gil4

It's tough to replace a legend.

Not even close. Duensing had about 3-4 years of it (plus a couple of years of "maybe we can re-sign him and add him to the trade" after he was gone. )

That was a tough one.

I agree - the first thing he's going to have to do as the new owner is write a check for $140M. I hope he has a lot of change in his sofa cushions.

Nope.

All pitchers have that same floor, and all of them are one awkward pitch away from reaching it. Some guys have been healthy for a long time, but that usually means they are that much closer to the big one that shuts them down for a year. I will grant that having a shoulder injury without a specific diagnosis that was just treated with rest has a pretty high chance of recurring.

My youngest daughter is 18 and would rather go with her friends, so I'm safe.

Yeah, they are almost as bad as their boneless "wings". I live in a town where the top fine dining options are Applebees and Whataburger. We don't eat out very often. But Chick-Fil-A is coming! I might be able to write my own version of this article next year.

It looks like the main point is he can beat anyone as long as he isn't pitching in Miami. That problem is solved. Of course, we really don't know the cause of those weird splits. Maybe it isn't the stadium, maybe it's home life and will follow him. Maybe he has a lumpy bed and doesn't sleep as well at home. Maybe he has too many distractions at home and can focus better on the road. Maybe it's small sample size and will even out. I didn't check his game log, but maybe the split was caused by one game where he pitched 1-1/3 innings and gave up 10 runs, which this year will happen on the road instead. Maybe it is the stadium, but he will hate Target Field too. Or maybe the stadium in Miami is the problem and his road numbers will stay the same and his home ERA will be 2.00 instead of over 4.00, and he will win the Cy Young award and game 7 of the World Series. (It's February. We're allowed to hope for unrealistic things.)

I was there for one of the games he wasn't perfect, and it looked like batting practice. (at Texas) I wish him the best and hope he can stay on that tightrope he walks.

It's way too early to tell. He hit some in the Dominican Summer League as a 16-year-old, which is great, but if you want a real answer, ask again in 3-4 years.

That article is right here: Twins Make Boring, Necessary Trade for Michael A. Taylor

The can definitely measure things like merchandise sales. I'm sure they have a lot of market research data on many topics. I'm not sure how many individual guys move the needle that much, though. Correa and Buxton are probably the only ones worth mentioning now. An ace starter (or one who starts throwing like one) can do it. But most guys, if you move them in an attempt to get better, that won't move the needle at all. (Now if they start dumping salary, that will.) Edit to add: Arraez might be a little different, because his style reminded so many people of Carew and we love our batting titles. I think any impact will be short-lived. The main purpose of a no-trade clause isn't to prevent the player from being traded. Mauer might have been an exception there - he might have said (if asked) that this is home and I'm not waiving that no-trade clause for anything. But most guys will waive it if the team is struggling, they can go to a contender, and maybe get a bit of extra cash out of it They just don't want the risk of of being shipped off to Pittsburgh if they don't want to there.

If he does that for too much longer, some major league team may give him a chance in their system. Lefties with a pulse and an arm attached to the body usually get chances. He might need to bump up that K/9 to have a real shot.

Drafting 4-5-6 over three years and producing one utility guy from that is disappointing.