Platoon

How about forwardly negative?

[quote name="ChiTownTwinsFan" post="382282" timestamp="1438811184" (And stringer, before you point out that Arcia isn't exactly knocking the cover off the ball in AAA, As compared to??

I think the Twins, with what appears to be a bunch of OF prospects would have benefited more by using that roster spot for evaluating said prospects. Just sorting out the Arcia situation would have been beneficial. That and the almost inevitability of them re-upping him likely drive the dislike. I know it does for me.

The reason most of the people in Canada are so friendly is that they sort out the few unfriendly ones, and make them border guards. Those guys have no sense of humor.

Yes, the 401, and all the other 40's there. The 401 makes the Dan Ryan look like Lake St.

Is that what he was saying? I don't speak Canadian, but I could hear him yelling something!

Toronto is f***ing huge. I don't know what they call the extra freeways on the side, but they are as big as 494! And then there is the main one in the middle, about 8 lanes also. If you are looking for the Smith St exit, the first sign might be 6 clicks before you get there.

I agree in theory, but I would imagine there will be more options on the table in the off season. Also, because I don't think that it was possible to fix all the holes before the deadline. And lastly, simply because this team is really not ready yet. It has no stud pitcher, no stud hitter, and no shutdown bullpen. In a 162 game schedule, when you win by exceeding expectations, expectations eventually win out. This year was a pleasant surprise, next year it should not be a surprise. IF, the FO sorts out the roster. If it doesn't, good players will sit in Rochester and Chattanooga, while mediocre veterans will fill out the the bench spots, and the bull pen. But for this to happen someone(s) has to go. Whether it's Arcia, Hicks, Plouffe, Milone, Suzuki, etc, there are going to be players that have to end up elsewhere.

Waivers have to be cleared, if you are going outside the orginisation. That virtually precludes bigger deals. And before the waiver period, lot of players tossed around are older rental types.

Maybe we need to be optimistic pragmatists? Or pragmatic optimists?

So what's next? We are tied with Toronto. Toronto is tied with us. We are depressed because we are tied with Toronto. Toronto is excited because they are tied with us. How does this seemingly identical place in the standings generate such a disparate range of emotions. It likely has to do with momentum, and expectations. We expected to be bad, and got good, and regressed to not so good. Our momentum is downhill. They expected to be good, got bad, and got back to better. Their momentum is uphill (the preceding statement proves I did not pay attention in physics class) This was also reflected in the recent trade deadline dealings. Toronto went all in, we went all, less than mediocre. Are we stupid? Are they smart? Or, because these two teams are at very different stages of their current existence, are we both kinda correct in how this was approached. Baseball teams have life cycles. The current Twins team is in what amounts to year one of what is likely about a 6 year cycle. In essence, it's infancy. It learning to walk, talk, and become a productive member of the American League. But it's not there yet. Some of its parts are in the minors, some to be brought up here, some to be traded for missing parts. But the parts appear to be there. We don't need rental parts, as they likely won't get us anywhere this year, but will cost us in the future. I am not going to defend Ryan, or call for his head on a platter. He never was trader Jack in the first place, and that might have served him well this year. I like many think he likes his veterans too much, and is too slow to react to things that need correcting. I do think he knows a baseball player when he sees one. But I also think he lets his "attachment" to some veterans get in the way of making a change he likely knows needs doing. With his apparent job security, that seems to be a glaring fault. IMHO, this team is a year away. Chasing a playoff spot by mortgaging part of the future would have been a huge mistake. Let the Rosario's, and Sanos, Hicks's, Buxtons, and more get their feet wet. Don't expect a Sano to carry you. It's not his job. Work in some more as you get into September call ups, and have a plan in winter to turn a few assets into things you don't have. A catcher, a good defensive SS, and if you don't think some of the young arms are going to pan out in time, a solid 8th inning guy. And clean the dregs off the 40 man. This does not necessarily mean you have to deal prospects, veterans should not be immune. Something has to be done about the corner infield "mess", and if Hunter is inevitably resigned, please make it understood he is a bench, PH, and DH type. The current bunch of veterans on this team have never had a go to guy. There is no Puckett, Killebrew, Iggy, Jack Morris, Puljos, etc. Some decent players, some with good numbers, but not the guy to carry you on his back. You don't win games with smoke machines in a clubhouse, you win them on the field with talent. And attitude. The Twins have some talent coming up, and some of it seems to have a little attitude. Attitude has never been a Twins trademark. Either intentionally, or seemingly, we tend to field teams of a vanilla nature. Hopefully some of the new players, shall we say exuberance, will not only be tolerated, it will be encouraged. As for Molitor, my jury is still out. He has been hamstrung by a crappy bullpen, but has also not handled the May thing well. Since his offense is so putrid, it's really hard to say if bunting is truly something he believes in, or is he desperate to score a run on occasion? There is nothing he can do about his catcher, and he seems to understand that putting pressure on his SS candidates is not ideal. His shifting is far more aggressive than the previous managers, and seems to be a plus. He has not solved the 3 hole in the batting order mystery, but frankly there seems no obvious, or for that matter logical solution this year. If the year plays out with them missing the playoffs, but getting a foundation in place for next year, I am fine with that. I feel that is where their focus should be. It's where it likely was in the beginning of the year, and I don't think that, what was in my opinion a fluky month of May, should change that plan.

