Riverbrian

Sano has to get his head right at the plate. His plate discipline must improve. If he improves it... I think we could all be quite happy with the results and it could happen quickly. If he doesn't... He'll be Chris Carter at best and we already have one of those. He's needs to cut that strikeout rate... Significantly. Sending him down is a two birds with one stone move. It gives them a chance to work on the severe issues that have taken him over and do it out of the spotlight. The 2nd bird... Molitor can't play him... the temptation to let him work his way through it is removed and that could actually improve the team in the short term. Should Buxton be next? I'd say Buxton has been worse so I vote yes.

My philosophy is going to pretty simple. As long as Adrianaza is hitting and producing and he is one of the few that is... Keep letting him hit and produce. I understand that many have made their minds up about Adrianaza and are very willing to look past this hot streak and wait for the eventual crash down to earth. I'm not a long term believer in Adrianaza myself but in the current Twins offense context, in my strong opinion, you can't bench one of 3 guys actually hitting for someone who isn't hitting but is supposed to be hitting. It's all about opportunity and this is his opportunity to extend his career and I'm going to cheer him on while he lasts. Before he arrived with the Twins... the most he had was 113 AB's in a season with the Giants. Let's see if he can extend this run for awhile. Dave Roberts of the Dodgers would never allow Buxton, Sano, Morrison to perform like they are without a reduction in playing time. I'm sure the Dodger Fans were not very excited by Max Muncy especially since he was released by the A's. Well... he figured something out and Roberts has him in the starting somewhere most nights because he is performing and he is taking away at bats from Dodger mainstays who were not performing. This is how depth is created. Let players get a chance to be depth. If they come out of nowhere, let the come out of nowhere. Disclaimer: I'm not predicting that Adrianaza is going to be a superstar going forward... but I am saying... let's find out... at the very least... it is fact that he is out performing everybody else on the roster not named Eddie at the moment.

Yeah #4 Would be: 16 Pages Going forward, what moves do you think will happen and Gordon is like the only solution left standing.

We are probably getting mixed up on a couple of discussions that I have going on. My quote to you was based on 2019. I'd prefer that Gordon starts in AAA in 2019 and is available for call up should someone get injured and when that happens, Gordon plays a lot and he gets a chance to earn the job and create that good problem to have by making it impossible to send him back down. If I were to focus on this year... Yeah... I'd like to avoid placing Gordon on the 40 man if at all possible for future service time preservation but if he comes up for a taste... I'll be right there to cheer him on. As for Petit and Adrianaza... They ain't my guys... they have been a source of my main frustration with the roster construction but I'm trying to give the decision makers the benefit of the doubt. Adrianaza... He was hand chosen for this roster. The Twins could have upgraded but chose not to. This tells me that they liked him. Even if Polanco wasn't suspended... Adrianaza was probably going to make the roster since they signed him to a contract in January. Polanco got suspended, Sano got hurt and Adrianaza got pressed into duty and this is his moment. His overall numbers are not solid but he has been pretty decent the past two weeks... 10 for 34 with a couple of home runs with an OPS of 1.045. Only Escobar and Rosario have been better. As a matter of fact... the 4th best OPS over the last 15 days is Brian Dozier at .765. I don't have a ton of confidence of him continuing that type of offensive production but I will support his effort to keep trying. Let him roll until he stops rolling. Petit is a waste of roster space... Not that I don't believe in Petit. I haven't seen enough to form an opinion. 26 AB's is a real small sample size. I'm willing to give him a chance but Molitor is not giving him a chance. Since May 27th he has had a total of 2 AB's. He's had 2 At-Bats during a time when the team is crying for runs and the temptation to try someone else anybody else has to be pounding like Marisa Tomei's foot in "My Cousin Vinny". Bottom Line... if Petit is only getting two at-bats in this environment... Get him off the roster and roster someone that you can and will play because the most frustrating thing to me is not trying someone else and just going down with the ship. Back to Gordon... OK... You send down Petit and you call up Gordon. Do you trust Molitor to play him? I remember 2016 when the team was like 3 and 37 in the first 40 games. We had Polanco and Kepler gathering rust on the bench while Dozier was hitting .012 through May. Sano was in RF, Plouffe at 3B, Danny Santana was in CF and Polanco and Kepler got to sit and watch it all die. Essentially, you release someone to clear a 40 man spot to put Gordon on the roster, You start his Arb clock before you have to, just to have him sit on the bench while Molitor plays Escobar, Adrianaza, Sano, Morrison and Dozier in the infield come hell or high water... Then factor in the pending return of Polanco. As for the Savior talk... Yeah, those were my words. Two reasons for that: 1. This 2018 team needs a Savior... someone to step up and carry some water. It's gonna have to be Sano, Dozier, Buxton, Morrison or Kepler though. 2. If Gordon walks into 2019 with a starting job. He will have to have savior type shoulders to carry the burden attached to him because his backup should he fail will be AAAA.

