Old Twins Hat

Never seen so many guys so hung up on what they think possible scenarios may shade into predictions if a particular analysis is applied to projections of potential in what could have been worlds which only statistics can actually adequately describe if dis-aggregated from previous analyses which no one can possibly contest. Ya. Go Twins. Let's have some fun.

Twins are going for it, guys. That's what I see in this move. They have the pieces in place; relievers can be added along the way. They are going for it.

I do listen to the Twins on AM radio on occasion, but I have a different problem. It usually happens in the middle to late innings, though sometimes, it happens early on. A Twins pitcher, nursing a lead, usually walks a guy, gives up a hit, then strikes out the next two batters. So, two on, two out. Twins need to win. Sure enough, the next call: "Hit deep to left field," Provus amps it up: "Buxton going back on that ball, track, wall, and that one is gone. Way back into the upper deck. That's the third consecutive game that Emilio Pagan has given up a lead changing home run." All of sudden, my hands jump into action, and the radio changes to another station. Just like that. And I never get that signal back that day.

Raise your hand if it's conceivable that you will not be alive in 13 years. Hard to really be that upset.

Matt, after reading your take, I am looking out my window right now.... Eight inches of snow. Drifted over sidewalks and driveways that I spent two hours shoveling yesterday. The winds are 20-30 mph, with occasional higher gusts. Wind-chill right around zero. There is no sun, and if there were, it would come up at 8:00 and go down at 4:30 p.m., meaning, there isn't a chance of seeing the light of day in a non-work moment. Tell me again why the Twins could or should sign an elite baseball pitcher to bring their family to this God-forsaken land? Wouldn't Carlos Rodon prefer to hang out in Los Angeles, maybe hit the beach by 10:00 am., ice-cream on the boardwalk, those barely dressed sexy young things zipping by on roller blades -- not a cloud in the sky, and all the glitz and glamor of California that make Carlos believe that with his talent, he should be priced like an epic piece of Christian Dior jewelry, dangling between the open front of that babe's prodigious tank top.

Is he a brother?

Not sure this has been digested: The pitchers, the ones who really want to start, and who are wired to dominate, and throw hard for 120 throws, those guys, the ones you want, the ones that are Type A and are wired to excel and make a ton of money, they will never want to be in a system that devalues them and limits what they can do and especially how much money they can make. To create a system that limits achievement, because that's what Analytics or a Front Office or coaches want it to be, is itself closed off to reality, and will not attract high-end talent. Every team wants high-end talent, and they want it to find it's own high-water mark. Coming in over the top and deciding what a guy can and cannot do based on a generic reading of how it goes for most pitchers is not going to be the wave of the future. It will miss the stand out starters, and no team will want to be without the high-end studs.

Well, you may be over it, and Analytics may call for it, and managers may even plan for it, but I guarantee that the individual pitchers, the ones who want to be great and make a ton of money, they are not over wanting to be a starting pitcher and go all nine, strike-outs in the many hundreds at the end of the season. That's how these guys came up through the junior leagues and that's the way they want it. And any limitations imposed on their pitching in an actual game, and those guys are going to want to go elsewhere, quickly. It's an artificial limit on how much money a truly gifted athlete can make and how far he can carry a team. You tell a Scherzer that he's done after four innings? There will be blood somewhere in that locker room.