mikelink45

I love all the comments and interactions. I have to post this on each of my blog. I'm currently guiding a trip in Michigan in the u p and it does not allow me to comment on your individual postings but I really appreciate all the thoughts

I am currently guiding a trip in Michigan and pictured rocks and Sleeping Bear Dunes. Unfortunately all I have is my phone and it does not allow me to comment on your individual postings. But I really enjoy all the comments and thoughts

Great article if we were the Braves Nationals or Cardinals he would be up in 2019. So I hope they make the right choice get them to double-a the beginning of next year and if he takes off like like it looks like he could be up halfway through next year.

I agree with you. I am trying to look at this position along with the other infield question marks because I am not seeing any plans for the future and the comments I keep reading make him 50/50. Since the other options are so poor I would keep him for his glove alone.

I am sorry the Twins are doing so well that they could not have this group all audition in September, but with Belisle eating up all the Relief Innings what could they have done? Sorry, I think I am starting to get bitter.

Imagine - Sano and Austin together each striking out nearly 40% - great for the pitcher statistics, but not acceptable in my ideal line up. I like to see us score without the HR. Belisle is now so well entrenched in Twins history that his story will be told generations from now over a strong shot or two. It is just unbelievable, to me, that the FO and Mgr keep putting him out or that he doesn't just shut it down. Can't we have one of those magic injuries that put him on the shelf? Five losses in a row - 76 losses total. If they can play 500 the rest of the way they can avoid 90 losses, is that important? We got to see Petit, Grossman, Field, and Gimenez yesterday - does that help the team? At least Astudillo is entertaining. Odorizzi is sure to carry over to next year - does that excite anyone? I laughed when they asked if he could be the opener in the future. Of course he said no, but in essence if he were pulled when he should be he is already an opener. Curtiss no longer looks like he is going to be an MLB arm. Something happens when he comes into the bigs. What is it? I do not want SSS as the answer, In his career he has been in 12 games and has an ERA over 10. Mental or physical?

I have been a critic for this FO for a long time. They will become good when they stop thinking that they only have to have statistics and not watch the game. September for a team as poor as this should have seen a flood of young players getting a taste of the bigs, getting rid of the first time jitters, developing a taste for the big time. But we waste it on players who are never going to star, who have already had time and opportunity. I am not against them getting time towards their retirement, but bring them up and leave them on the bench. But give some new players a reward! This isn't even about Buxton, but rather a culture of reward and promise. Tonight's game is about to start in less than an hour and already I question why do we have Odorizzi starting. We know him, get some new looks. Grossman is batting third! Adrianza is at third. I think I read we have an outstanding minor leagues prospect list - where are they? Field is in the OF - why? Even minor leaguers who are not expected to be great should be getting an end of the season chance. I look at this lineup and I have to think if I was an Astro I would be having a good laugh.

Because someone sure loves him on this FO/Mgmt team.

Okay, we know Joe is on first, but we do not know if Joe wants to stay there or go home and be a dad. Actually we do not know how Mrs Joe feels about this. Joe is the perfect compliment to our existing infield, not because he hits well, he and Robbie Grossman are the walk guys if you like that for your batters. But right now it is Joe's glove that is saving this rather mediocre group of fielders. First base is a nice place for Austin or Sano or Grossman, but we do not have the greatest fielders and they can use the security of a really good fielding first baseman. Ask the pitchers what they think. So Joe can play the I am not sure card and the FO can say we traded for Austin and Cave and have Sano and others ready for 1B and all can provide the tradition 1B power. Have fun with the negotiations - Joe is not coming back cheap. So who wins? Fielding and nostalgia or power and youth? I am not sure. This is the list of possible 1B for 2019 - how would you arrange them? Joe Mauer Tyler Austin Miguel Sano Robbie Grossman Jake Cave Brent Rooker Or do you sign a FA and set back all the young guys? The infield is not as strong as the outfield, the answers are much more complicated - defense versus batting.

I think we are all in this conundrum. For years we have looked forward to this graduating class and now they have been here for three years and the performance is not there. Do we keep hoping? Can all of them step up? The Twins fans are in a difficult place.

Yes people still go to games with great pitching - the starter makes a difference. Do you think that having Verlander start does not add to the incentive to go to the game? Or Kershaw or Kluber or Sales...

I suspect he will be back. After writing blogs about SS, 3B, 2B I have come to the realization that they only really good fielder in the infield is Joe and we have to have him until we get real talent at the other three positions. And if he comes back he will be pushing for all the money that he can get. He seems like one of those really nice guys that probably has a streak in him that the public does not see (but his wife does) and he will not be easy to sign for a good price. The FO needs to know their limit and stick to it.

