jokin

The Twins rushed him back, clearly before he had remedied his hitting woes. But part of his hitting woes should have been properly addressed in the offseason- isn't that on both parties?

All true, but see my post immediately above. Some of his injuries and overall physical day-to-day health are directly related to haphazard disregard for his own personal safety.

Good faith? Are you kidding? "Systematically calculated to keep his service time below 3 years"? Did you forget when the FO rushed him back to the roster before he was fully healed physically, or fixed his hitting problems, earlier this year? Did you forget that the Twins built the bulk of their 2018 marketing plan around Buxton leading them on to even better things this season? He, along with Sano, were obviously wildly unprepared to compete- the disaster that is 2018 has to be to a large degree on them both. As an FYI to how bad Buxton was: 66 CFers with 94+ PAs listed in Fangraphs. Buxton is # 66 in BA @ .156 and #65 in OPS- @ a stunning .383. With his top-flite athleticism, he should have been able to bunt and hack enough 3-hop infield singles to, at the least, to have reached a .500 OPS. This was "accomplished" mostly when he was injury-free. Try to find another legit MLB player who finished 1/3 of a season or better with an OPS+ of "4". Yes, 4. When he supposedly was healthy enough to play rehab games, the medical staff was so concerned with the fragility around his wrist and foot, he was only permitted in playing every other day. Two weeks of good AAA hitting didn't merit playing in September. Get healthy, Buck. In the offseason, focus on heavy prehab training, and hire 5 legit breaking ball hurlers to throw you 500 junk balls per day. And watch streaming video of CF guys like Torii on how to avoid catastrophic collisions with OF walls.

The race to #7 worst is very do-able. Only 4.5 "behind" the Reds. They could get the #5 pick if the White Sox and Tigers somehow get hot or suck less than the Twins. The Twins are currently 7.5 "behind" both teams. http://www.espn.com/mlb/standings/_/group/overall

Baseball logic is being put on its head in this new strategy. If you put 3 of your best hitters at the bottom of the order, it defeats the strategy of getting the primary pitcher through 15 or 18 outs because he's going to inevitably have to face them three times in 5+ or 6 IP. I would still have my best 2 hitters batting 1-2, but the 7-9 spots might arguably be your next 3 best bats- plus table setting for 1-2. So Mr. Primary Pitcher now is forced to face the best 5 hitters in a row as he enters the game, the stats suggest for the "mediocre SP majority", more often than not, he won't make it the third time around- likely at the 6th inning or +1/-1. Seems like a recipe for more 4-5 "RP" appearances than occurs currently, not less.

Inevitable counter-ordinal lineup moves made by the opponent? (ie- some of the best hitters buried deep down-lineup to attack the weaker "RP" late in the 2nd inning or to greet the "Primary" upon his entrance)

Sorry. Get used to him probably being groomed for "Lead" opener in 2019.*** *** May's is likely one many agents who are going to be screaming bloody murder in the offseason.

"Achieved"

I don't "Like" the inevitable trend, but your post is spot on. Economies of Scale practically demand it.

The Miracle announcer REALLY gets into the game, especially the 9th inning. A little probably goes a long way, but after the Twins debacle of a season, listening to someone broadcast a legitimately exciting game- with meaning attached to it- was kinda fun.

Good, thanks for the fresh metaphor, because the broadcast boys wore out the "take off the training wheels" for Stewart by the 3rd inning.

Especially you.

This game encapsulates what a "lost season" looks like.

Nope, not OK. I've repeatedly stated that I'm perfectly satisfied in the Twins FO decision in shutting him down, making certain he's 100% healthy, wiping the slate clean and spending the offseason by preventative"prehabbing" and building more muscle mass, while also focusing on his glaring plate deficiencies. You've yet to address the points made: -that the Twins can't start 2019 with an all-LH-hitting OF -that Cave threatens Kepler more than Buxton -that Buxton has demonstrated a much higher ceiling than Cave that is worth the time and effort to play out further>>>> look no further than Aaron Hicks for a horrendous example of high-ceiling prospect FO impatience.

Head and shoulders? Temporarily, for sure, but long-term? Not really. And here're the actual numbers on Buxton's K-rate: Buxton K% 2018: 29.8% Buxton K% 2017: 29.4% VS. Cave: Cave K% 2018: 31.9% Oops. This forgotten facts below are why it's far too soon to so easily write off Buck: Buxton WAR for 2017 in 140 games: 5.2 Buxton MILB OPS: .874 SLG: .499 Cave MILB OPS: .768 SLG: .426 Which set of numbers suggests ultimately a better outcome? In addition, Cave is not all that impressive in CF, but might make a decent corner OF. It seems to me like he's threatening Kepler's job more than Buxton's. (And consider the need for one RH bat in the OF). I'm anxious and hopeful to see a new-look Buxton in ST in 2019- 100% healthy, after a huge off-season devoted to addressing his flaws at the plate- AND- with a huge chip on his shoulder with something to prove to everybody, including himself, that he can and will fulfill his true promise and potential.

