ashbury

I would not like for my life to depend on those two in any way.

Terry Ryan was thought to be conservative and yet he rolled the dice as GM more often than people remember. We're likely going to view the end of Falvey's tenure in a similar way, where the "sure thing" college bats he collected that never really emerged as stars were replace in the draft by a real roll of the dice in Quentin Young.

Reminds me of the dark days 2012-2013. Call it the Doumit-Willingham era, where every player who was acquired seemed to come with the caveat, "and if nothing else, he can DH," forgetting that they had a stud catcher who needed days at DH because his bat was too good to sit on his days off.

Stats at his age mean nothing and yet I notice that his fielding percentage at 3B is comically low at .786 (he bollixes up one fourth of the balls that come his way?), paradoxically making his .908 at SS seem almost acceptable by comparison. 😉 Right now I'm thinking 1B if he continues to show poor results at any of the more skilled positions - DH if the bat really blossoms but we're a long way from thinking that will happen. Conversely, if he does improve his coordination, right field seems like as good a place for him as left, unless there is a lefty-throwing outfielder who needs the spot, because he profiles to be slow afoot but have a strong arm. Who wouldn't love another Matt Wallner out there?

PA 332, R 40, RBI 30 PA 302, R 38, RBI 24 I dunno, they're on a similar pace. 😉

Yep. All you have to do is put $429M worth of payroll on the playing field and the fans will come flocking!

The Twins after this series.

This subject came up a day or two ago and it prompted me to revisit the 2021 draft where the Angels did exactly what you suggested. It's still early perhaps, but so far the "haul" is two serviceable 26-year old relievers. If the Twins try this I hope they execute better.

The long-speculated Pohlad Burner Account!

Chaotic neutral, I would venture.

I checked out midway through the sorry game, as well.

I went back and re-read my post, and that wasn't the implication. Plus, it was a joke. Neither player is notably good on defense.

It's the opportunity cost that kills you.

I ... ... pf. I can't top that.

Now there's a message delivered. "Son, I'm sitting you in this game in favor of Tristan Gray. For his defense. Yeah, think about that. Take all the time you need."

"Resolve"? Only in the sense of letting the league's roster rules run their course. There is no ticking clock the Twins are worried about. I would be shocked if he weren't already on the waiver wire, and after that the Twins will let the waiver-claim chips fall where they may. After he clears, I'd be only slightly less surprised if he chooses free agency in search of a better situation - he's been cut by the White Sox and Blue Jays already this season - what new team is going to encourage him with promises of an early promotion to their big club?

False. The Dodgers won the WS after winning 63 games in 1981, then outdid themselves with a 43-win season in 2020 leading to another WS victory. 😁

I checked snopes.com to try to verify these claims, and the only instance I could find where any of the Pohlads appeared on Shark Tank was Jim as a panelist, turning thumbs down on every investment opportunity offered on the grounds that the applicant's company didn't have a 20 year track record.

A poor man's Matt Wallner, I'm afraid. Less raw power, not even as good defense(!).

WAR on b-r.com has Dozier as roughly an average second baseman on defense for his career. He was converted from shortstop where he played for the majority of his minor league years. The next time Luke Keaschall plays shortstop as a professional will be his first. I think that says enough about the difference in defense that Dozier provided, without digging into the defensive record at all.

I was half-kidding at most. The question is whether another Kim Ng is employed in somebody's front office. Thank you Kim! We aren't so deep in middle infield talent as to not have lingering debates about Ryan Kreidler versus Orlando Arcia versus Tristan Gray. But, I'm starting to not view Keaschall as a middle infielder. So that makes him good trade bait on this corner-heavy organization. If Keaschall is a bit of a roster-management headache for the team's manager, let him be that for someone else's manager.

That was in line with my initial reaction to reading the headline: just trade him for a front-line starting pitcher* and enjoy the post-season series win that ensues. 😁 * Not saying Detmers is the guy.

Lee was about equally bad against lefties and righties in 2024. He improved in 2025, to be about equally mediocre against both. This year, he's quite good against righties and back to being bad against lefties. There's some chance we're seeing small sample sizes (in all of these seasons), so I would hold off on drawing conclusions until this season develops further. Is there any reason to think Lee would hit better against left-handed pitchers as a left-handed batter? There isn't any data I can look at to decide one way or the other. But the statistics against LHP could be interpreted in a different way than you propose: maybe he simply should not bat against the lefties. Royce Lewis can platoon at 1B with Clemens, or platoon at 3B with Lee, but not both. (Clemens actually has had marginally more success against left-handers than Lee has, this season, but neither is actually "good.") As one example of a solution. I'd rather concentrate on making Lee better against lefties than to relegate him to a platoon. And since he's got so much experience as a switch-hitter, I'd be inclined to keep working with him to improve that way, than to throw it all out and start over by making him a full time lefty. (Weighing against my conclusion: in Lee's only full year in the minors, 2023, his splits revealed a lot worse performance against LHP at Wichita and St Paul. Still doesn't suggest one way or the other how he'd do against lefties if he faced them from the "wrong" batter's box.)

We could also work something out to get Carson McCusker back, if we want this profile.