Riverbrian

Unless you have a hitter in uniform like Nelson Cruz who are top of the line special bat great hitters while also a clear defensive liability. I would rather they use the DH position to cycle through players. Use the position for rest or to get AB's to others. Clear defensive liability means... clear defensive liability. Just because someone is a little bit better defensively doesn't mean that the player not quite as good is a clear defensive liability.

Like usual... your post is spot on. Being Limited to primarily DH work, Limited to facing Right Handed Pitchers, frequent health issues and Options Dwindling, are the confluence of 4 fairly big things that will get in the way of his future. To survive these 4 things, it would take an extraordinary performance at the plate that he hasn't demonstrated yet. Fortunately... for Alex... This vague guideline of "gloves play ahead of sticks" that Rocco made public will only last as long as the context of the team allows it to continue. In other words... quoting Mike Tyson. "Everyone has a plan until you get punched in the mouth". While Rocco is busy deploying the best gloves for games 1 through 20 on the schedule. Carlos Santana or someone will go on the DL and Kirilloff will find himself the best defensive option by process of elimination. So... Alex Kirilloff will sit cold in the DH spot and wait... then all of sudden, Hey... Go get your glove... Need you now. Congrats you are now the best defensive option. And of course... the most ideal spot for this sudden need to spring to life will happen in late September. Hey Alex... Playoffs start tomorrow. Santana is down for a month. Go get your glove... I know we have been afraid of your defense all year so we kept you at DH... But Hey... we need you know. There is rust remover in the bottom cabinet in the training room. Apply it liberally and evenly to that glove. Oh... And we believe in you... Always have.

In Vegas, I got into a long argument with the man at the roulette wheel over what I considered to be an odd number. Steven Wright

Who are we to judge what a skeleton does with a beer. We all have skeletons in our closet.

Scott and Cindy happy couple with a growing household with two beautiful daughters and Cindy pregnant with their third child. When the baby was born. Scott knew something was wrong immediately. The baby was... well... i'll just say it... ugly. Scott looked at his daughters and he looked at the new baby and he knew... something was wrong. He grew suspicious and he couldn't shake the suspicion so he walked up to his wife... looked her in the eye and said. The difference between our daughters and our brand new baby is striking. Our daughters are so beautiful and this baby is... he pauses... he couldn't contain the question any longer. He didn't want to ask it but he does. Cindy... did you cheat on me? Cindy says... no...(she pauses) She looks at his face... she can tell that Scott doesn't believe her answer. She grabs Scotts hands... looks him in the eye to be more reassuring. No Scott I didn't... I promise... not this time.

What I love about the Joke is that it takes some people a while to get it. A Beer? and a Mop? They wait for something else to be the punchline and it doesn't come until 1 hour later and then they start laughing. It's a great joke to tell someone before they get on a plane. They don't get it right away. They board and then half way through the flight they get it... they are all alone on a flight and they start laughing. Now the entire plane is nervous because of this guy laughing on a plane for seemingly no reason. The attendants are asking the sky Marshall to keep an eye on the crazy guy. Great Joke... it has a delayed time release.

You must provide an example of a better joke.

I certainly don't. He is out of options so Luke Raley is comparable to Nick Gordon in that fashion. The Rays traded him for a 26 year old unheralded SS (never ranked as a prospect) with 3 options remaining. Luke Raley isn't allowed to face left handers so he is comparable to Alex Kirilloff in that fashion and he will never be of significant value as long as that is the case and at age 29... that is probably the case. But... Decent Defense, can steal a bag and a really nice OPS last year when it all gets added together. These decisions are tough. I don't blame the Twins however... I will point out that Aaron Whitefield and Jake Cave were on the 40 man in 2020.

Players making the minimum are performing on par or better than the mid level free agent. Why would anyone pay 5 million instead of $720K if the production is similar or better. Especially when the player making the minimum have built in escape hatches because of minor league options while the mid level free agent does not.

Correct me if I'm wrong. But, Doesn't the MLBPA run the risk of picking off their own players when free agents negotiations are allowed to go past the arbitration hearings. Feb 8 - J.D Davis wins 6.55M in Arbitration Mar 3 - Matt Chapman signs with Giants for 3 years/54M Mar 11 - J.D. Davis released after clearing waivers with no takers at his 6.55m. CBA rules are negotiated by big boys. Each side is strictly bound by the terms of this negotiated agreement. Why are we pissed at the Giants? Did we not want them to sign Chapman? There is only so much space on a 26 man roster. When Chapman signed... somebody was making room. It was J.D. Davis. Would we rather it be Nick Ahmed or some kid scrapping for a dream?

