Riverbrian

I've sat in those seats. Twins Bullpen just off to the left.

I also think the Twins are better than the Indians and I believe they are proving it but I also think the Nationals are better than the Braves and that may not prove out over time. Now for 2020... Who knows? If the Indians enter 2020 with that rotation and get some health along with that... they can't be discounted. They can find some pieces to join that everyday team that doesn't scare you and become a little more frightening... or at the very least... competitive. Zimmers, Bauers, Mercado, Luplow just might be something to add to Lindor, Ramirez and Santana. It's risky to have them hanging around. They can fix it. If they sell... Zimmer, Bauers, Mercado, Luplow won't be enough no matter what they do. We don't know what the Twins will do in the rotation next year... we don't know what will tip the balance with the 2020 Twins or what direction the balance will tip and it's reckless to just assume that we are the better team... case closed. It's a much different world if the Twins have to compete against the Indians and White Sox as opposed to competing against the White Sox only. The Indians selling provides some serious wiggle room. The White Sox are moving forward... it doesn't matter what they do this year... they are going to add pieces and probably progress upwards. But the Indians... I believe they are strongly considering cashing it in and I believe it is in the best interest of the Twins that they cash it in. Because it would be a gift to have only the White Sox to truly worry about in the AL Central while the Twins are peaking. One series isn't going to make the decision for the Indians but going from 11.5 down to 14.5 down after getting destroyed by the team they have to catch... just might help them reach for the phone to sell. I think the Twins are heading for a window to be a serious threat... but that window could use a little widening and timing. The White Sox are trending up, The Tigers are building a nice young rotation, The Royals have some decent young pieces. It won't last forever... The Indians not selling keeps them competitive during a time when the Tigers and Royals and even the White Sox may not be there yet. I just think the Twins should provide as much encouragement as they can. I think this series is bigger than most I guess because they can encourage it with their own hands. The Twins could stand alone in the Central next year and maybe 2021 if the Indians would be kind enough to go away to catch their breath and I think they are thinking about it.

It's about the future competitive relationship between the Indians and Twins.

Perfectly stated! Let Sano be one of the 12 and let him do what he does. We got time and space to see what he becomes.

I'm seeing a bunch of posts in this thread stating "That this is not a must win" because it's "Early in the Season". I tried real hard to state in my original post "that this is not a must win" in regards to the current season but a must win "For the near future seasons". Here's my logic for wanting the Indians to sell immediately: Take a look at their payroll https://www.rosterresource.com/mlb-cleveland-indians-info/ 1. As you can see... they only have to lose Martin via Free Agency. Kluber's Option can be picked up for 17 million and they can enter 2020 with basically the same team, that all the pundits felt was the team to beat this year. Remember when everyone thought the Indians were going to run away with the Central in 2019. 2. The Indians in theory could enter 2020 with the Rotation in tact: Kluber, Bauer, Carrasco, Clevinger, Salazar, Bieber. With Brad Hand Closing out games with Lindor, Ramirez and Santana leading the offense. 3. They did a toe dip into a rebuild during the off-season. Kluber and Bauer trade rumors. They stayed out of the free agent market while letting Brantley, Chisenhall, Donaldson, Miller and Allen sign elsewhere plus shedding Gomes, Encarnacion, Alonso, Diaz via trade. 4. I think they are tapped out. They don't want to pay the option on Kluber and the Arbitration Figure for Bauer. They would love to shed the 20 Million owed Santana for next year. But once they do that... they might as well finish the job, go ahead and trade Lindor as well. Lindor will be a sore thumb on a rebuilding team. 5. If they stay in contention for a wild card spot. They still have all of this talent on the roster... they may be tempted to add. The rental prices are usually financial reasonable. Add some OF to go for the wild card spot and reassess in the off season. 6. If the Twins can knock them senseless this weekend... they may be tempted to just finish off what they started in the off-season. Deal Kluber and Bauer. Once they do this... there is no going back. They've sold and committed to the rebuild. 7. Timing for the Twins would be outstanding if the Indians sold right now. The Twins will start to peak 2019, 2020, 2021 and the Indians would join the Tigers and Royals as rebuilding Central teams. 8. I understand that some would love to see the Indians hang on and cripple their rebuild by reducing value through time. there is logic to that but as you can see from their payroll grid. https://www.rosterresource.com/mlb-cleveland-indians-info/ They will still be a dangerous team in 2020 and a dangerous team with that rotation could challenge the Twins during our peak years for a run. 9. I think this series is a must win to encourage the Indians to sell... right now... not reassess in the off-season... sell right now because once they kill it... it's dead. you can't turn back and it would time out perfectly for what should be our peak seasons.

