Riverbrian

.344 Batting Average .649 Slugging 25 Years Old I think we all forgot to talk about Polanco while we were talking about Buxton and Sano all those years.

I don't know about worrying about Perez specifically but in Baseball, I worry about everyone generally.

Progressing further with this thought. 2 Years of Realmuto netted the Marlins one of the top right handed pitching prospects in baseball with Sixto Sanchez, a respectable young catching replacement that still has some upside in Alfaro and a left hander that is also not a bad prospect. The Twins would be absolutely foolish to stand in the way of Garver or Astudillo right now.

It's like I've been saying over and over again. Flexibility is a natural by-product of having depth and is something that a team should strive for. Once you got 12 guys who can all produce... that's awesome. But, Manager will have to start getting creative or absolutely burn talent and value by not playing the extra players. And they should never say... well we got 12 guys... I can now trade three of them to get back down to a manageable 9. If the manager can't be creative to get every one decent playing time.... they shouldn't be managing.

You should never be that systemic with anything and as long as you feel that Stringer meant "Absolutely Equal" playing time for all 12... you will prevent yourself from seeing the sensible reasoning behind what he is saying. Cruz, Garver, Castro, Astudillo, Cron, Sano, Schoop, Polanco, Marwin, Rosario, Buxton, Kepler. 12 Players listed above... Who is our worst player and who is our best player? You may have an opinion and I may have an opinion... but If I open up that question to Twins Daily and do a little survey on the subject... I doubt the responses will be unanimous and I imagine the responses will be varied. This should show everyone that the differences between our worst player and our 8th best player is going to be pretty razor thin. Does it makes sense to play Kepler 162 games ranked 8th and Astudillo 0 games ranked 12th... Because maybe Kepler is a hair better at the moment. First off... Is Kepler a hair better? 2nd... You have just killed Astudillo for absolutely no reason at all. When you have a chance of him continuing to produce at a .300 mark and establishing Marwin Gonzalez type value... or a .300 hitter at the catcher position which is as rare as Mike Trout. If Astudillo establishes that type of value... He could be traded for something of value in return. If you don't play Astudillo, he doesn't establish value and you get nothing back when you eventually release him. All 12 of the above names don't deserve consistent bench time, they have value to the team currently regarding wins and losses and can increase in value for future acquisitions via trade. However... a player can only increase in value unless he gets playing time. Having a hard cap(this player is a smidge better than this player) just throws 3 potential (25%) future and current value slots into the garbage. This is why you need a roster of 25 players who the manager will play. Not playing someone on your roster is a waste.

I only suggested Gordon as the option based upon criteria set by Jokin. Personally... I will never roster a guy with the intention of him not getting decent playing time. I'll never roster a guy for getaway day play only. So, If I'm calling up Gordon to be the 13th guy. He goes into the mix and he plays... if he can't produce with the bat, feet, glove and arm... Back down to AAA he goes. So, I agree with you that calling Gordon up for less than full time play would be a mistake. I also 100% agree with you on 12 guys sharing 9 positions.

I think this is a great point that we all need to consider. Whatever, we (some) feel about Adrianza. He is the very definition of disposable but yet... the front office made a point to pick him up and give him a roster spot in 2018 and did so once again for 2019. They had similiar production options to choose from and chose Adrianza at more money then they could have paid. This tells me... that somebody in the front office likes him and believes in him. Although... I will always counter this thought with: You can tell how much a club likes a player based upon how often the club plays the player.

In consideration of the potential 12 position players. Garver, Castro, Astudillo, Cron, Sano, Cruz, Schoop, Polanco, Marwin, Rosario, Buxton, Kepler. From the 12 players above, I don't see anybody who will be pinch hit for... Castro maybe... but he's hitting well enough to hold his own and we will have 3 of the above 12 to pinch hit for anyone who needs to be pinch hit for. The only player needing a late inning defensive replacement would be? Astudillo? I'm just throwing out a name because Astudillo doesn't appear to be a defensive issue and neither does anyone else. I include Garver because he looks like he has made tremendous defensive strides and I want to tip my cap to him. We got flexibility to cover in-game injuries wherever they may happen. So... The need for a 13th player for the late inning strategy would be... Speed. A late inning pinch runner... when you need to make something happen. So from your original list... I assume Gordon is the speed guy because his brother is pretty fast. But... If Gordon is called up... I'm going to insist that he play and if he plays... he won't be available for that role. So, in that case... leave Gordon in Rochester and bring back Ben Revere and let him sit on the bench waiting for that moment. As for the separate issue. As long as Baldelli protects the back end of his bullpen in low leverage 8-0 games. We got a potential problem. He needs to find other bullpen guys who he can trust. That means giving Morin and Magill more opportunity before you toss them off the roster and therefore exposing them to other clubs. If nobody cares about losing Morin and Magill... then get rid of them now and sign someone else or call up the next options for audition... Jake Reed or Tom Hackimer on anyone in-between. This is what I mean by getting bullpen serious. I don't want any roster space wasted. I don't want anyone on the roster that the manager needs to protect or avoid playing. They roster'd these guys... they need to trust the guys they put on the roster or get new guys to put on the roster that they trust. This club should be thinking contender and World Series, not 1st pick overall in the draft. It isn't time to mess around. Baldelli seems to have faith in Rogers, Parker, Hildenberger and May. Baldelli seems to be a little guarded in his usage of Harper, Romero, Magill and Morin. Reed and Moya will be back and decisions will have to be made... so I'm using the extra roster space in the bullpen to figure out who else can hang a zero when you need a zero hung.

