stringer bell

Slegers is on the 40-man. He can be recalled at any time because he was on the active roster as the 26th man.

I love to talk about Dozier. He came up as a light-hitting middle infielder and now is a slugging second sacker. Can he transition again? Maybe. But actually of more importance is something that I've turned over in my head for a few years--is Brian Dozier more like Dan Uggla or Jeff Kent. Both Kent and Uggla made big noise because of the pop they generated from second base. Uggla got to about 30 and fell off the cliff, Kent got 45 of his 55 career oWAR after 30. If Dozier sustains his offense, heck yes he could move to first and help the team. If he falls off the cliff in the next two years, it is foolish to consider him beyond the last season of his contract. I said on another thread that I don't consider Arianza or Escobar to be more than career backups/utility infielders, but that they are good ones. I don't think either one of those guys will necessitate a move for Dozier.

I'd say that Buxton has some work to do on throwing. He has rushed a few throws and then is not mechanically proper. He has plenty of arm strength from what I've seen and when not hurrying too much the throws are accurate.

I'd say "be yourself". I've got three daughters, now all married. My memory of all three future sons-in-law was "he's trying too hard". Eldest daughter's future hubby seemed to want to show me how smart he was (he's a college professor), middle daughter's beau tried hard to show his life didn't totally revolve around sports and the most recent son-in-law bought us a nice meal and drinks when I had made the arrangements and was ready to pick up the tab.

While I don't agree that Escobar should be next year's utility infielder, I do agree that he has a lot of value to the Twins and probably other major league teams. He's an adequate defender at the three infield positions and with the proper amount of playing time, his bat plays well.

I agree. Polanco is going to be a better hitter than either of the utility infielders. I was surprised by the slump he went through and I've been disappointed in his power numbers, but everything I saw coming into this year said that his bat was going to be pretty good. IMHO, it is Polanco who would move Dozier off of second or to another team, not Adrianza or Escobar with a shortstop (probably Gordon) moving Polanco to second base, where he is more suited.

I don't think either Arianza or Escobar is more than a utility player, but they are both major league infielders. I think next year resting Dozier by DHing him (if he's still on the team) for 10-15 games does make sense and it might work for him to be an alternate at first (as Sanó has been used this year). I do believe the Twins will have to choose between Arianza and Escobar next year. Both will be eligible for arbitration, with Escobar one year advanced in service time (FA after '18). Both guys are switch hitting backup infielders closer to 30 than 20, Adrianza turns 28 in a few days, Esco hits 29 in the off-season. Escobar provides more pop (11 homers this year in under 300 PAs) but Adrianza is the superior fielder and has better wheels. Escobar is also a clubhouse favorite FWIW. If I'm picking between those two, I pick Adrianza, the more classic utility infielder. He's had a really good year hitting (SSS, only 117 PAs) and the fielding and running are legit.

Until the Cleveland series, I hadn't watched much Twins baseball since June. Buxton looks totally different at the plate now compared to a couple months ago. The numbers say he has found something that works and it does appear sustainable to me. The sky is the limit if he can stay healthy.

One thing is that the Twins can recall Slegers any time, while they'd have to wait if Gibson was demoted.

Twins jacket actually. Almost didn't wear it because it was pretty warm.

Slegers has Minnesota connections FWIW. His mom is a Minnesota native. I met her at the Macy's Thanksgiving parade in NYC in 2015. Congratulations to the tall young man.

IMHO, the question is whether it is free speech or hate speech. The KKK, neo-Nazis and the rest spout hate speech freely and often. Maybe they could march and protest without calling for ethnic cleansing and calling non-whites anything from trash to animals, but I sincerely doubt it.

Button didn't qualify so I set the number lower. That might explain the high number in the CF list. BTW, he looked like a different hitter in Detroit. Some really good at bats.

I have been waiting for the outrage and dismissal of Trump since his inauguration. Lies, outlandish statements, total pivots from his campaign, willful disregard of ethics regulations etc. So far.........crickets mostly. His base has mostly stayed loyal, no matter that he condones white supremacists, has questionable ties to Russia, doesn't have a high school graduate's understanding of the legislative process or diplomacy and on and on. Obvious discrimination towards gays and trans, non-whites and Muslims gets a blind eye. But that almost figures, most of the base believes the untruths that litter Trump's tweets and pronouncements. I figure that to be 25-30% of the entire population. What about the "principled conservatives" and moderates within the Republican party? What about people that just wanted change or didn't want Hillary? Can't someone say "I voted for Trump, but now I see he is a disaster. He should be gone." My goodness, this presidency is a disaster.

