Riverbrian

I've been thinking about the Twins like I usually do and this song is in my head today. Make no mistake where you are(This is it) The Offense is officially healthy - Thee Starting Lineup is in place tonight against Cleveland. Your back's to the corner(This is it) The Lineup tonight with Batting Averages hurts to look at Don't be a fool anymore(This is it) Yep this is it: 1. Polanco 2B - .284 2. Kirilloff 1B - .314 3. Correa SS - .211 4. Buxton DH - .221 5. Kepler RF - .195 6. Lewis 3B - .333 7. Gallo LF - .194 8. Taylor CF - .214 9. Vazquez C - .233 The only decent batting averages have a combined 174 AB's and that would rank third on the team in AB's if they were combined. Yeah I know, there are better metrics to display. I understand this but these BA's are incredible. Anybody ready to play I'm Alright from Kenny after looking at those BA's.

Context... It sure surrounds those managers a little thicker than us mere civilians in the peanut gallery. 😎

How does he do when he is afternooning out the workload?

Agreed Bullpen needed some breathing room. They have been pitching with no margin of error for too long. I don't understand the debate here. It was 8 Zip. Pull Varland and save bullets for his next start. On the other side Baker pulled Tucker and Maldonado to get them off their feet.

I'd like to see him take about 1,000 ground balls a day in AAA. His bat is going to be fine. That swing is a thing of beauty.

Lopez has to figure it out with the big club. Bullpens are so volatile.

Yes I would... I would acquire hitting. On July 31... Being in first place is a great measuring stick for being in position to make the playoffs. 😎

De Leon can fill the long man role in the interim.

I'll be honest... If my front office ever looked at a team in contention and ignored it because they didn't believe it. I'd want them gone.

Yeah... I'd keep the starting 5 off limits although I would consider a 6 man rotation to see how Kenta Maeda measures up with the other 5. June is a good time to give an extra day of rest before the stretch run. Roster Spots? Sands for sure Pitchers with options are: Duran, Moran and Jax Duran and Moran are not candidates in my opinion. So you are down to Jax optioned or Deleon DFA because Brock Stewart shouldn't be Designated we are going to need him and a Lopez DFA would be way to reactionary. Probably De Leon... He's been decent but... what are you gonna do?

With Polanco up and Julien sent down. The offense is healthy. Larnach is still on the IL but he is probably sent to St. Paul when he clears. Gordon of course is down but Lewis has taken his roster spot. This is it... We are healthy. These are the chosen ones.

No Correa, No Buxton, No Lewis. 8 Runs and a Victory Baseball is played terribly on paper.

I loved that show... I've learned a lot watching Breaking Bad. Apparently with fulminated mercury. If you smash it on the floor. Apparently the contact with the floor causes an explosion strong enough to blow up the entire third floor but not kill the 4 people who occupy the blown up third floor. After blowing up a building in downtown Albuquerque, apparently, you can just get in your car and drive away. After watching Breaking Bad and what happens with fulminated mercury... I have much keener insight into what happens with a pitch thrown by Emilio Pagan.