Whoa. Ted #2 and Ted #1 are still at odds on the state of Buck's health: Ted #2 needs to reconcile his opening quote above with this quote from Ted #1:

Mr. Bucket O Balls on Line Three!

It was just two days ago that Ted wrote this: The above is a set of very sensible conjectures that likely reflect an action plan put in place by the FO as a set of goals and accomplishments to attain to both salvage Buxton's 2018 and best prepare him for 2019 going forward. But now, 2 days later you, or your doppelganger, hit the "panic" button in "worrying about the on-field exploits" as you write this: Has Ted's account been hijacked in a 48-hour time span by some conspiratorial Buxton fan-boy? Consider the fact that up until last Saturday, Buxton hadn't played in consecutive AAA games since July 8. This indicates that the Twins are obviously taking Buxton's health issues and the proper rehab to remedy him from those issues very seriously. They mistakenly rushed him back to the majors, only leading to further disaster, and are now taking a more cautious and comprehensive approach to managing his situation. Regarding AAA games ending on September 3, there are potentially up to 8 playoff games available to be played by Fort Myers- which might last up until about September 14- just a few days short of 9/18. It's highly unlikely that the Twins would go that A+ level route to complete his minor league stint- but I agree with the "first Ted"- after making full assurances of a clean bill of health, implement a rigorous "pre-hab" program to build Buxton's complementary supportive muscle mass around his joints, a strict nutritional and lifestyle regimen; meanwhile, have him continue to work on running OF routes that don't include headlong crashes into fixed barriers, and drill him daily in simulated situational ABs and basic pitch recognition to avoid continually falling hopelessly into 0-2 counts. Rod Carew had about a .750 BA bunting, no reason that Buxton couldn't work to upgrade his bunting skills to fully utilize the bunt weapon early in the count- and turning the tables on the ongoing MLB "book" on how to get Buxton out (if Buck consistently shows "bunt" early in the count, he's going to be looking at a lot more 2-0 counts than 0-2 counts). As you said originally in your August 28 article, keeping Buck consistently healthy going forward should be the #1 priority. The Twins FO already demonstrated the willingness to make a radical intervention to address Sano's issues. The Twins are extremely likely to have put a plan in place to meet Buxton's "#1 priority" and the other areas of concern, as well. Playing- or not playing- in a handful of September games will be a reflection of the overall plan, the #1 priority, as well as "the next step in his journey." No Service Time Conspiracy (Free Ted #1).

We all agree that Kohl Stewart is no Chris Sale when it comes to whiff rate. We can also all agree that Kohl Stewart will never be anything close to a Chris Sale, period. But consider the following: Chris Sale leads MLB in Soft Contact @ 28 %. Kohl Stewart had a Soft Contact rate yesterday @ 33.3% Chris Sale leads AL in IFFB% @ 15.9% Kohl Stewart IFFB% yesterday was @ 50% (AAA was 16.7%) Chris Sale's GB% is @ 45.3% Kohl Stewart GB% yesterday was @ 72% (AAA was 57.3%--- AL best is 55%) Is it reasonable to infer the prospect that Stewart at age 23 can use his impressive P-2-C soft contact/ground ball tendencies with, say, developing a little more elusivity in one or more of his out pitches and become a serviceable or better SP?

Yeah, let's just write him off now forever. You are guilty of severe over-analysis of a DEBUT performance. Very few achieve dominating success in their first outing. It might be more helpful to examine his career body of work and extrapolate from a myriad of data. (SHEESH)

I hope you're happy, RiverJonahHill. Somehwhere out there, Jack Goin is feeling schadenfreude right about now.

You missed Yunior Severino, who was 1-4 with a Run, RBI and E in make-up DH game. Still only 18 YO- 2.3 years younger than average for the Appy. Has a .281 BA .758 OPS. He's a switch-hitter- but important to note he's hitting .300 BA/.800 OPS as a RH. Nice aggressive move by FO to move him right to E-Town over splitting time in GCL. One to watch in Winter Ball... he could be a fast mover in 2019.

"What was Pineda's velocity again, LaVelle?" "Topped out at 95 MPH you say?!" "Thank you very much." Pineda averaged ~94 from 2014-17. This is obviously very encouraging. Is there a working plan in place to get him some September innings if he continues hitting all the green lights?

Seems like Dougie Fresh should have told his young charge just that.

Ron Gardenhire on Line 3!