If I was in charge in 1981... We'd have 15 World Series Titles by now. I win my fantasy baseball league every year. 1981 was a different context. Calvin Griffith was the owner and we lost a lot of games and we had absolutely no hope at all. The CBA was different. I'd get in my car and personally pick up Hrbek, Gaetti, Laudner to get them to the field, just to look at someone else not named Glenn Adams. Fast forward to 2018... I'm not completely opposed to Nick Gordon getting a look. I'm saying that if I'm the GM... I'm going exhaust most options before I put him on the 40 man roster and starting that clock early if I can avoid it.

In my world... I will lose sleep over losing Escobar. I wake up every morning and check the newspaper to find out if he signed an extension... it's starting to feel like I got some disappointed mornings to endure.

Because Players get hurt and young players can be stashed in Rochester. If you move Gordon into the starting spot he will be handcuffed with a AAAA replacement because you can't stash a Asdrubal Cabrera type replacement in the minors for that seemingly unevitable injury. Gordon you can stash in the minors and when the Asdrubal Cabrera type gets hurt... you call up Gordon. If Gordon goes nuts... Now you have that good problem to have. Now you have excess that can be traded to fill another hole.

Let me throw a hypothetical example of what I'm talking about. The purpose isn't to discuss the hypothetical names chosen at the granular level because I have no idea how much a free agent will cost or what teams will give up what players. This is for a broad sense of how the resources it would take to acquire Realmuto could provide more bang for the buck. I'm not taking the time to research how many years of control or salary for this exercise. This is just for a general sense. Catcher: Castro (If Castro can't play - Get Mathis or the Best Defensive guy you can find) Garver AAA Depth: Best AAAA Guy you can find. 1B-3B: Mauer (Or FA Matt Adams if Mauer retires). Matt Adams can also play a little OF on occasion. Eugenio Saurez (Trade with the same pieces it would have taken to trade for Realmuto... They take the prospects and replace him with Senzel). Sano - Can play 1B-3B-DH (Let him compete for the Lions Share of playing time. AAA Depth - Kennys Vargas or someone like Mark Reynolds. 2B-SS: Polanco Eduardo Escobar (Please bring him back... whatever it takes... He is capable at so many positions) Jurickson Profar (Free Agent Signing) Multiple Positions... Can also play OF. AAA Depth: Nick Gordon OF: Rosario Kepler Buxton Reds OF in the Suarez Trade (Duvall or Schebler) AAA Depth: Lamonte Wade Do not sign a dedicated DH... The DH spot can be used to get the extra bats in the lineup instead of a guy like Morrison who is 1B only clogging things up. Now... This is just a quick example of what can be done to build depth and provide insurance in case any of the players are playing like Buxton, Sano and Morrison have been playing this year.... you are also protected against injuries should they occur and they do. You will have honest to god competition at all positions. A good manager will manage the playing time obviously but a good manager can find a way to do it based on Hot/Cold and Matchups or gut... Like Maddon does, Like Roberts Does, Like Hinch Does, Like Martinez Does. I'm not sure that Molitor is that guy but he won't have to tolerate a sub-par performance anywhere with a roster like this. (Besides Catcher of course). You might be able to spend a little more on a Catcher if you'd like and you have money left over after addressing the Bullpen. Here's a sample lineup: Kepler - RF Escobar - 2B Saurez - 3B Rosario - LF Sano - 1B Adams/Duvall - DH Polanco/Profar - SS Garver/Castro - C Buxton - CF

This is exactly what I’m talking about. I don’t know the prices but I’m looking economical as I can. Instead of paying 17m for McCann. I’d go 1 or 2M for someone who can catch but hits .200 instead of paying 16m for a guy who hits a little better but still much less then other position players and then spend the extra 15M and 16M too fill two other holes. More bang for the buck. Keep in mind... I’m not a starting 9 guy so I will never look at Buxton and say CF is filled until he actually performs like it is filled. Until he does... I want that safety net.

