Riverbrian

I believe you are right. I believe the usage numbers are up compared to other teams for two reasons. 1. The Bullpen was pretty healthy. 2. He got very little use out of two bullpen positions by insisting that he saves his long man for long man situations (Magill) which kinda wasted that bullpen spot. Plus he did a fair amount of hiding, Kinley, Hughes, and a couple of the guys on the Rochester shuttle which wasted another position. This increased the pressure on the guys that he used.

I'm Bold

Full disclosure: I am on the players side... I really am. I fully believe that as the current CBA stands. It is the owners who have the greater advantage and leverage for the players is the crux of my issue. Here is why I'm pro players: Teams acquire exclusive rights to players by draft and those exclusive rights according to the CBA could last 12 years before he reaches free agency and the right to control his own fate. This will make the players peak earning power (free agency) collide with the time that he becomes less appealing as he enters a decline phase. I'm on the players side. They get the short end of the stick in my opinion. It's a bad agreement and it needs to be corrected in the bargaining session and I think it is going to get ugly if the last free agency period was a harbinger of things to come and I think it was. However... in fairness... The Players are not an Angels either. The MLBPA represents both the major league and minor league baseball players but... ONLY THE MAJOR LEAGUE PLAYERS ARE ALLOWED TO VOTE. This leaves the minor league players... the ones who will eventually take their jobs with no representation. So... when the big boys get together to negotiate an agreement... they are both fully aware of service time manipulation. Nobody is pulling the wool over anyone's eyes with all the talk about needing 17 days of additional seasoning in April. The MLBPA isn't concerned about Kris Bryant and Acuna and now Eloy Jimenez because they have done no negotiating to protect them. They addressed service time manipulation with options, super two and veterans consent for the benefit of the voting players to speed the time to free agency along and prevent teams from putting players to sleep. They got together... they reached their agreement which set the rules of the game and the winners will be the ones who understand the rules and use them to their advantage. Together they created the system that rewards teams for manipulating service time. "Good Faith" has done it's job. J.T. Realmuto has two options left. The Marlins are out of it... Why wouldn't they send him down to New Orleans and get another extra year. Good Faith is the only explanation. So... even though I side with the players overall... The agreement was reached, they looked across the table at each other, probably a couple of fists got banged on the table, the lawyers read the documents deep into the night and an agreement was reached. This frees me up to become a fan. Once I'm a fan... I'm looking out for my best interest. As long as I walk this earth... I will be a Twins Fan. And if I'm waiting for bad Buxton to become Good Buxton... I want the extra year to enjoy it. I care more about me that I do about the players but I'm selfish that way. Byron Buxton... simply isn't the player you describe. I love him... I think he is absolutely exciting. I think he will be one of the best when he stops trying to hit 5 run homers to left on outside pitches... But right now... he isn't one of our best players... he was one of our worst. Performance and Health is more than enough justification for a September sit down and yes... let's gain that extra year of service time just in case he eventually becomes the player we want him to be. He can take September off or spend April in Rochester... but I'm getting that year back or the front office is officially not qualified to act on my behalf.

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.