Riverbrian

I don't care about Miranda getting taken out in a 8 run game but his quote is respectfully ********. There was 1 out in the ninth after Margot led off the inning with an out. Miranda and Santana were the guys to get off their feet... not because they were the most tired but because they followed Margot in the batting order in a lost cause. That's why... It was safe to play Martin and Farmer and throw them an AB when it doesn't matter and Miranda and Santana just happened to be the next two spots in the batting order before the curtain comes down. If the game was tied... If it wasn't an 8 run deficit. Miranda and Santana would have hit in the 9th while Martin and Farmer stay on the bench. This doesn't tell me "they've been on their feet for a while. No reason not to get them off". This tells me that the manager he's trying to get a stupid AB for guys at the bottom of his bench. When a manager does that sort of thing... He's hanging a neon sign around the player that says it's best to play these guys when it doesn't matter. If the Manager is doing that sort of thing to a player. The player needs to be replaced on the roster. It's time to send Martin down and it's time to cut Farmer.

I am OK with that. These young players are still trying to define what group they are classified into.

Agreed. Fastball's in the 100's with movement, breaking pitches in the 90's. Babe Ruth didn't have to face this stuff from the 5th guy in a bullpen. They would have sang songs about Ben Joyce if he was doing what he is doing today in 1984. It's a whole new world. Hitters need to be better because the pitching is better. I'm not going to spend a lot of research time on it because... C'mon... no one should have to because what you are saying is obvious. I'll just attach the link to an article that states: 69 Pitches total were thrown over 100 MPH in 2008 8 Years later 1,419 Pitches thrown over 100 MPH in 2016 I don't have numbers for 2024 but I'm going to assume it's higher than 2016. Here's the link in need of a fresher link https://medium.com/@douns2/mlb-100-mph-plus-pitches-from-2008-2016-40354616024e

The strange thing with his injuries are they lack any kind of trauma. He wasn't struck by a fastball, he didn't collide with the wall or a player, he didn't strike the ground sliding for a base or diving for a ball. The two injuries this season have come from simply running. Even his knee injury making that catch out in CF May, 2022 lacked direct contact to his right knee that was injured. It was the left side of his body that absorbed the contact with the wall. His right leg appeared to be in the air when he made contact with his left side. https://www.mlb.com/video/sonny-gray-in-play-out-s-to-emmanuel-rivera

For proof... Ask him if he has ever been to Hawaii or anywhere in Polynesia. If he hasn't been to Hawaii... or the South Pacific.... You got him. To my knowledge... Hawaii is the only place where "poiing" is happening. For example... Nobody is poiing is Hibbing or or Brookings.

Back to the subject of this article: I'm assuming more data to be collected between now and October and I also assume that data will play a role in off-season decisions. I have no expectation that major free agents will be coming so next years roster but there are a lot of left handed hitters for consideration. This means that a couple of cheap Margot and Farmer type free agents will need to take a couple of the roster spots of players being penciled into slots.

Only the front office knows for sure but I believe that Santana was brought in for full time duty against both left and right handers. 2 are catchers, 6 are platooned... that leaves 5 players had to be chosen for duty against both left hander and right handed starting pitchers. Probably: Julien/Farmer - 2B Kirilloff/Margot - DH Wallner/Castro - LF This is my assumption so FWIW of course. If it wasn't Santana for full time duty then it was Castro. He would be the only other option. I don't believe Castro was the choice. First off... if it's Castro where does he play full time? Remember this is when the season started with everyone healthy. If the plan was to set up Kirilloff and Santana as the 1B platoon. Possibly: Kirilloff/Santana - 1B Julien/Farmer - 2B Wallner/Margot - LF The option position full time position is now DH for Castro. We could shift Wallner/Margot to DH platoon and give Castro LF full time? Or we could just rotate players through the DH spot moving Castro to fill in every vacated spot and doing that every day. I just don't see any of that likely coming out of spring training. Here's what we know: (Coming out of spring training healthy) 1. Jeffers and Vazquez were going to be the catcher rotation and they both hit right handed 2. Julien, Kirilloff and Wallner were not going to be in the lineup against left handed starters. 3. Margot and Farmer (Castro) were not going to be starting against right handed starters. 4. Correa, Buxton, Lewis, Kepler were going to be playing against both hands. That's 11 players roles accounted for out of the 13 that headed north out of Florida. The other two left to be accounted for are the switch hitters Santana and Castro. One of them has to go into group 3 and one of them has to go into group 4 and both are candidates. I believe it was Santana to play every day because: 1. Castro was an obvious candidate to move around to get extra AB's against Right Handers because he could fill in wherever needed when Buxton and others needed maintenance days. 2. Santana had the better overall offensive stats in 2023. Of course... we will never know... only the front office knows because everything changed 2 AB's into the season when Royce Lewis went down. Which then required both Santana and Castro go into group 4. The only clues we have and they are not rock solid clues was provided by the opening day lineup against left handed starter Cole Ragans. 1. Julien, Kirilloff and Wallner did not start so group 2 seems to be accurate. 2. Margot started at DH, Farmer started at 2B, Castro started in LF and Santana started at 1B. 3. Santana batted 5th while the bottom of the order was Farmer 7th, Castro 8th and Margot 9th. 4. Game two on March 30th against Right Handed starter. Lewis is out. Martin is called up. Kepler fouled a ball of his foot game one and is not in the lineup against a RH. Kirilloff starts in LF, Julien starts at 2B and Wallner starts in RF. Castro is now at 3B and Santana starts at 1B. 5. Farmer, Margot and Martin are on the bench. Martin is used as a pinch runner while Farmer and Margot are used as pinch hitters for our left handed problem children. 6. Game three against a right handed starter. Same lineup as game two. With Lewis getting hurt early. We don't know who was chosen to be the every day player coming out of spring training between Santana and Castro. I'm going with Santana. As the season as progressed and performance decisions have changed the off-season plan. Larnach replaced Wallner in group two, Kepler replaced Julien in group two and it seems like Martin has replaced Kirilloff in Group two. Meanwhile Castro and Santana lead the team in AB's by a fairly large margin. Injuries and poor performance have certainly caused an adjustment on the fly which have certainly messed up the carefully laid plans of the off-season.

