Riverbrian

BTW... Great Post. My Priority is for the Twins to find 25 players who can play and play them all. They have done what I have been asking for all off-season with the position players... I have depth and flexibility so I have no complaints. Now I'd like them to turn their attention to the depth of the pitching staff. We will have injuries... it's only a matter of time. I'm not sure what the answer is or will be... but this team can win it all so they will need to have an answer. Laying down and dying will not be acceptable. I'll bet money right now that the Indians will be selling at the deadline. They already dipped that toe... they will finish the plunge into those waters. The White Sox are young, The Tigers and Royals are just starting the rebuild. Our offense can compete with any offense... Go get some depth on the mound.

What you say is true if teams allow it to be true. I'm too far gone on the depth kick to change now. The Yankees for example... if they lost Chapman... Still have Britton, Ottovino, Kahnle, Green and Betances if healthy to pick up the slack. The Twins if they lose Rogers... They have Parker, May, Harper and ??? Speaking of Betances... the Yankees are an example of what I'm talking about. Take a look at their DL... they are building an entire new wing on the hospital to house the patients. 5 Starters on the DL. Paxton, Sabathia, Severino, Montgomery and Loaisiga. They have a rotation of 3 currently and are relying on 40% bullpen games just to get through and it's working because they have that bullpen that can absorb the loss of Betances and the loss of Chapman if it should happen. It ain't much better with the position players either. Judge, Stanton, Gregorious, Andujar, Bird, Tulowitski and Ellsbury are all on the DL. The Yankees have a current record of 32-17. It's a myth that you have to die when injuries occur. Depth can keep you alive but you have to prepare for the possibility by committing to depth and creating it. I don't doubt your research and I appreciate and respect the points you are making but the times are changing and baseball has been locked into a 5 man rotation come hell or high water for decades now and I'm not sure if that traditional model applies anymore. The Dodgers reached the World Series when every single one of their starters spent significant time on the DL. The Brewers almost reached the World Series with one starter and a damn good bullpen. The 2018 and 2019 Rays are an example that can't be discounted. There are new ways to skin a cat. Pressly has been awesome this year... But the Astros also have Osuna, Rondon, Harris, Devenski, James and Valdez. The Red Sox... it is not my intention to diminish the value or talent of Kimbrel... I'd be all smiles if the Twins signed him but... when you say "I'm not sure that the Red Sox would win the series without Kimbrel". You are placing a lot of value on someone who threw 10.2 innings in the playoffs and coughed up 7 runs. I'd be more inclined to make that statement and apply it to Eovaldi or Steve Pearce who the Red Sox picked up at bargain prices at the trade deadline. In total... I'm more inclined to say that the Red Sox made the playoffs and won the World Series because they had depth. 14 Position players made significant contributions during the regular season. 8 starters started more than 10 games... 6 were above average... 1 was average and 1 was bad (Pomeranz). 12 Bullpen arms pitched in a significant amount of games over the course of the season and of that dozen... only one (Thornburg) would have been classified as bad. It is my strong opinion and many can attest that I've been unbending, unabashed and frequent expressing it. Depth and flexibility is the silver bullet. If a team doesn't have the ability to cover for injuries and poor performance... it is the fault of the front office and it can be avoided.

I'm not sure if panic is the right word or if urgent is the right description. It's really hard to panic or think urgently in such great times. However... I am absolutely sure that if he we lost a starter and had to rely on the bullpen more to cover for the loss of the starter. Panic and Urgent will be closer to the right word.

I disagree that Minnesota has been future focused. But the rest of the article is absolutely spot on. This team deserves support and I'd be shocked if the front office doesn't provide it. We are all seeing what depth with the lineup provides. Garver and Cruz down... no problem. They are not even missing a beat and those are two large bats that would cripple most teams. Now the front office has to look at the mound and look at it hard. Don't get cocky thinking you've built it. The baseball Gods love to mess around with those sitting around admiring their handiwork. Imagine what would happen if Taylor Rogers gets knocked out for the year. That one loss out of the bullpen would be huge. In the rotation, what happens if Berrios, or Odorizzi or Gibson or Perez or Pineda goes down. What if two of them go down? You can prepare for it... you don't have to go down with the ship if the unthinkable happens. They need to find arms they can count on immediately out of their own system and they need to start adding arms via trade once June hits. If the starter price is too high, then you got to load that bullpen up in preparation for some bullpen games. Kimbrel would be awesome but it doesn't have to be Kimbrel... They just need to build a fierce pen that will shut down opponents when our OFFENSE provides a cushion and bullpen arms are always available at the trade deadline. Stay away from the Gregerson and Belisle types. We don't need crafty and experienced... we need destroy all hope rockets.

He was the player I was least worried about on the roster. He really looked like he was turning a corner last year... right out of his suspension when he was supposed to behind everyone because of the time on the shelf. I'm honestly not shocked. (Maybe a little shocked). Who could have predicted this?

There is little doubt now who gets sent down to make room for Cruz. Feel bad for him. He's gonna be thinking about this inning all the way to Rochester.

