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I either try to get him to agree to minor league deal with opt out if not on MLB roster by certain days, or wait until we can put guys on 60 day IL. I do not see anyone on the 40 man I am willing to pass through waivers right now to go with Hand. He used to be a top guy, but over recent years he is more so a vet that is getting by on smoke and mirrors and very will may blow up at any moment.

There is no need to rush him, but if he comes out the gate hitting like he did last year, he can push himself into the MLB roster. You do not sit an elite hitter simply because there are guys on the MLB roster. If Miranda struggles this year, or any of our other guys with options struggle, or Polanco gets hurt, we very well may see Lee sooner than later. Again, this is only based on him hitting like he did last year.

If he is willing to sign minor league offer at this point, I would bring him in, but I would not offer him full major league contract. He used to be one of the best, but has had some rough years. As the article points out, even his numbers last year looked good, but may have been more smoke and mirror kind of thing. The fact AAA is in MN where he is from this could lead to him willing to make that agreement. I am sure he will hold out hoping for major league contract as teams starting dealing with injuries or poor spring trainings.

His walk rate is what everyone should be super excited about. At his age, to be willing to walk that much tells me a few things. One, he is not chasing many pitches overall, meaning he is not trying to do too much and at times gets himself out. Even if you do not strike out, chasing pitches will lead to bad at bats generally. It also shows me he has a plan of attack, and goes with that plan. Yes, he is facing much worse pitching at that level, breaking balls will not be as good, and more pitchers will rely on fastballs more. However, rarely will a guy who walks that much will suddenly lose that eye. I believe that if he can stay healthy we will see him up to AA this year, and knocking on the door in September or looking to break with team next year. If he can show near the same hitting ability with eye at plate at each level, do not be surprised if gets a late season call up. I know it was just a flash, but he has Juan Soto type to him. Decent power, but with elite eye at plate. I am not saying he will be Soto level, but I am super high on him.

I do not understand how you can be against the extra inning rule, but for the position player pitching rule. Personally, I am all for the extra inning rule for regular season. Just like hockey, where we do not want ties, but also do not want endless regular season games, MLB used a softball rule to help games end faster. Both teams get the same chances, just increases the chance of runs being scored. This saves bullpen arms from having to pitch so much more and saving a team from maybe having to use a starter messing up the whole rotation, requiring guys being optioned for a fresh arm to come up. Also, it allows for fans to not stay up for hours in an extra inning game. You get to see more action and an end to the game. I get it is not what baseball was for long time, but the game has changed over years, and all sports change over years for various reasons, but the number one is entertainment. Personally, I am more entertained by the extra inning rule. In terms of position players pitching I really do not care if they come in at any score. I am not sure why MLB really cares, but the purpose is to save pen arms, so to require them to be out there in closer games makes it kind of odd. I have no real position on that rule.

Position players are set in my opinion, unless there is an injury. The rule allows for 13 pitchers, assuming we carry 13, that leaves 13 position players. The 2 catcher, Mirands, CC, Polanco, Kirilloff starting in infield with Farmer on bench, that is 7. Then Buck, Kepler, Gallo, Larnach, Taylor, Gordon rounding them out. Again, this is fully based on health coming out. Pitchers I think are basically set too, depending on health. Rotation (not in particular order) Gray, Ryan, Mahle, Lopez, Maeda or Ober. (could be both if they go 6 man rotation). Then Duran, Pagan, Thielber, Jax, other Lopez, then either Moran or Alcala. The only wild card is the possiblity of sending Ober down to keep him as a starter roll if they do not go 6 man, and someone like Sands being the long man out of the pen, or after the 60 day DL moves someone not on the 40 man comes in. I only see one real battle that is for 5th starter or last pen spot. If they go 5 man rotation Ober starts in AAA and both Moran or Alcala make it. If they want 6 man rotation then the only battle is for last pen spot, or if Ober wins the 5th over Maeda out the gate.

I personally have no issue with a position player pitching. If you want to reduce it, why not put in a mercy rule? I get the reason for teams wanting to use them, to save the much more used pen guys from pitching in blow out games and using them up for the next game. How about this, if you are concerned of that, just leave the starter out there for 100 pitches regardless of how he is doing? Or have a guy that can go 3 plus innings out of pen throwing 60 plus pitches if needed once in awhile. The rule will need to be tweeked if there is more two way guys. I know there have been more two way guys trying to do it.

I cannot predict how the writers will vote. Some look at total numbers. Some look at how did they compare to others. Some look how they dealt with them personally and in media, that is just how the writers thought of them as a person. Joe should, and I believe will get in HOF, but I said Santana should have as well and he bounced quickly. Sometimes writers look at how a career ended and get soured. Joe had kind of 2 careers. The pre concussion career which was HOF bound 1st ballot. Then post concussion, was down turn of career and was good, but not great. He should not be slighted for that, but fact is some writers will. The fact that Joe was never got it done in playoffs. He did not have the power some hoped. He was about as bland of an interview one could give. He just never was a media guy. Those are all the negatives, but he was the best overall hitting catcher for his time, and maybe of all time. Hard to fully judge that because he did play his full career there. No matter what he should be in, just a matter of when.

