Darius

I don’t think it changes the appeal to its current fans. But, it’ll lure in many more MLB fans who follow prospects and brings the exposure to a national level, especially if you’re getting big name prospects through there occasionally. I think it could be a big deal in terms of generating some growth for the Saints. How does it work with coaching? If a player doesn’t have his contract selected by the big club, could that player legally come practice with the team? I’d jump all over that if I’m the Twins. Getting guys like Duran and Balazovic bullpens with the big league coaches every week would be very appealing.

The way Falvine taxis guys back and forth, I wonder if the Pohlads are making this move because they saw the travel costs.

No. They’ve signed one major free agent (Donaldson) in my lifetime, and even that was because nobody else wanted him that badly, and refuse to invest significant resources into the starting rotation. You can get hot at the right time and maybe accomplish something (the Rays this year), but there is just no way this roster is ever going to outclass the big market clubs until they open up the pocket book.

Watch May go elsewhere and be the filthiest reliever in the game for next few years. Our specialty seems to be casting off dominant relievers.

The whole service time system is without a doubt the worst thing in all sports. Imagine how much better the game would be is a large percentage of its best players weren’t in an obscure inferior league somewhere.

We’ll never know the opportunity cost in terms of playoff wins, but imagine dropping Eduardo Escobar’s 2019 production into 3rd base and moving Sano over to 1B in 2019.

As much as I think they should, there is zero chance the Twins sign Bauer.

If I’m a guy like Bauer’s agent, I’m pushing for tiered contracts. I’ll sign for a minimum of $X, whether there are games or not. The contract ratchets up based on the number of games and fans allowed in the stadium. Whether you get them to show up and buy tickets isn’t my problem. No way I’m getting charitable with ownership. You make a windfall next year because ballparks open and people are super enthusiastic about attending games because they’ve been locked up for a year (which isn’t out of the question), I want my cut of that. I’m losing no sleep over a lean year for people who have banked billions in actual earnings and unrealized gains over over the years. I already did my time on the MLBs antiquated arbitration/team control system where you get star players at a bargain for a significant chunk of their career. The smart play may actually be waiting until in season to sign like some did last year. The pandemic has to burn out sometime, one would think, if there is no advance in vaccine, etc. by then. There will be normal baseball again at some point.

The problem with analytics is it’s trying to analyze a black and white outcome in a world full of grey area. This isn’t the same thing as the likelihood of a certain number coming up on a roll of dice. Clearly, analytics have their place. But, some are getting away from human element, and that’s where it can hurt. There is such a thing as clutch. It matters which batters are coming up in the next inning. It matters how the guy feels, his confidence level, days of rest, etc. There’s a lot of things that aren’t accounted for that cause religious followers of these things to be wrong more than they think they should be.

He hit .800, he’s the real deal, ready and all that...so let’s give him zero ABs in a season that we’re all-in then throw him to the wolves in the playoffs. Bold strategy, Cotton. Very coherent and logical.

We need better players. Bottom line. There’s a lot of excuses. Staying healthy and being able to play is part of being a good player. There is clearly a difference between the bright lights of a playoff game and some routine regular season game - most of these guys seem to fold (looking at the box scores of recent playoff games isn’t pretty) - and you can’t make the argument that they’ve been running into dominant ace level pitchers. I don’t think there’s as much luck involved as people think. The guy from the Rays just hit 10 home runs in the playoffs. That takes something more than closing your eyes and getting lucky.

I’m torn on the subject, and have gone back and forth. But, the more I think about it, the more I’m ready to move on. I love what Nelson has done here. Personally, I think he should be getting the praise that some heap on Baldelli. He’s taken young players under his wing (Sano, primarily). He’s demonstrated what it means to be an exemplary professional. He’s been a unifying force in the clubhouse (the robe thing was great). For all the praise Baldelli has gotten for his “hands off” cool dad approach, that doesn’t work without Nelson around. That said, this team is once again stuck in rut and seemingly going nowhere. They’re not winning a World Series next year, short of making another move - and they’re not increasing payroll. They need to start preparing for the future. I’d like to see Larnach replace Rosario in the OF, some combo of Sano/Kiriloff at 1B/DH, Royce Lewis on the left-side (whether short or 3rd), and Jeffers handed the keys to full-time starting catcher. It’s not a total overhaul, that lineup with our current pitching staff could still be a playoff team. But, I think that’s the fastest track to success. Our hotshot hitting prospects need to get some time under their beltS and acclimate to the majors while we still have guys like Buxton, Kepler, and Arraez around. That likely can’t happen with Cruz getting the start at DH everyday. Or Donaldson for that matter. If he gets healthy and comes out of the gates hot next year, trade him for whatever you can get.

No thanks to a utility player that has historically struggled defensively and can’t play the corners (I’m sorry, but don’t know where you get the idea that he has the arm to play 3rd). He’s a full time guy or he’s gone. You can find guys like Adrianza that can play all 4 infield spots, plus the OF, off the bench for a fraction of the cost.

It would be really tough for me to justify paying Rogers $7M+ when he hasn’t been that good since the second half or 2019. He’s been good here, and been a workhorse, but I’d rather have May at half that. That Buxton W-L stat is incredible. I wonder what it would take to lock him up to a 5 year deal, or something that neighborhood. Something clearly clicked offensively this year (or he was finally healthy enough and beyond the head games of people messing with his swing all the time). This time next year it’s not absurd to think we could be talking about the AL MVP. If we get to that point without a deal, there’s no way he’s here long-term (he may not want to be anyway, given the history with the club, and the repeated postseason incompetence, I wouldn’t blame him).

