Loosey

Best case scenario for the Twins this year is Buxton and maybe Sano come back sometime around All-Star Break (Sano likely much later if at all) and play well. Kepler rebounds, and a few youngsters come up guns blazing. The Twins play the 2nd half around 10 games over .500 and end the season 81-81 giving us fans hope for next year making leading us to believe the the 2nd half team is the real team, while the April-June team was the aberration. This is how I cope. . .

Burt Reynolds plays for the Saints now?

If it weren't for the Indians struggling earlier this year this year could already be "total system failure" part 2. That being said the Indians have won 7 of their last 9 and the Twins are falling rapidly in the standings. So by mid-July if things haven't changed this will be part 2.

I'm pretty sure my friend and I came up with this idea when we were 12 year old knuckleheads. Our plan however was to collect and destroy every 1993 Terry Jorgensen Donruss baseball card except for one. Then we would have the only one in existence and therefore would become rich. Needless to say, pre-internet it was hard to find every Terry Jorgensen baseball card in existence. I think we did end up taking out about 15 of them though while we kept "The One" in a thick plastic case for protection. Also, this plan did not make us rich.

I want to see Buxton succeed so badly. But it does get discouraging to see him struggle so badly in the majors and then go down to rehab in AAA and struggle there as well. We all know he has the ability. We have seen it for stretches. I'm beginning to think its between the ears. He is thinking TOO much and not letting his natural ability just shine through. A previous poster said he looks like a statue. I think he looks very rigid and tense when he is hitting. Almost like he has a million thoughts about his swing, pitch recognition, etc. running through his head each pitch. I really hope he has something click soon. Because the July-September Bryon Buxton from last year was something pretty damn exciting to watch.

When I was watching the playoffs last year I saw the Astros roll out Charlie Morton. Morton used to be a sinker type pitcher who tried to keep the ball low in the zone and get ground ball. Then when he went to Houston someone basically told him his stuff was too good to be a sinker ball pitcher and to throw the ball harder and try to strike guys out. He went from an OK starter to very good. The moment I heard the announcers mention that I thought of Gibson. It seems like he has taken to that mantra of throwing the ball harder and striking guys out this year. And it's working.

It's a reference to some Rochester food thing. A big plate of food with random things on it called a "garbage plate". It would be like if the St. Paul Saints changed their name to the "Hot Dish" or something.

To your point about it being lucky the other team can't get a hit with men on base, does that mean the Twins had been unlucky the entire first third of the season?

But what if the guy with 4 walks scored 3 times? I still like OPS better, which obviously combines the two, mainly because I don't like conflict and having to choose. . .

This may be a dumb question. But the 8th round catcher, Chris Williams signed for $10,000? Why not draft me and sign me for $10 to save the slot value money? It seems like the pick is only to save slot money, and if so, why even pay him at all?

I think Dozier's best years are behind him. I also think he will discover that when he hits free agency. No one is going to pay him for the 40 HR's hit in 2016, in the year 2019. I've said it for a few weeks now, I would prefer Escobar as the starting 2nd baseman in the next few years.

I just laughed and spit my drink out. Then I said, OMG, he's right.

It makes sense based on the time value of money. This was the very first thing I learned in my finance classes in college. It's good to know major league baseball has finally caught up to this concept. . .

My concern with Buxton is he is a too much of a "feel" player. When he feels his swing he is great. When he doesn't he is dreadful. Finding a consistent swing mechanic is key to him having any success. He can't just keep heading out there for months until he finds his swing each year. If he hasn't found a consistent mechanics that work at this point in his career, there a valid concerns. The constant tinkering and adjusting need to be done in February, if at all.

I've said it before, I am not worrying about Buxton yet. He hasn't been getting on base enough but he he also has been hitting the ball for some hard outs lately too. Hopefully, that bunt hit jump started something.