This allows me to dredge up one of my favorite points. The margins are razor thin. The difference between Miranda and Steer is probably miniscule. Front offices have to to walk up to the window and place their bets on near coin flips. They are not choosing between Ronald Acuna and Ronald McDonald where the difference is obvious. These are young players that are capable of being major league players and also capable of working in a car wash in two years. Any illusion that any front office for any of the 30 teams have these razor thin decisions perfected down to a science is incredibly impossible. Every front office makes mistakes on these coin flips and they make them often. Does anyone think the Rays trade Joe Ryan for a DH rental if the Rays knew what Joe Ryan would be doing in 2022 and 2023. I think its safe to assume that they don't make that trade, they probably offer Brandon McKay instead who was rated higher in the system at the time of the trade. If the Twins knew what Ryan was going to become when trading Cruz to the Rays do you think they needed Strotman added to the deal? They would have agreed to Ryan and called the commissioner before they got off the phone with the Rays. Front offices know that they are going to make mistakes. How often do they make mistakes. Often... they are easy to find for all 30 teams. Just pull up any roster at random and look at who is doing what and ask yourself... was that the plan? Angels - I don't believe the plan was to sign David Fletcher to a 5 year deal only to send him to Salt Lake City so they could call up a SS who was drafted last year. Astros - Abreu? A's - They didn't start the season with Rooker penciled into a starting position? They didn't plan for what he did? They took a flyer to fill out the worst roster in baseball. Jays - Do the they trade for Berrios if they had the chance to do it over? Are the Twins still insisting on Martin if they still do? Braves - Michael Harris was the greatest thing on earth last year. I have to believe that his current .526 OPS was not the plan. Brewers - They did not pursue a 2B in the off-season. Do they still just hand the job to Turang or did they make a mistake? Cardinals... Do you think they sign Wilson Contreres to that contract knowing his OPS would be .663 in June and that he would have to be removed from the catcher position for a spell. Cubs... Isn't it possible that they break camp with Morel if they knew what he was going to do. Is it possible that Mancini or Hosmer isn't necessary if they break camp with Morel. I'm going alphabetically and I'll stop now but there are ton of mistakes being made in the baseball world far away from 1 Twins Way. The Margins are thin... these decisions are hard. Mistakes are inevitable... it's what you do after is what is important.

I knew a guy named Brent... He was a pretty scary guy and he has done some pretty scary things but once I got to know him. He wasn't that scary to me. Shoulders also scare me but perhaps I just need to get to know them better. I assume that the front office has people who have spent some time with shoulders. Dinner, Movie, fishing trips... you know... hanging out with shoulders type thing. I was sleeping during med school but a strained right shoulder typically doesn't need Tommy John surgery. So... are we talking about two separate injuries or one big one that spread to his elbow. You can turn that question around and present it to the front office... they might give you all the details... they might not but I think it's incredibly unfair to suggest that they rolled through a stop sign right in front of all those police officers that they have to answer to. If your 13 year old ran that stop sign... you'd sit down with him/her and say... did ya think you were going to get away with that with all those cops around? Why do we just assume that front offices are that naïve?

Agreed... You always have to consider that it takes two to tango. Trade deadlines would have to be chaotic with everyone in the market for starting pitching. They liked Mahle, chances are other teams like Mahle as well. Now you got to pay the price it costs to acquire Mahle. This price won't even matter if the Reds like the prospects that the Rays are offering. The front office just can't walk into trade deadline chaos like a supermarket and simply pull macaroni and cheese off the shelf and put in the basket.

No matter what happens going forward with Steer and E-Strand. We lost this trade. Mahle will most likely never pitch in a Twins uniform again and if he does pitch in a Twins uniform... he will have to be signed as a free agent which is something we could have done if he was still with the Reds. We lost this trade... There is no debate on this. My question would be this: I often hear fans saying things like the signs were there. What signs? What signs could you possibly have that the front office wouldn't have? Why is it so easy to assume that a front office would make a deal like this knowing that there are signs that he would only throw 42 innings before needing Tommy John right before he hits free agency? Does that sound like something a 13 year old would do? I don't think a 13 year old would do that... so why is it so easy to assume, that a professional highly paid front office would do that. If the guy who runs a 3 pump convenience store in a small town in Idaho is aware of the signs... Why wouldn't the front office be aware of the signs.

That wasn't exactly what I meant but I'll take the spot on and put in my pocket for safe keeping anyway.

The blackout rules are ancient and are really not good for baseball. My cable comfortableness aside... For the good of the game, I'm hoping with this Diamond debacle that baseball is able to get into something makes it possible to be everywhere that everybody is. We should be able to watch a baseball game on any device anywhere... for the good of the game. Of course... I don't know how to work any of that stuff... so I think I'm being quite generous in my hopes for the future. 😄

I'm a simple guy... I am comfortable with cable as it is and haven't considered cutting the cord. If the Twins were not on cable. I'm not sure that I would remain comfortable with cable.

