Vanimal46

Moving Sano from 3B to 1B takes away his valuable arm. His range at the hot corner may be limited, but he makes outs he has no business making using that laser arm. If he continues to lose weight and work on his defense, why can't he play 3B next season? His bat is an entirely different topic and I concur with spycake on that. I don't trust his bat enough right now for either position.

I posted secondary articles because those people took the time to look at sourced data. Teams want their best hitters at the top of the lineup so they can have more PAs. Believe it or not, Brian Dozier was this team's best hitter over the previous 4 seasons. If it's not hard, and you made the demand to analyze baseball stats, I look forward to reading your conclusion.

I'm sure it would be good, but I doubt they schedule a meeting with the Twins based off that proposal. $60 million is just for 1 season. During a year where the Twins have a ton of financial flexibility and can afford to front load the hell out of a contract.

Concrete evidence. https://www.theringer.com/2017/3/31/16040426/2017-mlb-preview-leadoff-hitter-revolution-george-springer-kyle-schwarber-2e49f6ff7c58 Also, this. https://www.mlb.com/news/mlb-teams-putting-top-hitters-at-top-of-lineup/c-265696482 Maddon doesn't understand his job either, I guess by batting Schwarber and Bryant 1-2 in the lineup. Nor does Brian Snitker, who continues to bat Acuna and Freeman 1-2 in his lineup.

I anticipate my response to be long too, sorry for cutting yours off. I'm not sure why you keep dismissing lack of depth on this team when discussing Molitor starting incredibly disappointing players for months. That is a real problem the team has dealt with. For example, let's take a look at how the Red Wings were shaping up on May 31. That would be 2 months into the season where 6 of the 9 starters weren't producing at the MLB level. http://www.milb.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?gid=2018_05_31_rocaaa_dubaaa_1&t=g_box&sid=milb Who are the Twins going to create MLB depth from in that lineup? Taylor Featherston and his .189 BA? Jermaine Curtis? I suppose they could have called up Astudillo and Cave earlier than they did. Positional depth is a real issue, and was noted even during the offseason from individuals on this website. Heading into the season with LaMarre as the anticipated 4th OF and Buxton insurance was a bad decision. A decision made by the FO, not Molitor. In regards to the Dodgers and Cubs creating their own depth from unlikely sources, it's easier to do when they're actually producing at the AAA level. Max Muncy spent the entire 2017 season in AAA batting .309 with a .905 OPS. David Bote had 2 years of .800+ OPS production at AA and AAA. Where do you see that on the Rochester Red Wings roster? So where does that leave Molitor? How does he and others create MLB quality depth from a depleted roster in AAA?

No doubt Philly is in the mix. They wanted him at the trade deadline but couldn't figure out an acceptable deal with Baltimore.

I'll read it regardless because I personally want to move into management. But I don't know what that has to do with my post you quoted. Every baseball argument these days is data driven. 'Kepler has 2.5 bWAR, Nolasco has a 3.25 FIP, etc.' Yet millions of baseball fans and writers can't create a metric to separate a good manager from a bad manager. Pointing out random occurrences on a particular day (David Bote example from RB) doesn't help us see the whole picture. Others posting "Molitor's bullpen management and lineup construction is terrible" doesn't help either. Terrible compared to who? I made my personal opinion known on page 2 of this thread. I don't think he's great, but I don't think he's as bad as people make him out to be on this site either. Ever since, I've pushed back with people who say in general 'Molitor is terrible.' I'm sure I'm not changing anyone's minds if they decided he's terrible.

$43 million comes off the books - Mauer, Erv, and LoMo. In 2019 they have $32.5 million in committed dollars so far (Pineda, Castro, Reed) I don't recall a time when I paid attention to payroll where the Twins had this much flexibility. I don't expect them to match this year's payroll total, but even at a conservative $100 million payroll they have $30-40 million to play with this winter.

With his past history and the rough patch this season, I'm more entrenched in the decision to play things out with him. An extension this offseason feels like a big mistake.