Unless Camargo becomes decent value. We lost the deal. But... not as bad as the Red Sox lost in the deal. I have no complaint from what we received in Kenta Maeda. Kenta pitched very well for us. Maeda's time with us is done while Brusdar and the Dodgers still have 3 years to go. Starting pitching is more valuable than relief pitching... however... Brusdar has become one of the top relievers in baseball. I'm willing to say Brusdar for Kenta straight up... just might be a draw. It's the rest of the deal where we lost. Luke Raley and Clayton Beeter. Beeter was who the Dodgers selected with the competitive balance pick we traded in the deal. He just might open the year in the Yankees rotation this season. The Dodgers traded him for Joey Gallo so the competitive balance pick part was squandered but no matter what the Dodgers did... that was a draft pick that was not made by the Twins. and then we get to Luke Raley. What have the Twins given up in Luke Raley? Did the Twins know what they had in Luke Raley? Did the Dodgers know what they had in Luke Raley? At the time of the trade... he was a 25 year old .310 hitter with a .878 OPS in AAA. Decision time was coming up on Luke Raley. We keep trying to make Larnach type hitters fly right while Raley and Wade type guys fall away. I'll say... We lost the trade until Camargo can make up the difference of Raley and Beeter. But... we didn't lose it as bad as the Red Sox did. Oh Boy... did they lose that trade.

The best Joke ever: A skeleton walks into a bar and says "Give me a Beer and a Mop".

On March 12th, 2024 - I rule nobody out in the Central. Not even the White Sox. There are surprises both positive and negative every single year. Opening Day 2023: The DBacks were +10,000 to win the World Series. The Mets were +600 I know it seems like a long time ago but the White Sox were favored to win the AL Central last year. Respect Everyone. Strap it on... 162 games to determine who gets a playoff spot. Well... Not the A's this year... but everyone else.

Based on the typical 13 players position slots - 13 pitching slots on a 26 man roster. 9 positions to fill in the lineup card every day. Typically 2 players on the 26 man dedicated to the catcher position. 13 minus two catchers leaves 11 non-catcher positions on the 26 man roster. Eliminating the catcher position from the 9 positions to be filled on the lineup card leaves 8 spots to fill daily. 11 - 8 = 3 😉 Right now it is assumed that those 3 spots are Margot, Farmer and Castro. You are right... I have tirelessly promoted the value of flexibility and not just utility work but super utility work. Super utility is not the number of positions you play but how often you play different positions. Super Utility is an every day guy that gets moved around. Think Mookie Betts for super utility, Willie Castro played a lot for us last year out of necessity but I don't think he is an every day guy until the need for him to be every day occurs due to injuries so I still have Castro in the utility catagory. This front office has made a lot of progress in this area since taking over for Terry Ryan. I would take it a step further then they have but I am grateful for the progress by moving players around. I am absolutely not afraid to move the big guys around, the starters around. This type of flexibility allows you to put together the best 9 in any circumstance. How does Brooks Lee get on the 26 man roster? I think it is unreasonable to think that Brooks will simply blow the doors off in AAA get called up and Correa, Lewis or Julien just goes away to accommodate the arrival of Lee. I think it is most likely that Brooks gets that 26 man spot when an injury occurs in the infield... Including 1B. Not only do we not know where the injury will occur that gets Brooks Lee a promotion, the front office doesn't know either. The front office just knows that Brooks is close to ready. where will he be needed is yet to be answered. In preparation of a door opening but not knowing which door (1B, 2B, 3B or SS). Why wouldn't you get Brooks Lee work at multiple positions? If you only play Brooks Lee at SS... does that limit his 26 man opportunity to only Carlos Correa getting hurt? Why would you limit his opportunity to just an injury at SS? What happens if Lee can play OF? Now an injury at 7 positions opens a door for Lee. What happens if Lewis can move to OF to accommodate the arrival of Lee at 3B? An injury at 7 positions opens the door for Lee. What happens if Julien can play 1B and Kirilloff can play OF? An injury at 7 positions opens the door for Lee. What happens if Brooks Lee looks like Royce Lewis did last year. Do we send him down when whoever got hurt gets healthy again? Or can Brooks Lee remain on the roster and get significant playing time by being a super utility guy? Or can Brooks Lee get significant playing time by Lewis becoming Super Utility? Player flexibility at the super utility level can keep the utility level away from your roster. Utility level players are not as good because talent and playing time is what separates the two designations. Does it make sense to play Lee every day at SS in the minors and then slam him into a 2B position at the major league level because that is where the opportunity occurred like the old front office did with Polanco arriving as a SS back in 2016 after playing 2B almost exclusively in the minors prior to the call up. Dozier was playing every day at 2B... why wasn't Polanco getting work elsewhere prior to becoming our every day SS? The Orioles are getting Holliday 2B work right now. Henderson has gotten 3B work. Westburg got work at 2B, 3B and OF. The Orioles are preparing for a team full of players who can play and need playing time. They are creating Super Utility to accomodate a full roster of players who can play. The Reds have 13 players who can play, do you just ignore some good talent to stick with 8. Steer moved around to accommodate the depth and get playing time. Strand will move around, India will move around. De La Cruz will move around, McLain will move around. The Reds will figure it out and if anybody gets hurt... talent will fill the loss.

