Riverbrian

Kiss my Grits

I'm not sure what people do in that part of the world. Go to the Beach... look for MSG and Skip rocks into ocean... See how close to Taiwan you can get.

I'd love it if Molitor would watch Maddon for awhile.

The Waitress at Buffalo Wild Wings just dropped an entire tray of wings on the floor and the wings were burnt by the kitchen. This thing could reach Mankato and St. Cloud by July.

It's tough to watch the losses but... honestly... if they can extend this losing streak awhile. The quicker Ryan and Molitor (they are joined at the hip according to Ryan in the Pioneer Press Today) start giving playing time to players like Polanco while they are in a Twins uniform.

And She's Fat and to quote Jackson Browne... That Girl Can Sing.

I agree... I like Duffey... but let's skip his start the next time it lines up with the Jays.

You get a lot of miles out of that guy.

The Lions Fandom still feel that way. I was trying to talk about the Flint Water Situation and they would go "Oh Yeah... Let me tell you about the Lions".

I'm going to do my best and not use hindsight to praise or condemn so I will stay consistent with what I thought during the off season as it happened and simply repeat that. It's the only fair way that I can be allowed to criticize anything. 1. From day one of the off-season... I was concerned about the bullpen and the bullpen was my biggest concern perhaps only concern. I was really happy with the Jepsen trade and I didn't care what it cost because we were in contention but I felt it was too little too late. I felt that we needed two upper level bullpen arms and if we didn't acquire two upper level bullpen arms... we would be overly reliant on Jepsen whose career track record was the fringe of set-up and frequently bumped out of set-up and we would be in even worse shape if Perkins didn't rebound from whatever happened to Perkins... AND... If we were ever to consider moving May back to the rotation... we would have no chance to do this if his critical need in the bullpen wasn't filled. 2. I expected Hicks to be our opening day CF based on what I felt was fairly nice improvement in 2015 and I was pretty sure that Buxton should start in the minors based on what he looked like in 2015. 3. I would have never considered trading Hicks for J.R. Murphy and was immediately concerned about the deal. I thought Hicks could hold the fort down until Buxton was ready and slide elsewhere when Buxton arrived. In my mind... we traded a realistic potential 20/20 guy for a catcher that will probably never reach 10/10. I felt that Murphy's type of production could have been replicated by simply signing one of the many catching options available such as Salty or Arencebia or anyone for that matter. I felt we overpaid for position scarcity and I have a personal problem with that type of acquisition. 4. Once the Hicks trade happened... I said... "well I hope the scouts were right and JR turns out great". and I closed the book on catcher... It is what it is. 5. After the Hicks trade... I immediately assumed that the Twins would acquire a veteran CF to replace Hunter's veteran presence and allow Buxton to cook some more in AAA. I honestly never dreamed that the Twins would roll with Buxton in CF. There's no way, they would rush Buxton after making the same not ready in CF mistake 3 years in a row prior. There was no way they would do it a 4th time and there was no way they would do it after coming close to the playoffs in 2015. I honestly thought there was no way and I waited for the Vet CF acquisition that was sure to come. I checked the CF FA Market and I honestly didn't like any of the choices... I liked Fowler but didn't like giving up the draft choice... OK... not a problem... the Twins could trade for one. Let's see who they get because they surely won't go with Buxton at CF on opening day. 6. Runzler, Benson, Thompson, Centeno Signings... I didn't care... I expected none of them to contribute to what was going to be a great 2016. 7. Park was signed... I was shocked that the Twins actually out-bid someone for anyone. I knew nothing about Park but I checked out his stats and was immediately optimistic because his stats looked better than Kang and I would have loved to have signed Kang type production. I thought to myself... here we go... the front office is making THE MOVE and going for it. 8. I believe it was around this time that I heard the plan of moving Sano to RF. I was immediately OK with it because I'm not the type of person who worries about log jams at all. I like Log Jams... it means you have lots of logs to choose from. I didn't think that Plouffe had to be traded... I thought Plouffe, Sano and if Park works out... all of them in the same lineup only made us stronger. I also assumed that the Twins would not move him to RF unless they felt he could actually play the position somewhat OK. 9. Hicks, Bosher, Mastro, Kintzler signed... Didn't care and didn't expect them to contribute at all. I'm waiting to see what the front office does that will blow my socks off... it's sure to come because we came close and thats what teams that come close do. 10. Bullpen arms are startiing to move around. Benoit is traded to the Mariners, Kimbrel to the Red Sox, K-Rod to the Tigers. I thought Chavez would have been a decent bullpen acquisition and he goes to the Jays and then the Padres got Pomeranz and that was a guy that I wanted bad... we needed a lefthander and he impressed me big time when I watched him pitch. 11. Jed Lowrie was traded to the A's. You may be wondering what this has to do with the Twins off-season but this started to dominate my thoughts when it happened. I thought that Brett Lawrie had just became available when Lowrie was acquired and I'm a huge Brett Lawrie fan. I said to myself... If I was Terry Ryan... I would go get Lawrie... just get this done. If we picked up Lawrie we would have one of the top three defensive 3B in the land and a guy who could shift to 2B to give Dozier a day off and allow Sano to play 3B on occasion and then give Arcia some RF time. Lawrie made plays at 3B that would leave me stunned and he did it nightly. This would have gave the Twins the ability to field multiple lineups and compete in almost any situation. I really wanted this to happen but I knew that it wouldn't.. it was much more inventive than our front office had demonstrated in the past. Just know... if I was the GM... I would have done this and done it quickly. 