Dave The Dastardly

Grasshopper: Team who play crap shoot, often get crap.

Who's on first.

Agree. The Twins have two priorities; signing Buxton to a long term deal and adding a quality starting pitcher. Both are going to cost mucho bucks. So forget shopping for a free agent shortstop and give Gordon the chance to prove he can play short better than Polanco.

Agree. Twins Way means they start searching in the hospital wards, then the Old Folks Home, and eventually rattle all the dumpsters looking for anybody who still owns a baseball glove. I'd prefer they focus on giving our own minor league players a shot at the Bigs.

Ain't blowing up my skirt.

I'd rather watch the kids play. If they need "mentoring" they should stay in the minors another year.

I gotta go with Option 2. Makes me want to start watching the play-offs.

Tom, you have to stop making sense. It's antithetical to off-season discussions.

Donaldson is the developmental key; trade him and use the salary savings to help retain Buxton or chase down a decent starting pitcher, Donaldson's absence opening up 3rd base for Miranda, who has nothing left to prove in AAA. With Donaldson completely out of the picture Sano moves to DH, opening up 1st for Kirillof, and backs up both corner positions if needed.

In order of priority isn't location, movement, velocity the old pitching refrain?

Sounds like a couple of law firms. What? Now we're going to be sued for jumping off the band wagon and into a snow drift?

Fly On The Dugout Wall Rocco Baldelli/ Wes Johnson “Was that a strike?” “It almost hit him in the ankle, boss.” “So it wasn’t a strike.” “Nope. Not even close. “Should I take him out?” “It’s only the first inning, boss.” “Yeah, but if he isn’t throwing strikes… that’s bad, ain’t it?” “You don’t want to bring in the bullpen just yet, boss.” “Why? Are they bad?” “Most of the time. But the point is if you go to the pen too early we’ll run out of pitchers before the game is over.” “Whaddya mean? We got La Turtle don’t we? “That’s La Tortuga, boss.” “Same difference. We got ‘em here don’t we or did we forget and leave him in the minors again?” “No. He’s here. That’s him out there in centerfield.” “That’s not Buxton? He moves likes Buxton.” “It’s Astudillo.” “Who?” “La Tortuga.” “So why’s he in centerfield?” “You gave Buxton a couple days off, boss. You thought he looked exhausted after playing for a whole week.” “He played a whole week? Straight? What is he? Superman?” Should we put him on the IL?” “I think he’ll be okay, boss. At least until his next injury.” “All right, but if something happens to him while he’s sitting on the bench it’s your ass, Wes.” “Yes, sir.” “By the way, who is pitching for us? I don’t recognize the guy.” “Neither does anyone else, boss. The guy showed up before the game, said he’d been claimed off the town ball waiver list by the Front Office… let’s see, here it is… yup, he was pitching for the Climax, MN town team. Says here he won a couple of games… yup, threw a no-hitter against Fertile, MN. I hear those guys are pretty potent.” “There! By God that was a strike, wasn’t it?” “Yes, sir. Right down the middle of the plate… looks like it’s still going. Let me give the stat guys a call. Find out the launch angle on that one. Could be a moon shot.” “How ‘bout the exit velocity? You get extra runs for that, don’t you? Exit velocity? We don’t need to give up extra runs, Wes.” “No, sir. We don’t. There easy enough to come by the way it is.” “Why don’t you go out there. Find out what the hell his name is. Check and make sure he isn’t hurt already. He coulda got whiplash following that dinger out of the stadium.” “It’s still only the first inning, boss. I go out there now and the next time we gotta pull the guy.” “Who made up that rule?"

Not ready to give up on Jax. He's still getting his feet wet.

La Tortuga - Twins MVP

Close game. Twins were in it until... the first inning.

Oh, and bring Gordon back up and rotate him in at SS and 2nd. Give the kid a real opportunity to prove or disprove he can't play middle infield.

Agree. Though I'd go Simmons, Colome, Donaldson, Sano. I'd release Simmons and Colome, move Donaldson to DH, park Sano on the bench for pinch-hitting duty (a la Randy Bush), bring up Miranda to play 3rd, move Polanco back to SS and Arraez to 2nd. Then we'd have a real glimpse at next year's possibilities.

I thought it was the Marx brothers. Now I have doubts.

Thanks for the link! Interesting reading.

As a former high school/junior college coach I agree you can't build a program overnight. The yardstick at that level is typically three years. If you're not showing progress by then you need to figure out where you're going wrong and make some major programmatic changes. However if we accept your five-year measurement for professional baseball, and I do find that mark reasonable, do we not have to score the first five years of the Falvey/Levine junta; 2016-2021? If so, we should be looking forward to the play-offs this year instead of scratching heads or various other body parts while continuing with the same program in the hopes of reaching Nirvana in the next five years. Yet we are not. Is it not then logical that fans (granted: often an illogical group) should be expecting major changes in the front office/coaching staff/personnel departments before plunging ahead into the next five years with the same jockeys riding the same dead horse they've been beating for the past five years?

In the backyard by the fence?

With a well-timed shot of whiskey it can be entertaining, in a historical sense. Or should I say in a hysterical sense?

I know, I know! Because Colome can only give up so many runs?

Why is Alcala in the bull pen?