Riverbrian

We all face tough decisions in life.

You could place Dicaprio in the picture with his arm around the bear I'd bet.

Where's DiCaprio

I'm glad he's willing to consider it. Paul: (after reading this post) Hey I consider it... I don't usually act upon it... but I consider it.

Thanks... I wrote the open before Graham and O' Rourke were cast aside so it was an assumption this morning. I've striken it from the record.

"Turn and Face the Strange... Ch Ch Changes" Last night when we were busy being upset about the treatment of Alex Meyer. The Twins must have had a meeting and decided to make some fairly drastic changes. Milone and Fein Graham and O' Rourke and Murphy are gone, replaced by Mastroianni and Centeno. Somebody at 1 Twins Way obviously feels that the Twins are stuck in the mud just a little. Here are some Things To Think About: 1. East African Savanna -- The climate transitions can be quite severe and the animals who live through these changes struggle to survive. Acres of grasslands turn to acres of dust; bodies of water that sustained life dry up and leave fish flopping in what is now mud. The many animals who rely on the vegetation and the fresh water for survival are forced to adapt, and that adaptation can be hard and many don't survive. Elephants will eat twigs because it's all they can find and are forced to walk many, many miles; some just simply drop and die before reaching what they need. The change is severe and it's a perfect metaphor for the careers of the cast of "Saved by the Bell." 2. The Beautiful Butterfly -- One of the most striking changes in nature is the change from caterpillar to butterfly. When you see those flightless things crawling around your apple tree... it's hard to imagine the metamorphosis that will change it into a butterfly. There is a clear cycle... eggs on a leaf become a caterpillar... the caterpillar goes through a stage of hanging upside down for awhile... From hanging upside down for awhile to the butterfly... and finally the butterfly lays more eggs before dying. The 'hanging upside down part' is the equivalent of us attending college. 3. Bruce Jenner -- He was on a Wheaties box... he was a gold medal winning decathlete in the 70's... he knew all the Kardashian's by name... he went through a bit of change. I'm not going to judge the guy... it's his call, not mine... I'm just saying that I wouldn't do it. I've always enjoyed being a guy and I've never once wished I wasn't a guy. I like being able to dunk a basketball (I can't but I have a better chance at it being a guy)... I like being able to reach things on the top shelf. I also don't want to spend that much time shopping. I don't want to shove a mascara wand into my eyeball and when I sneeze I don't have to suppress it and I prefer that. 4. Lawnmowers -- My dad is getting up in years and I drove an hour to Thief River Falls to visit him yesterday. His lawn needed mowing and Dad was complaining about the dandelions. Dad shouldn't be mowing at his age and condition so I decided to mow his lawn. I was dressed in normal, somewhat nice, clothing for a visit and it was 90 degrees outside. I just want to say that lawnmowers have CHANGED over the years and Dad hasn't changed his. I mow my lawn with ease... there was nothing easy about what I did yesterday. It was like pushing a stalled car and I wrenched my back getting under the pine trees. I got done... my clothes were soaked in sweat... my back was screaming at me and I just laid on the floor and asked if my dad could get me a glass of water. I drove the hour back home... my back still hurting... I walked in the door and my wife didn't say "Hello"... she noticed the grass stains on my clothes and she said... "You mowed the lawn in that... your nice clothes? I swear... you will never change." 5. Mid-Life Crisis -- I looked at my kids and I realized that my kids and my clothes were about the same age. That was the moment that my wife had to talk me out of buying that convertible... "TURN AND FACE THE STRANGE" -------------------- Lineups: TWINS Danny Santana(S) CF Eduardo Nunez(R ) 2B Joe Mauer(L) 1B Miguel Sano(R ) RF Trevor Plouffe(R ) 3B Byung-ho Park(R ) DH Oswaldo Arcia(L) LF Kurt Suzuki(R ) C Eduardo Escobar(S) SS Ricky Nolasco P WHITE SOX Adam Eaton(L) RF Austin Jackson(R ) CF Jose Abreu(R ) 1B Todd Frazier(R ) 3B Melky Cabrera(S) LF Brett Lawrie(R ) 2B Avisail Garcia(R ) DH Dioner Navarro(S) C Tyler Saladino(R ) SS Mat Latos P Game-time forecast: It's a gorgeous day in Chicago. Gorgeous. Not perfect because it's not 80-something, but still gorgeous. At game time it will be about 73 deg F, sunny and clear, no chance of rain, winds at 7mph from the SW. Gorgeous, just shy or perfect. Go Twins! Click here to view the article

