Riverbrian

Good post Well thought and I am inches from agreeing. Of course those inches mean slight adjustments. Almost agree with you on Buxton and Sano. Make them earn their way back I am in total agreement. I wouldn't have a big problem with them starting in Rochester but I would probably give them a spot on the 25 man. Either way I'm OK as long as they are not named opening day starters as the team attempts to build around them. If you are going to name Adrianaza the 3B based on defense... I'd pencil him in at SS instead and then focus on a 3B with some Pop. That will limit you to one light hitter on that side of the diamond. Grossman... I don't hate him like others on this website. I think he contributes but I would truly rather see the Twins go get a OF with Defense and Pop and move on from Grossman.

On that we are agreed. Just making sure you were not trying to have it both ways. I'm just in a "what are you doing for us right now" mode and Cave is doing much more right now. Honestly... Cave has options so we have time with him... Rochester would be the perfect place to start 2019. I'd like to see the Twins bring in a bigger splashier OF name.

This isn't quite fair to Jake Cave. You are absolutely correct when you say that his sample is not reliable. But then you go on to say that he does not project reliably forward? Based on an unreliable sample? You were correct... the sample is not reliable. Buxton on the other hand... 979 AB's... He's entering arbitration. Much more reliable data in my opinion.

I don't know about the once a game requirement but he certainly has to let the other team know that the club is in his bag and he knows how to use it. He's a pull hitter. Making a 3B creep up out of respect will open up more space to shoot balls through. First and foremost though. Contact... the guy has to improve his contact rate immensely.

The A's dumped Max Muncy. They are kicking themselves right now. The Cards would love to Voit back. The Astros dumped JD Martinez. The Mets dumped Justin Turner. The Brewers dumped Scooter Gennett The Indians dumped Jesus Aguilar The Giants threw in Francisco Liriano. The Twins dumped David Ortiz and Aaron Hicks(kinda) as you mentioned. I'm not claiming that Cave will be any of those guys but teams make mistakes like this all the time. I'm not even claiming that Max Muncy will be one of those guys in the future but Max will be given a fair shot to try again next year. Personally... I am long past the point of believing that any team has this down cold. I no longer believe that causalities of other organizations is some sort of indicator of future. I believe the margins are razor thin and I believe that opportunity is the key to success or failure and I believe that players get blocked watching some guy with potential struggle wayyy too often... especially in Minnesota. 40 man roster pressure forces teams to make these razor thin decisions constantly and sometimes they spit out the wrong guy. If Cave beats out Buxton... Cave gets the playing time as far as I'm concerned.

In all my years of being a Minnesota Twins fan. I have never felt the experience you describe above. Being afraid of having too much talent on a Twins roster is like worrying about an 80 degree day in December in Hibbing. It's never happened before and if it does... celebration fist bumps for everyone you meet walking around in shorts.

Spot on Article by Tom. It's seems simple to me... I'd put them on the 25 man roster and that is where the promises end. I'd say here's a bat and here is a glove, now go out and decide your fate. Either win the job or lose the job it is completely up to them. I would also remind them that they both have an option remaining that can and will be utilized if they have another non-competitive year. I'd look them in the eye and say "Yeah... we brought in a third baseman and we brought in a CF... do you have the talent to out play them? If you do... prove it". I understand that they are projected to be 1 trillion WAR players but those projections are not saving my summer at the moment. They will not be traded. They will succeed here or die here. We will not watch them figure it out elsewhere while we are forced to wonder if the relief pitcher we acquired in the trade can be trusted to get a left-handed batter out. Any 2019 plan that says we got Sano at 3B and Buxton in CF therefore we are set, so OK let's go find a 2B... is flawed. I'm completely comfortable putting the ball in their court and saying prove it. I'm completely uncomfortable having nothing to turn to if they can't.

I'd end up in a coma from happiness overload. I'd love to see the Cubs lose.

In my opinion, his roster management style is lock it and throw away the key.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Bannister is on the short list.

I'm equal parts sad and happy over the news. My personal issues with Molitor, were correctable in my opinion. I never called for his head but I was praying that he adjusts to fit what I wanted. Now I'm going to pray that Falvey and Lavine are close to my page.

Scioscia and Showalter are exactly what I don't want. I'm not looking for a manager that hasn't modernized. Might as well keep Molitor if those are the guys who replace him. They are the same manager in my opinion. Hyde, Geren, Pat Murphy are guys that I hope they took a long look at. Never discussed philosophy with any of them so I won't offer strong opinions on any of them but I do know that they currently exist in the philosophy I'm hoping for.

That is true. Along with Puig, Jansen, Baez and Urias in the international catagory.

It's worse than you are thinking. The two Dodger free agents were Justin Turner and Max Muncy. They were only free agents because they cleared waivers. Calling them Free Agents gives the wrong impression. The answer is really zero.

Signing a contract with some sort of guarantee that he will play 3B only. That would be the best way to make sure it's his final major league contract. If Escobar asks for that type of guarantee... I am no longer interested. You will have taken away his best feature. Let's take the current D-Backs as an example. What happens to Escobar if Jake Lamb just got healthy all of a sudden? If he's 3B only he's dead. The baseball path he will have chosen will lead to a conversation with Trevor Plouffe. Trevor will be there waiting for him.

