Riverbrian

How?

Isn't this what I was saying? Look at the co-worker next to you on a routine Wednesday? I was just responding to this quote from SF Twins Fan. This is why a manager who can motivate is necessary. This is why a manager is necessary at Walmart for those routine Wednesday's and Aisle 14 is out of Goldfish.

Sounds to me like we are on the exact same page. I just read your earlier post as a countering to not trying it. You could join the club. I'm the president and I'll vouch for your membership and I am absolutely down with Adam Jones or Cutch joining the club and being handed a 1B mitt. Even the Dodgers play Seager at SS exclusively. The Cubs wouldn't move Russell from SS and they won't move Rizzo off of 1st base. You don't have to move everybody but you got to be able to move someone to accommodate the multiple scenerios that take place over the course of a season. Kepler became the poster child because he has 1B experience. I'm always surprised anytime any one doubts the efficacy of moving players around. I make assumptions like they must think Kepler at 1B is a full time gig and he will never play OF again. Or I assume they assume the Twins could never find an outfielder better than Kepler or only 2% of major league ball players can actually learn a 2nd position. I can't blame anyone for thinking that way because it has been entrenched in Twins DNA since you and I have been alive (You are Absolutely Older and you look it ) and we saw it manifest painfully this season. The Twins were uncompromising in regards to playing Kepler in the OF exclusively because of his talent but willing to compromise every time they played Grossman in the OF. The Twins were willing to compromise with Polanco as a full time average to below average SS but uncompromising in consideration of playing Polanco at 2B and the better SS Adrianaza at SS when both were in the lineup. I just want it to stop. I want 2018 to be the end of it. I can't struggle through another season like this one because I know it's out there and it's working. I'm hoping that Baldelli will be the one who stops it. I'm also under the assumption (based on where the finalists for the manager's job came from) that the Twins are ready to stop. Hyde from the Cubs? Baldelli from the Rays? No Showalter? I assume things are about to change for the positive. You can acquire 4 quality outfielders, 3 quality corner infielders and 3 quality middle infielders. You don't have to staff your 25 man on the back end with LaMarre and not play him. You just need a manager who can creatively figure it out.

Here's the scenario where Kepler playing 1B for a decent sized stretch of games comes into play. The front office listens to us and signs Andrew McCutchen or Adam Jones. Jake Cave has options so they place him in AAA and on opening day we have (let's call him) Cutch/Jones in RF, Rosario in LF and either Kepler or Buxton in CF with the other on the bench. During the month of April... it all goes as planned. All 4 are producing at a plus .800 OPS Clip. Our new Manager Rocco is doing a great job using the DH position and the occasional day off' for all 4 and everybody is getting decent playing time. Tyler Austin is playing 1B because he is out of options and too intriguing to just cut a drift. On May 1st... Austin pulls a doo-hickey and is projected to be out a month. The Twins look around the farm and there isn't a decent 1B option at Rochester. The best option is Rooker in Pensacola. However... Rooker still hasn't shown the ability to handle a decent curveball and is only producing an OPS in the .750 range in AA but he is the best we have at the moment. Rooker also isn't on the 40 man roster which means that the Twins will have to cut Chase DeJong to make room for Rooker. Rooker also starts his service time clock early before he is ready and he shows up and we pray that he figures it out quickly because the need is now and things have been going pretty well in April. The other option is Jake Cave who we stashed in AAA to make room for Cutch/Jones. Jake Cave has had a taste of the big leagues and he wants to get back so he is raking in Rochester. Cave is earning it... but the opening is at 1B so Rooker is called up instead and DeJong is cut a a result despite decent numbers in Rochester. Rooker struggles at 1B and we lost a pitcher. If Kepler can swing over to 1B for the month of May and back to the OF in June when Austin returns. Cave is the call up and now we have 5 OF'ers in June, Wade is coming along and all of a sudden one of those guys can be traded to pick up Justin Verlander from the Astros in July because we have a 10 game lead and it's time to keep upgrading. And then you and I are both happy. How do you prepare Kepler for a month at 1B... Play him at 1B in Spring Training and on occasion in April before Austin gets hurt. You can do it because we signed Cutch/Jones along with Buxton and Rosario that will allow for the opportunity.

I feel great because we just upgraded from Grossman to Adam Jones. At this point... I'm not overly passionate about individual names. I have my preferences but what I want right now is real simple... I want upgrades! Whoever they may be. With the end result being depth and flexibility and open competition at every spot.

I have no idea what you do for a living but take a look at your co-workers. Take a look at how they are on a routine Wednesday. That's what game 84 is like in the middle of the season. A clear illustration of the difference is going on right now. http://mlb.mlb.com/images/0/5/4/299835054/102718_erod_glove_slam.gif I'm not saying the players are lazy... I'm not saying that they don't try. I am saying that the urgency and effort isn't quite where it could be in June with another game to play tomorrow. And that is just like the guy or gal sitting next to you at work on a routine Wednesday. You won't see the above type of emotions in June. You will see players lay up on balls instead. How do you fix it and make them take game 84 as seriously as they are in the GIF above? Take away playing time through open competition. It's the only thing that I can think of.

