Monkeypaws

that is actually where I saw it. This gif is more fun to watch. https://i.imgur.com/qvySbKm.gifv

Astudillo made a name for himself vs. the Yankees the other night: https://www.mlb.com/cut4/twins-catcher-willians-astudillo-channeled-magic-johnson-with-this-no-look-pickoff-throw/c-268667674

Silly me - I thought this thread got bumped because Hughes had a fairly solid outing against the Yankees, and people were reconsidering. WRONG!

Tim Brown proclaims the Twins are winners of the off-season: https://sports.yahoo.com/surprise-big-winners-mlbs-ugly-offseason-233533635.html

2 for 12 seems like a good starting point. Lynn's camp can counter 4 for 50. Meet at 3 for 30ish, everybody happy.

Most home runs by a second baseman in a single season, American League: 40, Brian Dozier. He's been a great Twin for sure.

My expectation for this off-season was to see what the new front office was made of, after a cautious entry into the role, evaluating assets, etc. What I've seen? A combination of good baseball and good money moves. Not wild like Chuck Fletcher, but sound, sensible moves that have made the team better: not by leaps and bounds, but with some improvement by the young core, solid playoff team.

Pounding? Baseball ain't exactly hockey. If you can stand, walk, run a little, you can play the game. :-)

When there is nothing left to be learned in the minors, sink or swim. Or at least tread water.Buxton and Berrios are excellent examples, to be followed.

dallas will be taking over ownership of the Stars in a couple years as well.

Not sure where the ERA over 5 is coming from. Well, it was good enough for him to post a winning record on a below .500 team.

Even if Odorizzi puts up the exact same numbers as last season, it still cements him in as the Twins 3rd best starter.

One simple metric that I've found a reliable indicator of how well some is pitching over the years: Innings Pitched vs. Hits allowed. in 2017: Gibson gave up 182 hits in 158 innings. Santana gave up 177 hits in 211 innings. Odorizzi gave up 117 hits in 143 innings. More like Santana or Berrios than Gibson. He must have some decent stuff.

Tunnelvision is the main problem. See Minnesota from another perspective. The Twins had a nice rebound last season, but they fail to make the shortlist of viable contenders. Top dogs will pick a recent world series champ over a possible aberration almost every time. Or a top living location: So. Cal. vs. Minnesota? If you didn't grow up here, not a lot to get excited about. The Winfields, Molitors, Morrisses, and Steinbachs will come back home, or maybe an avid fisherman. The others, well, considering most ball players are southerners or from the Caribbean, let's not hold our breath.

Well, what is Tampa bay gonna take but the cream? Nobody has the Twins at the top of their farm system rankings. Hey, haven't I read you yourself advocating free agent over trade?

Archer is but 2 years younger than Darvish, and has yet to have his arm explode. Gutting the farm system for a guy who had an ERA over 4 the last 2 seasons. Gimme Lynn or Cobb over that.

My services are available for a modest fee....

End game? Alienation of major league baseball fans looks like a real option. I can watch H.S. ball, college ball, town ball, make a short road trip to minor league ball, even watch some little league if I want. Love me some Target Field, but I can go to the other end of the light rail and watch the Saints for a fraction of the price, get much better seats for much less money, better selection of cheaper brew, etc. Depends whether you are a baseball fan or a MLB fan only. The greed vs. entitlement battle has no appeal to me.

Thrylos said: Also, I would suspect that some Catholics might object if their religion is used as a Mascot... There's a Catholic mascot. Funny.

Major league sports is big ugly business of the worst kind. Again, I'll bring up Euro football, which is my favorite game, kind of. It is less so because 10-15 teams in Europe just throw crazy money around. There you can buy players under contract, and the more years, the higher the price. Every year "transfer" records are broken, teams buy players they don't need, and competition is reduced. Who has won Spain besides Barcelona or Madrid lately? However, occasionally something awesome happens, as with Leicester City winning the Premier league a couple years ago. Did they throw wild money around? No, their scouts found players from insignificant French teams, and the lower divisions of English football, and built a champion team that shocked football. That's the kind of champion I want. Outfox em is much more satisfying than outspend 'em. I think Falvey & Co. are the guys to do it too. Much like Andy McPhail.

Such folly is the free agent market when you sign someone for 6 years hoping to get 3 good years out of them. Yeah, it's competition, but like a high-stakes poker table, few can afford to really play.

I think you are kinda right there - like magazines, circulation doesn't drive the profits, it's ad revenue. Still, compared to the deal the Twins had at the Metrodome, Target Field is a gravy train.

How many folks would have expected the Twins to be any kind of competition last year? Hard for me to write off the rest of the division quite yet.

Baseball isn't an immediate gratification fix. The absence of a clock suits many baseball fans just fine. Dumb,dumb,dumb,dumb,dumb,dumb,dumb,dumb, idea, I think baseball should stick to its guns. Letting people flow is good. Stop cramming every available second of free time with music, distractions, etc. Chill the #$%^ out baseball.