Platoon

What concerns me more than who is starting in his place is the Mejia injury. It's starting to follow a familiar progression. Just a little sore wrist, be ready in ten days. Well the forearm is a little sore, rest will help. Then more rest. The a rehab. Then a second opinion by Dr. (Fill in the name). Then TJ surgery. I think I read this book this once or twice before.

First off I don't think the FO gave up anything. There was nothing to give up. In the context of the Twins orginisation, the FO went as far as "all in" as they could this spring. And then some bad luck, and bad performances happened. They are well documented. But what does surprise me is that some of the players who were the cause of the sell of, are the most vocal about giving up. There was no reason to continue the present course any further. Expiring contracts for next year made that inevitable. For those who thought we could resign Dozier, the only way that was going to happen is if nobody else took him. For amateur GM's like me, that should be a non analytical value of his services. Time will tell if the Twins have enough MiLB talent to put together a competitive team. But at least this FO made the move to find out. I say this with the expectation that as time goes on they will continue to transition the lineup. I don't expect them to wave a magic wand. 40 and 25 man roster issues, and frankly service time issues impact those decisions, far more than I can comprehend. Yes I want to see Belisle gone, and guys like Rooker and Romereo up for a look see, but not if it costs a year of control. As for Gordon, no. He doesn't seem to be able to handle AAA yet. Finally, Molitor has to go, period, full stop! His lack of any sort of enthusiasm for any player under thirty without ten years in the league is non conducive with the direction this team is going. His BP usage is ridiculous, he has pitchers sitting while he puts catchers on the mound. No, that didn't impact that game, but I bet they loved him in the pen. He has to go, you cannot do a rebuild with someone like him in the dugout. I just hope that his continued employment is not determined by Pohlad. Sadly we will never know. JP forever poisoned that well with his "Molitor will stay" proclamation!

This! One of Astudillo's "problems" is he is a baseball player, who doesn't look like a baseball player. And it would take far more imagination than MOY has for that to be seen in the Twins dugout. True MOY does not take a guy who has never played a position before, stick him there, and use that as a measure of his talent. Oh wait, I said a true MOY! I don't know how much success Astudillo would have in MLB over the long haul, but I do know he is better than some of the players currently on this roster.

Sort of scares me to ask where you from?

Maybe they are simply in the doldrums of another losing season? But the baserunning, fielding, and throwing errors are piling up. A CATCHER getting picked off second? Why? Where the hell did he think he was going? Morrison not sliding into second? Maybe three days on a bench would help? Pitching to Lindor with Hildenbergers frisbees? Good grief this is as lost a looking baseball team as one can find.

This week’s roundtable discussion question is: “Which Hall of Fame player with ties to the Twins had the greatest impact on the organization?>>>>>>>>>>> Since the question seems to lend itself to the impact on the whole of the orginisation it sort of takes simple field performance off the table. And it makes post career performance pertinent. But here goes: Harmon, great player who continued as a baseball ambassador his entire life. Reportedly as nice in person as he appeared to be as a player. He hit a prodigious amount of home runs without steroids, something some of those who passed him cannot say. While I think it was Jim Bouton who called him "the fat kid", very few pitchers viewed him in that context for long. His power was pure, and legitimate. Kirby, another great with a ton of on field ability, but who's post career issues negated much of his charisma. So was the bubbly Kirby an act? His WS series heroics can't be washed away, nor can the suddenness of his forced retirement. I am sure all players, as all humans in general have demons. The question is can one control them? Tony O, who I still think was the best hitter I ever saw. That's a pretty inclusive statement. But he hit anything anywhere, for average and power. He could run, had a great arm, and had issues with the glove, and seemed to always enjoy playing. Think Rosario X 10. He also continues to contribute to baseball and the Twins in many capacities, not the least of his connection to the Hispanic community. Carew, lacked Oliva's power, but was the ultimate contact hitter. His numbers speak for themselves, and his career was not cut short like Olivas. Some like George Will called him a magician with a bat in his hands. His career was started by Calvin, and his Twins tenure was prematurely ended by Calvin. Never afraid to be heard his voice is now directed to causes like his Heart campaign. Another former Twin who has not simply faded into retirement. A case can be made for any of the above. But for me it's Harmon, he checks all the boxes, plus he seemed to be simply a very good baseball player for his era, who remained basically a baseball player his entire life.

Remember the Indians get about 10 more games against a sub .500 team than the Twins do. And that team is our own MN Twins! The question isn't really whether any team has ever came back from 6 down on such and such a date. The question is what are the odds it will happen. I find it strange that in this age of analytical research which approximates virtually every move made on a ball field, the simplest and one of the most impactful ones for an orginisations future would be ignored, or diminished.

The question to the question is, whose decisions? Was it MOY that thought Wilsons defense improved the chances of winning, and now has thrown in the towel and used Garver? Or did the FO issue a directive to analyze Garver the rest of the season? Something seems amiss, I still don't think the FO and the MOY are on the same page.

