Riverbrian

This is how it works... The front office brought in competition for Mauer's replacement and they made their selection. They might be right... They might be wrong. These decisions are made on razor thin margins. I personally believe in Austin... I may be right... I might be wrong.

No... I won't be doing that. I could be wrong... if that happens, I'd be highlighting my wrongness.

Austin singles to center in his 2nd AB. He already leads the Giants in hits for the season.

#1 - If the Twins win 6 out of every 10 games. They will finish with 97 Wins. If the Twins split with the Mets they will start the season 6-4... RIGHT ON PACE BABY!!!! #2 - I'm Mr. Position Flexibility and I love the flexibility that Astudillo provides. However... he is the one guy that I would try to limit that flexibility with... the reason. He can CATCH... legitimately catch. He is not a defensive issue behind the plate. Take that bat behind the plate and you are instantly ahead of the rest of the league at the position from an offensive standpoint. #3 - Everybody was willing to overpay steeply for JT Realmuto... If Astudillo hits like Realmuto (right now he is hitting better than Realmuto)... Maybe Astudillo establishes similar value. If Astudillo can play defense... and it sure looks like he can and hit... what kind of value have you created? The Twins need to look long term and think value and give Astudillo the keys to the catching kingdom until he shows he can't produce. #4 - However... if the Twins insist on carrying three catchers... then Astudillo has to be used at 3B more often to get the AB's he deserves. #5 - Astudillo playing 3B until Sano gets back shouldn't be a problem. Marwin was signed as an "everyday utility player". The plan was to move him around... the Twins can always go back to that plan. Sano gets hurt and now Marwin is the everyday 3B... that "everyday utility player" designation sure must be fragile if that is all it took. That was 5 things to think about.

That home run was scary. If the can park it on that pitch... he can park it on any pitch. Forget Harper... Hoskins is the guy to watch in Philly.

Oldest trick in the book... He says "There are no intentional pairings happening" but he fails to mention if there are "unintentional pairings happening".

I hope it works out for Tyler in San Francisco... He's got to stop this severe westward movement of his career. From New York to Minnesota to San Francisco... Next stop moving west for him will be Japan or South Korea... or the Solomon Islands.

The often stated dream of Austin having the ability to play some OF. The lingering question of is Cron better than Austin. He didn't play a single inning of OF in spring training so I've been assuming he just can't do it. If he could play some OF he wouldn't be headed to SF right now but he didn't play any OF so... I'll let my current assumption ring. And of course... He is starting tonight for the Giants and starting at 1B with Brandon Belt moving to LF. So for now... I'll just be watching to see who produces better... Cron or Austin... trying to compare and contrast in unique situations... National League... American League. I'm not saying my watching will do any good but that has never stopped me before.

I'm going to be watching how the Giants deploy Austin... Keenly attentive to see what the Giants do with him. What the Giants do... will answer questions about what the Twins didn't do. .

I think we are on the same page. I realize that Cron is playing decent enough so I'd like to see him keep playing and that doesn't leave a lot of space for Austin. This is the nature of 25 and 40 Man Rosters and the CBA. It happens all the time. I wanted him to get a chance to compete... it didn't happen and I wouldn't have known how to make it happen either in current context.

Humor Comments after the loss suggested we were miles from competing with the likes of the Phillies. It was humor.

About 77 days in AAA should do the trick.

I've always felt they would have to choose between Astudillo and Garver. One will have to report to Rochester. I know whose name I would put on the plane ticket.

Teams that could (probably should) stake a claim on Tyler Austin: Orioles: No Brainer - Chris Davis is currently 0 -17 after going .168 last year. Trey Mancini can also play OF and Mancini is one of their prime trade chips. Tyler Austin is exactly the type of guy you claim for free and play at 1B or DH for Minimum wage. Tigers: No Brainer - They have nobody on the major league roster and nobody ready to join the major league roster. Austin and Miggy can share 1B and DH duties until Miggy gets hurt which he will because he always does. Marlins: No Brainer - Neil Walker playing 1B... or Tyler Austin who is a minimum wage 1B with 40 homer potential. If the Marlins let him pass... there will be no explaining what they are doing. D-Back: Possible (Good) - They are starting a waiver claim at 1B currently in Christian Walker although he is off to a decent start. Jake Lamb is now out for 6 weeks... there is no one on the farm. Austin is certainly worth the conversation. Royals: Possible (Slim) - They have 3 1B on their roster at the moment and If I was the Royals... I'd want to see what they have in O' Hearn. They are currently not finding AB's for Duda and Schwindel who are also 1B. However... I do consider Austin an upgrade over those two. A's: Possible (Fair) - Who do you choose between Kendrys or Austin while Matt Olson is on the D.L? The A's have always liked 40 homer potential players.

