dougd

BPro (Dec 23) likes Canterino and Winder (7 and 11), claiming both have added velocity the past year, and Canterino has developed a good change-up.

Gleeman reported the same marijuana at customs issue.

He came to the USA last winter on a tourist visa. Was it to go ice-fishing in the great Minnesota northlands? No, it was to be part of Twins Fest. Did he get any compensation, such as room and board? If so, he violated immigration laws, and was subject to a 5 year ban. When he got to Atlanta on the way to spring training and was questioned, was he likely to lie about why he had come to Minnesota in January? When you read the comments on traderumours, it is mostly surmising about criminal conduct being the reason for the release. I don't know anything about Fernando Romero as a person, but I am much more inclined to blame ICE and the Twins than Fernando. Obviously, this opinion could be completely wrong, but I do know a fine young person who was even white that was banned for 5 five years for a similar offense.

Romero was added to the Gigantes Dominican team and has pitched twice. Didn't get anyone out the first game, and loaded the bases in a mop-up role in the 9th the other day, but threw 6 straight swinging strikes to escape.

Maybe the Twins will learn how to do those bloop hits to the outfield now.

Not quite on topic, sorry, but Celestino is the only Twin currently on a roster in the Dominican winter league. He plays for the Gigantes, batted leadoff in their last game. Gameday box scores as well as season stats can be found at mlb.stats.offseasonleagues. Some interesting players in the league, eg Wander Franco. No fans apparently. A bit surprised Romero isn't playing, although rosters can change dramatically.

Dominican Republic winter league baseball starts Nov. 15, without fans in attendance. I wonder if Romero would be playing. Presumably the Twins would give permission. I assume the Twins would have included him in their instructional camp if he was able to get a visa.

It would be nice to have box scores for the instructional league games. I guess we will never again have the occasional days when there were six different minor league teams playing.

A couple weeks ago I saw Gardner trying to bunt for a base hit with a 3-0 count.

Russell Carleton, in BPro August 19 and 26, found that: "in front of the shift, we actually see an increase in called balls and walks. The problem is that there are a lot of extra walks, more than the number of hits saved by the shift."

I have pretty clear favorites this round, and I hope they all go 5 games: Oak, TB, SD, and Miami.

In has last three games, after coming off IL, McCullers has given up 0 ER, with 24-4 K to Walk ratio, in 18 innings. No wins since Houston didn't score any runs while he was pitching.

According to mlb.com: "If all of the tied clubs are in the same division and have, therefore, played against each other, then the team with the highest winning percentage in games among those three clubs is the top seed, followed by the team with the second-highest winning percentage in those games and then the third-highest." The Twins are 12-8; the best Cleveland can do is 11-9; the best Chicago can do is 9-11 (if I have copied results correctly). Chicago could tie Cleveland for 2nd by winning the next two games.

Can a player from the 60 man pool be included in the 40 man playoff bubble pool even if he is not on the 40 man roster? Eg Kirilloff.

Yes, every ESPN or FOX, etc game blacked out for mlb subscribers. For the Fox game you couldn't even get the condensed game the next day. It appears there will be no in-game video highlights tonight. The playoffs were never going to be part of the mlb subscription. I doubt there will be an option to purchase streaming rights to the playoffs tho you get it "free" if you have ESPN etc on cable. A few years ago you could purchase playoff video from centerfield on mlb, which was slightly better than nothing.

LeMahieu (no o) is batting .392 and needs just a couple more AB to qualify.

According to Betsy Helfand, the hope is that he will be available after a couple days of rest. bruised leg

And what is pretty well known about the Romero visa issue? He came to Minnesota on a tourist visa for the Twins Fest. Presumably he got room and board, and maybe some spending money. He returned to the DR, and got his presumably normal work visa. He flew to Atlanta with this visa in late February. https://www.twincities.com/2020/02/22/customs-issue-likely-to-keep-twins-fernando-romero-out-of-camp/ I don't think anything else has been revealed. My guess is that he got a five year expedited removal ban that the Twins are trying to fight. These have been increasingly common after after the “Border Security and Immigration Enforcement Improvements Policies” Policy Memorandums issued by President Trump in 2017 and again in 2019. These Policy Memorandums have called for the expansion of the use of expedited removals. They have been used against a Canadian after not having the proper work authorization to volunteer at an arts festival in Washington. In this case, the traveller was informed that he would be taking American jobs. I personally know someone who flew from Norway with his father this winter to see his friends and help out on a dog race. He apparently admitted previously picking up dog**** for room and board on a tourist visa. He spent 24 hours at the Seatle airport jail and was sent back to Norway with a 5 year ban. ICE is out of control. Hopefully I am wrong about this guess and it is just a normal five month snafu.

Arreaz started 42 at second, 18 in LF, and 15 at third. In the last two games I have recently seen he has cost a run by not catching a grounder cleanly, tho he got the out at first. I hope that doesn't become or remain a problem.

My guess on Romero is that it has something to do with coming to TwinsFest on a tourist visa, and getting some spending money and room and board.

I wonder how often the Twins would have drafted someone picked by one of the ten (for example) teams who drafted in front of them. There must be some who the Twins liked and had an idea what it would take to sign them. How much communication is there between teams (we are going to take X if he is available)?

This seems to be a free article in the Baseball Prospectus series on minor league teams in danger of elimination. https://www.baseballprospectus.com/news/article/59103/too-far-from-town-elizabethton-twins/

Didn't he get traded to the Mets for some pitcher?

It was World Wildlife Day. May have had something to do with it.

Gonzalez has played 130 more games at shortstop than Adrianza, and his career grades are about equal. He seems to do OK at 3B, where about 25% of the time he has to cover the whole left side of the infield. Even if he has declined in the past year or two, he might be used in an emergency over Gordon, unless this is the year Gordon is really deserving of a promotion.