Let's pick'em this roster.

Glen Perkins saves vs. Kevin Jepsen saves
Trevor May appearances vs. Joe Mauer RBI
Byung-ho Park homeruns vs. Eddie Rosario triples
Kyle Gibson wins vs. Byron Buxton homeruns
Phil Hughes strikeouts vs. Twins homeruns
Ervin Santana complete games vs. Kurt Suzuki triples
Ricky Nolasco starts vs. Trevor Plouffe homers
Mike Tonkin ERA/10 vs. Brian Dozier on-base average
Tommy Millone-ness vs. Eduardo Nunez-ness
Byron Buxton steals vs. Miguel Sano homers
Danny Santana positions vs. John Ryan Murphy homeruns
Oswaldo Arcia outfield assists vs. Ryan Presley wins
Eduardo Escobar doubles vs. Ryan Pressly holds

______________________________

"Walleye, a lot of things are going to go wrong in your life that technically aren't your fault. Always remember that this doesn't make you any less of an idiot"

--Walleye's Dad

>Let's pick'em this roster.
>
>Glen Perkins saves vs. Kevin Jepsen saves

Jepsen. I'm worried about Perkins' apparent velocity loss. The stuff/location isn't good enough to survive the low 90's, as his career as a starter indicated.

>Trevor May appearances vs. Joe Mauer RBI

This being a useful pick'em is dependent on May staying in the pen, which I don't believe is a given. Still, if he does then we're looking at 60-70 appearances. With the low-OBA top of the order that Molitor seems to insist on trotting out, I'll go with May on this one.

>Byung-ho Park homeruns vs. Eddie Rosario triples

Park. Did you know Rosario led the league in triples last year though?

>Kyle Gibson wins vs. Byron Buxton homeruns

Give me Buxton. I don't really know why. But if he's up all year he should walk into 12-15 homers even if he doesn't properly learn to really hit yet.

>Phil Hughes strikeouts vs. Twins homeruns

Twins. Sano>>>>>>

>Ervin Santana complete games vs. Kurt Suzuki triples

Huh. Santana.

>Ricky Nolasco starts vs. Trevor Plouffe homers

Plouffe. And I actually think Nolasco has a chance to not suck and stick. But I think Plouffe will pop 25 and Nolasco will get banged up here and there.

>Mike Tonkin ERA/10 vs. Brian Dozier on-base average

Dozier? What a confusing category. I blame myself.

>Tommy Millone-ness vs. Eduardo Nunez-ness

Nunez. Obviously.

>Byron Buxton steals vs. Miguel Sano homers

Buxton. He'll take 40+ if he's in the lineup all year, particularly if they leave him at the bottom of the lineup.

>Danny Santana positions vs. John Ryan Murphy homeruns

Well, one has a top end of nine. So, Murphy?

>Oswaldo Arcia outfield assists vs. Ryan Presley wins

Pressly. There's no good reason Arcia should be wearing a glove that often.

>Eduardo Escobar doubles vs. Ryan Pressly holds

Escobar. Why did I have two Ryan Pressley categories?

______________________________

"Walleye, a lot of things are going to go wrong in your life that technically aren't your fault. Always remember that this doesn't make you any less of an idiot"

--Walleye's Dad

can i go back in time and pick the 25 man roster? because i really meant to and feel i would do well now.

>Glen Perkins saves vs. Kevin Jepsen saves
perkins? this seems like a trick question.

>Trevor May appearances vs. Joe Mauer RBI
may. i've lost faith in twins jesus.

>Byung-ho Park homeruns vs. Eddie Rosario triples
i'm taking the korean klout.

>Kyle Gibson wins vs. Byron Buxton homeruns
buxton. because i want it more.

>Phil Hughes strikeouts vs. Twins homeruns
dingers. MOAR DINGERS!

>Ervin Santana complete games vs. Kurt Suzuki triples
i'm going Suzuki, but it will have an asterisk due to fielding error.

>Ricky Nolasco starts vs. Trevor Plouffe homers
plouffe. i think i've made my dinger feelings clear.

>Mike Tonkin ERA/10 vs. Brian Dozier on-base average
tonkin.

>Tommy Millone-ness vs. Eduardo Nunez-ness
millone-ness because nunez-ness is hard to say phonetically.

>Byron Buxton steals vs. Miguel Sano homers
buxton will be too busy trotting around the bases to get steals. sano.

>Danny Santana positions vs. John Ryan Murphy homeruns
while the two first names is a bit of setback, JR will overcome.

>Oswaldo Arcia outfield assists vs. Ryan Presley wins
arcia. because his name is oswaldo.

>Eduardo Escobar doubles vs. Ryan Pressly holds
i'm picking this pressly over the other presley, but only because i prefer this spelling more.

hi everyone - go twins and such. M21, we should grab some carbonated, alcoholic beverages again sometime.

I don't think our pen is very good, which is fine. I actually don't think this team is very good. But they can be, soon, and I am still at the point where I want them to fail BIG if they're going to fail.

Casey Fien is not failing big. And I'm not sure he's very good.

Give me Burdi. Give me Alex Meyer. Give me JC Chargois.

Shit, give me Jose Berrios learning what MLB pitching is like in the bullpen.

Relatedly, Trevor May looked like a closer last night. That was very sexy. Mauer looked good. Park looked good. Sano actually looked competent in rightfield. Buxton needs to lay down a bunt or something once and awhile.

______________________________

"Walleye, a lot of things are going to go wrong in your life that technically aren't your fault. Always remember that this doesn't make you any less of an idiot"

--Walleye's Dad

1. santana CGs should be a safe under if all we're getting is two innings an appearance. what happened there anyway?

2. buxton ain't gonna buxton without some contact. i imagine him as a very green baseball stars player with the crouchy stance, but a potential in the high 80s. need to up that contact stat, bro. for real, though, were thos bad Ks or ... ?

>1. santana CGs should be a safe under if all we're getting is
>two innings an appearance. what happened there anyway?

The game was delayed about an hour and a half, then started, and then rain-delayed again after two innings. That second delay was also nearly an hour and a half, so Molitor pulled Santana - which rightly or wrongly is common practice now. Though if it were Nolasco, I bet everybody would be like "fuck that guy's arm health."

He was pitching well before he left.

>2. buxton ain't gonna buxton without some contact. i imagine
>him as a very green baseball stars player with the crouchy
>stance, but a potential in the high 80s. need to up that
>contact stat, bro. for real, though, were thos bad Ks or ...
>?

Eh. I'll go with "yes" on bad K's, but he showed some growth. Right now, he's having a bitch of a time picking up sliders from righthanders and everybody knows it. In his last strikeout, he bit hard on a slider that was thrown with no intention to ever be near the strikezone, but he held up when the pitcher tried the same thing in the very next pitch - which looked like progress. But then he got rung up on what looked like a changeup - which I guess makes sense if Buxton was over-compensating to *not* chase another slider.

His pattern has been learning on the job while looking really, really bad at first. He was like 0-20something when he debuted as a pro. I think laying a bunt or two down now would do a lot to give him something that pitchers/infielders are required to acknowledge and respect, and then he could built from there.

______________________________

"Walleye, a lot of things are going to go wrong in your life that technically aren't your fault. Always remember that this doesn't make you any less of an idiot"

--Walleye's Dad

Which admittedly wasn't much, as the constant delays kept throwing me off.

------

12 play and 12 planets are enlighten for all the Aliens to Party and free those on the Sex Planet-maxxx

XBL: trkc21
Twitter: @tyrcasey

What if we just clone him. He's got the durability and the pitch-mix to make it as a starter, if not a top-of-the-rotation one. But that fastball plays up huge at 95+ and his breaking stuff goes from "good" to "nigh untouchable" when you only see it once a game.

The pen is where this team has the biggest room for growth. Burdi (if healthy, he's got some forearm issues right now), Chargois, Reed, and Meyer if he can't start all have the potential to turn this pen into something special. And May looking like he's got the swagger of a closer is the start of the movement.

______________________________

"Walleye, a lot of things are going to go wrong in your life that technically aren't your fault. Always remember that this doesn't make you any less of an idiot"

--Walleye's Dad

Like, how badly would Perkins have to collapse? I don't want this to happen, of course. But after the way last season ended, where do you see Perk going forward?

------

12 play and 12 planets are enlighten for all the Aliens to Party and free those on the Sex Planet-maxxx

XBL: trkc21
Twitter: @tyrcasey

Perkins fastball velocity seems like a genuine concern. Without it, he's a slightly better version of Fernando Abad. Jepsen closed successfully last year when Perkins wasn't able, but the only real reason to let him continue doing so this year would be money-related: either Jepsen's agent pitching a fit at him entering the FA market after the year as a set-up man when there's an open closer job in Minnesota *or* that the Twins want May headed to his arbitration years with as few saves to his name as possible.

If those considerations don't interfere, I say May is the next closer if Perkins can't hack it.

