yarnivek1972

Roy Smalley: So, let's say Polanco puts the glove down in front of the base. What prevents the runner from doing exactly what he did? That is slide around the bag and grab the back of the bag.

Sure looked like he tagged him at first glance. Maybe not.

Of course, if the pitcher stays on the rubber and throws an actual pitch, the batter has every right to swing at it. If he thinks the runner will be out, he would probably try to foul it off (ideally toward first).

Ryan Braun just tied a MLB record.

Boshers ERA is lower than league average based on a 116 ERA+. His FIP is 4.91. So? Last year his FIP was 2.81 with an actual ERA of 4.5. Kinda tells me that FIP really isn't a stat that predicts anything. There have been a lot of people saying that Boshers is going to regress all year. It's August. Running out of season for him to regress. Maybe he's just being used in ways that puts him position to do well. No one is going to mistake Boshers for Andrew Miller, but that doesn't mean he hasn't been and won't continue to be useful.

I'd be curious to know who your starters are in that scenario. More specifically would Grossman be the DH?

Maybe Garver should be giving third base a try down in AAA. It's certainly a fair question. Sano has started 73 games at 3b this year so far. Twins have played 111. So, the Twins need option B for like 40-50 games. Maybe more. I'm not sure the answer should be Escobar. He's subpar anywhere he plays defensively. He occasionally makes up for it with the bat, but I personally believe he's hitting a little over his head this year at least as far as HR go. Prior to 2017, he had 27 career HR in 1500 at bats, one every 56 at bats. This year, 10 in 227. That's really the only thing that is different about Escobar's numbers in 2017. HR power, seemingly out of nowhere. If this were 15 years ago there would be more than whispers. But that's also the only real value Escobar has. He has been, at least this year, a HR threat. If that goes away, so does Escobar's value. Personally, I'd rather have the superior defender. That's Adrianza. In a walk.

Not to pick nits, but wouldn't a picture of the sign for the I 94 exit to Milwaukee in Madison have been a more appropriate choice.

I honestly think it would be faster for the teams to have bussed this. Or go real old school and taken the train. I mean they will board busses and head to the airport. I realize it's a charter and security is a tad less intrusive, but I would assume they all have to go through some kind of screening. 25 players, a dozen coaches, trainers, traveling media, equipment guys, etc. It has to be a good hour to get everyone boarded. Airline traffic. Who knows how long it would take them to get airborne. Half hour after doors shut. Figure an hour from wheels up to wheels down. Someone (I assume the players don't - but someone has to do it) unloads the luggage and the equipment. Then board another bus to the hotel. Someone loads luggage from plane onto bus. figure 20 minutes to the hotel. So, 3-4 hours minimum. It's what, a 5 hour drive?

Give it a rest already. You don't like that the Twins "sold". We get it. Do you need to bring it up in every single thread? Move on.

Why would the Twins call up a starting pitcher on Wednesday for a game to be played on Sunday? Gee might be the starter Sunday. but it is just as likely to be Hector Santiago. Last I heard (it's been awhile since I checked) he was about as ready as he is ever going to be.

There was clearly something different about Polanco's approach. In April and May he struck out about once every 8 at bats. That's a bit better than his career rate of once every 6 at bats. That's the kind of progression one would expect as a player gets more experience. But in June and July, he struck out out once every 4.6 at bats. That's Sano range, actually, it's still better than Sano. But Polanco doesn't have Sano power. So far in August, 1 K in 17 at bats. So, the long and the short of it is that Polanco appears to be back in his game. His game is contact with occasional gap power. He doesn't walk much, but he also usually doesn't strike out much. His ceiling is probably an OPS in the low .700 range if he develops a little more power. More likely .680 to .700. That's just who he is. Is he a replacement level player? Yep. But that's the reality of mid market teams. The Twins are never going to field a roster full of All Stars. Sometimes, someone who is "good enough" will have to be good enough until the organization develops a better, cheaper, option. Right now, Polanco is cheap. And if he posts an OPS+ in the upper 90s to low 100s, that will probably keep him in the lineup if he plays good enough defense. Right now the jury is still out in that regard. As with his hitting, he seemed fine in April and May and really stunk it up in June and July. The "eye" test tells me that early his issues were throwing. In June and July, he had problems getting the glove on the ball. That's a concentration issue. Take note of what his numbers are now and see if they improve by the end of the year. Right now, he has a UZR/150 of -1.2. That's not good, but it is substantially better than the -32.3 he posted last year. For the most part, based on "inside edge" fielding stats, he's making most of the plays he should be. His biggest area for improvement is in the "Likely (60-90%)" area. He's making 67% of those plays. Like to see that at about 80% or better IMO. FWIW, Escobar is a -.2 UZR/150 at SS in 2017 (SSS of course), after posting a -11.8 last year. IMO, Escobar would be a better fit in the NL, where the bench is a little longer. He's good enough to start semi-regularly, but will be exposed if he were to play 140 games a year. And of course, he would be a good bat off the bench and a good guy to use for a double switch. In the AL where the norm is 3-4 man bench, the opportunities to pinch hit or platoon just aren't there like they were 20 years ago. Again SSS, Adrianza has a 3.5 UZR/150 at SS in 2017. Adrianza kinda strikes me as an older, albeit less experienced version of Polanco. Substantially better defensively though. My gut tells me he isn't cut out to start 130, 140 games a year. Ideally suited to be a more "traditional" reserve though.

That only helps if none of the 5 teams ahead of them continue to win.

After losing 103, it would really be difficult to not move forward.

By that logic, why would a team trade for Rosario? They can probably find equal productivity from a FA and most organizations have a slugger capable of playing a corner OFer in the upper minors. Starting pitching is still the more valuable commodity. IMO, no way does Rosario by himself fetch an established, controllable quality starting pitcher.

Two of whom did not pitch at all in the last 7 days. And yet the Twins have essentially a two man bench, one of whom is the back up catcher.

And still no attempt by Falvine to give Molitor an extra position player. It was inexcusable Saturday. 3 days later it is just plain stupid.

That would be a fantastic idea. If Polanco had minor league options remaining.

Escobar doesn't have a contract for 2018. He isn't eligible for FA, but it seems unlikely that the Twins will pay what he will get in arbitration if the plan is for him to be a reserve. As a reserve, Adrianza is more than capable and Vielma is more than capable as a second reserve. So, Escobar will likely be tapped to be the starter at SS next year or be non-tendered.

I don't agree with inserting Buxton into the leadoff spot just because it is hoped he will blossom there. How well did having him hit third work? Buxton needs to be at the bottom of the order until he shows he can consistently hit MLB pitching. Given the current roster, the two guys who should be at the top of the order are Mauer and Grossman.

I was going to add that not having Granite isn't a big deal. But why not bring up Garver or even Vargas? Give the manager an actual bench.

It seems odd to me to go back to 13 pitchers when only 3 relievers have thrown more than 5 pitches since Sunday.

Exactly. So how does that mantle automatically fall to Dozier after the abdication of that role by Mauer?

Umm, how is Dozier the veteran clubhouse leader? Pretty sure Mauer has double the MLB experience.

It would certainly indicate that Garver has good insticts and savvy behind the dish. Can't really teach that. He really hasn't caught that many games as a pro for a guy his age. If there are flaws in his set up or footwork, they can probably be fixed. But it seems that he clearly knows what he is doing back there.