Riverbrian

I believe it will either Astudillo or Wilson and this is why I'm pissed that Wilson started on Saturday behind the plate. I know they've seen him work in Rochester behind the plate but Molitor should want to take a look himself. The fact that he was not given a catching audition this weekend tells me that Astudillo's time with us will be a short one.

This is one of the reasons why I've been saying that the front office pulled the plug. Sano to single A is one example of pulling the plug. Sending Romero down instead of Odorizzi is another example of pulling the plug Buxton doing an extended stay in Rochester is another example of pulling the plug. Falvey or Lavine can be quoted about waiting and seeing before making an official declaration of pulling the plug. It doesn't matter... they have visibly pulled the plug by their actions.

If they are able to do it. They need to do addition by a whole lotta subtraction style. Harder to do for sure but not impossible since some of that subtraction is the reason why we are where we are. It can't be ruled out that the team could improve after Dozier is traded but a long shot that it will improve enough to reach the lofty heights needed. I'm locked into 2019 and beyond right now.

True... might even be Lavine who makes that call as for who is on the 25 man but now that he is on the 25 man. Molitor makes out the lineup.

DFA Wilson Option Mejia DFA Magill or Belisle Add Polanco and your two favorite relievers from Rochester. Send one of the favorite relievers back down to Rochester and call up a starter when Mejia's spot comes back around. BTW.., Molly probably should have taken a look at Astudillo behind the plate this weekend before we DFA Wilson but we didn't. If they send Astudillo down while keeping Wilson... I'll have no more benefit if the doubt to give.

Molitor can't say he has no room for Astudillo at Catcher because of how Bobby Wilson has performed. Molitor can't say he has no room for Astudillo at DH because of how Morrison and Grossman have performed. Molitor can't say he has no room for Astudillo at 3B because of how Dozier has performed. (Escobar can play 2B or SS). Molitor can't say he has no room for Astudillo in the OF because of how Kepler and Grossman have performed.

It's not difficult at all. However, rest wasn't really the point. Molitor turns to Dozier, Buxton and Kepler at a higher percentage than Bellinger. Or keep it in house... Molitor turns to Dozier, Buxton, Kepler and Sano at a higher percentage than he does Mauer.

The distribution of playing time has been a pet topic of mine for quite some time. I've felt that Paul Molitor will ride the same horses into the ground and felt that Dave Roberts of the Dodgers would not and so I looked for a Game Started percentage stat and couldn't find one so I did the research myself. Who are each managers go to guys and how often do they go to them. How many games available to start on the 25 man - How many games started - Percentage of games started - Current OPS+ I understand that a managers choices are much more nuanced than this. It does not account for boo-boos not bad enough for DL time, strength of bench options and other factors but in the end... these are the numbers regardless. It should be close to accurate but I admit it should have a +/- margin of error at the same time since I did it by hand. This is the ranking of the Twins by Game Started Percentage. You'll notice that the Twins have 7 players that are in the starting lineup 9 out of 10 times when on the active roster. 4 of those players have been below average offensive players including Buxton with an OPS+ 7. TWINS Dozier 80-77 96% OPS+ 90 Escobar 80-75 94% OPS+ 134 Rosario 80-75 94% OPS+ 153 Buxton 28-26 93% OPS+ 7 Kepler 80-72 90% OPS+ 93 Sano 41-36 88% OPS+ 84 Mauer 55-48 87% OPS+ 105 Morrison 80-63 79% OPS+ 79 Adrianaza 80-54 68% OPS+ 100 Grossman 80-53 66% OPS+ 81 Castro 29-19 66% OPS+ 39 Cave 16-10 63% OPS+ 80 Garver 80-40 50% OPS+ 86 LaMarre 64-29 45% OPS+ 78 Wilson 52-23 44% OPS+ 26 Astudillo 3-1 33% OPS+ 180 Motter 13-4 31% OPS+ -60 Petit 38-8 21% OPS+ 102 Now the Dodgers... They only have only 2 players who will play 9 out of 10 times. The Twins have 5 players that play more often than Bellinger who is the Dodgers top go to guy. I know that many just assume that the Dodgers have purchased better players because of the size of the payroll but look at the names. The bulk of Dodger dollars was spent on Pitching. The Dodgers have stayed alive with names like Taylor, Muncy and Kike Hernandez. Even Turner was a waiver claim. The top dollar guys are not feeding this club however... look at how the low OPS guys are congregating toward the bottom. With the Dodgers it doesn't matter if you used to be a top 5 prospect like Pederson or a former all-star veteren like Utley. You have to perform to get playing time. DODGERS Bellinger 83-75 90% OPS+ 118 Seager 27-24 89% OPS+ 104 Taylor 83-70 84% OPS+ 113 Puig 75-63 84% OPS+ 106 Kemp 82-68 83% OPS+ 133 Verdugo 11-9 82% OPS+ 88 Turner 43-33 77% OPS+ 115 Muncy 67-49 73% OPS+ 173 Forsythe 57-41 72% OPS+ 53 Grandal 83-56 67% OPS+ 100 Hernandez 83-48 58% OPS+ 116 Pederson 83-45 54% OPS+ 137 Utley 65-28 43% OPS+ 73 Locastro 7-3 43% OPS+ 77 Barnes 83-34 40% OPS+ 71 Farmer 46-14 30% OPS+ 70 Valera 24-4 17% OPS+ 27 One last question... We know the Dodgers can out spend us... But, are the Dodgers also better at back filling their roster. We latch on to Grossman... They latch on to Taylor, Muncy, Turner, Toles, Hernandez or are the Dodgers just giving those guys a chance to be depth.

