Riverbrian

A friend of mine bought a 57 Chevy. Getting one was a long time coming big moment for him. He was worried about something happening to it so he would only drive it around early in the mornings on the weekend when there was less traffic, he drove very slowly and carefully, avoiding potholes or anything that looked like it could hurt his Chevy. He promptly washed and cleaned the car inside and out after every trip. After 2 months of being very careful in this fashion. He was rear ended at a stop light one beautiful July Sunday Morning. Of course I don't have the information that the Twins front office have but there is very little doubt that -- Operation Keep Buxton on the field by occasionally not putting him on the field -- did not work! (Official Name of the Plan) We got the scheduled extended rest plus the lengthy D.L. stint. Let's not do both.

I agree. The entertainment dollar only goes so far. The sponsorship dollar doesn't have to shared. Perhaps the most important point. It's a business model that hasn't worked yet. It's still in the "let's what happens" phase much like Joe Pohlad is. 😉

He just sat down in the chair... Go get em Joe. The organization is in pretty solid shape IMO. I believe that they are progressing in the right direction. If the Twins can develop young arms... I think they are and therefore will. The organization will remain in solid shape. I have no expectation that the Twins will ever be Padres like. However, If I was a life long Padres fan... I wouldn't have had the expectation that the Padres would become Padres like either. Go Twins!!!

Health is going to be a factor this year. I 'm not sure if either Cleveland or Chicago have the depth to absorb health disruptions. If I had to choose a team to worry about the most. I'd go with Chicago because I think Cleveland is thinner offensively. Both have a strong rotation and bullpen. Cleveland was pretty healthy last year and they got some impressive first time performances that may not repeat. Just because Kwan, Rosario, Gimenez, Gonzales had decent years last year it doesn't mean they will be decent this year. I won't dismiss Kansas City. They are young but they have an abundance of young talent that I just can't dismiss. With apologies to Michigan... I have already dismissed Detroit.

I won't get fooled again. 😉

4 reasons, first a clarification. To Clarify: Your lesser players need to play less. But, you have to define the lesser. How much less? The proportion of playing time should be close to the proportion of how much less. If they are really really lesser... if they are Celestino like struggling. They need to be replaced... off the roster, replaced with someone anyone who isn't really really lesser until you have 13 functioning roster spots. This is the battle of evermore for major league rosters. The Bottom Line: If a "bench" (as defined by others not me) player can't be trusted to help us win games. If it hurts the team to play him. He can't be on the roster because the time will come when you need him to help us win games. He's useless gathering dust until you need him to go out there and struggle. If a "bench" (as defined by others not me) player CAN be trusted to play. If he can help the team win when given the opportunity. There are no concerns playing him and there is no reason not to so therefore no worries if he is in the lineup. Not playing him when he is capable will only make him not capable when he was capable in the first place. Don't sacrifice depth for a player that maybe an inch better. It doesn't take much to keep your 13 players active when they all can get the job done and the difference is only slight degrees. If Polanco plays 6 out of 7 games and Miranda plays 5 out of 7 games so Farmer can get some time... it's OK... it only hurts if any of those three are struggling. Many think what I'm saying is an attack on good players. It's the opposite... it's an attack on bad players. If players can't be trusted to play... they need to be gone. The 4 reasons 1. Front offices are often wrong. Every front office... every year. That comment isn't aimed at ours specifically. It's aimed at every front office. The Margins are thin, players get better and get worse. Kepler was supposed to be better than Gordon. He wasn't. They will be wrong somewhere this year as well. How do you correct being wrong if Plan B Gordon is on ice waiting for the team to give up on Plan A Kepler? 2. When we talk about Kepler and Gordon... or Miranda and Farmer. We are not talking about the performance difference between Trout and Tyler Wade. There isn't a big enough gap between Kepler and Gordon to just dispose of the other. If we have Mike Trout like production... by all means... play him close to every day. Teams don't have Trout's up and down the roster. They have Brandon Marsh type players. I don't think it's wise to play Marsh like he is Trout or bench a Marsh because Taylor Ward is a little bit better. Who knows... You might be able to trade Marsh to the Phillies. Develop your talent. All of it. If you tell yourself they are bench type talent and deploy them as such, just get rid of them. They are useless when you need them and they have no future value because you have decided to not improve future value by benching it. 3, Each roster spot is a chance to develop talent or increase the value of talent. If an organization purposely chooses to use 9 spots out of the available 13 roster spots on a 26 man roster. They are making perhaps the biggest mistake any organization can make. The increasing of players value is JOB ONE of every front office. Increasing players value increases the odds of winning, it increases what you get back in trades. It increases your chances of being successful not only today and but also tomorrow. A sitting bench player does not increase in value. A sitting bench player does not help you win. A sitting bench player is a waste of development opportunity that is available to all organizations. A sitting bench player is purposely placing your organization at a competitive disadvantage by not utilizing all the production capability (roster spots) available. The infrastructure can produce 13 chairs. Why would you only produce 9? And... Some of those 9 chairs are Max Kepler and nobody is buying Max right now (Point #1), You went for 9 chairs when you could have produced 13 and you ended up with 8 chairs because Max didn't become a chair like you wanted. 4. You may not need the lesser player this week but you are going to need them next week or the week after... it's inevitable. Prepare for the inevitable. It makes no sense to just keep players on ice waiting for the inevitable injury. Why wait for a player to fail or get injured before trying plan B. Why not have a clue what Plan B will do if Plan A fails or gets hurt. All or nothing is unnecessary. No one should trust a front office to be right all the time. Front offices shouldn't trust themselves to be right all the time. All or nothing only happens unless you convince yourself that a player being a hair better then the other means it's winner take all while the other dies on the floor. That player dying on the floor will need to be resuscitated at some point so... keep them alive. If they can't do it... get rid of them.

