to make the platooning work. 6 players are primarily platooners. Kepler/Margot Larnach/Miranda Martin (right handed hitter)/Farmer Plus two catchers in a 50/50 every other day split to account for all 13 players. Miranda and Margot have been filling in against right handers when maintenance days are necessary. When Kirilloff went on the IL and Austin Martin replaced him... I mentioned that the roster composition shifted to low on left handed bats and over stocked on right handed bats. RH Hitters: 9 LH Hitters: 2 Switch Hitters: 2 That's 11 options to stand in the right handed batters box against left handed pitchers. Only 4 to do the opposite. Problem Solved: Turn Martin into a right handed hitting specialist. Impressive commitment to the bit.

87 K's in 59 Innings. I'm going with Festa. It's time to take a look at starter #7. Just to see what he can do before the trade deadline. It's critical intel for making informed decisions.