I originally posted this in forums but realized this is more of a blog post: As we have seen over the years when given opportunities to play every day Eduardo Escobar shines.Filling in for Miguel Sano so far this year he has shown he has the bat to be 3rd baseman, posting a .993 OPS while hitting 15 doubles and 7 home runs in 2018. Over his career Escobar has primarily played the left side of infield playing 322 games at short and 196 at 3rd base.However, he has played a handful of games at 2nd base in his career.The opportunities have been limited in Minnesota over the last 4 or 5 years with Dozier being a fixture there. However, it has been well publicized Brian Dozier would like to test free agency this winter.And if he finds a new home, there is suddenly a glaring hole on the right side of the infield.Granted, Dozier isn't doing much to increase his value as of now, but Dozier is the type of hitter who can go on absolute tears and make month long slumps disappear, which would likely increase his value again to levels the Twins may not want to pay. This is where Escobar comes in.Also a free agent at the end of the season, his reputation is not that of Dozier yet.Which means he likely will cost much less on the open market, if he gets there. In small sample sizes defensively at 2nd base Eduardo's defensive metrics compare relatively close to Dozier.Escobar is nearly two years younger than Dozier as well. Additionally, Escobar's ability to play multiple positions gives the Twins flexibility into the future.For example if the Twins can sign him for a 3-4 year deal this off-season he can be penciled in to be the 2nd baseman in 2019 and at least the beginning of 2020.But if Royce Lewis comes knocking in 2020 and continues to be the Shortstop everyone hopes he becomes Jorge Polanco can then be slid over to 2nd base and Esco back to 3rd assuming Sano will be a 1st baseman/DH by that time. I don't think this is outside the realm of possibilities and personally believe this is a great option for the Twins future infield. * Disclaimer - I am a very big Eduardo Escobar fan and am long Escobar stock.

3 pitchers who give the team a legitimate chance to win every start is good. And Santana has shot to come back at some point. This team has a real starting pitching staff.

9-16 is awful. And it started after Puerto Rico. They went into Tampa and lost the first game due to a blown save (and walked off in 10), got killed the next game, then got walked off again. Into New York - Absolutely destroyed for 3 games. Then blown save (walked off in 9). Come home and looked like crap against the Reds. My glimmer of hope is that if they would have won the games they got walked off on instead of lost them they are sitting at 12-13. Not great but, it's an alright record heading into May. I am of the belief that those type of losses can demoralize a team too, so maybe they play differently if they win those and actually win one of the games they got killed in. Basically, need them to go and win 4 in a row to get back on track and settle things down.

Man, if he continues to pitch like this he is going to be fun to watch. The work I would have to use to describe him right now is "Electric"!

I think if you can get on base in clutch situations without causing anyone else to get out, you are clutch. For example down 1 run in the ninth with 2 outs and no one on, the best result would be a home run to tie the game. The worst would be to make the last out. By taking a walk in that situation he extends the game. Mauer has a .392 career OBP. Probably the best of anyone on the team. I would like to see a stat that shows in late inning situations (tied or down by 1 run) what percentage of time a run has scored to tie or take the lead after Joe kept the game alive with 1 or more outs. Perhaps it is very, very low and will depend on the quality of player behind him. But I would like to see that compared to other players.

I obviously have never seen Stewart pitch in person, but from what I have read the knock on him has always been lack of strikeouts. His final lines and stats always appear to look good from an outsider if you are just looking at ERA, etc. Hopefully, another year older and developed he is figuring out how to pitch and get strikeouts. If he adds the strikeouts he might fly back up the prospect list.

I think Buxton is close. Last year when he was striking out about 60% of the time he made changes then started to put the ball in play a bit and would make some hard hit outs. Then soon after is when it all clicked. Over the last 3 or 4 games he has put the ball in play most of his at bats and has been hitting the ball hard in many of them, such as last night.

I think Buxton needs to turn his brain off at the plate. He seems to be overthinking everything up there again. The leg kick is gone again, he has the "heel up, heel down" swing. The generates no power and can't over the whole plate. Just see ball hit ball and he will be great.

I think the people arguing that Castro is ok or below average are exactly what Jamie was trying to explain away. The coffee may have actually been awesome but unrefined palettes made it seem just OK. I think the figures and explanations in the article help people like me who have unrefined palettes when it comes to grading catchers understand the nuances. And based on the facts presented, I would give him a grade of 7 or 8, so probably a top 10ish catcher in my opinion.

This is great. Nice work.