That would be exciting, but I am not sure our FO has the courage.

Who's on second does not have the ring of who's on first, but it is a legitimate question. After my last two blogs puzzling over SS and 3B where we are below league average in fielding, we need some strength up the middle. I will not speculate on Dozier and his half year greatness routine because I do not see him coming back. I hesitate to speculate about Escobar which is a big fan favorite for every infield position, but he has now seen the bigger world and knows he can make some choices. So there is Logan Forsythe. He has had 2700 ABs and has a lifetime average of 249 and a total WAR of 12.9 so he is not a terrible choice. He will not have the HR power of Dozier, but he should not have the 1/2 year splits that Dozier did either. His defensive WAR accumulated over 8 seasons is 12.9 - not spectacular, more league average. In fact, if you look closer, he accumulated just under 1/2 of that WAR in one really good year - 2015. If SS and 3B were great we could tolerate league average, but with league average being the highest of the three positions I am not sure that we can look at this as a championship infield. Of course Polanco could slide to 2B or 3B and then we have to figure out SS, but I am not looking at signing or trading players in this essay. I want to see what is in the cupboard. Adrianza is our backup for all three positions. This year, according to Baseball Reference Adrianza has a -0.3 WAR for 2018. Good utility, but too much exposure is not good. Who is in the minors - Petit is our fall infield call up. Gregorio is 33 years old and has a 0.1 WAR over parts of six years. I do not nominate him for second base full time. For the Rochester Redwings we had Alex Perez play 14 games and bat 244 and Taylor Featherstone played 55 and batted 167. I do not believe either of them is going to make MLB this next year. As a matter of fact I do not remember reading about them in TD minor league stories. Travis Blankenhorn, who is listed as a prospect for reasons I do not know, is 2B in Fort Myers where he played 124 games and batted 231! And he was backed up by Alex Perez who hit 208. Not going here. If we go down to Cedar Rapids Michael Helman in 27 games hit 355, Jordan Gore in 63 games hit 305, and Jose Miranda in 104 games hit 277. I do not know their fielding prowess, but I suspect the answer for next year is not at this level. Those are the in-house answers. So I do have to look at FA options - Machado and Donaldson are the best infield options, but not at second. Elvis Andrus is a possibility for SS or 2B, Brian Dozier is the person we know best, but I do not think Brian liked how things went this year so do not expect him back. Daniel Murphy is not going to leave the Cubs! DJ LaMahieu is coming from the Rockies - do you trust their stats? My prediction - Logan Forsythe is the 2019 2B, but we better do something to increase the infield fielding! Maybe this will insure Mauer is back since we need a glove at 1B no matter how the person hits and Austin, Sano, Cave, or Rooker is not going to anchor the infield with their gloves.

I believe the frustration comes as we watch other teams bring up even younger players - St Louis, Nationals, Yankees, Braves are great examples this year and their players, even younger than ours come in and play well, sometimes exceedingly well. So we have a right to expect players in their 25 - 26 year old years with 2 - 3 years of MLB experience to begin to shine. Polanco has digressed in the field as far as my eyes go. I think I will write a blog about my 2B thoughts too. The infield is a mess and that cannot take us to the championships we all crave.

Optimism is good, but the FO should be planning for both possibilities.

As a person who thinks the Opener stinks, I want to thank the Twins for demonstrating why I do not like it. The Opener has the same issue that the Starter would - facing the best bats first. It is not like our Opener options are lights out, nor that BP pitchers are used to the starter routine. For my enjoyment I think we should start with Belisle and call it our fireworks opener - might draw a crowd. I agree with the notes on Grossman too. He has truly been the most steady bat for us the past week. That says a lot about Grossman, but it also says a lot about the rest of the lineup.

