ashbury

Pro-rating Irvin's lofty $2,000,000 salary, I estimate the Twins are investing an additional $100,000 compared to keeping a youngster on the major-league roster for the remainder of the regular season. Let's see if this bold, budget-busting strategy pays off for them, Cotton.

Have you ever considered piracy? You'd make a wonderful Dread Pirate Roberts.

You used a sequence of letters. I do not think it means what you think it means, because it is not a word.

That is really the gist of my meaning when I said I'd like to know his side of the story. Not his rationalization, per se, since there can be no excuse, but what in the world motivated him to go in that direction? Your own self-portrayal resonated. I've never been diagnosed, but a couple of times in my life I've "shot a torpedo through my own hull" to get out of something with an air of finality that didn't make logical sense but seemed necessary at the time. I didn't do it in a way that took anyone else's ship down, of course; that is what makes Bender's action beyond the pale. Young people can make foolish decisions that will haunt them forever. Several have wondered why Bender didn't take his concerns to his coaches or manager and ask for some time off. While I believe the Twins to be reasonably forward-thinking in their approaches, it still wouldn't surprise me if Bender did actually try to ask for some kind of respite, and got told that it wouldn't be a good look to end his first pro season with that kind of mark on his record. It's a fine line for any supervisor to toe in any line of work, and I would not expect the Twins to go public with that kind of detail of what did or didn't get discussed behind closed doors. It's a sad situation and outcome, and I advocate compassion even if the crime itself is unforgivable in baseball terms. If Bender wants a baseball career it will probably have to be as a first-baseman, and then the bat has to be like a first-baseman's. Whatever odds he had when he got drafted (already low, as with anyone who's not a first-rounder) just got worse.

Astounding. I too would like to know his side of the story.

The article stated it will be Austin Martin.

Unlike MAT, KAM takes bad routes to the ball. Oh yeah.

I've been hoping for him to get a chance. I want to find out. But color me skeptical. I'm not sold on his CF defense as being special. And if it's not then I'm concerned the bat won't be enough. IOW, I fear he'll be a tweener. Please prove me wrong, DaShawn

I keep asking Mrs Ash the same question and she just looks away and changes the subject.

I don't know if I would predict "never will", but I think you and I are seeing the play the same way. I'd like to find similar video for comparison, where a stellar second baseman has to go to his right and come up throwing toward second instead - an instant faster, presumably. Here's another interesting data point - the runner seemed to believe the play would be to home. Because (with his back to the second baseman after he passed him) he didn't slide into second to avoid overrunning the bag, and in fact rounded the base slightly toward third, as if confident the throw wasn't coming his way. Maybe Brooks Lee should have deked him, a little, though too much of that might get a rookie a reputation for bush league-ness, I dunno.

An instant later, the ball is a tiny dot you can see against the outfield grass as a backdrop (might have to magnify). Video link is here to watch in realtime: https://mlb-cuts-diamond.mlb.com/FORGE/2024/2024-09/04/f3a3bf51-4fbad62d-644cf116-csvm-diamondgcp-asset_1280x720_59_4000K.mp4

I'm going to post two screenshots, in this post and the next because they're kind of large. The first shows the position of the runner as Lewis releases the ball. The second shows an instant later, for reference, to show the distance the ball traveled and the distance the runner traveled. It could be that a different fielder could have done a faster job of coming up with the grounder and converting it into a throw. That would be a different (and maybe interesting) discussion concerning Lewis's defensive chops at this time. But given Lewis's own knowledge of his mechanics, it looks to me like he made the right choice. Throwing toward second would have been futile.

Okay, MAT then. 😀

Keirsey had a chance to make a real statement in CF on what instead ended up being a triple for Morel. Not a black mark against him, but he could have earned a gold star. I don't know whether Austin Martin could have hauled that one in either. In my heart of hearts I'll believe that Buxton would have, of course.

Sorry, I've got a prior appointment for then.

None. They are a Miami affiliate. 😀

I am rooting for Burton.

I had a boss who once stopped me in my tracks when I was trying to get information on behalf of a customer: "what would they do with the information if they had it?" Turned out it was just curiosity and I was therefore stuck for an answer, and I never forgot the lesson. No one can give an exact return date. And what would we do with that date if we knew it, anyway?

There's no commitment beyond this year. In an interview earlier this season, Farmer expressed surprise that they tendered him a contract and which he accepted in lieu of arbitration, making me believe he'd be open to a much lower figure in free agency.

Wait, you come here for a fun evening, pick a fight unprovoked, and then turn thumbs-down on a playful reply? Good night.

It could be that everything they ask of him beyond what he's giving them now would be sub-Margot. I'm not especially advocating one way or the other, actually. It's just that one big difference between 10-year old Ashbury and the one you're talking to now doesn't believe that the stats on the back of a player's bubble gum card define him.

What if teh spredsheetz is why they score all those runs tonight?

Last year's postseason catching choice was a mistake. I hope they don't repeat it.* * No, I don't hope they fail to reach the postseason.

They might respond by saying he's done this through the usage they devised.

I'm drawing zero conclusions from 31 PA, whatever the league. How's his fielding?