Riverbrian

https://www.theringer.com/mlb/2019/1/23/18193861/multiposition-players-flexibility-jed-lowrie-dj-lemahieu This article is a must read

If Astudillo continues to hit like he did last year (That's a big If in my opinion). He would be the best hitting catcher in baseball. However... it is a big big If and I believe that he still has to do it again to fully earn it. We are still in a small sample size with him. I am pulling for him... big time. As for the 25th spot... Personally... I lose sleep over it. I don't like calling it the 25th spot. I think spots 1 through 25 should be simply "Roster Spots" with no number attached to them. Let's the players sort out the rankings by how they perform.

Agreed and that's why I'm excited about the Cruz signing. You bolded appreciably and I appreciate that because that's the key. The Twins typically haven't had a player who was appreciably better. That's why I'm having a hard time appreciating them in hindsight. In my perfect world... they fill the roster with legit competition up and down... and maybe... just maybe... hopefully... someday... we end up with 4 OF'ers who can all play and then we can use that DH spot for honest to God overflow. Unless... Rosario could play 3B. Right now my main worry is backing up Sano... Would have loved to have a DH who could also play 3B. Oh Well... I'm happy we got Cruz. Here's to 40 dingers.

Totally agree on Cruz... His bat makes it a great signing but... not being able to man a position gives you one less spot and leaves the team exposed in case of injury or bad performance. I know many think of Adrianaza/Torreyes as after thoughts... but they shouldn't be. Those guys are the next men up. Astudillo... I agree with both you and Diehard. In my opinion... based on the parameters of the CBA. If a player has options... he has to knock the doors down. Meaning... he has to be heads and shoulders better than the guy without options. Castro doesn't have options so he gets a spot. Both Garver and Astudillo have options so the club can choose one with the other in Rochester ready for a call up. Cave has options... he has to knock the doors down... otherwise... stash him in Rochester for depth and go get an OF with talent to join Buxton, Kepler and Rosario. "OF (insert name here) with talent plus Cave in Rochester is better than Cave in the majors and no OF (insert name here) with talent. It just seems so easy... it's working elsewhere. I can't imagine why the FO isn't on board. We will see come April when the playing time distribution is displayed for us all to see.

I've been trying to stay off this topic for awhile since I spend a sizable chunk of time hammering on it but... an new article has been written so here I go again. Good article... Thanks for starting the discussion. I've looked at this Roster Resource D.L. tracker many times. I'm not suggesting the methodology is good, bad or anything in between but using the information provided, it suggests that while the Twins didn't have Houston type luck this year on the injury front, the injuries they had were typical and compares with the majority of the league. Other teams who had similar or worse injury luck in 2018 made the playoffs, including both World Series teams. The Dodgers, Indians, Red Sox, Yankees, A's, Brewers and Cubs were either worse or comparable. The point is this.... Injuries happen and they need to be expected!!! Twins were woefully under prepared for any and all possibilities. I will also go on record as saying that some disabled list stints actually improved our club. The same D.L. stints that drove the number actually resulted in better production from their replacements. Cave was an improvement over Buxton... he wasn't supposed to be but he was. Adrianaza was an improvement over what Sano brought to us... he wasn't supposed to be... but he was. Dozier and Morrison after the damage had been done, said that they were struggling because of injuries. I contend that if Dozier and Morrison would have been placed on the DL... The Twins injury metric on Roster resource would have went up but... there would also be a strong possibility that the team would have improved because the replacement would have out produced what we got. The Dodgers got nailed with injuries last year... worse than we did. They survived it because they have made themselves bullet proof by staffing their 25 man roster to the hilt. It wasn't done with money like many assume... they simply don't allow the big contract guys to take the team down. If they struggle, they are D.L'ed, cut or they play less. They use depth and flexibility to survive and I believe they are bullet proof as a result. Take notice... The Yankees and Mets appear to have joined the Dodgers, Cubs and Rays when it comes to depth and flexibility. We'll see but they have both overstaffed at this point and will need to move people around to accommodate. The answer is so absolutely simple. Build your 25 man roster to compete with each other for playing time and may the best man win. The Twins (All of Baseball actually) has to quit picking out 9 guys and then finding 4 scrubs to fill out the roster. The Dodgers and Cubs don't do this and it pays off. I am praying loudly for all to hear, that the Twins have a 25 man roster full of players who the front office believes can play full time and then I am hoping that the new manager will then give each player on the 25 man roster the opportunity to win the Lion's share of playing time by simply out playing the other players. If the front office believes that Adrianaza is that guy... I don't... but I will give the front office the benefit of the doubt. But if... Sano is hitting under .200 and Adrianaza is on the bench watching him hit under .200 everyday. I will then know that they signed Adrianaza to play getaway days, I will know that they are trying to force the issue with Sano and I will know that they allowed Sano to take the team down with him and I will also know that they could have done something about this in the off-season by simply looking at how the Dodgers did it. Bottom Line... Injuries can't be predicted specifically but it can be predicted that they will happen. Bad performance can't be predicted specifically but it can be predicted that it will happen. Now is when you prepare for those possibilities. Right now... this off season... Not after the season starts, forcing you to hope that Motter can rescue you. I will not buy any similiar "we expected more out of Buxton, Sano and Dozier" excuses. None of us should. There job is to staff the 25 and 40 man rosters. Picking out just 9 of them is not going to get the job done.

