Squirrel

He had a bad year last year after ranking so high on promise. He needs a turn around year and this is not the way to get it going. Feel for the guy but hope he gets it figured out, on and off the field. Anyone know the context of the altercation?

Concur!

I’ve made it now so you can choose more than one answer 🙂 But I agree about the pitching, hence it being a choice. Some get caught up in the ‘we need an ace or all is for naught’ mindset. I think we have the potential where one or two of our pitchers could have years that give us that legitimate 1-2 punch. I don’t think we need that one pitcher that is a career ace, we just need one of pitchers to have that kind of a year … and I think there is the potential for that. But that said, not having the 4s and 5s we’ve had in past years I think gives this rotations a huge boost and will give us a fun year to look forward to!

Rally Monkey is the traditional option going back a decade or two. It’s just not a legitimate poll without it. And considering the superstitions in sports, it would be dangerous for me to alter it in any way

We’ve seen comments here and there that Kirilloff is swinging freely … from what you see so far, is the optimism real?

Every year at the start of ST I get hopeful. Baseball is back, being played, our favorites are on the field, the grass is green, the sky is blue, the sun is warm … well, in Florida it is. ST has always been this great confluence of baseball generations from Carew and Oliva down to Lewis and Lee. It makes me giddy and that makes me hopeful. ST is a new day. Last year is done, over and gone. This year has yet to unfold, where anything is possible, anything can happen, despite the probabilities. That’s how I look at it this time of year. Baseball is being played again signaling the end of the off-season. The new year is here and there is much to look forward to. What are you looking forward to this season?

A lot more money, less travel, more time with and closer to family ... no brainer ... and getting college coaches ... does that happen often? I thought when we hired him, it was unusual for an MLB team to get a college coach; but I could be remembering wrong

Yes ... when ST opens, which is the first day of 'pitchers and catchers' is when teams can put players on the 60-day IL

Yeah, that was the first thing I thought of … he has to get through ST then 162 games. I want him available. Also, if he’s throwing that hard, I’d say it’s solidified that he isn’t going to go back to being a starter, which isn’t something I wanted anyway

Mine, too … especially if I had a beautiful apartment on Île Saint=Louis or in Montmartre … I love Paris …

I know position players like getting there early even though official report day for them isn’t until next week, but who isn’t there yet?

Can’t wait! I’ll be there next week, yippee!

No, it’s tomorrow. Players can be put on the 60-day when pitchers and catchers report as that’s the first official day of ST

This is behind a paywall for me ... could you give a summary?

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2023/02/twins-interested-in-brad-hand.html Should they ... will they? View full rumor

They were fun and clever … and I had fun reading them!

Love these!

For Ohtani. Again, how many two-way players are in the league? I hardly think the rule is unfair. Maybe it will encourage more, and if teams can develop a legitimate two-way player, more power to them. But teams are not going to give innings to a position player who cannot pitch legitimately at the MLB level in order to try and get that player a two-way designation. You are trying to come up with a hypothetical that is very, very unlikely in order to prove some kind of a point.

Seriously? Come on. Unless you have a player that can seriously and legitimate,y pitch, no team is going to give a position player that many innings just to get them two-way status. I’d be pissed if the Twins did this, just to do this. How many two-way players are there, exactly? It’s rare. You are convoluting the discussion by giving a hypothetical that isn’t going to happen.

It was released this morning: https://www.mlb.com/press-release/press-release-bally-sports-north-audacy-s-news-talk-830-wcco-and-102-9-the-wolf-

I think the link explained this. Players are designated a pitcher, a position player or a two-way player. Two- way players aren’t just position players, they have a separate designation, so the rule doesn’t apply to them, only to those players designated as position players

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2023/02/mlb-mlbpa-discussing-rule-change-regarding-position-players-pitching.html I think this is another potentially good rule but it depends on when and how it is implemented, but I do think this practice should be limited.

Stop it ... this is about how he pitches. If he's good who cares about his last name. Find another forum to complain about this non-issue.

Maybe @Seth Stohs could still write his article for those of us who don’t get the STrib.