Eris

There has been a lot of academic work on this topic since the 1990's. If you go to scholar.google.com and search "athletes and violence against women" You will find plenty of articles. I have posted some links below. The positive is that our society is beginning to address this issue although we have a very long way to go. At the risk of over simplification, there are several factors involved. 1). Men who play violent sports are more likely to be involved in domestic violence. 2). Domestic violence/abuse tends to be overlooked in students athletes at a young age and in college (Brock Turner is an example). 3). Domestic violence/abuse also tends to be overlooked in other rich, famous, powerful people. Think of the movie stars (Bill Crosby) and politicians that have been involved in domestic abuse. https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&q=athletes+and+violence+against+women&as_sdt=1%2C5&as_sdtp=&oq=athletes+and+violence http://www.ayfcoaching.com/AcuCustom/Sitename/Documents/DocumentItem/4488.pdf Unnecessary roughness? School sports, peer networks, and male adolescent violence. http://asr.sagepub.com/content/72/5/705.short This article examines the extent to which participation in high school interscholastic sports contributes to male violence. Deriving competing hypotheses from social control, social learning, and masculinity theories, I use data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health to test if (1) type of sport and (2) peer athletic participation, contribute to the risks of male serious fighting. Contrary to social control expectations, analyses suggest that athletic involvement fails to inhibit male violence. Moreover, there is a strong relationship between contact sports and violence. Football players and wrestlers, as opposed to baseball, basketball, tennis, and other athletes, are significantly more likely than nonathletic males to be involved in a serious fight. Additionally, the direct effect of football is explained by the football participation of individuals' peers. Males whose friends play football are more likely to fight than other males, supporting perspectives that emphasize peer contexts as important mediators. Overall, findings are consistent with the expectations of social learning and masculinity arguments. The theoretical and policy implications of these results are discussed.

I would keep Stuart Turner. Good defensive catcher are premium and he would likely be lost to Rule 5. I agree about Centeno. John Ryan Murphy would be on the bubble. Palka, Walker, Park, and I might add Sano to this list are all offensive first players with high K%. I would trade 2 of them. Sano might have the most value to trade, albeit diminished from his rookie year. I would keep Vielma and probably let both Escobar and D. Santana go. A utility infielder should be able to play great defense. I would not protect Grossman, He was responsibe for -21 DRS. Would either Walker or Palka be that bad?

This is a nice thought. The Twins really need a great SS. Of the 10 teams (including wild card) that made the playoffs this year only the Nationals (19) and the Rangers (16) did not have a top ten SS by WAR. Data from fangraphs. Of the 4 teams that played / are playing in the LCS, Seager (1), Lindor (3), Russell (7) and Tulowitzki (10). Currently the Braves do not have a decent 2B. Jace Peterson had 0 WAR and ranks near the bottom on NL 2B in defensive metrics. Most likely the Braves will either play Albies or Swanson at 2B depending on who wins the SS position. The Yankees also have 2 SS on MLB top SS prospect list. BTW, Albies fractured his throwing elbow about 1 month ago. Not sure what his recovery time is. They do need a better 2B. In the pre-draft analysis for 2017, the top SS are high schoolers is Jayson Gonzalez and Mark Vientos which minor league baseball have ranked at 20 and 28th respectively. http://www.minorleagueball.com/2016/8/14/12477008/2017-mlb-draft-prospect-an-early-top-50 There is one more spring of baseball so some of this can change. Short analysis is that the Twins won't solve there SS need in this years draft.

This article made me feel quite depressed for the following reasons. Polanco is one of the Twins more consistent young hitters. Jorge Polanco was first placed on the Twins 40 man roster in the fall of 2013 and was ranked in the top 100 MLB prospects in 2016 (97th after Buxton, Kepler and Gordon as position players). He was signed in 2009 and the Twins as an organization have invested 7 years into his development. The Twins finished in last in all of MLB by about 10 games and yet we don't really have a place on the roster for Polanco because his defense is questionable. The good news is that he is only 23. However, it seems to me that the Twins should have resolved this situation years ago. Resolution has many forms. Accept his defensive shortcomings and play him at SS (but he played 2B most recently in the minors). Trade Dozier, Trade Polanco. But the Twins organization did none of these. It indicates an extreme lack of planning in player development in the organization.