I am fairly sure Molitor was always the manager in waiting, I think Gardy thought so. So the following is likely a figment of my vivd imagination, OR NOT. . But is it possible that one of the reasons that Dougy Baseball did not get the job was because he would not take this roster lying down? And TR did not want to deal with that kind of insolence? The nation has not had a good conspiracy theory in a couple weeks, I think this one could catch on!

If we are ordering, I'll take a HR please!

Just for giggles I looked up SO % for ABW2 and Sano. Sano sitting at 42% in MN, ABW at 41% this year, and career 31%. All numbers rounded up. I realize it's not apples to apples, but it did kind of surprise me.

We always have funeral hot dish. And no, you don't want to know what's all in it.

It was my impression that was Toriis job?

Not to speak of Kirby hurting his eye sleeping!

Since everything is metric in Canada, it's obvious that 12:07 is the metric equivalent of 12:10, or 12:05, or maybe Midnight? I can't be sure. Little known fact: Everything in Canada is NOT metric. I asked a Torontoan one day: If you go to your version of Home Depot to get what we call a 10' 2x4 what do you ask for? He said, I don't know about you, but I ask for a 10' 2x4! Apparently lumber in Canada is inches and feet. Or else this guy thought I looked gullible and stupid, and was amusing himself? I can't be sure! You may vote. Press 1 for yes. Press 2 for no. Press 3 for "I can't be sure".

One of the "fallacies" of just sticking s guy in a lineup spot, and thinking his previous numbers will follow him is that they don't. When you are given the responsibility to hit 3 or 4 year you start thinking differently than you did at, in this case lead off, and as Ashbury said he will get pitched differently. Guys on first are going to get you low away breaking stuff, looking for the DP. This does not appear to be BD strength. One last example would be Hunter. A far more agressive hitter with men in scoring position. Is that a plus! Not if the guy hits his spots.

I was thinking of Mauer this morning. And I keep getting back to what makes him so invaluable right now is the insistence on hitting him out of his slot. He always was at best a borderline 3 hole hitter and isn't anymore. But having said this, I don't think the solution is currently on this team. In some regards I am making my own argument, but it's what it is. Regrettably I also agree with your take on TR, about not doing any trading. And if that continues, it's going to be the undoing of this teams future. Unfortunately there are good pieces that will have to be dealt because of a clutter in certain areas. But if he doesn't wisely address this roster imbalance, a lot of talent is going to be wasted.

You will probably get slammed for trading Plouffe, but someone has to go. Him, Mauer, or Sano. They will say Sano can't field as well as Plouffe. And they are right. Neither could Plouffe when he came up. He was brutal. Sano will end up being an adequate fielder at third. Some want him in RF? Based on his long experience as an OF? We have too many corner OF already. I don't know what Plouffe would return in catching help, but it's definitely a start. Sadly, I also agree with you about Hunter staying, but I am not sure about them platooning the bench.

I cannot actually remember the last time I saw a manager intentionally put the winning run on base. I think "Thou shalt not intentionally put the winning run on base" was in the Ten Commandments at one time. But when God got done with them, he had made 11 by mistake. One had to go, so he dropped the one that he knew no idiot would be dumb enough to do anyways!

I wonder which scouting report said its a good idea to start Sano with. FB

I assumed this would be Jesperson

Huh?