Teflon

This feels more like it adds infield width than depth.

Who would be on the Twins management-front office-scouting-executive Mount Rushmore? Some candidates: Sam Mele, George Brophy, Howard Fox, Calvin Griffith, Gene Mauch, Jerry Bell, Jim Rantz, Andy MacPhail, Tom Kelly, Ron Gardenhire, Terry Ryan, Mike Radcliff.

With the ghost runner rule, how many times does the visiting team intentionally walk the home leadoff hitter in the bottom of an extra inning to set up force plays if the score is still tied? If MLB wants to speed up the game, they should just put that guy at first, too.

The greater variety of throw types from infielders making more demanding plays will also be better served by having a larger target at 1B than the 5' 9" Luis Arraez. The defensively skilled 6' 5" outfielder Joey Gallo my be more valuable at 1B than people think.

With this team, I think we fans would benefit more from the sports psychologist. The Saints used to have Sister Rosalind. Maybe the Twins could put in an ASMR section.

MLB also needs to figure out how to properly compensate the RSN's so this can happen: Major League Baseball Seeks End To Local Markets Blackouts Imagine being a fan in Iowa and having the Twins, Royals, Cardinals, Brewers, Cubs and White Sox all blacked out! This is how baseball becomes a niche sport.

In 1982, the Metropolitan Sports Commission had to hire a service to get rid of the the hundreds of pigeons that were trapped in the Metrodome when the fabric roof was installed. Dome Dogs made their initial appearance shortly thereafter. Coincidence?

Castro is a month away from being 17 and is already good-sized at 6-2 and 180. I could see him growing into a Torii Hunter physique as he matures. Torii Hunter abilities would be nice, too, but that would be a pretty high bar.

The Twins spent $2.5 million to sign the 16-year-old Cuban prospect, Ariel Castro, and -surprise- he's a lefty hitting outfielder. Here's the blurb on him from MLB.com: DOB: 2/17/2006 Bats: L Throws: L Ht: 6-2 Wt: 180 Scouting grades: Hit: 55 | Power: 55 | Run: 50 | Arm: 50 | Field: 50 | Overall: 55 If you are looking for one of the smoothest left-handed swings in the class, look no further than Castro. The Cuban outfielder continues to develop physically and has emerged as one of the top hitters on the international market. There’s lots of projection with Castro, and he could end up with above-average power. At times, he appears really advanced at the plate. At other times, he looks raw. But there is no denying that bat and his upside because of it. On defense, he shows good instincts in center field and a solid arm. He could end up being a power-hitting corner outfielder. He projects to be an average runner. Castro trains with Jaime Ramos in the Dominican Republic. The Twins have shown interest in him. Ramos is a member of MLB’s Trainer Partnership Program.

Do you go with the over or the under for the number of combined 2023 defensive games played by Minnesota's two elite defenders, Buxton and Correa, surpassing last year's combined number? (190... Correa 132, Buxton 58.)

The only positive in signing Bauer is he wouldn't have to face Max Kepler.

But has another catcher ever done this? Joe Mauer - Another Day at the Office

Regarding the perplexing Gallo signing, the Twins may have misinterpreted the 2023 MLB rule change increasing the size of the bases 3 inches as instead increasing the size of the ball 3 inches.

And once Dansby Swanson signs with the Cubs we can go through the 12 steps of recovery.

I think it would actually be the fourth because they tweaked the logo when they moved to Target Field to have sharper tails on the S and to not have a gap between the navy shadow . They'll have to redo the big Twins script logo above the scoreboard and on the Minnie & Paul feature in center field then too, right?

I think it would be more appropriate if the "T" in Twins looked like this:

Count me among the others the enjoyed and appreciated this well-written post. Thank you!

According to Baseball Reference: (BA/OB/SLG) 0 outs, runner on 2nd - .245/.336/.426 (109 plate appearances) 0 outs, 1st & 2nd - .230/.288/.311 (82 PA) 0 outs, 2nd & 3rd - .200/.286/.267 (21 PA) 0 outs, runner on 3rd - .400/.455/.500 (11 PA) 0 outs, 1st & 3rd - .211/.160/.368 (25 PA) 0 outs, bases loaded - .250/.158/.583 (19 PA) Combined runners in scoring position, no outs - .241/.252/.384 (267 PA) EDIT - overall the Twins slashes are .249/.317/.405

Aside form the freakish number of injuries, the biggest failing was that the bullpen couldn't hold leads. Twins relief pitchers entered games with the lead 250 times this season. This is the second highest number in the AL behind the Tampa Bay Rays. Unfortunately, Twins pitchers converted the fewest saves in the AL (27 ) at the lowest save-rate. (49%)

I stand corrected. Now if we could just infuse Buxton et al with some Cal Ripken-sequenced DNA, my doom and gloom perspective might lighten to merely gloom!

There should be a season-long graph similar to the game win probability graphs that show the flagging levels of Twins fans' hopes. Big spike when we signed Correa. Moderate spikes when we gave Duran and Miranda regular gigs - everything else, craters. Can't wait to play the Yankees and Astros more times next season and the Royals and Tigers less.

Is throwing all-out for 5 innings with a 1+ K to IP ratio more stressful on a starting pitcher than pitching a more-paced 7 innings at a 0.7 K to IP ratio? Is it really worth this to turn the 3rd time through the order over to a middle reliever? It's like somebody gave baseball this monkey paw that granted three wishes and, well...

Has Nick Gordon played his way into consideration for a starting role in 2023?

Nice article. I loved the behind-the-scenes look. I used to go to games in the Metrodome and sit by the CF TV cameras probably about 420 feet from home plate. I would routinely listen to the WCCO game broadcast on a little portable radio. Back then, the Metrodome was typically about 80% empty so the sounds were pretty clear. I was always freaked out that I could hear the crack of the bat over the radio before I could actually hear it live in-person. That whole speed of light thing vs the speed of sound, I guess. Anybody else ever experience that at a ballpark?

The 75% success rate requirement doesn't factor how a proven stealing threat impacts the pitching strategy while on base, does it? It's just looking at the increased or decreased win likelihood from the event, itself, Meanwhile, with a stolen base threat at first base, a batter gets a higher percentage of fastballs and fewer chase pitches that the catcher might have to go down to block. The resulting greater OPS in those situations would also be a benefit. Someone should attempt to quantify that.