Riverbrian

I wouldn’t be surprised if Bannister is on the short list.

I'm equal parts sad and happy over the news. My personal issues with Molitor, were correctable in my opinion. I never called for his head but I was praying that he adjusts to fit what I wanted. Now I'm going to pray that Falvey and Lavine are close to my page.

Scioscia and Showalter are exactly what I don't want. I'm not looking for a manager that hasn't modernized. Might as well keep Molitor if those are the guys who replace him. They are the same manager in my opinion. Hyde, Geren, Pat Murphy are guys that I hope they took a long look at. Never discussed philosophy with any of them so I won't offer strong opinions on any of them but I do know that they currently exist in the philosophy I'm hoping for.

Signing a contract with some sort of guarantee that he will play 3B only. That would be the best way to make sure it's his final major league contract. If Escobar asks for that type of guarantee... I am no longer interested. You will have taken away his best feature. Let's take the current D-Backs as an example. What happens to Escobar if Jake Lamb just got healthy all of a sudden? If he's 3B only he's dead. The baseball path he will have chosen will lead to a conversation with Trevor Plouffe. Trevor will be there waiting for him.

Those numbers you are quoting are all from this year. 103 OPS Total 98 OPS with the Yankees 108 OPS with the Twins. His strikeouts are way too high I agree and he is not a sure thing. I would hand him a 25 man roster spot next year but I would not offer his a spot without capable safety nets in case he looks like Sano did this year. However... he's hitting Homers at a 40 a year pace despite sporadic playing time during his career. Just imagine if he lowered that K rate with some somewhat consistent playing time in the future. He's out of options... he must be placed on the 25 man and I'd give him a spot to see what he can do. But... Alternative options in case he fails must be in place.

Yeah and after they looked at the cards... when the dealer asked how many cards we wanted we said none.

What else does Astudillo have to do? At the minimum... He has options and can be placed in AAA and brought up when needed. All you got to do is give him a 40 man roster spot that he has clearly earned. I'm not predicting a future for him but if the Twins talk themselves out of giving him a 40 man spot next year, it will be tough for me to understand. I have no defensive concerns with him at all and a catcher who puts the ball in play... forget all the launch angle stuff... just a catcher who can put the ball in play as frequently as he does... has real value in comparison with his catching peers around the league who are usually in that .600 OPS range with high strikeout rates. Small Sample Size of course but he's coming up on 100 AB's and he has the highest OPS on the team despite walks not being part of the math. I don't care who #1 and #2 are next year but Astudillo better be at least #3.

Who gets called up to play if Gordon gets hurt? Who plays significantly if both Gordon or Harrison/Adrianaza are on the DL at the same time? If Gordon starts in AAA... Gordon could be that guy who comes up and we will need guys who can come up because no team can avoid the injury reaper. If you want Cruz, Ramos and Harrison... Do it this way. C - Ramos 1B - Austin 2B - Escobar 3B - Somebody with a track record SS - Polanco LF - Rosario CF - Kepler RF - Cruz C - Castro or Garver 1B/3B - Sano 2B/SS - Harrison OF - Buxton Rochester/Chattanooga C - Astudillo 1B - Rooker 2B/SS - Gordon OF - Cave and Wade If you are going to invest in Cruz and Ramos... Don't stop short... Finish the job.

Kohl Stewart... even when he had the rough start... I could see with my eyeballs that he has stuff. Incredible movement that will make it hard for guys to square him up. I liked him from day one and I believe he has a future. Gonsalves... still needs to show me something. Stewart is ahead of Gonsalves on my personal depth chart.