______________________________

"Walleye, a lot of things are going to go wrong in your life that technically aren't your fault. Always remember that this doesn't make you any less of an idiot"

--Walleye's Dad

Five strikeouts in two games. Two absolutely effortless doubles.

Baseball is hard.

Nobody is trying to pitch to Miguel Sano, though he's actually looked good (if a bit out of control) in rightfield. And Mauer has looked a bit more together at the plate.

I don't think Fien is going to cut it.

______________________________

"Walleye, a lot of things are going to go wrong in your life that technically aren't your fault. Always remember that this doesn't make you any less of an idiot"

--Walleye's Dad

Mauer looks sharp though. I'm not sure the hair-pulling on Park is really needed. The book on him prior to the season was that he may have trouble catching up with velocity, but it seems like pitchers took the opposite approach on that and don't throw him anything straight and fast.

Starting pitching's been okay though.

______________________________

"Walleye, a lot of things are going to go wrong in your life that technically aren't your fault. Always remember that this doesn't make you any less of an idiot"

--Walleye's Dad

botched plays, missed opportunities, etc. Shaping up to be the whipping boys of the AL Central!

I actually don't believe that's ever been an explanation for why a major league team has been bad.

They're losing because they can't hit. Having youth on their side might make that better. But we'll see.

______________________________

"Walleye, a lot of things are going to go wrong in your life that technically aren't your fault. Always remember that this doesn't make you any less of an idiot"

--Walleye's Dad

>I actually don't believe that's ever been an explanation for
>why a major league team has been bad.

I do, although it's obviously not as big as not being able to hit or pitch. But bunting into double plays, making errors, stranding runners most definitely adds up to tallies in the loss column over the course of a year.

>They're losing because they can't hit. Having youth on their
>side might make that better. But we'll see.

I've been there...unfortunately it makes for tough games to watch. If a team is going to be shitty, it's at least more exciting for the fans if the pitching is the reason. You're a diehard though so I'm sure you'll suffer through it.

I'm fine sitting through shitty baseball. It doesn't even actually have to look like they're headed toward something productive. But the only seasons where I've semi-regularly passed on watching were the ones where every single loss followed the same script. By July, you're like "I've seen this movie. Like, a lot."

Though an unsteady bullpen is tough because that's both exciting AND terrible to watch. I'm of two minds on that. I know you've hated Chicago's pen a few years recently. So what's the verdict - are you in for potentially good baseball if it's seven likely good and two quite possibly disastrous? Or is having your gut stomped on too many times prohibitive?

______________________________

"Walleye, a lot of things are going to go wrong in your life that technically aren't your fault. Always remember that this doesn't make you any less of an idiot"

--Walleye's Dad

in the Majors...alot of these seasons lately have just blended together in my mind...but yes it was infuriating. Guess it depends on whether you'd prefer to be utterly bored and thinking about doing something more productive than watching the same bullshit over and over again, or to have your emotions toyed with nightly ultimately resulting in frustration.

As far as our bullpen this year...I have no problems with Robertson, but the middle relievers I have no faith in. Their good stats so far this season are a fluke. Our rotation isn't as good as some people think either; back end of it is ass. Jury is out on Rodon this year.

------

12 play and 12 planets are enlighten for all the Aliens to Party and free those on the Sex Planet-maxxx

XBL: trkc21
Twitter: @tyrcasey

They were a 75 win team that got really lucky. The current roster is a 75 win team that's now off to an 0-7 start. Seventy wins sounds alright to me, as long as it's shaped with the youngsters starting to look useful.

______________________________

"Walleye, a lot of things are going to go wrong in your life that technically aren't your fault. Always remember that this doesn't make you any less of an idiot"

--Walleye's Dad

do you have any guys in the minors who will get called up this year?

... but the position players are ahead of the pitchers. So, right now, Byron Buxton and Miguel Sano and Eddie Rosario and Byung-ho Park (which is sort of cheating) have all been top-100 prospects in most prospect publications and are on the current roster. Ditto Max Kepler, but he's gonna go down when Danny Santana comes off the DL.

There are pitchers in waiting. Jose Berrios in AAA. Alex Meyer in AAA. Kohl Stewart and Tyler Jay in high-A. But right now the distribution is pretty uneven.

Which is fine, if there's anything that the current batch of prospects on the big club are proving it's that baseball is really hard and it takes a little while to be good at it.

______________________________

"Walleye, a lot of things are going to go wrong in your life that technically aren't your fault. Always remember that this doesn't make you any less of an idiot"

--Walleye's Dad

hard enough to keep up with who's on the field...what's a good site/publication for rankings?

The gist about the White Sox system is that it was really shitty for awhile, for a couple reasons. The first is that Ken Williams was just really aggressive and seemed to prefer using prospects as tradebait for the MLB roster. They also drafted pretty poorly during his tenure and got kind of unlucky. The second is that the bonus-skimming scheme that their scouting director was involved in really killed their reputation with international signees for a few years. If you notice more Americans on these lists than you'd expect, that's why.

The third reason is actually a really good one: they've promoted some of their best prospects really quickly so they never really factored on prospect lists. Chris Sale made exactly one top-100 list because he was a MLB regular about a year after being drafted. Ditto Carlos Rodon.

In any case, they've drafted better and gotten a bit luckier lately. The system isn't deep, but there's genuine star potential in Tim Anderson and Carson Fulmer.

1. fangraphs has just a flood of information - none of it particularly original, but they borrow liberally from other sources and usually include video evidence so we can watch and say "yes, that is a nice swing" about a nineteen year old we may never watch play MLB ball.

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/evaluating-the-2016-prospects-chicago-white-sox/

2. minorleagueball is nice and concise and done by a writer who has been doing it for longer than anybody that isn't working for a bigger pay publication like Baseball America.

http://www.minorleagueball.com/2016/3/10/11187410/chicago-white-sox-top-20-prospects-for-2016

______________________________

"Walleye, a lot of things are going to go wrong in your life that technically aren't your fault. Always remember that this doesn't make you any less of an idiot"

--Walleye's Dad

Hughes wasn't bad for awhile there.

Should we just skip to MilB updates while we wait for Buxton and Sano to learn on the job? Berrios struck out nine in five innings in his first start. Meyer only walked two in four innings and struck out four. Nick Gordon can't stop hitting.

Or, alternately, how can this team be refigured so that it's more enjoyable to watch. I don't need them to win yet. But I'd like to see Arcia play more. And I'd like to see Molitor more aggressive with what looks like a competent bench. And fuck Kurt Suzuki. He's bad.

______________________________

"Walleye, a lot of things are going to go wrong in your life that technically aren't your fault. Always remember that this doesn't make you any less of an idiot"

--Walleye's Dad

Please retire. I'm embarrassed for you.

______________________________

"Walleye, a lot of things are going to go wrong in your life that technically aren't your fault. Always remember that this doesn't make you any less of an idiot"

--Walleye's Dad

Man I really hope this isn't a broken hand

------

12 play and 12 planets are enlighten for all the Aliens to Party and free those on the Sex Planet-maxxx

XBL: trkc21
Twitter: @tyrcasey

------

12 play and 12 planets are enlighten for all the Aliens to Party and free those on the Sex Planet-maxxx

XBL: trkc21
Twitter: @tyrcasey

RIP

-Any Oswaldo Arcia plate appearance
-a two-game winning streak
-Byung-ho Park going over the fucking batting eye, Thome-style
-Joe Mauer hitting like JOE MAUER
-Trevor May

Add on. If we're not going to win, we can't let this be a bummer.

______________________________

"Walleye, a lot of things are going to go wrong in your life that technically aren't your fault. Always remember that this doesn't make you any less of an idiot"

--Walleye's Dad

Molitor should be looking to work him into the the lineup as a starter once every 3-4 games and, in games Arcia doesn't start, should start thinking around inning four when the best moment to deploy him is.

Also: Mauer on base four times today.

______________________________

"Walleye, a lot of things are going to go wrong in your life that technically aren't your fault. Always remember that this doesn't make you any less of an idiot"

--Walleye's Dad

i'm here because i listened to 2-3 innings of actual baseball yesterday while pinging around saint paul with my daughter ... and they were the fun innings where we won stuff.

1. houston street is still a thing. weird.
2. i like how buxton stealing second in the 12th with two outs was called more like a "ho hum" steal than "omg! is he going to get there?!". gives the impression that buxton steals what he wants and ya'll need to deal with it.
3. arcia with two game winners should help with your busy bench bat agenda.

>1. houston street is still a thing. weird.

Yeah. I'm as shocked as you are. He's still basically identical to the pitcher he's been his whole career, and I was shocked to find out he's still in the league.

I think it's the west coast thing. He's spent his entire career pitching after my bedtime.

>2. i like how buxton stealing second in the 12th with two outs
>was called more like a "ho hum" steal than "omg! is he going
>to get there?!". gives the impression that buxton steals what
>he wants and ya'll need to deal with it.

The scary thing is that he's not a great intuitive baserunner. He's just crazy fast.

