Platoon

And a bloop double to VMart

I didn't see them. Were they from one of our relief pitchers? . That was hilarious, I liked the local flavor, woth Smalley getting a shot out! .

I didn't see them. Were they from one of our relief pitchers?

Omg, I just got to the called third strike on Maybin. And D/B lauding Kurt for pulling the ball up. There must have been another memo from the public relations dept. A friend of mine who umped a lot told me when a catcher would pull a ball and question the call, he would ask the catcher, "if the pitch was so good, why'd you pull it 4 inches"? Normally that ended the conversation?

Could we be onto something here? So our pitchers are in name only, and they don't hit either. So we load up on big beefy long ball guys, like one of them All World slow pitch teams, and we go for the 28-23 win. If you can't beat em, beat em!

I thought so, he has bypassed numerous opportunities with men on base, waiting for the perfect moment!

Naha! They had players identified as pitchers.

And in honor of BD phenomenal season of power, he chose to hit it with the bases empty!

Is it an actual league rule we have to have pitchers and catchers? Couldn't we just fill the rest of the roster with more 1B/corner guys?

First off, in a normal orginisation the GM makes the trades, Molitor would have little input in whether his job is "saved" by BD or not. But if I was Molitor, and I did have some say, and wanted to save my job, I would see that Dozier goes for the best pitcher he could bring. That's how you win games, not by hitting 25 solo HR's. That assumes he knows that pitching and defense win baseball games, not offense!

My point on Wilf had nothing to do with money, it had more to do with moving to people who would win. Mediocrity, and whether the team made money was not a factor. Winning is! And Iilitch is another proof point, just spending money doesn't cut it. It helps fill in the holes, but it's player evaluation, in baseball consistent development in the minors, and roster construction. Of the aforementioned list, I cannot think of one item that this orginisation excels in, nor has for years. Using that time frame as a benchmark, this is our one and only chance to get this right. And I might add, one of our seemingly ongoing habits in Minnesota is to compare ourselves to failed orginisations, instead of striving to be compared to elite ones.

Since the Saudis decided to implode the crude market ND has tons of idle tunneling equipment. Rumor has it that Pablo Escobar bought some of it, but the rest will work nicely for "The Great Escape" on 11/9. In fact I wouldn't be surprised if Pablo joined us? Hmmm maybe he thinks Estevan, SK is a Hispanic community?

They were going to but Oklahoma wouldn't pay for it.

"When it comes down to it, the Twins won't have much to hang their hats on as the 2016 dust settles. The first overall pick is definitely an exciting and welcomed consolation prize, but it will be in the hiring of front office executives, and the retooling of the organization that the true forward progress is felt." >>>>>>> I truly hope your are correct. I hope that it works out. But mind these two cautionary points. 1. Many, myself definitely included, thought it was time to move on from Gardy. What could be worse. Well now we know. It's not even the fact they aren't winning, I have coached enough to know players win most games, not managers. It's the sloppy way the players play the game, the inconsistent handling of players based on what appears to be favoritism, and a seeming lack of any kind of an idea where he wants to play people. 2. We seem to be totally disregarding who owns this team. What the past has shown of the Pohlad evaluation process, and what level the bar is set for success? And those items are not encouraging. Remember this simple fact. These hires, and I mean both of them, will be made by and/or with Jim Pohlads input, and blessing. His view of a successful baseball franchise has, at least up till now, not reflected what most would hope and expect, unless you are an accountant. Let's use the Vikings move to Speilman and Zimmer as a reference point. I don't put the odds at 20% JP makes a hire that will positively impact the Twins to the extent that those two have impacted the Vikings. Ownership counts. Ziggi is a lot of things, but he wants to win, of that there is no dispute. I would doubt that you can find one person in MN who could justifiably quantitate that trait so far in the operation of the Twins by the Pohlad family!

Your post points out some true and valid points. But Molitor makes his case against it at the same time as for it. Dozier plays every game, giving them no look at Polanco at 2B. He pulls Berrios yesterday. He continues to drag the overused Pressley out in critical situations. He is the yoing and yang of coaching. Two years of watching him, and we have no idea, other than bunting, and bats come before gloves, what his philosophies are?

There you go again, mixing science and Texas! That never comes out well!

While I had not considered that, it's a tough decision for me. KC ain't bad either. Keeping Texas is an awful lot to expect just so I can eat fine beef. I still think those guys at the Alamo should have split!

Does this include Texas also? (Vanimal excluded of course)

Would it be fair if I was to use that comment in my evaluation of the Twins FO? Or is that what we call a SSS? I guess I was wrong. If Nunez, Sanatana, and EE is the criteria we use for the SS position, then I don't have enough tin foil after all!

I have my tinfoil, it's you guys I am worried about! . That said, the Twins roster is like a Rubics Cube. Everytime you want to move a piece, you have to consider where the other pieces go. Be back later, I see some sun peaking into moms basement. I gotta move that drape!

You might need more tinfoil? .

Rugby cannot be the center of North America! The only way that works is if you are including Canada? It's not North Canada, it's North America! And them people are not 'Murricans.

A much scarier thought did occur to me. What if these are Molitors actual ideas of lineup construction? Daily changes based on a dart board? And what if Molitor and Pohlad are so joined at the hip, that Molitor has an oversized influence on the roster? And we end up with a milquetoast GM, who knows his place? While this does have a certain conspiratorial aspect to it, we do live in TwinsWorld, and we are lot further than we think about getting out of this place!

Polanco's warts are already evident and on another team I would keep him and Dozier, and eventually expect Polanco to be a super sub, PH, and base runner. And he would get plenty AB's. But this team has to acquire pitching , somehow. Even if it's a low 2 or a 3. Dozier, and maybe a combination of others is the only player we have outside of a couple untouchable youth that can bring that. That leaves me with Polanco at second, and EE as a placeholder at SS. You can't look at Polanco in a vacuum. The need for pitching supersedes who played second. As for Sano, you got me. The Beresford day rates a pass, but EE playing there is a waste of innings. You know what EE is, and you need to get Sano intrenched at 3rd. Unless the grand plan is for the return of Plouffe. Then you got me! I would have sat Dozier for some games of Polanco at 2nd, but BD's HR rampage screwed that up. That said, Molitor's lineups are indeed puzzling. One third to look at a prospect, one third to look at the Shaefers of the world, and then one third to try and win the game. And accomplish none of these.

It's too late, and I am too lazy to look. You may be right, maybe it just seemed that way?