Doomtints

Sheesh. Funny, but there's some truth here. Buxton has the right approach to do this himself going forward. I'm confident with his own adjustments he will be bunting home runs over the center field wall in no time.

I would guess Santana has zero interest in playing for the Twins again, but I can see him making it back to the majors just by sheer force of will -- arguably his best skill. As for Iglesias -- no thanks.

Personally I like it. Kirby Puckett was firm about what turned his hitting around -- ignoring the coaching, shutting out everybody else, and doing it the way he thought it needed to be done. No one can argue with his results. When you look at the stars of the game, this is their approach. They do it their way. Only good things can come from Buxton playing with a chip on his shoulder. It's how champions are made. I *love* what he is saying and I *love* his new approach.

This assumes Gonzalez is the first option should a position player go down and Astudillo is the first option as a utility player behind Gonzalez. Neither may be true. What we know is Gonzalez was signed for two years, Adrianza is around (though injured), and Astudillo feels like a very good option as a full time utility player. Maybe Adrianza is going away, but we don't know. With Astudillo being the youngest and with the organization expecting him to fail, it's difficult to see him getting enough of a chance. There have been recent Twins who played well in the majors in their short chances but got passed over many times for players who performed worse and, in my opinion, they started to decline because of it. I would hate for this to happen to Astudillo. And this is only considering Astudillo's chance as a utility player, not even as a catcher. I think Castro will have one of his best years in 2019 which will block Astudillo there. Castro is in a contract year and he is coming back from a year off. He will do well. If Castro fails, it's the end of his career and he knows it. Garver similarly (though not as desperately) also wants to prove himself.

So you have the opposite view ... You can see why Hicks took the deal, but you can't see why the Yankees offered it ...

To answer your question, Gabriel Moya has been serviceable.

I feel like that's how the Twins have always used utility players. They play every day.

Reality check: Castro is more likely to be extended than Astudillo is to be the Twins #1 catcher, much less the regular #2 catcher. We love Astudillo, the Twins org keeps signing people ahead of him on the depth chart. This team won't keep 3 catchers on the roster and the utility slots are full.

I can see why the Yankees would put this offer on the table. I don't see why Hicks would take it. He's turning into the type of player that a team overpays for.

One thing about free agency in 2019 ... most of the free agents were practically geriatric. There were maybe four free agents under 30 who were worth cracking the wallet wide open for, and that number doesn't change much if you up the age to 32/33 either. Plus, the big spending teams have what they want/need. It's not like a cheap team is going to step in and spend Yankees-style just because the Yankees already feel they are set. Last year free agency seemed truly weird but this year it makes sense.

Castro seems OK now, for whatever that is worth.

THE TEAM IS BREAKING: Twins to Spend Last Bit of Cash on Utility Player; Block Astudillo For Two Years

It's amazing how Buxton is always either feast or famine. Let's see how he's doing when the pitching gets better.

This is one of those deals where we should expect mediocrity so we can be pleasantly surprised. He is a good but not great addition to the team. If the rest of the offense starts firing on all cylinders, this will be an awesome pick up. If it's another year where only the utility player is good plus one other position player, this signing won't matter.

The umpire is the backup in case of a technical glitch, and he (or she) would still need to be the arbiter of all other things that happen at the plate. He (or she) may as well continue to announce balls and strikes. He/she would still have to pay full attention to every pitch in case of a technical glitch -- you can't say, "Ooops, the server is is not responding. Can you just do that pitch again? Thanks."

Baseball can keep the charade going by having technology announce the balls/strikes into an earpiece that only the umpire has access to. The umpire would then call the balls/strikes vocally or gesturally as he always would. This is ideal anyway because if there is a technical glitch, the umpire can call balls/strikes on his own without interrupting the game. ...and if the umpire wants to overrule the call in his ear he should be able to do so (at his own peril, because certainly people would find out). To put this another way, baseball could move to automated/consistent balls/strikes calls without changing how the game appears to the fans or players in any way.

The association fees for my condo pay for DirecTV for all of us, so I just pay $17 for an upgraded package. I have AT&T internet at 50GB for $80 or so, the best AT&T offers in the area. Comcast is big in Chicago but I don't want to use them. I wouldn't say I get anywhere near 50GB 90% of the time, but it's good enough to where there are no noticeable delays. We also have Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime for streaming.

Last year they didn't need to "vault forward" -- they only had to keep doing what they were doing from the year before. Yes, last year was a failure but it's not just about these two guys. It wasn't then and it isn't now.

The Twins signed a good backup/utility player without putting star talent in any of the starting positions. Congrats?

The money's right but like nearly every other move this offseason I'm having trouble understanding WHY....

I agree. I was a big fan of Garver for his hitting potential, but he really needs to defend better.

Unfortunately, pitch framing is not catcher defense. Castro has more than his share of passed balls and wild pitches against, in fact him and Garver are not dissimilar in this regard. It doesn't matter if you are a pitch framing wizard if pitches are going to the backstop because you more focused on your glove finesse than playing defense.

Gonzales is like Schoop: was pretty darn good two years ago but is probably middle of the road now. Anyway, it looks like every team in the AL Central is pursuing him. If I were him I would probably lean toward Cleveland (potential to win) or Chicago (one of the few cities in the US that isn't just chain restaurants and shopping centers).

Pitch framing has made the umpires better. There was a distinct advantage after the technique was first measured for those who could do it well, but I'm not sure what the advantage is now that umpires have adjusted. In any case, I don't see championship rings coming just from pitch framing alone. Yes it should be taught and discussed -- never ignore a potential advantage -- but there are other important skills too.

Never bring a foot to a knife fight.