Those numbers you are quoting are all from this year. 103 OPS Total 98 OPS with the Yankees 108 OPS with the Twins. His strikeouts are way too high I agree and he is not a sure thing. I would hand him a 25 man roster spot next year but I would not offer his a spot without capable safety nets in case he looks like Sano did this year. However... he's hitting Homers at a 40 a year pace despite sporadic playing time during his career. Just imagine if he lowered that K rate with some somewhat consistent playing time in the future. He's out of options... he must be placed on the 25 man and I'd give him a spot to see what he can do. But... Alternative options in case he fails must be in place.

Yeah and after they looked at the cards... when the dealer asked how many cards we wanted we said none.

His performance is going to hurt his pocketbook. He won't be playing much in the playoffs... He lost his job in LA very quickly. This will hurt. Why pay long term for Dozier when he can't beat out Kike Hernandez for a job at an Arb 1 salary? The Free Agent environment that was established last off season is going to hurt his pocketbook. Money for 32 Year olds didn't seem to be there. Supply and Demand will really hurt his pocketbook. If you want the big contract you need teams bidding for your services. The teams looking for a 2B will be the teams who are losing a 2B to free agency so these guys just might replace each other and this will minimize the bidding in a game of musical chairs. Dozier being a 2B only is going to lighten his pocketbook by lightening demand along with the other 2 factors. I'd love to have Dozier back at a bargain price. Dozier may come back at that bargain price but sadly... we can't take him back if he is allowed to go through 3 months (a full season) of slumping without a dent in his playing time. Dozier will have to come back and compete for a job or no deal in my eyes. The temptation must be removed because moderation is lacking when his play is bad for us. Escobar has the 3B market, 2B market, SS market, Utility market and even the OF market for certain teams like the Dodgers and Cubs. This increases demand and with every position he can play, he moves incrementally into lighter supply. Escobar will simply have more teams interested in him and will get the bigger contract and I believe it's quite possible that Dozier is the better player. Supply and Demand... If any players (and their agents) who are insistent on playing one single position don't see the handwriting on the wall. They can blame themselves for the contract they get. Escobar remains my number one free agent target.

Looking at all MLB Catchers with at least 85 AB's. (Yeah I specifically chose 85 AB's because that is how many AB's Astudillo has) Astudillo leads in OPS .888 Only Ramos, Realmuto, Grandal and Cervilli have an OPS over .800

I get the pitchers being comfortable throwing to Wilson bit, if that is indeed what happened. However, on a team starving for offense like we were, you can't let the pitchers dictate the roster decisions. Catchers typically don't hit but there is still a comparable standard at the position that Wilson was miles away from. If the pitchers were dictating this, I'll add the pitchers to my list of people responsible for all the things that went wrong with the season.

I agree with this post 99%. The only thing slight disagreement is the naming him #1 and that's only because I'm against naming anyone #1. I just want him to get a fair chance at #1 but I agree that Castro and Garver need to beat him for the job while adding that he also needs to beat Castro and Garver for the job. I'm also not opposed to upgrading at the position... I'm not opposed to upgrading at every single position regardless of who is coming back. However... Astudillo has those options so there is no reason not to put him on the 40 man roster. I really can't get my arms around how they handled him this year.

What else does Astudillo have to do? At the minimum... He has options and can be placed in AAA and brought up when needed. All you got to do is give him a 40 man roster spot that he has clearly earned. I'm not predicting a future for him but if the Twins talk themselves out of giving him a 40 man spot next year, it will be tough for me to understand. I have no defensive concerns with him at all and a catcher who puts the ball in play... forget all the launch angle stuff... just a catcher who can put the ball in play as frequently as he does... has real value in comparison with his catching peers around the league who are usually in that .600 OPS range with high strikeout rates. Small Sample Size of course but he's coming up on 100 AB's and he has the highest OPS on the team despite walks not being part of the math. I don't care who #1 and #2 are next year but Astudillo better be at least #3.

The 4th out youngster executed a fairly impressive juke for his age. Yeah... He got tagged because the catcher was clearly talented with a bright future in major league baseball. However... the 4th out Youngster will be a running back for the Lions in about 16 years or so.

Who gets called up to play if Gordon gets hurt? Who plays significantly if both Gordon or Harrison/Adrianaza are on the DL at the same time? If Gordon starts in AAA... Gordon could be that guy who comes up and we will need guys who can come up because no team can avoid the injury reaper. If you want Cruz, Ramos and Harrison... Do it this way. C - Ramos 1B - Austin 2B - Escobar 3B - Somebody with a track record SS - Polanco LF - Rosario CF - Kepler RF - Cruz C - Castro or Garver 1B/3B - Sano 2B/SS - Harrison OF - Buxton Rochester/Chattanooga C - Astudillo 1B - Rooker 2B/SS - Gordon OF - Cave and Wade If you are going to invest in Cruz and Ramos... Don't stop short... Finish the job.

Kohl Stewart... even when he had the rough start... I could see with my eyeballs that he has stuff. Incredible movement that will make it hard for guys to square him up. I liked him from day one and I believe he has a future. Gonsalves... still needs to show me something. Stewart is ahead of Gonsalves on my personal depth chart.