kab21

I forgot about the home opener angle of that since it isn't the season opener. Thanks

What is the reasoning for off days in the middle of series? I understand the first one since they do this all of the time on opening day but the others seem ridiculous.

He is available as a long reliever plus 8 other RP'ers. This has to be sufficient. Plus I would be very surprised if the Twins don't start with Escobar/Adrianza (one starting), Grossman, Garver and Aybar for position players on the bench.

But the comparison is to Busenitz and not to being a good MLB'er. Busenitz is just as old and had a couple of stints in 2015 and 2016 that were just as bad. It is one thing to say that someone isn't good but to say that another is better is a different matter.

They have very little flexibility to move players up and down but they more players to choose from because they used an option on a guy and retained him instead of sending the player back. If Busenitz is any good at all he will certainly get his chance. And you seem to dismiss the idea that Kinley might actually be better than Busenitz.

Why would they have 13 pitchers to start the season if they only plan on having 4 starters with Hughes in the bullpen?

At the end of the day your issue is Kinley vs Busenitz though. Kinley's bad in AA is about as relevant as Busenitz's bad in AAA (Angels) in 2016 or his 2015 in AA. Kinley is a bit of a flyer and I won't claim to be optimistic on his MLB chances but Busenitz has been wildly overrated in this thread based on 30 innings last year that the advanced stats say were lucky.

That is true but many are saying that Busenitz should be on the team because of how well he did last year. The fact is that he didn't do that well in that limited sample size. His ERA looks great but he didn't strike anyone out and his swstr% (needs less of a sample size to be relevant) was awful. Busenitz is still an intriguing RP to have but the fact is that he has options to be sent down.

Pressly might be a guy that doesn't figure it out but he is also the kind of guy that I give extra chances to. He led the Twins in both velocity and swstr% last season. It might be that he just makes too many mistake pitches even if overall he fools hitters but this is the kind of guy that tweaks one little thing and becomes dominant. Just my two cents.

8-2 (or even 9-1) would be a solid prediction with Jimmy. I just don't have the same confidence in the Wolves w/o Jimmy. Denverx2, Utah, Philly and the suddenly not terrible Lakers present challenges. And I wouldn't put it past them to spoil one of the tanking team's dreams.

The player doesn't receive the money but I think it is still paid (and donated?). This certainly could be a 2.5 good years out of 4 situtation. I am not optimistic about Ervin after the surgery combined with his age.

Definitely 1/12 for me. 2/30 would have been best but I am not entirely trusting of Lynn and 4/56 can quickly become a Nolasco/Hughes situation. Perhaps it becomes an Ervin situation but 4 years is a risky contract for Lynn.

Big win today. Wolves are 2.5 games ahead of the 9 seed and 1.5 behind the 4 seed. This would be a lot more exciting if I confidence in this team right now. Please come back Jimmy. At least the Wolves have an easy schedule from here on out. A lot of tanking teams so hopefully they take advantage of that. Wiggins was on fire tonight. Gonna give some props to that.

I think your expectations of utility players might be a little too high. Especially the 2nd utility IF'er (behind Escobar). Adrianza is better than a replacement player but that doesn't mean he is an ideal starter for 80 games.

Rosario - struggles the first couple of months and the forum is flooded with demote him and should have traded him comments. He finishes the season up strong with a .275/.320/.440/.760 OPS. Ervin Santana - Everything falls apart for Santana this season (surgery). He posts a 5.75 ERA in 18 GS and doesn't get his option picked up. Escobar - .260/.300/.400 14 HR Dozier - 40 HR Mauer - .325/.400/.440/.840 Garver - 150 PA .825 OPS Rodney - 45 SV 4.75 ERA

Adrianza in some ways is the second coming of Escobar. A not terrible MiLB career followed by several years of utility usage in the majors. Adrianza is currently better with the glove but certainly a step behind with the bat. The question right now is just what he will do with the bat. If he is anywhere in the upper .600's (like >680+ OPS) then he will do fine as a fill in for the first half of the season. FWIW - Regardless if Sano is suspended I expect Escobar to be playing at 3B a lot (50% or more) this season. Escobar will get his days at SS and hopefully Aybar doesn't see the field.

Even if Sano isn't suspended I still expect Escobar to play about 1/2 of the games at 3B so I would go with Adrianza as a nominal starter. With Sano I would probably add Aybar and not play him. If Sano is suspended then I bring up Gordon and get him 2-3 starts/wk before sending him down when one of the suspensions end. He could of course make a case for taking the job permanently or for getting sent down early due to struggling.

Maybe a little but his numbers against RHP have been improving each season and were the highest last season (out of the last 4 years).

I could see a push for a more relaxed salary cap (soft cap/luxury tax) or at least something that was tied to revenue increases. A few articles has mentioned that revenue increases have significantly outpaced the soft cap adjustments.

Do any trades go against the premise of the article though? The only one I can think of is Kintzler. That could be spun as saving money or as getting any level of prospect for a player that wasn't going to be resigned.

Perhaps but I think it has more to do with the penalties for going over the cap becoming more severe. I think repeat offenders that are in the highest bracket over the cap would pay double on everything over the soft cap. That $20M/yr contract just became $40M/yr. The Yankees might be making a ton of money but that is a lot even for them.

I think we need to see 2-3 offseason's before jumping to that conclusion. Most of the usual biggest spenders didn't make very many moves due salary cap and luxury tax considerations. Nobody should be surprised if there just wasn't enough money to spend on all of the free agents this year. The one big thing that will cause a new contract era is a correction in local TV rights. The cable TV future is a disaster and at some point the ridiculous money getting spent on TV rights is going to dry up. But until that happens I predict salaries will rebound in the next offseason or two.

Perhaps Bjelica is a better fit for the team with Towns, Butler and Teague on the floor. Wiggins is of course crazy talented and my hope is that he figures out a role with Butler out right now. Bjelica seems like a better complement though since he can move around on the 3 point line while the other 3 are dominating the ball.

I wish Romero was in AAA but it is a numbers game. He is one of the most talented starters that I would make assignments work around.

Just when I think there is no hope the Wolves defeat the Warriors (minus Curry and Draymond) and the Wizards (minus Wall). I didn't think the Wolves could have defeated the Grizzlies at this point so I don't care if those teams were missing a player just like the Wolves are. It is great to see them playing well. And Bjelica has been doing great. I have been a fan of his skillset since he came to MN but he could never stay healthy and get into the flow of the game. Is he better than Wiggins?