mikelink45

This is where wins count. Berrios wins because he pitches long enough to control the game. For me a quality start has to go 7 innings or more. That is how a starting pitcher gets wins or losses, but it is back to the old days when starters were in charge. I love it.

Time to move on - move all of these players if possible. Too bad Reed is injured or I would move him too. Maybe even MOTTER! Does anyone want Grossman? Does Cave look good enough to flip him? Clean house. Bobby Wilson? I know, we are so bad that some of these players can't be given away. But we have a new crop coming and new hope.

This makes me excited for the Trade deadline events. Please get rid of the players who are either blocking a promotion and are leaving soon as FA or just plain stink. Time to move on and this looks like we have the potential to do it. I think it is time for Gonsalves to get his opportunity. Quick glances at top prospect stats has me wondering if both Lewis and Gordon are in slumps. Can you give me a better prospective? I also look at Gregorio Petit and I do not see him as a prospect, but is Taylor Motter really better? Motter has a career -0.9 WAR, so far a -0.2 WAR this year with the Twins, OPS+ of 32, batting 147! Give someone else a chance or am I missing something that this Stat conscious super smart FO sees?

How relaxing. When the comments are only about Magill and Belisle and we won it is a damn good day.

I hope for aggressive action with Kiriloff and Brooker. We need some prospects to turn to stars like we thought Sano and Buxton would.

Who will be the next Taylor Motter? I am still trying to grasp our new stat heavy FO who are leading us to the promised land. I actually think that a lineup of Rosario/Buxton/Kepler/Cave is okay until Kiriloff can move in (I hope he advances really quickly). An infield of Rooker/Gordon/Polanco/Sano until another really fast moving teen named Lewis moves in is pretty solid. Berrios/Romero/Mejia/Gonsalves/Pineda is also okay with Brusdar knocking on the door I hope has real potential. The BP is something I cannot figure out and neither can the FO it seems so lets just anchor the staff with Belisle and move on. Along with the BP, Catcher and bench are terrible. So the effort, in my mind is BP. Bench. and Catcher. Then use the million man coaching staff to turn the players potential on in the lineup and rotation.. Do not sign more FA - we have the starters and rotation. We do not need more expensive luggage. Just think how great we would have been with Darvish and Archer - NOT.

What have our new additions - Odorizzi, Morrison, Lynn done for clubhouse culture? Wait, I forget that we got Belisle to cure that issue.

I am turning the corner like so many Twins fans and trying to look at the future. So right now - who are the most MLB ready players in our minor league system. Who can we call up and make a difference for next year when the Twins finally clear the roster? I would love to see Kiriloff and Lewis be teen phenoms, but I assume they are not ready for that push.

Thanks for an excellently depressing report! Yikes, I was gone a week guiding a trip to Isle Royale and thought I was coming back refreshed from a break from baseball and suddenly I am back in this Twins whirlpool. The worst part is that I do not see a good way out of this. I see no quick fixes. I continue to see Belisle in the Bullpen and Magill hidden behind some bushes in the back of the stadium. Everyone takes a vomit bag to Lynn's performances, Dozier has one good week and jumps back in the tank. We want to be traders, but it looks like we will be attempting to give players away instead of getting new ones. When was the last time anyone saw Falvey or Levine in public? I am ready to trade them for two prospects. And, as an aside - I posted this in another comment - I did see two Tigers games against the Red Sox. They lost one 1 - 0 and shut them out for a win in the second game. I got to see two nice young players - Hicks and Goodrum - too bad we couldn't find a nice pair like that somewhere in the minors! And the team played with a really positive attitude under Gardy. Looked nice.

I guess Sano has learned his lessons! sure.

Just finished listening to the KC series - and I repeat, Dozier, that amazing old vet has done nothing for us this year.

