Paul

Great job Parker. But I agree with Wookie on the worthiness of the Mauer behind the back thing. Think ya missed a nugget there.

The "increased focus" on strikeouts is purely a fan focus. Teams covet the best pitchers. The best pitchers generally strike more people out than the lesser pitchers. Teams with the best pitchers succeed at a higher rate. To say teams succeed because they focus on strikeouts is analogous to saying wet streets cause rain.

Sad to see Mauer have to move. I agree with you, Seth, I think he's a lock for the HOF too, but I think if he could've caught part-time for a few more years he would be considered the best and most productive catcher of all time by most. On the bright side I think this move will allow him to play with fresher legs, arms and hands and should push his OPS over 900 for a few years, offsetting the normal decline players can suffer in their mid 30's.

"...but a little strong confidence is also sometimes a necessity for a great player." Everything done well stems from pride.

Can I really be the only one on TD who appreciates the irony of all the "pitching to contact" hate?

Seems to me that, even though the GMs feel various levels of responsibility, the economics of MLB are the predictable result of a monopoly in a free market system.

Aaaaah... so the moral is; don't throw hanging curve balls.

"And I've remained annoyed with Gardy for being Smith's apologist about this move, too." I find it hard to believe the manager of a 95 win team would allow his starting SS to be fired without having significant input into the decision. I think it much more likely this was Gardy's decision. And one not based on a sane evaluation of Hardy's on field contributions.

It's just a matter of time before balls and strikes are established by sensors at the ML level. The technology has been with us for some time now. Sensors are in everyday use in numerous industries. They make automation possible. Light curtains are so reliable they are extensively used for personal safety. I look forward to the time when balls and strikes depend on reality, not the opinion of a 55 yr old man with his human emotion, maybe 20/20 eyesight, and sometimes even an agenda.

...And for the love of God, never quote RBI as an indication of performance... Just think how many RBIs Mauer would have if he had Joe Mauer batting 1st and Joe Mauer batting 2nd.

He will have value IF his shoulder heals and he can again crack 90 with consistency. This will have to be determined before his value is determined.

Problem is, Vizquel could probably start for this team at either 2B or SS... This my friend.....is sadly true. I second this notion. Further, I think he should be signed to a 5 yr contract. So he can be eased into coaching in 4 yrs when the farm might have someone ripe to replace him.

The "bloodbath" seems to me to be a perfectly logical first step to regain the clubhouse. It's either this or you have a fire sale. It's essential for the on field staff, the players, and the FO to all be pulling in the same direction. There's a tremendous value in that synergy.

I can offer my experience. There are many many factors involved but, generally, if the play is in front of them or in their view, veteran players are allowed to judge the play for themselves...under the assumption they are better judges of their speed than the coach. If a player's judgement proves faulty, or he demonstrates a lack of understanding of the factors the affect the risk/reward equation that governs the go/stop decision, this privilege will be revoked. Rule of thumb: If there is ANY doubt...listen to the coach.

Good post Chief.

Is this hyperbole? If it isn't I gotta disagree. I'd bet money the team's field staff and ML scouts could all rattle off a pretty good pecking order of ML SS and 2B that you would agree with. If you had phrased it: "the team's staggering inability to acquire and field superior middle infield talent." I would agree with you. I think that narrows the focus to the real 2-fold problem. A) Acquisition Gettin him out there. I would further narrow the focus to SS, as the value to the team is significantly more there than at 2B. Acquisition is the easy part. All it takes is a little bit of love, a little salesmanship, and MONEY. These guys are extremely rare. The top SS of this generation make a lot. Gettin him out there is apparently a problem. I think Gardy's history gets in the way. He was a very good div 1 SS. He's a very BB smart guy. He's had 35+ years to study and dissect the position full time. I think he intimidates the young ones. And I think he pissed off and chased off the one vet worth a crap that he had. When Gardenhire retires I hope he stays with the team ala TK. I think his expertise would pay great dividends with the very young middle infielders in the organization. But I think it gets in the way with the ML team.

Willihammer, I agree with everything you say. But my point was centered around the data I've cited from my previous comment. This data is from an article on this site a few weeks back. I find it fascinating that a ML pitcher doesn't know if the ball he's throwing will go right or left or stay up or go down. And ML catchers can't tell either. Watch Doumit in the video. It's like he got crossed up on the pitch. I mentioned my grip discovery as a way of explaining this stay up or go down phenomenon. Maybe I didn't explain it well enough. The grip doesn't eliminate the spin, but rather reduces the rpms and lessens the movement caused by the Magnus effect, much like a split finger FB. Thus appearing to the batter to sink as you described. I've never heard of this grip anyplace, and I've never even spoken of it before, and I doubt that this grip would be intentionally used by a pitcher as they normally want to increase the spin. Also, I know what you mean about Blyleven. But he IS a fountainhead of pitching finer points. If only you can decipher what he's trying to say. Parker, from the link showing his grip I agree with you, but his thumb does look to be on the seam. I know from experience that the slight added friction from the seam, rather than the smooth leather, sliding off the thumb REDUCES the rpms. (at least for me) My thought was perhaps he is careless with his grip and this varies the rpms and thusly the sink. In any event, the guy in the video clip is gettin' PLENTY of rpms, and it does look like he pronates a tad.