>3. arcia with two game winners should help with your busy
>bench bat agenda.

He looked great again yesterday. It's like he actually forgot in 2015 that he's allowed to hit it to leftfield. We did that when we were kids and didn't have enough outfielders to cover all three positions - just call the opposite field an out. Apparently, that's untrue at the major league level.

______________________________

"Walleye, a lot of things are going to go wrong in your life that technically aren't your fault. Always remember that this doesn't make you any less of an idiot"

--Walleye's Dad

I'm still in for the perspective provided by an 0-9 start, so in the interest of keeping that up, here is an updated list of all the things that would make the team more fun.

-Miguel Sano to 3B in Trevor Plouffe's absence
-Max Kepler to RF in Miguel Sano's break from the outfield
-Find out if JR Murphy can actually play
-Thank Casey Fien for his service and then buy him a first-class plane ticket back to wherever he spends his winters, recall Alex Meyer and stick him in the pen

*previous list is still valid

______________________________

"Walleye, a lot of things are going to go wrong in your life that technically aren't your fault. Always remember that this doesn't make you any less of an idiot"

--Walleye's Dad

There's no way this is going to end well for me. But having legit MASHER(s) for the first time since the Morneau/Thome days makes Mauer's value so much more obvious. Once Buxton remembers that he can hit, the speed/OBA/power they show has a chance to be beautiful to watch.

I shouldn't get too excited.

But, perhaps relevantly, Jose Berrios is totally unsurprisingly hurting everybody's feelings at AAA and is about to make the Twins look like greedy assholes for not calling him up. And Alex Meyer is throwing strikes as a starter.

______________________________

"Walleye, a lot of things are going to go wrong in your life that technically aren't your fault. Always remember that this doesn't make you any less of an idiot"

--Walleye's Dad

mashing.

I am starting to get the sense that he's not going to have a long career as a productive hitter. He's also typically fallen off in the second half. If he starts hitting, you perhaps would be smart to enjoy it for a little while and then trying to sell high.

Career first half: .242/.317/.425
Career second half: .233/.310/.389

*as an advisory note: I am terrible at fantasy baseball. take advice at your own risk.

______________________________

"Walleye, a lot of things are going to go wrong in your life that technically aren't your fault. Always remember that this doesn't make you any less of an idiot"

--Walleye's Dad

he plays. But looking at how many 2B's are outperforming him, I feel like an ass now. At least I have Bryce Harper.

Lavish some premature adjectives on Berrios' performance here.

______________________________

"Walleye, a lot of things are going to go wrong in your life that technically aren't your fault. Always remember that this doesn't make you any less of an idiot"

--Walleye's Dad

_____________
if racism is a cancer, black thought is the answer.

Rjcc is code for "bitch-ass troll"

DROkayplayer™

But that two-seamer has soooooo much movement it seems silly to try and spot it on the outside corner against players with MLB-caliber strikezone judgement.

But maybe it wasn't intentional. Fastball command didn't do him any favors last night, but that's one of his calling cards so we can hopefully just chalk it up to first-day jitters. I could definitely see how all that nastiness works well together in the 1-2 innings where he looked strong.

______________________________

"Walleye, a lot of things are going to go wrong in your life that technically aren't your fault. Always remember that this doesn't make you any less of an idiot"

--Walleye's Dad

Berrios and Meyer reminding us what is exciting and terrifying with pitching prospects. Both these guys look like they can be utterly untouchable with even average fastball command. Berrios looked like he was missing that due to nerves in his first start. Meyer looked liked it will be an ongoing project with him.

So, obviously, Berrios was unbelievable impressive. The fastball is hard and in his second start he located it well (though not as well, yet, as his reputation) but it also seems like batters had a bitch of a time picking it up. The changeup and the curve both looked usable, but not great yet. The full package could be fun.

But goddamn at Alex Meyer. I just soooooooo want that whole thing to work. He's 95-97 easy (fuck what Jack Morris said about max effort - Morris is an extraordinary dumbass) and all 6'9" of arms and legs coming at batters looks like it gives a lot of deception too. Just drool-worthy. I really want him to figure it out.

______________________________

"Walleye, a lot of things are going to go wrong in your life that technically aren't your fault. Always remember that this doesn't make you any less of an idiot"

--Walleye's Dad

.323/.447/.434 and he hasn't really looked that hot. He's just been Joe Mauer-ing through the first month of the season. Bunch of singles. A few doubles. Twice as many walks as strikeouts. No biggie.

The befuckled thing about this awful, awful start is watching a very real, powerful top of the order come together. Mauer is doing the above. Sano honestly hasn't played that well, but not-hot Sano is extremely dangerous at .250/.364/.400 and you can kind of see pitchers just waiting for the other shoe to drop there. And Park has been so, so much fun to watch.

In short, I trust this lineup to make a turn toward "useful" soon and then toward "pretty good" shortly thereafter. It's a legitimately talented bunch. The rotation though? I hate every little bit of it, except for Berrios - who I assume is slated to return to Rochester ... sometime.

I don't really feel like talking about MiLB pitching right now* so what's left to do? Just hope that Nolasco/Hughes/Santana string together enough good starts that can be traded? Because I think I've made it pretty clear that I'm always good with watching youthful growing pains on the big league level. If this is a 90+ loss team, then at least give me exciting prospects. Watching Phil Hughes get slapped around isn't fun on any level.

*though if you do, here's the rundown: Tyler Jay is showing progress as a starter. Command problems but is missing bats and holding his stuff into starts. Kohl Stewart is finally missing bats and has been nigh-unhittable, but he's repeated Ft. Myers so let's see what happens next. Meyer was fine in Rochester as a starter. I still want to see more chances there. Chargois is lights-out in Chattanooga's pen. Burdi/Reed... not yet.

______________________________

"Walleye, a lot of things are going to go wrong in your life that technically aren't your fault. Always remember that this doesn't make you any less of an idiot"

--Walleye's Dad

Apparently, a 25-man spot needs to be cleared for Santana's return. And Gibson is due back soon too. So the 25-man moves may be sort of boring. I'm hoping that when Gibson comes back that it's Duffey and not Berrios that gets the ticket back to Rochester. Not that I don't hope Duffey is part of the future rotation, it's just that Berrios is Berrios.

So, the only potentially interesting news here is:

a)Twins are actually starting to shed dead weight from the 40-man

b)the one mystery 40-man move could be somebody fun, maybe one of the nigh-100mph bullpen pieces. JC Chargois is destroying Chattanooga right now

______________________________

"Walleye, a lot of things are going to go wrong in your life that technically aren't your fault. Always remember that this doesn't make you any less of an idiot"

--Walleye's Dad

Turns out Mastroianni was the call-up for the previous set of DFAs, which is disappointing since he is bad and we have actually seen him be bad, recently, while playing for the Twins. But he's a placeholder for Buxton, who is hitting in AAA so whatever.

Now, we get to wait on who gets the spots vacated by Graham and O'Rourke.

______________________________

"Walleye, a lot of things are going to go wrong in your life that technically aren't your fault. Always remember that this doesn't make you any less of an idiot"

--Walleye's Dad

Berrios vs. Zimmerman
Hughes vs. Pelfrey
Nolasco vs. Verlander

Twins wins vs. Tigers wins
Berrios Ks vs. Hughes ER
Mauer walks vs. Park hits
Twins ejections vs. Pelfrey Ks
Zimmerman strikeouts vs. Twins XBH

Give me: Twins (with an ironic pairing of wins in games 1 & 3), Hughes, Mauer, ejections, Twins

______________________________

"Walleye, a lot of things are going to go wrong in your life that technically aren't your fault. Always remember that this doesn't make you any less of an idiot"

--Walleye's Dad

------

12 play and 12 planets are enlighten for all the Aliens to Party and free those on the Sex Planet-maxxx

XBL: trkc21
Twitter: @tyrcasey

Game started out so promising. Hughes working efficiently - though let's be honest, you don't coax the other team into a bunch of lineouts; he was getting lucky. Mauer turning on a fastball. Sano going opposite field on what looked like 65% of what constitutes a well-struck ball for him.

Then the wheels came off with two pitchers who I'd rather prefer to trust. Blargh.

______________________________

"Walleye, a lot of things are going to go wrong in your life that technically aren't your fault. Always remember that this doesn't make you any less of an idiot"

--Walleye's Dad

So, "Valentine's Day" is part of this utterly befuckled genre wherein you just get a bunch of super famous people to appear for maybe 10-15 total minutes in a 100 minute film that's just a stew of mismatched plotlines held together only by a shared universe and very rough theme. There are decent versions of this project. I'll watch the hell out of "Love Actually" and thought "What to Expect While You're Expecting" was pretty solid. But the successes really aren't worth the resulting corrosion of artistic virtue. Or, to put it another way, "Let's put Jessica Alba, Kathy Bates, Jessica Biel, Bradley Cooper, Eric Dane, Patrick Dempsey, Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Garner, Topher Grace, Anne Hathaway, Ashton Kutcher, Queen Latifah, Taylor Swift, Tayler Lautner, Julia Roberts, and Emma Roberts in a movie" isn't in itself an idea for a movie. Not any more than painting my living room blue was making a painting.

