Riverbrian

if you want someone... you go get him. That's how I think it should work. Waiting for a bargain doesn't do much for me.

They are shedding all over the place. Cleveland hair in clumps on the furniture. No new immediate hair growing back.

It was a mistake to make that stupid statement. If it was me. I’d say “Byron, I’ll give you a roster spot. The rest is up to you”. I’ve got playing time here and a minor league option over here. I’m prepared for both. I’ve been on record of saying “I wanted the year back”. But how can you go from sent home in September to named the starting CF before the snow flies. If the Twins feel they gotta make it up to him now by naming him a starter. It goes from understandable to a bad decision.

TD has a "Blake" and a "Parker" contributing to this website. I like both of them so I'm sure this signing will be just fine.

Well said.

Two weeks younger

On that we agree. Up in North Dakota a 20 degree temperature doesn't mean much by itself. When you add in wind speeds, that's when you really start getting a sense if you need a coat.

That's fair. I'm saying that I have no idea but I find his skill set interesting enough to see if it blossoms into something with more AB's and I don't believe he's had enough chances to show what he could or can't be. I don't have this down to a science either but I'm interested. However, If he can only play 1B, He'd have to hit at an extraordinary level to survive.

I'm not knocking the skilled staff. They know more about baseball than I do... but let's be honest... it's a hard job and the margins are thin, and the production level rises and falls. Bottom line... they are frequently wrong. If they weren't sometimes wrong... David Ortiz would be in the hall of fame as a Minnesota Twin. I'm not knocking them for it... I'm recognizing the difficulty of the assignment and pointing out the reality of mistakes being made often. I trust that they have advanced data that is not available to me... I trust them to use that data to staff the 25 and 40 man rosters and make decisions with as much knowledge as humanly possible. However... once the ball is hurled toward the plate, the paradigm shifts and if a player is playing well... get out of his way. I'm not saying that Kepler should be tossed aside and I don't believe Cave should be tossed aside either. I'm saying let the best man win and last year the best man was Cave. Nobody is going to convince me that Kepler is better because he is supposed to be better.... If Kepler is supposed to be better... Please make him show it. He's had a few major league AB"s by now. The list is lengthy... Jose Ramirez wasn't supposed to be better,, JD Martinez wasn't supposed to be better, Tommy Pham wasn't supposed to be better, Matt Moore was supposed to be amazing. Solar and Alex Gordon were supposed to rule the world. The list goes on and on. The skilled staff has burned the last ounce of any trust I had that they got this thing down pat... They don't and the reason is because sometimes the players have something to say about it. Otherwise I wouldn't be standing here tapping my foot waiting for Sano and Buxton to be real. If the skilled staff is looking at someone out producing someone else and saying that he shouldn't be out producing, just to go with the guy who is being out produced. They deserve their fate... but I as a fan do not and last year was the last year I will tolerate this fundamental, easy to fix, error. A good small sample size deserves a larger sample size. If the skilled staff doesn't allow it because they know better they will lose by their own hand and deserve their fate.

I don't know if Austin can play a passable OF or not and I'm going to assume you don't either. However, Making the assumption that he is one-dimensional and assuming that it is highly unlikely that he can't play the OF based on the Yankees moving him to 1B is dangerous. The Yankees had an outfield surplus and a gaping hole at 1B. I don't know if that's why the Yankees moved him from OF to 1B but... the explanation is extremely plausible and plausible enough to doubt that he was moved because he was terrible in the OF. I'd think it would be safer ground to simply wonder why he couldn't beat Bird for the 1B job. And... I know I'm not trusting the Twins to make a capable assessment after watching them stiffly deploy playing time over the years. I agree with the last two paragraphs you type... and therefore... If Austin can play some OF... it would be insane to throw that away. If Rosario could play 2B... it would be insane to throw that away... If Castellanos can play 3B... it would be insane to throw that away. But teams throw flexibility away all the time for stability or consistency and the shrinking pitching staffs are working against them. Starters can't just trot out to the same position every day. Utility guys don't have to be only guys who didn't win a starting job and then get shackled to one position. Just stop the madness. Starters can move to different positions and still be starters... See Kris Bryant, See Cody Bellinger. When Adrianza gets a chance to play. Polanco could move to 2B so Adrianza could play SS instead of Adrianza moving to 2B and Polanco playing SS. The Twins have a long history of this kind of crap.