You and Nick are saying the same thing about a youth movement and I also realize that there are a lot more TD readers who also feel that a complete commitment to youth is the answer. I believe that the time for this youth movement was after the 2012 season. The team was 66-96 and the top pitcher in the rotation was Scott Diamond. That's when you declare youth movement and you trade off anything of value that isn't nailed down. They started this process with the Span and Revere trades but they should have kept going. Perkins could have fetched something decent and Willingham just hit 35 Home Runs so he might have brought some young talent back. I think Plouffe had a big month of hitting homers and he was about to enter his prime so... who knows. Liriano on potential may have been worth something. The Twins didn't have a lot of talent but there were moves to be made and commitment to get younger that probably should have happened. Instead... Terry Ryan says (I remember this)... I don't believe in rebuilding it's only an excuse for losing games. I say to myself... OK... That's how he wants to do it. I decide to let the man do his job. If this is the case... No rebullding... After 2013 was as bad as 2012. Terry Ryan now has no choice. Scott Diamond wasn't even as good Scott Diamond was in 2012... Our top pitcher was Sam Deduno in 2013. I loved Sam but Sam Deduno was #1 on the depth chart and Terry Ryan doesn't believe in rebuilding so he has no choice. He has to go out and pay big money to sign Ricky Nolasco and Phil Hughes. If you are not going to rebuild and Terry said he wasn't... He has no choice but to sign these guys. 2014... We still suck... still no youth movement... and Ervin Santana comes to town. Again... Ryan has no choice... He has to sign Ervin Santana. He doesn't believe in rebuilding and he has been consistent by not going full blown youth movement. Oh and Gardenhire was fired so clearly expectations on the field have not been met. 2015.. Paul Molitor is the new manager and somehow and nobody thought this would happen but we kept ourselves in contention for almost the entire year. It was exciting... and I thought to myself finally and I await to see what kind of fortifications Ryan would make to this roster to increase the teams chances in 2016. 2016... So we were "THIS CLOSE" to making the playoffs in 2015. And for the first time since 2012... The TEAM GETS YOUNGER!!! I'm Ok with a youth movement... there was no reason it couldn't have started earlier and why wait until we get "THIS CLOSE" to dip your toe in the youth pool?

There are things that Molitor does that drive me a little crazy. I didn't understand his statement that Sano won't play 3B at all (I know he changed his mind). I don't understand what took him so long to play other players while the squad was losing 9 games to start the season. I don't understand why Nunez is seemingly the guy with the short end of the infield stick when his bat has been clearly productive while others who are not productive are getting the preferred playing time. I don't understand why Dozier continues to bat at the top of the lineup instead of in the middle. I don't understand how Park can sit 4 games in a row in Milwaukee and DC and I don't understand the use of Kepler, Polanco and Meyer. However... I'm not going to call for his head because he doesn't do what I want him to do. Honestly... most of you fine folks wouldn't do what I wanted you to do and even my idolized Joe Maddon wouldn't do everything I wanted him to do and eventually you just run out of managers that you are happy with until they give me the job. As Seth Said... Molitor's results were an over performance last year and an equal under performance so far this year. So what does he get credit/blame for? Now... As For Terry Ryan... This is where the buck stops in my opinion. He had an over achieving team that came close last year. The Twins surprised everyone... It was a young team in comparison to most but it came close and there is talent on the roster. So what did he do this off season? Here are my list of grievances: 1. He made the team even younger!!! This is what you do when you are rebuilding... you get younger. We got Younger in CF and Younger at Backup Catcher and much younger in RF and based on MLB Experience... We got younger at DH as well since Park is brand spanking new in this league. We took a young team and made it younger and said go win us a pennant. 2. He didn't learn from his past CF Mistakes... Perhaps the most puzzling thing to me is this. Why would he willingly make Buxton the opening day starter after he clearly struggled in 2015? And why would he do this when he made the same mistake with Hicks and made the same mistake with Hicks again? And each time he didn't provide an adequate safety net. 3. He didn't address the bullpen... The bullpen had serious issues in 2015 in my opinion and those issues were at the key positions. We didn't know what Perkins had left in him at the end of 2015... Jepsen was great filling in for Perkins but he was a vet with a pretty clear track record of a guy who was on the fringe of a set up position and if any of you were wondering why May wasn't really considered for a starting position... in my opinion... you can look right here. The bullpen needed help when May was moved to the bullpen in 2015 and that's why he was moved there and the bullpen still needed that help going into 2016. Ryan needed to add two quality bullpen arms that could provide insurance for Perkins and push everyone down a notch in the pecking order and by doing so... strengthening the bullpen. 4. He watched the entire American League improve around him... Everybody got better and we got younger... The American League was going to be a fight every single night and he decided that younger and the mistakes that come with younger players was going to help us win those fights. 5. He doesn't seem to be on the same page as his Manager and Rash changes on Cinco De Mayo suggest that he didn't see this coming. BTW... He gets credit for the Park signing. So the off season wasn't totally bad.