But "Valentine's Day" is the movie that comes to mind when I'm watching this current Twins season (and, specifically, game - when they are currently up 6-5 on the Royals in the 7th but still seem destined to lose horribly) because I *know* the story can't possibly be compelling. All I have to be interested in here is the cast. So imagine how much you want to see the filmproduct "Valentine's Day" as it was produced - which is to say very little since you have proven yourselves, over our time talking about baseball here to be people with thoughtful and well-developed taste - but imagine it compared to a hypothetical version of Valentine's Day without the accumulated star power. Where the only Roberts in the movie was Eric Roberts. And the only alumnus of That 70's Show was Danny Masterson. And for Alias, only Greg Grunberg.

Preferring the existing iteration of "Valentine's Day" instead of the hypothetical one doesn't require an affirmation of the former cast's talent, only that there is SOME appeal. Jessica Alba can't really act, but she's impossibly attractive and hasn't done anything so vile to make her personally hateable, so there's a certain justice to the fact that her fame badly, badly ecliplses the combined fame of the rest of "Dark Angel," all "kinda" attractive and "probably" agreeable as human beings. The point here is that our interest doesn't have to be in art, it just has to be present.

So what I want to do is treat the Twins roster in the same way that I'd treat "Valentine's Day." If I've got three hours to kill in the middle of a Wednesday afternoon (sorry normals, I do - if it helps, I've sacrificed both professional dignity and money for this privilege) which Twins are the Jessica Biels and which Twins are the ... other castmembers of 7th Heaven?

Fernando Abad: You know what? Yep. I love that he'll drop a 65mph curveball on a dude like he gives zero fucks about this team. Anybody who pitches like they didn't come up in the organization is good with me.

Buddy Boshers: Nope. Just no. And JT Chargois sitting around in Rochester wondering if maybe I'll get called it up if I strike out 2 full batters per inning instead of just 1.6 or so.

Pat Dean: No. I've seen this movie before.

Tyler Duffey: Yeah. If only to find out if a two-pitch starter is a thing in MLB. I mean, it's almost certainly not. But he's a scientist for our benefit.

Phil Hughes: Pass. It's like the Twins uniform grafted onto him and changed his DNA into something Nick Blackburnian.

Kevin Jepson: Oh my god. No.

Brandon Kintzler: Apparently he almost got to play Tim Hudson in the movie version of Moneyball? Awesome. He stays.

Trevor May: Throws 96mph and goes by "DJ Hey Beef"? Yes.

Ricky Nolasco: Now that he throws like 65% off-speed stuff, sure. He's awful, but he pitches like striking people out isn't haram.

Ryan Pressly: I mistake him for Jon Rauch like 4/5th of the time that he's on the mound even though Rauch hasn't pitched for the Twins in a half decade. Pass.

Taylor Rodgers: Have you noticed how long his neck is? It's pretty long. I want to see if that means anything. He can stay.

Ervin Santana: Sure. I just like him. Sort of like how I saw Hector Elizondo's name in the cast of "Valentine's Day" and thought, "good for him!"

Michael Tonkin: Shit, he actually seems good. Keep.

Juan Centeno: I like him more than Suzuki, but that's not the point of this exercise. It's cool that he tries to just slap the ball like an NCAA softball player. But I'm gonna get bored of that quickly.

Kurt Suzuki: The reason I made this post. I hate 100% of his game. It doesn't even matter if he's playing well (though, obviously he's not because he's not very good) I never want to see him in the game. Some guy at a coffee shop started a conversation with me based on my Twins hat about Kurt Suzuki and seemed really offended when I pointed out that he wasn't any good. It made me happy.

Brian Dozier: Yeah, fine.

Eduardo Escobar: Also fine, which makes me worried I'm being too sentimental.

Mauer: Yeah, he's a Hall of Famer. He's like the Kathy Bates of this team.

Eduardo Nunez: I am genuinely confused by him. He's not actually this good. But he's sort of hot right now. Like Taylor Lautner in "Valentine's Day".

Trevor Plouffe - Boring. So, so boring. Pass.

Oswaldo Arcia: Awesome. I want to clone him and have a 25-man roster of Oswaldo Arcia clones. Please more.

Robbie Grossman: Pass. Big pass. Even if he turns into a decent reclamation. Just no./

Miguel Sano: Did you see that 2-run homer? Even when he's going bad that's always in his back pocket. Just raw damage. He is Jessica Biel here.

Danny Santana: Sure. He's really grown on me. Though obviously if this turns into a 25-man roster evaluation focused on the far more sensible question of "who is actually good?" then he probably gets the axe.

Byung Ho Park: They call his homers "Park Bangs". More please.

______________________________

"Walleye, a lot of things are going to go wrong in your life that technically aren't your fault. Always remember that this doesn't make you any less of an idiot"

--Walleye's Dad

On one hand, Buxton was hitting .336/.403/.603 since he was sent down, including a stretch over the past week where his OPS was like over 1.500. On the other hand, I'd still like to see him control the strikezone a bit better - which was the thing that kept his bat below replacement level in the big leagues. If he comes back and gets slider-slider-slider'd to death again, it'll kind of show that he can hit AAA hitting but there's more to be done than JUST hitting AAA pitching to show he's learned something.

On the other other hand, Buxton is who we want. And when he absolutely destroys in Rochester and his obvious placeholder stand-in goes down with a hamstring injury - he gets the call. The good thing is that there's a finite limit built in if he continues to struggle. Santana (who has looked better than 2015 but, per fangraphs, has done literally nothing particularly well) isn't somebody the Twins need to defer to.

______________________________

"Walleye, a lot of things are going to go wrong in your life that technically aren't your fault. Always remember that this doesn't make you any less of an idiot"

--Walleye's Dad

I mean, it's not like the Twins didn't give him a chance. But he cratered HARD during that chance, and it's kind of hard to explain why he's better now - except for being older and experiencing a late-20s early-30s bump.

I guess the kinda-okay strikeout rate six years ago has turned into a really-quite-good strikeout rate now. Guys who can put the ball in play are the new guys who can hit the ball over the wall.

______________________________

"Walleye, a lot of things are going to go wrong in your life that technically aren't your fault. Always remember that this doesn't make you any less of an idiot"

--Walleye's Dad

Looks more comfortable than I've seen him to date.

He's still swinging and missing more than I'd like, but he's doing an immensely better job at staying back on breaking pitches. "Looks more comfortable" is exactly how I'd put it.

But I don't want to put it any way at all because it seems so precarious.

Watching him hit one in the gap and run for days is deliriously fun though. He nearly caught Suzuki on that triple and it seemed so natural that it *almost* sounds non-crazy that the Twins would want to account for that in their batting order.

Now I need Kepler to come around, though comfort at the plate doesn't seem to be the issue with him.

______________________________

"Walleye, a lot of things are going to go wrong in your life that technically aren't your fault. Always remember that this doesn't make you any less of an idiot"

--Walleye's Dad

.171/.241/.197 in 84 plate appearances.

I wish his name weren't so generic so that we could create a new term wherein his name stood for batting ineptitude.

______________________________

"Walleye, a lot of things are going to go wrong in your life that technically aren't your fault. Always remember that this doesn't make you any less of an idiot"

--Walleye's Dad

Goodness that was beautiful. DicknBert keep throwing around the John Olerud comp, but I still see more power in there. Maybe JD Drew, adjusted for a different decade?

______________________________

"Walleye, a lot of things are going to go wrong in your life that technically aren't your fault. Always remember that this doesn't make you any less of an idiot"

--Walleye's Dad

or gets a random run at .400 and a batting title.

Particularly if it means wearing the helmet in the outfield.

______________________________

"Walleye, a lot of things are going to go wrong in your life that technically aren't your fault. Always remember that this doesn't make you any less of an idiot"

--Walleye's Dad

Are all done so on walkoffs.

------

12 play and 12 planets are enlighten for all the Aliens to Party and free those on the Sex Planet-maxxx

XBL: trkc21
Twitter: @tyrcasey

http://www.foxsports.com/mlb/story/byron-buxton-catches-mike-trout-with-99-mph-throw-061516

______________________________

"Walleye, a lot of things are going to go wrong in your life that technically aren't your fault. Always remember that this doesn't make you any less of an idiot"

--Walleye's Dad

He's just passed 100 plate appearances with the Twins, which isn't a real benchmark in terms of stability of performance* but is maybe a nice excuse to start talking about somebody that we are starting to see more of and who is starting to smudge our expectations for the Twins outfield going forward - in a good way.

So let's start at the beginning and maybe we can riddle this out. Grossman was the Pirates' 6th round pick out of a TX high school in 2008. He was apparently projected as a potential 2nd rounder, but slipped due to a perceived commitment to play in college at UT. He could play centerfield at the time, and was regarded as a potential lead-off type in the big leagues, but showed some contact problems in his introduction to full-season ball.

