Riverbrian

What do you hope to accomplish with these questions? Are you looking for a sensible answer to each question or are you just trying to get the reporter to punch them in the mouth for you? If you are looking for a sensible response that perfectly explains why? They will give you a standard answer that explains it without tearing down others but the answer probably isn't going to satisfy you if what you really want to accomplish with the question is have the reporter punch them in the mouth for you. Ballsy Reporter: Why is Matt Belisle on the roster? Front Office Answer A: Matt is a veteran presence who has always been the utmost professional. We saw what his presence meant to this team last year. We have known Matt for quite some time and have always respected his work ethic. Front Office Answer B: Ever since we decided to not offer him a contract in the off-season. Paul has been whining about it non-stop so we signed Belisle so he would shut up for awhile. Front Office Answer C: Our Bullpen hasn't been good... We have blown 20 saves and we had to do something. Reed, Duke and Pressly haven't been near what we were hoping they would be. If you are Falvey or Lavine... What additional problems do you cause with Answer B or C and what do you solve with answer B or C being shared with 600 million people? My opinion... Answer B and C should probably be handled in-house.

This is awesome Mike Thank You

Honestly... How do you think you think it is going to turn out for the ballsy reporter water-boarding the front office executives?

It's our fault... this dynamic you describe is accurate but it has been forged over time from lessons learned by the consequences of open dialogue. They speak up honestly and they immediately pay the price. It isn't just social media but yeah... social media is bad enough on its own. The front office is not going to say they are keeping Belisle because they don't trust someone else... that type of publicly honesty is going to suck for whoever the someone else is. They are not going to break down Belisle for public consumption either because Belisle isn't going to appreciate that and understandably so. You gotta work with these people and nobody is going to want to work with you if they are going to be laid open for everyone to see. LEN3 isn't going to ask those questions because he has been at his job long enough to know that he didn't get the answer all the other times he has asked those type of questions. If you want transparency in all thought processes... you have to ask yourself, how many people is it going to cause a problem for... once you do that... you'll see the tentacles. Your wife wants you to be honest with her and she stressed the importance of that honesty in a healthy relationship so you try it. You get plenty of time to assess want went wrong with that great sounding idea on paper while you are sleeping on the couch because you honestly communicated with her about how much money she spent on this, what you thought of that dress or how you felt about her wanting to travel to Omaha to spend the weekend with her crazy aunt and uncle,

This is an excellent post and I don't disagree with you at all. Agreed, catcher is the one defensive position that requires a higher degree of specialization. That is why we find so many weak hitting catchers still alive in the majors. They tend to need a defense first mentality however, the ones who can hit (Donaldson, Posey, Mauer) are getting moved eventually to get their bats in the lineup more frequently. I'm thinking they might as well get a jump start on that in the minors with the above average hit tool guys to open as many doors as possible for them (Francisco Mejia). You have to recognize (and I'm sure you do) that precedence already has been set by many college coaches across the country. Players like Josh Donaldson played both third and catcher at Auburn and was drafted as a catcher before the A's just made him full time 3B or Austin Barnes who handled both catcher and 2nd Base in the minors and continues to do that. Bottom Line: I believe we shouldn't look at Barnes or Donaldson as unique due to some sort of rare ability but unique in the sense of opportunity granted. Great post!!!

Any explanation they offered would be torn to shreds. They would be better off taking advice from public relations and continue to spoon feed us carefully worded statements on a small portion of every possible thing that we'd really like to know. Until we all act better in the world of social media... it's the only thing they can sensibly do.

That is the best news I've read about the Twins in quite some time.

I'm Ok with Cave diving for the ball. If he makes that catch he ends the inning. It wasn't impossible to catch that ball, he just didn't make the catch. Yes the consequences were bad when he didn't make it but I'll take the guy trying to hard at this moment, with this team over the guy who doesn't. Play Ball!

We had 11 players who were hitting better? That's all I got.

I have no idea what kind of skill Astundillo has behind the plate. It is quite possible that he was a step below even Garver... who knows. Based on the willingness to try him... I can only assume that he must be lacking or assume that the Twins have no ability to assess. I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt even if my pile of benefit to give is starting to wane. However... you have brought up something that needs to change and will change slowly but surely. For the longest time baseball didn't believe that a guy can hit and pitch. Shohei Ohtani had to be developed in Japan before it was attempted here because if he came up through our system he would have been forced to do one or the other. I do not believe for a second that Ohtani is the only guy in the world in decades and decades of baseball who had the ability to do both. Ohtani was the guy who was finally given the chance to show he could do it. Now that he is here, a few forward thinking organizations like the Rays will give players like McKay a chance to do it and once those teams do alright with the concept and they will, less forward thinking clubs like the Twins (my opinion) will eventually join in behind the curve and our grand kids will be laughing at us because we believed that a player could only do one or other. Same thing goes for catcher (or any positions)... I am strongly opposed to any thought that a catcher can only catch especially if they can hit. Players getting experience at multi-positions opens up more paths to the majors. If Catcher is blocked, it's OK because the player also has experience at 3B. Austin Barnes played both catcher and 2B in the minors with the Marlins and Austin Barnes was the guy that Roberts went with in the world series over Grandal. Is Barnes really the only guy capable of these sort of shenanigans... is Barnes really that special? It was just a few years ago that Gardenhire had to have 3 catchers on the roster in case two of them collide into each other and get knocked out of the game. Yes, these types of players are rare today... but that is because we choose to make them rare with some traditional viewpoint that they can only master one position. How many players have to switch positions successfully before people stop thinking of them as oddities or guys with unique ability. Andrew Friedman and Joe Maddon were the guys who thought this was unnecessarily limiting and bottleneckish. Maddon is still doing it successfully in Chicago and Andrew Friedman is doing it successfully in LA and they are still the overwhelming minority to the Buck Showalter type majority who still think this type of thing should never be done.

