Riverbrian

I have never seen any organization shove the genie back in the bottle this fast... this hard... and this clumsily. That’s how I described the situation with the Twins in another thread and I think it’s pretty accurate. So much promise with all these young players that the Twins front office banked on it and now they are scrambling to re-set with players that basically became Twins because other teams were not that interested in them and they just happened to be available as a result of that lack of interest. Just like Captain Tony Nelson… that smoke coming out of the bottle after you rub it doesn’t always go as planned. Sometimes it goes horribly wrong, but it’s pretty cool. And I’ll give the same advice to the Twins front office that I would have given to the well-meaning Captain back in the 60’s: “It’s a gift… quit fighting it and learn how to work with it.” Here are some things to think about: I have never seen any organization shove the genie back in the bottle this fast... this hard... and this clumsily. That’s how I described the situation with the Twins in another thread and I think it’s pretty accurate. So much promise with all these young players that the Twins front office banked on it and now they are scrambling to re-set with players that basically became Twins because other teams were not that interested in them and they just happened to be available as a result of that lack of interest. Just like Captain Tony Nelson… that smoke coming out of the bottle after you rub it doesn’t always go as planned. Sometimes it goes horribly wrong, but it’s pretty cool. And I’ll give the same advice to the Twins front office that I would have given to the well-meaning Captain back in the 60’s: “It’s a gift… quit fighting it and learn how to work with it.” Here are some things to think about: 1. Jeannie – This American Icon was trapped in her bottle for 2,000 years until being discovered by an astronaut who landed far off course on a deserted island. In other words… after 2,000 years in a bottle… Jeannie is a lot like a non-blinking Alex Meyer. 2. Aladdin’s Lamp – Terry Ryan is the General Manager of an impoverished team… living in poverty for many years. Terry was vulnerable because of this poverty and easily fell under the influence of the sorcery of his evil advisors. His advisors set him up as a wealthy merchant to gain their trust and then persuaded him to fetch an oil lamp from a magic cave. It was really an evil plan that led to Terry being trapped in the cave, but Terry manages to escape this double cross because of the support of Jim Pohlad who appeared out of nowhere to make sure that Terry would be OK. Terry returned home from this magic cave entrapment still poor but now with a lamp of unknown value. His mother, Paul Molitor (that was really her name), was only concerned about feeding the family and had resorted to cooking up piles of Mastroianni because that was all they could afford and nobody was getting the nutrition necessary to grow up big and strong. She decided that the lamp could be sold to purchase much needed food. That’s when Paul Molitor started to clean the lamp to sell and while rubbing it… something magical happened. Byron Buxton, Jose Berrios and Eddie Rosario came out and punched her right in the face. 3. Jeannie C. Riley -- I’ve never been to Harper Valley but it’s clear that it is populated by a bunch of hypocrites so I’ve chosen to remain in Grand Forks where hypocrites are not allowed and are all forced to live in East Grand Forks. The Parent Teachers Association of Harper Valley had become concerned about the widowed Mrs. Johnson and the short dresses she wore and a proclivity for drinking and hanging out with men. They sent a note home with her daughter that stated this behavior was a bad example for her young daughter. As it turns out the members of the Harper Valley PTA were not perfect either and had a big list of their own issues that Mrs. Johnson readily brought to light at the next meeting. Issues like stalking, drinking, extra-marital affairs, exhibitionism, golf-ball sized neck moles, inappropriate web searches, psoriasis, completely missing easy pop ups behind 2nd base, trying to pull the ball with a runner on 2nd and nobody out, not mixing up the locations and speeds of pitches, bunting too often, not considering the lefty/righty matchups and not fielding a roster of competent players. After the hypocrisy was placed on the table for all to see… Brian Dozier, Phil Hughes, Kevin Jepsen, Paul Molitor and Terry Ryan all got up and walked out of the room in disgust. 4. Baba O’ Riley – Out on the baseball field… you must fight for your paycheck. You got to get your back into what you do and if you do… you won’t need to explain yourself and there will be no need to be forgiven. So let’s not cry… let’s not be concerned… It’s only TEENAGE WASTELAND. And TWINS… Please… Let’s get this together… BEFORE WE GET MUCH OLDER!!! 5. Baba – When my youngest son was a toddler and was thirsty he would say “Baba”. I had no idea what this meant and never put two and two together. I simply didn’t know at the time that he meant “Bottle” and it came out “Baba.” He’s 18 now and about to graduate high school and we are so proud of him but it turns out that he is now severely dehydrated. -------------------- Lineups: BLUE JAYS Jose Bautista(R ) RF Josh Donaldson(R ) 3B Edwin Encarnacion(R ) DH Justin Smoak(S) 1B Michael Saunders(L) LF Troy Tulowitzki(R ) SS Jimmy Paredes(S) 2B Russell Martin(R ) C Kevin Pillar(R ) CF Marco Estrada(R ) P TWINS Brian Dozier(R ) 2B Eduardo Nunez(R ) SS Joe Mauer(L) 1B Miguel Sano(R ) RF Trevor Plouffe(R ) 3B Byung-ho Park(R ) DH Oswaldo Arcia(L) LF Kurt Suzuki(R ) C Danny Santana(S) CF Ervin Santana(R ) P Game-time forecast: Partly cloudy, 68 deg F with a brief 9% chance of rain, winds from the S-SSE at 5-9mph. Go Twins! Please! View full article

