Other Baseball

Just for fun I thought I'd put together a proposal for a schedule for a shortened season. The scenario I went with was starting the season on July 6. I picked this date fairly arbitrarily, but it seems like a decently realistic scenario. Let me know what your proposed schedule would look like for that start date. Or pick your own scenario and try to put together a schedule. Here's mine: To limit travel, teams will be reorganized into six geographically-based divisions, and to limit exposure teams will play only within their divisions. Here are the divisions: New England NYY NYM BOS PHI TOR East Coast MIA TAM ATL WAS BAL Great Lakes CIN CLE PIT DET MIL Midwest CH…

First, Lindor has ended extension talks with Cleveland. I would imagine this sets him up for a July move (hopefully not to the Yankees). Second, the Yankees are all the way down to 22 with their farm system. Hopefully, that means not enough bullets to acquire someone like Lindor at the deadline. On the flip-side, the Twins are ranked 7th and team with the Rays (1), Dodgers (3) and Braves (8) as teams who are winning and have top 10 farm systems.

It’s time to transition away from the reports of everything they did. We all had a feeling that players were going to take matters into their own hands when Manfred gave the players immunity. So far they are living up to the promise. In 4 spring training games, 5 different Astros players have been hit by a pitch. Here’s some video of fans showing their disgust for the team. I’m interested to see how long this will go into the regular season... The Astros are going to need a lot of mental toughness to get through the season.

https://youtu.be/JPpVdMDez5U This is the type of thing that Baseball needs to incorporate into every broadcast in an effort to reach new audiences, heighten player brands, increase interest, humanize the players and educate. Obviously, the discussion with the booth should be off limits due to performance distraction and they would have to manage blue language through a simple delay or only using audio on replays but this is one of many things that baseball can do to improve the broadcasts, create superstars/characters, make the game more personal and increase interest from those who fully understand the game and those who are still learning about the game. The …

https://www.mlb.com/news/yoan-moncada-contract-extension Ken Rosenthal reported a 5 year, $70 million extension with an option year that would bring it to $90 million. The Sox now have Jimenez, Robert, and Moncada extended.

In my recent blog "Diamonds in the Rough" I stated that I believe Chris Archer was a diamond in the rough. Although he always has shown potential & ability to pitch 200 innings, he hasn`t lived up to our high expectations. Many stars takes a while to break out; at TB he had stiff East division competition & wasn`t ready & at PIT, he wasn`t coached properly. Early this fall, I had a gut feeling that 2020 would be his breakout. I was hoping that FO 1st external deal was to call up Shelton & say lets get this done. I remember in an article I read that Chris Archer could be had for Twin`s Severino then. Archer I believe has a lot of up side like top of th…

Usually this is a 4-6 week recovery. He will be out for the first Twins-Indians series, given that he will have to play rehab games to make up for spring training. I feel bad for the guy. Lots of very unlucky injuries during the past few years.

https://sports.yahoo.com/gold-glove-finalist-robbie-grossman-060206074.html Admittedly, I did not follow baseball's awards last year but... what? I get it he didn't make an error but his range is atrocious, so bad we compared it to Delmon.T This is a sham.

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2020/03/mlbpa-has-initiated-second-grievance-against-pirates.html Even pre-Donaldson, you want to talk Cheap Pohlads? They got "Nutting" on this ownership group.

MLBTraderumors Was this the guy some of us were salivating over as a key to any Dozier-Dodger deal a couple years back?

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/mlb/john-oleruds-daughter-jordan-dies-at-19-after-battling-rare-disease/ar-BB10AX8I My heart goes out to John Olerud and his family. I'm sure this will be dark time, but I'm hopeful they'll have the support they need. It sounds like his family has spent a good deal of time and money supporting others with similar conditions to his daughter. I hope that will lift them up. Very selfless.

I can no longer say I want the Twins to emulate the Astros. Bush league maneuver to use cameras in order to steal signs.

Per Spotrac: Justin Verlander signed a 2 year / $66,000,000 contract with the Houston Astros, including $66,000,000 guaranteed, and an annual average salary of $33,000,000. In 2020, Verlander will earn a base salary of $33,000,000, while carrying a total salary of $33,000,000. How many pitches will Justin be asked to ping opposing batters after Houston players are targeted for retaliation for the sign stealing scandal? How many ejections in 2020? Houston is in complete disarray....no Man's Land entering 2020... FalVine: "Lewis or Kiriloff for Verlander, straight up?" Comments?