I thought the Nationals-Dodgers game 5 was one of the best elimination games that I can remember (up there with Jack Morris's game 7 in 1991). Despite living on the East coast and needing to get up early the next day, I could not stop watching the game. I don't know how anyone who calls themselves a baseball fan could complain that the game took 4 and 1/2 hours. One criticism that I wish would be addressed is that the games start early enough so that children and us middle aged guys and gals on the East coast could watch the entire game and still get to bed by a reasonable hour (by 10:30 pm would nice).

On Fangraphs, the Twins have -50 DRS. The Cubs are at the top of that category with +79 DRS. Although that is bad, most of the damage is caused by just a few players. Grossman -19 Sano -12 D. Santana -10 Nunez -9 Suzuki -6 Polanco -5 Removing the worst 4 players from defense would get the Twins to 0 DRS (which I think is league average). Our projected outfield for next year of Rosario, Buxton and Kepler all have positive defensive runs saved.

Although it is a SSS, Park is likely the best defensive first baseman among the likely candidates (Mauer, Vargas, Park, and we should probably add Sano to this list).

Kennys Vargas, if he can sustain his current production, is the type of player you would like to keep. DH has been an extreme weak spot for the Twins. Vargas' production dropped off last year from his rookie year. He seems to be regaining his level of production. He has has improved his BB% while cutting down on K's, meaning he is taking better at bats.

Early on in the process a list (put together by national media types) of top candidates included Kim Ng. I am somewhat disappointed that her name has not been mentioned recently. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_Ng http://sonsofsamhorn.com/baseball/majorleaguebaseball/al-east/boston-red-sox/kim-ng-for-red-sox-gm/ I thought she was considered for the Padres and Red Sox GM positions in the past but I can not find any information on that.

The main problem was that neither Buxton or Berrios should have been on the 40 man roster, much less the 25 man roster. When they were called up, neither seemed ready to play in the Majors. Buxton accumulated over 400 PA and almost 1 year of service time while hitting near the Mendoza line. Five years from now, people may look back at this year of service time as being one to the stupidest things the Twins management has done. But it has been a common problem for the Twins. Arcia, Buxton, Berrios, Hicks all were activated before they need to be and well before they were ready.

I don't think Molitor deserves blame for Sano's problems.. He has always been a poor fielder and it clear from his off season activities and weight gain that the Twins management was not happy, which is why they ended his winter ball in the Dominican Republic. Sano should look across the dugout at Brian Dozier and realize that when Dozier was struggling, he worked his tail off to learn how to hit to right field (I realize there was some resistance to this and Dozier was benched a few games to send the message, but in the end he got it). Can we say the same about Sano? I don't think so.

Here is an analysis of the Dickey - Syndergaard trade. http://www.beyondtheboxscore.com/2015/10/23/9589100/dickey-mets-blue-jays-war-trade-syndergaard-darnaud The trade has the potential to be as bad as Ramos and then Span to Washington for Capp and then Meyer. These trades with Washington provided a 20 WAR differential in favor of the Nationals. The Dickey - Syndergaard trade is a 10 WAR benefit towards the Mets with several years of control left for the Mets. I would rather the future Twins follow the Cardinals model of developing through a strong robust farm system rather than that which AA brought to the Jays.