I'm not a WAR guy and miles from any conversion to a WAR guy but I agree that Santana shouldn't be our starting CF. I'd like him to remain on the team as utility slash pinch runner and I would move him around enough that he'd get some AB's. I'm not as horrified at Sano in RF as others are but I strongly feel that Sano should play 3B more often than he has. However... A side note... If I was Trevor Plouffe... forget Molitor, Ryan or any of us. If I was Trevor Plouffe... I'd be begging for the chance to play OF or any other position. Plouffe has been an average 3B for his entire career and at some point down the road he will be fighting for work. He will have a better chance finding a job later and prolonging his career if he increased his position options and therefore increasing the odds that he will match up with more teams possible needs. He isn't talented enough to type cast himself as a 3B only in my opinion. I'd love to go along with your Kepler idea but I simply haven't seen enough of him. I do think the youth movement needs to start right now but it needs to start slowly with a simple change of mindset. That mindset change is simple... If I Terry Ryan... call up a youthful player with promise such as Polanco... You Paul Molitor... will make that MLB experience as productive for the future as possible until he is sent back down to the minors... By Me... Terry Ryan.

I'd go with Polanco for sure. I've seen nothing but good AB's from him in his limited chances and that play he made at SS was the best I've seen from a SS in a Twins uniform in quite some time. He certainly isn't earning bench time. Berrios... It is certainly worthy of debate but I would have given him some more starts at the very least because he wasn't as far off as his stats suggest according to my eyeballs. And..And... this team needs a top end starter and won't sign one. Give him the same amount of rope that you are currently giving Brian Dozier at least. I'm Ok with Buxton being down... 50% strikeout rate was way too much and let's bring him back if he keeps hitting like he is in Rochester but I'd give him a little more time just so it ain't so yo-yo like. Kepler... I simply didn't see enough of him to form an opinion one way or another.

Yeah... I agree... I think the manager needs to keep fighting the best he knows how until the schedule runs out. This is up to Terry Ryan to tell Paul in no uncertain terms. "Paul... Try to win the games but we need to find out who will be able to help us next year at the same time"... Play Polanco while he is up with the big club".

I'd say 4th year in a row but I'm willing to go with yours and declare that 2 is bad enough.

The Cubs signed two OF's actually and possibly a third if you include Zobrist and they had prospects coming out of their ears like the Twins... Perhaps more so. And they play 3B superstar Kris Bryant in the OF Frequently. The Cubs set out to improve their club after an encouraging 2015 and realized that they couldn't rely on youth as much. And despite being over run with youth and the acquisition of capable veterans to crowd the roster and creating that good problem to have. Joe Maddon still manages to get Soler and Baez at bats while Molitor can't find a place for Polanco to play. The similarities are numerous and yet I think it's safe to say that the Cubs and Twins took exactly opposite approaches.

Rosario was absolutely horrible yesterday. I don't blame Molitor for being upset and benching him at all. I blame the organization for putting itself in the position of being forced to wait this long to make this move because they didn't seek out at least one professional veteran OF with talent to improve the club. after a somewhat hopeful 2015. So when Rosario has a game like he did yesterday it doesn't look like he was sent down in a blind rage.

I read this and laughed out loud. Then I thought about it If the Twins are on Channel 623 and the Red Wings are on 624 at the same time? Uff Da... I can't believe that I can't stand here and guarantee my Twins main club loyalty at this moment. Me? All this time I have invested in this product over decades Me?

