Riverbrian

Dear Jake, There is a door open for playing time, take advantage of it. This is how solid careers begin... it starts with opportunity. Don't try to win the job in one game, just have a plan at the plate and do your best to consistently put the ball in play. Best of luck to ya, I'm pulling for you. No pressure but we fans could sure use someone to show a spark of something. Sincerely, Riverbrian

I agree with the sentiment 100%. However... the 39 Losses?

Just a theory but it kind of adds up. Belisle has a uniform.

Paul probably doesn't get to Rochester very much.

About Mid-Season last year... I gave up on him. I'm kinda ashamed about that now.

I have no idea but if I had to guess... This has Molitor's fingerprints all over it... not the front office. Of course the front office has to execute the acquisition but my guess would be at Molitor's behest. But again... I have no idea. Belisle was named the closer after the Kintzler trade, my assumption is that Molitor was the hand that hand picked him for that role and that would indicate a level of trust. Pressly and Reed usage has dropped considerably since the arrival of Belisle and I would imagine that Pressly, Reed usage would be a topic of discussion between the front office and the manager. Hence, Paul trusts him and will actually use him which would slow down the use of Pressly and Reed. Bottom Line: He's the hand picked solution to the Pressly, Reed overuse problem. Just a theory.

This week’s roundtable discussion question is: “Who's the most important player for invigorating the Twins offense?" Taking the question as presented -- Sano. If he could cut his strikeouts in half, I'll assume that he is swinging at better pitches to do that and his hard contact will improve along with it. If that ever happened, he could be a sight to see as hard as he hits the ball? What Sano has been was a big blow to this 2018 team.

I'd love to look at the bench but I'm limited to the few occasions that the camera pans over to it between pitches. And because the majority of the camera time is focused on the guys who are playing nearly every day... I'm forced to focus on them. I get the names on the bench are not sexy but... We have guys that are in the lineup nearly every day, that don't have to bother checking the lineup card to see if they are playing. Guys in the lineup everyday who are performing worse than the guys who are being forced to watch them struggle from the bench. Dave Roberts would not let this happen, He will play Barnes instead of Grandal in the World Series and go back to Grandal later when he starts playing better. He will bench Puig to get a message through, He will let Kemp continue doing what he is doing after a long period of not doing it. He will give Chris Taylor a job at the expense of Mr. Potential Joc Pederson. He will give Max Muncy playing time at the expense of Justin Turner, Cody Bellinger and Logan Forsythe. He will find a way to get Enrique Hernandez in the lineup if he starts heating up. Dave Roberts will not go down with the ship before trying something else. Paul will go down with the ship without an attempt at adjustment.

Molitor might be wondering the same thing.

This is where we find common ground, while at the same time arrive at a place where I'm not going to be comfortable when it comes to criticism of Molitor. I don't know how Tom Kelly would have handled it. Would TK be out there after the game with a Whistle like Kurt Russell saying again until Rosario eventually pukes? Did the 87 Twins have a better defense because of Tom Kelly, because of the coaches, because of the development structure, a different front office player acquisition philosophy... or did they just happen into a group of naturally inclined players. Or... Do we not remember the occasional mistakes that probably happened then as well? And I don't know how Molitor is handling it. Does he handle it himself, have one of the coaches sit down with the offender. I just don't know but... If I have one observable from my chair criticism of Paul Molitor... you touched on it. There do not appear to be playing time consequences for sub-par play from the starters. I believe that it is fact - proven over several years - that Molitor is reluctant to try something/someone else. Dave Roberts would not let Byron Buxton hit .136 and still play every day. Logan Morrison would not be in the lineup everyday with his performance. Byron Buxton would be in a Joc Pederson role by now and Logan would be yielding playing time to something called Max Muncy.

Yeah but Logan Morrison isn't a rookie and he surely knows how to take a lead off of second and Rosario has been playing long enough to know the cut system. Paul isn't coaching little league, these guys know the universal fundamentals of the game by now. If they don't... a major league manager doesn't have a chance. If Molitor has to pull the players out of a more advanced calculus class to teach one plus one equals two he doesn't have a chance. I'm hesitant to blame Paul for this.

Early in the year I was watching Hildenberger get rocked and I was saying that we should send him down to AAA for awhile to get him back to where he was. Now I'm thinking that Hildy is looking pretty good. Early in the year... I was watching Reed hit the catcher's target dead center on every pitch and he was looking real impressive to me and I was thinking we got a nice bargain. Now I'm thinking... OMG... Did we pay too much for Reed? I think it comes down to: That's the way it goes in the bullpen. Bullpen guys are small sample size on top of small sample size adding up to a small sample size. The guys in the bullpen have to be nearly perfect to avoid the criticism. If a starter gives up a run in the first... he gets 4 or 5 more innings to hang some zeros to mitigate that run in the first. If a bullpen guy gives up a run he typically doesn't get another inning that game and that run in one inning is a 9.00 in the books and it's gonna hang there for a couple of days before he gets another inning sometimes. Overuse? I don't know... I guess that depends on what each individual can handle and I don't know the answer to that. Hildenberger 34.2 IP Pressly 34.1 IP Reed 33.1 IP And when you compare his usage to his bullpen peers from other teams. There is quite a lengthy list of bullpen arms in the 30 to 35 IP range. Over the past 30 days: Hildenberger 15.0 Pressly 11.0 Reed 11.0 And once again... there is a lengthy list of bullpen peers from other teams in the 11 to 15 IP range across the league in the past 30 days. I think it's possible that the overuse claim is an assumption based on recent performance but not necessarily correct. During the off-season... Reed is one of the guys that I wanted the team to sign. I'm hoping he'll pull of a string of good small sample size performances to balance his most recent small sample size performances.