Two players on this roster can't have ice on them. They are Correa and Buxton. What they are capable of doing would be nearly impossible to replace.

Baseball is certainly cut throat with hard hard decisions that can't be avoided. But I like to believe that front offices are human beings that still have considerations for other human beings. It's easy for me to talk tough on a message board but if I was in charge... I like to think that the human side would be a factor in my responsibilities. I don't ever want to be that kind of person who just treats players fighting for a career like fleas.

The option is still there. However, we all remember what happened when a financial decision had to be made on Eddie Rosario and Eddie kinda sets a bar for Kepler to clear for that option to be picked up. It ain't looking good to me... unless the front office really really really really values defense to the point of dismissing offense almost entirely. I agree... It's probably risky to trust a rookie... but eventually trust of a rookie won't matter if Kepler can't get himself over the Mendoza line with the bat because eventually you end up trusting that anyone will be able to do better. I think that planning for potential injuries would be a larger consideration. Wallner and Larnach can be stashed in reserve to cover for future injuries. If you pull the plug on Kepler, you are one player short now and we have already reached down to Garlick on the OF depth chart to cover for a rash of injuries. Those rashes can still come in September like they did last year. Myself... I'm bummed that Wallner's hot streak was clipped but I get it... Kepler has to be given his job back at this moment in the season but that clock has to be ticking. It just has to be. My guess, is that Kepler has until the trade deadline to get himself right but not because we will trade him. Because, we will be trading for someone. If we are still in contention and the offense hasn't made significant collective strides. We will make a trade for a rental with decent bat skills. When that player is required... someone on a expiring contract will then be jettisoned because the team will still want that Larnach and Wallner depth to cover for injuries. Acquiring a player... will be the first serious threat to Kepler. I'm guessing that he's got a couple of months... Tick Tick Tick 😎

If your team is in contention... Wouldn't a couple of hot months take him out of in-season trade considerations? After all... contending teams acquire rentals just to improve for the stretch run... they don't trade rentals. The Twins hold a 10 million dollar club option on Kepler. If he doesn't get better, his rental status holds no value because he isn't improving what teams already have for the stretch run. Plain and simple... Kepler is playing for 10 million bucks next year. If he doesn't get those hot months... the Twins won't pay the 10 and he will be a free agent looking at minor league deals next year or a low dollar 1 year prove it deal. Kepler is heading straight for a cliff if he doesn't turn it around. The Twins moving on from him before the season is over would be almost fatal to his career at this moment in time. I think the club understands the consequences to Kepler's career by giving Wallner his job right now so I wouldn't dismiss humanitarian and pecking order considerations. However, at some point, the club is going to be absolutely sure that they are not going to pick up that option meaning Kepler will not be part of the team in 2024 and beyond. Meaning Kepler has no future value which is not good news for Kepler especially if he isn't providing significant current value. In my opinion, when they reach the conclusion that they are not picking up the option. Kepler has to be demonstrably better than Larnach and Wallner. because Larnach and Wallner will be back in 2024. The Twins have to be getting close to that point. Kepler should be hearing a loud ticking clock in his head because that career clock is absolutely real.

Every season is unique and yet still the same. Last season we had concerns and this season we have concerns. They may not be the same concerns but they are still concerns. Perfection is really hard to achieve. The team is in first place... there are plenty of ups and downs to come. Overall... the veteran hitters on this team are a collective concern to me. When it comes to those veteran hitters... I don't assume status quo through the rest of the season nor do I assume guaranteed improvement as the season progresses. The one thing that is obvious to me. The front office appears to have placed all of our offensive hopes and dreams in these veteran hitters. It's up to them.