These are big boys looking across the table at each other, playing big boy games. https://nypost.com/2019/01/15/yasmani-grandal-why-i-turned-down-mets-60-million-offer/ https://www.southsidesox.com/2019/1/23/18195182/white-sox-yasmani-grandal-free-agent-collusion-confusion

If a pitcher is good... he should be developed for as many innings as possible. It doesn't matter to me what inning he enters the game. It doesn't matter if it's 6 innings at a time on traditional rest or 3 innings at a time with half the traditional rest. Give the bulk of the innings to pitchers who hang the zeros and stop trying to force a 5 man starting rotation with 5 plus ERA filler just to be traditional. Pitch Well... Pitch More Pitch poorly... Pitch less.

That's the thing about pitchers. They have multiple light switches on the wall and they just got to locate one of them. Corey Kluber didn't just roll out of bed with that nasty breaking pitch. It was something that he developed over time and it saved his career. He went from an also-ran to elite in the blink of an eye. Any pitcher is capable of changing the shape of a pitch or change the velocity of something that wasn't working previously... or... finding something altogether new and therefore changing results and expectations dramatically. Johan Santana didn't just arrive to the professional ranks with that circle-change but the circle-change changed him. Great article Parker!

Exactly My hope... my prayer actually... is that Baldelli and the collective brain trust play the players who are playing the best... and that's it. If that is Buxton... fantastic... if it's Michael Reed... OK. I'm not saying that Buxton should be cut or traded at absolute low value, because he has an option left and years of control left. There is time to fix him. But I am saying that in 2019 and beyond the 4th OF position is a role on the team that is EARNED by whoever is playing worse than the other 3. If they offer the same excuse in 2019 that Buxton or Sano didn't perform or stay healthy like they were projected to. I'm going to reply with "Same as last year, lesson was not learned". Charlie Brown should have found a holder that he could trust. Instead he kept believing in Lucy. It isn't Lucy's fault.

The Key to 2019 is Falvey and Lavine and Baldelli... They are all one now. They got their own guy. Front offices, Managers and lineup cards are so intertwined these days. They can no longer be easily separated. Falvey and Lavine now have a hand picked guy in Baldelli. The three of them will have my full support until they fail to adjust to failed play like they did in 2018. I also have no choice but to renew my opposition to any expressed sentiment that Byron Buxton is the key (might be or any degree) to anything. Buying into that narrative just absolves the front office from any responsibility. Much like the excuse last year... "We didn't get the performance we projected from Sano, Buxton or Dozier". Buying (even slightly) into the narrative that it all rests in the shaky hands of a young outfielder just lets them use the same excuse again in 2019. The front office (which Baldelli is now part of since they are intertwined) is the key to 2019. It's the people who hire the people. If Buxton or Sano fails... don't blame Buxton or Sano... blame the front office and do not swallow the excuse... we projected more out of Buxton and Sano... Don't buy it, because they had an entire season and off-season to address it. Welcome to Minnesota... Rocco Baldelli.

Fantastic Post Thank You

It's a good question. One on hand... Everybody develops at their own pace and I imagine that things like buy-in are factors. One the other hand... Where are our Superstars?

It's insert name here. I've heard that everybody has a price so who knows. You are more informed than I when it comes to prospects. I tip my hat to you so... What do you think the Twins would have to pay to acquire Realmuto? Realistically. Once you come up with that... Offer that same package to every team in the league and what do you feel would shake loose from each club.

I tend not to play in those waters because I can only base the market on what actually happens and I purposely try not form impressions of players on the farm that haven't faced major league competition yet. Based on what is happening... The value of a prospect has never been higher in my opinion. The Ivy league GM's across baseball (That wasn't a slam... they all seem to be from the Ivy league now). Seem to have placed enormous value on years of control and the free agents are falling by the wayside. You simply can't get Torres for a Chapman rental anymore. JP Crawford is now somehow worth Segura, Nicasio and Pazos. Yeah I know... Santana was thrown into the deal. The Dodgers, The Yankees, The Giants we're teams who would normally cough up prospects for experienced talent and they are not doing it anymore it seems. So if I had to guess... Nobody wants to give up their top prospects and are trying to get Realmuto for a the next level prospect or prospects and the Marlins of course want the top prospects so we all have to wait for someone to blink. This game of chicken has been going on for awhile and demands would probably be lowered to a package of 2nd level prospects... so... I think Kirilloff and prospect #12 in our system gets it done. Just guessing of course but I'm still not making the deal.

