REPETE

As Roy Smalley's pointed out (about 100 times, I believe), it's more than just taking balls & swinging at strikes. His assessment of Buxton seems right, in the fact he's constantly pulling off the ball when he's getting a breaking ball on the outside corner. As Roy puts it, "his butt's going the wrong direction to hit that pitch". So I think the strikeout/walk ratio is telling, but especially in Buxton's case, he's striking out on a lot of pitches that are borderline strikes.

I do believe moving May back to the rotation in '17 (or even late this year) has to happen. It's a lot easier, and cheaper, to find a quality relief pitcher than a quality starter. I believe trading a bunch of prospects for 1 starter in 2017 is too risky. This team probably won't be ready to compete early next year, either (although not out of the realm of possibility), therefore I think we wait until mid 2017 or the offseason going into 2018.

Not sure Cub fans would agree with how fast they've been rebuilt.

As one person called it: "Florida is God's waiting room..."

3 pages into this topic, and I'm stunned that nobody has brought up the elephant (no, not calling Ortiz an elephant), but would Ortiz have thrived nearly as much here as in Boston? He did seem injury prone (fair or not) during his time here. There are many speculations as to how he overcame those injury problems via chemistry. True? Certainly not proven. But let us not forget, A-Rod has never tested positive either, but most are willing to call him guilty. As for the issues the Twins had with him trying to use the whole field, it must have made some sense to him, as he's put holes into the Green Monster, on the occasions he didn't hit it over.

I like the idea of each OF getting a day off. rotate them all. I'm still not sure we know for certain what we have with Arcia, and I'd be OK with him playing every day to see if he can play. But if that was the case, they should not have recalled Kepler, but rather called up anyone comfortable watching the game from great seats.

All very valid points, and I apologize for making blanket statements. My frustration in reading TD lately in this disaster of a season is the rash of rants pointing to one specific reason. My point is, there isn't one specific reason, or one simple answer. I understand differing views, but in this debacle of a lost season, they've had absolutely NOTHING go right, and I don't believe anyone foresaw a collapse of this proportion. Some stated they saw a frustrating season, but I don't believe anyone could have honestly predicted THIS..

Anytime a team struggles, or completely falls apart so early, like this one, people are scrambling for reasons, and you end up with rants. People saying "the young guys were mismanaged and need time in AAA" is 180 degrees opposite of last year's "Don't sign veterans, let the young kids come up". "We needed a veteran OFin the offseason" this year was written last year with gnashing of teeth "Why did the team sign Hunter? Terry Ryan must go!!!" "We've mismanaged the young kids by not letting them play through their struggles", yet we allowed Rosario to fumble through 1/4 of the season before his long awaited demotion. Last year, the call was "Bring up Buxton now!". This year, the call is "Why didn't they sign a veteran OF? They should've known Buxton wasn't ready!" Let's face it, this season is a disaster of major proportions, which I don't think ANY of us saw coming. Some regression? Sure. Potential 120 losses? No way! Even if the roster had some regression, there is/was still enough talent on the roster to win 70 games. The simple fact here is, in hindsight, better roster moves certainly could've been made; Rookies & 2nd year guys should be playing better. Handling of the young prospects could certainly be different. However, NOBODY saw this collapse of epic proportion, so perhaps we need to step back and take a deep breath. 2 weeks ago, the season was too young to just throw in the towel. If there's no change in the play by June, perhaps the roster will be handled differently. Blaming the FO/Manager for 10 wins takes a lot of focus away from the fact the kids we've all wanted to see playing, are simply not performing. The veterans aren't performing. Nothing is clicking at the same time. Why? I don't think there is a rational answer, just circular hand wringing arguments.

yeah, not sure about the validity of this argument. Down by 3? That's still within reach (if you could ever get a hit with RISP!!!). The rest of his plays on the day were most definitely boneheaded, but those were all defensive minded. Clearly, something is different with Rosario this year than last, both defensively & offensively, but taking 3rd when it's just sitting there was NOT the reason to send him down. The other 1000 things he's done this year are.

My question is, has Molitor said why he's got the young kids up here sitting on the bench? I'm sure TR made the decision to bring them up, but obviously, Moli has no faith in them to play every day (or more than once a week). I always liked TK's approach; "we didn't bring them up to sit on the bench." With a full fledged youth movement, ie, trading some veterans at some point, will he start playing them, or will we be watching Rex Grossman & Mastroianni play everyday, with Molitor becoming a player/coach, and Bruno becoming our RF?

