Riverbrian

You are correct... If I sign a contract that provides a 100 Grand Bonus for selling 1 million crayons for the year and then forces me to do nothing but clean toilets in December when I'm sitting at 999,980 Crayons on December 1st. I have the right to call my lawyer because of a clear breach of the covenant of good faith. However... you are going to have a hard time finding a team to root for. I'm being Honest... as a fan... I want the year back and I am under no legal obligation to disguise my intentions.

You got nothing to worry about then. The Twins will claim that it is due to health and performance issues.

It does indeed. However... With position flexibility you can at least absorb the monkey wrench kind of. It doesn't have to be a major thing to overcome. Without position flexibility... it could become a major thing to overcome. You want Donaldson... OK... I like Donaldson even if he is not-flexible like I like them. Donaldson 3B, Mauer 1B, Sano 3B/1B/DH. Easy enough. Now what do you do with Austin in case he is real? He's out of options. Signing Mauer just cost you Donaldson because Austin is now the DH. With position flexibility... you can have them all. That's why I want Austin to get some OF time because... what if Mauer comes back and what if Austin is real. If Mauer is back and Austin is real... Sano plays 3B and you will not get Donaldson if Austin can't play OF. I'd love to have Mauer back... He's one of us. He may not be Paul Goldschmidt but he can help us win games in his current form. However... as we currently operate... I don't see how he doesn't end up hurting us in 2019 either: Directly: by getting hurt or playing bad OR Indirectly: By convincing the front office that we don't have room for Donaldson because Mauer is at 1B and Sano is at 3B. Or signing Donaldson anyway and costing us Austin.

Yeah probably not and that's ok. However, Just so you don't mistake my passion for the subject as being fine with it. I'm really not. The Players get screwed by the CBA in my opinion. The players association needs to do a better job representing the players so they are not in this situation in the next one. However... If I'm in a cookie baking contest with 29 other bakers. If the other 29 bakers while operating under rules are unethically using sugar. I'm not sure how my ethics are going to help me.

Exactly I'd love to have Mauer back but we can't have him back handling it like we always handle it. Like Nicksaviking said... If Mauer is the starter and he hits .220 with 1 home run into June, you have screwed up 2019 even with a 1 year contract. -They decided he was the every day 1B, they didn't sign anyone else for the role as a result. -Molitor will not bench the legend and they will have no options if they wanted to and it's 2018 all over again. -They can't trade him with 10/5 rights. -They will not cut him on a one year contract and end his career in Minnesota on a horrible note. -He can only play 1B. Like you said... If they sign Mauer as a backup 1B. They bring in a better 1B option. They have to utilize a valuable 25 man roster to spot to hold a guy who can only play 1B when they have someone better at the position and this leaves them short at backup options and it's 2018 all over again. I think Mauer can still help us win games and I would welcome him back but only under one condition. The team changes it's approach and implements position flexibility to accommodate. Escobar at 3B, SS AND 2B, Sano at 3B and 1B, Mauer at 1B, Austin OF and 1B or Kepler OF and 1B. You got the DH spot to play with and let the best performers get the lions share of playing time. If they don't do that... we can't take him back. And that would be a shame.