I found it difficult to discern the post Escobar fog from the all season fog. Now I am really worried about the Lynn fog, which while it may be the same, will move verrrrryyyyyyy slooooowwwllly........ And induce drowsiness. That said, Garvers big hit was made possible by Garvers efforts at blocking balls in the dirt with runners on third earlier. While he still needs better technique I will say he has been working his butt off on it. Effort is not a problem. Someone must have convinced him that pitch blocking is part of catching.

Bottom line, they have committed themselves to at the minimum a major overhaul. I had no problem with that. But then they better do one, and not trade people and replace them with the next Belisle or Wislon.

I will Tom, I promise. . It's just like the news, one always checks out the most recent disaster first!

To Tom: actually this is what rebuilding looks like. To Brian: I am sold on the Flexibility Club. It's why I want EE back next year, he is a perfect member. But for your club to be successful, you will need to find a new FC manager. A FC with an inflexible manager would seem to be at odds with itself. But credit where credit is somewhat due, The switch with Rosario worked. But I still would have put Mauer at third, Morrison at first keeping one guy out of position and LF solid. But, I was never MOY.

It depends on if the Twins are in blow up mode? They really are in a 'stuck in the middle phase' right now. Another Murphy catcher? Hmmmm. But seriously the Twins need catching, like everyone. And if they trade Dozier, Hampson would make sense. And Welker would anytime, since Sano will not play third much past Mauers retirement.

If this was a popularity contest, I would hate seeing Eddie go. In fact I do anyway. He's a great personality, reliable player, and fun to watch. But as Mike said we finally sold high. Could we catch Cleveland? Maybe. What then? Butt kicked in a series, and FA fleeing? I hope the FO has higher goals, and a bigger picture than winning an extremely weak division one year. I would like to see something more sustainable for a change. Real competition for playing time.

I understand the passion, but I hope our goal is somewhat loftier than winning the pretty sad Central Div. I would rather try and improve the orginisation, than win the division and get our butt handed to us in the first series.

They get the MiLB players, and they get the same shot at resigning Eddie this winter as they have now.

This. A path. There is an old Cajun joke about a guy who gets stuck in a tree at night with a bobcat. He wants his buddy to shoot, but his buddy can't tell what he would hit in the dark. The guy in the tree says at this point I don't care, just shoot. . That's the Twins today, do something. I don't care if it's wrong, just do something. I want it to be right, but not doing anything guarantees nothing good can happen. We are stuck in the middle. I am sick of the Bobby Wilsons, LaMares, Motters, and all the other waiver wire pickups. We may need t shirts! PICK A PATH.

I think you just can't say that Gibson "should" be dealt, or "can't" be dealt. Everything should be in the table, if for no other reason it helps set a benchmark for other deals. I would trade Gibson for a young MLB ready catcher if the opportunity presented itself. It's an orginisational black hole. But in saying that the thought lingers that if Castro comes back, and with a knee injury that's an if, and Molitor remains in place, any young catcher is only going to get day games after night games. So maybe keeping Wilson is not such a bad idea after all?

I probably and sadly agree. I could see giving Esco a QO as he can play anywhere. Doziers arm doesn't allow that, plus the legendary second half hot streak is getting shorter. I fear we will remain stuck in middle middle land. Too "good" to move anyone, and to "bad" to win anything. But the problem is we are only good in our own eyes. We should be looking at the question this way. If our players aren't generating any interest, or any decent return, maybe they aren't quite as good as we think they are?

No doubt we will be surprised. Sadly I doubt it will be pleasantly.

When we were kids our dad always told us it doesn't take a strong man to break a pitch fork handle, only a stupid one. We proved him right way too often. I know that has nothing to do with BD, but all the pitchfork talk brought back the memory. .

Definitely with you on the Garver situation, he needs to play and be evaluated so a decision can be made. Wilson is a known commodity. And while I would imagine that Astudillo is indeed at best a AAAA catcher, we as observers will likely never know. Which would normally lead me to a rant about the MOY, I just don't have that much ambition or passion right now.

Why do you challenge a two out single? In the third inning? On an iffy play? Is that going to be a game changer? How, on a 25 man roster do two guys like Astudillo and Magill just disappear? Why does Booze Nuts go down, and Belisle stays. I know there are lots of intricacies involved in contracts, options, and other things I don't even have access to, but somethings just seem common sense.

Sadly, I agree with both your post and the fact that Motter and Andrainza aren't going to spin the turnstiles. The reason I say sadly is that if the FO runs the team to satisfy the teams ticket sales department rather than develop the best orginisation possible you will be stuck forever in a never ending loop of "the next big thing", not turn inning into any big thing.

I think you're close on both analysis. Buxtons seems more straight forward. He has to play until he makes it or fails. And of course stays healthy. Rochester holds nothing for him. I personally still thinks he makes it as a significant MLB player. Sano is a little more difficult. Even if he makes strides this summer, can he sustain it when he hangs in the winter with his buds? That has been rumored to be a problem in the past. I sure like to watch him hit when he is on his game though.