Rosario Smosario He's just another cough in this horrible disease. Should he have been sent down? Of course he should... He's far too aggressive at the plate and major league pitching is going to eat him alive.... this is overdue. However... Let me try and big picture this thing. I have never seen any organization shove the genie back in the bottle this fast... this hard and this clumsily. Big Picture... The Powers that be took a team that was in it until the final weekend... Yeah I know... We over achieved... We punched above our weight... Yeah I Know... but the team was in it until the final weekend anyway. The Powers that be... (a room full of people) tasked with improving this club that was "Oh So Close" failed so badly with their assessments in almost every facet of consideration that two months into 2016 we have knee jerked Kintzler, Centeno, Dean, Rogers, Mastroianni and Grossman on to our 25 Man in order to right the ship. (Close circuit to Centeno and Kintzler... I kinda like what you guys are doing so far... keep it up). Anyway... Centeno and Kintzler have been OK so far but... but... Big Picture... We have a front office who made that possible. It should have never happened. You stand here today and need Centeno and Kintzler. Back to Rosario... Yes he should have been sent down... A couple of weeks ago but you didn't do it because you didn't have anybody else to replace him. Sending him down now... immediately after he was yanked from the game... for doing what he has always done (Play Aggressively) and then bringing up a guy that you've had for a day or two. Well that LOOKS LIKE CRAP and it looks like you are placating a fed up manager and it does lead me to ask this important question. Who exactly is running this organization Terry? I hope Grossman turns out to be the J.D. Martinez... I personally love those stories and I won't stand here and tell you that he won't be... I hope Centeno spring boards into a lengthy career and I will go ahead and assume that he will until he proves otherwise... But Terry Ryan... I'll say that you've already told me and everybody else how you assessed those two coming out of spring training. Centeno was 4th on your depth chart... a backup in Rochester and Grossman wasn't even on the team. He was signing a minor league deal with a team that signed professional outfielders so he had nowhere to go. You and the room full of people who advise you... the room full of people who do this for a living selected this roster and here we are... a mere 8 months ago... we were playing meaningful games in September. OK... I feel better... It's getting late in North Dakota.

It's absolutely OK I personally believe that you have to learn to laugh at everything eventually. When my head falls off... my head will be on the ground rolling around trying to think of a head rolling joke.

Yeah a Driver's Door T-Bone would have been maybe a second away.

It happened so fast. There was nothing I could do. She was driving West on a Frontage Road and I was driving west on a double lane and turning to the South. There was another car waiting to turn East on the double lanes and that car was blocking her path and my view. She just rolled right around that car and Boom. I wonder how much fun her insurance company is going to be and how I end up getting screwed now.

BTW My beloved 2013 Dodge Dart is in limbo. A Teenage Girl ran a stop sign last night at about 30 MPH and wrecked it pretty good. Gonna have to wait and see what the Claims adjuster has to say but in case of the worst... I just want to say that I loved that car. It got me too all those great places. Not only did she run a stop sign at full speed... She was in the wrong lane because she had to go around another car that was blocking her lane just to run the stop sign and nail me. I got out of the car ready to be absolutely pissed but she got out and came walking toward me crying and shaking... and before I could say anything... she looked at me and asked me if I was alright. At that moment... I realized I was indeed alright and this was going to be harder on her than I. BUT JEEZ... I REALLY LOVE THAT CAR.

Yeah... I can't get to them all Inver Grove Heights is between Kalamazoo and Lincoln Nebraka.

I forgot about Coeur d'Alene. That's an Oasis like place of beauty. It so ramshackle all around that Northern Tip of Idaho and then Boom... Coure d'Alene with that big Lake and all the money apparently because the ramshackle goes away. Never been to Carmel but I did drive the California Coastline and that was over the top beautiful.

Yeah... I've seen that area and loved it. I've driven all of the lower 48 states now and here are a few of the (not so obvious) jaw dropping locations that I've seen. The Immediate Eastern Side of the Cascades in Washington. As the mountains get closer... you start to pull out of that desert and Boom... Green... Trees... and Mountains. Jaw dropping. The Area around Cooperstown New York... I had no idea that it was suchan amazingly beautiful countryside. I was just going to visit the HOF and the scenery was unexpected bonus. Foothills... Lakes and a well kept up small town. Northwest Illinois... The rest of Illinois is so awful that you are surprised at the improvement as you drive west past Rockford and toward Iowa. The Hills start to roll and you can see miles and miles of green field off in the distance. Central Kentucky... I have no idea why... it's almost like they have a state law that everything has to be perfect. Pittsburgh... The most beautiful big city I have seen and I've seen most of them. Was expecting industrial and dirty and it was nothing like that at all. This list doesn't include the obvious site like the Grand Canyon or Yosemite. Just some surprises.

Honestly... based on the view of where I currently reside. Gary Indiana is more Beautiful. However... the area south of Watford City and North of Medora... On Par with the best of South Dakota... in my opinion... of course.

Pardon my Dinger has a hook in his mouth. Give him some slack so the line don't break.

Yeah However... the Hockey is better on my side.

It's surprisingly beautiful. I've lived in the flat lands of Eastern North Dakota for so long that it still shocks me that something like that is actually within the borders of North Dakota. The North Unit might be even more beautiful than the South Unit. If you don't mind the occasional Oil Rig dotting the scenery.

That catch has to be made. How long will the foot shooting continue. You'd think the foot would be just bone fragments scattered over the ground at this point.

How's Oregon Is it raining yet?

Yeah... I read that I have always been a big Seth Fan. Seth consistently shows a grasp of the human side of the game and I think that side gets over looked by many of us looking at a bunch of numbers. I followed Seth to Twin's Daily so ultimately Seth has been responsible for every word that I've typed on this site. However... I think Seth would be OK... If I disagreed with him on one or two things. I kinda do here.

The Logic and Facts currently look a lot worse than the irrational hope.