um_stevenel

Another option might be rotating the piggy-backed starts, and having each starter occasionally get a start where they only do one time through the lineup or three innings to give them a lighter day, and have the sixth ostensible starter come in for as much of the rest of the game as they can to give the bullpen a break.

I've often wondered about a slightly different approach to this. No idea if there's any reason this would be different than a six man rotation in effect, but is there a reason not to cycle through skips in the rotation to give starters an occasional break within an otherwise normal routine? Rather than aiming for 32-34 starts for a starter that doesn't miss any time, have them start 28-30, with a skipped start once every month or two. For this team, with Hill and Pineda joining a couple months in, use ~6 starters, but cycle a skipped start in if all are healthy (and if not, go with the five that are, supplemented by Thorpe, Dobnak, etc. as needed). Berrios skipped first time through, Odorizzi second time through, etc. I think they did this with Pineda at least once or twice last year to keep him fresh, and I really hoped they would with Berrios when he struggled. Just a thought.

I love this article. Any chance you could go back for the previous couple years as well? I don’t even remember what the Twins did at the 2016 deadline, and 2017 is fuzzy. But this should be a regular deadline piece each year.

What do you think the approximatprospect cost would be if Minnesota ate Kennedy’s salary for the rest of the contract? Could they get him for basically nothing?

I forget the origin of the saying, but everybody wins 54, everybody loses 54. It’s what you do with the other 54 that matters. They never said the expected wins or losses happened with any predictability.

Seems like Kirilloff and Rooker could both debut this year or next. With Kepler’s extension, OF is unlikely. Do you think one of them is likely to be traded?

I read all the time, but wasn't really aware that you were soliciting writers. I knew some people occasionally tried their hand at it, but not that you were recruiting in the manner you describe. It might be worthwhile to have some regular calls for writers, or bring attention to how you intend to operate. As it's currently the end of the year, a "new writer of the year" award could be a post in which you draw attention to your process. Maybe have a vote like you often do for minor league player of the day. Highlight 5-10 new writers, provide links to their best or most viewed choices, and have the community vote on their choice. You could also provide a minimum payment for a first post ($25 if a post gets a minimum number of views) or later post (10th post with 100 views also gets $50) or something along those lines. Lastly, perhaps you could offer a platform for people to pitch ideas to Twins Daily for posts, and offer feedback in advance? I think it's open for people to write, but you might have a lot of people that have an idea, but are nervous to try. If they have a closed proposal or submission option, they might make that step? Also, somebody earlier suggested having new ongoing series - I think that's a really good idea. The daily minor league reports and monthly minor league awards are staples I always look forward to now. Even existing ones could target newer writers and specifically ask them to participate in those.