The one thing about some defensive stats, which I do like we have more than PO. Assists and Errors, but I know some do not look at each actual play, but look hit data. I do believe OAA does a good job of measuring each ball hit even based on where the defender was, and even who was running. It takes the full context into account using statcast. However, I think where one starts positioning wise may affect that as well. Meaning CC was asked to play much more shift than ever before. This can lead to some issues defending. My hope is he will get back to his overall norm. If you look at baseball reference defense for dWAR, CC was close to his career norm of just over 1 dWAR. They use zone rating and runs saved to come up with their stat. Miranda was terrible at 1b last year. He had no clue what he was doing. He never played there, and despite what some people think all you need to do is catch the ball, that is not true. Even harder when you are dealing with RH shifts where you are playing 30 feet from bag at times. Hopefully, sticking just at 3b will help him.

I cannot think of a single team that does not build their pen similarly. I mean even the teams that try to go out and spend big on top pen arms normally regret that and build bigger from tweaks on guys they picked up for less, or moving starters to pen. I bet if you go back and look at the top relief contracts of all time, only a couple held up. Also, teams are betting on their top guys staying healthy. When trades need to be made they are, but no team goes into a season trying to have 7 closers in their pen paying them all 10 mil plus.

I see no point in avoiding the top agent in the game. That shuts you out of potential talks with guys. You just need to know who he is and how he tries to fight for his clients. Clients sign with him because he generally gets them the most money, or very high amounts. He knows how to work teams and play games with the CBA to convince teams to make deals. He also knows how to work the media to try to get more money for his clients. He will leak things like teams showing interest in a player when maybe that interest is not too strong or even there. Sometimes it will get teams to bid against themselves. I think for most part what teams have not liked with Borras is they will never get team friendly extensions, unless there are clear questions on that player. Borras will always have his players test the market and reject QO. He knows what he is doing, and always seeking top dollars for even guys that may not be top talent. I read he has huge binders on each player to show where their value is. He scouts his talent just as much as teams do.

I get we do not like to have young guys slotted into DH. However, if he is elite on offense, and sub par on defense, I see no reason to slot him there. I mean why drag down our defense simple to say he has a defensive position. Being there is DH across the league finally, why not? We are not hurting his overall value, if he is never going to be even an average defender. Let him do what he does best. Personally, I hope he forces his way into the lineup as minimum at DH. Unless we need to us Buck there half the time like last year, hopefully we do not need that, then let the kid hit.

Can anyone explain why Puerto Rico has their own team, and they do play on Team USA? I mean territories of other countries play for their overall country. Like Netherlands have players from Aruba, and Curacao. Great Britain has players from Bahamas, and mostly from USA. To me it all makes no sense as most of the players on the non north or central American/Carribean counties are not even from those countries, outside of the Asian counties. Like what is the point?

The issue was we were dealing with a juiced ball that made some guys look better than what they really were. Some of the younger guys that we were counting on to carry into future years just never carried over. Specifically, Garver, Sano and Kepler were the main two we kept saying if they just can do what they did in 2019. I feel Garver was the biggest issue of the juiced ball. He blew up out of no where with the 31 HR. He never came close to that before, and since was not on similar pace over similar PA. He is the perfect example of needing to have career years to help teams win it all. We were excited because we still had some young guys, Buck, Polonco, Arraez, Garver, Kepler, Sano, all still getting into primes, with Lewis and our OF group waiting in wings. Well, huge regression and injuries halted the growth we were hoping for. Also, going away from the super ball that was the baseball that year brought guys back to earth in the power numbers, but some had similar approaches that just did not get the same results.

He strikes out guys around 9 to 10 or more per 9 innings across the minors. He may not have a go to out pitch, but clearly knows how to get outs. He keeps the ball in the park, and really outside of walks, does not have much issues. Not sure why that profiles as relief guy. Sure, he is not a fireballer, but he has gotten the job done overall in his minor league career. You address the lack of fastball and strong out pitch. You know who else profiled that way early in career? Johan Santana. If TD was around back in 2000 when we took Santana in Rule 5 everyone would have talked about how he will not stay, is at best a lefty out of the pen, because his fastball is not elite, and lacked an out pitch. Then he was taught the change up that he took to being one of the best we have ever had. Will SWR be that, doubtful, but my point is, to say what a kid at 22 will profile to be because of what he lacks is crazy. He still has plenty of time to grow, and he has done well along the way. If you looked at Santan's minor league numbers you would have not even had him in top 30 when he came to Twins. Will SWR become the number 1, I doubt it, but I expect he will fall solidly 2 or 3 guy and not a pen guy.