I’m not so sure that he does. He appears to be more concerned with left/right handed hitter seperation in the order and I don’t have a problem with that.

We’ve seen enough left handed pitching for Buxton to overtake Kepler in overall stats and When we face lefthanders... Buxton still hits behind Kepler... If they are watching the splits.

If true... there is no reason for Buxton to bat 9th. He is currently out performing players slotted ahead of him. I’d assume that AL teams have weaker hitters as well. Most Catchers for example and the 8th spot is where most catchers hit.

I always type the disclaimer that I don’t care about the batting order that much. With that said. I absolutely get the concept and have no problem with it in theory but in our case. Does Kepler fit that ultra top of order mold to be fed by a Buxton in the 9 hole. Polanco and Cruz you bet. When your 9 is out producing your 1... you got it backwards. Especially when Cruz is our and now Buxton is feeding Kepler and Marwin. In that case you just have Buxton hitting after Adrianza for example and Buxton our producing the guys he is trying to feed. But... in the end I don’t worry about the order that much. My thing that I watch is a somewhat permanent slotting or a template that is only deviated from slightly. I just don’t see any harm batting Buxton wherever in an effort to get him an extra PA during a given game.

Since Managers tend to put their best hitters at the top of the order. Many Managers will put a guy with some talent in the 9 spot to feed the ultra talented guys at the top of the order. There are many managers who put their worst hitter in the 8 spot instead. Larussa and Maddon would/will frequently bar their pitcher in the 8th spot as a dramatic example.

I know this thread is about Arraez but after reading this thread... I am absolutely shocked by the willingness of some posters to simply discard Astudillo. He's had 27 AB's since he came back from the D.L. with 5 hits. Everybody on this roster has had 5 for 27 stretches. Ask Yourself... How many catchers have hit over .300 with 15 home run power in the past decade? Ask yourself... What is the trade value of a .300 hitting 15 home run catcher with 6 years of control? Ask yourself... What is the trade value of a .300 hitting 15 home run catcher who can also play 3B,1B and occasional outfield? Especially to a National League team. You don't trash an Astudillo. You coach him. Coach: Mr. Turtle... we love your contact skills... now lets work on pitch selection a little... add some walks to those contact skills. Coach: La Turtle... You are decent enough behind the plate... good arm and feet. Now let's work on that pitch framing and the handling of the staff. He has skills that you can't teach... teach him what you can teach. If he adds those things to his game... you have a guy who could skyrocket in value enough to get a top 25 MLB overall prospect in return because that's what Catchers who hit .300 with 15 home runs will bring back. Back to Arraez... He's been very exciting to watch and I am insistent that he plays while he is visiting us... but don't we need to see more of it until we start clearing additional space for him on the 25 man roster. We have enough space for him already on the 40 man roster. Why must we start tossing bodies out the door to clear room? It's just depth... I know we haven't seen it as Twins Fans so we don't know how to react to having it... but it's just depth and it's a great thing... Enjoy it, we don't have to kill it because it's new to us.

Arraez - While he is up with the big club... PLAY HIM! When he's back in Rochester... he's still on the roster and we can always call him up when needed. Arraez is creating no problems by starting hot. Adrianza - One question needs to be answered... Will Baldelli play him? If everyone is healthy... Will Baldelli and the front office give him the opportunity to contribute? If the answer is Yes... He's important and you hang on to him. He doesn't have options and he will be claimed. By answering Yes... you will play him at least a couple of times a week. If the answer is No... If you have to wait for injury or getaway days... Then he is no longer important to this club... he won't increase in value and he is easily replaceable by anyone. Guys who don't play are just as valuable as other guys who don't play. Back to Arraez... If the answer is yes with Adrianza... Arraez is simply sent back to Rochester for additional depth and playing time and we bring him back when needed. We all need more information and data before we start planning DFA's or trades. The only way to get that information is during game action. What I'd do is this: Play Arraez while he is in town so the club gathers more data to better answer the questions: Could he help us during the playoffs this year in case of injury or poor performance? Do we have to pay Schoop 20 million to stay with us next year? If he stays hot, delay his return flight to Rochester for as long as you can to gather more data but, eventually he will have to go back to Rochester when everyone is healthy and performing. If it's a month down the road and Arraez is hitting .400... Goodbye Adrianza at that time.

This is the correct answer in a nutshell.

With Cruz due to come back Friday (last I heard). Arraez has probably earned a longer look. This makes Austin Adams the most likely choice to be sent down. However... I’d like to see Adams pitch again before they send him down. His only appearance this year went pretty good.

This pretty much sums it up. This explains why I put Logan Morrison on a poster with the caption, this can never happen again and why I've been asking for the depth and flexibility that this team has. I have no complaints.

We're gonna Marwin Twins... We're gonna score

That early 3-0 deficit feels better now.

I don't get nervous. However, I avoid games like Jenga.

We're gonna Marwin Twins... We're gonna score Knock out a home run... Watch that baseball soar.

MARWIN!!!

Fishing with Chief

For no reason at all