Other Baseball

Hilarious. http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/instagraphs/ben-revere-outfield-assist-alert/

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2016/06/dodgers-designate-carl-crawford-for-assignment.html Crawford is still owed 43.5 after this season but is probably done. I always thought he was a bit overrated because he was an exciting player - lots of triples and stolen bases. He signed a huge deal with Boston (7/142) but it didn't really work out. Boston was able to dump him on LA.

Fun little article on baseball words and phrases - http://m.mlb.com/cutfour/2016/06/14/172757792 Originally, walk off was supposed to refer to the pitcher walking off after giving up the HR and was called "walk off piece," according to Dennis Eckersley. ''It was always walk-off piece," Dennis Eckersley told the Boston Globe. "Like something you would hang in an art gallery. The walk-off piece is a horrible piece of art."

Busting out a .919 OPS. His 16 RBIs would only trail Miguel Sano's 17 on the Twins. Arizona altered his batting stance significantly.

I can't say I'm the biggest fan/supporter of College Baseball, but there was one game yesterday that had me hooked. For those that didn't see the Louisville vs. UC Santa-Barbara match up, you missed out on a great finish. Sam Cohen for UC Santa Barbara hit a walk-off grand slam that I'm sure he'll remember for the rest of his life. It was also hit off of a familiar name, Zack Burdi. http://www.sbnation.com/lookit/2016/6/12/11914270/uc-santa-barbara-stuns-louisville-with-a-walk-off-grand-slam-to-reach

I know this isn't a Twins story, but the article in the Fargo Forum is interesting. Travis Hafner, the Sykeston, ND, native who spent a decade in the big leagues, was inducted into the ND Hall of Fame. In the article, he discusses memories of playing against the Twins and much more. It's worth the read. http://www.inforum.com/sports/4052133-nd-hall-famer-hafner-exceeded-expectations-major-league-baseball#.V1wIjHcPk7w.twitter

According to mlbtraderumors, the 25 year old might be on the trading block. http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2016/06/royals-have-recently-offered-yordano-ventura-in-trades.html He has a nice contract but he's underperforming this year and his anger issues - he started another brawl last night with Machado (this has been a great year for baseball brawls) so KC might look to move him. No idea what they'd want back. From the article: "The extension once seemed an asset, but now may no longer have surplus value. Though we’re now one and a half years into the contract, the vast majority of the guarantee remains to be paid. Ventura has received just over $1MM of what he…

http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/15458724/more-ped-busts-coming-major-league-baseball-soon Apparently no big names. The article is pretty interesting though as it explains how and when players use. "The updated testing also could help explain why the recent positive tests turned up in spring training, which seemed odd to anti-doping experts. Players know they'll be tested in spring training, so it's rare for a player to have anything in his system when he reports to camp. Because testers found a metabolite of the drug and not the parent drug itself, they know those players probably used Turinabol more than a week before they were tested. The players have all …

This is excerpted from Phil Miller's piece in today's StarTribune. By Phil Miller Star Tribune JUNE 4, 2016 — 8:08PM ERIC CHRISTIAN SMITH, ASSOCIATED PRESS Twins split on possible changes to strike zone MLB's competition committee last month recommended eliminating the bottom 2-3 inches of the strike zone, sources told ESPN.com, raising the lower boundary from "the hollow beneath the kneecap," as the official rules currently state, to "the top of the hitter's knees." The electorate is divided, and their opinions are nonnegotiable. When the vote is finally held this November, one side is guaranteed to be unhappy. Baseball’s strike zone, as it turns out, has a lot …

5 years and $125 million bought the Phillies a WAR of -1.1. Also, Ryan Howard's career WAR is 15.0. Nick Punto's is 15.3.

http://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-8c3mz-5f9e13 Interesting Podcast with Mark Hamburger. Willie Argo and Hamburger are both with the St Paul Saints. Hamburger tells his story from getting to the MLB with the Rangers and his time in rehab and everything in between. Some interesting stuff on a former Twins minor leaguer and MN native

This is a great article: http://www.hardballtimes.com/uncompetitive-minor-league-wages-might-be-deterring-talent/

http://www.mercurynews.com/sports/ci_29913105/firing-braves-fredi-gonzalez-leaves-two-minority-managers I would have thought by now this kind of statistic would no longer be possible, nor relevant, but here we are. Should Paul Molitor's replacement be Hispanic? With all the young prospects the Twins are counting on, would it be a plus?

