BigTrane

Hey, why not? I'll put my name on this one... 51 views and no posts... After the AJ debacle, I was on board early w/Suzuki, basically as a guy who could help Pinto make the transition. Nobody believed in his bat, and even I had some skepticism. Still, the guy doesn't strike out like your average '13 Twins hitter... For the record, I never saw the Suzuki vs. Pinto debate as an either-or. We'll see more Suzuki early, less later- a transition is in place. Meantime, he's looking good with the bat so doubters think: without his production, what would or OF stats look like at this point? More power to ya, Kurt!

Personally can't stand the NFL & NBA & how the attitude/arrogance is fed directly into their marketing of the games. Also hate how coverage of NFL training camp eats into MLB coverage as early as August... The only Richard Sherman I care about is the one who wrote "Let's Get Together" for The Parent Trap, later covered by Redd Kross, played on their Third Eye tour @ First Avenue, and directly leading to permanent partial hearing loss due to banging my head in Stephen McDonald's bass bin in appreciation. Fair trade off, no regrets.

Thanks for talking bout Int'l ball- well done, keep it up.

Good point on Mauer, though I would go further. @ 1B, he's likely to make more starts & get more ABs than behind the dish the last couple seasons, bringing along his OBP. Sure, he doesn't fit the trad. 1B mold, but if Suzuki has a decent OBP & is on base with Mauer batting behind him, he could pick up some extra RBIs. Regardless, he'll be on base plenty. Will be interesting to compare his '14 numbers with post-concussion Morneau, though... Net benefit. No reason to believe Mauer won't continue to be a hit machine, and to try and pigeon-hole him into a slugging 1B slot makes no sense. Mauer will produce just fine- probably better, and the Twins' overall fate won't hang on his SLG.

IMO, the Ms are a mess from top to bottom at this point, and analyzing their organization and/or presuming that they have any kind of coherent strategy is generous, at best. JB_Iowa pointed this out on another thread, I read this last night and was floored. A must read. http://seattletimes.com/html/mariners/2022420240_mariners08xml.html#.UqP2PBEV2Rx.twitter Could a deal be done with Seattle? Perhaps, if Correia qualifes as a 'quality veteran'. We have a hole @ SS, but what do we have that's attractive to them post-Cano? Agreed: they need bats. We need arms. After reading that story, I'd say, throw anything against the wall and see what sticks. Those guys are bonkers. Clear up the 40-man? Why not? Do they know what they want though? Hard to say. Weird club.

This is a sea change, no doubt- and I like it! Good points about Hughes. I'm not crazy about him, but expect him to benefit greatly from pitching at TF. Does he shave a point off his ERA from that alone? It's quite possible that he benefits from Mr. Mechanics, Rick Anderson, too. As for the money-where-your-mouth-is commitment to getting better, you are right. Unprecedented in Twins history, and about time, too. Might take time to adjust to this new world- we'll see where it goes. Either way, '14 season has become meaningful, and the excitement is justified.