If you are going to have injuries and we are going to have injuries... you need a roster full of players who can play. I've been preaching this for years. If you have a roster full of players who can play... you should play them. Take the 13 pitchers and the two catchers (also catcher position) on the 26 man roster out of the mix. You are left with 11 position players and 8 spots (DH,1B,2B,3B,SS,LF,CF,RF) to fill the daily lineup. Consider those numbers and it should be apparent that you can't back up every position directly. Position Flexibility is demanded. Farmer will play.

Back in 1965 at the Newport Folk Festival. Bob Dylan backed by the the Paul Butterfield Blues Band went electric for the very first time. Nearly 100,000 people who were expecting "The Times They Are A-Changin" were upset that the times were indeed a changin. Bob Dylan Electric? How dare he.

Some players struggle and keep getting chance after chance to make it regardless of performance. Some players get the job done and lose their jobs regardless of performance. Decisions need to be made. Front offices get this type of thing wrong all the time. Caleb Thielbar is one of those players who got the job done and was rewarded with a string of DFA's for his efforts. Check his numbers majors and minors. https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/t/thielca01.shtml

You will get no argument from me in regards to a Nelson Cruz type player. If you find that type of guy go for it. However, utilizing the DH (and 1B) spot like Rocco is suggesting is a great way to provide playing time and finding the best 9 to play on any given day. Comparing DH to DH in comparison is only looking at 11% of the lineup. Times that by 9 and make it 99% (I Lost 1% in my math) of the lineup to compare to our opponents. It allows for the possibility that two of your best 9 occupy the same position. It's only scary if the rotation used is laced with players who are not playing very good. My suggestion is to replace the ones who are not playing very well.

Not many think about what you are saying here but it's an important consideration and a huge advantage. If Larnach is the player most deserving of a call up to the majors and there is an injury to Polanco. They can call up Larnach to replace Polanco. Larnach does not have to wait for an OF injury to make an appearance.

The El Paso Ribs are not necessary to sell me on this package. The pure synergy of listening to Sunshine Superman and Walkin' on the Sun in a place that is actually 9 inches from the sun sells itself. Back to the El Paso Ribs... I am wondering... Do they make the Guacamole in front of you before the serving of the Ribs? Picante sauce on the Ribs?

Martin was drafted by the Blue Jays in 2020 (1st Round - 5th Overall). Our pick in 2022 was Brooks Lee.

I'm good with Farmer or Solano anywhere a lot if they perform. If they don't perform... don't want them at all. I'm not looking to shove anyone into the DH box. Honestly, I expect Vazquez and Jeffers to handle Catcher while Correa is my SS and Buxton is my CF. Beyond that... the other 9 players on the opening day roster. I'll be watching to see who wants it.

Everyone can play DH. Why does it have to be one guy? These things work themselves out. We can't go both ways. Gallo is redundant, Solano is redundant but we don't have a DH. Redundancy can be a DH and therefore they are not redundant. We have DH's all over the place. Every team does. Stuffing your roster with players to the brim is not only a good thing... it's a necessary thing. Last year we broke camp with 16 pitchers. The 12 position players who came North were: Jeffers, Sanchez, Sano, Arraez, Polanco, Correa, Urshela, Gordon, Buxton, Kepler, Kirilloff, Celestino 5 of those 12 were below average players in 2022 (Sano, Kepler, Celestino, Kirilloff, Jeffers) 5 of those players spent most of the year hurt or playing hurt (Jeffers, Sano, Polanco, Buxton, Kirilloff) Beyond those 12 our depth was: Miranda, Larnach, Cave, Garlick, Lewis, Palacios, Wallner, Contreras, Godoy, Beckham, C. Hamilton This Year providing nothing else changes, we have 13 players who could potentially contribute to wins: This Year beyond those 13: Julien, Martin, Lee, Lewis, Larnach, Wallner are legit depth options and we are in much better shape than last year. Solano didn't take Larnach's job. Larnach can hit his way back to the majors. He took the job of a player like Contreras who hopefully won't be necessary this year. 😉

