Road trip

Bring on the robo umps. I HATE the human error element in officiating. HATE, HATE, HATE. If robo umps are wrong, they will be equally and blindly wrong for all, home and road, veterans and rookies, superstars and journeymen, all ethnicities, all uniforms (I will swear to my grave that the Yankee uniform is worth a few calls a year, if not per game). I've been watching egregiously bad calls ruin close games for nearly 50 years. We have the technology...fix it!

I'm not certain this is the case, assuming Lewis has a full recovery and is physically sound. He will be 24 next year, and while he doesn't have a normal amount of game time above High A that is largely due to injuries and the lost Covid minor league season. He looked very capable this year at both AAA and the majors. Had he not gotten hurt, he very possibly would have been up for good this year. The Twins will likely be somewhat conservative and will start Lewis at AAA next year, but if he looks solid after 30 or so games I suspect they won't hesitate to bring him to the majors again. Whether he can stay at shortstop is unknown, especially after another knee injury. However is bat, glove, and arm will play somewhere.

I'm a little shocked to see he was never selected for the All Star game while with the Twins, but Mike Marshall was an extraordinary reliever for them in the late 70's. His '79 numbers are unthinkable today: 90 games, 142 innings, 32 saves, 10 wins, 2.65 ERA. Finished 5th in Cy Young and 11th in the MVP. Likely need a 6th reliever anyway...although maybe not if Marshall is there to suck up the innings.

Day 2 is almost always a crap shot if you look at history. Not many players make it to the majors after the first few rounds. Take a look at the 2015 draft. Most players taken in 2015 would have contributed at the major league level by now if they were going to....especially the college guys. What do we see? Round 5 - One player with more than 1 WAR - Ryan Helsley Round 6 - Two players with more than 1 WAR - Steven Duggar and David Fletcher Round 7 - Two players with more than 1 WAR - Dylan Moore and Jake Cronenworth (I'll even throw in Jovani Moran, who is at .5 and probably makes it over 1 eventually) Round 8 - One player, Chris Paddack...hopefully he makes it back from surgery. Round 9 - Nobody over 1 WAR, although LaMont Wade is getting close. Round 10 - Nobody over 1 WAR. Contrast that to round 1 of 2015. 19 of the players selected have accumulated more than 1 WAR. Many are already stars (Bregman, Tucker, Swanson, Buehler). Unfortunately the Twins drafted Tyler Jay. The lesson: Get the first couple of picks right, and after that you are just praying to hit a lottery number.

Player A Age 22 season: OPS+ 124 Age 23 season: OPS+ 113 Age 24 season: OPS+ 105 Age 25 season: OPS+ 152 Player B Age 22 season: OPS+ 95 Age 23 season: OPS+ 134 Age 24 season: OPS+ 152 Age 25 season: OPS+ 107 Which hitter do you want? Can't tell much difference, can you? One is Luis Arraez. One is a Twins Hall of Fame infielder. Now, player B truly became elite from his age 27 to 32 seasons. Let's hope Arraez can make a similar jump.

Oh, yeah, I totally understand that Morgan > Puckett. The quotes were my attempt at sarcasm....should have found an emoji I guess. If Rodriguez had 1/4 of the career of either Morgan or Puckett we will call it a win..

I was thinking the next Kirby Puckett, but I'll "settle" for a Joe Morgan. Actually, lots of great power hitters weren't all that tall, headlined by Aaron, Mays, and Mantle....all under 6 ft.

Controversial opinion: Fastpitch softball is actually the superior bat and ball game. Faster pace, more strategy, and you can ride one or two pitchers for an entire weekend of games. It's a shame that the amateur men's game has largely died, but some of us remember it well.

Dobnak sent down? Seriously? I know he has had a couple of rough starts in a row, but this is a surprise to me. Fifteen days ago he was considered our 2nd most reliable starter.

Oh, sure, I'll play. Joe "Emory Board" Niekro Doug Mientkwzrzchzwskch (I refuse to look up the proper spelling, but everyone knows who I mean and remembers his glove work) Jose Morales, pinch-hitter extraordinaire. Chip Hale, pinch-hitter extraordinaire, part 2. Butch Wynegar Mike Cubbage Shannon Stewart...saved a season...what a great trade that turned out to be. Bobby Kielty Don Baylor Christian Guzman. Never became as good as we hoped he would be, but boy it was fun to watch him run when he hit one into the gap.

"His original contract gave him the right to wear #18. That’s currently worn by Silver Slugger catcher Mitch Garver." Garver has worn three different numbers in three seasons with the Twins (43, 23, and 18). Gave up 43 for Addison Reed in 2018. Gave up 23 for Nelson Cruz last year. So {shrugs}, it seems like Garver may not care much what number he wears.

Tagging on to this, Kirby Pucket had little power in his early 20's. He was a pure slap hitter. At 22: 3 HRs in Rookie ball At 23: 9 HRs in single A At 24: 0 HRs in Minnesota, and 1 at AAA At 25: 4 HRs in Minnesota And then he got his man muscles, changed his swing a bit, and the rest is history. Arraez probably never hits 20 HRs, but he will get stronger as he gets older.

Love having Dozier for 2018. Pretty certain I'd like having him for 2019, and probably for 2020. Take a look at the top Baseball Ref comps for Dozier though, and what they have done after their early 30's. It isn't pretty. Dan Uggla Kelly Johnson Damion Easley Rickie Weeks Neil Walker Bret Boone Jose Valentin With the exception of Jeff Kent, power hitting second basemen don't age well at all. Father Time is tough to beat. If Dozier is willing to take a 3 year deal (and he probably won't be) then sure, sign him. I think after 2021 you can't expect him to be better than replacement level on his offense, and his defense is unlikely to be adequate.