spinowner

This discussion is a reminder that I dislike the All-Star Game because it is not an All-Star Game. Here are some changes that might, repeat, might make this curmudgeon interested: 1. 25-player roster: two players for each of the 9 positions, seven pitchers. No one-player-from-each-team rule. 2. Players are chosen by a predetermined statistical formula based on performance in all games in the current season up to and including the Sunday before the game. The player with the best formula rating at each position starts. The second place player is the reserve. Players who have played multiple positions are considered only for the position at which they played in the most games. No fan voting. No player voting. No media voting. No manager selections. 3. The manager has no constraints on in-game substitutions. He chooses the starting pitcher. 4. Pitchers who start a game on the Saturday or Sunday before the game are ineligible but those who would have been chosen otherwise receive bonuses as below. 5. Players selected are required to play unless on the DL. Those on the DL receive bonuses as below. 6. 11-inning maximum. The game is declared a tie if the score is tied at that point. (It is an exhibition game, after all.) 7. All players selected receive a predetermined bonus. No additional appearance bonuses in individual contracts. The players on the winning team receive a larger bonus than players on the losing team. In the event of a tie all bonuses are the same. 8. Home field advantage for the WS is given to the league with the better record in interleague games. In the event of a tie the ASG is the tiebreaker. If there is still a tie a coin flip is the tiebreaker. (To be edited if I think of anything else later.)

For the Mets.

I agree with the final point that the mismanagement was not confined to the last 2-3 weeks, but the Twins had no reason not to play him 6 times a week beginning in early May. That's when TR and PM should have switched their focus away from the team's W-L record to assessment and development of younger players. Arcia has 30-HR potential. That and the fact that he was out of options should have made him the team's first priority. Other players on the 25-man deemed in need of playing time could have gotten it at AAA if need be. And if he showed no signs of improvement after that, then and only then should the DFA hammer have come down.

Not period. Exclamation point.

I think not giving Arcia a 2 or 3 week trial is the definition of mismanaging him.

There's a guy who matches that description who I think would probably be happy to accept the title of interim manager for the remainder of 2016.

I've been one to give TR the benefit of the doubt. The Twins had better-than-average success from 2001-2007 considering the budget constraints he worked with and I think the organization as a whole was in much better shape at the end of last season than it was 4 years previously when he was rehired. I took that and his generally positive press as evidence that he was good at his job. Even through the major league team's struggles this season I was willing to accept the notion that it was at least in part just a patch of unforeseeable misfortune. However, IMHO this transaction is the last facet of an indefensible blunder. Arcia has 30-HR talent. Obviously there are shortcomings elsewhere in his skill set but you don't just give up on such a player as young as he is as quickly as they did. It's beyond me to understand how the team did not have him in the lineup every day starting at about May 10. Knowing he was out of options and experiencing a season in which playing to win had become far less important than evaluating and developing prospects meant that it was in the best interest of the team and of the player to give him an extended look. This whole fiasco has flipped me to the point of view that TR should be replaced as soon as ownership can identify a satisfactory replacement.

It's a welcome change to read a post by an actual expert as opposed to one by a self-proclaimed expert. Thank you for adding your expertise to the discussion. I hope you don't mind if I pose a question. Many people have suggested that Perkins' injury or injuries have been the result of poor conditioning, with some pointing out that his waistline measurement has appeared to be larger during the last couple seasons than it was in past years. Do you feel that his overall physical conditioning had any bearing on this most recent diagnosis?

That's probably true, but we aren't in a position where we lose Park if we want to send him down for a month or two. It should have been much more important to do what would benefit Arcia than to do what would benefit Park.

Just now read this; first I heard about it because I had a busy day. There's no defense for this. There's no reason not to keep him. Send Park or Kepler to AAA, let Arcia play regularly for a couple months and see what he can do. P***es me off.

This is true, and sometimes he used his left hand just to see if anyone was paying attention.

More concisely: Perfect summer weather.

I saw this somewhere recently. Hmmm, now where was that... There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.' - Isaac Asimov.

Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Arthropoda Class: Arachnida Order: Araneae

I'll predict that if you do that you'll find that your worries will all disappear. Forever.

Just don't try it in a Trabant.

And this is different from the way you drive in the U.S. how?

Everyone knows his fielding is below average. But I would think he could generate interest from an NL team for use as a pinch hitter who could enter the game afterward.

This. Do trade him but don't trade him just for the sake of trading him. Maximize his trade value by trading him to the team that needs him the most.

Of this group I'll agree about Polanco. Beresford, Darnell and Wimmers are all 27, not what I'd call younger. Wheeler's 25.

I made a chocolate cake with white chocolate. Then I took it to a potluck. I stood in line for some cake. They said, "Do you want white cake or chocolate cake?" I said, "yes". -- Steven Wright

I went to a general store but they wouldn't let me buy anything specific.

I was trying to daydream, but my mind kept wandering.

All those who believe in psychokinesis - raise my hand.

You can't have everything. Where would you put it? What's another word for Thesaurus? I went to a restaurant that serves "breakfast at any time". So I ordered French Toast during the Renaissance. Everywhere is walking distance if you have the time.