Riverbrian

Yep and it's not like the Red Sox have been drafting in the top ten either. I've been asking out loud... "Where are our Superstars"? I think there is no question that the Twins have done a poor job in this very important area and it needs immediate attention for the repair work needed. I'm hoping that a new school approach is the surgical procedure to start us toward healing and long term health.

Cell Phones and I haven't quite found our stride yet.

I’m not counting on MayvorcRogers either. So yeah... bring in those arms.

This is where I have to trust the front office and I do. They could hire the Maytag repairman and I'll trust that they did their homework and got the guy they wanted. Now if they try to hire me as executive chef. I have enough information to complain about that.

Just for clarification. I've known you long enough to make the assumption that you grasp nuance, blind squirrels and the such so I hope I'm not making any such inferences. The debate I'm participating in is: 1. Does the Roster have to resemble Boston's or Houston's on paper before the go-button is pressed? 2. Does it matter if you make the playoffs with a roster that doesn't look like Boston's or Houston's on paper. My answer to both of those questions is: 1. The Roster doesn't have to resemble Boston's or Houston's before the go-button is pressed? Hitting the go button is how you get there. 2. Putting a team together that makes the playoffs should be the exclusive immediate goal every off-season unless the team is tearing it down. If you succeed and find the team in contention, regardless if the roster resembles Boston's or Houston's, you should supplement the team at the trade deadline and support whatever is happening on the field. (Nuance Alert: This doesn't mean trading Royce Lewis for a support piece).

No GM should look at the Red Sox and say we can't compete. GM's have to compete against all 30 teams.

It's Ok... Harp away. I appreciate the honest discussion. As long as you don't respond with "I suppose you think Edina High School could go 12-8" I'm with ya. The Royals may have done it once but it only has to happen once... at the right time. The odds won't matter because we are talking about a small sample size. Are the teams trying harder in October then they are in June... Absolutely, without question they are and that goes for both sides. Do I place my money on the team with the best paper roster... I do. But... the bottom line is that baseball is a game with small game of inches type margins and there is absolutely no breathing room for anyone come sudden death playoff time... no matter how strong they make their roster. This is because sudden death means that you can't make up for a bad May with a fantastic June. You improve your roster at the trade deadlines to improve your chances but you can never improve them enough to guarantee yourself a walk through the park even if the Twins and A's managed to sneak in some how. That's the why the goal every off-season should be to build a roster strong enough to get you through the long grind of the 162 game schedule and into the playoffs and the goal of every trade deadline should be to improve any contending team in preparation for the small sample size dogfight that they earned the right to participate in. In that small sample size dogfight... teams are going to take on a new shape... such as using Chris Sale or Clayton Kershaw in the ninth... with again... no guarantee that Sale or Kershaw won't give up a 3 run home run to lose 6 to 5. A little inside out bloop to RF can rip the guts out of the powerful team, A bad call by the home plate umpire (See Didi Gregorius 1st Inning - Twins Vs Yankees WC 2017). It's a game of inches on the field and that is why the stat people haven't nailed it down yet. And I am 100% behind analytics. It's a bad year to make these points because the Red Sox pretty much went wire to wire as the top team but this is a very rare thing. Every year... people look at the Dodgers and go... they got Kershaw who is going to pitch Games 1,4 and 7 and just shut the other team down and often times you check the aftermath stats and find out that Kershaw was average to below average at the wrong time. If you look at what happened this year... It was Arcia who stepped up for the Brewers while Milwaukee wondered what happened to Yelich. The Brewers completely shut down the Rockies talented offense with Chacin and Miley and a bullpen and they did it when every single expert on the planet was saying that the Brewers didn't have enough pitching to compete in the playoffs. There is no way a GM or Fan or a spreadsheet with an automated algorithm can identify that happening during the small sample size that is the playoffs and this gives the Royals hope that they can perfectly time a 12-8 record at the absolute right time but the Royals will not be given the opportunity unless they get through the 162 game grind to qualify for the playoffs. If the Indians dismantle at all this season. The Central is wide open and avoiding the sudden death wild card gives a chip and a chair and a chance and just maybe Max Kepler decides to go 15 for 20 at the right as we stun the Yankees.

