jimbo92107

Known knowns, known unknowns, and unknown unknowns. Not even a fully functional quantum computer can cover all that ground, much less concatenate and compile useful conclusions from such a mess. This is why py-rate cap'ns drink rum and have a parrot on one shoulder, why mlb managers go gray before they're 40, and why both mutter like Popeye. This is why the answer to Why? is Why Not?, and why the ultimate answer is 42. Why not? If we compute on that a while, the result cannot be construed to indict Baldelli for common dogpoopery. How can he know if a young pitcher is going to blow up his elbow just before his first mlb season? How can he know there's going to be a planet-screwing pandemic that disrupts everything? The unknown unknowns outnumber the grains of sand on a beach, and each could represent a completely different branch of an alternate reality. It's worse than trying to hit a knuckleball.

For the second time in the last week, I feel like I'm looking at a guy that you could plunk into a major league rotation with no worries, other than the usual worries. Blaze has some beautiful stuff, including whatever that 94 mph sinker was. The tilt looked like a good slider, but at 94?? Like Ryan, Balazovic has very whiffable stuff. When you see guys missing by three or more inches, they are well and truly fooled. Unless his "spring training" whenever that is, really sucks, Baldelli should fight to get this guy in the mlb rotation. No more trading the farm for mediocre rentals. Twins top pitching prospects are already better than that, even without a few more weeks of "seasoning" in AA or AAA.

Joe Ryan is going to be tons of fun to watch. For one thing, his riding heater tempts hitters to swing higher, since they're missing on average three inches low. If they do start to adjust, then Ryan can counter that problem by simply mixing in a two-seamer, same delivery, a few inches lower. Which heater will it be? Whoopsie, it's the curve or the change!

OMG, young Patrick had at least three good pitches, a heater, a vertical snap curve, and a change that dies off the arm-side corner. He would have been a starter at the mlb level.

So, any union that asks for raises is based on greed, which is an excessive amount of money for what their clients do. And where, pray tell, does the team's income come from? Do we buy tickets to watch the owners? Do we buy from Amazon because we love Jeff Bezos? The workers create the wealth, not the owners. As for greed, a baseball player has at most a score of years to make his nest egg. After that, he lives off his savings, or becomes a coach, or if he's famous, maybe he buys a car dealership or a bar. The billionaire owner just keeps taking an excessive proportion of the team's income. No risk, no need for special skills, just ownership. They don't even care if the season collapses. Can you say the same thing for a ballplayer that just bought a house with a big mortgage?

The union leaders are baseball players. You are saying they are just as greedy and selfish as the billionaire owners, the people that are locking out the players, because billionaires want more money.

The owners are all billionaires. No matter how long the strike lasts, not a one of them will miss a thousand dollar steak dinner.

Obviously Rocco Baldelli can't be ranked at the top because he hasn't won a championship, much less a Super Bowl. However, since we know that 60 percent of winning is 90 percent pitching, we can't be too hard on him. After all, he did keep the ship on an even keel, or just a couple feet under. Another thing we can't blame on Baldy is player development. If the Front Office won't promote guys like Miranda until far too late for them to make a serious contribution, then what's a GM to do? He filled out lineup cards with guys that were hurt or underperforming, that's what. They played the way they looked like they were going to play. Poor, tired dears! Now it's a new season, but Baldelli is in the same fix as last year. This boat won't float if the will to promote is so remote. Guys that we fans were screaming to see were finally promoted...after the season was dead and buried and the widow remarried. If you blinked, you missed Miranda and a few of the top prospect pitchers get the quickest cuppa coffee outside a 7/11. Hi, goodbye! I saw a couple good swings, a few good pitches, then poof, pull out those golf clubs! 2022. Fans are itching to get out to the ballpark, smell those hot dogs, hug somebody with Covid, etc. This does not need to be a playoffs/Super Bowl year. However, I think it's high time the FO gave Baldy some new toys to play with, like Martin and Lewis and half the top pitching prospects. Maybe then our GM can kill Superman. That's all we ask.