You hit the nail on the head. This is my criticism of Paul Molitor. I don't know if this is Paul or a management directive that he has to follow or if it's a collective agreement... but this is my criticism to whomever is making these decisions. I assume it is Molitor because he did the same thing in 2016 when his supervisors were elsewhere... Kepler and Polanco were called up as backups and benched while the chosen starters played the team into a first pick overall in 2017. Players are allowed to fail for long stretches before adjustments are finally made (if ever). The position players, the bullpen, the rotation, he seems to lock them into roles and then he throws away the key. We went down with the ship. I'm not considering the argument that there is nobody else to turn to because we get the same amount of roster spaces as every other team.If a manager doesn't utilize those roster spaces when the guys he is utilizing are performing woefully that will never be an excuse in my eyes. Even the worm will turn. Put up a fight. We had players that needed some time off and still do. McGill was being utilized to near full extent until Phil Hughes was traded and then McGill was given the long reliever job and he then became severely under utilized waiting to pitch multiple innings in a lopsided contest. Reed and Pressly were going through a long stretch of struggles and they remain the set-up guys throughout. Hildenberger now going through a long stetch of struggle and he remains a go to guy even though there are multiple September options to try instead. Astudillo is brought up as a utility guy and never catches... Then he is brought up as a catcher and he is never utility. Morrison, Sano, Buxton, Dozier, Wilson playing well below replacement level for a long stretch and in the lineup every day while players who were out-performing them are forced to watch them not perform from the bench. I don't know who is responsible but I do feel that they can change. I've seen Molitor convert to the new concept of using an opener so I know he can convert to something else. If Molitor or whomever in the front office can commit to not going down with the ship. I have no problem with them coming back next year for 2019. If they can't... I will personally want someone else to take over the job. It doesn't mean that you bench Dozier when he is struggling so Petit can play... But it does mean that Dozier has to check the lineup card to see if he is on it until he turns it around. 25 Guys who can play and 25 guys who are utilized and 25 guys in honest to god competition for the bulk of the playing time. I'm watching other teams do it successfully so this approach is no longer unprecedented. I'm now watching the Indians add Josh Donaldson to 3B which moved Jose Ramirez to 2B and Jason Kipnis to CF. Ramirez and Kipnis have some experience at 2B and CF (although Kipnis CF experience is pretty limited) but... neither player got reps during the season but they are making the move now to accommodate Josh Donaldson right now during the home stretch. If the Indians would have been committed to flexibility all year long, they could have been preparing for a Josh Donaldson type acquisition all year long but instead... they wait until the end of August to slam it all into place. 25 guys who can play... Roster Flexibility... No tolerance of sub .200 BA or sub .700 OPS numbers. I will settle for nothing less. Hildenberger is just another example as we close out 2018 and turn our eyes to 2019.

I understand... However... If we sign Cruz, Murphy and Ramos... that would be awesome... but it still wouldn't justify a wing and a prayer at 2B or SS.

Nick Gordon will be placed on the 40 man roster this off-season and he has all 3 options remaining. In my opinion... there would be absolutely no reason to roll the dice on a guy when you don't have to. You don't want to shorten the depth on a dice roll. You can't sign a free Agent 2B or SS and place them in Rochester for depth. Only players with options or players signed to minor league contracts can be placed on the farm. SIgn a 2B or SS and when someone gets hurt and someone always does... Gordon can be the call up. If Gordon comes up and performs at the MLB level... now you have too many players and one of them can be traded to shore up somewhere else. If the Twins, during the off-season were to determine that Gordon is a starting 2B or SS next year and we don't attempt to sign someone else for that position via trade or FA. They will have purposely decided to put all of their eggs in the Nick Gordon basket when it wasn't necessary. If Gordon hits .150... there will be no options to replace him because you didn't attempt to sign anyone else and all your eggs are in the Gordon Basket. SIgn a 2B or SS and have Gordon in AAA ready to replace one of them if they end up with a hip impingement or hit .150. Same amount of Eggs... Multiple baskets. I'm sorry... but I'm not personally willing to put up with this type of thing anymore. This choosing one player and developing one player at a time at each position every year, then living and dying with the consequences needs to come to stop with this year's roster. 2019 needs to be different.

If the Twins pick up a starting pitcher via trade or free agency... it needs to be a needle mover guy on the top end that can push the others down a notch. Even if we don't acquire that guy... I'm fairly comfortable with the depth that will be available for us. I believe we will need that depth because Berrios, Gibson, Pineda, Odorizzi, Romero, Mejia... One or two or three of those guys will get hurt and need time on the DL. How do the Dodgers and Astros handle all of their pitching depth? The answer is the bullpen. Musgrove, McHugh and Peacock are and were important bullpen arms for Astros and they will slide them into starting roles when needed and their arms are not falling off as a result. Maeda, Urias and Stripling are or have worked out of the bullpen for the Dodgers and their arms haven't fallen off either. Actually, I believe that Urias had his arm glued back on but... well... that happened while starting so the point remains the same. If the Twins need to stash some starters in the bullpen... do it. Just don't freeze them in place by naming them a long reliever or something waiting for a lopsided score to pitch. Keep them active... Utilize them... Let them help you win games. It's a whole new bullpen world out there. Bullpen guys don't just throw an inning anymore. The opener concept isn't going away. Bullpen games are going to be more frequent. Might as well modernize your approach right now because it will have to happen sometime. Bottom Line: I'm excited about our depth. Now I'd like to see it used. Flexibility is important in the field and it can be important on the mound as well.