Let me preface this post by acknowledging that the odds are low Machado signs with the Twins in real life. With low odds, we need to be BOLD and aggressive right upfront to schedule a meeting with him. Mr. Machado, I want you to remember 3 numbers. 60, 40, and 3. We'll go into more detail what those numbers represent. Let's start with the first number, 60. That's the number (in millions) I'm willing to offer you to play for the Twins in 2019. The organization is in a great spot financially with little to no extensive contract commitments after 2019. No one in baseball will be within $20 million of your annual salary. I hope this gets your attention. The second number is 40. And that will be your AAV of your contract with the Twins for the first 3 years of the contract. After the first year where you make $60 million, you'll drop down to $30 million and still be one of the top paid players in the game. Not even Mike Trout has an AAV of $40 million. I hope this gets your attention, Mr. Machado. Now let's talk about the last number, 3. This number is especially important because it allows you to control your own destiny. I'm willing to offer 3 opt-out clauses for you after your the 3rd year of your contract. If the team is failing to contend, it's your prerogative to opt-out and play somewhere else. However, we're confident the next wave of prospects in our system will compliment you very well from years 4-6 of the contract. So what do you think Mr. Machado? Is this bold enough for you to spend the next 6 years of your career with the Twins?

Falvine has mostly received a pass from criticism the first 2 years here. This off-season will be a big one for them. With the financial flexibility they have, and a ticking clock before Chicago and Detroit catches up to the Twins, I expect them to make a significant move this offseason either in FA or trades.

Gibson had a rough month of August. 5 starts, 29 IP, 5.28 ERA, 21/15 K/BB.

Keep doing the research and you may come to the conclusion that all managers handle their bullpens and weird lineups in a similar fashion. May I suggest your next case study? Arizona Diamondbacks. Lovullo should be fired for over using Bradley, Chaffin, and Hirano. All have 62(!) appearances which ranks top 10 in the league. He also started Jake Lamb for a long time and was having a bad season!

Is the only OF option left on the 40 man Buxton? I suppose we could bench Rosario for Astudillo. Sounds like a plan to me.

Data compared to the average manager is ideal. Does Molitor manage his bullpen better or worse than the average manager? Does he have unorthodox lineups more often than the average manager? These are the questions I've been asking throughout this thread. Statements like 'Molitor is terrible managing a bullpen and lineup' don't have a lot of substance behind it when it's not compared to other examples.

Keep us posted. Until there's something with more substance than 'Molitor's lineup construction/bullpen management is terrible' or 'David Bote played a few games for the Cubs! I bet Molitor wouldn't do that!' I'll keep pushing back as well.

Gotcha. We're at the point in this thread where Molitor is screwing up in hypothetical scenarios.

Happ is batting .172 with a .534 OPS over the last 28 days. Yeah, pretty sure Molitor would bench him too.

I can't name someone better and that's the problem. The lack of talent in the bullpen isn't the manager's fault. If Molitor managed the Yankees bullpen I would venture to guess there's no complaints about overusing players and keeping failing players around. The team needs better options than Hildy, Reed, and Duke. As well as better reinforcements than Busenitz, Curtiss, and Duffey.

Who were better options than them earlier this season? The cupboards were pretty bare.

Where did multi-year contract come into play here? I would think at this point it's year to year. His hitting may be declining from his absurd levels in the past but he's still hitting at an above league clip compared to MLB's median BA. Edit: Also, that makes me happy to read he's coming back next season.

It's only rare circumstances where sentiment is more important, and Joe is the example. He's still providing value to the team on and off the field. In the future if Miguel Sano spends 15 years with the team and he's winding down, I'll feel the same way I feel today. I don't think people appreciate his contributions and loyalty to the team enough. He still has a noticably higher BA and OBP than league average. The Twins need people to get on base for someone else to hit them in. I like how they're using Mauer now as the leadoff hitter. He could do the same next year as a DH/part time 1B.

The exact date is irrelevant. Do you think Jim Pohlad noticed this? Did anyone point it out to him? We as fans look at things on a micro level. Executive people look at things on a macro level.

Terrible compared to who?

Would a young Chief be making the same argument at the tail end of Killebrew and Oliva's careers? Joe was my generation's Killebrew and Oliva. I know we're nearing the end of Joe's playing days but I still want him play for the Twins. It's going to be a long, long time until there's another Twins player with a 15+ year tenure.