You are correct... Berrios was the ranked #19 on the MLB prospect list in 2016. 2nd ranked on the Twins after Byron Buxton. He had some real nice numbers in AAA and AA. ERA below 3.00 on the farm in 2014 and 2015. Berrios was much more bally-hooed and deservedly so. All of that and he still struggled. I believe Wabene is making that point.

Sir... You took my words and mixed a lot of them.

I love debuts

We are currently not balanced properly. We have over addressed our ability to handle left handed pitching that comprise only 25% of MLB pitchers. It's working... we are ranked 2nd in OPS. We need to prioritize the 75% of pitchers who throw right handed. We need more left handed hitters who hit right handers to find the proper balance. Kyle Farmer is taking up a roster spot with .534 OPS against Right Handed pitchers over 66 AB's against RH. Farmer has 59 AB's vs Left Handers which is less AB's against left handers if my math is correct. Manual Margot is taking up a roster spot with a .476 OPS against Right Handed pitchers over 92 AB's. Margot has 76 AB's vs Left Handers. Which is also less if my math is correct. Both Margot and Farmer have been healthy and on the roster for the month of June. In June - Margot had 56 AB's and Farmer had 32. To compare and contrast June usage... Willi Castro had 102 AB's in month of June. Under utilized guys who can't hit right handers are a waste of roster space. Replace them with left handed hitters.... Attack the 75% of pitching instead of attacking the 25% In Elementary school we were all taught the importance of balanced diet from the 4 food groups. The Twins are not balanced. You are what you eat. Keep Wallner

If they didn't try to upgrade the offense last year with one of the best starting rotations in team history. I'm not sure why they would do it this year. If I had to guess... I don't have to... but I'm going to anyway. If I had to guess... I think the budget was a problem at last years trade deadline and I think the budget was a problem this off-season and in consideration of the money due in raises next year... I assume that the budget is still a challenge to navigate. I still believe (with no inside information) that the Twins spent the Correa money on Vazquez and Gallo therefore blowing the available budget when Correa signed with the Giants. When Correa came back around. They had to spend money they didn't really have anymore. It's been "right-sizing" since then. Just a guess but it seems to make sense to me.

"As of the time of this writing, they are 17-2 vs CHW, COL, LAA, OAK. These are 4 of the 5 worst teams in baseball. They are 25-33 against everyone else". Better still - The Twins are 18-2 vs CHW, COL, LAA, Oak as of this writing. Compared to the rest of the American League vs those same 4 teams: Los Angeles Ang: 3-0 Houston 15-5 Seattle: 12-4 Toronto: 9-3 Kansas City: 13-5 Baltimore: 9-4 Boston: 9-4 New York Y: 7-3 Chicago WS: 2-1 Cleveland: 15-8 Tampa: 10-9 Detroit: 7-6 Texas: 5-8 Oakland: 2-4 Why is everyone else in the American League not as good as the Twins?

On Kepler... I'm staying out of it. I advocated releasing him last June and he was one of the hottest hitters in baseball in the 2nd half. Not going to do it this time. Although... I will say this... It would be in Max's best interest to become one of the hottest hitters in baseball in the 2nd half again this year. His performance will have dollar signs attached to it with his pending free agency this off-season.

Since April 27 - Farmer's OPS .717 - wRC+ 111 Since May 1 - Farmer's OPS .652 - wRC+ 93 Average? Not Average? I'll let others debate the 2024 Farmer definition. One thing is pretty clear in my mind. Farmer certainly isn't pushing anyone on the roster. 65 AB's in two months. He ain't pushing anyone. Kepler could use some pushing. Since May 1 his OPS is .713. Since June 1 it's .517

I'm with String... The thing that matters in my mind is how often will he get to show that good bat against left handed pitching? I don't like burning up roster spots this way.