I used to believe this but I no longer do. I'm starting to believe that the line between a decent AAAA and the average MLB player is pretty close together and I believe it is about opportunity instead. The guy with the MLB job gets a chance while the AAAA guy doesn't. Therefore when Morrison plays hurt (as claimed) and produces at the level he produced at. He becomes easily replaceable by lots of AAAA options. They might not be Paul Goldschmidt but they can beat Logan Morrison out of a job in his current form. When Morrison is not placed on the DL because there is a feeling that there isn't a suitable replacement. The organization just failed because Logan Morrison ened up being a very low bar to clear.

I agree 100% but even if the front office goes out and finds the next Luke Voit who steps up and says play me. How is he going to become the next Luke Voit? If Joe Mauer and Logan Morrison are entrenched at 1B and DH and you can't even sit Morrison with a painful hip impingement and a simultaneous batting average below .200? How do you find the next Luke Voit? You can't. Tyler Austin is acquired June 30th and he has to cool his heels in Rochester waiting until Logan Morrison decides (I assume) to shut it down on August 12th to have a hip surgery that has a 4 to 6 month recovery, with spring training conveniently 4 to 6 months away. If Logan decides to tough it out all the way to the end of the season... Does Tyler Austin get called up on August 12th? I don't think he does. Tyler would have to wait until September for his chance in that scenario. The Twins can't ever do this again.

Position Flexibility and Depth are the biggest off-season needs.

Brian Dozier. Back in May or June I made the statement that the Dodgers would never tolerate the production of our players because the Dodgers will turn to the next guy. I then went on a month long Dodgers kick in an attempt to point out a different way of doing things. I'm sad for Brian Dozier but glad that he was able to show what I was talking about. Dozier is now playing only against left-handers because he hasn't met their standards. He has been beaten out of a job. They didn't acquire Dozier as a left handed specialist. They acquired him to man 2B and help in the playoffs. It was Brian Dozier's performance (injury related or whatever) that has minimized his playing time. Before Brian Dozier... Logan Forsythe was the casualty of sub-par play. And it isn't Dodgers money that is providing the depth. These are major league minimum players who are replacing Forsythe and Dozier. Taylor, Hernandez and Muncy and by turning to these guys and giving them a chance to beat Dozier for the main job... They created depth out of thin air. The Twins need to follow this model. Play the players who actually win the job through performance. The Dodgers don't mess around and the Twins have been incredibly patient to a fault.

Grossman is much maligned on Twinsdaily. I'm not one of those. I'm indifferent toward his ability much like you are. Personally... I think he can help you win games and his OBP has value but I also feel that a more complete package should be acquired because his OF defense is lacking and more power is out there. Jake Cave for example. In my opinion, I don't know if he is the type of guy that you settle down with, while calling yourself set and not look for improvement which shouldn't be that hard to find. However... He was chosen on purpose by the decision makers to be a part of the 25 man roster, It should be understood without any doubt that injuries will occur during the course of a season and it should be understood without any doubt that at it is also a strong possibility that someone you were counting on will not perform. There should be no doubt because we see it every single year in Twins Land. If Grossman made the 25 man roster out of spring training... there was absolutely no reason for him to not get more playing time when you consider that Morrison was playing through the pain of a hip injury and his numbers were bad. If Molitor can't turn to Grossman under those conditions... Then the front office needs to be aware of that and on the phone with another team or agent in full out effort to acquire someone that Molitor will turn to when Morrison or Buxton is not producing because of injury. There is no excuse for this.