I agree 1000%

It does However... Crystal Ball options are unlimited... The Magic 8 Ball is limited to whatever is printed up and placed inside.

Agreed... that's why I'm disappointed in the collective group think that came to this conclusion... but not shocked because there is a lot of hubris in those front offices when it comes to these razor thin margin calls. All I can do is sit here on my couch and pray to the baseball gods that my front office will eventually let the players decide things on the field. It's really all I'm asking for. All my posts can be boiled down to this single request.

When I was kid you get one of those crystal balls at Woolworths for .99 cents.

I was prepared for this. I knew it was coming. We were fat at 1B/DH so it's not shocking... However... We are also fat at Catcher. Garver has an option and could have been sent down. In a nutshell from my personal opinion... I think Austin had potential... I believe a good solid run could have revealed that potential but... if they are not going to play him... cut him. He is a simple waste of roster space if the manager can't work him into the lineup. And on that note is where any of my disappointment rests. Austin was not given the chance to compete for the job and if he wasn't going to be given a chance... might as well send him packing. This isn't what I was hoping for with the new manager.

You could be right. I don't know what he is capable of out there... but I'm honestly under the impression that he would have been better than Rosario was out there last night. I'm glad that Baldelli is cooling Rosie for a day.

If he can't... he can't play. All he has to do is get under a fly ball. Like Grossman was able to get under a fly ball and then we have improved the offense. No question that the other OF options are better defensive option but the other OF options don't have his bat. If he can't get under a fly ball... He's a pinch hitter on trips the the National League.

I'll add to your excellent point. Cruz and Astudillo were both on the bench. The players who were in the lineup represented our best defensive options (Minus Buxton of course). Besides having our best defensive options in the game, our defensive play last night was terrible. If Rosario is going to half ass the ball into the infield... If Cave is going to miss the cut. You might as well put Cruz in the Outfield for his bat. If I'm Baldelli... Rosario sits this afternoon for a one game... Not a permanent benching but he sits with the message that you are sitting today because you half assed the ball into the infield and because you failed to advance Polanco in scoring position twice. Put Cruz in LF. The season is just starting... send the message to Rosario and the entire locker room right now. As for Jorge Polanco... The rain didn't seem to bother him at all. Congrats to Jorge... I'm proud of him. As for the Rain... to my knowledge... the Phillies also had to play in it.

Looks like we are both out of luck tonight. Both Cruz and Astudillo are out of the lineup. On Muncy, Turner and Voit... You are right... they did get a chance... with a different team of course. Astudillo can still get that chance with someone else as well. I stand corrected.

Nobody has to be benched Sitting 1 game so the manager can work in a hot bat is not a benching. However... Saying that no player can't sit for one day is... a benching for the hot bat.

I get that and this is also where I get off that bus. Yes... Projection is vital to any organization. I'm not disagreeing with that. I'm hoping with all my heart that the front office becomes exceptional at the art of projection. However... they are often wrong... not just the Twins but all organizations and they are wrong frequently enough that the list of players getting 2 to 3 year runs to match potential and failing is quite lengthy and I will continue to assume that they will all be wrong again in the future. The sad side of this trying to force potential to match projections with automatic playing time is that a player like Astudillo or Max Muncy or Justin Turner or Luke Voit is never given a chance to confound projections because the team thinks they know better. Sorry, Mr. Astudillo... I know you are really tearing the cover off the ball right now but we can't play you right now because our projections suggest that you shouldn't be tearing the cover off the ball... so we have decided as an organization to keep playing the player who is not tearing the cover off the ball at the moment because we believe that he will be tearing the cover off the ball in the future. That's a way to lose today and it's also the quickest way to kill a career who just might be Max Muncy. Just go ahead and bench someone who is tearing the cover off the ball because you think you know better. The organization holds this tremendous power in their hands. Besides... it doesn't have to be "all or nothing". It doesn't have to be... we are now going to play Astudillo every single day which means that Max Kepler will never play again. It doesn't have to be either or with no middle ground to consider. You can in theory (this is over simplification) rotate 10 players for the 9 starting positions and each of the 10 players will play 9 out of 10 games. 9 out of 10 games will not stall Max Kepler's development... 9 out of 10 games will not penalize the expected benefit of Jonathan Scoop. What it will do... is allow the team to take advantage of a hot hitter and give that hot hitter a chance to become one of the chosen few with his own hands. It gives them a chance to compete instead of some predetermined whatever. It doesn't have to be either or. Anyway... I'm glad you agree... Astudillo is our best hitter RIGHT NOW... At this moment and any lineup that doesn't have him in it... is a failure to recognize that he is our best hitter... RIGHT NOW. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.