Riverbrian

1. Or you could read Gordon moving down the defensive spectrum as the presence of Correa and Polanco, throw in Arraez last year. 2B got a little crowded but as soon as Polanco was hurt and Arraez was playing 1B. It was Gordon at 2B to finish out the year. It was Gordon who started at 2B while Polanco was out this year. I believe his move to the OF was exactly how you get a ball player into the game when a position is a little crowded. I wouldn't hold it against him. 2. This is potentially the last year of Kepler in a Twins uniform. You can't discount the possibility of the Twins declining that 10 million dollar club option and you also can't discount the possibility of Kepler signing a minor league contract somewhere afterwards. He needs a big year. I'm not personally aware of his dislike for playing CF but he is in no position to not like something. He's should be fighting for his major league life. He needs to like wherever he can help the team and therefore help himself in the process. 3. Kepler is in a nice streak... I hope he continues. He had a nice streak last year... he didn't continue. Kepler is still wait and see with me. He had two back to back bad years. Kepler and Pagan are in the same boat with me. I'm not proposing that he be benched at that moment. Unless... he refuses to play CF when asked. 😀 4. Wait... you didn't use a 4 for your final paragraph. Here are a couple of links. Here is a 23-6 team that has 9 (maybe 10) of 11 players performing at a level deserving of every day playing time and two catchers for 13. https://www.mlb.com/rays/stats/ops?playerPool=ALL Take a look at the playing time distribution. Take a look at the names. Apart from Franco and Arozarena... none of them showed up on the Florida beaches with every day playing time expectation. https://www.fangraphs.com/roster-resource/depth-charts/rays I also love that the current starting rotation consists of 3 but that is just a side note. Will the Rays be there in the end? It's a long season... there are twists and turns to come... it remains to be seen. However, I believe with all my heart... This is how you find 26 guys who can play. The Rays would never take the numbers Max Kepler provides and keep Josh Lowe in Durham... or Luke Raley or Manual Margot. It is absolutely possible to find 13 guys who deserve to play and it should be the goal of every team to do so. It's hard to do but it can be done but it can't be done if Kepler is an every day designation.

You are right... it is certainly much more complicated than 5 guys for 4 positions. As always... your opinions are well thought out but you do have concerns or qualifications that are not mine. 😉 1. Miranda isn't good enough defensively at 3B to be concerned with whatever discrepancy's you feel Gordon has defensively at the position. Gordon was a SS, Moved to 2b and then to the OF. That's a ball player... He can play 3B... I'll bet on it. 2. Kepler has played CF for us in the past. He's fine. It's an unnecessary restriction to say you want him nowhere near that position. 3. Gallo deserves all the playing time he can handle at this point. Gallo has been incredible in a Twins uniform thus far. Love watching him play every game. I hope he just keeps going and going. Larnach and Kepler. They have been average at best. You don't lock in on average. I won't argue that Larnach and Kepler deserve playing time... but they don't deserve the playing time that Gallo is earning right now. They can yield here and there. Perhaps the big difference between your thoughts and mine is this. I do believe that you can find 13 players who deserve every day playing time but you will never get there if Kepler and Larnach are performing good enough to stop you from trying to get there or if you think the defensive drop off between Miranda and Gordon or Taylor and Kepler can't be over come. 😉

