mikelink45

I have no idea, I only know what the TD pages tell me. I hate to see a bias against small guys - I remember the Blade - Tommy Hall pitching and starting for the Twins. Tom Was not a great pitcher but did win 52 - 33 and made a 10 year career in the majors. Bobby Shantz of the Yankees - "His lifetime record was 119-99, with a 3.38 ERA. He fanned 1,072 and won eight Gold Gloves." and "5'6" and 139 pounds". Bleacher Report Tim Lincecum and Johnny Cueto were also both under 6 feet. As I grew old and shrunk under six feet I started to wonder how six feet became the standard for tall and short. Now 155 pounds is only 75 less than I weigh so perhaps he can duplicate the old fable about Stu Miller being blown off the mound by a gust of wind. But judgments are made and should often be ignored, for example, "Chicago Cubs’ scout Duffy Dyer said that Greg Maddux wasn’t “strong enough to be a starter” in his scouting report in 1985" Check out this article - it is quite good.

I enjoyed your look at KC. They actually have enough talent to start towards 500 with the right approach. I loved KC in the WS years, but the club got stuck in old philosophy and the organization slid backwards.

You are talking about my very favorite team (sorry Twins) and I got to see them play in the last half of the fifties. Loved them.

This list was not about offense - it is reflective of what I see as the defensive importance. I watched Eddie Mathews and Brooks Robinson and Craig Nettles and Nolen Arenado and Mike Schmidt and all of them could handle a bat, but really picked up WAR from their defense. Nettles and Robinson may have won their WS with their gloves.

I say Ryan - he had it last year and he gave us a good season. He is going to be with us a long time (I hope) and it would be great to see him out there again as a reward.

The pitch clock gets so much attention and it brings me back to the days when the NBA put in their shot clock. Here is a Wiki quote - "The most extreme case occurred on November 22, 1950, when the Fort Wayne Pistons defeated the Minneapolis Lakers by a record-low score of 19–18, including 3–1 in the fourth quarter.[3] The Pistons held the ball for minutes at a time without shooting (they attempted 13 shots for the game) to limit the impact of the Lakers' dominant George Mikan." Yes those were our Lakers. But no one wanted a dull game like that repeated. Today do we hear anything about the shot clock in basketball? In a few years no one will talk about the shot clock in baseball. I love it.

I think you are right - SS is the key like C and CF. If I had to rank the importance of positions I would go: SS C CF RF 3B 2B LF 1B This off because I am only looking at positions and P would also be the key to success. I rank 3B over 2B because I think there is a reason that it is called the hot corner. In the past when ground balls were more common 2B would be higher because of the double play.

What everyone is missing is how successful the Reds have been. They did have a winning record in 2013 and have been the Little Red Machine ever since. Of course if we could be as lucky as the Yankees were when they annually grabbed the best players off the Athletics Here is a quote from Baseball Almanac, " Of course, the Yankees were the richest and most resourceful club in baseball, then as now, and they found a way to ensure a continuous supply of good players. They managed to turn one of their American League rivals, the Kansas City Athletics, into a virtual farm team. How did this happen? Connie Mack's family sold the Philadelphia Athletics in 1954, and Yankee principal owner Dan Topping arranged for one of his business friends, Arnold Johnson, to buy the A's and move the team to Kansas City . It's still unclear how much influence the Yankee ownership held over the A's, but the two teams then embarked on a six-year series of trades. These trades, as we shall see, almost always favored the Yankees . The Yankees, in fact, rarely traded players with any other team in this six-year period. From 1955 to 1960, the Yankees gained many outstanding players from Kansas City, and managed to give only marginal value in return. It must have worked, since the Yankees won four more pennants in a row beginning in 1955, while the new Kansas City team struggled to stay out of last place."

Eddie played in 2391 games - I do not think he was a utility player

I can see the strategy, but I do like players who fill a position from beginning to end. Can you imagine Willie Mays playing anywhere but CF? Eddie Mathews any place but 3B? I understand flexibility as long as it does not limit your perspective.

Did Jamie Moyer help you with this essay? Sometimes a pitcher just gets smarter as well as developing their pitches. Thielbar is an excellent story - thanks for writing it.

Nicely done - I have followed them through TD and I have not seen any upside on the first two. I dreamed of Balazovic jumping in to the rotation a year ago, now I am wait and see.

I like a regular DH which means I would have had Gallo, Wallner or Larnach there, but I truly hope Buxton does not have the most ABs there.

This move was made so that the twins could sell more t-shirts. All the tie-dyed shirts will be a boon to their bottom line.

I just haven't believed in him since he was drafted. It's not his fault the front office put him in a bad position by taking them first. It increased the pressure and the expectations. Still not sure why, but this front office does like sluggers.

He is the type of player that the twins need to allow for when they construct their roster. I don't like filling it up with marginal big leaguers. I'm afraid it will take more than one injury to create room for him on this roster

How can I get excited about a player who makes the line of money he has and chooses to have hurt feelings instead of going out and proving the team wrong and setting himself up for the next big contract. Sorry but just kind of tantrum just simply well with me

The real question is, what is the front office strategy for bringing in Young players with potential instead of older players will have already maxed out? And there is the question of what trades will happen, what draft choices we will have, and what injuries will take place. I always liked the players who seem to suddenly find themselves and jump forward. Maybe Urbina

You miss my point one is redundant in the outfield and one is redundant in the infield this is not about them compared to one another

I am baffled. Gallo - Solano both redundant - I am confused by the FO moves unless both of them are actually getting ready to switch to the BP. I would rather have Larnach than Solano or Gallo and The infield is not only set, but has Julien, Martin, and Lee in the minors who can come up and fill in. Is there a new anti-youth movement going on here?

I want it to be better, but it will be only if health is better and holds up. It is the big unknown and I cannot rank us above Cleveland until we see how the team holds up through the spring. I hope we are, but if all things are equal I would not bet Baldelli against Francona.

Balazovic just got his jaw broken according to Vanimal - he just seems to be going the wrong way. I do not see room for Martin with Lewis and Lee and Farmer and Polanco and Miranda ahead of him in the IF and Taylor and a full OF roster also blocking him. Plus his drop. The same problem exists for Julien - are these two trade baits? I am interested in projections - Lee and Lewis are close to guarantees for big league production above average. Rodriguez seems like he is on a star track (not trek). Then come the questions. Raya has jumped over Winder, Balazovic, Sands, and all the other former highly ranked pitchers who we were expecting to see on the big league roster. Will he be here next year? Is Varland the next call up? Will Canterino quit following our injury reputation? Balazovic was bad last year and now starts the year with a broken jaw is he on a bad spiral? Does Richardson bypass the other SP and leap to the Twins when we next need a SP? Will Wallner play for us or is he trade bait? Prospects are graded against one another, but it is so hard to say which will actually make the grade in the majors.

Signing Correa was great, but it does not move the needle since he was with the team last year. Losing Arraez and adding Gallo to the lineup is a negative. Adding Lopez to the starting rotation is a big positive. Farmer is on the bench, Taylor is also on the bench, but could be an essential part of the team depending on injuries. Trading Gio was a negative. Yes we win the Central, but are we good enough to match Byron's goal? I hope so.

To answer the basic question - NO. But I have no choice. After watching Columbe, Dyson, and other veterans turn things around here why wouldn't I think Pagan can. If my radio happens to turn off when he comes in I will have to seek technical help to get it to come back on.

You might want to look into the Indian influence on MLB and we can speculate on why it has disappeared. Chief Bender - all Guardians were called chief back then - is a HOFer from Brainerd area