I'm still stuck on how beer & chocolate aren't compatible. Two great tastes that taste great together! I defy you to dislike Mich Golden Light & M&Ms together. I think if Mauer puts together a couple more .300 averages, he's in.

From my observations of Gardy (full disclosure, I did NOT like him at all), he was fine with young players, as long as they "played the game the right way", and if he "liked how they went about their business", He liked the Rocky type players, "ham and eggers". He could appeal to them, as that's what he was. Where Gardy fell short was dealing with the cocky, young, "showboat" type players. Go-Go was the perfect example (although the argument could/should be made he should have been in AAA), but he completely mishandled Hicks, too. He had Hicks wound up in knots. I think he'll be fine as a roving instructor, as long as they don't keep him on one guy too long. Id have hated to see him roving in the minors when Sano got into all the hoopla over a bat flip.

I don't think Dozier fits the bill. What made Gladden so important was not only how he played, but how he wanted EVERYONE on the team to play the same way. I think he's a guy that would call you out if he thought you weren't giving 100%.

Only way Plouffe gets traded is a real contender has 3B injury problems. I don't see Park playing a ton at 1B, and besides, if Mauer's hitting singles, that means he's scoring when Sano & Park hit dingers. 2 run HRs are much nicer than Solo shots.

All I can say is "WOW"! Ricky Nolasco starts off this article as making the team as the 5th starter, Suzuki is now a power hitter, and the only posts here are about Big Whiner, er, Big Papi? Papi must've truly struck a chord with TD, otherwise we'd be hearing for the 87th time this spring about how we need to trade/cut/kill Nolasco; the FO is full of morons who only care about payroll; yada yada yada. I vote for more Papi talk, as it's refreshingly new. That is, until it gets old.

Before we anoint Kepler as an immediate call-up, let's see how he does in AAA. I'm very excited about this kid, and can't wait to wear my German heritage on my sleeve, but he's had one great year. He could use some time in AAA. Besides, baseball has a way of creating opportunities for players. Let's not forget, Buxton has not shown a great ability to stay on the field for long stretches. The injuries he's had don't point towards chronic problems, but the injury history is extensive, with all sorts of ailments. If Max's playing in AAA demands a call-up, there will almost certainly be room available somewhere, somehow.

A. tired of watching extra inning games with bench players instead of regulars.

I really think (hope) this philosphy harkens back to the Gardy days. They did that with Gomez, and got so frustrated Gardy had him shipped out. i'm hoping Molitor & Bruno realize this kid could be something special, and don't try to turn him into the next Otis Nixon.

dare we say... "WORLD SERIES!!!"

KEEP GRAHAM! Even if he pitches lousy, he's got the socks!!!

I wonder if this phenomenon is limited to the Twins, or if other clubs go through this, too. It does happen to guys that put the extra work in, they can develop into good defensive players. Sure, sometimes they just don't have the ability at this level, but sometimes it takes a trip to the show before these guys realize they can't live on raw talent to stick in the Majors.

Plouffe's 2012 season sums up my relationship with him perfectly. About the 12th game of that 14 game streak, I thought "maybe I can love this guy.", and I dared to give up my heart. A couple weeks later, he broke up with me. His explanation? "It's not you, it's me". I thought we were done for good. Then, every year, he'll go on a streak, and I'll get interested in him again. There will be a few flings, a few drunken one night stands, and some mornings where I think "he's finally changed", only to then watch him strike out or hit into a DP in a key situation, and my heart was broken once again.. After all these years of heartache, I must've gotten wiser. Trevor and I can never be more than "just friends". When he does well, I'll be happy for him, but when he inevitably screws up, well... same old Trevor.

Under - because like you, I hate the Yankees.

Reed always had great control, but posted a league-best 1.2 BB/9 in 2002, walking 26 while allowing a career-high 32 homers. He managed a solid 3.78 ERA (118 ERA+) in 188 innings, thanks to that control and, probably, more than a bit of good luck. If memory serves (like Reeder's fastball), Thome hit 30 of those 32 that year.

I'm guessing that broken ankle came from Molitor ordering Gene Glynn to do his imitation of Cathy Bates in Misery. One road trip, and Nolasco's hobbled for the rest of the year, problem solved. Same thing can happen this year if Nolasco proves to be completely ineffective, especially if he refuses to go to the bullpen. .