I know my opinions can be outside of the box that most opinions are stored but In my opinion of course... He does not have to sit on the bench. Nobody has to sit excessively on the bench. Granted... it becomes a lot easier for Rocco if Buxton could play a little CF instead of clogging up the DH spot but even with Buxton in the DH nearly every day. Kirilloff, Gallo, Larnach, Kepler and Taylor are 5 guys who take up 4 positions that can absorb Kirilloff playing time. That's one guy sitting every 5th game to keep everyone decently active and that is if all things are equal. If they are not equal... like Gallo is playing well above average baseball. You can adjust the playing time ratio in Gallo's favor accordingly. If Kirilloff starts knocking the ball around the park, you can adjust that playing time ratio accordingly in Kirilloff's favor and what you end up with is the player or players who are not playing that well... playing less. Right now... with the exception of Gallo... none of those players are playing at the level of "We can't sit them one day". I know that Kepler has heated up in the last 11 games to raise that batting average from the .091 it was on April 16th but Kepler isn't Mike Trout yet. The team doesn't fall apart with him taking a day on the bench every 5th game. Kepler or Gallo can play CF for a day so Taylor can sit every 5th game or so. Nobody ever has to excessively sit if they deserve to be out there. Kepler, Taylor, Larnach are doing alright but they are not performing at Eureka levels to stop looking. On the subject of Gordon... If they don't trust Gordon on the left side of the infield then his value is further diminished. Castro is now more valuable than Gordon in that scenario. They are comfortable with Gordon at 2B, LF and CF. Castro plays all of those positions. So what value does Gordon have? On top of that, Gordon is sitting vs. right handers, Castro is at least playing vs left handers. Castro is a short side platoon and pinch runner. That type of guy barely has value. If Castro is more valuable than Gordon is. They need to move on from Gordon... He is not worth worrying about anymore. Run him through waivers. If Castro is more valuable than Gordon is... Gordon would be an extreme waste of a 26 man roster spot. Wasting a 26 man spot is a part of the reason keeping Kirilloff off the 26 man roster. I can't ever justify wasting a roster spot because we don't have 9 lock down the lineup card and throw away the key guys. No team has that. Keep looking for better. Never stop. BTW... I think Gordon should get more opportunity. I wouldn't toss him out just yet but you can't be afraid to play him at 3B on occasion. And everything gets a lot easier to manage if they would just let Buxton play some CF.

The Twins have the flexibility to make Kirilloff the call up for any position player that goes on the DL... Besides Catcher of course. If it's Correa or Miranda going on the DL... Call up Kirilloff. Gordon can slide into a Farmer or Solano role while Farmer or Solano can slide into a Correa or Miranda or Polanco role.

If he can play in St. Paul and he is playing in St. Paul. He can play in Minneapolis. Same amount of physical activity. The Twins don't need to wait and see if he can play 7 days a week. If he can play 5 days a week in St. Paul... He can play 5 days in Minneapolis. Alex has one option left and it has just been used. You are not going to be able to correct service time next year so I guess it's OK to be patient with him, while getting his service time underneath super two. Next year Alex will be in the same out of options boat as Nick Gordon. The minors will no longer be an option for Alex. It's sink or swim time. He will have to win himself a major league job so I wouldn't wait too long to get him up here. The more MLB AB's this year will be important for his sink or swim moment next year. I'll let them wait for a couple of weeks. Once Super Two is safely in the rear view mirror... it's time to get him to the bigs immediately.

I'd like to see Kirilloff up sooner rather than later because I'm HOPING his offensive ability would provide a boost while I have no idea if his offensive ability would provide that boost. However... based upon the service time numbers... I could certainly justify keeping him in St. Paul for just long enough before we find out. A key consideration is that he has just one option remaining so this is the last year that his service time can be shrunk down below the threshold. Stringer... I know you understand but others may think that I'm talking about service time manipulation. I want to be clear... I am. These are the rules set forth in the recent collective bargaining agreement. The rules that determine how all 32 teams operate. The CBA makes it beneficial for clubs to make these types of considerations and operate accordingly. The rest of the teams are going to do the same, therefore it would be a disadvantage not to. I assume that the super two status won't matter that much financially unless Kirilloff is a superstar. I like the idea of planning for the possibility that he is a future superstar.... just in case.

Reasonable guess by me but if it was the price is right. I wouldn't be running on to the stage.

I'm guessing a month in the minors would keep him from Arbitration. Disclaimer: Don't trust my math.