BIG title right? But I think MLB is sitting at a unique precipice right now, and we, as baseball fans, should be concerned about everything in the title. Spring is almost here, sorta, but it feels more like spring is right around the corner with Spring Training's arrival! All the world seems better and rignt when Spring Training comes! Except...it's not. Not completely at least. I think we can all grudgingly admit that. The 2020 season is beginning with some of the usual optimism we all share as baseball fans, whether it be here at TD as Twins fans, or as baseball fans everywhere. But there is a dark cloud hanging over our beloved sport that needs to be addressed. Th…

According to mlb.com, Severino is being shut down and his opening day status is in question. That means NY may begin the season without both Severino and James Paxton in the rotation.

http://www.startribune.com/the-ex-rays-tampa-bay-gets-ok-from-mlb-to-explore-montreal/511580082/ This piece with an AP byline was posted on the Strib website today. Maybe it's not significant, but then again maybe it is. If I were an owner choosing between Montreal and Tampa/St. Pete for a location for an MLB franchise I'd choose Montreal for sure.

Trevor Bauer posted a video in which he rants on some interesting baseball topics... In particular, he talked about things like the cleat policy and baseball's advanced media. About how well the NBA markets themselves on social media and how poorly MLB does. Where is the innovation? It's worth taking the one minute to listen to and then discuss.

Holy cow, a blockbuster trade!

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/why-im-suing-the-houston-astros-over-their-cheating/2020/02/13/c15bef00-4e9f-11ea-bf44-f5043eb3918a_story.html Mike Bolsinger, the former Blue Jays pitcher recently made the news by suing the Houston Astros. It's really a good look. I don't think he's got a great legal case, but it could be interesting.

What is this, The Bachelor? Will the Yankees give the Twins a rose every year in the playoffs? This is a bad idea.

I know it gets hot in Florida, but c'mon, Reese!! https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2020/02/blue-jays-catcher-reese-mcguire-arrested.html

Hey all, I see a lot of advanced stats flashed at Twins Daily. I was a wondering which among them you all saw as a real improvement over traditional triple crown stats for pitchers or hitters?

Escobar, Dozier, and Suzuki in this fun plate appearance. https://zonecoverage.com/2019/featured/twins-clubhouse-reacts-to-escobars-homer-off-dozier-on-saturday-night/

We've resisted in the NL for 47 years now and with a 26th player added it may be delayed even longer. When offense is slacking they talk about bringing it to the NL. The DH allows non-athletes like David Ortiz to stay on in the majors. You can justify bad contracts in the AL by saying well he can always be the DH. Pujols is if you've read his comments about facing Dotel in the Dominican Republic is likely 2 years older than he is. Well, no wonder why he signed in the AL increasing salaries and years for older players who should be pinch hitters most of the time. If you are a pitcher you like facing a low hitting batter in the game, the other pitcher. If more games…

Former/Long-time Twins prospect Todd Van Steensel is getting back into blogging. As those of you who have followed him in social media know, he's got some great stories from his career as a minor league pitcher... and he's got a great way of communication and telling stories to fans. He's honest. He's upfront. He has, at times, been a little controversial. In other words, this blog has the potential to be fantastic... When he posts new articles, let's post them here and discuss them. Here is his most recent post in which he - sort of - describes himself as a cockroach, and that's a good thing... How do you know? https://clubhousechronicles.com/2020/01/22/how-do-y…

It seems to me AAA should be the final proving ground for prospects. But looks like most rosters made up of career minor leaguers and former MLB players. There are a few high prospects but not many. Is it to be prepared in case of a series of injuries at the same position, so not reliant on rookies. Don't want to start high prospects service time early if injuries occur? Seth's article "Looking ahead" lists 21 players that will be rule 5 eligible at the end of the year as either "locks, possibilities, or bubble" to be added to 40 man for Twins at end of year, I would think you would want to see them at the AAA level at some point this year to help make decisions at the en…

I’ve respected his opinion for a long time... Even if he’s never respected the Twins’ prospects enough I took advantage of their last mega deal of 60% off, and really looking forward to reading him a lot more now that’s he left ESPN.

With the season winding down, let's talk about what manager spots will be open this winter. Already open: Kansas City - Ned Yost retiring San Diego - Andy Green fired after 4 seasons. San Francisco - Bruce Bochy retiring Potential Openings: Chicago Cubs - There seems to be a lot of smoke that Joe Maddon will get the blame for missing the playoffs and be fired. Detroit - How long does Gardy want to keep doing this? Pittsburgh - Clint Hurdle has been there for a long time now (since 2011) but things have been trending the wrong way for a few seasons. Maybe they finally decide to rebuild for real and get a new manager to lead the way. Philadelphia - B…

As expected, the Boston Red Sox have fired manager Alex Cora. The lone surprise might be that they didn't wait until after MLB's investigation on the Red Sox was complete. However, his name being all over the Astros report in conjunction with the Red Sox allegations, it was the easy choice. Still wonder what his suspension will be. If AJ Hinch's was one year... Will Cora get two years? Maybe a lifetime ban?

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2020/01/diamondbacks-designate-jimmie-sherfy-for-assignment.html He's had some high K-Rates in the minors, but he's had control issues. Here's an article that doesn't seem to think the K-Rate is sustainable at the big league level, but seems to think he should get more of a look. Would a change of scenery and coaching allow his potential to be unlocked? He would need a 40 spot, and he's out of options.