I didn't want to take away from the discussion on the Twins board, plus my article was really more about the general issue of players vs. broadcasters, but I put up a quick piece on Call To The Pen today about the whole issue, and I'd love to hear what Twins fans think about it... https://calltothepen.com/2016/05/24/minnesota-twins-players-crying-foul-broadcasters/

Reading the Lacrosse tribune: 1. Headline reads : "Grichuk, Cardinals walk off against slumping Cubs." The Cubs have lost 14 games all year, and are in 1st by 5 games. I'd take that as a "slump." 2. Looking over the AL leaders, the Twins have a single representative: Danny Santana is tied with Jacoby Ellsbury for 5th in steals with 9. He deserves some love. 3. Chris Sale is looking like a lock for Cy Young atm. Best record, era, and 5th in Ks. Much more competition in the NL. Heading east to see a Pirates game, and a AA game in Akron. How's that for random?

The Rich Hill story has been my favorite of the season so far (only partly because he's on my fantasy team). He's built on his somewhat baffling late-season success from last year and developed into a legit ace at age 36. After last night's eight inning shutout he's now third in the AL in ERA, strikeouts, and WAR. Here's a great Q&A with Baseball Prospectus talking about how he uses data to improve: http://www.baseballprospectus.com/a/29269 A better look at his background story on Player's Tribune: http://www.theplayerstribune.com/rich-hill-red-sox/

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/bo-porter-leaves-astros-dugout-to-confront-jed-lowrie-over-unwritten-rules-violation-075115326.html I believe this piece of evidence is numbered 6,899,987 in the long list of why baseball would be better off doing away with this nonsense.

http://screengrabber.deadspin.com/blue-jays-and-rangers-brawl-completely-ignore-game-1776771655 Started when relief pitcher Matt Bush "accidentally" hit Jose Bautista with a fastball in the ribs. Both sides were hot. Two batters later, Smoak grounds into a sure double play but Bautista goes in Utley-like (interference is called) and the second baseman - Roughed Odor - did not like it. A little shoving and then a real punch and Bautista was nearly TKO'd! For baseball, it was amazing. Sadly, it's the last time these two teams play each other this year, unless they meet in the playoffs. The next inning, the Blue Jays immediately hit Prince Fielder and the benches em…

I'm not sure where this goes but it goes somewhere. I'm also not sure what it tell us. Brad Radke was drafted in the 8th round of the 1991 draft. 4 players drafted in the 8th round in 1991 amassed more than 25 career WAR (Radke, Derek Lowe, Jason Schmidt and Steve Trachsel). Only four players total in rounds 1-7 reached the 25 WAR total in their careers (and that's only if you count Nomar, who didn't sign and was redrafted in 1994).

Fangraphs is putting together a series where they are ranking the TV broadcasters for all 30 MLB teams. Unfortunately this series is just beginning, and the Minnesota Twins are already mentioned. Sorry biggentleben, your Braves are also mentioned....

It seems like Fangraphs is having a hard time keeping their prospect guys.

Are they not airing all the games on regular cable? It seems ridiculous that youd have to have mlbnetwork to watch the playoffs...

We're into mid-May. That is absolutely astounding. Also, Freddie Freeman is the only Braves player to have more home runs than Bartolo Colon. I dunno about you, but I cannot wait for July 26th.

MLB has announced new rules for slides into second base in DP situations. Tough rule to write, but I think it's a good start. I like the parts about not altering the path to intentionally contact the infielder, being able to AND attempting to contact the bag, and putting the neighborhood play to rest. Also some tweaks to pace of game. http://m.mlb.com/news/article/165429062/pace-of-game-changes-new-slide-rule-adopted

Let's make a pact today to retire the hackneyed McCarverism, "Electric Stuff." Post your alternative and let the Twins Daily faithful choose their favorite with their likes. Examples: "has the Shakira of sliders" "sharper movement than the needle on a Rafael Palmeiro lie detector" http://espn.go.com/media/pg2/2006/0316/photo/a_palmeiro_275.jpg

9 BB 1 HBP since his last AB. He has become Barry Bonds. His OBP has risen 44 points since his last AB. 13 BB 4 AB in a four game series. He went 36 pitches without swinging the bat.

a. Martin Luther King b. Jackie Robinson c. Barack Obama d. Branch Rickey e. Calvin Griffith f. Ty Cobb

only 4th slowest jaunt around the bases this season (beating Ortiz and VMart twice). I tried looking up Mauer, but it came back as "Insufficient Data".

I had a chance to interview John C. Gant, the father of Braves right-hander John Gant, who you probably know for his crazy windup. http://tomahawktake.com/2016/05/04/journey-to-the-top-interview-with-atlanta-braves-john-gants-father/ It was a very cool bit of insight from a parent that you don't get typically. Thought folks here would enjoy it as well!

Barreiro ranted about replay challenge last week, and I thought he made a good point: coaches are stalling after every single bang-bang play, and it kills the pacing of the game. He thought baseball could lose replay challenge altogether, during the regular season at least, because over 162 games the blown calls would even out anyways. Thoughts?