Riverbrian

We are in agreement. It's been awhile since I've said something like that.

Is this a Uniform thing? Something to do with how he wears his socks? The rest of your post... is probably how it will play out.

Absolutely Not with the occasional Yes It's July. Baldelli has been managing the roster skillfully since day one. Why are we still using phrases like "Play him over Rosario?".

If serious... I disagree. If not serious... I find the strike-through clever.

He has started 5 games and played in 7 games total in LF. He has caught 11 out of 11 fly balls and he has 1 OF assist. Has he had the chance to be anything but adequate?

I agree with the 2nd paragraph with all of my heart. But don't understand the "horrendous out there". I'm reading post after post of this sentiment.

Great post... This is my point. How can you send him down? I understand he has options and being stashed is the curse of "having options" and I am a strong advocate of stashing your depth. However... If the guy is hitting like this... Sending him down weakens your club because he is playing better then the other options. How can you send him down?

What am I missing. I'm pretty sure I'm watching the same games as everybody else. He's 22 and 12 seconds into his career. How can we project with certainty this early?

He is 22... He has played 7 games in the OF. During those 7 games he has caught everything hit his way, I've seen no examples of range issues and he has hit the cut. Granted with more innings in the OF, we might discover something along the way but after 7 games, I don't understand the absoluteness of "He's not ever going to be anything but a fill in outfielder". We certainly don't have a large enough sample of defensive measurements for any kind of stability in the data. I'm not seeing anything with the ole' eyeballs to suggest that we have any OF issues. I don't understand the absoluteness of "He's not ever going to be anything but a fill in outfielder".

I've said this often and I'll keep saying it. We need bullpen... but we will really really really really need the bullpen if we lose a starter or two so we better find a starter and make that the top priority. If you can't find that starter... then you gotta make multiple bullpen moves to strengthen in preparation of needing the bullpen much much more based on the possibility of losing a starter or two. A top of the line starter is a much more critical need but either way... we are going to need pitching. Our pitching health is probably less sustainable than anything else we would like to sustain.

I was that guy but that argument has a shelf life based on current team context. When I was talking about the need for 13 pitchers... It was under the context of not getting the amount of innings we are currently getting from our starters... It was also under the assumption that Baldelli coming from the Rays would bring some Rays bullpen magic with him. That hasn't been the case so far. So current context is... We got a bunch of guys who can hit that would require an extra 25 man spot to roster. However... I can see that changing quickly when we start adding bullpen help at the trade deadline. "Limit his OF time?" - So far his OF performance doesn't scare me at all. I'll simply recommend getting him in the lineup wherever and if it's the OF... OK with me. Arraez is the perfect opportunity to develop our own Marwin and as you know... I'm all about that. I think Arraez has to come down naturally but his bat to ball skills are similar to Astudillo with the added bonus of being much much more selective and that will make that K% more useful. Will the pitchers find a soft spot? Probably and that would be perfect because the sooner they find it, the sooner he can adjust to it. His book is still being written... I don't want to gush too soon but at this point, you gotta keep playing him to see if he can keep it up. If he keeps it up or simply regresses to what he showed on the farm... he will be hard to send down.

I was under the assumption that "Good Problem to Have" is universal language for too much talent for the number of roster spots. A bunch of this goes back to what I've been talking about for a long time now... Depth and Flexibility. We are seeing it first hand right now with this current group of Minnesota Twins. Baldelli is finding playing time for everyone and with everyone performing at an acceptable level, depth has been created to the point of having 12-13 hitters on the MLB Roster plus 2-3 hitters that can be stashed in Rochester that have or can perform at the MLB Level. We've come along way from LaMarre, Petit and Motter. I'm watching Arraez and thinking to myself... How can you send him down if everyone is healthy? Sending him down is the easy answer to the "good problem to have", he's young and he has options. We can send him down and not lose him...keep him as depth, give him major consideration for next year so we don't have to drop a large chunk of cash to retain Schoop as a free agent. However, the kid has consistently hit at every level and now he is looking like he can help us win right now and we'd like to win right now. Basically, I'm starting to think that keeping him on the roster, improves the 2019 team, even if you stop and consider all of the wonderful options we have at our beck and call (good problem to have). It is sensible to imagine that there is no way he can keep up this pace so it is risky to make plans for this year based on his small sample size but, even if he his BABIP and line drive rate declines... it would have to decline a lot for him to not be a serious plus to what we are trying to accomplish this year. We got Power Hitters and We have a lot of them. Adding a contact guy who gets on base a lot in front of those Power Hitters will make us more dangerous on paper. Flexibility: I've been talking about Flexibility being a natural by-product of having depth, I've been talking about the difference between Utility and Super Utility and the need for Super Utility players instead of Utiltiy Roster space wastes to accommodate honest to god depth we have currently. Arraez has shown so far that he isn't a nightmare in the OF plus he can play 2B, 3B and SS. Baldelli has shown the willingness and ability to place all 12-13 players into the lineup at decent intervals so nobody as to atrophy on the bench. Both Marwin and Arraez and Adrianza can play Super Utility type roles without anyone losing significant playing time. Baldelli is proving that right now. So Arraez, in my mind isn't a playing time issue but a simple 25 man roster space "good problem to have" and I'm just not sure how you can send him down after watching him through 70 AB's. So if everyone gets healthy... Now what? Astudillo can be sent down and would have to be sent down due to 25 man roster space and his having options. Sano and Buxton can be sent down but doubtful that they will. Everybody else will need to be cut loose in order to stash them in Rochester. You can run with one less pitcher in order to carry 13 hitters but there will be times when that isn't possible, especially if we make some acquisitions to add to the pitching staff. I'm just thinking to myself... How can you send him down? I'm at the point where I don't think he should be, at least until he crashes to earth. He seems to be able to help us win games right now. What If?

