Riverbrian

As we look back on this 36 game stretch... It doesn't make a ton of sense to focus on one thing. However... It sure looked like Santana broke for third base AFTER the bunt was caught. I guess it's a teaching moment for the young man.

Different teams... Different Context. All you have to do is turn the game on and watch.

When I walk into a room... look around... listen to the conversations taking place. I will choose to hang out with you. I'm getting "I'm with Peter" shirts made.

It was not good baseball. Miami did not play good baseball either. The Twins haven't played good baseball since mid-August. They spit up a comfortable lead in a very short period of time. With that said... Here is your service time report brought to you by Red Lobster. We've been there.. done that. Buxton - 7..160 Correa - 8.119 Larnach - 2.014 Lewis - 1.142 Santana - 13.115 Farmer - 5.129 Jeffers - 3.089 Castro - 4.017 Martin - 0.000

There was no reason for you to come back in September... if that is what you have to say. You are talking to primarily adults who have the ability to assess their fandom on their own terms. What is your expectation here? Are you some sort of self imagined Pied Piper? Is this some sort of I told you so post? Are you attempting absolution through a clumsy attempt at justification. You gave up in May. Your Choice... Live with it. I have no interest in your reply. The Twins will be my team next year and the years after. I don't need you around.

Not that I would recommend it in the Majors but when I was coaching baseball... with development really more important than a W. If I gave the bunt sign to a hitter and he failed to get a bunt down and had accumulated two strikes attempting. I kept the Bunt on. If he bunted foul... he bunted foul. When a bunt is called... he's going to bunt. The job is get that runner over. I'm not bailing him out. This is all a lot of tough talk from me because I can't say that I gave the bunt sign a lot. In other words... Good Job Vazquez... Bad Job Martin.

I think you are spot on. If a team goes on a 10 game win streak. Was it because the team was playing good baseball or was it because the teams they were playing were playing bad baseball at the time? If a team goes on a 10 game losing streak... was it because they were playing bad baseball or were the teams they were playing feeling it? The impossible to beat Yankees. From June 13 to July 26 went 11-24. Were they just bad during this stretch or did they catch Cincinnati and Tampa at the wrong time? The Yankees finished that stretch of bad with one win and 5 loses and then BAM!!! The Yankees did a 180 by 8-1 in the next 9 games. That is stopping and starting on a dime and this happens all year long with all 30 teams. The Twins were 21-13 during this same stretch. Did the Twins play good baseball during that stretch or did they catch Arizona, Seattle and Philadelphia at the right time. Probably a little of both but who knows who gets the credit for such things. Every game involves two teams with their own individual pendulums swinging back and forth. The Twins were 70-53 after winning the first three games of a 4 game series against Texas. They were going for the sweep with a comfortable lead on Sunday August 18... And then BAM. Alcala coughs up the lead and Duran picks up the loss in 10 innings. Since then... The Twins have gone 12-24... Which is just like the Yankees from June 13 to July 26 going 11-24. Our timing just happens to be a little more critical with this happening while the 162 game clock running out. In the end. You are right... The Twins are finishing around where you thought they would. When the wins and losses occur? No one can predict. All I know... It's 162 games and we have 4 left to play and we are down 2. Our extended stretch of losing baseball has gone on too long and our cushion is gone!!! We have to win tonight and tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow.

This is Miami when the surrounding area is flooded.

Loan Depot Park

Exactly. The Typical level of Good is around a .600 winning percentage. The Typical level of bad is around .400. The Marlins are the typical level of bad. The typical level of bad will win 4 games every 10 on average. 29 teams are within this narrow range. The White Sox certainly plunged well below this typical level. Yet... Cleveland dropped the ball against the White Sox more times than others did. We are getting admonished for our record against the Yankees, Orioles and Cleveland. Shouldn't Cleveland be admonished for what they didn't do against the White Sox. This gate swings both ways... but no matter how the gate swings. It's attached firmly to the middle over 162 games. After 162 games. 6 teams are standing... the others go into the lottery.

