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Riverbrian

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Everything posted by Riverbrian

  1. Riverbrian
    The human side of these things is often glossed over. Agreed that Lewis has to snap out of it. His playing time has certainly been more extensive than his numbers suggest he has been worthy of. Regardless... Rocco will play Lewis. Rocco already decided that he wasn't going to play Bride. Other than take AB's from left handers.
  2. Riverbrian
    I'd like to feel better about hitting development but I can't until I start seeing better results. Keashell looked great but so did Julien. He needs to be kept in the lineup when he heals but the future is far from certain. Erod? I hear good things but he's left handed and I have no reason to feel that the Twins won't strip mine him for parts. Same for Jenkins... Neither Jenkins or Erod are here yet but I'm sure the Twins will be looking for those right handed bats when they get here. And making McCusker watch from the bench for his brief cup of coffee in the sun. Signing Bride and Clemons instead... even with Julien and Miranda falling off a cliff certainly doesn't feel like a philosophy change. It seems like they don't believe in who they are developing and I want to know why? If the players are not good enough for their tastes. Is it their taste or their cooking?
  3. Riverbrian
    You are correct. The Twins and Tigers are spending about the same in 2025. The Tigers had money to spend this off-season because they didn't 4 million here and 4 million there the money away with players in Arbitration and Cheap Vet Contracts. The Tigers have a roster full of players making the minimum. As a result, the Tigers had about 50 million to spend on DECENT free agents this year while we were sweeping up spilled produce in the supermarket aisles. The Twins are currently trying to figure out who they can't sign and who they will have to trade next year to make payroll room because we are not filling spaces internally like nearly everybody else does. If the Twins can't develop talent. This thing will crash and burn hard. The Twins currently compare with the Phillies and Dodgers in regards to players making the minimum. The problem is that we don't have the money the Phillies and Dodgers do. If we try to play like the Yankees in here, we will lose to the Yankees out there. Brad Pitt says a lot of smart things.
  4. Riverbrian
    I'm not sure what you did there. I see my name username attached to the quote but that isn't my quote but it looks official. Since I was asked... I'll answer the questions just for fun. #1 - I'm not sure 2017 is accurate for this 2024/2025 version of the Tigers. I think they clearly started a rebuild in 2017 under Al Avila. The Upton type signings went away for a bit. But, I think that rebuild was officially over when they signed Javier Baez and E Rod to big contracts. They were rolling out vet names like Barnhart, Schoop, Candelerio, Victor Reyes and Grossman on the daily lineup card IN 2022. It didn't work very well but the Tigers had a 2nd run at it last year at the deadline and that's when I think this version of the Tigers began. Granted, they had been growing some prospects on the farm along the way but it wasn't like the Tigers farm system was overflowing with talent and it wasn't like the Tigers were opening the door for youth but for a select few like Riley Greene and Colt Keith who was really struggling at the time on the offensive and of course Tarik Skubal and Reese Olson on the pitching side. Then they traded away the moveable vets at the deadline which provided playing time for the youth and BOOM. That's the long answer... the short answer. I don't want to see a rebuild. I'd like them to get better at development so we are less reliant on the yearly supplement of cheap vets on one year contracts. I don't know if its an internal development issue or a risk aversion/lack of trust preventing major league deployment of developing players at the major league level. Either way... it's not good and we are currently behind a good chunk of teams in MLB and it's leading to a cycle of cheap vet filler, which will collapse at some point because the system has to produce because WE ALL KNOW THAT WE CAN'T AFFORD players developed by other teams via free agency. The system hasn't produced a Riley Greene. Falvey has had 8 years and the best we can do is an oft injured potential superstar in almost a year long funk and a couple of left handed hitters that are not allowed to face left handers. So... to answer question #2. If we enter a rebuild. I do not trust Falvey and Rocco to pull it off. I think Falvey has done a good job on the pitching side... I think the offensive side is a mess and the GM for a rebuild needs to be able to develop both and quit strip mining players for parts.
  5. Riverbrian
    It's about time. Rocco had no use for him. We can now stop wasting that roster spot.
  6. Riverbrian
    Maybe Hinch is doing it with 15 players that add up to around 11M in payroll. Which is about the same price as Vazquez alone.
  7. Riverbrian
    Those Tigers look pretty good. I don't know how they do it with so much youth and so many left hander hitters. The Motor City Kitties faced the Twins with a roster that contains 15 pre-arb players at the moment. They still have 3 solid pre-arb players on the IL. The Twins brought 10 pre-arb players to Detroit (3 DFA's Clemons, Bride and Wentz). The Tigers current record is: 53-32 The Twin current record is: 40-44
  8. Riverbrian
    I wouldn't want to go full rebuild either. But... if we need to do that. I'm just currently not development comfortable with our front office and the moving of Buxton or Correa is just going to create more players that need to be developed. I'd hate to trade Duran but you can trade closers because you can make another one. A trade of Duran wouldn't be as earth shaking as dealing Ryan or Buxton who are much harder to come by. Keashall, Erod, G Gon, Culpepper, Jenkins. I have high hopes and I hope they get real opportunity. 4 Years ago... It was Lewis, Kirilloff, Larnach and Balozovic. 8 Years ago it was Gordon, Gonsalves, Kirilloff. That's why I love your comment about volume in your post. We are going to need some of those 15th, 22nd, 25th, 27th ranked organizational prospects to work out.