I went away for a week. I went to Isle Royale to guide a trip and I left with the questionable series with KC and Baltimore behind me. I left with all the high drama and meaningless conversations about the all star exhibitions fluttering in the air. I thought this season needed a break - at least I did. While in MI I was able to watch two Detroit games against the Red Sox. Nice games and two guys named Hicks and Goodrum played some nice baseball. Too bad we can't find players like this for SS and catcher. Oh well, I got close enough to Duluth to hear about the Butera HR! And then I hear Molitor talk about how he was glad Cave went for it when the fact is, if he stopped, caught the ball on one hop it is possible no one scored. By the way did I say - way to go Niko and Hicks?

I like the additional #21, but since Larnach is not playing yet you can add #22 too. Rooker is good news, maybe he can audition in Logan Morrison's spot in the lineup.

Unless I am reading the standings wrong, we are far below 500, we are out of the wild card and dreaming of catching a better team for the only opportunity that is available. We have had a chance to move up on Cleveland many times, but it has been the Eddies that have carried us. Dozier is batting 229 and occupied important slots in the lineup. According to Baseball Reference in Close and Late hitting he has an OPS of 22 meaning he is way below average with a 140 Babip 422OPS, in these clutch situations he is below average on tOPS and at average in sOPS. https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/split.fcgi?id=doziebr01&year=2018&t=b Only in low leverage is his tOPS and sOPS above average. In High leverage he is 45 and 46 - that is abyssmal. Brian has been great for the half of each of the last few years, but this year when we needed him because we were missing other key batters he has been AWOL so I will stick with my harsh rating for him. Yes he could turn it on the last half, but if we are out of it, who cares.

I like these five. There is a real separation between them and the other 35 in my reading. What concerns me is the ability of the Twins to get them to the big leagues with success. It was not long ago we had Sano, Buxton, Berrios in that top slot position and so far we have succeeded with one of them. I think we need a review of the system that is in place and start evaluating whether it is as good as we need.

I am casting my worthless vote for Gordon at second and Sano back at 3B. And I do not see this as stepping back. Despite what Dozier might do, for the current season he has contributed nothing of value. Despite what he might do, the player who takes his place needs only do more than what Dozier has contributed to make a positive for the team. Ehire is utility. Nice to have, but lets not get confused about his role. Polanco is SS until Royce Lewis takes over. Then we can have more complex conversations.

