bird

Okay. I choose Arvid. No reason in particular.

How much do you want for it?

Great discussion and a comprehensive collective articulation of the problem that's causing this quagmire. In terms of reducing or even solving this quagmire, as a GM, I'd be engaged in this line of thinking: A. ADJUSTING HIS APPROACH. I'm dealing with a $23M annual expense that has a huge impact on the top line sales in a $1B annual business. Therefore, I've already verified that considerable energy has been put into trying to fix this costly problem that even the people over on TD can readily see just by watching games and glancing at a few spray charts. Now, because my coaches can't coach Mauer into making the necessary adjustments (and remember, I fired Bruno), and because Mauer either refuses to adjust or can't adjust, I now accept the problem as unfixable. We have stopped expecting a new approach. Mauer isn't going to change and the problem most likely will get worse. B. ALTERNATIVE ASSETS. Okay, my people tell me they have certain hopes for Vargas, Park, and even Palka for 2017 and 2018. Beyond that, we can't fully foresee, but they keep mentioning a hope that a light bulb goes off for this Lewin Diaz kid. And since all the talk was this hope stuff, I even tried to partially solve the quagmire myself by signing that Napoli guy, who, as an important aside, would have actually been a fun guy for the players and someone who would project some energy out to the fans too. So finally, it looks like this Vargas guy could supplant Mauer. Time to sit Molitor down and get a clear understanding of how he's thinking about these things. I'm very concerned that I'm going to have to do a lot of the talking, because I agree with a bunch of those TD people. At best, we need to give up some of Mauer's superlative defense in favor of an exciting power bat. Or two, even, if Park turns out to be the real deal. This needs to happen now. I've lowered my opinion of my manager at this point. C. LINEUP CONSTRUCTION. Speaking of lower opinions, I'm going to step in and put an end to this nonsense. I mean, does my manager really think the fact that Mauer doesn't strike out as much serves as a deterrent to walking Sano? I'm walking that beast to face a .250 singles hitter who lets my defense play on a half-field almost automatically. If my manager wants Mauer in the lineup against righties and for his defense, then he's damn well going to adjust his lineup construction. So we're going to have a meeting of the minds right now 1) about just how often Mauer sits, 2) about where he and Castro fit best in a lineup and 3) about who, if it's not Vargas, is going to make the opposition think twice about walking Sano. D. 2018 AND BEYOND. I've already concluded that Mauer won't be with us in 2019. The question I'm going to answer during 2017 is whether he makes my roster in 2018, quite frankly, and if so, I've already determined in my own mind that it will be in a drastically reduced role. I've already decided that either Vargas and/or Park and/or Palka get past the hope stuff. If none of them are considered to be a reliable and superior alternative to Mauer as a 1B regular, we're going outside the system for one over the winter. But in any case, Mauer will not be our regular 1B in 2018. In conclusion, I'm reducing the Mauer Quagmire by immediately reducing his role in 2017 in two ways, accelerating that role reduction for certain in 2018, and possibly eliminating the quagmire altogether in 2018. My focus is on top-line sales. That $23M is already sunk.

To the left fielder, who doesn't have to run to catch it. Or to the shortstop stationed where the second baseman should be.

yesh...hic

Because their parents insisted on scheduling toilet time.

I'm really surprised that Scott Schebler is struggling.

I don't want to talk about Stewart. So, when my daughter was an 18-year-old freshman at BC, she called me after her first day of classes and said some dumb jock (her words) sat down next to her in a class and started hitting on her. She asked him, "How old are you, 26? And what are you doing here?" The guy proceeded to tell her he made it to AA with the Twins before an injury ended his promising baseball career. It was Shinskie. Thanks to Seth, I was able to give her a few facts about his minor league path, and she had a little fun with him the next day reciting some rather unflattering numbers, which I, as a father, was careful to cherry-pick. Shinskie dated one of her roomies for awhile, and while his QB stint at BC was also short-lived, he did in fact graduate. I think they're still FB friends.