Welcome to Nordic humor, starting with left-handed compliments.

Matt Canterino seems like a pretty good bet to me. He did have elbow trouble, but it's fixed now, right? He wasn't known for injuries before that, so... I'm fairly optimistic, though he might consider backing off a couple mph to save his arm and get a bit more control. Maybe Wes Johnson can work his magic with Canterino, too. Get those mid-to high-90's heaters with proper mechanics, not just max effort.

Nick Gordon, y'all! He has been getting better and more versatile every year. His glove plays up the middle. His bat plays okay in various spots. Occasional gap power. Good speed and instincts on the bases. A good (not great, but good) all-around ballplayer. Odd - Twins Depth Chart lists Gordon as the starting SS. Doesn't that detract from his value as a utility man?

Jhoan Duran, he has the power of fire in his hand. Let him live in the bullpen, to see if he can control this fire for the Twins. Maybe Wes Johnson can teach him to throw the same speed with a little less strain to his elbow and shoulder. If so, it could help him control his power. We know Duran will pitch in spring training. Who will throw faster? Nobody. With a lack of established attractions on the pitching staff (no Berrios, no Maeda, no Pineda), it could be a very cold April at the box office if the Twins don't heat things up a little by keeping a chair open for Duran.

I would definitely trade Miguel Sano. Mostly it is to free up spots for younger prospects, but also it's to give Sano a fresh start on a new team. Maybe the Twins ruined him the way they screwed up David Ortiz. Maybe a team that lets him rip every pitch he wants will find themselves a monster home run hitter, still young enough to play adequate first base. He's served his time in Minnesota. Set him free. Let him go, like Ortiz and Garnett. Maybe he can still be a superstar, just not here. On the other hand, if you think he's just a flop, then it's also time to let him go. Either way, it's time to see if some other combination of players works better for this team.

Deception. Josh Winder's "repeatable" delivery makes it very hard to distinguish one pitch from another, and he throws them all for strikes. Even pitching from the set, he looks smooth and unreadable. Frankly, Winder looks right now like a professional pitcher that belongs somewhere in a starting rotation. I hope he gets that chance very soon.

I like to read about another hot Twins SS prospect before I do my morning bathroom. By the time I get out, I'm so refreshed! It's a little like Sally holding the football for Charlie Brown. Now Imagine Sally holding 3 footballs just for the SS position (Lewis, Martin, Miller). I'm not even looking for a Tatis, just an everyday shortstop. So many footballs, so little time. Sally's holding what, 6 to 9 footballs for pitchers? That's why I'd just as soon watch them call 'em all up. Let the whiffing begin. At least we can chuckle at the chaos.

With young guns like Ryan and Ober trying to get their fast balls up in the zone, a guy like Odo could provide them with useful tips and observations, while also providing an example how to use high heat to best advantage.

Costs too much in prospects. 2022 is when the Twins should be trying out as many prospects as they can at the mlb level. Gotta have 'em around to do that. I'd still rather see Zach Grienke come in and spread pitching tips around to the kids.

I'd love to see Zach Grienke not just pitch for the Twins, but also become an assistant pitching coach. That guy has encyclopedic knowledge of all things pitching. Also, he knows something vital: How to get guys out without a high-90's fast ball. Teach that to the kids, sensei Zach!

Here's my idea to solve the Twins DH problem: Designate $20 million dollars for the season to the DH position. At the end of the season, split that amount among all the players that DH for the team, according to how many times they served that purpose. Hard to imagine players will feel bad about DH'ing on their days off from fielding, when they get to take bites from that $20 million dollar apple. This would be especially tasty for rookies and young players that haven't reached arbitration money. Assuming roughly 550 At Bats for DH, 20,000,000 / 550 = over $36,000 bucks per At Bat...the price of a very nice car. Three AB's gets you a Tesla. 'Scuse me, I gotta go to the batting cage for a while...