The Christmas thing was an attempt at a joke. It had a smiley face to help guard against any misinterpretation that it was anything more than a joke. The Guns-N-Roses thing was a 2nd attempt at a joke after clarification was asked in response for the first joke. My instinct now... tells me to not attempt a third joke. I've read your posts (Including the original post early this morning and softer edit of the post that is quoted)... you communicate very clearly... I am able to understand. You would like the Twins to select the contract of Nick Gordon "The minute he shows signs of it" as strategy to get him ready and to plan better for next year and to take advantage of a window of opportunity that he needs to fit in to. You also state that "service time stuff is overblown" and the reason for 6 years of control is to send them up and down as a form of preparation. I am paying attention Carole. I agree that disagreement is "fine" but our disagreement is going to be fundamental because I believe that 6 years of control is more like the period of exclusivity granted to a drug company so the cost of development is justified before the generics come rolling in. I believe it's the Options that allow you to move a player up and down and the players union has negotiated that with a limit of 3 option years in the CBA making it finite and not possible for 6 years.

Back to topic... Sano might be back this year.

It all depends on what kind of player he is gonna be. But it all adds up and what you do in 2018 could actually cause an adjustment (delay) in what you do in 2019 with Gordon if the Twins think they have someone special. Call him up for a 10 day look this year. The New CBA says a season's length is 187 days but a service year continues to be 172 days. So if you want to get that 7th year of control... Players will have wait for 16 days to be called up for that .171 or less that gives you that 7th year. See Acuna or Kris Bryant as an example. Burn 10 days this year and now you have to wait 26 days before he can called up in 2019 or you lose the year. Call him up for 20 days this year and now it's 36 days and there goes April 2019. Of course this scenario is only important if he gets called up to stay and isn't sent back down and if that happens... he is worth preserving the 7th year. So what you did was delay his arrival in 2019 by taking a look at him in 2018... if he's worth it and the reason people want to see him now... is because they believe that he will be worth it. If you continue on the the extreme example of him staying in the major leagues throughout. The other factor is money and we all know that money matters in Minnesota. Let's forget about the year early free agent status and talk about Arbitration. Let's say you call him up for 10 days this year and you hold him back for 26 days in 2019. In that scenario: He's at 2.171 days of service time at the end of 2021. At that point he qualifies for Super Two status and is eligible for Arbitration in 2022. Not a big deal to me because it's not my money but we all know that the Minnesota Twins have a budget. Instead of paying him 500K... you now have to pay him 10 Million... that 10 million is no longer available to sign someone else. Delay that arbitration clock and you can have Gordon and someone else for the 10 million... Instead of just Gordon. Rosario, Buxton and Sano will be a free agents in 2022 maybe you'd like to have some money to extend or sign him one of them. Kepler and Berrios will hopefully be top dollar guys in their last year of Arbitration... Romero will be in Arbitration... Gordon reaching Arbitration that same year is gonna drain the pool available to be competitive for someone else if that is something we would like to see happen and i'm hoping that the farm system coming up will keep it all a reasonable dream to care how the dollars are allocated. On the other side of the the extreme example scenario coin... Burning an option in 2018 -- The Nick Gordon doesn't do as well as we'd like possibility: When you burn option in 2018 probably not a big deal unless he is slow to develop like Hicks or Buxton. In that case, you could a force a decision you are not ready for as early as 2021. Do you roster a 1st round pick with unrealized potential that the jury is still out on or choose outright assignment so you can give a 25 man roster spot to someone else and expose Nick Gordon to the waiver process where he is signed by the Kansas City Royals and then becomes the player we all hoped he would be for them. Chances are... he is something in between and it all works out but front offices have to consider these things when deciding when to place someone on the 40 man roster. EARLY. Gordon will be in his 5th year after being drafted out of high school. He must be on the 40 man roster in 2019. Just wait for it. This is why I say... I'd rather he knock the door down instead of the door and walls falling down around him because you just don't know. If he's gonna be good... you want that Arb Clock Delay and you want that extra year of control and you don't want to delay his arrival in 2019 to get all that. Any discussion about getting him a taste in 2018 for 2019 preparation... could actually delay his arrival in the year you are preparing for... if he's worth it... this matters. If he's gonna be an average player where you don't care about Arb clock or the extra year... or if he is going to be delayed in 2019... then this discussion doesn't matter. Just roll with Polanco and Adrianaza in 2018 because Gordon isn't going to improve the situation anyway. All you gotta do to avoid all of this: Is simply do what every other team in the Major League Baseball does. Read the CBA and use the rules to your advantage.

Well you know... Some people just can't wait until Christmas.

It could hurt because he has to be placed on the 40 man before being placed on the 25 man. Once placed on the 40 man you shorten the time he is controlled by the Twins. That may or may not hurt because we don't know what kind of talent he will be in 2024. If he ends up being a similar talent to his brother. That lost year will hurt quite a bit in my opinion. If Gordon is to be added to the 40 man roster early... It would be much better if he knocked down the door rather than have the door fall down around him.

There isn't much need to speculate on the reasoning. Falvey is very lucid and sensible in his explanation. I like that they are taking a non-traditional approach to protect the investment.

Everybody makes a wrong turn and heads the wrong direction every once in awhile. It's the ones who keep going the wrong direction that concern me.

I agree with almost everything that you typed. Just one minor disagreement. I'd like to see the manager or players go ape on something... if it's an umpire... that would be fine with me.

That's Funny.

History of becoming disgruntled?

He's great when the players he puts in the lineup play well. He is also wonderful at putting the same guys in the lineup over and over again when they are playing terribly. I'm starting to get the opinion that he isn't a plan B type of guy.