A few days okay I wrote about Polanco and SS and I found him wanting as a defensive and future SS for a championship team, but what about 3B? Are we set with Sano? In this article https://calltothepen.com/2013/02/07/bold-prospect-comparisons-miguel-sano/ written five years ago Sano was the third best prospect in the majors, "Sano potential has a 70-grade power tool and 70-grade arm strength. Meaning he will be expected to hit 35 or more bombs a year and have one of the stronger arms in the league. His hit tool should be about major league average, maybe slightly below average. That is a .250-.270 hitter. His fielding is below average and so is his speed.He may swipe double digits in his early years but it isn’t considered a part of his overall game." Well that might be overly optimistic. However, along with Byron Buxton, he was the cornerstone for the future. This year Sano has a -0.4 WAR, he is batting 202, has a long stint in the minors to make corrections and is back as a fixture at 3B. And his comps, according to Baseball Reference are pretty bleak in my assessment: Michael Conforto (960.5) Randal Grichuk (959.3) Adam Duvall (959.2) Chris Duncan (957.3) Eric Thames (947.2) Domingo Santana (944.1) Bud Souchock (943.5) Travis Shaw (942.4) Dusty Rhodes (939.5) Chuck Essegian (939.4) In 182 MLB games he is batting 245, but this year he is batting 202. Last year he had 3.1 offensive WAR and this year he is 0.1 Offensive WAR and -0.5 Defensive WAR. We knew that he would not be Brooks Robinson or Pie Traynor or any great 3B, but his hitting would make up for it. It has not. In Fantasy sports - CBS https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/baseball/rankings/h2h/3B/ he is not in the top 40. I am sure that must be wrong. On ESPN he currently ranks 49th at 3B. https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/baseball/rankings/h2h/3B/ I went to many of the rankings and he does not rank except in the mind of the Twins fans. So what's up. Is he the future star or a bust? Is the another Mark Reynolds, or Kingman? Or is he someone we can build around. Combine Buxton and Sano and we have lousy BA, good HRs, Excellent fielding (last two categories apply to only one). When I looked at Polanco I asked if a team that looks at a future championship can put Polanco as there every day SS. I have to ask the same for Sano. But who can replace him? I know some will expect to resign Escobar - I don't. But among prospects who is it? Blankenship? Move Polanco to 3B? I have this desire to have a World Series again and that means I want better than average at every position. Right now 3B is my second question mark.

No, his defense has been poor since the beginning. Look at my Shortstop Blog - his stats show he is a second baseman playing shortstop and that is not what a team that wants to succeed should have. SS is too important.

For years baseball played with shortstops that could cover a lot of ground and if they hit well it was a bonus - Marty Marion and Ozzie Smith made the hall like this. Mark Belanger was the glue of Earl Weaver's championship Orioles and Zoilo Versalles brought the Twins to their first World Series. Now we masquerade SS with all the shifts but still we look at Lindor and Correa and other great gloves with great arms as prototype shortstops. Notice how many professional athletes began as Shortstops - that includes Sano. Because the best athlete was the SS. On a site called Dick's Pro Tips the little league teams are given this advise - "Arguably, this should be one of your best defensive players. The shortstop should show great range and the ability to field sharply hit baseballs. Choose someone who has an above-average arm, as many of their throws will be a great distance." Some might argue catcher and they get a lot of points, but they do not have to move as fast and as many directions, catch hops, drives, popups, and bad hops. Nor do they turn DPs. Think about what happens when a shortstop blows a catch, misses on a DP, or drops a pop up. We can put big oafs that hit Homeruns at 1B and even 3B, but not at SS. We can put good gloves with limited range at 2B (hate to say that since I played 2B), but at SS we want quickness, range, and arm. It is a position that demands a lot and is involved in a lot. I bring that up because Polanco is really disappointing this year. I do not have a stat that tells me how much offense is needed to offset bad defense. He has now reached 50 Errors at SS, not counting other positions, in 3 years. Too many. His fielding percentage, his errors, and his defensive WAR are all near the bottom. If the Twins are going to move up in the standings, we have to move up in the quality of each position and Jorge is not cutting it right now. Do we have hope that will change?

Polanco is a major disappointment. Do we have any stats that tell us how much offense is required to overcome a horrible defense? I loved the old days of players like Mark Belanger at SS who caught everything and help the infield together. Polanco is a real disappointment. He needs to be at 2B or out of the middle infield. His bat is not that good! Of course none of the bats are that good. Sano 202, Austin 232, Field 194, Kepler 225. Not championship ball nor is the fact that in the HR era we have one player with more than 20 HRs - Rosario with 22.

I share the call up frustration. Fields - NO, Belisle - why ask? Same with Gimenez! Calling Byron Buxton........... Petit is okay, but we have plenty of room, why has Vargas no good-bye call up? I do not care what Gordon did in AAA, put him up and let us see him, or are you telling me that Ironhands Polanco is the SS of the future. Glad to add two more pitchers, but this has been one crazy merri-go-round season ending.

If your logic was not good, Falvey and Levine would not be trying to think of ways to make amends to Buxton. Obviously they know that they have blown their relationship. Next time they want Buxton to play while hurt I imagine his agent might have a response!

source=dailyemailhttps://theathletic.com/501859/2018/09/02/rosenthal-the-twins-strategy-with-byron-buxton-may-not-pay-off-in-the-long-run/?source=dailyemail Rosenthal's take on Buxton matches Gleeman and Bonnes as well as most of us posting. Poor decision - another mark against the FO for me.

This game is so bad that the announcers think the other team should quit? Sorry, the Twins quit a long time ago - the other teams are better than that.