Cole Irvin threw 3.2 innings for the Twins during a pennant chase and was released. That alone says... it was the wrong move.

Arb 2 Probably get a slight raise from his 1.25M despite not really pitching this year.

You can't bench or rest everyone. The 5 Orioles who might get playing time can still rip a double in the gap. You might want to look at Baltimore's roster before allowing your mind to drift into this Orioles are just going to lay down zone. They may take the opportunity to reset the rotation... However... they are aligned already. We already won't be facing Burnes or Eflin and those two would be 1 and 2 for the playoffs. They might bullpen a game to rest Suarez or Kramer. Bullpen games are always a challenge for anyone... especially if they right left right themselves into our fears. Any thought that the Orioles are just going to lay down is just misleading. Bottom Line: The Twins gave away a healthy cushion and is now sitting on the hard boards. They need to win.

Anyone who feels different is so out of touch that they couldn't possibly have an opinion that matters on anything else. These bandits are invading another thread with their don't deserve ********. I've had it... anyone who expresses it. Is going straight into my ignore.

Here is some additional support for your research and I do appreciate your research. The White Sox were historically bad. In my opinion. The AL Central has received a White Sox bounce not available to the American League East and West. That White Sox bounce was 7 additional games playing the White Sox (something Cleveland didn't take advantage of). Here is something that will go against your hypothesis. We hold the tiebreakers over the Mariners, Tigers, Royals and Astros. So what is wrong with the Yankees, Phillies, Dodgers and Guardians? Why the propensity to stub their toe against these sub .500 teams? Wouldn't that be concerning for the fans of the Yankees, Phillies, Dodgers and Guardians? I love your research. Thank You. In the end... we all play a 162 game schedule. There just isn't a lot of space in the margins from the best record and the 29th best record.

Don't deserve to keep playing? The rules state that 6 teams will qualify from each league. 9 from each league will not. 3 division winners and 3 best records of the non-division winners. Currently the best record in the American League is 92 wins. The Twins have 81. 11 wins over the course of 157 games is one win over 14.27 games. There is currently a 4 game difference with Houston. Our opponent if we can somehow grab that 6th seed. So Houston has one more win every 39.25 games. We also would have the tiebreaker against them after taking 4 of 6 from them. One extra win every 39.25 games. That's like looking at a crack in the sidewalk while you and others stand at the edge of it claiming it's the Grand Canyon. Don't deserve to keep playing. Everybody is playing 162 games. The Win Loss Records are ****ING Close. I reject whatever logic you and others are using to subjectively define deserving.

Baseball Trade Values had Julien ranked pretty high in the off-season for whatever that is worth. 47 or something like that. So... Who knows Julien by himself may have fetched a pretty decent return. I was a huge fan of Julien last year and I would have been sad to see him go... But in terms of trade value... He was near the top of the pile. That is probably no longer the case. He's got some repair work to do. Ultimately... You know how I felt at the time. I would have kept Polanco and Julien.

What do you want Aggies? The narrative being told over and over is that we have this horrible record against winning teams. We are battling 3 teams for the playoffs and we hold the tiebreaker over all of them. No trophy is necessary. No Cookies for a reward or fish for the seals either. I keep looking for an Ethos discussion in a room full of pathos. Ultimately... That's my fault.

Yet we still have the TIEBREAKER over all 3 teams we are competing with.

He has options... He has service time. He costs the minimum to the bottom line. He has a career .347 OBP - Major League Average this year is .312 He has a career .753 OPS - Major League Average this year is .712 He is still above average after having what most would consider... a rather crappy year. This isn't a guy you just toss aside. What the hell are we talking about?

Yep There is no need to wait for the actual playoffs. The Twins are in the playoffs right now. They have been in the playoffs for quite some time. I'll contend that the Twins were in the playoffs starting September 6th with that 3 game series that Kansas City swept. People like to look back at the 18 game playoff losing streak with fondness. That 18 game playoff losing streak is history. It no longer matters. The 5-12 Record so far this year IN THE PLAYOFFS is much more concerning.

