mikelink45

Glad you survived

If you like weather, it was -23 at my home this morning.

It is a funny thing - I think you are right, I get grumpy over Baseball - it is a game I love and I see it moving from its status as the national game to third place behind NFL and NBA and possibly dropping below Soccer. NHL soon to follow. Certainly behind the charade called wrestling. That is disturbing. The amazing thing is that outside of baseball grumpiness is the furthest from my attributes. Good call.

I just read Kiley McDaniels top 100 for ESPN. I enjoy these like I do TDs rankings. His has a lot of difference from Law. We have 4 players - Lee, Lewis, Rodriguez and Salas in his top 100, all in the bottom half, but what really jumped out was seeing Povich (now an Oriole) ranked higher than all four. How high did he get in TD ranks? He was #54. Rodriguez ranks much higher for Law - #48. So does Lee - #51. Povich, Lewis and Salas are not on the Law list.

That is okay - the key word in your statement is "opinion". That is what it is and I understand that many of you disagree. But disagreements don't change opinions. Sorry Joey - no one has won me over on your behalf.

How can you consider removing a German from the team - 38.6 % of Minnesotans are German - he is there for the state, if only we could add Irish, Swedish and Norwegians to the team. Of course in a chat the problem could be language - hard to get that accent to work with voice recognition. Most important we now have Gallo to coach Kepler on how to stay on the chat and the team roster as reputed great fielders who can't figure out that a base hit is positive. Mein Gott, was ist ein Chat?

Your essay had a secondary impact on my thinking. I question many of the RP additions to the HOF and this is why. A failed starter has one good pitch and a possible secondary compliment and he will succeed. RP is hard to judge. Cole Sands should not be above Canterino or Ober except those two cannot keep healthy enough for a season. From this list Henriquez is the one I favor. Could Winder be the one after being on the roster, but floundering and injured? We had great hopes as he went through the minors. Actually, who do we think will stay starters as they enter MLB? Balazovic if he finds himself again, SWR, Varland, Headrick?

I repeat myself - he has had a bad year every year since and including 2020. WAR is not my only measure of a good player. And he gains points for defense when he is really an offense first guy and if I ever questioned the dwar it would be for Gallo.

That's like wishing we had the Sano of 2017. Seldom do players revert to past peak performances.

I am always interested in these lists even though the actual rank does not mean that much. Balazovic fell, but I might have knocked him out of the top 20. Canterino is another of our (if healthy) hope guys. I expected Henriquez to be higher, Based on past articles I like Rodriguez more than the others on this list.

If I thought my hopes would help him I would write him a letter to encourage him, but he does not and will not know me and like most fans I will be anonymous no matter what he does.

None - it is the attitude not the desire to sign a high priced RP at this point when everything is picked over. What I want is to replace Pagan with a young arm that can learn to be a good BP pitcher.

I am not arguing this, I just think that no matter if it is the same or changes, BP has become a high priority for most teams in this period of baseball.

Like most Twins fans, I will be delighted if he succeeds, but there is no question that he was expendable for the team.

It is an illogical position when you consider how many RP appearances we had last year. Is Rocco going to change his strategy - did he turn over the instruction page and realize that SP can go 6 - 7 innings? In today's MLB the BP is the priority. KC in their WS years changed the paradigm, the Yankees built on this and so did many other staffs.

1 -3 look really good, 4 - 5 are okay, but have to play out to see if we broke even, 6 - 7 belong on the bottom of your list. Good job with this. Where do you put the Paddock extension? I have it at 4. Trading Urshela still makes no sense to me. Signing Pagan at 3.5Million (bottom of the list).

I think you get it. Others may like him, I will not. Statistics won't do it. You give a really good analysis. Thanks.

I did not like him in Texas either

Wait and see. We have anticipated long enough with Lewis and Kiriloff and Larnach - now it is time to produce or look to the next group.

Right now I cannot - let him prove himself - show value and I will slowly convert, but he has stunk enough that I do not have to have a rosy expectation. I wish there were some Yankee and Dodger fans who could jump in here.

This is the disappointment and unknown list. We have a group of players who were rated much higher in the past and seem to be slipping into that long term minor league role like the Sabato pick (I remember that most TD comments were negative on this pick when it was made). Sands and Enlow are slipping and do not seem like future assets. With the assets we traded there are some on this list that would be in the last article - close but no cigar.

Okay - we will differ. I just addressed another person who disagrees with me. That is fine, but home run derby, and the boring K and BB events do not make Baseball for me. Move the runner, advance runners, challenge the defense. And I am sure Joey will have a lot of fans - just listen for the soft booing you might hear in the distance.

I do not think I will be able to explain this so that you will accept my feelings. I do think BA means something, hits do more than walks. They lead to movement on the basepaths, advancing the runners, sometimes errors, sometimes bad judgment. A walk like a strike out is a static event. Boring. If you do not accept this perspective I understand - new age analytics has its own perspective and it is not mine.

As a consistent Gallo detractor I will say he has to earn my trust. Just putting on a uniform does not endure me to him. Pagan still wears our uniform and I want to get rid of him. Sorry but Gallo has an 8 year lifetime batting average of 199. I cannot root for that.

I hope they do not squeeze Larnach out - if he is DH that is fine, but of course I would rather see him in the field. We need to see if production meets projection. Hate to see Pagan second highest paid in BP and Gallo third highest paid bat.