Well I've been a prince and you know I've been a post By a barbed wire fence and a murder of crows ---Amos Lee, El Camino Springsteen. Meh.

Eating lots and lots of crows is murder.

Could be, Jerr. But only if it's a really harsh, toneless, almost metallic buzzing sound. Like Springsteen's music. Kidding. Emmylou Harris's cover of Racing in the Street is nice. Texas Grackles in chorus create more of a rattling sound rather than a buzz, and they build things up to where the sound has been described as that of a flushing toilet. No kidding.

I suppose you're right, Vanimal. The Branch Davidians are a fun group for example. I'll keep an open mind about braised racoon. Do you have a favorite roadside diner to recommend?

Chargois/Burdi/Melo is a good add to a wish list.

As far as buzzkills go, Buxton's struggles stand alone. In order of magnitude, a reversal in direction of these are things would turn around my own spirits: Buxton figuring it out at least to an acceptable level at the plate, Berrios holding his own in MLB, Fernando Romero having another promising season, Gonsalves regaining his health, Lewis Thorpe looking like he's back, Gordon keeping it up, and hauls at the trade deadline for two or more vets. I already am a believer in Kepler, Sano, and Polanco. I just don't care about Gibson or Hughes. I take those days off from baseball generally.

Not that I'm not ALWAYS inspired by game threads, but this talk about Grackles has me quite worked up. And the Grackles in Texas? They aren't the dull Common Grackles of Minnesota. These are called Great-tailed Grackles (look it up). Like all things Texan, they're larger than the other Grackles. Also like other Texans, they're obnoxious, noisy, and unpleasant. True to being Texan, they hang out in large groups late at night on the city streets, often hiding behind the bushes, and like to suddenly cause a huge boisterous ruckus when a visitor happens by. They're tiresome showoffs. The Great-tailed Grackle is actually closely related to the homo sapien Texan, as evidenced by their affection for dead animals and their similar willingness to pick at them on roadsides and in parking lots. And very sadly, these rather self-important and arrogant things are lurking everywhere you go and their numbers are increasing at an alarming rate. Unlike another disgusting relative, the European Starling, these Grackles were Born in the U.S.A. Well, Mexico, really, but they'll never admit it.

Exactly this for me too. The main piece has to be a frontline starter, a guy who projects as a #2-3, not a guy with a #3 ceiling. The closest thing we have to an acceptable main piece in our system? Berrios might tempt me, if Lewin Diaz, Blankenhorn, or a similar top 150-200 prospect was offered as the second piece, which would be mandatory for me because of the injury risk I'm assuming with the main piece. But I can see why some would move him at the deadline for a Fernando Romero/Rortvedt type package. And I suspect that's the kind of offer they see, if that even.

I agree, but this is why I think they retain him. We may have too many sellers at the deadline, too much inventory available, to extract this kind of overpay for him. But for me, and I hope for Falvey, there's no great benefit in trading him for some prospect that projects as just another league-average starter. So I think Falvey keeps him, through his option year even.

Poor Buxton now gets every border line pitch called against him.

Yes.

FIFY

Because "He just dropped the barrel of the bat."

I like it. The javelin. Thrown by Petru the Impaler.

Wear your assigned number throughout the race and turn in the money people pledged to you. What cause are you supporting?

Right. It's called lost seasons due to injury. They're progressing, which is great.

We have better than a Berrios type right now and for two plus years in Ervin Santana, for a reasonable price. And that's assuming Berrios lives up to his ceiling as a #2-3 starter. Yes, I know he stands a better chance of falling apart than a Berrios type. I'll take my chances that I can construct a roster of pitchers that will give me similar production to Berrios, maybe slightly less, over the next year or so. I don't want to trade my one frontline guy for that type. I want a frontline prospect for my one frontline guy. At the most optimistic, Berrios is viewed as having a small chance of giving you some #2 production. Not a good enough return for me. Close though, with a Rortvedt type thrown in. As you say, none of what we have in the system is clearly projecting to be Santana's equal.