Exactly But... something has always stopped the Twins short from adding that McCutchen type (My vote is for Pollock BTW) to the mix with the appearance of others in place. . Somehow it always ends up being a LaMarre/Mastro/Shane Robinson type instead. It isn't always a money thing either. The last time the Twins approached the IDEA of 4 decent OF'ers on opening day while planning a roster during the off season was 2015/2016. They couldn't figure out how to work with the depth and they traded Aaron Hicks and it wasn't the other 3 outfielders who triggered that terrible move. It was Plouffe is our 3B so Sano is our RF and never a 3B again (until Plouffe breaks a rib) and then Sano is never an OF again. It was Mauer can only play 1B so Park is our DH therefore Sano can't play 3B,1B or DH that convinced the Twins that they had too many OF'ers. Surprise... it turned out that we didn't have too many OF'ers after all and Hicks just might have been helpful all these years. For 2019... Now take the same McCutchen added to the OF process. And then repeat it at 1B/3B and 2B/SS and we are not seeing Ehire Adrianaza anywhere. But... once you repeat this process at all positions... you will need a certain amount of flexibility to maintain what happens next and nobody can predict what happens next. The players will let us know. The idea that Kepler won't play any 1B or Rosario won't play any 3B or 2B has always killed the idea of adding a McCutchen type in the past. I'd love to see the Twins climb over this imaginary hurdle that leaves them short every single year and go ahead... add McCutchen or Pollock or even Harper if we dare to dream that high. Prepare for success and prepare for failure. 25 guys who can play. Compete for every job, every inning.

Your logic makes perfect sense... but consider these points. 1. In your post... where you are referring to Max Kepler... Substitute Travis Shaw and it kind of reads the same. 2. The possibility of Kepler playing 1B or the possibility of Rosario playing 3B or 2B for potentially decent sized stretches is necessary if the Twins want to acquire an OF like McCutchen. If these considerations are off the table because Kepler OF defense can't be replaced... the Twins have no room for McCutchen and we are back to hoping that Kepler and Buxton work out. 3. Players get hurt. Injuries will happen and they will mess up your neatly typed paragraph.

Keith Law just lost me. If he qualifies Cora because he had a couple of years managing in the PR Winter League. He obviously in charge of his own version of qualification.

My perfect manager would be someone who can simultaneously 1. Believe in every single member of the 25 man roster. and 2. Hold every single member of the 25 man roster accountable for their performance. I also want the next manager to have the ability to unburdened himself from any thoughts that a new idea will never work because it wasn't done that way for the past million years. I want manager who can blur the old baseball conventions line. If the manager thinks a 5 man starting rotation is the only possibility because it is how it's been done for a million years... I don't want that guy to be the manager. I don't want a manager who has to lock down players in assigned roles such as Matt McGill isn't going to pitch much this month because he is now the assigned long man or Astudillo won't catch because he is a utility player and then later Astudillo won't be a utility player because he is now the catcher. I want a manager who is creative enough to deal with the problem of having 4 outfielders kicking ass and have the ability to find playing time for all 4 and I want a manager who is creative enough to solve the problem of having only 2 outfielders performing decently. I don't want a manager who thinks that Brandon McKay can only be a pitcher or 1st baseman but he can't be both at the same time. And perhaps most importantly... I want the manager on the exact same page that the front office is working on. If a manager doesn't believe in the players that are being provided to him... that's a huge dysfunctional issue. The Cubs and Rays are one of 3 (maybe 5) organizations that operate the way I'd like to see teams operate. I have no idea what any of the candidates think or feel so I don't have a strong opinion about any of them but I'm certainly OK with where all 3 of them have been training.

Hopefully the Front office is doing some recon during the process of conducting interviews. No matter who they hire... the interview is a great way to gain some inside information from each candidate's current team.

News is floating around today that the Red Sox are considering playing Mookie Betts at 2B on the road during the World Series. Betts at 2B will allow Martinez to play OF when the DH is not an option. This is only a rumor floating around so I have no idea if the Red Sox will actually do it, they might not but if they do, it just might work out and we can all see the reasoning for such a consideration. However... Regardless of the results soon to come... if they do? if they don't? The Red Sox could have been better prepared for this possibility by playing Betts at 2B on occasion during the year instead of coming in cold on the big stage. They had the opportunity to do it. The Indians could have been better prepared for the addition of Josh Donaldon, if Ramirez played some 2B during the year and Kipnis played some CF instead of coming in cold in September. Of course Kepler can and should play 1B on occasion in 2019. I believe Rosario could play some IF if needed. Doing so will provide our new manager more options to work in the 2019 World Series. Prepare for Success and Prepare for Failure. Depth and Flexibility is how it's done.