I have no idea how he felt about his time with the Twins. He seemed to be happy and smiling in those commercials. Maybe he liked his teammates and he skipped to work every day or maybe he resented the way Molitor over used his bullpen and it festered. I've worked with people who were happy after getting the short end of the stick and I've worked with people who got angry over a promotion or bonus. They come in all shapes and sizes and I have no idea if he was happy in Minnesota or not. I'm also not sure that the Twins will value him more because he can play multiple positions. I know that I would... but the Twins haven't been the team that values that sort of thing yet. I'm hoping they become that sort of team but so far, the organization tends to take the multiple position guy and de-value them as utility backups. Where would Escobar have started the season if Polanco didn't get suspended? He would have been a backup at multiple positions and that wasn't a starting job. The way the Twins have always done business (I'm hoping they will change)... they will value Escobar as an everyday player at an assigned position. If they sign him (and that is a big if), it will be to an assigned position such as 2B and Escobar will then be our every day 2B removing immediately all flexibility value he has. If Sano gets hurt and we need a 3B... Escobar will stay at 2B and someone else will fill in for Sano at 3B. I hope and pray that this all changes for 2019 and they see the value in flexibility and take steps to encourage and develop more of it, but I have seen no outward signs of this intention thus far. I think the Twins will value Escobar more because they know what kind of player and personality he is, and this makes him more of a known quantity than say "Logan Morrison" who had spent a career in opposing dugouts. I think almost every major league team should have interest in Escobar regardless if they believe in flexibility or not, because, he can play 2B, 3B and SS. This makes him a sensible option for any team looking to fill one of those 3 spots and that just might be everybody and this will make it hard for Minnesota to sign him. And I think there are a couple of teams, who are ahead of the curve, who will look at Escobar, see that flexibility and go hard after him as a result because he can play multiple positions including OF and then plan to play him every day at multiple positions. (The Twins are not in this couple of teams group and I wish they were).

In my opinion, Escobar will be extremely easy to sign, if the Twins offer him the best deal. If they don't offer him the best deal... He will be impossible to sign. This would be the case if the Twins traded him or didn't trade him. But... All in All... It's going to be difficult to sign him because 29 other teams may also want him. That's why the extra year of Buxton discussion is kinda important. He is going to be a free agent after 12 years of being told where to play and for how much. He's going to take this moment seriously because he has been waiting 12 years for it and he isn't going to give away leverage and he isn't going to turn down the best deal because he is holding a grudge over being traded to a contender. I can't speak for everyone... But those of us who list Escobar in our plans for next year... Are hoping... maybe even demanding that the Twins are the team that gives him the best offer.

He's not the best player right now. If he was even close to major league quality. We are not having this discussion. I want the year back because he has been wasting mine. The spirit was negotiated between the Commissioners Office and the Players Union. Ask yourself why Super-Two is even necessary and you'll realize that they were aware of each other's tendencies during the negotiation. Also keep in mind that, the same CBA also protects Byron Buxton and he was bad enough that he needed that protection. The players have representation, I wouldn't be worried about Byron Buxton. If you want to worry about ethics... you need to focus on the players not on the 40 man. The players that don't have representation are in the bowels of the minor league system, players are making $1,160 a month down on the farm. The Commissioners office has representation now in Washington and they spent enough money funding election campaigns, that they can really slap those unrepresented players (that we have never heard of) silly. The Consolidated Appropriations Act. (H.R. 1625) was a 1.3 trillion dollar spending bill that managed to avoid a government shut down at the last minute. The MLB Commissioners office was able to lobby enough influence, fund enough election campaigns to get a provision attached on page 1,967 of the 2,232 page spending bill stating that minor league baseball players are exempt from federal labor standards. If you are not on the 40 man roster... major league baseball can pay you poverty wages and our government gives that the thumps up as long as they get funding for re-election. Buxton has representation... If you want to worry about Buxton... I'd worry that if he doesn't start playing better. He will have H.R. 1625 to worry about.

Why not? It's service time manipulation no matter when it occurs. Where in the CBA does it mention that Bryant's situation is OK but Buxton's situation is not.

Honestly Carole... I want that world as well. But it ain't coming. Every single 25 and 40 man decision should be based on who the best players are period. But it ain't coming. I get the ethics part of the discussion and I consider myself a pretty ethical guy but please keep in mind that those very same players are going to have their agents shoving bamboo under the fingernails of front offices in order to get the best deal they can for their client. The Angels have to pay Pujols 30 Million a Year as a free agent and Buxton is going to lose a year. It happens on both sides. I'm not going to hold my team to some ethical standard that no other team is holding themselves to.

If his toe has healed. I want to be clear that I'm against that.

Perfect... He needs September off to heal that broken toe.

Yep I'm amazed at the ability of others to just pencil stuff in.