I agree with you 100% about small sample sizes. But... have we reached critical mass with Max Kepler? Isn't it fair to say that Max hasn't earned a starting job? And doesn't the small sample size earn a chance to become a bigger sample size. Saying it's a small sample size, dismissing and moving on from the small sample size will only kill the small sample size and not allow it to become critical mass/stable data. LA Vikes is right. Max has to start singing for his supper. Personally I'd use the options and start Cave in Rochester but he's earned the right to challenge Kepler for the job.

Make him be a one dimensional 1B only type and you will kill him and his career. If he can play OF... you have given him a chance to help you and a chance to prolong his career. He was an OF in the Yankees minor league system. I won't pretend to know the circumstances but I know that there is always circumstance.

Nelson is a great name for a Minnesotan!

These type of assumptions appear frequently enough on TD that I feel a need to correct it each time. I can't think of a single discussion on TD that didn't have two sides. Creating a combined voice on any topic is impossible. Placing that combined voice on one side of topic and then claiming contradiction on the other side of a topic with another falsly created combined voice is pointless because... in the end... you'd have to ignore the opposition just to make it happen. Alright... Carry on All.

I have no problem stashing Astudillo in Rochester. There is a very small chance our catchers avoid the DL. I’m also OK giving Austin the 4th OF job and stashing Cave in AAA as well. I’m also Ok with the Cruz signing because he will provide a boost but I’m insistent on a handcuff move with this to upgrade Adrianza because Cruz will force Adrianza to backup Sano and we can’t gaurentee his health or performance. So OK... Cruz is signed... go get Beckham or someone who can backup all 3 infield spots with some pop. Otherwise we give back the gains with a Sano issue.

It probably is semantics. You will end up with Starters and a Bench based on play but the front office shouldn't be staffing the roster (in the off-season) saying this guy is a starter... now let's go get some bench guys because you'll end up with Morrison playing every day while LaMarre wastes a precious roster spot. I also understand that not everybody plays like Trout and I understand that Rosario is probably going to play every day... but what do you do... if Rosario is hitting. 180 in June. Does he still play every day? If the front office believes that Adrianza can compete with Polanco and Schoop for playing time, be an adequate replacement for either of them... Then I fully support the front office and their belief in Adrianza. If the front office signed Adrianza because he will only play X amount of games and he is good enough for that amount only. They have already blown it. If the front office didn't try to trade for Profar because they thought Adrianza is better... I fully support the front office. If the front office didn't try to trade for Profar because they have Schoop and Polanco with Adrianza to play X amount of games and the manager could never figure out what to do with Schoop, Polanco and Profar on the same roster. They have already blown it. I don't know the answer to how the front office feels but I will know after context is formed around Adrianza and watching how he is deployed. You mention a "13 man playing roster". I think you and I need to be ready for "12". I'm pretty sure that the front office is looking at analytics that make some pretty strong suggestions that fly in the face of past baseball standard pitching usage. I'm willing to bet, they have data that suggests that starters shouldn't go as long as they do for both Health and Performance reasons... I.E. Increased injury risk correlation with increased innings, numbers getting progressively worse each time through the order. These things will point to 13 pitchers on the roster. You mention Danny Santana in another post. Danny Santana is an example of so many things. Danny Santana was never really utility. Danny Santana was consistently one or the other, static at either SS or CF. Came up as a SS in 2014, Promptly moved to CF out of necessity because Aaron Hicks crashed and burned without a safety net. Enter Santana as the emergency parachute CF. He performs well and they name him the staring SS in 2015 and he performs horribly, In 2016... He back to the OF still performing bad. Santana is a primary example of how most teams specialize. Starters don't play different positions... Starters start at the same position... period. Santana is also a reason no one should be confident that Cave or Astudillo will repeat or improve their performance in 2019. Santana is an example of forcing a move in the middle of the season by getting caught with your pants down instead of planning for a move, getting a belt to hold your pants up.