Agreed that the depth on this team is a huge issue that needs to be fixed for 2019 and beyond. However we have a 25 and 40 man roster just like everybody else does and this year we had Wilson, Buxton, Sano, Morrison who were all well below replacement level. We would have been better with simple replacement level. This is on the front office but it is also on the manager and players. Astudillo should have been playing catcher and Wilson should have been in AAA. Cave should have been called up sooner it seems a stint on the DL for someone swinging on crutches might have triggered that. Grossman wasn’t very good early but he made the 25 man roster for some sort of purpose. LaMarre our performed Buxton and it can be argued that Petit our performed Dozier at his 90% or whatever he was claiming to be in the paper. I’m not claiming we would have won a title but there is no excuse for the performance we got from 6 of our everyday players.

Agreed... But... When the numbers are real bad? The decision can't be difficult anymore... it just can't.

It's possible but, it's going to cost them anyway. If we take them at their word... the total cost of it staggering. Buxton lost a year of service time Morrison will be signing a minor league contract next year. Dozier... who knows but he is currently only facing left-handers for the Dodgers and his next contract is going to be nowhere near what he would have got last season. The Final Cost to the players are and will be huge... and it ruined my summer.

My anger level on this subject is quite high at the moment. I Just recently read an article quoting Brian Dozier that he has been playing hurt since April and that has impacted his performance this year. https://www.1500espn.com/news/2018/09/report-brian-dozier-says-playing-knee-injury-since-april/ “It’s been a struggle,” Dozier said. “I’ve had a knee issue since the beginning of the year.” Dozier’s injury, according to the Times, dates to April when he suffered a bone bruise on his right knee. Structural damage was ruled out after an MRI but the soreness remained and Dozier told the paper that the inability to swing freely has compromised his swing. “If one side of your leg is not working, find a way to use your other side,” he said. “That’s just my mentality.” Byron Buxton has the same story to tell: http://www.1500espn.com/twins-2/2018/07/byron-buxton-talks-injuries-swing-remains-confident-frustrating-start-season/ “You see a good pitch to hit but you can’t put the right amount of pressure on [the foot] to swing at the ball the right way. That was the more frustrating part. It limited me from doing what I wanted to do.” Logan Morrison had a hip impingement all season long that he was battling through and terrible numbers to go along with it. Many feel it is admirable to play hurt and tough it out like we all did back in the old days. And it is admirable... as long as you produce while toughing it out. Does anybody want your surgeon toughing it out with a broken hand? "Sorry about that, you'll have to wear a colostomy bag for the rest of your life because I accidentally removed a part of your colon taking out your appendix. It's OK though... I had a broken hand and I come to play every day so let me soak up all your admiration for my toughness". If they are using injury as an excuse for their production this season. Each player, the manager and the front office can all bite me. They ruined my summer. I'm all for the hiring of a biomechanics expert in an effort to detect warning signs and slow injuries that happen. I hope it works... but the front office better prepare for the possibility that it doesn't work as quickly as they like and do something about it the old fashion way at the same time. Spend this off-season acquiring more MLB ready depth. I want unequivocally... 25 players who can play on the 25 man roster... 25 players who will compete with each other for playing time and provide decent options when other players are injured and I want at least 10 more players on the 40 man roster. I don't ever want to hear a player in a Twins uniform (who starts over 90% of the time) state that the reason he had a .600 OPS was because he had pain somewhere, ever again.

Brian Dozier: http://www.latimes.com/sports/dodgers/la-sp-dodgers-report-20180908-story.html Logan Morrison: https://mlb.nbcsports.com/2018/08/12/logan-morrison-to-undergo-season-ending-surgery/ Byron Buxton: http://www.1500espn.com/twins-2/2018/07/byron-buxton-talks-injuries-swing-remains-confident-frustrating-start-season/ Playing Hurt and Performing well suggests a toughness that you can be proud of. Playing Hurt and Not Performing suggests multiple people from the player, to the manager, to the front office getting it wrong. WIth the addition of Dozier to this list. It has been reported that 3 players were playing hurt, which is admirable unless... you are hurting the team trying to be admirable. It wasn't the people on the DL who killed us... It was the people who apparently were not placed on the DL. The front office is in charge here. They got this very wrong.

That last line made me laugh out loud. Chris Gimenez the Educational Toe Fungus.