If you're looking for a prospect comp here, think of Eddie Rosario. Passable in centerfield but the bat will have to justify it - and with a broad base of contact/power skills as long as the contact actually... happens. Rosario's defense never quite came around, but the power and contact started to supplement themselves with good plate discipline - and you were looking at a guy who was a defensive plus in the corner and who was turning into a complete hitter. Still, he was a one-level at a time guy and wasn't a huge prospect. Like Rosario, think somebody who would flirt with top-100 lists but only appear on a few of them, sporadically. Here's BPro (at #76) on him in 2012:

"The Good: Grossman is technically a five-tool prospect, yet one without a plus tool. He showed a much simpler swing in 2011 and a better feel for contact. He has enough pop to earn average power grades. He's a 50-55 runner who can steal a base when given the opportunity, plays a good outfield, and has a solid arm. It's not a tool, but one of Grossman's most valuable attributes is his plate discipline; he led the minor leagues with 104 walks and rarely commits to a bad pitch.

The Bad: Grossman's ceiling is understandably debatable; he lacks a star tool and can't play up the middle, so he'll have to find more power in his game to match up with your standard right fielder. He's already lost some speed as a pro, and could lose that aspect of his game as he moves up."

That sounds about like what he's shown right now. A good, professional hitter who is on a hot streak right now but who (unlike the guys who are competing for playing time like Buxton/Rosario/Kepler/Arcia) you can imagine still working good, valuable at-bats when he's not absolutely on fire.

His career kind of stalled a bit after the 2001 outbreak (.294/.418/.451) that boosted his prospect status, and the Pirates flipped him to the Astros in 2012 for Wandy Rodriguez. He was pretty much the same player in the Astros system - but for the power, which seemed to lag behind the contact/OBA skills at the same time as his body was kind of filling out and limiting his defensive versatility. Also, as a one-level-at-a-time type of prospect, the trade to the Astros was a bit of a misfortune as he started to resemble MLB-ready at almost exactly the time they started getting good.

He was adequate-to-below-average for the Astros in two extended tryouts in 2013 and 2014, but a cold streak in 2015 unfortunately coincided with the Astros ascension to playoff-caliber *AND* what appears to be the limits of his options. Call it the problem of the newly good in baseball - you've got to punt on better and better projects as your roster fills up with guys who don't suck.

Grossman was released pending the expiration of his options prior to 2016. The Indians scooped him up to stash at Columbus and hopefully bolster their outfield, but released him in May when the Twins scooped him up.

This, in itself, isn't an interesting story. But I think that the names that Grossman sees tossed around by Twins fans sort of underestimates his actual nigh-top-100 pedigree. In short: nobody who paid attention to Robbie Grossman's career should be surprised that he can churn out a month like this. He's not good enough to churn out a season like this, but the appeal of a guy who's presently walking in 20% of his plate appearances HAS to be clear to those of us trying to patiently await Sano/Buxton/Kepler becoming the stars that they should be.

There's a legitimate question here in how much we should care about Robbie Grossman when he's potentially costing Kepler/Buxton/Rosario/Arcia at bats. A good team (like the Astros this spring) are free to look at Grossman and risk punting a useful player because they are ready to win now. This Twins squad is going to lose 100 games - so Grossman's present goodness needs to be weighed against how we honestly see his role on whenever the next good Twins team is.

This is another area where I'm not sure he's gotten a fair wrap. The Twins are his fourth organization, which makes him look like damaged goods - but he's got a strong MiLB track record in an area where the future Twins (but for Sano) are lacking: plate discipline. And he's still just 26, which is only a year older than Arcia.

One thing that would help a lot of this is trading Trevor Plouffe. Sano is assuredly going to be an difficult-to-watch thirdbaseman at this point, but he might not be less valuable there than he is in rightfield. Moving Sano to third would allow us to settle on a rotation in the outfield that fixes Buxton in center and gives Kepler, Rosario, Arcia, and Grossman all fair looks between the outfield, the bench, and DH - provided Molitor is up for it.

In conclusion: Robbie Grossman isn't this good, but we shouldn't treat a guy who was recently a top-ish prospect like damaged goods because he may actually be rather good. And trade Trevor Plouffe.

*though apparently K/BB rates start to stabilize around 150 plate appearances and his are good/outstanding respectively so keep an eye out for that

______________________________

"Walleye, a lot of things are going to go wrong in your life that technically aren't your fault. Always remember that this doesn't make you any less of an idiot"

--Walleye's Dad

Shitty teams takes another step towards becoming boring, but without getting better.

______________________________

"Walleye, a lot of things are going to go wrong in your life that technically aren't your fault. Always remember that this doesn't make you any less of an idiot"

--Walleye's Dad

I mean, I'd rather have Buxton vaporize the known universe with a dazzling five-tool array - but it's nice being reminded that baseball is hard and though Sabathia's stuff has decline, he still has it when he wants it and he's sixteen-year-veteran smart whereas Buxton is my-prom-was-four-years-ago dumb. That doesn't have to a permanent condition, but it's good to remember that baseball is really hard.

Relatedly, he's hitting .100/.152/.200 against lefties. That will change on its own. He's gone through the minors pretty quickly and actually missed a large amount of development time with injuries. This is the first time he's seeing lefties who are worth a shit.

In any case, the improvement curve is happening as we watch, even in shitty nights.

______________________________

"Walleye, a lot of things are going to go wrong in your life that technically aren't your fault. Always remember that this doesn't make you any less of an idiot"

--Walleye's Dad

Jesus, he *looks* good. And now the results are coming.

Here's what I want in the next six weeks, a lineup of Rosario, Buxton, and Kepler in the outfield and Sano at thirdbase. I think that's the kind of thing I can look at and say "that'll work, going forward."

______________________________

"Walleye, a lot of things are going to go wrong in your life that technically aren't your fault. Always remember that this doesn't make you any less of an idiot"

--Walleye's Dad

This was a weird situation where Twins fans were less excited about the pick than the folks who are paid to write about this stuff. Keith Law, in particular, sees an above-average corner outfielder in Kirilloff, with his power being badly underestimated in some places. We'll see, I guess, but that sounds like a net win to me.

He's signed and Rohrveldt has signed too. The second one was a bit more appealing to Twins fans, to see a high-upside catcher added. But he's still a long way off.

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2016/06/twins-to-sign-first-rounder-alex-kirilloff.html

Twins To Sign First-Rounder Alex Kirilloff
By Mark Polishuk | June 19, 2016 at 9:31pm CDT

The Twins have a verbal agreement in place with first-round draft pick Alex Kirilloff, ESPN 1500’s Darren Wolfson reports (Twitter link), and the deal will become official once Kirilloff takes his team physical later this week. The 19-year-old first baseman/outfielder will receive the recommended bonus slot price (just over $2.817MM) attached to the 15th overall pick.

Kirilloff was also ranked as the 15th-best prospect in this year’s draft class on Baseball America’s top 200 list, with MLB.com ranking him 18th and ESPN’s Keith Law and Eric Longenhagen ranking him 19th. MLB.com’s scouting report describes Kirilloff as a good fit for a corner outfield spot in the majors, though the Twins were “buying the bat” with due to Kirilloff’s “ability to barrel the ball consistently and…considerable raw power.” The high schooler received consistent scouting grades for all five tool categories (hit, power, run, arm, field), with all five grades falling within the 50-55 range on the 20-80 scouting scale.

The Twins’ draft bonus pool of $8,153,500 was the 11th-highest of any club. Minnesota has thus far reportedly reached below-slot agreements with both of their second round picks, while going $500K over slot for a deal with 11th-rounder Tyler Benninghoff.

______________________________

"Walleye, a lot of things are going to go wrong in your life that technically aren't your fault. Always remember that this doesn't make you any less of an idiot"

--Walleye's Dad

Or don't guess. It's third. He's playing third base.

Maybe it's time to start hitting so we can get something for you, Trevor Plouffe.

______________________________

"Walleye, a lot of things are going to go wrong in your life that technically aren't your fault. Always remember that this doesn't make you any less of an idiot"

--Walleye's Dad

K:BB

Felix Jorge, 22 y/0, RHP: 74:11

LaMonte Wade, 22 y/0, CF: 27:44

I've had a hard time overcoming some intellectual rigidity with respect to the state of the game. The funny thing is that I was raised watching baseball in the put-the-ball-in-play-dummy atmosphere of the 80's, but after a short break from 1997-1999, came back as a new fan. That new fan was context-bred though, and this was the period of a-strikeout-is-just-another-out-so-take-pitches-and-try-to-hit-the-ball-over-the-wall.

Things are different now. Or, more accurately, they're a cartoonish version of the previous generation of baseball. Like an Altweibersommer of the wacky ball era. As we turn the corner, the left-overs are still around and occasionally worthy of spots on MLB rosters. But speed and, more importantly, contact are becoming important again and so, I introduce two new-ish prospects to you nerds.