I believe they are going to run into walls before breaking through. The analytics are probably telling the new GM types some things that very few want to hear. There will be resistance because the traditional model is burned into the fabric of the game in the form of compensation, coaching, scouting, you name it. Everybody should have been testing the opener and bullpenning in the minors but not everyone did. Everybody should be trying to build their own Andrew Miller or Josh Hader but not everyone is. Everybody should be watching the Dodgers and Cubs but not everyone is. Nobody should throw away a players positional flexibility for consistency at one position but nearly everyone is. Working in Baseball or Working at Starbucks. Everybody resists change.

The concepts employed by the Dodgers and Cubs are even more necessary for the A's and Rays because the A's and Rays can't play in the same financial sandbox. The Dodgers can not only buy it... but they can also develop it cheaply and it makes them bullet proof. I contend that if you can't afford to buy the Marwin's anymore because now everybody wants one... Then you have to build your own. Can Schoop play SS or 3B? Can Austin play OF? Can Rosario play 2B or 3B? Can Kepler play 1B? I don't know... but if they can... Why wouldn't you let them... it increases their value for them and for the organization because they are now valued. Marwin Gonzalez is going to be an excellent barometer of what you are talking about. However... another barometer is already hanging on the garage wall and waiting for some actual baseball barometric pressure... I've been patiently waiting for Brian Dozier to sign so I can directly compare the contract he got with Eduardo Escobar's contract. (I wish Escobar would have waited and played out the market for a true weather check). Granted Dozier is a little older but I believe it is possible that Escobar will get the better contract because of this shift in sensibility. It has been contended by me, that supply and demand can trump actual historical production. I contend that demand for Escobar or Marwin increases by making them options for any team needing a 3B, SS or 2B instead of one single position (plus OF and 1B in the case of Marwin) while supply is still light for a player who can play all those positions.They will be in play for more teams with different needs and so value increases. I also contend because Dozier can only fill a hole at 2B where supply is over running the market... his contract will disappoint him and the year he had in 2019 isn't the main reason why. Look at how difficult is was to trade him the year before. Talented 2B all over the place so nobody needed to pay a high price for him. We lose a Dozier... we stumble across a Schoop who was released by the Brewers because they know they can just throw Shaw over there. When we finally dealt Dozier off... we got it take Forsythe back just to get a Raley. 2B are all over the place and the trade becomes about moving money to get a prospect. The Twins organization needs to realize immediately that playing a 2nd position... increases the value of that player because of the simple laws of supply and demand. The Twins organization needs to realize immediately that locking Brian Dozier into 2B and Trevor Plouffe into 3B didn't help them win games and it cost them value for trade possibilities and it cost Dozier a lot of money and it cost Plouffe a career. If players don't grow in value... you have nothing of decent value to trade and average value to compete with after you can't trade them for anything of value and this is the sharp object that the Twins have been stabbing themselves in the head with for over a decade now and I contend this is why we have been waiting and screaming for the rebuild to be done. It should be obvious to anyone that once a team is out of contention that moving expiring contracts for Farm depth is necessary or the club is standing still... We seem to have a front office moving that direction. It should also be obvious that once a team is out of contention that not playing Austin in the OF is also a form of standing still. Playing Austin in the OF will increase his value to not only the Twins but other teams that may want to give up something for him. Increasing value is GOOD. Locking them into a position where they are just going to get run over by a train is NOT GOOD. I also contend that another barometer of the changing weather should be clear to all by the General Manager and Manager candidates who interviewed for the open jobs. A Cub or Dodger or Ray were either hired or interviewed for every open position.