Veteran lineup in place last night. The guys who have been there... done that. Here is your service time report brought to you by Boeing. Boeing making airplanes since 1916. We've been there... done that. Margot 7.012 Correa 8.119 Buxton 7.160 Santana 13.115 Lewis 1.142 Farmer 5.129 Jeffers 3.089 Miranda 1.118 Castro 4.017 That's 7 players who have been there... done that. We got two games to make up in 5 games. Someone may want to ask the hypnotist to snap their fingers. Or at least call Cher

Batting order? Seriously? What's that you say Sundance? You can't swim. It's the fall that'll Kill Ya.

I agree with this. But I have to add a twist. If you haven't been doing it all year. Right Now would be a horrible time to start doing it.

If I were inclined to place blame. I'm not... but if I were inclined. Roster construction is where I point my finger. In consideration of the roster construction and the importance of the game... It isn't an easy decision for Rocco. All season long the team has treated our left handed hitters like a virus when facing left handed pitching with Margot and Farmer the prescribed penicillin. Not so much so on the mound. On the mound it's been much different. We staff all right handed starters while our left handed relievers have basically underwhelmed. Okert gone, Funderburk demoted. Leaving only Thielbar. Bottom Line: This is why Cole Irvin booted Alcala off the roster. To come in with his 0.78 WHIP against left handed hitters. Here's the problem chasing this split. They face more right handers. Just like Margot and Farmer... these specialists end up facing the wrong side of the spreadsheet more often than they face the correct side. This is a problem and also a firm argument against rostering these specialists... or worse yet... creating career long specialists out of your young developing talent. The Orioles are not releasing Cole Irvin with those numbers against lefties. The problem is that they can't keep him away from righties. His OPS against Right handers is .942. He faced Right Handers 370 Times and he faced Left Handers 117 times. 370 to 117 basically shows the difference of the amount of right handed hitters compared to left handed hitters across the league because Cole Irvin made 16 starts this year. He wasn't a reliever... he pitched in 25 games for the Orioles... 16 of those were starts. A lefty reliever like Caleb Thielbar is closer to 50-50. He has faced right handers 111 times and left handers 96 times. Not many Managers are going to stack up their lefties in a neat pile for Thielbar or Irvin to come mow down. The Red Sox started 5 lefties and one switch hitter against Zebby. Occupying 1,3,5,6(Switch),7 and 8. If Irvin was going to be deployed. The Spot for Irvin's deployment would have been at the 5 spot. He could face Casas, Sogaard, Abreu and Valdez and then called it a day. I think the article is correct. Irvin's job was to get Duran and probably sit down after that with Sands taking over the 6th. Once he failed to do that. They immediately lost the split advantage because the next guy was right handed. Irvin couldn't have been worse. He walked the two lefties he was needed to face. After the 5th was completed. There was that bunch of lefties to start the 6th. So... Again Rocco played the percentages and left him on the mound. Which included plunking a left handed batter. The final scorecard for Irvin and the 4 lefties he faced. Walk, Walk, Out, Hit Batter. That's a far cry from his 0.78 WHIP. He didn't do what he was brought here to do. I like the idea that Ashbury floated. Let Zebby face one more hitter in Duran. Bring a right hander in to face. Right Left Right... Then go with Irvin or Thielbar for Left Switch Left Left. But... Whatever... Duran is pretty scary and you are trying to win a ball game. I'm not going to pile on Rocco. The Front Office on the other hand. Yeah... this is where the root of the problem is. Stop wasting roster spots on specialists. Bring in guys that get people out. You are not bullpen serious as long as you try to dance your way through with these specialists. One more thing... This is why Buyers Buy at the deadline. AJ Puk for example is the left hander you are looking for. Tanner Scott is the guy you are looking for when Duran is in the batters box.