I agree with you. If he can play in St. Paul. He can also play in Minneapolis or Red Wing. If he's healthy... he's healthy. He isn't having any timing issues in AAA apparently. He doesn't need to be able to prove that he can play every day to get called up because he won't need to play every day when you have Taylor, Larnach, Gallo, Kepler, Solano and Gordon along side him on the roster and the flexibility that they demonstrate. What he needs to do... is simply show that he can help our offense be better than it has been. We need it today and we will need someone better for all the tomorrow's to come. If he shows he can help us be better, give him as much playing time that he can handle. We sat Polanco yesterday, Correa will get his days off, Buxton gets his days off. Kirilloff can take some days off. He won't rust. He shouldn't be stashed for depth because the offense shouldn't be in stash mode based on performance so far. The starting pitching can be in stash mode... they are crushing it. The offense should be in open competition, let's find someone who will help mode.

From what I see so far. Pagan is the immediate question mark. Moran looked real bad against the Yankees just mopping up. He needs to work on something. He has options he can be sent down and somebody else can get the opportunity to show they can be counted on. I don't know who... but anyone else. With Pagan. He can't be sent down... So you either trust him or you cut him. There is one thing that kills your team. Bad Play is the thing that does it. Average play doesn't kill you... It's bad play and If the manager doesn't trust a player to not play bad when the chips are down. He doesn't belong on the roster. Go find someone else. I don't know who... but anyone else. We won't survive with 4 that we trust in the bullpen. Finding a 5th and 6th person to trust is an immediate need.

April 27, 2023 - OPS Numbers (Close to everyday players): Correa - .608 Miranda - .628 Kepler - .647 Taylor - .705 Larnach - .746 I understand that Correa is going to find it and get it going. We assume that Miranda will avoid the sophomore slump and two dingers yesterday was hopefully a sign that he is finding it. I also understand that Larnach has been nothing to complain about. I also hear that Kepler and Taylor are the greatest defensive outfielders in the universe. However... these are 5 players who are playing almost every day and none of these current OPS numbers justify keeping anybody else from playing. I do not understand any talk of stashing Kirilloff in the minors. You bring him up to see if he can join Gallo and Polanco as players who actually deserve to play every day by actually producing at a level that justifies it.

4 deep in the bullpen is not a deep bullpen. I don't care how good those deep 4 are throwing and we do have 4 throwing very well. 4 won't be enough and we should all know this by now. We need a bullpen from top to bottom. Any thought that we can simply absorb Pagan and Moran into low leverage usage is wrong. One injury to those deep 4 and that low leverage redshirt gets ripped off immediately as they are thrust into high leverage. If Rocco can't trust Pagan and Moran in high leverage and right now he can't. Their replacements should be immediate. Keeping players that you can't trust in big moments is exactly how you end up needing Celestino in September with a playoff berth on the line.

I predict that somebody will go on the injured list before both Kirilloff AND Farmer arrive. If that doesn't happen. Gordon? Personally, I wouldn't be hasty with him. I'd give him some playing time to see if the bat warms up. Gordon was decent last year and we are way too early into this year too be hasty. However... and this is a big However... Gordon is currently in a long stretch of barely playing. If Rocco can't find playing time for him. He isn't worth worrying about. Think about it... We are playing players who are not playing well enough to keep anybody OUT of the LINEUP but Gordon is being kept out of the lineup anyway. If this is the case and right now it is the case. Gordon is nobody that you worry about losing. Castro? Has one option... Can be stashed in AAA. Larnach? Has two options... Can be stashed in AAA. Kirilloff? Has one option... Can be stashed in AAA.

What they should do? They should call KIrilloff up to the big club to see if he can help jump start the offense. Somebody will get hurt and placed on the DL... I don't know who will get hurt. If nobody is injured. Send Castro down to AAA. What will they actually do? Someone (don't know who) will tweak something and Kirilloff will take his 26 man roster. If nobody is injured. I think they will stash Kirilloff in AAA until someone is injured.

Kirilloff Target Field please.