I’m not a war guy so I tend not to speak that language. Once 2019 hits... we could be looking for a replacement for Mauer, Dozier, Rscobar, Morrison, Lynn, Santana, Rodney. Plus Buxton and Sano are question marks at the moment. We will have other needs besides catcher and I’m not sure that Nick Gordon and Realmuto will fill all those spots.

Yeah I get that but the price for top end catching remains high regardless. Realmuto with that team control you mentioned should drive the price through the roof and the Twins have under performance in a lot of spots besides catcher so I think it makes more sense to pull in a bigger fish elsewhere with our limited resources.

And if they decide the sell... He's not a guy coming in on a white horse to save us. I'm Ok with him getting a taste... Ultimately... I'm simply more concerned with any notion that he opens 2019 as our Dozier replacement regardless of how he looks in the trial run.

Who knows what is realistic? I know I don't. I used Marcell Ozuna for an example because Ozuna was traded but who knows if the Orioles part with Schoop or if the White Sox part with Abreu. And then you gotta factor in years of control, salary, which is going to skew the discussion. I'm just saying... Catcher are over pays. Lucroy cost the Rangers Brinson... Brinson got Yelich. Avila cost Candelario. We have posters talking about 4 players out of our top ten prospects for Realmuto without batting an eye. I'm batting an eye and saying if you are going to give up 4 players out of our top ten prospects for someone. Go get someone who will step into the 3 spot and play every day.

College Boy... Sets up like Brian Dozier.

Not many get my brilliance.

Realmuto would be great. Just worried he would be cost prohibitive because of position scarcity.

I've only seen him play a couple of spring training games so I have no idea. It does indeed cut both ways. If he isn't worth the service time game... he probably isn't worth any call up now to save our season discussion either. I'd imagine the same thing applies to Wade... with of course full considerations to all unpredictable nuance and circumstances that changes from month to month and year to year.

We better expect to contend in 2019 because our starting pitching depth will waste a solid year if we are not. I must not have explained myself correctly. What's a better middle infield for a team in contention? A. Polanco, Gordon, AAAA Guy B. Escobar, Polanco, Gordon

Not giving up on. Managing playing time more appropriately. This is why I've always said that I'm not a starting 9 guy. I personally have a problem with shoe-horning a guy into a starting role and taking whatever comes from him. I believe in Buxton but believing in Buxton doesn't mean he gets to show up to the ball park to see his name in the lineup every night with his slash line. I look at this way... We don't have to dump Buxton. Just change your expectation of him until he can provide it. if we simply keep him on the roster (don't completely bench him) and let him dictate how much playing time by how much he contributes. We go from forcing a .383 OPS guy into the lineup every day to having depth. Honest competition for the playing time. Look at the Brewers... They had a great outfield and they still signed Cain and traded for Yelich. Now they have depth coming out of their ears at all positions. If they had Morrison hitting like Morrison they have an option to play instead. They don't have to suffer through a .400 OPS from Keon Braxton while they wait to see if he is gonna be what everyone says he will be. They'll call him up when Yelich or Cain get's a boo-boo. Catchers don't hit that well and they don't play that often. If you are going to pay the price for position scarcity... Pay it for something that really moves the needle.

I agree Realmuto will probably cost more than it costs to get Ozuna but Ozuna will give you more production and be able to play 162 games when Catchers are rare if they eclipse 120 games. If you are going to pay that kind of price for Realmuto... you might as well spend it on something that really moves the needle with 30 plus home run production.