Dear Byron, We appreciate you so much that we'd like you to stay in Minnesota an extra year. Sincerely, Twins Front Office

Ethics? It's something that is done by all 30 teams and God bless America. Seriously... I'm on the players side in the next CBA. However this is the current CBA. My opponents are going to use service time to their advantage. I'm not going to let them have an advantage to themselves so I can interpret a vague Bad Faith wording in an agreement in the players favor. I want the year... I'm getting it back this September or in April. If Buxton wants to file grievance. The response to the players union should just be "Seven" as in OPS+ of "Seven".

I apologize but I can't help myself. They might be able to say to someone that they are going to play less... but they don't seem to be able to actually play someone less.

From your Lips (Fingers) straight to Falvey/Lavine/Moltor Ears(Eyeballs). A perfect paragraph!!!

You are just trying to get me started.

This isn't delicate to me. I'd knock over every piece of fine china in the store and say... I WANT THE EXTRA YEAR.

You can sign Mauer with the intention of him being the "starting" 1B. What you can't do is let signing Mauer prevent you from bringing in a guy who could be better. You just need a guy who can play 1B and someplace else. Prepare for success and Prepare for failure at the same time.

I understand we’ve had this discussion before. Then we need a better option. Because if a manager can’t replace a 7 OPS+. We are done. If Buxton is the guy who needs playing time to develop and therefore tolerate a 7 OPS+. We are not contenders anymore and there is no reason to sign Logan Morrison. Kenny’s Vargas would have been just fine. I honestly don’t want to defend LaMarre because I’m really not that impressed with him but here is another point. Projections are for the front office. Actual performance as it happens is on the manager.

Roberts also has a team that had 4 starting pitchers on the DL at the same time and is only 2 games back of the AL West leading D-Backs. Their Record is 72-62... Now If you are saying that they should be 82-52 right now with the best record in the National League. I won't argue that.. .it's personal opinion and impossible to debate but... my opinion is that the National League is twice as competitive as the American League this year so 72-62 isn't a bad number. Only the Cubs are better with a little cushion everybody else is in striking distance. The National League is entertaining baseball this year. However... If Roberts and all the interesting playing time allocation moves that he makes is actually costing them games. I can't debate that... I only have my opinion with no numbers to back that up. I can only confirm that he manages his roster much different than the majority of managers and Paul Molitor is in that majority. On your point with LaMarre... You have it backwards. LaMarre was hot in Spring Training and April and that was when Molitor barely utilized him. It wasn't until May 29 that LaMarre starting getting playing time after Buxton went on the DL and LaMarre had cooled. No question and oddly enough... that was when he got his playing time. Because Molitor has rolled with the struggling time and time again this year. I want to be clear because when I post stuff like that last paragraph, it becomes red meat and my point gets lost down the rabbit hole. I was just correcting your assessment of LaMarre's usage. To be clear: I am not and never have been predicting a major league career for Ryan LaMarre. I don't know Ryan Lamarre other than he made the roster. I am not saying that LaMarre's hot streaks and cold streaks need to be timed perfectly by the manager. I am saying that LaMarre was given a spot on the 25 man roster (Yes Blame the front office for that if anyone is inclined) and every spot on that 25 man roster is valuable and needs to be occupied by players who can play full time in case of injury and really bad performance from a designated starter and we had really bad performance from multiple designated starters. I am saying that Ryan LaMarre played better than Byron Buxton and it wasn't even close. I am saying that any time I bring up Ryan LaMarre's name as part of the discussion, he becomes the point of discussion and I end up looking like I think Ryan LaMarre is the next JD Martinez. I wasn't the one who selected LaMarre for the 25 man roster. Ultimately, what I'm saying is that we had woeful play from a bunch of players and that is why we are sellers. While we may not have had great options... we had options because we get a 25 man roster just like all the other teams and Molitor elected not to go with those options to full extent and therefore went down with the ship. My opinion is that Roberts wouldn't do that. I could be wrong but I also might be right and I have been researching it before I presented it for consumption on Twinsdaily.

In a nutshell. I’m trying to be objective. I’m trying to be constructive and I am not calling for his head but I am trying to point out that there is another way of doing things. I do believe that Molitor is guilty of playing players everyday who didn’t deserve it.