Rarely have I seen so many bloops land so i'm gonna give the pitching a pass across the board. The Nats didn't exactly crush our pitching. Defense... no such pass. The bats.. no such pass given. 11 Strikeouts in the game and the biggest issue with those K's is that most of them appeared to be right down the middle. It wasn't Sale painting the corners like he did the other night in Boston. The Nats pitching just wasn't good enough for 11 K's. For perspective by comparison with other teams. The Twins hitters are averaging 9.67 K's per 9 innings. Only the Giants are worse at 10.80 per game. (Tigers are at 9.68 I'll say that's a tie). The Best K per 9 team interestingly belongs to the Nats with 6.95 per 9. Putting the ball in play was the difference in that game... putting the ball in play may not be the difference in the next game. Anyway... Players strikeout in today's baseball. It's frustrating but the Twins are not alone walking back to the dugout. However... yesterday... they were whiffing on pitches down the middle. They need to stop doing that.

Careful with all that Medulla Oblongata talk.

I shouldn't step in here but I can't help it. They have a training complex down in Ft. Myers. They have a main field and a bunch backfields along with a bunch of baseball players hanging around all trying to get prepped for the start of the season. They have coaches and all kinds of simulation equipment and stuff. They are going to get a lot more work on timing on the backfields then they do in the stadium with umpires, a scoreboard and fans purchasing hot dogs watching them in the sunshine. They spend a month down there to get ready. With all due respect... Using playing time in spring games is a little tiny branch to hang on to. It isn't going to hold.

It's been a long time since I've read a post as fantastic as this one.

Everyday playing time goes to players who produce at a level that deserves every day playing time. It is senseless to play Max Kepler like he is Mike Trout. He isn't. At this point, early in the season, with K's off the charts, nobody on this roster has produced at a level that they NEED TO BE in the lineup EVERY DAY. Jose Miranda - Current OPS .503 is that every day playing time deserving? Max Kepler - .545 is that every day playing time deserving? Kyle Farmer - .641 Larnach - .672 It's early in the season so the numbers are volatile and a hot streak can turn those numbers around quickly but until someone starts playing like being out of the lineup could hurt the team... nobody deserves every day playing time. Who on this roster deserves every day playing time so far in the season? If nobody deserves every day playing time... they can all yield playing time for those coming off the disabled list and spread the "losing out" around. The "losing out" doesn't have to absorbed by one player.

For anyone who typed "Washed Up Sale" or the equivalent sentiment. You didn't watch the game. If you watched the game... you wouldn't have typed it. Sale was painting backdoor sliders from the 1st base line all game long. The umpire was consistently giving strikes at least two inches off right side of the plate and Sale was painting that area with his fastball. With that said... The K's are too much. Our Twins need to figure out how to put more balls in play. On Kepler and that final play. Yeah. I'm Kepler disappointed upon further review. The degree of difficulty to catch that ball is probably off the charts... IMO very few if any catch that ball.... It would have probably required a Derek Jeter type full speed run with momentum taking him directly into the stands to make that catch. However... Kepler clearly slowed up BEFORE the warning track. He thought it was out of play? he thought something but he clearly slowed up before the warning track. I'm not a fan of slowing up before the warning track.

Headrick is a long relief arm. I've heard rumor he is on the 26 man roster. 😉

And in order to be fair. The Twins team OPS fell from .701 to .664 since the Thursday night big show. The Twins have fallen from 23rd ranked to 28th ranked.

Yep and I have no use for either right now. Earlier I chose Garlick to be sent down for Gallo but he will at least play against lefties. So Castro moves to the top of my list. At some point we will need the 40 man spot. Castro can be removed without much thinking about it when that time comes.

Indirectly his position does have something to do with how the season has gone. Apparently he can't be trusted to help right the ship. We need someone to hit the ball. Rocco and the front office apparently can't turn to Castro when the offense is under performing and over injured. No matter what... they are not going with Castro when they need players to rise up. This indirectly has something to do with how the season has gone because players not getting the job done have to stay in the lineup and not get the job done. Polanco, Kirilloff, Kepler, Gallo and Farmer all on the disabled list and the remaining starters struggling pretty hard and Castro can't be turned to for help. This loudly says that Rocco and the front office don't believe in him. They would rather stick with 2 for 22 or 4 for 40 instead. If he doesn't play with this much injury and offensive under performance... he will never play when things are better and therefore a waste of a roster spot. He should be sent down when Gallo returns. I don't care if he is exposed to other teams when removing him from the 40 man.