The Stringer/Jokin plan is fine with me. I just feel that the same argument for not needing 13 pitchers could also be made for not needing 13 position players. If I have a concern... a slight concern... it'll be the back end of the bullpen and I'd like to audtion some guys and see who can step up because it's a long season. I'm willing to grant the extra roster space to the bullpen in the name of discovery.

I can't speak for Dave Ramsey. It was just a comment he made and that's where I must stop at the water's edge because I'm no expert in finances. The reason most people don't do it is because of the reasons you list. We spend our lives managing our debt until we finally get smarter and start saving for retirement. But Snepp is right... get a beater for a year. Start paying yourself the car payment and move up in value unti you got that dream Dodge Dart like I have. It's best to do it when you are young before the student loans and the everything else that make it hard. Now back on the subject... All the excuses you listed for why Dave Ramsey is all wet are valid excuses but it doesn't make Dave Ramsey wrong. Just like all the reasons posters have been firing back at me on depth and flexibility. Gotta have bench players, only rare athletes can play multiple positions, there isn't that many good players. Sometimes you get trapped into a system and you can't get out of it, like the car payment.

If it was me. I'm rotating the 12 position players and getting all of them consistent playing time. I'm keeping the 13 pitchers because the back end of that bullpen has to be sorted out. Harper, Romero, Magill, Morin, Reed and Moya for 4 spots. And... I'm not opposed to a little starting rotation conservation... not going 8 innings if they don't have to against the A.L. Central. Answering your question directly. I don't want anybody on the bench for an extended time so I'd take Gordon because they will have to play him. He's too young to watch others play.

I figure that if I write an apology letter now... I stand a chance of getting an apology letter back if necessary. We are a sorry bunch of people... Thad Lavine and I.

I got no time to hate because I'm currently working on my apology letter for thinking (I never expressed) that "They lost their mind signing Martin Perez"

Sano has an option remaining so if HE goes all 2018 on us... that could be a consideration. However... right now... I'm personally not thinking that way. I'm reading 5-11 with 2 home runs and 7 RBI's in 4 games, I'm reading that he lost 25 pounds and he will be joining a team that is collectively stroking the ball. I think he's going to come up and blow the roof off. I've been wrong before. If Sano and Astudillo come back with no one else getting injured for awhile. I can see a roster of: Castro Garver Cron Sano Astudillo Schoop Polanco Marwin Rosario Buxton Kepler Cruz Not one of those 12 deserve to be on the bench. Baldelli will have platoon options, match up options, hot/cold options. I can't wait!

This the best bench we've ever had... At least as far as my memory goes back. The Author of the Article must have conducted some sort of rush job before sending to print.

Cave has options and... and... he hasn't played in the Month of May. He's gathering dust on the bench so send him down to Rochester yesterday. Whoever comes back first between Sano and Astudillo should send Cave down to Rochester. When the 2nd guy between Sano and Astudillo returns... Adrianza or a bullpen arm as Chief suggested. We also need to keep in mind that Addison Reed is starting to ramp up and Mejia won't be on the D.L. forever. Neither Reed or Mejia can be sent to Rochester without waivers getting involved. So the bullpen guys who have options (Harper and Romero) have to do some proving of themselves quick... and I mean quickly. As players start to return... Only future players going on the D.L. will save Adrianza. So yeah... they might as well showcase him now.

Lewis was an example... we can do this with anyone but since Lewis is the example... OK... I'll say that It wouldn't be a complete waste. If being able to play another position allows the team to get his bat into the lineup quicker and into the lineup, I'd rather they did that instead of not utilizing Lewis at all because Polanco is performing at an all-star level and Lewis plays the same position. Javier Baez played SS exclusively in the minors until age 21. Until 2014 when he added 2B to his resume at AAA Iowa and also with the Cubs. In 2015 at age of 22, Baez added 3B as he played 2B, 3B and SS in both Iowa and with the Cubs. In 2016, at the age of 23, he was full blown Super Utility playing all infield positions plus occasional OF mostly with the Cubs but also the same for a stint in Iowa. In 2017, he split time between 2B and SS with the occasional 3B and OF. In 2018, He split time between 2B, 3B and SS. This year... He's been an exclusive SS and I've heard numerous people express that he is one of the best at it. Whatever they did with Baez by moving him around... it didn't seem to hurt. So... I'm ok with leaving him at SS in the minors but I disagree that it would be a complete waste to play him elsewhere in preparation of finding a major league landing spot based on the context of the roster. Super Utility can be developed in Rochester and Pensacola before it reaches Minnesota.