Probably but I’d like too see Mejia stay up and make some starts. If they have to Roll 6 until Lynn is traded. Sobeit.

I say let’s take a look. Let’s see if there is anything that can be a trade piece. Loss of velocity is concerning but he might be able to compensate with something else. I have no problem taking a

I can’t argue with anything you are saying. I don’t know why but I assume it is something systemic.

And he has taken over for someone injured each of those years. I’m assuming that need will never change.

My desire to retain Escobar would be the same if he wasn’t having the year he is having. I wouldn’t offer him a QO but We better be a top bidder to bring him back. We need the position flexibility.

First off... there is a lot of nuance in this discussion and I know that you are aware of that. In simple terms though... Projections are just projections and a front office should sign on anyone based on those projections and I don't fault any organization for not having that kind of player with those projections sitting in reserve. I can and will fault any organization for not having players in reserve who will be given the chance to top what has to be considered by nearly everyone as extremely low production... especially at the DH position where defense is not a factor, regardless of whatever projections the alternatives have been tagged with. Relying on projections and not actual production to determine the lineup card is the equivalent to setting your course and refusing to navigate around icebergs. Players will earn a contract based on projections and past performance... I want players to earn their playing time based on today's performance if in contention. I've said this many times lately... I believe that if the Twins signed Max Muncy in the off season they wouldn't have found out that they signed Max Muncy. And no.. I don't believe that the Twins signed anybody like Max Muncy but the point is still the same.

Oops, his batting average is .193. I didn't cut and paste and was toggling back and forth for the numbers to quote. I got the .193 confused with Bobby Wilson .176 because they are right next to each other in the low batting average side of things. Then I inverted the 76 part of the .176 to a 67 because I'm old and shouldn't attempt toggling back and forth. Anyway... You don't see or they didn't let you see? For the last question... I am not calling for anyone's head because I have no idea what the dynamic is inside that room but I am hoping beyond hope that this year ends up being a teaching moment for the new duo at least.

Agreed... they need to correct that mistake before they plan for 2019. However... If the Twins don't have a better option than .167/.287.367 (for DH mind you) anywhere from Minnesota to Elizabethton. They should all turn in their resignations immediately.

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I don't blame the Twins for signing him. I don't blame them for trying and making a mistake trying. It's only money and I hope they try again. I do blame the Twins for not recognizing the mistake and repeating it over and over again.

I've been trying to imagine what next year will be like for Logan Morrison and the personal ramifications of his performance. His option certainly won't vest and I would be absolutely shocked if the Twins picked up the option. This makes him a free agent. The 1B pool of Free Agents is really really shallow but the amount of teams looking for Power Only 1st basemen is also really really shallow. I think there is no question that someone will sign him. But... I believe it will be a minor league deal. This puts him squarely at the crossroads of losing around 9 million dollars on his current contract when the Twins cut him loose and being a step away from out of baseball. He better spend the off season working on fixing his problems because he is gonna have to hit to move from minor league deal to worth paying actual money to. He did some serious damage to himself this year. BTW... If you are wondering what the Twins will do with Morrison now. Just go back in your almanac and see what they did with Trevor Plouffe in 2016 after he came off the DL in August. Plouffe started like 27 out of 29 games before going on the DL in September to finish the season. My prediction is that this will be Trevor Plouffe all over again but with worse numbers.

I agree and I hope it is the Twins that offer that 2/20 or 3/24 and bring him back home.

In late February, Brian Dozier publicly expressed that he was going to be a free agent. Since then we've had a couple TD posters take this public expression as some sort of declaration that he doesn't want to be here. These comments by a couple of TD posters ignore previous public statements by Dozier in January that he would be willing to sign an extension and saying that he wants to remain a Twin. It also ignores that the Twins didn't offer him an extension leaving Dozier no option but to become a free agent. These are big boys making big boy money decisions and it is much better for everyone if they don't make public comments that can be misunderstood and can and will be used against them in the court of social media.

I think I understand what you are saying but I'm not sure "why" you are saying it. Things are time sensitive these days which will cause a variety of reactions from all of us offering opinion on it. I know it isn't our decision but we have 10 games to decide how we feel on: Do we trade Brian Dozier or do we ride his pending hot streak into the playoffs? I made up my mind on June 23rd but I'm not sure if Paul Molitor and the front office share my opinion. So, I'm OK with the additional clarity that has been provided the past couple of games if it makes the decision easier.

You should probably take a look at their hands. You'll notice the blisters. They've had a strong grip on those pitchforks for awhile.