We will never agree on this, and I've made my points. Any more comments are just us talking past each other. You are probably right... we may never agree on this but we are not talking past each other. Regardless, you and I can stop the discussion if you'd like but I will continue on using your points to express my thoughts to others. Never call them up! Never trade them! This is an extreme response and also impossible for teams to execute. The CBA states that you will have to place them on the 40 man roster eventually or expose them to the rule 5 draft. Once placed on the 40 man roster, the CBA states that they must be eventually placed on the 25 man roster or exposed to waivers. There is quite a bit of difference between delaying being placed on the 40 man roster and never calling them up. As for never trading them... prospects are traded all the time. If the Twins get into contention. They might be fielding some offers for Gordon from the Rangers, Reds or Pirates. If they are not in contention... they might trade Dozier and THEN call up Gordon. I'd rather they wait to set up for a stronger 2019 but Jorgenswest was right when he laid out the alternatives. Vlad isn't even twenty, and will be a superstar. There is zero they have in common. At no point did I say that Vlad and Gordon have anything in common... other than suggest... the Blue Jays gained an extra year of control by waiting when the Twins didn't. I was loosely implying that the Jays will be considering Service Time when they decide to call up Vlad... just like the Braves did with Acuna, Bryant with the Cubs, Torres with the Yankees and every single minor league prospect not named Jason Heyward. The twins have a window coming now or soon. I believe the window should be open right now and I'm hopeful that it lasts a while with the Starting Pitching depth that we currently have. I'm hoping that 2018 taught the front office a lesson that they need to consider depth a little bit more when crafting a roster to support that starting pitching depth. I think we are better off with Gordon as a depth piece than we are with Petit as a depth piece. Hand the job to Gordon and he fails or gets hurt (He might not) and you got to go to AAAA guy like we are doing this year. Hand the job to Asdrubal Cabrera or someone and he fails or gets hurt... Now you got Gordon (added to the 40 man roster in the off season) to replace him and saving service time. If you want Gordon now... Petit is the type of guy who is handcuffed to him in 2019 if he is successful. The twins somehow have a great farm system, but we should keep the prospects down, because they'll fail. Such a defeatist attitude. I'm not declaring that they WILL fail. I'm saying that if they do and they do often... We are back rummaging through the scrap heap to replace them because we promoted our safety net too soon and lost a year of service time in the process. 2019 is worse and 2025 is worse because you rushed a guy when all you had to do is what every single major league team does.

Every prospect down on the farm... We can't help assuming that they will play like we think they will play. How many times has Lucy taken the football away from you Charlie Brown?

Then everybody gets all excited thinking that the SS (or 2B) spot is solved forever and during the off-season the front office thinks that it has Polanco and Gordon to man the infield spots and they let Dozier and Escobar sign elsewhere and they don't worry about trading for or signing any middle infield replacements. Then after Gordon is handed the job with all our hopes and dreams attached to it... He spends April and May of 2019 hitting .156/.183/.383. The Twins then send him back down to Rochester to fix it and they bring back Adrianaza with a current 2019 slash line of .238/.302/.683. BTW... Adrianaza is available to us on waivers because he was just released by the Blue Jays to make room for Vlad Jr. who they got an extra year of service time out of by waiting until May 2019. Meanwhile... Gordon goes back down to Rochester... works on some things and goes through some peaks and valleys and everybody here is screaming again: "I've had enough Adrianaza" but now the Twins have learned their lesson... They are not going to call Gordon back up until necessary because he struggled really bad. Thank God they signed Brett Lawrie to a minor league contract that he can opt out of if he isn't called up by June 1. Brett is doing OK in AAA so they call him up and release Tyler Jay from the 40 man to give him a spot. Now you've done nothing to help 2018 because we had to trade Dozier because we were out of contention and Gordon needed a place to play... and you've started 2019 with a big hole that Adrianaza and Lawrie have to fill and they do so unsatisfactorily. As the years go by... Gordon does work himself into a productive role on the 25 man roster. He has a couple of average years with a variety of injuries and he finally makes the all-star team in 2024 and he signs as a free agent with the Atlanta Braves the following season. With my plan... Gordon starts 2019 down on the farm... We sign a major league ready SS (or 2B) and have Gordon as a safety net in case Polanco breaks his leg diving into the 2nd row on a foul pop. We gain the year of control and when Gordon comes up to play... he isn't expected to save us.

You are assuming that he is going to come up and play like you think he will play. What if he doesn't?

We have been burned enough times rushing the next big thing. We have burned enough service time with well below average play waiting for our future superstars to be productive. The last thing I want to see is a 2019 25 man roster that COUNTS on Nick Gordon to be starting anywhere and productive with no reasonable plan B safety net in case he struggles hard. We've been down this path with Hicks and Buxton and nearly everyone with no safety net and we have all seen the truck sized hole it creates when it follows the same path that nearly everyone has taken. Stash him in AAA to start 2019 and make him the 1st man up after the 1st injury. Once he arrives, play him, let him earn the job at the major league level. If he grabs it with both hands... Hooray for us all. If he doesn't grab it with both hands... we ain't left holding the spillage.