There are multiple scenarios where Kepler playing some 1B would help the Twins win baseball games. LIke you said... If Kepler could be considered as a candidate to play 1B... It opens the door to sign Cutch . If Kepler could be considered as a candidate to play 1B. We won't have to die if Sano gets hurt while Austin is hitting .112 Kepler playing 1B shouldn't be forced but it shouldn't be anything we are afraid of. Tom you are spot on with this article. Increasing flexibility and depth should be the number one priority of the Twins and I hope it is a major... (make that mega major) consideration when choosing the next manager.

Agreed Ball is in their court.

Actually making contact and pulling off the ball for a 3 hopper would be progress. If it's pitch recognition... I'm not sure how to fix that. We might as well start auditioning CF's. Getting hot at the end of 2017 gives me hope that he can recognize and be disciplined. If he's trying to park everything. That can be fixed quickly. Like turning on a light switch. Just stop doing it. When I watch... His upper cut is pretty severe. Launch Angle might kill him. Kind of like that guy in softball who hit a home run once and then spent the next month popping out to short with those big mighty swings. I'd like to see him simply level off that swing and try to keep his bat in the zone a little longer. May or May not work... Thank God we have coaches other than I to work with him.

I agree with this as well. If Buxton would stop trying to jerk outside breaking pitches into the left field bleachers for a 5 run homer with the bases empty. I believe he would become immediately the player we want him to be. That's the light switch in my opinion.

Good post Well thought and I am inches from agreeing. Of course those inches mean slight adjustments. Almost agree with you on Buxton and Sano. Make them earn their way back I am in total agreement. I wouldn't have a big problem with them starting in Rochester but I would probably give them a spot on the 25 man. Either way I'm OK as long as they are not named opening day starters as the team attempts to build around them. If you are going to name Adrianaza the 3B based on defense... I'd pencil him in at SS instead and then focus on a 3B with some Pop. That will limit you to one light hitter on that side of the diamond. Grossman... I don't hate him like others on this website. I think he contributes but I would truly rather see the Twins go get a OF with Defense and Pop and move on from Grossman.

On that we are agreed. Just making sure you were not trying to have it both ways. I'm just in a "what are you doing for us right now" mode and Cave is doing much more right now. Honestly... Cave has options so we have time with him... Rochester would be the perfect place to start 2019. I'd like to see the Twins bring in a bigger splashier OF name.

This isn't quite fair to Jake Cave. You are absolutely correct when you say that his sample is not reliable. But then you go on to say that he does not project reliably forward? Based on an unreliable sample? You were correct... the sample is not reliable. Buxton on the other hand... 979 AB's... He's entering arbitration. Much more reliable data in my opinion.

I don't know about the once a game requirement but he certainly has to let the other team know that the club is in his bag and he knows how to use it. He's a pull hitter. Making a 3B creep up out of respect will open up more space to shoot balls through. First and foremost though. Contact... the guy has to improve his contact rate immensely.

The A's dumped Max Muncy. They are kicking themselves right now. The Cards would love to Voit back. The Astros dumped JD Martinez. The Mets dumped Justin Turner. The Brewers dumped Scooter Gennett The Indians dumped Jesus Aguilar The Giants threw in Francisco Liriano. The Twins dumped David Ortiz and Aaron Hicks(kinda) as you mentioned. I'm not claiming that Cave will be any of those guys but teams make mistakes like this all the time. I'm not even claiming that Max Muncy will be one of those guys in the future but Max will be given a fair shot to try again next year. Personally... I am long past the point of believing that any team has this down cold. I no longer believe that causalities of other organizations is some sort of indicator of future. I believe the margins are razor thin and I believe that opportunity is the key to success or failure and I believe that players get blocked watching some guy with potential struggle wayyy too often... especially in Minnesota. 40 man roster pressure forces teams to make these razor thin decisions constantly and sometimes they spit out the wrong guy. If Cave beats out Buxton... Cave gets the playing time as far as I'm concerned.

In all my years of being a Minnesota Twins fan. I have never felt the experience you describe above. Being afraid of having too much talent on a Twins roster is like worrying about an 80 degree day in December in Hibbing. It's never happened before and if it does... celebration fist bumps for everyone you meet walking around in shorts.

Spot on Article by Tom. It's seems simple to me... I'd put them on the 25 man roster and that is where the promises end. I'd say here's a bat and here is a glove, now go out and decide your fate. Either win the job or lose the job it is completely up to them. I would also remind them that they both have an option remaining that can and will be utilized if they have another non-competitive year. I'd look them in the eye and say "Yeah... we brought in a third baseman and we brought in a CF... do you have the talent to out play them? If you do... prove it". I understand that they are projected to be 1 trillion WAR players but those projections are not saving my summer at the moment. They will not be traded. They will succeed here or die here. We will not watch them figure it out elsewhere while we are forced to wonder if the relief pitcher we acquired in the trade can be trusted to get a left-handed batter out. Any 2019 plan that says we got Sano at 3B and Buxton in CF therefore we are set, so OK let's go find a 2B... is flawed. I'm completely comfortable putting the ball in their court and saying prove it. I'm completely uncomfortable having nothing to turn to if they can't.

I'd end up in a coma from happiness overload. I'd love to see the Cubs lose.

In my opinion, his roster management style is lock it and throw away the key.