KirbyDome89

It's good he realizes in retrospect that a mistake was made, but the whole article reads as more of a personal battle between Francona and Kapler/LA. The alleged assaults seem like the highest hill Francona could climb onto after it became clear he was going to lose the struggle. That's unfortunate....

Hill makes a valid point about players having the right to opt out of making the trip if they aren't comfortable with it. Then she starts to contradict herself. White players don't owe their teammates an explanation for attending the WH anymore than the black/brown players owe their white counterparts one for abstaining. It's entirely hypocritical to push back against players receiving attention for choosing not to attend, then in the same breath claim that those who do attend need to justify their decision on top of insinuating they should be shamed into reconsidering that choice.

After another month+ of this I might be right there with you. I've never said he's been lucky, or that he hasn't made adjustments. Perez started the year in the pen and the results weren't great. Since moving to the rotation he's been lights out in 5 starts, 4 of which have come against Baltimore and Toronto. I'm happy with what he's been so far, but 40 IPs, the bulk of which are against bad lineups, is way too little to feel comfortable penciling him in as a solid arm for the rest of the season.

I haven't knocked the production.

It doesn't mean nothing, but it certainly isn't going to change my mind about the 200+ innings he posted the previous two seasons. I still put more stock in those results rather than 8 innings in a single game during April. Like I said, enjoy the early production; the Twins don't have to give it back, but I'm nowhere near proclaiming Perez is a changed man.

Meh, I'll definitely take the production but facing Baltimore and Toronto 3/4 games isn't enough to change what I thought and continue to think of the signing.

I'm not sure Nick Francona is the champion of that article. His lack of action and motives are just as questionable as the Dodgers IMO....

Of the crew you mentioned I'm comfortable with Schoop moving forward. He seems to have bounced back and having his bat in the lineup is certainly a plus. Cron has been about what I expected, low OBP, high K with some pop, and capable of handling 1B. Cruz has been the anchor offensively. Parker has appeared in 11 games but has only 9 IPs so I don't think anybody knows what the Twins have in him. As far as Perez goes I'd say enjoy this while it lasts. I'm not confident in Perez being a competent pitcher all season, or even sticking in the rotation, but if/when that happens MN won't have to give back his contributions over his last 4 starts. Ultimately this team did bargain hunt. The bullpen isn't good, and there were plenty of arms available as well as ample $$ to make it happen.

Anybody else feel a little guilty about checking out of some of the games over the weekend? Baltimore is so bad I opted for the NBA playoffs rather than watch the Twins pound a minor league team. MN doesn't have to apologize for feasting on a historically awful team. They did exactly what they should've and they'll likely need all of those wins they racked up the last two weekends. That said, this week will be a much better indicator of where this team is at.

I think this is where a vast majority of us are at, the only difference being varying degrees of comfort with moving on from Castro.

This looked like what those Toronto teams in 14' and 15' used to do to the Twins.

Teams wins while Castro is behind the plate are about as relevant as pitching wins, i.e. they're not.32 PAs isn't a SSS? 39 innings caught apparently was for Willians.It's convenient that the minimum PAs for catchers in determining these rankings was set at 32, that just happens to be the exact number Castro has on the year. Castro can't hold Mauer's jock when it comes to handling the bat, there's no need to even mention the two in the same breath. His OBP as the 8th hitter is the ultimate SSS, but even worse his numbers are being mashed together with far more productive hitters in the bottom third and he's being given equal credit for the aggregate stats. Pitcher ERA while each guy is catching doesn't really tell us anything. That point was made clear when Castro's rising CERA was excused due to Stewart and Romero tanking the rubber match in Houston.Yes, he's a superior pitch framer. That's never been questioned. I don't see many arguing that Castro isn't a major league catcher. The point being made is that he brings far less offense to the table than either Astudillo or Garver, and a majority of his defensive value is tied to pitch framing. Castro's m.o. isn't that of a guy who's going to gun out runners or smother balls in the dirt. If Astudillo falls off or Garver gets hurt than of course having Castro would be great. The versatility of Marwin and Willians allows Castro to take up an active roster spot without putting the team in a bind. I won't cry if he finishes the season with the team, but I'd like to see more of Garver/Astudillo, and if the Twins get a decent offer, and the duo of Garver/Astudillo continue as they have, then I certainly wouldn't lament a trade. There are a lot of reasons the 19' Twins are playing better than their 18' counterpart, Castro is way down on that list. Yeah, it's a coincidence more than anything.

I at least expected this team to compete I guess. They rolled over last night and didn't bother to show up to tonights game. There has to be a missing persons out on Marwin at this point...

The early return on Perez hasn't been great either. So we hope he lasts as a back end starter all year? Then we hope either Stewart or Romero become stable enough to stick in the rotation? Those are two huge question marks and even if the Twins luck out there are two remaining spots to fill. It also doesn't address the desperate need for front end arms. It's a bad situation.