12. The Winter Meetings... I'm hearing rumors of the Twins talking with the Rays about Boxberger and McGee... I think to myself... well I've heard rumors before and they usually don't happen but this trade makes too much sense so I allowed myself to think... maybe? We'd Pick up two nice bullpen arms in one deal... I figured it would be expensive especially after seeing what the Red Sox paid for Kimbrel but we had the farm system to pay the price and I was OK with that... as long as it wasn't Buxton or Berrios. I read a quote from Terry Ryan saying the bullpen was the top priority at the meetings so I allowed myself some hope. I also still fully expected a Vet CF to arrive at some point because there was no way they would roll with Buxton opening day although I wasn't hearing a lot of convincing chatter. 13. Brett Lawrie is traded to the White Sox and I think to myself... Well this couldn't have been worse. I instantly knew three things. 1. One of my favorite non-Twin players was going to play for my most hated team. 2. The White Sox Defense which we could always count on being bad was instantly improved and this was going to be an issue for us. 3. The White Sox didn't pay that much and this meant the 3B market was soft and I was pretty sure at that point... Plouffe was going nowhere and I was OK with that but man... I really wanted Lawrie and he went for a surprisingly low price. 14. Smith to the Red Sox... Warren to the Cubs... and then Justin Wilson to the Tigers. The Wilson trade made me say "damn It" and I meant it. It's not that I expect the Twins to reach deals at the snap of the fingers because deals take two to make and you have to have something that they want. But... I was pissed because they wanted Hicks... Why not Hicks for Wilson instead of Murphy. That I would have been OK with. Wilson is a great left hander in my opinion and to make matters worse... it was the Tigers... New GM Avila... went to work and immediately rebuilt what was a bad bullpen in 2015. The Tigers just went out and did it and I'm still waiting for the Twins to do the same. 15. The Padres Acquire Bethancourt... I didn't care because I didn't want Bethancourt at all. I figured that there was something really really wrong with him since the Braves basically gave him away. But... I did think to myself... Hmm... We could have picked up a catcher for basically nothing. This Murphy better be special and I'm starting to get real concerned that Buxton will be starting in CF opening day. 16. Glles to the Astros... And the Astros paid a huge price and I'm thinking that the price for bullpen talent is off the charts now. I don't care... we need bullpen... gotta pay it. 17. Frazier is traded to the White Sox and Escobar is traded to the Angels and my thoughts about the soft 3B market are confirmed. Freese and Alverez still looking for jobs. Plouffe ain't going anywhere and I'm still happy about that... happy if I couldn't have Lawrie... or... TODD FRAZIER... I didn't think Frazier was a realistic possibility for us.. He was one of the best 3B in the game period and I figured he would be too expensive. However... the White Sox got Frazier for a couple of decent prospects and that is it. This is Todd Frazier... Elite Defense and one of the top hitters in the NL. A couple of Decent... not elite... Prospects is all it took. Escobar is picked up by the Angles for basically nothing and yep... It's a Soft 3B market and the White Sox just instantly fixed their biggest problem... DEFENSE. 18. We sign Abad... I didn't care... It was a decent left hander for the bullpen but I was worried that this was the only move so I kind of resented it so I never appreciated the possibility that the Twins may have found someone decent. I read about the Twins thinking that he was tipping his pitches and thought OK... that's nice... Now where are the damn elite bullpen arms that we need. 19. Rajai Davis is signed by the Indians... Now this I care about... Not that I loved Rajai Davis but he was probably the only FA that made CF sense for the Twins. I'm starting to think that Buxton is going to be the guy. 20. Chapman is traded to the Yankees... Storen to the Blue Jays and I'm starting to strongly believe that we are indeed done doing stuff. Bullpen help is not coming... OF Help is not coming. My new biggest concern isn't the bullpen or CF... It's that every other team in the American League was plugging holes and getting better. I didn't think there was a weak team in the American League at this point... Maybe the A's... Maybe the Angels but those teams wouldn't be that weak. This is about the time that I suspected that our fates were going to rest on youth and that youth would have to grow up quickly because there would be no nights off. 21. McGee is traded to the Rockies and I have to stop and say to myself. OK... this is the team. We took a young contending team and got even younger when almost the entire American League made significant improvements. 22. The Twins keep Santana and Arcia on the 25 Man Roster and I tell myself... OK maybe this can work... We have depth everywhere. If Park doesn't work out... Vargas can get another shot. If Sano doesn't work out in RF... We can move him back to 3B or DH. If Rosario doesn't work out... we can give Arcia a shot... I don't love the Starters but... if someone gets hurt or fails... we got Duffey and Berrios waiting to claim a spot. We got some depth in the rotation... If Buxton works out this will be the first time in a while that we have a roster full of players who can play. I still hate the bullpen and I am still scared that there is no safety net for Buxton but all in all... I like the teams possible depth. 23. The Season starts 24. The Wheels Come Off... Buxton struggles and Murphy struggles... Thank God Hicks is struggling with the Yankees because I would have been beside myself if we actually Killed CF and Backup C and the Yankee Fans are writing songs about Aaron Hicks. 25. I Type all of this so I'm on record of what I thought... and I keep any hindsight out of it. Although... most of you won'y read this.. it's too long. It is my opinion... that if the Twins would have did exactly what I wanted... We would have maybe won 5 more games. Because... things are pretty bad out there.