If you want to know where you are and why you are there. You must know where you've been. Things that you have touched on... Have ramifications being felt today. We have built no value. We've have consistently exhausted our assets Garza/Young trade - It's easy to minimize this deal as a simple bad trade... It was a bad trade. 11 years later, it's even worse when you trace what the Rays still have and what we still have. Matt Garza is still giving to the Rays with Glasnow, Meadows and Shane Baz. Carlos Gomez 9 years later is still giving to the Brewers. Josh Hader, Ben Gamel and Adam Houser are with the Brewers today. I encourage everyone to trace the trade trees. I've done it... it takes your breath away a little. Look at what we hold today and what other teams are holding and you realize soon after that maximizing value was something we were terrible at and this is a major reason we are still wondering what kind of team we have in 2019.

Or somebody besides Machado and Harper. I’m sure they have projections and I’m sure different doors of different considerations surprise them all the time. Having some extra financial flexibility is a good thing. Regardless if they spend it or not because you have the option to spend it. If you don’t have it... you don’t have the option to spend it. Even if they don’t spend it. I don’t what their budget guidelines are. I don’t know if it’s a loose guideline or a hard guideline but I’m reasonably sure that the Twins won’t spend what the Red Sox are going to spend and that creates a self imposed cap. The millions they got back from Hughes May be used for whatever falls into their lap because it increases payroll flexibility no matter how much Mauer money came off the books. Who knows maybe the Hughes money paid for Cron and the plan to use the Mauer money or a portion of is still available for Cruz and bullpen help. I don’t know what the plan is but getting money back compared to not getting any money isn’t a bad thing. The question is... what is the value of the draft pick they coughed up? I’m not going to assume the Hughes money was just acquired for the sole purpose of going into Pohlads pocket.

I could see ownership asking to salvage what they could. I just can't see hanging on to him longer than necessary because ownership is too cheap. Heck, I'd ask them to salvage what they could. And it's 6 million that could be used this year... or not. You never know what you need until you need it.

The ownership "demanded"? This makes it sound like he was parent demanding his kids eat Broccolli and the kids choked it down in protest. He announced it the day Terry Ryan was fired/stepped down. He re-affirmed it in a letter to season ticket holders (along with a pledge to pursue pitching. ) And he was then asked about it consistently by reporters afterwards. I think it would be safer to imply that Pohlad named the 2019 Manager before he named a President of Baseball Operations and before the POBO named a GM. I won't argue that he was out of order in a stupid kind of way but... Falvey would have walked into that interview wide-eyed and well aware who is manager was going to be. Paul Molitor was going to be part of the package of a job offer that he took just like Joe Mauer was going to be his 1st baseman. He knew that as well. To answer your question... I did... but not clarified enough I guess. I don't know for certain... but 6M dollars will spend and just because you say they won't spend it doesn't mean that they wouldn't spend it. It was May... not happy with the record obviously but they were also a hot streak that never came away from contention. If in contention that 6M gives them additional flexibility to maybe trade for and pay for additional help for the stretch run. If you don't have the 6M you have possibly reduced options. Every team has a budget some are hard budgets and some are loose but teams have budgets and 6M spends a lot easier than not having the 6M. The decision does not have to be mandated by ownership. And if ownership is mandating that the team play a failing player and therefore creating losses because he doesn't want to eat the cash. It would make him the worst owner in Sports. Do we expect owners to say "I don't care... you bought him... play him". Do you expect an owner to risk a 100 loss season and the money lost from that... season ticket revenue, parking, hot dogs, beer, jersey sales, corporate sponsorship's, advertising. Do we really expect an owner to risk all of that in pure spite over a line item in a previously agreed upon 2018 budget?

Good question. I don’t know. Another good question. Why wouldn’t they wait for him to clear waivers. I don’t know either but they wanted a draft pick and that is the only thing I can reasonably bank on.

It’s quite possible that the Padres went “What the hell... let’s see” and I believe the draft pick was the primary motivation but... I’ve been making this point and its understood by me that the Padres may not be in tune with my thinking but... There is absolutely undeniable downside to wasting a roster spot on a player who doesn’t increase in value. So I’d guess that the possibility of Hughes increasing in value was why he made 16 appearances.