I'm kind of fascinated by the reports on this kid's FB. Some cut, some tail, and some sink. And apparently, nobody, including him, knows which direction the ball is going. Or, even what's causing the variance. The one thing I could add to Doumit's thoughts, “I don’t know if it’s finger pressure or wrist angle or what it is, but he’s got a gift..." is this: A normal FB is thrown with index and middle finger on the seams with the thumb opposing them, roughly forming an isosceles triangle, with the ring finger second knuckle providing stability. When I switched to softball I found the movement I had, because of the shorter distance, confounded the firstbaseman. I discovered a grip change that "killed" the spin, thus reducing movement, with no real drop in velocity. All I did was change from a 3-point cradle to a 4-point cradle by moving my thumb further to the outside of the ball and adding the first knuckle of the ring finger as the 4th point. This was an accidental discovery and had more to do with the size of the ball than any mission I had. Anyhoo, if Deduno, actively or inadvertently, moves his thumb out or hits a seam with it he might "kill" some of the spin and cause apparent sink.

I agree wholeheartedly there's a snowball effect. And that it does work in both directions. But my logic trail seems sound to me. And the assumptions I make are all quite likely. Do you find fault?

I think that comparing the O's and Twins potentialwise is very logical on the surface. But if you look closer you will notice a major impediment to the Twins following the O's tracks. The Orioles had a field staff overhaul a couple yrs ago. I'm a huge Gardenhire fan. My opinion, based on results and reports from the players, is he is every bit as good, if not better than, Showwalter. But there needs to be either a field staff overhaul or a player roster overhaul. For various reasons it's infinitely easier to replace the coaching staff. Here's my logic on why personnel has to change. History shows us that payroll matters. But it also shows us it's not the only, or even the most important, factor. There needs to be a synergy for a BB team to rise to the top. Without that synergy the warts really show. In 2010 the 94 win Twins had that synergy. In 2011 the 99 loss Twins didn't. It seemed to me that the team had a much greater mercenary attitude in 2011 than 2010. It stands to reason that the firing of Hardy coupled with the hiring of Nishioka most likely invoked player comments and questions. I think Gardenhire was a good enough people person to placate the players. But Smith was not, and probably retorted something along the lines of "This is a business, you do your job and I'll do mine." I think the clubhouse was too far gone by the time they showed Smith the door. And I think it's too far gone to be repairable with the status quo.

Wow. I'm kind of shocked it's even that many. I don't know but I would guess they're all from the mid 1800's

Parker, Have the %s of inside FBs, and FBs in general, changed through thr year? It makes sense he would see more curves/sliders and inside FBs earlier in the year from RH pitchers trying to take advantage of his tentativeness from the concussion recovery.

Short answer...yes. I'm a firm believer in the "strong up the middle" mantra. And I know firsthand how a lockdown confident SS (Hardy)contributes far far more to the team than the stats might indicate. If the Rangers can be motivated to put Andrus in play I feel the Twins should pay whatever the market demands. This should probably be posted with its own heading in a blog post or other such thing, but I don't know how to do that on here, so I'd like to take this opportunity and express my gratitude to the TD proprietors and all the commenters. The last 2 years the Twins relevance to my life has dropped quite a bit. I watched maybe 20 games last year and went to just a few. This year I don't think I've watched 6 on TV and have been to 2. I don't believe I'm unique in this. The little baseball info I seek I get from the MLB network supplemented by what I get here. The depth of understanding and general intelligence level of the writers and commenters on the site is far supeior to any other place I know of. And I thank you all.

Maybe the FO has this in mind. How would you feel if they brought up Slama, Hicks, Arcia and Dozier and they all proceeded to stumble around? The front office is afraid to have prospects around? What did I say to make you infer this? Based on my prior comment, I was trying to imply that the FO had analyzed the promotion of the guys the "fans' wanted called up and had judged the promotions to be an unsound investment. Specifically, that the guys would be so overmatched at the ML level that any uptick in fan spending, coupled with the modest furthering of the prospects' careers, would not offset the cash outlay.

Maybe the FO has this in mind. How would you feel if they brought up Slama, Hicks, Arcia and Dozier and they all proceeded to stumble around?