From my perspective, at all levels, most/all of the power is in the hands of the manager. Obviously, for whatever reason, common sense has failed in many levels / organizations. Therefore, at most levels there needs to be some serious discussion about misuse / over use of players. I live in NJ, in high school there are no pitch limits. There are many examples of high school kids throwing 120 pitches a game. It is abuse and needs to stop. I realize the pitch limits is a very controversial topic. All we really know right now is that Tommy John surgeries are on the rise and have become a significant part of the game. (My son's high school team had 2 players with Tommy John). From the Bergen Record: Rob Kaminsky, the former St. Joseph ace and the St. Louis Cardinals’ 2013 first-round pick, is a strong supporter of the new policy. The left-hander, now pitching for Class AA Akron, a Cleveland Indians’ affiliate, called the change “a good step.” “Seeing high school coaches let kids throw 100-plus pitches on short rest is borderline abuse,” Kaminsky said. “You don’t see that even happen in the minor leagues. It’s something that should be addressed, and quite frankly, should have been addressed years ago. (source: http://blogs.northjersey.com/varsity-aces/new-pitch-count-limits-applauded-by-some-ripped-by-others-even-before-njsiaa-devises-magic-number-1.1644885) Even at the major league level there are managers who are less careful than others in managing pitchers. Kerry Woods probably lost millions because of Dusty Baker's decision to have him pitch on a cold windy day in Chicago. Earlier this year there was a lot of discussion on Met fan blogs concerning whether or not Terry Collins should be fired. The argument for him being fired that he had misused his bullpen to the extent that a number of them were ineffective. If we had pitch limits across many levels, but especially in high school, more people would be given the opportunity and therefore learn how to pitch. This should be extended to every non-professional league. In the short term, the quality of pitching would decrease, but in the long term there would be more pitchers. One other issue that is related. Why is the Amateur Baseball association scheduling double headers, especially during playoffs. That also contributes to putting more pressure on coaches to over use players.

I was always under the impression that the decision to move May to the bullpen was based along the lines that May only was effective for 5 innings. Using Fangraphs (2013-2015), as a starter, May started 25 games was 7-14, with at 5.61 ERA and averaged 5.06 innings/game. Compare to Mike Pelfrey started 64 games was 11-27, had a 4.94 ERA and averaged 5.33 innings/game. Tyler Duffy, 29 games, 12-9, 4.90 ERA, 5.49 innings/game. Ricky Nolasco 56 games, 15-22, 5.39 ERA and averaged 5.70 innings/game. Based on this information, May was one of the least effect starting pitchers, despite having the highest K/9 on the staff (Berrios is tracking slightly better in K/9). More importantly, May gave the least innings as a starter. I think we can all agree that Nolasco and Pelfrey did not have a very successful Twins career, yet their numbers are better than Mays and they got deeper into the game (although Pelfrey just barely). Where I agree with the discussion on this board is the May should have been stretched out especially given this dreadful year. Because he has the stuff to be a very good pitcher, he needs to get deeper into the game and in a lost year this could have been worked on.

I agree with you. Buxton's swing is too long. His pitch recognition too poor and he can't bunt. A positive is that at least he has shown some improvement in that his outs aren't as automatic as they were in the beginning of the season.

The Yankees have started the process of cleaning their roster by trading away Chapman and Miller for a king's ransom and also Beltran. In the process significantly strengthening their farm system. This is something the Twins should have done over the last 4-5 years when it was obvious they were not competing. Teixeira is retiring. Rodrigues is done. Sabatthia to follow? I doubt they will want to acquire aging veterans anytime soon. In an interview following the trade deadline, Cashman indicated the old model (buying championships) was not longer working and the Yankees would be making adjustments.

I think it is more about failure to plan viable CF options and this dates to the Span and Revere era. The choices were Buxton, Hicks, D. Santana, or spend money on a short term free agent. The front office opted for Buxton and "hoped" he would be ready. The front office failure in CF goes beyond just their assessment of Buxton.

Yes. And many others (Twins Daily participants, radio announcers, my high school son) have pointed out the flaws in his swing. My guess would be that this information has been clearly conveyed to Buxton along time ago, but for some reason he is not able to make the adjustments. I am not sure what those reasons are (these would range from not being willing to listen to not able to adjust). Others have pointed out his lack of bunting ability. Talent is much easier to judge than coach-ability. Sad from a fans perspective. He is becoming the second coming of Aaron Hicks, with the exception that Buxton plays much better defense.

Good starting pitchers are more valuable than all but the greatest relief pitchers. (Dellin Betances has a 2.5 WAR, 27 starting pitchers have a WAR >= 2.5) Therefore it is to an organizations benefit to to give most/all the young pitchers an opportunity to be a starter. An effective starter needs to develop 3-4 effective pitches that can be thrown for strikes. This takes time. When players fail to develop the pitches needed to be an effective starter, they can then be converted to a relief pitcher. The discussion on when to convert someone to a relief pitcher is about short term vs. potential long term benefits. Consider Trevor May, one of the most effective strikeout pitchers the Twins have, by moving him to the bull pen early in his career the Twins have lost the opportunity to see if he could develop into an effective starter.