Felix Jorge has been in the organization since he was sixteen. Possessing a low-to-mid-nineties fastball and something something something breaking stuff, he appears to have come into his own as somebody who can pound the strikezone but still miss a not-at-all small amount of bats when needed. This may not last, but he's making the FSL look silly so maybe it's time for a promotion.

LaMonte Wade is a speed/contact outfielder who was drafted as a senior out of the university of maryland. Seeing a guy from a major college program control the strikezone like he did in his pro debut at E-town wasn't surprising and people (fairly) ho-hummed it. But then he kept doing it. Last year at Cedar Rapids. This year at Ft. Myers. He's just a smart ballplayer who has consistently walked more than he's struck out and plays a good centerfield.

______________________________

"Walleye, a lot of things are going to go wrong in your life that technically aren't your fault. Always remember that this doesn't make you any less of an idiot"

--Walleye's Dad

I know this isn't the real Kurt Suzuki, but this lineup looks actually good to me right now. Even the 2016 version of Mauer is a huge asset to a lineup, as even nerdy Twins fans seem to be forgetting that a guy getting on base 37% of the time at the top of a lineup is really helpful. Sano, Kepler, Nunez, Dozier, Grossman, and the newly sort of disciplined Eddie Rosario can drive the ball in the gaps and run like hell. Shit, Buxton was looking like he actually kind of got it right before his injury.

The problem is that this makes a "sell everything that isn't nailed down" position harder to take because I keep accidentally thinking there's a chance this team could be pretty good next year. In which case some of those not-nailed-down items might actually help us.

Like Ervin Santana. The pitching hasn't materialized yet. Meyer is something something something. Berrios is gonna take a few more tries before he's what we hoped he'd be. Gonsalves, Stewart, and Jay are all just getting their feet wet at AA. So maybe Ervin Santana is the opening day starter for an 80-85 win team next year?

What's left? I'd trade Dozier if somebody knocked us over. Not because I think the 2017 Twins need him less than Santana but because I actually kind of think that Jorge Polanco can do the job at second base. I don't entirely trust Grossman and Nunez to keep this up - but I also think they would be valuable bench players even if they don't.

Which is just a big "blargh". There's nothing worse than being in-between two things.

So let's just appreciate Max Kepler, huh? That guy's really good.

______________________________

"Walleye, a lot of things are going to go wrong in your life that technically aren't your fault. Always remember that this doesn't make you any less of an idiot"

--Walleye's Dad

He's propped up this franchise for a long time and built a young core that should still be the basis for a really good team. But this year's cratering seems to indicate a need to look for some new ideas.

I'm curious to see what happens next. Rob Antony seems like Bill Smith: The Sequel. It's actually kind of funny (in that not at all funny way) that the Twins incredibly entrenched conservatism has meant that they hardly ever look outside the organization for front office or field staff help - and now that a minority executive (Deron Johnson) is one of the two best-positioned guys to take over the job, there's going to be a lot of loud (and reasonable) voices to look outside the organization.

I'd be thrilled if Johnson got the job. He's overseen the acquisition of all the guys that should help this team make the leap forward, and simply by virtue of tenure I assume he's ready for the next step.

http://www.startribune.com/terry-ryan-relieved-of-duties-as-twins-gm/387293961/

Terry Ryan relieved of duties as Twins GM
Assistant GM Rob Antony is taking over as GM on an interim basis.
By Phil Miller Star Tribune JULY 18, 2016 — 11:50AM

A Twins season in which nothing has gone as planned has now claimed the job of its chief planner.

Terry Ryan, who retook the reins as Twins general manager while the team floundered more than four years ago, was relieved of his duties Monday, the team announced in a news release.

Ryan, 62, will be replaced on an interim basis by assistant GM Rob Antony, the team announced.

“The decision to part ways with Terry was difficult, painful and not obvious,” Twins owner and CEO Jim Pohlad said in a statement.

Said Ryan in the statement: “While disappointed we were unable to bring Minnesota a third World Championship, I leave the GM post with immense pride in being part of the Twins organization for the better part of three decades.”

The firing comes exactly two weeks before the Aug. 1 MLB trade deadline, and Ryan had promised to be unusually active in the trade market. Players like catcher Kurt Suzuki, reliever Brandon Kintzler and starting pitcher Ervin Santana are expected to be sought by teams in postseason contention.

Souhan: Souhan: From intern to VP, Antony still enjoys ride with Twins (January 2014)
The Twins, who improved significantly in 2015 thanks largely to the development of rookies Miguel Sano and Eddie Rosario, have plummeted this season while entrusting even more playing time to inexperienced players. The team has failed to right itself after a horrid start and is an American League-worst 33-58 as of Monday.

The Twins’ last-place status is far from the expectations that Ryan and manager Paul Molitor set for them during spring training. “I think we’re a playoff-caliber club,” Ryan said on Opening Day, just before the Twins began the season with a franchise-record nine straight losses. “I don’t have any qualms about mentioning that. I just think this is a good ballclub, and we ought to be pointing toward that.”

The former minor league pitcher and longtime scout rebuilt the Twins once before, after being named general manager in November 1994. It took seven seasons, but the Twins won four AL Central championships in five seasons from 2002-06, mostly using homegrown players supplemented by a handful of wildly successful trades Ryan engineered. Joe Nathan, Johan Santana and Jacque Jones, among others, were all acquired via Ryan’s trades. Ryan acquired a reputation for building a winner without the huge payroll that often accompanies it. But his teams regularly failed in the postseason, losing to the Angels in the 2002 ALCS, and in the first round the next three postseason appearances.

In September 2007, Ryan stepped down, saying he had lost enthusiasm for the job. But when his hand-picked successor, Bill Smith, failed to lead the Twins any farther, Ryan agreed to return to his old job after the 2011 season.

Ryan’s attempts to prop up the pitching rotation through free-agent signings has mostly been an expensive failure. Kevin Correia, Mike Pelfrey, Ricky Nolasco, Phil Hughes and Ervin Santana were all brought in to improve one of baseball’s worst rotations, and while some have been a modest success, the team has committed $193 million to that fivesome, with $78 million still owed the latter three over the next few seasons.

______________________________

"Walleye, a lot of things are going to go wrong in your life that technically aren't your fault. Always remember that this doesn't make you any less of an idiot"

--Walleye's Dad

Let alone in the middle of the season. Feels like an un-Twins move in the best possible way.

------

12 play and 12 planets are enlighten for all the Aliens to Party and free those on the Sex Planet-maxxx

XBL: trkc21
Twitter: @tyrcasey

But it's obviously well past the time to get started fixing the organization, particularly if we view it as actually fixable. I really don't want Rob Antony to get the job, but if he wants to audition for it by trading like crazy prior to the deadline then I'd love to watch that.

And I'm so torn on the Deron Johnson thing. I was really hoping this team would start to win with its young talent, Ryan would retire, and Johnson would take over. Now, the idea of new blood is kind of exciting.

______________________________

"Walleye, a lot of things are going to go wrong in your life that technically aren't your fault. Always remember that this doesn't make you any less of an idiot"

--Walleye's Dad

Considering basically everybody else but Ryan appears to be staying in place, I'm not sure whether this is the beginning of a grand overhaul or just shaking up the same tiles that were already in the bag.

But the timing may require a lot of front office personnel staying put temporarily. They have to sell some stuff and somebody needs to be in charge for the next two weeks for that.

But yeah, "the Twins way" says it'll be Antony or Johnson.

______________________________

"Walleye, a lot of things are going to go wrong in your life that technically aren't your fault. Always remember that this doesn't make you any less of an idiot"

--Walleye's Dad

I'm still feeling out what I think of him as a manager, since there's a lot of noise between the winning last year and the sucking this year. But some of the stuff that seemed kind of "eh" last year has been worse this year: Gardenhire was superior in bench and bullpen management. He kept role players involved and useful in a way that seems like an afterthought for Molitor. That's not a hugely important talent for a roster this bad, but there's a secondary point behind running a full 25-man roster and we can see it in Oswaldo Arcia getting jettisoned before really getting a shot. Or Max Kepler kind of rotting on the bench in his first look this season.

In any event, I'd be fine with Molitor returning in 2017. And I concede that he's tough to fire, between being a Hall of Famer and a local legend. But announcing prior to a GM search that Molitor is a requirement in 2017 seems like it can only limit the field, right?

______________________________

"Walleye, a lot of things are going to go wrong in your life that technically aren't your fault. Always remember that this doesn't make you any less of an idiot"

--Walleye's Dad

McLeod sounds good to me. I've always hoped that somebody else would hire Kim Ng. She's a University of Chicago grad and therefore smarter and better than pretty much everybody else. But she's kind of been out of the franchise-management game for awhile.

http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/despite-poor-2016-the-twins-gm-is-a-desirable-job-and-here-are-some-candidates/

Despite poor 2016, Twins GM is still a desirable job and here are some candidates

by Mike Axisa
@mikeaxisa
Monday, Jul 18, 2016 • 4 min read

Monday afternoon the Twins made a move that really was a long time coming. The club fired longtime GM Terry Ryan after 16 total years on the job (1995-2007, 2012-16). The Twins are on pace to lose 90-plus games for the fifth time in six years and almost no GM can survive that, not even one as respected as Ryan.

