Riverbrian

Yeah.. Milwaukee can play. Sometimes the other team plays well.

People like you make it hard to hate the Indians.

I've never tracked it and I haven't looked it up... But I'm thinking that we've had quite a few years over the past couple of decades when the team home run total for the ENTIRE YEAR would be around the ball park of where we are on May 26th this year.

There are no slouches in major league baseball. Every team is going to win 54 and every team is going to lose 54... The other 54 games will determine the order of the draft. The Giants can beat the Dodgers on any given night. THEY JUST CAN"T BEAT THE TWINS (HIGH FIVE).

I have to remind myself every once in awhile. "Oh Yeah... We got Cruz to". It's pretty incredible when Cruz on the DL is easily forgotten.

I don’t approve.

I gots lots of stuff that needs work.

Interesting Well if that's the case... Once you move Kluber and Bauer... You gotta move Lindor. I'm sure they will pretend that Lindor is face of the franchise and tell all the GM's that they are keeping him... but that would make no sense to have Lindor standing next to a pile of remains as the face of the franchise. I'll guess: Bauer to the Astros Kluber to the Dodgers Lindor to the Phillies (Segura to 2B) Hand to the TWINS!!!!

They made enough moves and didn't make enough moves to strongly suggest that they were trying to move Kluber and Bauer and probably others. They basically walked into the shallow end of the pool during the off-season. They are already wet. They might as well submerge. From my couch, from the sideline with binoculars and a couple of pine trees blocking my view... just like the rest of us mere mortals. It looks to me like they would have traded Kluber but nobody met the ask is my guess. I believe the Indians are trying to avoid paying the club option on Kluber next year and the Arb dollars that Bauer will get. If they move now they should get a larger haul of prospects back in return to kick start what is sure to be a rebuild. I think they will move Kluber, Bauer for sure at the deadline. I think they will probably move Brad Hand. They will also try to move Kipnis or Santana if anybody wants them (Nobody Does). They will probably keep Ramirez and Lindor but this might be a full scale rebuild. They will probably want to extend Lindor but If they can't lengthen Lindor's stay in Cleveland with a longer contract he will become a free agent while the club is rebuilding. In other words... why would Lindor sign an extension when the team isn't trying to improve right now and self inflicting damage for the future. Especially if they trade Kluber and Bauer. If he doesn't extend... or at least indicate willingness to extend... why would Cleveland watch him walk as a free agent, getting nothing in return, in the middle of a rebuild, when they would love the prospects he would bring back via trade. So Yeah... Might as well move Lindor and then... why not Ramirez. The Twins window in the A.L. Central is BIG.

I’m making the prediction and predicting with 90% accuracy that Indians are selling at the deadline.

I will only approve “The Grain Belters” or the “Tater Trotters”. Nothing Else

I... of course will not let them off the hook that easy. There will be no shoulder shrug "what can you do?" from me. What you present is very well written and it's a nice overhead view of what was 2018... Yes... everything you list contributed to the season that was 2018 and many people want to give the team a pass saying "what can you do in consideration?" The reasons you list are accurate but the reasons were still organizational decisions that they didn't have to make. We didn't have to lie there and take it. But we did lie there and take it. When players hitting .200 are deemed as impossible to replace... You have failed as an organization. I contend that Molitor simultaneously deserves "Manager of the Year" for getting 78 wins out of the performances he chose to work with. And he also deserves to not be coaching in 2019 for choosing who he chose to work with.

According to the Baseball Bill of Rights... That ball had no right to be a double.

It isn't when you consider that Castro, Astudillo, Cron, Schoop, Arraez, Sano, Polanco, Adrianza, Rosario, Buxton, Kepler and Marwin are in.

Average 6 wins every 10 games. You will win 97 games. Average 5 wins every 10 games. You will win 81 games. Average 4 wins every 10 games. You will win 65 games. Average 6.8 wins every 10 games. You will win 110 games.

It's gonna take a special talker with special talking skills. If they blow it up... My guess is that they will keep the core of Scherzer, Strasburg, Corbin, Rendon, Robles, Soto and Turner. My opinion is that they will blow it up by selling (if anyone will take them) the following players: Zimmerman, Dozier, Eaton, Sanchez, Gomes, Suzuki, Doolittle, Rosenthal, Kendrick, Adams, Taylor and Barraclough.

BTW... Great Post. My Priority is for the Twins to find 25 players who can play and play them all. They have done what I have been asking for all off-season with the position players... I have depth and flexibility so I have no complaints. Now I'd like them to turn their attention to the depth of the pitching staff. We will have injuries... it's only a matter of time. I'm not sure what the answer is or will be... but this team can win it all so they will need to have an answer. Laying down and dying will not be acceptable. I'll bet money right now that the Indians will be selling at the deadline. They already dipped that toe... they will finish the plunge into those waters. The White Sox are young, The Tigers and Royals are just starting the rebuild. Our offense can compete with any offense... Go get some depth on the mound.