I think this is the problem. Sano is not the player everyone thinks he is. His defense has always been bad. Attitude and work ethic count for a lot. The first indication of serious problem is his weight. A Sano at 300 lbs has substantially reduced utility compared Sano at 240 lbs. In addition, weight becomes a concern for injuries and career longevity. The Dodgers just optioned Yasiel Puig. He is a great example of what happens when great talent meets poor attitude and work ethic. (You can also add Pablo Sandovol to this list). If Sano has similar issues, then the sooner the Twins deal with this, the better off everyone will be--including Sano.

I think the Twins managment, by their public comments, are frustrated with Sano's effort. In the last month he has K'd 36% of the time and has and iso of 0.148. One reason not to send Sano down is to save an option year and to use it next year if he does not improve. Actually it is a tough list. The easy choice is to send Polanco down as it would seem foolish to use an option year on Sano at this point in the season. However, Polanco provides quality, professional at bats--something that is missing from too many of the Twins younger players. Therefore, I think they will send Buxton down as they have already used an option year for him.

Yes. I agree with you. I wanted to bring the minor league stats into the discussion because there is more data. Unfortunately I only found RF and Fielding percentage. I think the eye-ball test suggests that Sano would be OK at 3B if he made the plays on the balls he got to. But it is those stupid errors. Considering that the season is lost. Playing Sano at 3B to see how much he could improve is a good idea. However, I am not optimistic about the outcome.

From the 2012 scouting report: I'll talk about the glove first. Sano played 125 games at third base, making 42 errors for a .884 fielding percentage, no doubt a quite poor error rate. However, he showed off a strong throwing arm, and when I saw him in person he looked better than the numbers would have you believe, showing good range and mobility for a player his size (he's listed 6-3, 190 but looks more like 6-5, 240) Source: http://www.minorleagueball.com/2012/10/1/3433912/minor-league-prospect-report-miguel-sano-3b-minnesota-twins Sano's minor league fielding % at 3B is 0.902. So really, not much has changed. His fielding % this year at 3B is 0.875. Below his minor league average. He is heavier this year which does not help. The 15th ranked 3B this year, per fan graphs is Kyle Seager (Seattle with FP = 0.957). I did a fangraphs search from 2005 to present on all MLB 3B with at least 900 innings. Only 1, Ryan Braun had a fielding % below 0.900. The eyeball test of the data suggests that a FP of 0.940 to 0.950 is where the drop off in playing time occurs. Michael Cuddyer had 0.945. Corey Koskie who was noted to be a poor minor league defensive 3B had FP = 0.924 in the minors but improved to a respectable 0.966 in the majors. Is there hope for Sano at 3B? Probably not. If he has a Koskie type improvement, his FP would be about 0.940 -0.945. In 2015, per fangraphs only Brett Lawrie of the A's had a lower field percentage (0.936) amoung qualified players. In the best case scenario, Sano will be one of the worst defensive 3B in MLB. Therefore, he will not stay there. I looked through the Twins minor league roster and unfortunately there does not seem to be a viable near term MLB ready 3B in the Twins organization. That leaves Plouffe. Or perhaps convert another middle infielder.

No thank you. I'll pass on Puig. The talent is undeniable. His attitude will bring a toxic environment to the club house. See Delmon Young and Jonathon Papelbon for examples.

Some of these interpretations are skewed by one or two players. I am not sure how you would account for that because it probably does not reflect on the long term abilities of the scouting department. Examples are the Angels drafting Mike Trout. Washington stands out for being able to draft 2 years in a row Harper and then Strausburg. These were no brainer picks. Almost any GM would have taken those two. You would expect the data for the Twins to be bad. We have not drafted an MVP or CY candidate since Mauer and Morneau. Too many first round picks that did not make it. Some were total busts.