The Twins come into Monday with an AL worst 33-58 record. In terms of winning percentage (.363), they're on pace to have their worst season since the Washington Senators moved to Minnesota and became the Twins in 1961. The Senators had a .346 winning percentage in 1956. That was the last time the franchise was this bad.

Despite the generally awful state of the 2016 Twins, their suddenly open GM position is a desirable one. That assumes they'll go outside the organization for a new GM, of course. Loyalty is a Twins trademark, which is why they've only had five GMs in their history. Here are three reasons why this the Twins GM gig is so desirable.

1. The Twins have a great farm system.

Coming into the season, the prospect gurus at MLB.com ranked Minnesota's farm system as the fifth best in all of baseball. Even with outfielder Byron Buxton graduating to MLB, the Twins still landed four players on Baseball America's midseason top 100 prospects list: righty Jose Berrios (No. 20), shortstop Nick Gordon (No. 34), lefty Tyler Jay (No. 43), and second baseman Jorge Polanco (No. 97). That list doesn't include 2016 draftees, so outfielder Alex Kirilloff, the team's first rounder last month, is not included despite being a top prospect himself.

Unlike, say, the Angels GM job last year, the new Twins GM will be inheriting a farm system rich with talent, which means cheap big league production and lots of trade chips. This is a rebuilding situation, no doubt, but some of the ground work has already been laid. There's a lot of high-end talent in the system and much of it, including Berrios and Polanco, is on the cusp of the big leagues.

2. Most of their long term contracts are expiring reasonably soon.
Yes, the Twins have some really bad contracts on their books. Pretty much every team does these days. Minnesota's bad deals at least end reasonably soon, within the next two or three years. This isn't a team with bad contracts on the books through 2020 or 2021.
Here's are the seven Twins players with multiyear contracts and the remaining guaranteed money left on their deals:

2016 2017 2018 2019

Phil Hughes $9.2M $13.2M $13.2M $13.2M
Byung Ho Park $2.75M $2.75M $3M $3M
Joe Mauer $23M $23M $23M
Ervin Santana $13.5M $13.5M $13.5M
Brian Dozier $3M $6M $9M
Ricky Nolasco $12M $12M
Glen Perkins $6.3M $6.5M

Mauer's not going anywhere and the same applies to Hughes and Perkins, both of whom had season-ending surgery in recent weeks. The Twins are stuck with those guys for the time being. Santana and Dozier have actual trade value though, and Park is making peanuts.

These contracts are going to start disappearing following next season, which will free up considerable payroll space for the next GM. I wouldn't say the Twins are in great shape payroll wise, but it could be worse.

3. Target Field is brand new and beautiful.

Target Field is a top 10 ballpark in MLB, in my opinion. It's gorgeous and within walking distance from downtown Minneapolis. The fan base has shown they will support the team when they're contending as well. What more could you want than a great city and a great ballpark? So the winters are brutal. Big deal. The summers make it worth it.

Who are some GM candidates?
Compiling a list of GM candidates is always difficult, but we're going to give it a shot anyway. Here are five outside candidate the Twins could consider for their GM opening.

Thad Levine, Rangers assistant GM: Unlike the others on this list, Levine doesn't have a strong scouting background. He's more of an administrator, and really, that's what the GM is. He manages the folks working for him. Levine has long been considered Jon Daniels' eventual successor.

Jason McLeod, Cubs senior VP of player development: McLeod's list of player development successes during his time with the Red Sox and Cubs includes Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant, Dustin Pedroia, Kyle Schwarber, and Jacoby Ellsbury, among others.

Ray Montgomery, Brewers scouting director: Montgomery is in his second stint with the Brewers. During his time with Milwaukee and the Diamondbacks, he's drafted Rickie Weeks, Jonathan Lucroy, Jake Lamb, Trevor Bauer, and others.

Hal Morris, Angels pro scouting director: Morris is very highly regarded in front office circles. He has a background in scouting as well as an MBA from Stanford, so he's well-versed in both the baseball and business sides of the job.

Kim Ng, VP with MLB: Ng would be the first female GM in the four major sports. She has been an assistant GM with the Yankees and Dodgers, and interviewed for several GM jobs over the years. Ng is currently MLB's senior vice president of baseball operations.

Moreso than ever before, the Twins need a fresh perspective. They're a very loyal organization and that's great, but things have gone so sour for them the last few years that staying the course and promoting from within won't help matters. This organization needs a new voice and a fresh set of ideas in the worst way, especially analytically.

There's no doubt dismissing Ryan was tough for the team ownership, but it was the right move. It's time for a change in Minnesota, because the way they've been doing things the last few seasons wasn't working.

______________________________

"Walleye, a lot of things are going to go wrong in your life that technically aren't your fault. Always remember that this doesn't make you any less of an idiot"

--Walleye's Dad

I'm fully willing to hop on the Miguel mejor train as soon as he improves his defense to the rather low bar of simply not making an error in literally every game. But in the battle of highly publicized Twins amateur signings in 2009/2010 vs. Bryce Harper, there's a new contender.

By bWAR, Kepler has sneakily passed Harper, at 1.6 to Harper's 1.5. This is driven by bWAR's rather low view of Harper's defense at the moment, but the offense is more similar than you'd guess, with Kepler's line of .242/.317/.500 trailing Harper (significantly) only in on-base ability .244/.385/.466.

______________________________

"Walleye, a lot of things are going to go wrong in your life that technically aren't your fault. Always remember that this doesn't make you any less of an idiot"

--Walleye's Dad

This team is such a goddamn suck that I'm in the weird position of being happy that Sano's biggest (apparent) problem is with routine plays. he's actually shown more athleticism there than I expected, and his arm will make up for a lot of sins.

But not 10 errors in 22 games worth of sins. It's been a long time since we've worried about errors, but he's been booting way too many balls over there. All that said, there's no reason not to just keep running him out there, at least until the maybe-September return of Trevor Plouffe. He'll either get it or he wont. But he wont get third base when he's not playing there.

http://www.twincities.com/2016/07/24/minnesota-twins-boston-red-sox-july-24-miguel-sano/

Tough day for Miguel Sano as Minnesota Twins fall short in Boston

By MIKE BERARDINO | mberardino@pioneerpress.com
PUBLISHED: July 24, 2016 at 4:02 pm | UPDATED: July 24, 2016 at 9:49 pm

BOSTON — The ball will find you. That’s the first thing you learn once you get serious about baseball.

Miguel Sano and the Twins were reminded of that eternal truth once more on Sunday afternoon at Fenway Park, where Sano’s continued defensive struggles led to an 8-7 loss to the Boston Red Sox and a split of the four-game series with the American League East power.

A late Twins rally fell short as they completed an emotionally grueling road trip through Detroit and Boston with four wins in seven games. Sano jumped ahead 3-0 but still struck out against Red Sox fill-in closer Brad Ziegler to end the game.

“Unearned runs are painful,” Twins manager Paul Molitor said. “It’s tough when you can’t find a way to get off the field. We gave them too many outs.”

Left-hander Tommy Milone (3-3) was charged with four earned runs out of the eight he allowed in 4 2/3 innings, yet all but one could directly be traced back to Sano’s balky glove at third base.

The young slugger couldn’t quite grab Xander Bogaerts’ soft liner with a dive to his left in the third. Hanley Ramirez followed with a three-run, two-out blast on a first-pitch changeup to wipe out an early 2-0 Twins lead.

“When I reacted to the ball, I thought the line drive was going a little faster,” Sano said. “When I tried to dive, at the last second, it hit my glove. I did all I could to dive and catch the ball.”

In the fifth, after Dustin Pedroia put the Red Sox back in front with a solo homer, Bogaerts somehow beat Brian Dozier’s tag on an apparent pickoff that was overturned via replay. Instead of having the bases empty with two outs, the Red Sox had new life in what became a five-run inning.

“Even Bogaerts thought he was out,” Dozier said.

One out later, Sano let Aaron Hill’s sharp grounder skip past him. Bogaerts scored on the play, and moments later Travis Shaw launched a hanging curve for a three-run homer into the right-field bleachers to make it 8-3.

That ended Milone’s day at 92 pitches. As Trevor May took his warmup tosses on the mound, shortstop Eduardo Nunez pulled Sano aside and tried to lift his spirits.

“That ball was coming like a low line drive,” Sano said. “I tried to keep it down. The last bounce it was a little high.”

Added Dozier: “It was a big situation and a big play. The ball was hit hard, but no excuses. Obviously he needs to make that play.”

