Riverbrian

So the Twins against Team USA is on TV for my watching tonight and so is Alaskan Bush People on the Discovery Channel. What to do? What to Do?

This is exactly how I look at it. I'd rather Buxton line drive some doubles and triples and let the home run power increase down the road. Sano... I want him increasing that OBP. He's going to hit home runs and a lot of home runs regardless but OBP is what will separate him from the Chris Carter type of power hitter.

Cal Ripken was a big IF Dave Parker was a big OF Ok... Nothing to see here. Carry On

In the Twins defense... We've been drafting late in each round because of our great regular season records the past 5 years and that makes it hard to replenish a farm system. (pause) Wait... I may have that completely backwards.

If I was the Manager: I like handcuffing patient hitters... those work the count type guys (Mauer) behind my speed guys (Buxton) so they get some time to pick a pitch to run on while making the pitcher worry about them... who knows maybe steal 2nd and 3rd in the same at-bat. and I like handcuffing power with power for protection... create a murderers row if you will. Fine... If you want to pitch around Dozier... Go Ahead... Sano is on Deck... And if you want to pitch around Sano... Fine... Go Ahead... Vargas or Park is behind him... Put some traffic on base for them to drive in with a big fly. And... I'd put the worst hitter 8th so you can put a better hitter in the 9 spot to goose the lineup when it turns around. So... If Buxton is your 9 hitter then Mauer is your leadoff... If Buxton is leadoff than Mauer is #2. If Buxton is hitting 6th... Mauer is hitting 7th. Buxton as lead off Buxton Mauer Dozier Sano Vargas Kepler Polanco Castro Rosario Buxton batting 9th Mauer Polanco Dozier Sano Vargas Kepler Rosario Castro Buxton That's how I'd do it but Molitor can do whatever he likes.

I'd like May to get that fifth spot and I have no problem with Berrios starting in Rochester. As for the other 4 that were named... It doesn't matter to me right now... Who Was Named and When they were named doesn't matter. I've never wanted spring training performance to be a deciding factor. We all saw Hicks win a job in spring training and we all saw what happened afterwards. I think the team should have a good idea who is coming North before spring training begins because that is what a GM is preparing for all winter. But... I will say this... and this matters greatly to me... Once the regular season starts... Molitor/Falvey/Lavine better have a quick hook with this rotation. If Gibson is still cranking out a 5 plus ERA or Hughes... or Santiago. There better be a move made quickly regardless of salary or investment. If Hughes is tossing a 5 ERA in September and STILL ENTRENCHED IN THE ROTATION... Then I will be disappointed and judgmental. I will have very little tolerance of Vet under performance in 2017 after having to tolerate Vet under performance from beginning to end in 2016. So... Fine... Give them a shot... It's not a surprise but be ready to give someone else a shot if they fail and be ready quickly. 2016 was the last of the grace period.

I'm not sure if I agree with everything you say but this is so well written that I'm going to conform 100%

I'm hoping that he says some other stuff during his time with the players.

First time facing live hitters since the shoulder surgery. He was probably instructed to tone it down.

The Vice Versa part makes this post brilliant!!!

Stubbs defense? Uff Da

Yeah... The Twins will be fine this year... As long as Molitor doesn't play our starters.

I'll try it but my favorite Berry is still Chuck.

I'll add that he got behind 0-2 on a couple of questionable looking strikes to boot before coming through with a Sac Fly. It was an impressive AB... IMO

I've never had Lingonberry. Nor seen one. What does it taste like?

Very creative of Neil Allen to add Parsley to what Hughes is throwing

For those who are not able to watch Here is a photo of the pitches thrown by Hughes

It's early in ST so I'm not going to judge. That's a good thing for Hughes because he ain't close to fooling anyone. I suppose its too soon for demanding mid-season form.

Park with two of our three hits. Looks like Park has made the team!!!

I'm not sure what "oblate spheroid" means but... I fell down last week and rolled for a half mile.

I'm perfectly shaped. Round

Polanco's strength appears to be with his bat so the ability to play some OF is just another way to get his bat in the lineup if the defensive concerns at SS don't improve. Personally... I'd like to see him get a chance at SS because that is where we have the strongest need but if there are "Some People" still in the organization who don't believe he can play that position (imagine what that sounds like during conference calls and meetings) and if Falvey/Lavine have inquired about defensive wizard Iglasias and actually signed a defensive wizard in Adrianaza and Dozier is still holding 2B... Add it all up and Polanco may have too many people not in his corner and therefore Molitor may have to get creative (I don't know if he has that Maddon type mindset) to get Polanco at-bats and utilize his strongest skill set. It's almost impossible to move an outfielder to an infield spot cold but moving an infielder to an outfield spot has been done many times and it's usually necessity that's the mother of that invention and Polanco not being able to play SS would create that necessity. Personally... If Adrianaza or Escobar comes out of camp with the #1 SS job. You gotta ask the question... what do you do with Polanco? If this were the Cubs... Maddon wouldn't think twice. Polanco would be getting some work in the OF. If this were the Rangers... Banister would have Polanco getting some work in the OF just like he did with Profar. I'm not saying it will work out well... sometimes it doesn't but not every situation like this turns out like Sano, Bartlett or Hanley. The alternative is to glue his but to the bench and play him only occasionally when Dozier or Sano need a rest, get dinged up or traded. If Dozier and Sano stay healthy... Polanco would get very little time at the plate and that would be a waste of his talent. If I'm guessing and I am... I believe that Polanco is the #1 SS right now just because that's where he was when we finished 2016 and no slam dunk replacement was brought in... I think Polanco will be given a chance to keep the job as evidenced by his starting at SS tonight but if he struggles in the slightest playing the position in Ft. Myers... Adrianaza or Escobar will be starting by the time camp is done. And then what do you do with Polanco?

Did anyone notice the MLB Trade rumors paragraph on the Tigers. It mentioned that the Twins and Padres inquired about Jose Iglasias. Granted... The Twins were most likely talking with the Tigers concurrently with the Dodgers/Dozier discussion and a SS replacement made sense for Dozier. However... Iglasias is one of the top fielding shortstops in the game and that suggests to me that Falvey/Lavine are dead serious about defense at key positions like SS. I continue to prepare for the possibility of seeing more of Adrianaza than we may have originally imagined. There is stuff in between those lines if you squint hard enough while reading.

I'd love to see that... Make the WR think twice about coming over the middle.

That lateral movement can also be attributed to focus and not solely attributed to his size. I watched Plouffe look like pylon for a couple of years before he started dialing in a little better. I'm not saying I'm right... but I am saying that one size does not fit all.