Otaknam

I am optimistic because of the upgrade in starting pitching. No dumpster diving for retreads like Archer and Bundy this year, with solid starters 1-5 and some promising rookies and second year guys to fill in when needed. If Mahle and Lopez are very good they have a chance to make a playoff run, even without a shutdown starter. As for the FO and Rocco, their dogmatic adherence to analytics for starting pitching is an aggravation, especially with the leaky bullpen last year. Hopefully Baldelli unleashes his inner Rocco and uses his intuition and actual managing skills upon occasion and shows confidence in his starters to pitch into the late innings. Because right now that’s almost a felony to do that on this team. Solid starters want to win and pitch complete games, because that’s the competitor in them and where the money is at.

Nickname? “Flavi Five” comes to mind. Or the “Flinging Falvis “. Frankly, it’s about time Falvi did something about the rotation. Is this year six?

Finally some depth that will give the team a picture of where they are at once free agents like Gray and Maeda potentially leave after this year.

I’m hoping Alcala has an outstanding spring and Carrie’s that into the season. Another power arm would sure help. Also watching Pagan this spring to see if he can somehow get some high leverage outs, or any outs, without consistent loud contact.

Who knows? Seems solid considering where he was picked but sometimes you hit it big in lower rounds. Edouard Julien comes to mind.

Disagree on Larnach. We don’t know what his ceiling is given how few at bats he has. The jury is still out on him but given his power potential and decent defensive abilities he could still be a solid player with 25 HR, 90+ rbi and .275 average. We should know more about him by October.

Yawn! This column is kind of meandering and I don’t think proves the point that it was trying to make: that a ghost runner in extra innings is a detriment to the Twins. Every season is different, with different rosters. The Twins problem is Rocco, who doesn’t play old school baseball of hit and run, steal a base, move runners up with a productive out, or lay down a bunt. And he burns up his bullpen by yanking starters early, so even losing an extra inning game could be of some benefit if it saves his overworked bullpen.

Clickbait column. The Twins will never pursue Ohtani because that’s not what they do and the price tag is so high, regardless of the merchandise sales in Japan. And there is the cultural fit, too, so a west coast destination seems likely. Dodgers, anyone?

They wouldn’t be the first top draft choices to flame out. But Balazovic should know better than to put himself in the situation where he gets his jaw broken in a fight. Just walk away for God’s sake sake! Lack of maturity that may derail his career.

Is that legal for a Twins player, like Martin, to steal a base? Rocco must have been at the other game site.

The Sabato pick was a head scratcher from the beginning, considering he is a one tool guy. No FO gets all picks right but this guy, with no defensive skills, was a mistake ready to happen, especially with the need to power arms. They must have hoped for a right handed David Ortiz.

They call him mellow yellow! What’s next? Tiny Tim tip toeing to first base.

Bob Costas wrote a book years ago on the topic of MLB revenue sharing, with both a spending maximum and minimum for each team. It seems like the MLBPA would support a system like that since most of those players don’t get $200 + million contracts, only the elite. There is plenty of money to go around but greed always enters into the discussion when you pit millionaires against billionaires.

It has to be both, the over spending by the Mets and others and bargain basement spending by others. The big markets in NY, Boston, LA, and other places have such lucrative TV contracts that signing players to exorbitant salaries for ten years, when they may only get six years of production, doesn’t really impact their financials going forward. Other smaller markets can’t afford that, creating a competitive disparity. Football solved that with TV revenue sharing. I don’t see the big boys going along with that in baseball.

A Burnes trade would only make sense if he is the missing piece to a serious WS run. But right now the rotation has solid veterans, with young and capable arms waiting for their chance. I’d roll with that right now and see how the season goes.