Preach! (High Five) Actually, I still wouldn't trade Schoop. I'd be just fine with Lewis, Polanco and Schoop on the same roster. In August when it is time to make the decision that I suggested, We still don't know who will get hurt or what we will need for Game 4 of the World Series. A manager can figure it out without making Schoop get splinters in his tush. Schoop could be a multi-position guy... I'd be willing to wager that he could play some 3B, SS or other positions, maybe even OF. The point of the exercise I suggested was to point out that you can develop super utility and get those super utility results fairly quickly and it can start in the minor leagues right now. You are on the exact same page as I am... teams will stop themselves from having a roster of Lewis, Polanco and Schoop on the same roster because of the presence of Polanco and Schoop and the desire to get Lewis everyday playing time... and you end up with Lewis waiting in the minors for the roster to clear space for him and Adrianza sitting on the bench watching and maybe Adrianza sitting on the bench next year as well, watching Lewis and Polanco after Schoop is traded. When I was working in Radio... I got to have dinner with Dave Ramsey. Just making conversation, I asked him what is the biggest mistake that people make in regards to their personal finances? His reply made perfect sense to me. Without pausing to think about it... He said "Car Payments". He says that if people would simply save that car payment and put it aside, letting it accumulate until you have enough to buy the car with cash and repeat for the next car plus the trade-in value and so forth and you have eliminated car debt while saving money toward retirement. It made perfect sense and it's a mistake that most of us make. (Including myself... I still haven't followed his advice). Now if Dave Ramsey would have asked me... What is the biggest mistake that Baseball General Managers make in regards to player development? (He didn't). I would have replied... Wasting 25% of your limited precious major league development roster space on players you have no intention of developing.

Why do you have to trade or bench Schoop? Or Why couldn't Lewis play SS and OF while Polanco plays SS and 2B and Schoop plays 2B and 3B or any combination of all of that. The way the Twins would have done it in the past... well... that is a trick question because we've never had more talent than we could handle. Let's say the way most teams would handle this situation was this way: They would slam Polanco over to 2B and bench or trade Schoop like you suggest... or they would debut Lewis out in the OF like the Reds are doing with Senzel or they would keep Lewis down in the minors until next year. The reason it takes a long time to fill the pipeline is because teams are only trying to develop 9 players at a time when they have a 12 player incubator. On purpose they choose to throw rocks into the other 3 incubator slots. It's all about increasing the value of your assets. A manager can take a talented deep roster of 12 players and give them all playing time. If a manager only has a 9 player deep roster and 3 rocks... we won't be able to develop 12 at a time and this slows down the pipeline... slows it to a crawl if you fill the incubator slots with Trevor Plouffe types. Each roster spot is an incubator slots for increasing the value of players. Only using 9 of the 12 slots is wasteful. In my opinion, Royce Lewis should be getting SS reps and OF reps just like the Dodgers did with Bellinger getting reps at 1B and OF. When he is ready... we have multiple options to utilize him. We don't have to slam him into another position cold or slam Polanco into another position cold and we don't have to wait until next year until we lose Schoop or trade Polanco just to get Lewis some playing time.

Having a pitcher throw 1 inning at a time is fine for a pitcher that isn't very good. You want to limit his damage before he is cut or sent back down to AAA. But, If a pitcher is doing well, you'd want him to throw 2 or 3 innings at a time instead of just one single inning. You want to increase the total allocation of innings out of talented relievers from 60 innings a year to... I don't know... pick a number... 90 innings, 100 innings and limit the number of appearances, times he has to warm up. The counter argument to this is that a manager will want to be able to get more appearances out of special bullpen arms so they can have an impact in more games. That's fine if you have 5 starters in a rotation who can blow them away but most teams don't have 5 guys in a rotation who can do that. The Rays showed everyone that it's easier and cheaper to find effective bullpen guys who can throw 3 innings and then it is to find starters who can throw 6. So... they mapped out a new plan and it worked. Ultimately... Any team is looking for pitchers who can effectively eat those 1400 innings. They will want to get more innings out of anyone who is effective.

I took your post as sarcasm and I was playing along in full agreement with you.

Yeah... it’ll never work. Innovation is pointless. The goal is simple. 1400 plus innings need to be thrown. What combination of pitchers will hang the most zeroes. 700 plus innings of starters with 5 plus ERA’s... those guys labeled as innings eaters are not hanging zeroes but teams keep going to them.

Let's pretend that Jorge Polanco continues doing what he is doing right now. It is August and Jorge leads all SS's in OPS, he was named to the all-star team. .330 Batting Average with 20 home runs. Now, let's pretend that Royce Lewis goes nuts as well... he is performing absolutely better than Vlad Jr. nuts. Keith Law and all the pundits are in total agreement... the kid is ready and can help the major league club right now. And the Major League Club is leading the American League Central with the playoffs to prepare for. Both Polanco and Lewis have been playing SS exclusively. What do you do?

The clamoring mob (small group of picketers) doesn't seem to know what a Marwin type player is. So, they don't understand why a Marwin type player matters at all because they think Rob Wilfong should play every day.

This is what he was signed to do. This is why A.J. Hinch loved him. This is where the value of the contract is.