Fantastic post He simply shouldn't have been called up in the first place. Like you said... A good April doesn't make up for his career. He should have remained in AAA.

I couldn't disagree with you more. If a Manager believed that a team has zero chance on May 4. Then they should be fired immediately. The Texas Rangers were 9-16 on May 4, 2015 I'd be more worried about Molitor if he came off a season where his team was in it to the last weekend and looked at the guys and said. "You can't do that again".

I just tacked on a point that even if I had some criticisms of Meyer's Command last night... I look forward to seeing him again on the Minnesota mound. The situation is obviously complicated. I'm willing to bet that inside the Twins organization... a debate similar to the debate being held on TD is taking place. Some think Starter... Some Think Reliever... Some Think Patience... Some Think he's old. I just want to say that I agree with Chief... His wonderful two innings produced decent results but they were dancing on a cliff in my opinion. I also believe the Castro Homer was an easy F7 in any other park and maybe things would have been different if it would have been an F7 but he followed it up with two walks and a double and a passed ball and I think Molitor made up his mind during that sequence and once Milone was ready... That was it. The Two outs made while Milone was warming was just something that happened while Molitor was thinking to himself... Is he ready yet... Is he ready yet... He's ready... OK... I'm putting him in. Honestly... I'm more interested in how the organization has handled itself since the 16 inning game in DC and Meyer has been a major part of that. Molitor's use of Meyer tells me a story. Molitor's use of Kepler and Polanco tells me a story. Molitor's' use of Dozier also tells me a story. The Twins are just in a weird place right now.

I agree with Chief. His command is very questionable and I also think that Meyer should get more chances down the road. I don't believe that he cruised through 2 innings. He threw a lot of pitches and a few of them were really fantastic. Kinda like the golfer who hits one amazing shot to save par after he hit the ball in the rough and the sand trap. In my opinion. For whatever reason... Meyer seemed to have less rope then say Berrios. I'm guessing but I don't think Molitor is going to have the same mindset as some of our TD Posters. I don't think Molitor feels that the season is over. I think Molitor is trying to win games and make the playoffs and he should feel that way and Meyer doesn't have that much rope. I'm also guessing that when Meyer got into trouble in the third. He got Milone up and had made up his mind that Milone was going in immediately once ready. Meyer just happened to get a couple of outs in the meantime. I feel Molitor had already made the decision by that time and Meyer just didn't have that much rope. It can't be surprise that he didn't have rope when you look at how Meyer had been used since his call up. Meyer is 8 on the depth chart and I think that's about right.

Somebody be Chief

I was shouting so Jepsen can hear me

KEEP ALTUVE OFF THE BASES

I know... He was a complete 1st rate human being. If he was your neighbor... there is no way you wouldn't invite him over. You'd ask everyone to not talk politics so you don't get him going... but you'd absolutely have him over to the house for a beer and ball game.

Honestly... it's always hard to get a true sense on anyone in that situation and it was a long time ago. They were all decent...Joe did most of the talking... I remember that. I don't believe Steve Clark was there but that probably wasn't a surprise. Nobody is really themselves in those situations. They can pretend to have a good time just to project that personality because it's part of the job. I'll tell you one guy who was legitimately and honestly... a good guy. Ted Nugent He comes in and joins you. Whatever you are doing... He jumps in... He asks where the best local food is? I'm not really into his politics so I was very surprised. I remember asking him this question on the air. What happened to the Guitar Hero? There was you... Page... Eddie Van Halen... Clapton... My God... We knew who Gary Richrath was and is? Today... nobody can name a guitar player anymore... Why is that? So I ask him that question and he answers it's all Obama's Fault. Nobody cares anymore... it's the society that he has created. It was really hard to ask the next question because I was trying so hard not to laugh.

I love bad jokes

Yep

Please not Vargas... The ball leaves his bat at 170 MPH.

Swungtooharditis

I got the transcript Murphy: (Turns Around) Where was that pitch? Layne: It was a ball outside Murphy: You mean inside? Layne: I said Outside Murphy: Do You see that guy on the mound? Layne (Squints) Yes Murphy: Dude... Did you just squint Layne: No Murphy: Yes you did... I Saw you.

Say what you want about Suzuki. I never will He's tough as nails and he has earned my respect.

I hope Nunez gets to play somewhere when Plouffe comes back. Catcher maybe?