Blake

Let me see, extra pitcher, Park, platoon, hmm...not enough guts to bench Mauer against a lefty even on opening day? That would have been a gutsy move and wouldn't have required investing $$$. Edit: yeah, I'm jumping the gun. the FO probably didn't know they were going to face a lefty out on opening day. But, somehow, I think a little more flexibility would have been nice.

Yes, it's sort of a movie for all smart aleck occasions.

I just realized how low I've set the bar. The pitching is what it is. What interests me is fielding, in that I will be more than pleased if there is competence displayed by everyone who is tasked with catching the ball. Which would be 1 out of three. The other two being pitching and hitting. Brian shows more optimism than I do, what with his "2 out of 3 ain't bad" line.

I am little of "I hate you" and a little of "D'oh, I fell for it for a moment."

After last year, I'm going with a negative correlation. Brilliant Spring Training? Headed for a fall. Average Spring Training? Could go either way. Bad Spring Training? Look out baseball world! So, the Twins ST record indicates somewhere between a fall and average season. I have now justified my sticking with the Twins winning 71 games.

If I were Van, I'd hold out for better pictures.

I'd like to be optimistic but it wasn't that long ago that Hughes was being compared to Cliff Lee.

I will watch the Twins. Like a Guindon cartoon of years ago, "It's Spring, and I believe in the Twins!!" Plus, it will give me a chance to make snide remarks about the FO and Molitor. Unless of course, the Twins win, then I will pronounce just how smart the new FO is.

After reading the article by Mr. Reusse, and consulting my navel for a bit, I came up with this: The Twins see no reason to sit Joe Mauer early in the season, so, they gave up the platoon, temporarily, in order to find out where certain pitchers are, such as Hughes. I think there is a least one pitcher who is on a very short leash and will be gone early, making room for either Vargas or Park. Or, the new FO is giving Molitor lots of rope. Maybe a bit of both.

Yeah, it looks more like a lot of the same. I don't expect miracles but I do expect something different.

Honestly, I don't envy the new FO at all. They're new with the organization and are probably still trying to find their footing both within and without the organization. This is going to be tough for both management and fans. It's a wait and see. Although, anything less than a train wreck is probably a successful season.

Do the veterans also help the youngsters with the curve ball, cliches and shower shoes?

I, for one, am looking forward to the 10-9 Twins wins. Nothing like a nail-biting one run game!

Yeah, I hear you. While I'm not visiting mom in the hospital, Mom is 84 and broke her wrist. Yours truly is shuttling mom to and from various dr's appointments. My best to you both.

They'll always be the Chicago "Black Sox" to me...

The new mlb.com site is horrendous. Good grief, change isn't always a good thing.

Mr. Dozier will become a 30/30/.300 player. 30 steals, 30 home runs while hitting .300.* *A fan can dream, can't he?

I suspect this is one more data point that explains the rise of fan driven web sites. The author of the SI article is relatively safe from fan opprobrium. Not so when it comes to the regular writers at sites like this.

I already nominated you to save you the trouble. You're welcome.

You got the "bull" part right!

Separating the chaff from the chaff as it were.

Okay, how quickly do pitchers get the hook this season? 4 bad starts in a row? (discounting poor fielding) Does one factor in "loud outs?" In that the pitcher is consistently giving up only 1 or 2 runs, but, a lot of those are due to atom ball line drives that are caught? (I remember Tom Kelly pulling Scott Erickson even though he hadn't given up more than a run or two yet, because Erickson was getting a lot of "loud outs." Mr. Kelly explained after the game.)

As much as I would like to say there's no way this year can be as bad as last year, a lot is going to depend on the pitching staff bouncing back from last year. I'm hoping the staff goes from horrible to middling. Although I'd accept terrible as a stepping stone to middling.

"They should have moved him...." I think Brock decided to "mercy rule" the author and not bold this part. Of course the Twins tried to move Dozier. The return, more than likely, just wasn't what the Twins needed it to be.