Guys like SWR will always get knocked on where they have issues, and the people that are low on them will continue to say, just wait, just wait. Now a days teams and fans are so obsessed with velo and strike outs. It is like people forget if you rarely give up hard contact even if you do not strike out many, that will still be good. I am not saying he will be nearly as good, but I can think of 2 guys that never had high velo, or k's per 9, but still did a good job and got it done. Our own Radke, was always below league average in velo on fastball, and even gave up way too many HR some years, but still was a very good pitcher over his career. Was he a true ace, no, but I would sure as hell take someone of his level again. Next Greg Maddux, one of the best pitchers of all time got it done with below league average velo. He had elite command and amazing movement, but he also had lower k's per 9, highest in single season was 7.8, but mostly sat around 6 to 7. He would just not walk a lot and keep the ball in the park getting weaker contacts. There are many more I could point to over the years that get it done with lower than league average velo, but actually pitch well, not just try to overpower them with velo. The fact is, if a guy knows how to pitch, they can do it without the velo. Will SWR become an ace, it is less likely, but if he can get his walks down a little more and keep the ball in the park like he has, he should be a very decent pitcher for many years.

What I like best about this article is the looking deeper into who he faced in those home starts versus road starts. When I look at the specific games, his worst games home and away were against the Mets. Next worst game was home against the Padres, but one of best road games was against Padres. When you look at each team he pitched both home and road Atlanta was basically the same. Cubs, he did much better at home than in Chicago, could be the park playing in. Rockies was about equal, no runs allowed either place. Brewers about equal as well, 0 runs home 1 run road. Mets he had 5 games only 1 he gave up 1 run in 5 and 3 in 6, other than that he was just bad against them. Giants he split, doing better on road. St. Louis he did much better at home. Nationals he did much better on road in his 2 games, than his 1 home game. Really, when you look at teams he played both home and away, it is pretty evan. I think for most part there is not much to look at for the splits.

First, I want to point Ober, when healthy put up some good numbers, but it was only 11 starts last year. In those 11 starts he averaged just over 5 innings, not great, but there was only 2 starts he did not go at least 5, a 3.2 where he left due to injury, and a 3.0. So even when he was not giving long starts he was pitching 5 plus. Over those 11 starts, he had 3.21 ERA with a 2.92 FIP. His K-rate was down from a year before, but he allowed much less hits too. If he could carry that through a full season, no way should he not be in the rotation. However, Maeda is the vet, has shown he can go deep into games, which has huge value if you can count on it. I actually would not be surprised if we break camp with a 6 man rotation like last year.

For a college arm he is about as much of a wild card you can get. We have little to nothing to judge him on other than SSS and high school. I am not hyped on him until I see something. Many top college arms full fizzle out quickly in pro ball, but then there are the diamond in the roughs that come up. He is neither so lets just wait and see, hopefully he can become a valued starter, or at worst a lefty out of the pen.

No team is ever out of it in April, nor can they win the division in April. I will agree starting off slow can be an issue, and it is likely they will not do well against the Astros or Yankees, as they never do, but even if they do, they will have plenty of time to right the ship.

I have many issues with this article. First, you label him a 5 tool hitting prospect, but he is not. He could be an elite hitter, but the 5 tools includes speed and defense. Miranda, as you point out, lacks those 2. Also, dropping weight is not due to him losing muscle, but losing body fat, which will increase his possible power and ability. Just because he is slimmer does not mean he will have less power. I mean look what being overweight did for Sano, it was not a good outcome.

I agree we should not be freaking out when facing lefties. I also agree, there are not a ton of LH starters to even worry about either. I just hope we do not see a pinch hit for a guy in the 5th with no one on against a LH pen guy by one of our better hitters against them, only to have to deal with a worse player later in the game. I am all for it in big spot, or late in game, but we would see Garlick subbed in early in games, then had to deal with his defense and at-bat later against RH guy in big spot later in game.

Teams will still shift, just not as extreme as they did before. You will see SS with like one inch to the left of 2nd. The 3rd baseman will still stand where they always did. The 2nd baseman will be the interesting one, but most likely it will depend on if someone is on base or not. If no one is on 1st they will be closer up the middle with the 1st baseman playing deep off the line, against slower guys. If someone is on, then the 2nd baseman will play deeper in the hole most likely. Everyone is thinking teams will go back to the "traditional" placement but that just will not happen.

My hope is Varland becomes the kind of guy that people just keep saying, how does he keep doing well, despite not having the normal velo, or movements we think. Maybe, just maybe, he will be a real pitcher that knows how to get guys out with location, change in speeds. I can say he will have more success then several of the top pitchers taken in his draft, which that right there is something to be happy about.

Many are saying he will be like Arraez, but he is not that much like Arraez, other than both had high OBP. with little Slugging. The big difference is Martin can steal bases. If he can get on base near a .400 clip or more, which he has done everywhere he has played but at AA last year, after Twins tried to get more power, he will have huge value near top of line up. If he can steal at high percentage he can get on base and steal second, basically same as double if no one was on base. Sure, adding some pop can be helpful, but not getting out and being able to steal bases is very helpful. Do not forget Marin had an injury last year that made him miss some time. When you look at what he did in September and Fall league, he is riding high, could it be SSS? Sure, but hopefully it is something to build off and carry into this year.