Depth is something to strive for because players are often not healthy and having it means the occasional 25 man headaches of what to do when everyone is healthy and that is a good problem to have. Last year it was Taylor Motter... This year it Arraez. Quite a wonderful difference. I’m saying at this point... he’s contributing and I’d have a hard time sending him down. If we get healthy it becomes a good problem to have.

How good are the first 13 on the list if Arraez is #14?

It probably was never intended and I don't know exactly how to make to happen going forward if we get healthy. Even after considering the small sample size of 70 AB's and really having no idea who he will be in the future. Doesn't Arraez have to stay up based on what he has done?

If a well below average pitcher was well below average -- every single time -- His ERA would be around 15.00. If a lights out pitcher was lights out -- every single time -- His ERA would be around 0.00 Every once in awhile... a well below average pitcher will give up one single earned run to help keep his ERA around 5 instead. And Every once in awhile... a lights out pitcher will leave the lights on and his ERA sits around 3.00. Over on AthleticsDaily they are saying great job Tanner... Good Pitching and they are pissed because their offense hasn't taken advantage of his performance. Over on TwinsDaily... We blame the offense and are thankful that Berrios is pitching. The pitcher is trying to stop the offense on both teams and the offense is trying to kill the pitcher on both teams. It's baseball... it's been this way for at least a century.

Before I duck out and let the weeds grow around here. It's July 4th. The Twins are 54-31. Leading 1-0 in the 2nd inning with Berrios on the mound. Consider that context and read page two of this game thread. If you read page two of this game thread, you'd guess that we were 31-54 and down by 6. Does anyone else see the problem with the game threads. Happy 4th to all.

Vet players like Adrianza know how to make contact with the ball and catcher's glove at the same time. As we have seen... it's a handy skill.

He has been playing everybody all year and providing days off for everybody all year. July 4th seems like the right time to be surprised by it. Considering it's a holiday after all.

Astute observation on your part.

It’s like your asking for a guy to peel an orange for you. He grabs the orange, peels it and hands you the orange ready to eat. Yet you are not happy with the final result because he used his left hand or something. I gave up looking for magical managers a long time ago and if you look around the league, those inexperienced managers are beating the experienced now out of work experienced managers.

I admit I’ve missed a few innings but I’ve seen the significant majority of all innings. Arraez is perhaps the only player who played out of position and I haven’t seen Arraez cost us an inch of ground when playing LF. Our recent defensive struggles have been accumulating by players playing their natural position and I assume are a natural part of typical ebb and flow.

I agree with you. The angst toward the bullpen doesn't match what has actually taken place. Personally, my guess is that the bullpen hasn't really been tested (starters throwing the majority of all innings, lots of offensive run production). I could be wrong... but more importantly, I don't want to be right. I'm hopeful we find some guys (plural) to safeguard against the possibility that I am.

Everybody should have a voice. The internet gives each voice a microphone and not everyone should have a microphone. You remind me that the internet hasn't figured this problem out yet.

I believe I would have had Buxton swing away in that situation. However, I will defend the Manager's right to use whatever club he has in his bag (at any time) and I believe the squeeze (Safety or Suicide) is a club that a manager should have. My issue is going to be with the execution of the call once it is made. Misreading the signs is poor execution. Not squaring to get the bunt down is poor execution.