What you say is true if teams allow it to be true. I'm too far gone on the depth kick to change now. The Yankees for example... if they lost Chapman... Still have Britton, Ottovino, Kahnle, Green and Betances if healthy to pick up the slack. The Twins if they lose Rogers... They have Parker, May, Harper and ??? Speaking of Betances... the Yankees are an example of what I'm talking about. Take a look at their DL... they are building an entire new wing on the hospital to house the patients. 5 Starters on the DL. Paxton, Sabathia, Severino, Montgomery and Loaisiga. They have a rotation of 3 currently and are relying on 40% bullpen games just to get through and it's working because they have that bullpen that can absorb the loss of Betances and the loss of Chapman if it should happen. It ain't much better with the position players either. Judge, Stanton, Gregorious, Andujar, Bird, Tulowitski and Ellsbury are all on the DL. The Yankees have a current record of 32-17. It's a myth that you have to die when injuries occur. Depth can keep you alive but you have to prepare for the possibility by committing to depth and creating it. I don't doubt your research and I appreciate and respect the points you are making but the times are changing and baseball has been locked into a 5 man rotation come hell or high water for decades now and I'm not sure if that traditional model applies anymore. The Dodgers reached the World Series when every single one of their starters spent significant time on the DL. The Brewers almost reached the World Series with one starter and a damn good bullpen. The 2018 and 2019 Rays are an example that can't be discounted. There are new ways to skin a cat. Pressly has been awesome this year... But the Astros also have Osuna, Rondon, Harris, Devenski, James and Valdez. The Red Sox... it is not my intention to diminish the value or talent of Kimbrel... I'd be all smiles if the Twins signed him but... when you say "I'm not sure that the Red Sox would win the series without Kimbrel". You are placing a lot of value on someone who threw 10.2 innings in the playoffs and coughed up 7 runs. I'd be more inclined to make that statement and apply it to Eovaldi or Steve Pearce who the Red Sox picked up at bargain prices at the trade deadline. In total... I'm more inclined to say that the Red Sox made the playoffs and won the World Series because they had depth. 14 Position players made significant contributions during the regular season. 8 starters started more than 10 games... 6 were above average... 1 was average and 1 was bad (Pomeranz). 12 Bullpen arms pitched in a significant amount of games over the course of the season and of that dozen... only one (Thornburg) would have been classified as bad. It is my strong opinion and many can attest that I've been unbending, unabashed and frequent expressing it. Depth and flexibility is the silver bullet. If a team doesn't have the ability to cover for injuries and poor performance... it is the fault of the front office and it can be avoided.

I'm not sure if panic is the right word or if urgent is the right description. It's really hard to panic or think urgently in such great times. However... I am absolutely sure that if he we lost a starter and had to rely on the bullpen more to cover for the loss of the starter. Panic and Urgent will be closer to the right word.

I disagree that Minnesota has been future focused. But the rest of the article is absolutely spot on. This team deserves support and I'd be shocked if the front office doesn't provide it. We are all seeing what depth with the lineup provides. Garver and Cruz down... no problem. They are not even missing a beat and those are two large bats that would cripple most teams. Now the front office has to look at the mound and look at it hard. Don't get cocky thinking you've built it. The baseball Gods love to mess around with those sitting around admiring their handiwork. Imagine what would happen if Taylor Rogers gets knocked out for the year. That one loss out of the bullpen would be huge. In the rotation, what happens if Berrios, or Odorizzi or Gibson or Perez or Pineda goes down. What if two of them go down? You can prepare for it... you don't have to go down with the ship if the unthinkable happens. They need to find arms they can count on immediately out of their own system and they need to start adding arms via trade once June hits. If the starter price is too high, then you got to load that bullpen up in preparation for some bullpen games. Kimbrel would be awesome but it doesn't have to be Kimbrel... They just need to build a fierce pen that will shut down opponents when our OFFENSE provides a cushion and bullpen arms are always available at the trade deadline. Stay away from the Gregerson and Belisle types. We don't need crafty and experienced... we need destroy all hope rockets.

He was the player I was least worried about on the roster. He really looked like he was turning a corner last year... right out of his suspension when he was supposed to behind everyone because of the time on the shelf. I'm honestly not shocked. (Maybe a little shocked). Who could have predicted this?

I’m not so sure that he does. He appears to be more concerned with left/right handed hitter seperation in the order and I don’t have a problem with that.

We’ve seen enough left handed pitching for Buxton to overtake Kepler in overall stats and When we face lefthanders... Buxton still hits behind Kepler... If they are watching the splits.

If true... there is no reason for Buxton to bat 9th. He is currently out performing players slotted ahead of him. I’d assume that AL teams have weaker hitters as well. Most Catchers for example and the 8th spot is where most catchers hit.

I always type the disclaimer that I don’t care about the batting order that much. With that said. I absolutely get the concept and have no problem with it in theory but in our case. Does Kepler fit that ultra top of order mold to be fed by a Buxton in the 9 hole. Polanco and Cruz you bet. When your 9 is out producing your 1... you got it backwards. Especially when Cruz is our and now Buxton is feeding Kepler and Marwin. In that case you just have Buxton hitting after Adrianza for example and Buxton our producing the guys he is trying to feed. But... in the end I don’t worry about the order that much. My thing that I watch is a somewhat permanent slotting or a template that is only deviated from slightly. I just don’t see any harm batting Buxton wherever in an effort to get him an extra PA during a given game.