Twins in 3-D (Dismay, Disappointment, Doom)

[stringer bell]

I have been bravely optimistic about the Twins this spring.  They had several players exceed expectations last year and have a wealth of talent at the top two levels of their minor league system.

 

I have rolled with and even defended the decision to go with a failed prospect and a guy who signed a minor league contract as the Opening Day center field options.  I have been willing to give the benefit of the doubt in the selection of the final five players or so to the roster, despite the decision seemingly unerringly going with lower-upside, older players.  Each decision was met with skepticism and snark, and I couldn't be critical of the skeptics because there seemed to be too flimsy a case to be made for each succeeding roster choice.

 

Now comes the Santana Suspension and the moves of giving Mike Pelfrey a spot in the starting rotation and adding Aaron Thompson to the 25-man roster.  If all of the earlier moves hadn't played out with the same result (upside sent packing, questionable older player/veteran getting a less than deserved shot) I might be able to defend the most recent announcements.  Can't do it--gotta walk away and wait for the silver lining to appear.  All hope is lost.

 

I realize there are far more important things than a baseball team in flyoverland.  People suffer terrible fates every day and suffer real loss.  I also realize baseball isn't reality--A-Rod is getting paid, utility infielders make more than anyone in my home town, and questionable characters are heroes to kids and adults across the country and the world.  Baseball and the Twins have provided me with entertainment and hope when times got tough.  Right now they offer only dismay, disappointment and (predictions of) doom. 

 

When the real games start and the Twins win a few, I'll feel better about this.  I had similar feelings last May when the Twins were using their Rochester infield as their starting outfield.  I hope it gets better soon, but maybe this summer I can play a lot of golf.  Time will tell.

[curt1965]

When I saw the Santana news, it felt like a kick in the gut (or a knee to the groin.) That's what you get for being a Minnesota sports fan, I guess!

[JB_Iowa]

When I saw the Santana news, all I could think was

BLEEP, BLEEP, BLEEP.

[Halsey Hall]

That was a big blow to all Twins Nation.  So this season will be what it will be.  Maybe it'll bring more youngsters up later on which will be interesting anyway.  I still look to 2018 as the big year for us. 

[NoCryingInBaseball]

The Santana news was certainly a kick-in-the…somewhere in the general mid-section area. While my optimism has been partially damaged, I do believe the starting rotation will have more pressure to produce or be replaced with May, Meyer, maybe even Berrios. Of course, the bull pen looked shaky even before the Santana news.

[D. Hocking]

I was enjoying a day off, reading Mike Berandino's article on Mauer - thinking it perhaps it was more than a PR piece -- full of specifics and lighter on cliches, thinking maybe there is some hope for this season.  I did not even get the article closed and saw a tweet about Santana.  I had to read it about three times before I was able to get a grip on what it said.

 

I suppose better this year than next when we are further along with the future players, and if Gibson continues to develop and become more consistent, Nolasco doesn't give batting practice every game, Meyer and/or Mays makes their presence known, we won't feel Santana's absence quite as much.  There is always something that goes wrong ( a key player gets hurt etc) and by May you usually don't have everyone you thought you could count on in March.  Maybe this will be our bad luck for the season.

 

It is disappointing and frustrating, but I am going to refrain from wearing black right now, and just try to enjoy the start of the season.  In reality, I was not planning on a World Series team, but just hoping to see some improvement and development of the future players (I am going to ignore the average age of the bullpen for now)  and see some more entertaining games with signs of hope of 2016/2017.  That could still happen.

[stringer bell]

 

That was a big blow to all Twins Nation.  So this season will be what it will be.  Maybe it'll bring more youngsters up later on which will be interesting anyway.  I still look to 2018 as the big year for us. 

Halsey, is it me or are the goal posts always moving away?  To (partially) quote Danny Glover, "I'm too old for this "stuff".

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

I was also taken aback by the suspension news, but **** happens. You learn to live with it. What really kicked me in the gut was the Pelfrey announcement.