I get this logic but I also believe it's risky from the Twins perspective. 1. Cleveland and Kansas City are not really comparable. Kansas City was looking at a mass free agent departure. They chose to take a final run and failed but they were competitive for that final season. 2. Cleveland has the option to bring back Kluber, Bauer, Carrasco, Lindor, Ramirez, Hand, Salazar, Clevinger, Bieber for 2020. None of these guys are pending free agents. They could have health, they might find some complimentary pieces. This leaves the Indians as a team to contend with in 2020. 3. Cleveland doesn't have to hit that Kansas City Cliff after 2020 either. Only Bauer and Salazar are free agents after 2020. 4. If they sell... they take themselves out of contention immediately while Minnesota is (Suppose to be) peaking. If they buy and wait for the Kansas City Cliff after 2021. That's 2 years of being a pain in our rear. Yeah it might be a nightmare for Cleveland in 2022... but by 2022 Minnesota's window might be closing around that time. For timing purposes... I think it would better for us... If Cleveland Jumps Ship this trade deadline.

The Twins and Indians square off in Cleveland for a series that takes on more importance than many of us realize. I will not call it a must win series in terms of this year because it is not. The Twins have plenty of games to play this year against many different opponents and only really needs to worry about itself while completing the rest of the schedule. Short term (This year) this is just another series with plenty of them to be played. However... Long term... the series with Cleveland is almost "must win". As Twins Fans... we should all have extreme interest in the Indians becoming sellers at the deadline. From a 10,000 foot view this series has serious weight towards encouraging the Indians to become sellers. If the Indians sell at the deadline, this takes them out of the running for a couple of years. We are talking about Kluber, Bauer, maybe Lindor, maybe Ramirez traded for prospects, we are talking about a brand new build it from the ground up Indians club. If the Indians sell at the deadline, the Indians will join the Tigers and Royals as rebuilding teams while the Twins are clearly surging upward. This would leave the White Sox as the primary competition for the AL Central for what could be an extended window. We have 6 games with them before the trade deadline. Knocking the Indians senseless during those 6 games will help the Indians clarify the direction they need to take, producing even more gap between us and of course producing gap between the Indians and Red Sox, Rangers, Rays, White Sox, A's and Angels, the rest of the Wild Card chasers. The nightmare scenario (Nightmare is too strong a word) is that the Indians hang around the wild card chase, while closing the gap between us and them for the A.L. Central. (We don't care about the White Sox, they won't be selling significant pieces, they are coming out of a rebuild and not returning to a rebuild). If the Indians feel they have a chance this year, they might not sell... they may even buy. If they buy... they might not sell during the off-season either because the paradigm shifts, this could make them potential competition in the immediate future years without a significant rebuild. It's not a must win series for our playoff hopes and dreams this season but this is one of those moments where you can stick a dagger in the Indians playoff hopes and dreams for this year, The benefit of that is a much wider AL Central window that may last for a longer interval of time. So Yeah... It's a must win series.

I told myself I’m not going to concern myself with specific players this year when it comes to roster additions. However when it comes to need... both of them fill a need for depth on the pitching staff. The team perhaps needs a starter more because of the amount of quality innings that a starter can throw. After our first five it gets a little dicey and the team needs to plan for injury or unexpected struggles. I do agree with Diehard. It’s a 2 birds one stone opportunity in the rotation. Contracts are up at the end of this year. Trading for a starter under control next year makes perfect sense for this year and next. Anyway... I’m not worried about the names but I do expect the front office to deepen in some form. A couple of choices available right now that won’t cost prospects.

Schoop Schoop Schoop Schoop Schoop Schoop Schoop Schoop If you wanna know if he loves you so... It's in his swing.

I love baseball

My sister had a dog who would jump up on the Counter and eat the King's Hawaiian. Chew right through the bag to get to it. My sister would admonish the dog and then put the replacement King's Hawaiian back on the counter and the dog would jump up on the counter and eat the bread. I suggested to my sister that maybe she should put the King's Hawaiian in a drawer where the dog couldn't reach it and it turns out that my sister enjoyed admonishing the dog. I'm starting to think Mitch Garver is your dog and the umps are the Kings Hawaiian on the counter.

The Schoop Schoop Song. That's all I can come up with when he hits into a double play.

Or Ash will cut out the middle man and get back to you himself.

Everybody has a plan until you get punched in the mouth. The Twins are just Mike Tyson at the moment.

Sometimes folks clamber just to clamber.

I'm not sure you are allowed to use Bold unless it's a home run. I'll check with Ash for the rules and get back to you.

The first sentence is much more entertaining.

There is a very specific set of skills necessary to be considered an Ace. I don't know what they are but the debate over it has been going on for generations.

It's been like 53 years since I last paid attention to punctuation.

1,000

(Raises Hand)

That's why Vegas should have a baseball team. Small Market team for sure but they will fill the place with the other teams fans.

I can't stands them people.