I'm not counting Smokin' Joe Ryan on this list because I'm assuming he'll be the team's #1 for the next few years. He's a starter that needs to be properly managed, not a "prospect." Jordan Balazovic - Once he's properly groomed, Blaze should push Baily Ober out of the #2 slot. Jhoan Duran - ...and then Duran should push Blaze out of the #2 slot... Sadly, those are the only two prospects whose stuff I have seen for more than a few pitches. Even so, if we assume (for once, not entirely crazy) that the first four guys do okay, that gives the Twins a very nice, very young front four. Add a veteran or a Dobsie, and you've got something like a pitching staff. If you can land a Pineda or a Maeda, you've might have a pretty good front ro. Best part is, that leaves some very good prospects ready to make the leap from the crowded nest of the minors, flutter their wings as they tumble down thru the first few appearances, then bounce with charming clumsiness on the forest floor of their careers. Matt Canterino, Cole Sands, Drew Strotman, and Josh Winder all are expected to be good pitchers very soon. I and I tummy get a pleasant feeling.

Nice rhythm in his swing, but it looks like his spray chart would land every hit ball within a ten foot circle. Hoping Twins coaches can help him spread the hits a little more around the park. Good throwing motion, needs to cock his head over a bit more and develop more accurate footwork to get more consistent results. Oh how I miss Michael Cuddyer's rocket arm, and Pucket's gun from center...Both those guys could throw a freaking strike to 2B right from the warning track. Aaron Hicks, too. What an arm! I remember that very few runners would challenge Hicks, especially after they saw him gun one to the infield. Right center to third base, on the fly, steee-rike! Left field to home, on target, 105 mph... Sheesh! Power pitchers that convert to outfielders...find me more of those!

Let's see, how would I order that list... 5. Martin. Least familiar, supposedly ranked up there with Lewis. Sounds like a star defensively, hoping he develops more pop with the bat. Who's a better 4th OF, Martin or Celestino? Can Martin play SS? 4. Lewis. For all I've heard about his limitless potential, I've only seen a few clips of him swinging the bat. So much missed time...! Twins need to get him up early, see what he needs to work on. 3. Polanco. The top three are huge here, but Polanco has the most prospects that could take his place: Lewis, Palacio, Martin, 2. Kirilloff. Twins gotta have that bat in the lineup to compete. Hoping he sticks at 1B. Sano could be going bye-bye with his 300k's and so-so defense. I'll take that same defense at 1B with a guy that bangs it off all walls and hits about .285. What was Killer's KO percentage with runners on base? I figure he'll drive in a few more runs with fly balls instead of K's. 1. Buck. With him, they won. Without him, they lost. That was pretty important in 2021. If nothing else, the Saints should have one hell of a team this year.

At one point in my early 40's I worked my way up to the top speed of a machine that supposedly threw 92mph. With a light bat, I could hit a line drive about half the time, missing clean the other half. Weird yellow balls with dimples. Next time I tried was a several years later. 80mph was a blur, but I didn't work my way up. Couldn't get around on it because It came out of the hole at random times, often drifting all over the place outside the zone. Crappy machine. Not worth the money. I cannot imagine what it must be like to try hitting an 87mph slider or a 92mph cutter. Can you imagine how hard it was to hit a Maddox heater, when he could bend it a foot in either direction with pinpoint control, and no way to read it?

That's what popped into my head when I just watched Sabato hit a homer. Kind of a heavier, slower version of Rooker, who has more pop in his bat. How the Twins choose their first round picks mystifies me sometimes.

Duffy's success depends on commanding his heater at 96. If he loses command at that velo, or his velo goes down, then he's in trouble. But at 96, he can get K's, and he can get guys to swing early at his off-speed stuff, It also makes his curve an out pitch.