Not an overreaction...those warts were there when they were winning games too

You're just regurgitating the same straw man. Signing Donaldson for one year isn't an indicator of spending if payroll is down from the previous season and revenue continues to rise. Golf clap for "looking," but that does nothing for a team currently trying to win games. We know how much revenue was generated. We know how much was spent on payroll. We know what percentage of the revenue was from real estate development. We know how much debt/interest was paid off. Are you seriously insinuating that because ownership won't come out and explicitly say "we're using baseball money to fund outside interests," those dots can't be connected? Again, if it's about maintaining access or keeping up a public persona then just say so and we'll move on. If you're privy to information nobody else has then feel free to share it. Spare us all from the fallacious "I have sources you don't," argument.

It's hard to blame coaches/usage when Mejia was handed a 2 run lead and a clean inning.

I'd be shocked (pleasantly) if they didn't move to 13 pitchers.

If we're assuming Adriana is swapped for a relief arm then ideally it'd be Castro being removed for Sano. He provides the least value offensively & defensively, and he has no positional flexibility. MN can find a serviceable defensive catcher who can't hit if either Garver or Astudillo goes down. That said it'll likely be either Cave or Astudillo on the way out because they have options. This is the same FO/ownership that sold a 2nd round pick rather than just cut bait with what Hughes was owed for half a season. I don't see any way they move on from Castro other than a trade.

I'm not questioning why you frequent TD. I'm questioning why you consistently shill for an ownership group that seemingly has little interest in financially supporting the on field product, after securing a new stadium via a backroom deal, promising spending last offseason, failing to deliver on that promise, and then openly mocking their fanbase that's on the hook for 2/3 of said stadium. If it's an issue of access and public presence then we can agree to disagree and leave it at that. They're investing heavily in real estate development surrounding their tax payer funded stadium. That's completely separate from baseball operations. The Brave's payroll has more or less stayed the same for the last few seasons, but their revenue has jumped from $262M in 16' to $442M in 18'. That's nearly double. Are we really supposed to believe hundreds of millions are being poured into this team behind the scenes? C'mon...They're using baseball revenue to pay down real estate debt/interest in order to take on future debt for the next phase of development. The bottom line is Anthopoulos didn't get any trades done, and whether or not it's his m.o. he didn't do much in FA to bolster a team that won their division the previous year. Their FO shouldn't get credit for making inquiries or being involved in talks. The record payroll thing is as hollow for Atlanta as it was for MN last year. Waiving the "record payroll," flag while spending actually decreases relative to revenue is the ultimate straw man. Is it any surprise either that without a kickback from the BAMTech sale their payroll fell this year? Owners lobbied it into existence so they wouldn't be forced to pay down the road. That doesn't somehow absolve them in the present, in fact it's an even worse look.

The criticism isn't about them being similar players. It's about a FO taking advantage of a broken pay scale, a looming strike, and precarious family situations to leverage each of them into contracts well below their value. There's nothing disingenuous about calling that out. This is an ownership group and FO that essentially mocked fans after failing to make good on their pledge to spend following the construction of a tax payer funded stadium. If, as you suggest, the Braves are fine with bumping Albies salary down the road then why not just write it in to begin with? The notion that Albies wouldn't desire that, or was totally fine with trusting this organization to make it up to him down the road is ridiculous. I'm not sure why you continue to carry water for this group on this site....

It sounds like we're on the same page for the most part. I buy that poverty can affect parenting skills in the sense that working 2 jobs isn't conducive to being a full time parent, and I'm sure there are a ton of other examples. Obviously it's impossible to pass down skills you don't possess, and generational wealth/poverty certainly is real. It's rare to see large jumps in SES class between one generation. That said, at some level I think the skills you listed are innate. Latinos are one of the hardest working groups in this country and they have some of the strongest family values you'll find, yet they also happen to be one of the poorest demographics. I don't think a straight line can be drawn from poverty to work ethic or parenting, and I think the same goes for race and poverty. Each of those are deep dives likely outside of the scope of this thread.

I'm happy to claim great parents as well, but I don't think skin color really factors into parenting skills, good sense, work ethic, ect. I'm not sure if that was the connection being made or it was simply anecdotal support for previous posts. I've never been a big fan of the term white privilege. That's often conflated with an inability to recognize that there are times where looking like a majority of the country has its benefits, and that is unfortunate. I think it was Levi earlier who made the comment that the term is often poorly explained which causes confusion/backlash. I think that's fair, but I would go a little further and say the ever shifting nature of what defines privilege and the uneven application of the label at an individual level is problematic. You and I might agree (I'm assuming here) that there are aspects of our lives that are easier because of the way we look. I have zero issue with you calling that privilege. In reality though, that isn't how the term is used. As soon as the qualifier "white," is tacked on, the implication is that all white people are playing the game on easy mode while all minorities have the difficulty level cranked up. That's making incredibly sweeping generalizations, and when it's applied at an individual level, as it all too often is, it's used to degrade or invalidate.

I'll take 6-4 too but their record shouldn't mask the issues the pitching staff has had to start the year. There were plenty of posters pointing out that a rotation with a penchant for short starts and a below average bullpen could be a serious problem. Perez doesn't look like he belongs on a major league roster, let alone the starting rotation right now, and Odorizzi continues to implode after getting through a lineup twice. I guess we can cross our fingers and hope that Pineda stays healthy/effective and Gibson finds the same stride he did last year.

Nice to see them winning games that they should. It's the small things in life....