Performance like Cave, Celestino, Kepler, Garlick and Sanchez provided us in September during a pennant chase can't happen again. Having Hamilton, Hamilton and Palacios on the 26 man roster who the manager won't play even while Cave, Celestino, Kepler, Garlick and Sanchez are providing next to nothing with the bat during a pennant chase is something that can't happen again. The Off-Season is when you build the roster depth. September is when you find out if you did enough. We didn't do enough last year. I understand that our injuries were off the chart last year but there we were with Cave, Celestino, Kepler, Garlick, Sanchez, Hamilton, Hamilton and Palacios occupying 8 spots on the Major League Roster during a pennant chase and it cost us. This is how you do off-season prep to avoid that scenario that can't happen again. You sign players who can play and not just 9 of them. If everyone is healthy (They Won't Be), the manager figures it out. Having too many players is a good thing, Having players with talent in AAA is a good thing. The manager will figure out the playing time. Depth and Flexibility is a good thing. I'll never understand why some want to run skinny. Competition for playing time is a good thing. Welcome to Minnesota Donovan Solano!!! Let's move some runners around the bases.

Yep All things being equal: A pitcher who can throw 130 innings is twice as valuable as a pitcher who can only throw 65 innings. On the field and on the market. Both matter.

An above average Kirilloff would be huge.

I read a yelp review on a restaurant once where the reviewer gave a restaurant two stars because they were handed 3 menus when the party of 4 was seated. Some folks... just search for a negative to hang on to.

This makes perfect sense. I applaud this sentiment. It makes no sense to ruin your off-season prematurely. In the case of Gallo, I could use a big dose of what you are saying because you are absolutely right. My premature concern remains this: Will Falvey, Lavine and Baldelli pivot off of Gallo or anyone who they believe will be a performer who is not performing. If Gallo is the same guy as last year, will he still walk past the lineup card without having to check it because he is is going to be in the lineup despite his performance? I don't mind them spending 11M on a player. I don't have to agree or disagree with that acquisition. If Gallo is the guy they want, that's good enough for me. I don't mind them making a mistake with that 11M if that is what happens. What I will mind is the doubling down on that mistake.... if that is what happens. It's one thing to blow 11M on a player... it's survivable if you react to that poor performance by limiting opportunity to perform poorly. It's another thing to blow 11M on a player and allowing that player to take you down every day with seemingly unlimited opportunity to perform poorly. I wish I could say that they wouldn't do that but... they have done it enough times that it has created a preemptive nervousness with me when all I want is get a chance. Yes... I'm a complicated conflicted type guy. Sano got chance after chance. Vargas did not get chance after chance. Let's see how Gallo is deployed in 2023.

I'll take Austin Meadows in RF. I'd let Perez qualify for catcher and be the catcher. DH if you must... I'd be looking at Eloy. The rest looks right in my opinion.

Amen to all of that. Young players like Miranda, Kirilloff and Larnach will not become givens with a bowling pin mentality to roster construction. If Miranda struggling at 3B and needing to play 1B knocks Kirilloff over like a bowling pin because playing time becomes this impossible issue. We will severely handicap ourselves reaching too much talent. Those 10 to 20 prospects that you mention will never get here if you can't figure out how to make an adjustment to Miranda or adjustments to the 10 to 20 prospects. We will never get to "Too much talent" if we look at Kepler and Gallo on the same roster and think a trade has to happen because you have too much talent.

In hindsight maybe not. Vargas got some opportunity the following year in 2017. 264 PA's with a .758 OPS so he didn't light the world on fire. Still that OPS is much better than what Kepler has been producing lately and there is no doubt that Kepler got a lot more rope. 2016 though... Yeah... I didn't like it one bit. It's was not what a team out of contention should be doing. It was the opposite. The team is tumbling toward the #1 draft pick. You have a young player hitting the crap out of the ball to a 1000 plus OPS (70 AB's) a player who is basically the only player on the team hitting the ball in July and you send him down. So the team... out of contention, tumbling toward the #1 pick could make sure that a player who is a pending free agent and gone next year can get the AB's. If you are out of contention you play your youth, you trade your expiring contacts and if you can't trade them... you play the youth first. If Vargas is allowed to build on that hot streak... perceptions change... maybe 2017 goes better with some faith and additional AB's to add to his experience. Maybe he hits a wall and crashed but... we will never know. You take away a hot streak... you take away everything.

Absolutely. Having too many players is never a problem. Every club should strive for having too many players. No club should ever purposely get in the way of not reaching that goal.

Kennys Vargas was never going to get a chance with the Twins. In 2016... He was called up on July 4. Over 60 July AB's. His OPS was 1.129. He was benched and then sent down when players who would be leaving in free agency at the end of the year returned from the injured list. The Twins finished 2016 with 59-103 record. Bench a guy when he is hot is a really good way to make earning a job impossible.