scottz

Basements can be nice! This reminds me of One of my favorite conversations with my then 8-ish year old son. ME: What do you think you want to be when you grow up? SON: (thinks a bit) I think I kind of want to just be a person. ME: What does that mean? To just be a person? SON: You know, live in the basement...play video games. ME: Well, I hate to break it to you, but you’re not going to be a person.

It’s dangerous to not ever question authority. It’s not dangerous to think the front office knows better. They have more data, more resources, more time to focus on just the team. The vast majority of the time, they do know better (David Kahn being an exception). And again, no discussion killing is desired from me. I either get to read about opinions different from my own (good!) or I get to legitimately laugh out loud when someone implies, states, or insists that the front office hasn’t thought through a decision. It’s not impossible, of course; most of us probably have jobs where we see someone in a position of authority that seems to just shoot from the hip. But that person is generally not at the top of an organization. So continue on, fair posters! You bring new opinions to me or you make me laugh. And if I make you laugh sometimes, good! Laugh away!

This board is great. I really enjoy reading 10 pages of opinions every time we sign somebody. That's not sarcasm. I love it. However, I find it very funny that we (myself included) get caught up in a bunch of what if performance scenarios, or player value scenarios, or roster management scenarios and then use those scenarios to defend or attack the front office decision. Like I said, I do it too, but it's hilarious. Do we think the front office didn't think of any of these things? That they don't question whether or not this signing makes them better or has ripple effects down to, say, Gordon or Rooker or Astudillo or the 41st guy that they'll have to DFA or the 26th guy who will instead go to Rochester? It's hilarious. This is a great board. Keep the opinions coming. I love it. (But we're hilarious with our special insights that the front office hasn't considered yet.) This is my favorite site on the internet. Go Twins. Go Twins Daily.

I think the last sentence here is the key. Many commenters who are less than thrilled with this move seem to be coming from a place where they see our roster as 9 everyday starters and 3 (or 4) coming off the bench. I think what the FO is attempting to do is to build a roster than allows flexibility to start your best 9 given the situation of the day. I think we are going to see at least 11 "regulars," significant in-game subbing and shifting, and creative strategies and line-ups. A player like Gonzalez (or to a lesser positional degree, Astudillo, even if he's a call away in Rochester) will only help. It's not that over 162 games Gonzalez is better than (pick your favorite Twin), it's that in certain situations, he's much better than (your favorite Twin).

If Jake Cave still has options, he's the one not on the 25. What's the best place to check options?

“The barn cats used the head to birth their litters,” said Levine. Gold.

Congratulations, Max. Be wise with your money.

Excellent deal. Security for the player, but also team friendly. Congratulations, Jorge. Be wise with your money.

This is a very good place to start on extensions. Up next, Rosario, then Berríos.

If we're questioning starter versus reliever roles, I'd rather keep Romero in a starting role and have Perez take up the reliever slot.

I don't know anything about Rooker, or really, anything about any of these prospects other than their stats and the stuff I read on here, fangraphs, or other prospect-discussion sites. So I have no insight on any specific player. However, it seems like the power hitter prospects who struggle are the ones where it is written that they sort of fall in love with the power. The 'how far can I hit this one' sort of guys. I'm not sure if that is accurate, but that's my from afar and reading between the lines hot take. Rooker, at least in the early going here, doesn't seem to be obsessed with his own power, but seems like he's trying to become a better hitter with power. So maybe he's the power hitting, high swing and miss exception that becomes a power hitting, acceptable swing and miss hitter. Again, no knowledge hot take. So we'll see. Good luck, Mr. Rooker.

Like, is this supposed to be, like, funny or something? Because it is.

Gordon is not playing any meaningful games in Minnesota this year. If Schoop is hurt, or Polanco is hurt, or whatever scenario you can dream where the Twins need a second baseman, that guy is Torreyes or Adrianza. Gordon feels like he has something to prove and that's because he has something to prove. If everything goes right, he may show up in September for 9 games and 35 AB (with a .171 BA). Polanco is a better player than Gordon. He is now, and he will be when Gordon is at his peak. Polanco should be extended, with the understanding that when Lewis arrives, he moves to 2B. A guy with an 80 game suspension under his belt will appreciate the security of an extension and it won't break the bank. He seems like a good guy who made a mistake and I don't think he'll make the same one again, so I don't think it's much of a risk from the Twins side. Sign him, tell him he's the lead off hitter, and appreciate his production. Also, if we sign Machado, make sure you save this post. Because I'm a mystery candidate to be President in 2020, and you're going to want to say, "the President used to post on TwinsDaily."

I, for one, would like to say ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. Now, to be fair, ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. In any case, ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. Next year, we'll probably get Trout. Make me eat my hat, Twins.

Not to be argumentative, but most “normal people” in the U.S. carry large amounts of burdensome debt. I’d guess that the Pohlads and others who do not spend beyond their budgets only carry debts that are advantageous to their overall financial picture.

A dog that is very, very good at baseball.

10 11 pages of this! Opinions are wonderful.

This is a perfectly fine get for nothing. He just had a nice season, he's 28, and it's late November. He hits lefties and righties pretty equally. His arbitration number won't be huge. Our new manager just spent a season in close proximity and maybe likes what he does. Maybe they see him as Tyler Austin with less strikeouts. If they do nothing else, we should yell and scream and gnash our teeth and rend our garments. If they made a bet on an incremental improvement over Tyler Austin and make other incremental improvements and/or a big improvement no such yelling, screaming, gnashing, and rending is necessary.

I only want outfielders that can throw with either hand.

Of all the players listed as free agents, I'm only interested in premium prices for Machado and Corbin. I don't think we will get either, but either would make our team better. What I don't want out of free agency is bargain shopping for guys with no real top end. So maybe you bargain hunt with Josh Donaldson because if he's healthy, maybe he has something left. But LeMahieu has had exactly one elite year (2016). Hard pass on him. Maybe Keuchel is worth looking at, but he's going to look to get paid big cash, and he's on the wrong side of 30 for me to want to pay a premium. On the trade side, I'd call the Mets about their pitchers to see what the prospect asking price is. If Thor or DeGrom are available, I think you have to at least consider it.

Nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. — Calvin Coolidge

Points of interest in tonight's game for me include that Gonsalves was awarded the win, apparently because he threw the most innings. I know it is scorekeeper's choice, but I'm not sure why the choice was Gonsalves other than the team was ahead when he exited. Magill should have been honored with the random W. Also, boy I find the opener strategy to be less interesting baseball. So I guess that is a point of non-interest. Astudillo for President. Wait, he's from Venezuela and he's only 26. How about Astudillo for a 2019 Roster Spot? It's nice to see Polanco having another solid bunch of statistics with his OBP approaching 35% and his OPS at .783. His suspension at the start of the year was a big bruise for the lineup. Stay off the juice, Jorge. Finally, that Vikings defense looked like Pro Bowlers out there tonight. Or rather, played like the defense at a Pro Bowl.

Austin Astudillo Adrianza They seem like AAA hitters.

Wrong.

I agree, especially with the first and second paragraphs, and I thought as much when I typed my comment. Like pretty much everything, there are many tangential and sometimes opposing concepts around a single thought. As far as your last paragraph, I think players that are drafted high get longer leashes and therefore might keep an otherwise "really, really good" player from getting a chance. Similarly, when a player signs a big contract but doesn't perform, that can tend to keep some of those non-prospects from getting a chance. I'm not screaming "it's not fair" or anything like that, but those are business-related things that keep some guys from having a cup of coffee in MLB or even scratching out a year or two big league career. I don't think anyone has to stretch too far to think of those kinds of examples.