MMMordabito

... and then there were 22. Santiago to the Tigers. Adjustment needed for over/under on 2020 bombas.

I agree that the best players should play, but Baldelli's management style with all the built-in rest probably lends itself to Riverbrian's playing time idea. In a perfect world, it would mean 10 guys with 145 games, instead of 9 with 162 games. Of course, there will be injuries and decline that will change those numbers. Also, the catcher position is going to be it's own animal. I'd bet that the well-rested 10/11 will collectively give you a better outcome, than the superior yet physically drained 9/10.

Astudillo has been fun to watch, but I think his opportunities might be numbered. He's a good player to have come up hot out of the shoot when you go 78-84 and only have one other player in the lineup with a .800+ OPS, but talent progression and talent injection to the lineup kind of render his services unnecessary for the most part. Gonzalez and Adrianza are exponentially better defensive super-subs, so I just don't see the innings or PAs for him.

Creativity in how to use Graterol to get meaningful outs (I guess they're all meaningful but at different levels) is needed in this situation. I'm definitely not in the camp of "just throw him out there until is arm falls off", but I don't think a hard innings limit should be penned in right out of the gate. Steal a page from Dave Roberts or Craig Counsell and give him different situations to use his talents. Thinking out loud, I can envision a Hader/Maeda combination weapon of some kind.

I went to a Slayer concert at Roy Wilkins Auditorium once and my friend told me they played the entire Reign in Blood album. As we left the concert hall, I witnessed a couple other concert-goers. There was a medium-build guy and his friend who was a big, strong, bald guy with a long full goatee. Medium-build guy: "That was the best concert that I've seen." Big guy: (Grabbing the other by the shoulders and looking him square in the eyes) "NO, that was the ONLY concert!"

The Nationals did it. Worked.

I'd go with "Reign in Blood" - Slayer When do pitchers and catchers report?

Rortvedt and Ober should end up on that too list if they stay healthy. The Twins need to trade some of this depth. On the other hand, not many selections this year, so this could all be eye of the beholder.

Just because I'm seeing this a lot in the threads .... Arraez having a sophmore slump at the plate seems very unlikely to me. I just haven't seen many come up with that kind of bat and zone control. He really can't be shifted effectively, and he's incredibly patient on top of it all. His defense leaves me wondering if he shouldn't be an unorthodox DH, but I will be blindsided if he suddenly can't hit for any measurable amount of time.

Buxton - 3 years Kepler - 5 years Donaldson - 5 years Polanco - 6 years Arraez - 5 years Sano - 4 years Garver - 4 years Until 2023, the Twins need to replace three "starters" on offense. Rosario and Cruz are actual starters, and I am including Gonzalez. It's better if the team has a Gonzalez type. Raley, Larnach, Rooker, Kirilloff, Lewis, Gordon, Blankenhorn and Celestino aren't all going to find spots on this team barring catastrophe. At least half of them need to be moved. Only Lewis and Blankehorn might profile as a Gonzalez type, and I'm sure that would look on the surface as a failure for Lewis. It might not be the worst way for him to start his career though. I'm not sure that Blankenhorn will have the defensive chops to be a super-sub. They should really sell from this ridiculous outfield depth and get some pitching. I definitely have a tendency to say to myself, "No, no, not my precious Kirilloff!" However, max value via trade needs to occur. I would let them start their MiLB seasons and hope that a couple take off and then move them as soon as max value can be had. Unless a prospect is projected to take his turn on the mound every five games, he shouldn't be having the "untouchable" label at this point. Balazovic may be the only guy in that category right now.

This model probably doesn't work with the way the Twins are currently constructed. The White Sox and Astros doing this is a completely different scenario. All three of those guys should now be viewed primarily as what they can get back in a trade for starting pitching. I'm not saying trade all three of them, but they shouldn't be off limits at all.

Oh c'mon, they'll at least be 12-10 when the Twins win.

Way to go Falvine! Ya got 'er dun! I guess I'll need to pick off a crow this spring and serve it up to myself.

BTW, love the photo, Nick. Maybe those 2017 rings should be "taken back".

We probably need to let the investigations play out further for the Red Sox. I agree with your allusion to the light punishment. If Morrison is correct that this has been going on since 2014, then Luhnow should be receiving more than one year. Looking at the staff, the only holdovers from 2014 to 2017 were Luhnow and then a couple of pitching coaches: Brent Strom and Craig Bjornson. Maybe the league can get Bo Porter to shed a little light on this mess. He was kicked to the curb just before the org started towards winning. Maybe there's a little vendetta there. Porter was fired on Monday, September 1, 2014. (less to do with the team's 59-79 record than the need for "new direction" and a "united message throughout the entire organization.) I'm injecting, but perhaps Porter wasn't a fan of the "message" and wasn't willing to comply. It seems Hinch wasn't a fan either, but he was willing to comply with the "united message".

Same on Berrios. I was actually a bit surprised that his arb ask was as low as it was. I thought his camp would ask for over 5 mill. I know it's a game with the arb numbers, but two All-Stars and rock durability would seem to give him a little more push. Hopefully, the club can give him something that doubles his would-be year one arb figure in exchange for a market level option at the end of the deal.

Solid contract extension for the big man. I look forward to four more seasons of moonshots. With the second hardest exit velocity in baseball, Sano does provide the "impact" hitting.

I could get behind waiting to call the off-season a failure until the off-season is over, but hoping for winning despite inefficiency and poor decision-making is going to be a long term losing gamble. The reference to the Dodger comparison that swept the org differences under the rug makes the argument even weaker.

I doubt all these cases are going to arbritration. It's probably a plumbing issue with the news transfer. Quite the payload today.

Bartolo Colon has a shot. Probably not, but he's sexy enough.

For Cruz to get in, I think two of three will need to happen: 1) The PED barrier will need to be broken. Bonds or Clemens or both would need to get in. 2) Cruz will need to get to 500 HRs. (If this is to happen, I hope they come in a Twins uniform.) 3) The Twins win the World Series and Cruz has a dominating performance while winning series MVP.

Topping Harmon's single-season mark isn't out of the question, if he stays healthy. 50HR 100BB 200K? Actually, I could see an interesting race where Sano, Gallo and Judge all compete for the HR crown with a stat line similar to that. They just need to stay healthy.

I don't know. Luis Arraez may be turned into Felix Fermin in HR accumulation.

I think they should call the 2019 ball the "La Stella" ball. Tommy La Stella before 2019: 947 PA 10 HR Tommy La Stella in 2019: 321 PA 16 HR

He'll never steal the bases, so it will never happen. Nevermind the career OBP This is a rose-colored rube-off.