Thank You... You deserve a badge or something. I'm willing to bet if you kept going this information that you provided would start to replicate ten fold. As a long time fantasy baseball player... I've waited for many of these prospects for excruciating periods of time. There is a yearning for Berrios but an obliviousness to what is happening with Glasnow, Taillon, Snell and others of similar situation. The Twins are in the unique position of having rushed prospects and have them over fill the 40 man at the same time. We got a lot of them and they are mostly not fully cooked... so something will have to give.

It's a really easy line to walk in all honestly. Remember who pays the bills and enjoy getting paid to watch baseball... even if it's horrible baseball. He has a great job if you discount the time away from family he must suffer through. Dick understands this and he's not stupid and it's why he has been a part of us for a long time. If Dick has a criticism... I would certainly listen to him because he has enough direct access to everyone important and the experience of watching more games than I. I'd love to have dinner with the guy and talk baseball off the record.

I can't argue with a lot of what you post here... it is very sensible. However... A lot of different and contrary opinions are expressed here and it's important to note that some didn't complain about Hunter being signed last year and some didn't ask for a rushing of the kids. There were plenty of expressions on all sides of the discussion. It's impossible to express Twins Daily as a United Voice.

I can't explain it. Sign... Trade for... Build one out of used car parts but the team needed a vet CF and two top shelf bullpen arms. Would it have fixed things? most likely not cuz this is real bad... But... Mastro probably wouldn't be on the roster in May following a year of playoff contention and If the Bullpen wasn't coughing everything up when leads are gained... who knows... maybe 15 wins and from there who knows. 1. The young Twins were playing meaningful baseball in September 2. They spend the off season getting even younger instead of acquiring vets. 3. The 40 man is over run with youth 4. The Manager won't play youth 5. Mastro and Grossman are added to the roster in a panic.

This sounds so harsh and my instinct is to defend Terry Ryan from it... but... there is really no other conclusion to be drawn.

or 98

It's good but I still got to go with Bert's "I'd thought there'd be more".

Ten? It was a blur... wasn't it?

You are being a little rough on them... They can now be projected to win between 40 and 41.

That does look awesome. You made some great choices putting that together. Looks so good I'd be careful cooking food in it. And I was right... you are missing the one third measuring cup.

That has a nice even look to it... Despite the 20 extra losses that prevent it from actually being even.

They gotta wait for someone to get cut from another team first.

I'm gonna have to check the rule book but I'm pretty sure you can... as long as the other team agrees to the trade.

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