In the comments there were some discussions that I replied to with the statement that baseball is an individual game played as a team sport. I thought it might be worth exploring. Start with the Pitcher and Batter. It is true that the catcher is a third wheel in this conversation. While the batter is concentrating and the Pitcher is dealing the other players must wait, watch and react. They are not part of the play until the ball is hit. If it is a homerun, they are no factor, if the result is a walk there is no team involvement, if it is a strikeout, only the catcher participates. This Washington Post story indicates that batters strike out 22.6 percent of the time this year https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fancy-stats/wp/2018/05/04/mlb-batters-are-recording-more-strikeouts-than-hits-thats-a-big-problem-thats-unlikely-to-soon-change/?utm_term=.217f7a6331e3 That means that the team gets involved 78% of the time. In one 2013 study they said that 68% of pitches are hit (I think that has changed a lot) but even is it is true, that means 32% of the time no one has anything to do except for the catcher to toss the ball back to the pitcher. http://www.highheatstats.com/2013/05/fraction-of-balls-put-in-play-is-at-an-all-time-low/ If it is a fly out - one non pitcher is involved, if it is a Home Run we cannot credit team work to those who watch it go over the fence. With increased launch angle and increased use of infield shifts the flyball has been increasing. Typically it is just one outfielder, unless there is a lack of communications. A ground ball out is high on teamwork - usually two or more players are involved and with runners on base the intensity increases. Ground ball pitchers definitely require a higher teamwork percent. And double and triple plays ratchet up the teamwork. Fangraphs says that balls hit are on average 21% line drive (one fielder) 44% ground balls, multiple players, 35% Fly balls (one fielder) and 11% infield flies (one player). https://www.fangraphs.com/library/pitching/batted-ball/ If I assume that 22% are strikeouts and 78% are put in play and 44% of them are ground balls (34% of the total) the remainder are individual flyball experiences. My team work formula would put the majority of the plays into 2 player situations (taking strikeouts as a catcher/pitcher combo). So flip the player to offense. Batting is about as individual as you can get unless the previous player set you up for an intentional walk. Sure we can have those smart at bats that take a lot of pitches and wear down the opposition and bring in the heat throwing relievers, we can have a sacrifice to put the runner in scoring position or a stolen base, but most of the time it is just throw and hit. I give offensive baseball an even lower team work quotient. This reflects on the overall importance of the manager too. Put the right players in at the right position and quess who will be the most effective batters and relief pitchers and the job is done. This quote captures some of the essence of the individual experience of the game - Baseball is a team game but, at the same time, it's a very lonely game: unlike in soccer or basketball, where players roam around, in baseball everyone has their little plot of the field to tend. When the action comes to you, the spotlight is on you but no one can help you. Chad Harbach Read more at: The Author of Group Genius - Dr R. Keith Sawyer says - "A baseball team doesn’t look like an improvising group, and frankly, doesn’t look much like a business team either. The reason is that in baseball, each team member’s contributions are relatively independent. As Pete Rose once said, “Baseball is a team game, but nine men who reach their individual goals make a nice team.” It’s rare that more than one player is involved in a play. More than just about any other team sport, the overall performance of the team is additive." https://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-r-keith-sawyer/is-baseball-really-a-team_b_50071.html Peter Gammons in an excellent essay says "Unfortunately, the sad reality is that once a player starts his Minor League career, the game really changes. Minor league rosters change daily, with players being called up, sent down, as well as released. It is highly unlikely to play with a teammate for 3-4 years like in college, which only adds to the lack of the team game. "Players become far more interested in their personal performance, than the performance of the team. While it is always more fun when the team wins, winning takes a back door to personal statistics as players are working towards individual promotions and making their way up the Minor League ranks, with the hopes of one day cracking a Major League roster. "Front Office and Player Development personnel also take valuing personal performance over team performance in Minor League Baseball. They are far more concerned with the development of a young prospect who could one day make a big impact with the Major League Club, than whether their Single-A or Double-A affiliate is going to compete for the playoffs." http://www.gammonsdaily.com/baseball-is-it-a-team-game/ In 2017 Mookie Betts had the most put outs by a right fielder - 366. For a 162 game season if all games go 9 innings each team records 4374 outs. He recorded .08% of the teams outs. For most of the other 92 he was backing up or watching. And CFs on average handle 15 - 30 more outs per year. https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/MLB/2017-fielding-leaders.shtml A final thought - how many players negotiate on the basis of their teamwork?

Having an injured player who is not playing this year in the top ten is something I do not understand. Larnach needs to be there because of his draft status, but otherwise I have no idea if he is good or not and we have seen players like Levi Michaels demonstrate that draft position does not insure excellence. I keep hoping Rooker will zoom to the bigs, but like Sano and others I concern myself with the horrible strike out rate.

The way we have handled Littell's call ups reminds me of our how we handle Jorge - who we DFA'd. The call ups and handling made no sense.

I always look to TD for daily updates too. I find the Minor League Report gives me the best transactions.

I will not argue - it is good for every fan to find what they can accept. For me he just pitched a mediocre game and got away with it

Baseball is unique in that it is an individual sport played as a team game.

I guess we have a new set of definitions. Lynn did not right the ship, he stumbled forward and the team rescued him. I am not a fan of the quality start and this was anything but quality. He was pitching against the Royals! Thank god we have the easiest schedule in the league going forward. Then we can pretend we righted the season - NO. Sorry to be so bitter Tom, you do a great job, but this team left my depot a long time ago.

Understood, but considering how our team is floundering I want a lot more prospects pushing at the door.

I understand the tools, but hope that our prospects that are near MLB level will push the tools without resume to higher listings.