Wallner will also get RF work because he has a cannon arm and Kepler may get hurt or a day off. Kirilloff could get LF work, Margot could get LF work, Larnach could jump into LF if Wallner struggles. It keeps an OF position open to work players through. 3 non-catcher bench positions - Yep impossible to cover all 8 non-catcher spots with just 3. So the next logical question is Chicken or Egg. Do teams look for players who can play multiple positions for those 3 non-catcher bench positions or do they just convert them out of necessity because they can't cover all 8 positions with 3 players. What comes first the Chicken or the Egg? BTW - I'm only using the term bench for clarity. I don't like using the word bench. Don't believe in a bench which is a collection of lesser players in my mind.

Who isn't moving around. Santana, Julien, Lewis, Correa, Buxton and Kepler and the catchers Who is moving around. Everybody else My guess on the difference. Those who are not moving around have jobs. Those moving around are searching for jobs. Hard to predict where the job is going to open. It has always been hard to predict. 11 Non-Catcher spots - 8 starting non-pitcher spots each game. Players 9,10 and 11 can't cover all 8 positions. Flexibility is a by-product of depth. Flexibility naturally shows up when depth arrives. If flexibility doesn't show up... you don't have depth.

String... this is the light switch. It'll be a long time waiting to be told what they are doing. A long time... if ever. In the meantime... they will show us every day. You want to know what someone or something is doing... Just watch it. Actions speak louder than words. Watching what they do... is the light switch.

I wasn't worried about getting mugged. But I was worried about being attacked by wind blown garbage.

I've been to all three stadiums. Oakland And Arizona fairly recently and Seattle was maybe 15 years ago. My Seattle experience (Stadium) was fine but it was just an average park in my opinion. I've had a few disagree with that assessment saying Seattle is high up on their list. I sat out in left field and the train horn scares the crap out of you. As far as Seattle itself... It was a fantastic city to visit. Arizona... I rate the staduim in the same group as Seattle and the others with retractable roof stadiums that I've been to. Arizona, Houston, Texas have the same feel to them. Texas may be brand new but it still has an Chase Field vibe to it. The seating area isn't well lit. Yes you can find your beer and you can see around you but it is darker than what you are used to watching outdoor games. I'll put Milwaukee a step above Arizona and the retractable crowd because of the tailgating and the openness of the concourse. Any way... Arizona is the same. I didn't have a lot of time to explore Phoenix. I can only say that it was 110 degrees and I got in and out of the city without major traffic issues. Oakland... I'm glad I went but by FAR the worst City and the Worst Ball Park that I have been to. If you haven't been... you should go just so you can see what I'm talking about. Uff Da. If anyone goes on this road trip... The West is incredible. Schedule time to check out things along the way. I strong recommend driving the Central Coast of California. The best drive in America.

He has certainly earned the right to continue on. Let's do some useless projections by increasing his sample size from 213 At Bats to 502 (Minimum AB's for Batting Title Qualifcation). With 502 AB's repeating his numbers at 213... He would have hit 33 Home Runs last year. That would have tied him for 16th in the league. Tied with Albies, Devers, JD Martinez, Seager and Walker. Albies, Devers and Walker all had over 580 AB's to reach 33 dingers. There were 20 batters who hit 33 or more home runs last year. Out of those 20 batters... 11 of them (Schwarber, Alonso, Adolis Garcia, Robert, Riley, Muncy, Soler, Burger, Albies, Devers, and Walker) all had lower OPS. The only reason to project his numbers is to illustrate how good his numbers were and the company they keep if he continued at that pace. Of course you can't project like that because baseball is peaks and valleys. He has certainly earned the right to continue on his journey. I've said that Wallner was a better version of Gallo than Gallo was. Going into 2024 there is no guarantee Wallner will be what he was last year or that he goes into an all or nothing tank like Gallo did in 2023. Actually also 2022 and 2021 but who's counting with Gallo. The article asks what if Matt Wallner is just that good. Pete Alonso has only eclipsed .877 OPS one time and that was his rookie year. If Wallner is just that good. #38 will be placed on the target field wall next to Minnesotans like Hrbek, Mauer and Tom Kelly.

Everybody knows that baseball players don't reach their peak until age 27. Chestnut will be a free agent long before that time.

According to roster resource. He will be our 2B this year.

Can we be serious for a moment please. This is ridiculous. Horses can't pitch... Horses can't peel an orange either. They just put the whole orange in their mouth and eat it. If you can't peel an orange... you can't pitch... everybody knows this. Now... pinch runner... that is completely possible and you have to wonder why they messed around with Billy Hamilton at all. Think about it Wouldn't even need to take a lead. No infielder is going to block the bag so they will all be compliant to the new rules. Singles turn to triples. Stealing home will become a thing. BTW... Since we are finally getting serious. A polar bear would make an incredible EDGE rusher in the NFL.

I'm going to draft Ober in my fantasy baseball draft. Probably doom him by doing just that.