If I'm Bobby Wilson... after looking back at the long road traveled over his career just to be in the starting lineup at Wrigley Field on a hot summer day. I wouldn't have come out of the game if a cannonball took my left leg off in the 2nd Inning.

What I want to know is: How much influence does Paul have when it comes to the 25 man roster? The answer to that question will determine how much blame I place on Molitor.

In the case of Solarte... They should be blamed. They chose a 31 year old Sean Burroughs over a 23 year old Solarte. I'm not blaming them going with the wrong guy... I think that happens from time to time but I also want to make it known that they clearly went with the wrong guy.

I'm sure it is much more complicated than I'm about to express... I get that the lights came on in 1988 but Wrigley has been a baseball stadium since 1914. Home buyers are choosing to live near Wrigley Field and still dictating terms of it's operation? This isn't city council forcing a landfill or prison into the neighborhood. This would be the equivalent of residents moving next to the landfill and demanding that it be less of a landfill. I sit here quite some distance from Chicago but it is my understanding that home prices around Wrigley are 22% higher, therefore home buyers are paying more to live near Wrigley. If the night games are keeping them awake... Move away from Wrigley. Take that 22% and put in your pocket.

How does the training staff prepare them for extreme heat?

The QO is the mean salary of the top 125 players. It was 17.4M last year. 17.2M the year before that. Next year hasn't been announced yet.

I have no opinion on that. It was attrition on steroids. I could barely watch it and I got pretty good stamina. It's possible that Molitor was just saying the hell with it.

I watched it. The leadoff walk on 4 pitches was disappointing and the Happ double in the next AB was laced pretty good. After that... the Cubs lightly found some green. The Baez double should have been an error. Adrianaza was to heat exhausted (I assume) to move his feet about a foot to his left. I'm giving Adrianaza a break because of the heat... If it was a normal 80 degree day... I'd be shouting for his benching. It should have been an 6-2-3 DP.

Not after that comment.

It's not Injuries. https://www.rosterresource.com/mlb-disabled-list-tracker/ There are teams in contention that have had worse injury luck than we have. After you look at the offensive production of Buxton, Castro and Sano. It could be successfully argued that 3 of the DL Stints actually improved the team. It has been without question, the poor performance of the healthy.

I've never seen anything like that. The umpires looked exhausted. The fans looked exhausted. It was like watching a debate after all the debaters have used up all of the words they know and are left with blowing raspberries at each other.

Play Him and let's see what he does! There is a decent chance he will produce more than Wilson at the plate. Is he still going through a Molitor Orientation or something before he is cleared to play. Mejia is on the mound today and I assume that he must have worked together in Rochester. It's a National League park so Bobby Wilson plus the pitcher hitting back to back isn't ideal. The team is desperate for offense and has been desperate for offense since March 30. I assume he wasn't called up injured or running a fever. Play him... I have no idea why Wilson is starting today. I have no idea if Felix Jorge was a decent candidate for releasing or not and I'm not going to defend or be disturbed by the releasing of Felix Jorge but regardless, I'm not really comfortable releasing anyone just for a pinch hit option or for a possible double switch in a national league park or to be a backup in case one of the infielders get hurt. We have Morrison, Grossman and Garver available for Pinch Hit Duties today. Wilson is not necessary today. The presence of Astudillo makes him not necessary today. Play him!!! It's one thing to struggle offensively since March 30th. It's another thing to not try something, anything else.

I can already see the potential loophole in this bet. It's going to require a term provision.

I'd try to extend him and I'd try very hard. I'd be saying extend him if he was hitting .222 right now. If you fail to extend him. You trade him for the best offer. Then you try to sign him as a free agent. His agent will pick up the phone... but the Twins have to be be competitive. I have no idea what the market will be like. If last year was any indication... he might come cheaper than we think.

If your cookies were a video... I'd watch.

Some people can play baseball at a level unattainable by very very very few. Some people have artistic creativity, write, perform and they take the time and effort to complete projects and share them. Then there are other people who do none of those things who take cheap shots at them.

Unless we are talking about filling the rest of the positions from our current farm system... I'm going to assume that we will need to spend some money on the other positions. We can't look at what is on the books in 2021 and say "Look... there are very little obligations here" All the players you list besides the bullpen guys are the supposed core of the window of opportunity that we've been waiting for since... 2012. If they are not the core... then you are right. This conversation won't matter one bit because we will have to trade off our pieces of value to build the next core. If they are the core... they will require expensive pieces around them in support. If we are pinching pennies in 2020 and 2021, I can think of a few TD'ers around here who are going to start cheering for the Yankees instead. GM's have to plan for possible success and possible failure. It is possible, this is where we are getting our wires crossed a little. My main point with Romero is... What if? What if... he is the guy that he looks like he is to me? What if... all or a portion of Sano, Buxton, Rosario, Kepler, Polanco, Berrios turn out to be what we've been waiting for... a core that gives us a chance. What if they are the core we've been waiting for? If that happens... Now Sano, Buxton and Rosario have big price tags through ARB and the team is gonna need to spend on the other positions to support the core... It's Minnesota... we will have a budget, we know we will not turn into the Dodgers for a year and be drunken sailors. In that scenario... those 1 to 6 million bucks that Romero got as a Super-Two that they didn't have to pay for in 2021 could cost us a bullpen arm, the extra money it takes to add a decent catcher, the extra money to extend Rosario. Romero at 600K plus someone else is better than just Romero as support for the core. And as Sconnie pointed out... it will most likely be extra millions in the other three years. If you are of the opinion, that this core isn't going to pan out and your post does suggest that with the possibility of low arb rulings... well then you are right. It doesn't matter. Just take each year as it comes. It'll make no sense for a GM to do long range planning of this nature.