  9. Riverbrian
    I'm not a big fan of the roster as it stands but... if the Twins are in contention at the deadline. They better not sell. If anyone on this website (or in any front office) thinks they can predict the playoffs. I don't believe you can. If I'm wrong and you can indeed. Tell me about your past success and give me your picks right now so we can see if you can do it again. Now... if we are sellers. Moving the expiring contracts is a no-brainer and not moving them would be almost criminal. That type of thing should be routine seller activity. Now... if we are big sellers... I'm talking blow it up and start over type sellers. If we move Buxton or Ryan for example for bigger prospect hauls. If this is what we are talking about... if we are talking about Buxton and Ryan dealt for the start of a retool. I want to be careful how I say this but... If we are tearing it up like that. I'd rather a different front office handle it. Our current development isn't giving me warm fuzzies and I rather not increase the number of fuzzies in their hands.
  10. Riverbrian
    I love this post. It seems that younger players have a stigma attached to them in our neck of the woods. We haven't had a lot of success with younger players so it's easy to develop a distaste. I get it... I understand but... but. It seems to be a Minnesota Twins problem... not exclusively but close enough that something needs to be done to keep up with others. Other teams are doing quite well with nearly half of their roster made up of young ball players. The Twins.. not so much. You are spot on... great post.
  11. Riverbrian
    Defeat, beat, best, conquer, trounce, thrash, rout, vanquish, overcome, overwhelm, overpower, destroy, drub, subdue, crush, slaughter, clobber, hammer, whip, paste, demolish, shellac, skunk, gain, rally.
  12. Riverbrian
    Everything that ails the Twins... Starts right here... with this sentence. It's not the money... it's what we are spending it on.
  13. Riverbrian
    Ask a premature question. Get a premature answer. If the deadline was tomorrow. They are in buying distance from the playoffs. However, there will be another 28 games or so before the deadline. If they go 3-25 over that stretch. Not selling would be... what's the word I'm looking for... Bad... it would be BAD. If the Twins go 25-3 over that stretch... Not Buying would be... Insert your favorite adjective here. Ask a GM that question prematurely. You can't say I don't know because nobody will tolerate that answer. Can't say you will be selling because you just publicly told your players that you don't think they can do it. .
  14. Riverbrian
    Agreed 100% Bride presence on the roster doesn't improve the team and it further weakens development by taking a developing left hander out against left handers. Not good for now, even worse for the future. 13 Roster spots. That's all we get to work with at a given time. The Twins currently have that reduced to 11 and have done so willingly. If they choose to do that. They better be right... they better not get injured.
  15. Riverbrian
    You touched on a couple of points that bug me a little. Not key to everything bug me but little things that bug me just a little. The nearly 50/50 split at the catching position bugs me a little. I understand that defensive value needs to be strongly considered at the catching position, However, we are talking a rather large offensive difference between the two of them. Come playoff time, I doubt the split will be 50/50 and we have a little evidence to support that thought because... It wasn't two years ago. I'm not saying to completely bench Vazquez but I am saying that he could be dialed down while Jeffers gets dialed up. I understand that their might be value in keeping your catchers fresh over the 162 game schedule and a 50/50 rotation may help in that regard. However... not many teams (if any) are doing a 50/50 split at the position like the Twins have been doing for nearly 3 years straight now. And here's the other thing. We have been incredibly healthy at the catcher position. What if that changes? Will Rocco go to a 50/50 split if Vazquez goes down and Jeffers is paired with Gasper or Camargo. I doubt it. In that scenerio... We might see Jeffers 4 out of 5. This just leads me to the question... How has Vazquez maintained his lofty position in the eyes of Rocco and the Front Office. The other thing that you brought up that bugs me and bugs me more than the catcher playing time split. As you mention... No Depth. Injuries will come and when they do... players with OPS under .509 will see a playing time increase. Spots 12 and 13 on the 26 man roster are not trusted to play and this leads to the cementing of average. Ty France has been fine... he's been close to average... he's had some key hits for us. But cementing of average with no one to push Ty France, means that he is playing every day out of necessity. That's a problem. Nobody to push Ty France for playing time is a problem. Ty France being basically not replaceable in the daily lineup is a problem. Yes... the team has been average offensively over the course of this season. Average isn't bad but it also isn't good. Average is fine if your pitching is above average... If your pitching stumbles... you'll need that average offense to step up to cover. Offensively we trying to land a muskie with 5 pound test fishing line. There is a good chance that it will snap. This team will have to keep focusing on panfish to sneak into a playoff spot.