It was easy enough to do. Here's a photo of my new living room set up. My wife wants to change the cord colors to match the carpet and drapes.

On baseball forums such as these. You are allowed to suggest Polanco for Gilbert straight up and be angry with the Twins for not getting it done.

I come by it honestly, I grew up on Little John Court just off of Robin Hood Drive. Yes... that was the actually Court Name that I grew up on.

I draw no conclusions from my list but in response to what you have observed from my list. If the season ended today. 12 teams make the playoffs (not 10) The Guardians, Yankees, Mariners, Orioles, Twins and Royals would represent the American League while the Phillies, Dodgers, Brewers, Braves, Cards and Padres would represent the National League. 11 or more is the top half... 10 or less would be the bottom half. That would place 8 current playoff teams in the bottom half: Cards 10, Orioles 9, Mariners 9, Twins 8, Yankees 8, Braves 7, Dodgers 6, Phillies 4 4 teams in the top half: Guardians 16, Royals 14, Brewers 12, Padres 11. Although... I'd claim that the line between current playoff teams and potential playoff teams is currently a big fat line the size of the Yukon Territories. The Rockies, Marlins A's and White Sox are out and that is about it so I am really hesitant to draw any conclusions from my thrown together list for everyone's enjoyment. The Red sox are good day away from a playoff team with 15 young players helping them have that good day. The Rangers could go on a heater and become that playoff team with DeGrom reducing them to 3 young players. I'd also contend that the difference between 12 and 9 young players which comprises 5 teams is a thin line the size of Highway 61... for revisiting. The 4 teams that are out: A's 20, White Sox 7 is a pretty large canyon. I just don't fear youth. Logan Morrison is much scarier.

Cleveland they must get to the bottom of? Cleveland is the thing that they can't figure out what's going on so they shut it down until clarity arises from some sort of investigation? Congress shuts down Cleveland Baseball and they shut down Lawn Darts. But... other things much more problematic are allowed to continue with proper financial support in the form of campaign contributions. Listen... We all know why this is happening. We all know why Congress all of a sudden has sprung into action. It's the same reason they always spring into action. Larry Dolan is a cheap guy. He takes the same approach to campaign contributions that he does to paying baseball players. He is buying no friends. There was no lawn dart lobby in 1988 and look what happened and Larry Dolan doesn't open up his wallet. This is what happens to the little guy and the little guy is hanging yard signs in support of this system.

I've never met Boras but his reputation sure seems like you describe. So I agree it would be a complication to getting a deal done. The deal... if there was one to be had... would need to be like the one offered to Buxton. Just like you describe. I'd probably be calling Boras today just to see if he hangs up on me.

In the 13 games... Since Martin has been called up replacing the left handed Kirilloff. The Twins have faced 4 left handed starting pitchers. Rocco has trotted out the same lineup for all 4 games. Kepler, Larnach and Martin are the 3 players who have sat each of those games. Losing the left handed Kirilloff and replaced by the right handed Martin overstuffed the right handed batters box. One right handed hitter was going to have sit against a lefty. Instead of a rotation... Rocco has picked Martin consistently. Against those right handed pitchers. Kepler, Larnach, Castro and Santana are the ones who fill the left handed batters box. After including the catcher that leaves 4 right handed hitters will have to lineup against right handers. Lewis, Buxton and Correa are givens. That 4th spot has been Rocco picking and choosing amongst the 4extra choices - Miranda, Margot, Martin and Farmer. In the 9 out of 13 games where a right handed pitcher has started. Max Kepler has taken a maintenance day, Willi Castro has taken 1 maintenance day. Buxton has taken 2, Correa has taken 1. Santana has taken 1. Lewis has taken 1. That's 7 extra lineup spots that need to be added to the one that is needed each of the 9 games. That's a total of 16 lineup spots to cover via picking and choosing amongst, Miranda, Margot, Martin and Farmer. Those 16 open spots were utilized this way. Martin 7 starts against a RH starter. Miranda 5 starts against a RH Starter. Margot 3 starts against a RH Starter. Farmer 1 start against a RH starter. To me... the answer is pretty easy. Remove those 4 starts by Margot and Farmer. Give them to Martin and Miranda. Make it equal -- Martin and Miranda 8 each. Although... It makes even more sense to 2 to 1 Miranda starts because he is hitting the ball real well right now. So Make it Miranda 12 and Martin 4 for those 16 starts needed to fill out the daily lineup card. Which leads us back to what you are saying... Not enough playing time for Martin. Wallner called up for Martin is certainly worth discussion although... Martin certainly doesn't deserve that. It's Farmer that deserves it.

I agree with you And I disagree with you It's a tough one... I have no doubt that he's a superstar and if you can keep him in a Minnesota uniform... I think you have to do it. But Yeah... The Injury history is off the charts in his young career thus far. It sure leaves you with a realization that you will probably be paying for a lot of IL time in that contract. However... I think you have to give it a shot.