The area where we agree is the answer. You don't have to sign Machado (I wouldn't object to signing Machado) but you can sign three Moustakas types for the same price and plug the holes. On the probability of several stepping up or everybody working out... I'll raise your "very low" to my "extremely" low. It isn't going to happen... so fill your 25 man roster up and don't let it kill you. Strength in numbers, safety nets, don't hand anyone a job come hell or high water. 40 Man depth is starting to land on the page so we don't have the "We have to play Morrison because we have Motter excuse" anymore. We have the cash and the prospects to complete the 25 man roster with players who can contribute. I know we look miles away after last year but the A's looked miles away after 2017 and the Twins looked miles away after 2016. I'm not predicting an unpredictable A's or Twins like "how'd this happen" return to Glory. I'm saying if Sano and Buxton hit, things will look real different real quick. We've all heard the phrase "So Close but yet so Far". The Twins are the opposite in my opinion. "So Far but yet so Close". On the strength of Boston, New York and Houston on paper. Doesn't matter to me. Every year there is going to be a Boston, New York and Houston on paper. Can the Twins collect a roster of players similar to them?. Yes we can but it guarantees us nothing once we do. Making the playoffs is the hard part... once that happens, it's a whole new small sample size season where your performance during the season doesn't matter anymore. Any team in baseball can go 12-8 over 20 games and win a World Series. Any team can do it. The hard part is the 162 games, keeping players focused and productive over the long run. It can't be done with 9 guys and crap on the bench and Manny Machado can't carry a team over 162 games by himself. Find 25 competent players... add that to the 40 man depth coming from behind and let the players decide who leads us forward. Make Sano and Buxton earn playing time and give them the playing time if they earn it. And then add some help at the trade deadline. I'm not asking for much.

Honestly, I believe the Twins can simultaneously make a run at this year and build for the future. We agree on a lot of things but one place where we may have different viewpoints is: Just how close the Twins are. We have money and prospects during a time when FA's are under-valued and prospects are over-valued. That combo's nicely with a young core who could turn it on collectively at anytime. Impressive starting pitching depth, a new manager from an organization who threw out the old rules successfully and offensive 40 man depth that is hitting the 40 man roster behind the scenes which will keep the Motter's and Petit's off the 40 man. Plus the option of adding more talent at the deadline. And I've stated this many times... we don't have to compare to the Red Sox on paper. And of course... it can all go horribly wrong even with honest effort but I think we can build for today and tomorrow at the same time.

Both

I'm not sure if this quote from you is getting proper consideration but it should. The Indians are about to lose, Allen, Miller, Chisenhall, Perez, Davis and Tomlin to Free Agency. They are floating rumors about considering the possible trading Kluber, Encarnacion, Carrasco, Gomes and Kipnis. Once they trade Kluber and they will get interesting offers to entice them, that will be the start of the rebuild. Also... If they trade Kluber... They have now taken the starting rotation strength that they have and marginalized to the point where an injury to Carrasco or Bauer makes it rather questionable and beatable. We know the Indians are not going to spend money in FA and we know that the farm system has been drained enough that they need to consider trading Kluber to replenish. Consider the Royals and Tigers are complete mess and the White Sox are still extremely young even if they convince Bryce Harper to sign a 10 year deal. The window is open right now. Don't wait on Buxton and Sano... Go make something happen. See if Buxton and Sano can get motivated enough to join whatever you make happen and make it even better.

http://media.tumblr.com/10430abfede9cebe9776f7de26e302e4/tumblr_inline_mjzgvrh7Uv1qz4rgp.gif

I have no idea what kind of health issues we are dealing with behind the plate. Castro (Knees) Garver (Head) If there is any doubt at all... I applaud any conversation with any catcher under 4 million a year.

If a pitcher doesn't know what to throw next. I'd suggest AAA to do some more learnin.

Iglasias is pretty awesome with the glove. I've seen him make some plays that make me wonder just what humans are capable of but... 9 Million? Multiple Years? Adrianaza would be more cost effective IMO.

Trees just end up dropping leaves in the yard and I end up spending all day Sunday raking them up. Also... Deer run out of the forests and crash into my car. Less trees will give me a fighting chance.

C'mon Man... You are not even considering the fact that his name starts with "M"!