  16. Riverbrian
    Lewis and Keaschall are on the IL. The Twins are mainly healthy and mainly locked in. Basically 8 players are available for 7 lineup spots. We had a mini stretch of Larnach followed by Castro out with hand/wrist injuries that left Rocco with 7 players for 7 lineup spots. Wallner and Larnach appear to be in two different rotations with each other. One must play and one must sit against left handed starters and they appear to be rotating. One must play RF and One must DH and they appear to be rotating there as well. Against right handers... Lee has sat once, Bader has sat twice, Castro injured for three and Larnach injured for one. The other 5 players Clemens and Bride are platoon partners. That appears to be a thing. The Catchers continue to basically rotate every other game despite a despite a .239 OPS difference between the two of them. Keirsay has been on the roster for 10 games and has one start. The MLB average OPS this season is .714. The Twins have a team OPS of .707. In the past 15 games (Basically since Lewis got himself injured). The Twins have a team of OPS of .726 The Twins have 3 players that are .509 OPS or lower. That's right .509. Got themselves roster spots though.
  17. Riverbrian
    LOL... C'mon... You gotta believe in your team... through thick and thin. Shoulda stuck with the switch hitting. It's not too late. There are things that he can do. 1. During meals. Make him apply the salt and pepper at the same time with a shaker in each hand. 2. When chopping wood... make him go to the other side of the tree but make sure that he doesn't lose focus on where the house and car is located. 3. When he dances... let his wife or girlfriend lead. They end up leading in everything else in life so that alone will free his mind up for getting his feet/base set. If he follows those three steps, he will have it down in no time. He doesn't have to be real good at it. Just being a switch hitter will get him in the lineup for 162 games.
  18. Riverbrian
    If I was Trevor... I'd want out. All in all, it's his Dad's fault for two reasons. 1. Not realizing that the Twins would draft him. 2. Letting him swing left handed as a child when he clearly throws right handed or... or... providing the gene that makes swing from that goofy side of the plate.
  19. Riverbrian
    Jenkins and Emma are lefties. Gonzalez and Sabato are righties. This whole discussion just drives me crazy. Houston wants a left handed bat. I get it... they are tremendously right handed. The Twins are constantly looking for right handed bats despite being tremendously right handed to begin with and the few left handed hitters that we retain are punished for being left handed. They sit against left handed starters and we pull them from the game if a lefty enters the game. At some point in time... The Twins just need to think about developing and acquiring hitters period. Developing them prospects completely and we need to stop strip mining them for parts. They need to stop trying to build Frankenstein... because those parts wear out after a year and need replacement every off-season. If we have 7 lefthanded hitters on the 26 man roster so be it... in fact... it would be awesome since 75% of the pitching is right handed. As it stands right now... 4 left handed hitters on a Twins roster is over stocked because we don't have enough right handed hitters to cover. I am so platooned out... I can't stand it and I just have no room in my heart for any team looking for a left handed hitter or right handed hitter specifically. If a GM tried to explain it to me... I'd tell him to knock it off and... Just Go find hitters! The development price tag and roster space price tag isn't worth the tiny percentage gains in one or two individual AB's out of 6,000 plus that teams take during a given season. Just go FIND HITTERS.
  20. Riverbrian
    Great idea... the Astros currently have only 3 left handed bats. The Twins have 4. This extra hair needs to be shaved. I'm sure we will be looking for those right handed bats in the off-season due to the lack of right handed bats. Might as well get a jump start on that.
  21. Riverbrian
    I've decided to post the pre-arb numbers from the opposing team. I will do this once every series. The reason I'm doing this is so those not watching the other teams can easily see how far behind the Twins are in regards to development. I also do this to point out: Not only do the majority of baseball teams have more cost effective talent being paid the minimum contributing. I also post the records to show that you don't have to die with youth. The Mariners are closer to the Twins in roster construction. 11 Pre-arb players compared to the current total of 10 for our Twins. However... the Twins are still behind the Mariners because 3 of the current Twins 10 pre-arb players are scrap heapers, Clemons, Bride and Wentz. The Mariners don't have any of those waiver claim type of players. The Mariners are 41-37 while the Twins are 37-42. I will post this information on our opponents once every series so everyone can compare and contrast our Twins. So everyone can see the hole that we have dug and the money it takes to sit in that hole. That the same hole and hole filler will be back next year and the year after.
  22. Riverbrian
    On the bright side. They only gave up 6 runs! This is huge news because I've been worried that we don't have an offense capable of winning games with scores of 11 - 10 or 18 to 17.
  23. Riverbrian
    I’m not going anywhere. I’ll continue to complain where I feel its appropriate but I’m not going anywhere. Don’t care about Baldelli extended or kicked to the curb. Falvey is above him… Falvey has the authority to choose his guy. He has chosen… every game of every year. Baldelli is his choice. If it doesn’t work it’s on Falvey. That is where my eyes are focused.
  24. Riverbrian
    I’m not sure I’d want the prospect or prospects acquired in the hands of the current regime. Do we want a left handed hitting prospect in the hands of these people? How are we doing with the right handed hitters Miranda and Lewis? If this team needs to sell Buxton. I think I want a new front office handling the influx of young talent.
  25. Riverbrian
    Ups Downs. It’s a 162 game ride.
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