The thing I've noticed is that the walks are down and his BA is now .270. He's got 25 homers and over 70 RBI. IMHO, that is very good, but not elite. There's room for the big man to grow--as a hitter.

I'm trying to catch up with the Twins after being too darn busy to catch more than a few innings most days. I took a few minutes on a cloudy Sunday morning to look at some statistics. It occurred to me that for the first time in quite a while, the Twins have a player at each position who could be considered a "regular", although calling Grossman the regular DH is a bit of a stretch. Anyway, I took the time to compare each Twins regular with the rest of the American League at their position using OPS and WAR as the two measuring sticks. Here are the results: DH--Robbie Grossman 6th in OPS, 3rd in WAR (11 qualified) C--Jason Castro 10th in OPS, 4th in WAR (250 PAs, 13 qualified) 1B--Joe Mauer 8th in OPS, 5th in WAR (12 qualified) 2B--Brian Dozier 5th in OPS, 6th in WAR (15 qualified) SS--Jorge Polanco 12th in OPS, 10th in WAR (250 PAs, 14 qualified) 3B--Miguel Sanó 5th in OPS, 7th in WAR (15 qualified) LF--Eddie Rosario 6th in OPS, 11th in WAR (13 qualified) CF--Byron Buxton 18th in OPS, 8th in WAR (18 qualified) RF--Max Kepler 10th in OPS, 6th in WAR (13 qualified) My quick and dirty analysis: With the upticks in performance by Buxton and Polanco, there really aren't any "black holes" in the lineup, but there aren't really any All-Stars either, despite Sanó making the All-Star team in July. This is a group that will get better with experience (I'd consider five of the nine starters to be "young"). The Twins have a player at eight positions that is top half at their position in at least one of the two measures and every player has a positive WAR. The Twins problem IMHO is not position players.

At this point in the game, every single Twins player has raised his batting average.

You can make quite a list--Polanco, Buxton, Mauer, Belisle-who some have called for being taken off the roster. It's a long season.

Dozier's first granny. I think he's hit about every kind of homer.

Brian Dozier has easily been the Twins best player since he moved to second base. He's been a good player for most of the four years, with a few dreadful months mixed in and a superstar summer last year from June to mid-September. I'll also say that Dozier is playing at a position that is packed in MLB. 10-15 years ago, a second baseman with Dozier's power performance would be elite at his position. Not now. I like Dozier as a person, a bit of an aw-shucks southern gentleman with no skeletons in his closet. I like him as a player because he's durable and has far exceeded projections for himself since being a mid-round no power draft choice. That said, some of Dozier's act is wearing on me a bit. He acts like a superstar without portfolio to me, doesn't bust it down the line when he hits a popup or routine grounder, he makes many lollipop throws, although he cuts loose when he has to, and his demeanor at the plate seems to be I'm a great player, why don't I get the borderline pitches? I do wonder if he is playing 100% healthy, which would explain the apparent lack of hustle. In addition, he's stopped stealing bases and seems a step slower on the pads. Or maybe it is just turning 30. Dozier has made improvements in going the other way and he's capable of drawing a walk. However, now that the team seems out of it for the season, BD seems more intent on hitting bombs than having good at-bats. I think there's a chance that Dozier could have another superstar season, maybe even better than 2016 turned out in it's entirety, but father time makes that unlikely. I also think that the Twins can be winners with Dozier manning second base, but there is a lot of things that have to improve.

Add Flake of Arizona and Portmann of Ohio as somewhat "moderate" Republicans, but that is about all. There are some true conservatives in the Senate who I can respect, not the leadership though. They have sold out to corporatism and opportunism. Reality and the good of the country is secondary to winning elections. I said that if Hillary had beaten Obama for the nomination that I would have voted for McCain. Not sure the way the campaign played out that I would have stuck with that (Sarah Palin). There certainly are qualities in McCain that are positive. I believe his cancer diagnosis was the final straw in standing up to McConnell (and Trump).

I was going to start a thread saying that Rogers is the most underappreciated Twin. He has been very good, but under the radar.

How about the return for the Twins' surprise All-Star last year? I'd take the equivalent of Meíja for Kintzler.

Always a favorite of mine. So streaky as a hitter, pretty doggone good at second and he holds the Twins' single season record for stolen base %.

Thanks for the summary. IMHO earned/unearned isn't the best way to judge defense, but it is wise to reveal and review a defensive misplay as a key play in a game.