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.

Stunning to see Garver and Polanco with positive OPS+ numbers of 110 and 109. The eye test says they have been pretty bad. Yet they rate as above average hitters across MLB in 2021. Scoring is down so badly across the league (except when the Twins bullpen is pitching).

I dunno, I thoroughly enjoyed watching, and I don't normally watch the series religiously if it has two teams I don't care about (which would be this year). However I'm staying home more, just like most people, and I watched most of it as an alternative to more hours of Neflix. Game 4 was as exciting a World Series game as has ever been played, imho. Multiple lead changes, and then the ending was surreal. The Kevin Cash decision in Game 6 was immediately controversial. Even if it had worked out most people would have opposed it. Like you, I'm kind of glad it didn't work out, even though I was sort of, kind of pulling for the Rays. Cash's decision prevented the slim possibility of witnessing another Jack Morris-like performance. I felt a little cheated. The Dodgers were obviously very happy to win. I can't say the immediate celebration looked much different than any other year. They'll be proud of their rings. For some players it will be their only ring. And even if a regular season had been played, I'd pretty confidently say that the Dodgers probably had the best roster in 2020. Is there an asterisk? I suppose so. But sports (and life) are full of asterisks. Enjoy the moment while you can, if you can.

Darvish had an extraordinarily bad year in 2018, but otherwise he's been mostly quite good. A career ERA+ of 125 is not easily replicated. Maeda was among the top 3-5 starting pitchers in the AL this year. He'll get Cy Young votes, and would be a contender in many years but of course this year Bieber was otherworldly. You are tough to satisfy I guess. None of the above are Hall of Famers, but every GM would be happy with the outcome if they signed an international prospect like Yamamoto and he then performed with Tanaka/Maeda/Darvish-like results.

Quite a few more success stories than Nomo and Dice-K. Maeda, Darvish, and Tanaka got to MLB relatively young and have done very well. Iwakuma, Saito, and Uehara had nice careers as well, but didn't get to MLB until they were in their 30s so their careers were relatively short here.

I think it starts with retooling the coaching staff. A new hitting coach is a must. I'd love to get Rowson back but that probably won't/can't happen. In terms of the roster, I don't think anyone has mentioned yet that Garver may be redundant at this point. It seems that Jeffers is already better defensively, he's significantly younger, and it appears that his bat will be solid. Multiple teams will be looking for a catcher and Garver has a cheap contract and is one year removed from an outstanding season. Somebody might overpay for Garver now. Most catchers age badly, and he will be 30 next year. Wait another year (if he has a bad one) and Garver may have no trade value left. I've always loved Garver and wished he had played more when he was younger. But it isn't personal...it's business.

Actually, I believe the Twins have to stay *behind* Oakland. The Astros will almost certainly slot in as the 6 seed (worst record among 2nd place finishers). The #3 seed (worst record among division winners) will play the 6-seeded Astros. If the season ended today (pasted from ESPN): AMERICAN LEAGUE No. 1 Rays* vs. No. 8 Blue Jays No. 2 Athletics* vs. No. 7 Indians* No. 3 Twins* vs. No. 6 Astros No. 4 White Sox* vs. No. 5 Yankees*

It is also entirely possible that the Twins could draw the Astros if they win the division. It would all depend on whether they end up as the 2 seed or 3 seed. They are ever so slightly behind Oakland for the 2 spot at the moment.