jokin

Why not? Exactly who the manager hire will be strongly based on who the two preceding hires will be.

Like, "Rex" Grossman (AKA- "The Innovator's Dilemma") Who knew? Better yet, what odds would you have gotten if last spring upon Grossman's acquisition you had told your Vegas bookie to put down a Benjamin on RG hitting in the Twins lineup in the 2- or 3-hole in 41 games this season? If "Rex" is on the 25-manroster on opening day in 2017 I will be stunned.

Bingo, Shane and Spin. He's just too uber-athletic plus an enormously tireless worker to not eventually become a perennial All Star- that's a rare combination and a sure-fire formula for ultimate success. Mark me down (yet again) for Buxton ultimately becoming a 30/30 guy at least once or twice in his career. Over the last 5 seasons since 2012, there are two CFs who far surpass anyone else in MLB- Trout with 46 fWAR and McCutchen with 29. The next tier of CFs drops off significantly into the 18-19 range- Jones, Cain and GoGo (avg.- ~3.7 fWAR/season). Somewhat incredibly, after Saturday night, Buxton is now rated as ~1.5 in terms of bWAR for 2016 after 79 games played and overall, unquestionably a very tough baptism of fire amid enormous media scrutiny and expectations. He's still only 22 years old.... This third time around, there is a general consensus that he definitely has a more confident look at the plate and the appearance of having a plan- the automatic clueless-looking countless 0-2 count situations have dropped significantly for Buck. I think it's entirely reasonable to expect Jones/Cain/GoGo 3.5 fWAR average type of numbers/year between ages 25-30 as a realistic floor, and somewhere closer towards McCutchen (6 fWAR/season) as a potential/possible ceiling. Not Trout numbers, but definitely not the "bust" as he has so frequently been characterized. Gunnarthor (See Post #13) is spot-on correct with respect to WAR and Buxton's MLB adjustment process, let's see what his production numbers look like during his second 1000 PAs- i'm betting they will be significantly better than his first 500 PAs.

I'm not suggesting anything clandestine. There are certainly reasons why the Twins made this decision, I'm just wondering why they did what they did- very little is written about either prospect- they aren't guys that everyone is expecting big things from- and the stat lines only tell the casual observer so much. English was injured much of the season, Granite unquestionably had a great year at a higher level- and those 56 stolen bases that led every single minor league certainly stands out- and a stat like that is something that the AFL loves to promote to add some more sizzle to their "Stars of Tomorrow" marketing approach. The AFL was created and is controlled by MLB for the express purpose of each club having increased direct control of the development of their most valued prospects as opposed to them playing far off in the Caribbean Leagues. The only things I can read into the decision that was made is that English needed the reps and it didn't really make a difference to the Twins if Granite was selected to play in Arizona or not.

I haven't seen either player in the OF, they're close to the same age, but Granite is 6' tall versus 5'7" for English. And don't those 56 SBs earn him the AFL gig just in the dozens of slide-induced strawberry bruises alone? AmIRight?

Shades of Knoblauch? (Although a much more decent human being).

This one is easy. The winner and loser of these remaining September/October games do not matter. one whit. The way he's moving on the basepaths, Mauer obviously needs to be shut down (or full-time PH) to avoid more serious injury. Assuming Sano's elbow is healthy, he should play nearly every rep at 3rd and DHing if his elbow isn't healthy. Plouffe should be DHing, pinch-hitting and playing back-up on the corners. Vargas should DH and/or play every available inning at 1st.

I'm sure I speak for many Twins fans in saying that we are BOTH scarred and scared by the potentialities, perils and pitfalls that can take place during the upcoming personnel decision-making process from the Potentates. A bad hire could set this team back well into the 2020s before they might return to relevancy.

Nice Part Deux to Shane's Part One opus. It's unfortunate that such good and impassioned writing and interesting subject matter has been relegated to blogger purgatory where virtually nobody gets the chance to read it.

Lewin Diaz capped off a breakout season quite nicely. Any chance he gets a call-up to Cedar Rapids for the playoffs? Zach Granite finished the season leading all minor leaguers at all levels in Stolen Bases (actually tied for 1st). He also led the Southern League in BB/K rate by a wide margin (1.00). I get that English needs more reps, but is he more deserving than Granite to get the chance to play in the AFL? Are there too many holes in Wiel's game offensively and defensively to consider him as a viable prospect- or does he possess a legitimate enough high ceiling as a power hitter worth waiting and watching for?

Yep. Like you, I've already proposed previously that Duffey should be one of their top options for consideration for the feature bullpen role in 2017. It's just strange how a top college closer (with the accompanying shortcomings that made him a reliever in the first place) is now a top Twins option as an SP, while a proven minor league and major league starter is only being considered for relief roles (Trevor May).

You forgot Duffey, who looks to be joining the mix with yet another opportunity, along with Berrios, to make his case in September for being awarded one of the 5 SP spots in 2017.

Talk about asking for a lot....

Or Byung Ho Park?

Or, to coin an acronym- 2TO

No

Fixed (the order of the posts) for you.

Unlike typical juicers, Dozier's head has gotten smaller this season... or does it just look smaller because he cut his hair....?... uhh, OK, now I'm growing a little concerned...

LOL... ya think? And a certified PED-free Silver Slugger award, to boot.

Ahh, but you're assuming that he can't hit two more homers today... don't sell Dozier so short.

He now only trails Trumbo in HR in the AL.

Sooo... Top 5 in WAR by the end of the day?

"Unbelieveable" is one of the most overused words in sports.... but not in this case... WOW!

I still don't understand why stats are erased if a game is rained out. Why can't the stats still count?

Whatever for? Your description previous sounds like just another typical day in the life of a Hip Hop/Rap promoter... except that no one was killed that particular day....