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Since replacing the injured Trevor Plouffe at third base at the start of July, Sano has been charged with 10 errors in 15 games at the position. That included errors in each of the final three games of a wild, unpredictable series at a notorious hitter’s playpen.

On Friday night Sano dropped his second popup in six days, and Saturday night saw him misjudge another popup and throw the ball away on a slow roller past the mound.

“It’s bad for me, for us, to make an error like that,” Sano said of Sunday’s miscue. “When I’m on the field I try to do the most I can do every day and try to play hard and catch every ball.”

Byron Buxton’s two-run single cut into an 8-3 deficit in the seventh, but he left the tying run at third with a strikeout to end the eighth.

Before Sunday’s game, Molitor was asked about Sano’s problems in the field.

“He’s a confident guy; he doesn’t like to make mistakes, probably as much as anybody,” Molitor said. “I think we all feel confident he’s going to continue to mature and develop at that position. It takes time.”

It should be noted the 23-year-old had gone nearly a full calendar year since he was last a full-time third baseman. Upon his promotion from Double-A Chattanooga last July 2, he served almost exclusively as the Twins’ designated hitter.

This year, he transitioned to right field from Day 1of spring training.

While Molitor has raised the idea of a defensive slump, Sano swatted that away.

“I don’t think about that stuff,” he said though an interpreter. “I just go out there and try to play defense, try to help the team out. Things happen, you know. I made bad errors out there and they happen, but I don’t think about whether it’s a bad slump or not.”

So his confidence remains? He nodded.

“Every pitch, every at-bat, when I run the bases,” he said, switching back to English. “Everything.”

______________________________

"Walleye, a lot of things are going to go wrong in your life that technically aren't your fault. Always remember that this doesn't make you any less of an idiot"

--Walleye's Dad

The Twins just hired the same search firm as the T'Wolves did. So, something something something.

______________________________

"Walleye, a lot of things are going to go wrong in your life that technically aren't your fault. Always remember that this doesn't make you any less of an idiot"

--Walleye's Dad

I still have no idea who to believe regarding Molitor's job security, though.

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12 play and 12 planets are enlighten for all the Aliens to Party and free those on the Sex Planet-maxxx

XBL: trkc21
Twitter: @tyrcasey

I actually understand the hesitation to trade Ervin Santana. The offense over the past six weeks has looked like the kind that can walk into 80+ wins with an even adequate rotation behind it, and the remaining 2/27mm on his deal is a better one than you're likely to get for a free agent starter of his quality. So unless somebody gets aggressive then... yeah.

But Eduardo Nunez and Kurt Suzuki are at the absolute height of their value; at best are the difference between 65 wins and 60 wins; and aren't contractually likely to play on the next good Twins team. So trade them. Now. For anything that can be useful. A lottery ticket arm. A 19 year old shortstop who's a really good defender. A 23 year old catcher that can't hit but can make anything look like a strike.

Nunez leaving wont be a positive, but Escobar is a better defender than him and, honestly, I'd rather have his glove next to Sano than Nunez'. Then we can promote Jorge Polanco (and his .274/.332/.460 line at Rochester) to Minneapolis and "busy utility" status to get his feet wet for an off-season trade of Brian Dozier. Because I think Polanco's a better defender at second right now than Dozier is, if Polanco's reputation holds up.

There's not an immediate and obvious replacement for Suzuki, but I'm kind of "so what?" on that point right now. Murphy was acquired because he wasn't nothing, but he's been almost as bad at Rochester as he was in Minneapolis. Who cares? Promote him and pair him with Centeno. Or promote Mitch Garver. He's hit at AA and owns a catcher's glove. Or promote Stuart Turner. He's apparently a defensive god and ... owns a bat. Whatever. I'd love to see them take a crack at Derek Norris, but that seems too outside the box for a team this shitty. So scratch that, and give us a shot at this lineup to start next year:

1. Jorge Polanco - 2B
2. Joe Mauer - 1B
3. Miguel Sano - 3B
4. Max Kepler - RF
5. Byung Ho Park - DH (check the AAA stats - he's not done)
6. Eddie Rosario - LF
7. Engelb Vielma - SS (superbly glovey shortstop prospect at AA)
8. Byron Buxton - CF
9. Stuart Turner - C

See what I did there? I justified Santana's continued presence in the rotation with the likely 2017 offense and then I totally gutted it of useful hitters. So you know what this above lineup is? It's the 2012-2013 Kansas City Royals. The one that gave Alcides Escobar and his .234/.259/.300 line 642 plate appearances. The one that decided Hosmer and Moustakas were going to learn to hit as major leaguers. And they won 86 games based on the defense those guys played and some finger-crossing based on contact and speed.

This is a do-able thing for the 2017 Twins, but it'll have to be buttressed by smart moves now that either:

a)supplement the bullpen
b)supplement the very weak catching in the system
c)provide parts that will help that team turn the corner from 86 wins to 93+

______________________________

"Walleye, a lot of things are going to go wrong in your life that technically aren't your fault. Always remember that this doesn't make you any less of an idiot"

--Walleye's Dad

What's the best return we ever got for a quality player in the Ryan era (besides getting Joe Nathan, Liriano and BOOF Bonser?) The haul for Santana didn't turn out to be a whole lot and I honestly don't remember any details from trades this decade.

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12 play and 12 planets are enlighten for all the Aliens to Party and free those on the Sex Planet-maxxx

XBL: trkc21
Twitter: @tyrcasey

He got Cristian Guzman, Eric Milton, and Brian Buchanan for Knoblauch. And then turned Milton into Carlos Silva and Nick Punto and Buchanan into Jason Bartlett. Even more than the Pierzynski trade, that one was a franchise-elevating one.

David Ortiz for the decaying Dave Hollins was another good one, and fits the theme of the thing he did reliably well.

Since then, outside of the Nathan/Liriano/BOOF one, he's pretty much only swung small deals. The Santana one was actually made by Bill Smith, as Ryan retired before he ran into that hornet's nest.

The funny thing is, even at his worst, Ryan would be a great GM to take apart this current Twins team. He was good at getting some value out of ... bad MLB players. Eduardo Nunez might be our best trade asset right now and he was acquired for Miguel Sulbaran. Tommy Milone for Sam Fuld. Eduardo Escobar for the (since reanimated) corpse of Francisco Liriano.

The Span and Revere trades had the potential to be big moves and though the book hasn't closed on either, they don't look great. He was also never really much of a big, loud thinker about the deadline. The best one I can think of there is Bobby Kielty (and Mike Nakamura) for Shannon Stewart, which was a pretty good trade but a bit off for a deadline move since it cost the Twins a current regular.

I don't know what the hell we'd call the Aaron Hicks for JR Murphy trade. Is it a win when both teams' fanbases hate it?

Maybe the best way to do this is in terms of trade types?

1. Acquiring prospects in exchange for established talent (see: Knoblauch, Pierzynski, Revere, Span trades) - A mixed bags with BIG ups and BIG downs. All told, I'd say the ups outweigh the downs, but it's been a dramatic cycle for him here.

2. Acquiring established talent for prospects (see: Luis Castillo, Stewart) - Some good trades, but he can be judged negatively in the absence of BIG moves here. I can't think of one of these that really went badly, but for a team that contended often during his tenure it's pretty weird that those are his two biggest swings and that only one of them was pre-deadline move. He killed the Marlins on that Castillo deal though. That was merciless.

3. Acquiring usable parts for players of no present value to the Twins (see: Nunez, Escobar, Daniel Palka, Jason Bartlett) This is where he excels. Relying on his scouts and finding diamonds in the very, very rough. Take Daniel Palka. Maybe nothing comes of him, but Chris Herrmann has an extended track record of tempting uselessness at the MLB level and now Ryan sent him to Arizona for a guy hitting .277/.358/.552 over AA and AAA. If Palka shows up on an MLB roster and spends a couple weeks as a bench bat, that's a HUGE win for Chris Herrmann.

But I guess that last part is the biggest indictment of him. His loyalty seemed to kind of limit his vision in some respects. Because the Palka trade is a cool bit of cleverness that we can be proud of and, in a good year, might be the difference between 94 wins and 95 wins. But the fact that I remember it or care about it at all probably points to something nearing timidity on Ryan's part.

______________________________

"Walleye, a lot of things are going to go wrong in your life that technically aren't your fault. Always remember that this doesn't make you any less of an idiot"

--Walleye's Dad

Welcome Giants #7 prospect, pitcher Adalberto Mejia. Promoted to AAA in June, does he finish the year in Rochester? Or will he be called up before then?

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12 play and 12 planets are enlighten for all the Aliens to Party and free those on the Sex Planet-maxxx

XBL: trkc21
Twitter: @tyrcasey

I certainly hope that those two things conspire to get him at least a shot to do something in September.

______________________________

"Walleye, a lot of things are going to go wrong in your life that technically aren't your fault. Always remember that this doesn't make you any less of an idiot"

--Walleye's Dad