I can't speak for Tom but I don't believe he or I mentioned Kirilloff specifically. I know that I didn't. My point is that I'm under the impression that "someone like" Kluber (Tom Mentioned Syndergaard) is going to be a similar price to the price tag to acquire Realmuto in a trade. I don't know for sure but if I'm close to right... I'd rather spend that "Limited Resource" on a Kluber or Syndergaard. Not even sure if those guys are actually available for acquisition. I just won't pay the position scarcity price for elite catching.

Exactly... Umm... except for the entertain part. I won't even entertain it. Position scarcity over pay every time. Grow your own catcher and be on the other side of such over pay trades in the future. Realmuto would play 125 games tops and his best season ever was last year and he hit what Eduardo Escobar hit last year. The reported price tag for Realmuto would get you someone like Kluber.

I'm ok not "Fixating" on the payroll number as Falvey mentioned. Production is production and there are plenty of examples of minimum salary producing and high salaried players not producing. Finding players that produce is the job that they are tasked with and this is what I have been and will be razor focused on and I don't care where they come from or how much water they draw out of the payroll well. So yeah... I'm absolutly OK not "Fixating" on the payroll number as Falvey mentioned. However... that potential fixation is a two-way street. If Derek Falvey is going to ask us to join him and not fixate on the payroll number... then they can't fixate on it either. MEANING: If you are paying a guy 6 million dollars and he is failing. Don't fixate on the 6 million you spent by keeping bad performance in the lineup everyday. That is a form of fixation of the payroll number. A failing player in the lineup is a mistake, continuing to play that failing player is a 2nd mistake that synergizes with the first mistake and is much much worse than the original mistake. So Derek, I personally promise to you that I will not fixate on the payroll number and I ask you to promise to not fixate on it either. In 2019 and going forward, don't take as long as you did to discover Astudillo or Cave in 2018. The amount of time you took to find those players is a form of fixating on the payroll. I've heard you a couple of times clarify an original comment about one year contracts being a lesson learned from last year, by adding the lateness of the signing to the context. Bottom Line: It doesn't matter what the reason was or what the lesson learned was. It's wonderful that you found the reason for the poor performance... if you did? However... the question that needs to be answered is: You recognized the poor performance... why did you steadfastly stick with it? It's like standing in the rain in your backyard, instead of going into the house. You have the option of going indoors at any time but you just stand in the rain until it ends. The next day you say to your wife. "I figured it out... the reason I got so wet yesterday was because it was raining". Your wife is going to say: You are right, but why didn't you come inside".

To be honest... the one thing you don't really question is by far the most concerning concern I have. This team went down with the ship last year.

Believe me... I get what you are saying. I don’t have time at the moment to find the quote or remember it exactly but there was a quote from the front office implying at least a portion of what you are saying. Something along the lines of they will get aggressive when Buxton and Sano show their potential so I believe you are right but... I thought it then and I think it now. It’s a bad plan. I’m not comfortable with those two being Green Lights or Red Lights in any shape or degree. I’m fine with short term contracts and I demand that they sell at the deadline if out of contention... on that we agree but I can and will deny that they are the most important cogs in 2019 because that is simply forcing it and I’m done with forcing it because there are 25 and 40 roster spots. I simply take issue with any suggestion that Buxton and Sano are the go button or canary in a coal mine. Both of them should be sweet sweet bonus should they become what they are supposed to become. 2019 and beyond should be about performance of everyone and increasing value of as many assets as possible for trade value or good ole fashioned victories.

I think it's possible you are right but... OMG... That's a bad plan. Any plan based on the performance of only two players is a bad plan. Any plan based on two players who were sent to Ft. Myers and home in September last year is even worse.

I don’t care who they sign or where they come from. My only focus is how they perform and are deployed. If the Twins try to get 150 innings out of Martin Perez with a 4.80 ERA. Then I will take issue. My concerns are strictly fundamental at this point. 25 players on the roster who are all given the opportunity to compete for playing time and whoever performs the best gets the playing time. I simply won’t suffer through another year like last year where under performers get to walk past the lineup card without checking It because they going to be playing. I don’t care where they come from scrap heap or 200 million dollar free agents or straight from Ft. Myers. So the front office can sign who they want. Roll the dice how they want to roll it. I’ll simply be watching the playing time allocation afterwards and that’s when I’ll applaud or complain.

Bingo

Could Austin play OF? Cave has options.

I don't understand how Cuddyer has become questionable in any light. I hope I get a chance to shake his hand and if I get that chance... I will proudly do so. For 11 Years he competed for my team. He is one of us. He has my full respect.

Defense is huge. The difference between extra outs and outs taken away play huge roles in crooked numbers and crooked numbers play huge roles in wins and losses. Defense is huge. However... there are some amazing defensive CF'er's on the beach because they can't hit enough to out play the average defensive CF. Buxton has to hit.