Yeah I get that... But the "how" didn't help or hurt the "If". Maybe our "How" hurt our "If" but there is a real strong chance that it wouldn't matter in the first place because if Buxton becomes Buxton he will have teams inflating his price and lowering his value at the same time. What Buxton needs to do now is say "I'll show them". And then go ahead and tren show us all. If he gives us a finger on the way out of town... we still get that extra year of superior play at an affordable price at a time when we could really use it.

Don't we already have an Iglasias carbon copy with Adrianaza? The hitting stats seem to suggest this.

Yes they could. I stopped at 3 because it was (in my opinion) an equivalent price for what Machado would cost and it was also the point that MLR was trying to make. We can keep going along those same lines. If the Twins have the money to spend on Machado, Marwin, Murphy and Miller. They would also have the money to spend, Marwin, Murphy, Miller, McCutchen, Moustakas and Morton. This is going to be important to me personally because I'm trying to avoid any scenerio that involves saying... OK Sano and Buxton... here is the starting job and if you fail... we have Motter to turn to. I'd rather see the Twins sign Marwin, Murphy, Miller, McCutchen, Moustakas and Morton to plug all the holes. Disclaimer: This is for example purposes, I don't believe that the Twins will sign 6 free agents this year. BTW... If you come back with that the Twins could sign Marwin, Murphy, Miller, McCtuchen, Moustakas and Morton plus Machado. I'm just letting you know that at some point in time... I'm going to run out of options that start with "m".

Bryce Harper spent 6 years in Washington. I haven't read any mention of him being treated unfairly. He was the king of DC and he was reportedly offered a nice extension and he turned it down. When the 6 years are up... the 6 years are up.

I mostly agree with MLR... maybe a slight disagreement with him on how close we are but... I mostly agree with him. The money isn't endless no matter how much the Pohlad's have in their pocket. Even the Dodgers are trying to roll back on their spending trying to attract investors. The money has to be spent sensibly. That isn't to say that I wouldn't love to have Machado or Harper on the team. I'd be real excited to have them in a Twins uniform but you could probably sign 3 decent players for the price of one Machado and we need at least 3 decent players. If we sign Machado... how does it make us different than the 2018 Orioles, who finished with the worst record in baseball?. Machado and Sano last year was the equivalent of Machado and Chris Davis last year. Machado, Sano and Dozier was the equivalent of Machado, Davis and Schoop last year. Add on Adam Jones, Mark Trumbo, Trey Mancini and the Orioles had a team full of people who could hit but didn't hit and they didn't have anybody else to turn to. The Twins have the money to sign Machado but in my opinion they need to take that money and sign three players instead. I'd rather have Marwin, Murphy and Miller for the same price as Machado. Disclaimer: It was on purpose that I only chose players whose last names started with "M" for an example.

I agree with the dissenting opinions. His floor? We are looking at it right now. It can't get any lower and I see absolutely no reason to extend him right now. I have no way of knowing without his medical charts or a medical degree but in my naive way... I believe that his issues are not medical, they are pitch recognition, plate discipline and trying to hit home runs related. However... the talent is undeniable and those issues that I believe he has are also light switch type issues. If he stops swinging at crap, puts more balls in play, I believe he can become a superstar in seconds. There is no way I'm trading or giving up on him and I believe that Aaron Hicks is an apt example of why you don't trade him. Buxton will either live with us or die with us but the ball is in his court. If he wants the big pay day in the 3 years... he will get that pay day because of his performance with the Minnesota Twins and if he has to fix his issues to earn the big pay day, that's going to be up to him coupled with every ounce of support the organization can provide through their systems. Help him find that light switch.I'm not trading him, I'm not cutting him and I'm not paying him yet either. The same goes for Sano.

That’s going to be the argument and I admit I don’t know the answer. If a starter can go 7 innings does he have to? Why can’t he throw 3 or 4 instead. If a reliever can go 1 inning why can’t he go 2? How much rest is required in all scenarios? Is it the same for all pitchers? I doubt it? I think the combination possibilities are multiple. The opener concept is simple and it makes perfect sense. But in reality... what Tampa really did starting in May was show everybody that they can consider every other possibility and you don’t have to die with the conventional 5 man rotation if you don’t have 5 decent men.

That's it right there. 27 Outs. I'm amazed that a different sequence will make people resistant.