I feel like we’ve been talking about Gray as a potential trade and breakout candidate for a decade. Not saying it’s a bad idea, but maybe there are better/different options to consider?

Is this supposed to be a ringing endorsement?

Maeda was phenomenal. Can’t argue him as MVP. Personally, I think Buxton is the most valuable player (lowercase) on this team, but Maeda’s performance and Buxton’s missed time give the award to Maeda. If Buxton could ever play a full season and hit the way he did, he’s the league MVP. It’s a little disappointing he couldn’t stay healthy again, he clearly dialed it down a notch in center (which I’ve always been against) and still got hurt. No disrespect intended to Cruz, he’s clearly the emotional leader of the team and he had a great year (historic for his age). He probably wins team MVP on 25+ other teams. He just ran into a generationally good center fielder and one of the best (partial) seasons from a pitcher in Twins’ history.

You can’t have the “human factor” without bias. It’s basically a fundamental law like gravity. Bias and error are the only two components of the “human factor” that differentiate it from a computer. There isn’t a human being walking the planet right now, or ever, that is free from bias.

Yes he’s right. We can find ruins buried in the jungle that are tens of thousands of years old from space. There are cars driving around by themselves as we speak. Most of you are probably wearing a watch that can tell you the oxygen levels in your blood. There’s no reason to sit and watch these umps butcher games anymore. Also, it’s kind of talking out of both sides of your mouth if you’re a purist that needs people umping, but gets bent out of shape about people arguing calls and getting into it with the ump. Lou Pinella, George Brett, etc. That’s as much a part of “old school” baseball as anything.

I think it’s burns me more that the Astros are in the ALCS than the Twins aren’t. They shouldn’t even be in the playoffs. They got to play the hapless Twins and the overrated As without their best player. Must be nice to have good luck raining from the sky on you even when you do your damndest to screw things up.

I don’t see them trading significant prospects or going after any big names. I don’t think the glut of offensive talent is as great as some think....there are significant past and current injury/age issues at nearly every position. Donaldson and Buxton are the obvious ones. Polanco has been dealing with ankle issues since the second half of 2019. Arraez knee issues. Rosario and Kepler have both missed significant time or had their performance affected in in 2019-2020. Garver has struggled with injuries in 2019-2020 (if he’s even a good player remains to be seen). Cruz is nearing the mid-century mark. If you start dealing guys, especially our MLB ready hitters, things could get ugly next year (like, starting Jake Cave in centerfield ugly....which has happened in both 2019 and 2020). The real killer here to this path is Lewis, Larnach, Kirilloff, etc. getting no real game action in 2020. As an opposing GM, I’d have a hard time looking back two years for their most recent live AB. If I’m the Twins, I have a hard time dealing a known commodity to plug in Larnach or Lewis (After seeing Kirilloff in the playoffs, I’d be OK with him). For those reasons I have a shed time seeing them moving significant offensive pieces (other than Rosario). Also, contenders on a budget don’t trade away quality cost controlled players. Alll that said, I think are a number of free agents I wouldn’t mind taking a flier on. A guy like Stroman is intriguing. I see them going a route like that. They’re just not bringing on significant salary at this point. You still possibly have Duran ready. I’m fine rolling with Dobnak in the 5 hole.

Because they just threw everything they had at this season. Spent money like they never have before. Traded a top pitching prospect for a starting pitcher. Things they’ve historically never done. They still got their rear ends kicked out of the playoffs. It wasn’t even close. I’ll be shocked if they make any significant moves to supplement this roster, especially if Cruz returns. I’d be surprised if Nelson Cruz keeps hitting at this pace. Father Time is undefeated. No reasonably competent position player on the roster can stay healthy. I don’t agree that you can “teach” these players to show up in the playoffs. That’s just determination and fortitude. It’s inside you, and you have it or you don’t. It has nothing to with baseball skills, they’re clearly good baseball players, but they fold when it matters. It doesn’t make them bad people, they’re just not going to win a championship as a group....and that’s the whole point of this thing. Why keep wasting time. Life is short. I’m guessing most of us already suffered through the ‘01-‘10. I don’t want to watch a middling team get crushed in the playoffs for 8 more years, then suffer through another 5 year rebuild before finally arriving at another opportunity to repeat the process. Get to work now.

Well, you can cherry pick a stat like that, quote it as gospel, and be baffled all you want. Doesn’t make it reality. Why 3 years? He’s played significant time since 2016. In which, he’s OPS’d over .750 twice, one of those being .760 in 2020. Career OPS of .763. For reference, Jacque Jones has a career OPS of .775. I don’t think anyone has ever compared Jacque Jones (a good defensive outfielder) to Mookie Betts or thought he’d bring back a haul of prospects. The 2019 season could be seen as similar to Mauer’s power binge in his MVP year that was never replicated - not even close - which created a slugging percentage for Kepler that is nearly 100 points higher than he’s produced in any of his other 4 seasons seasons with significant playing time. Kepler has never hit more than 20 HRs in any other season, and was on pace to end up in the 20-25 range again this year over a full schedule. If you want to think the 2019 Max Kepler is the real Max Kepler, that’s just a hope or wish (which there is nothing wrong with, but certainly shouldn’t be lecturing others with one cherry picked stat in that case). In reality, that could/should be seen as a statistical outlier and removed from the population to arrive at the true probable outcome going forward. There is zero hard evidence to suggest it’ll be repeated, or the norm, going forward. I just don’t see anyone giving a haul for one above average offensive season (and by haul, I mean high-end pitching prospects a year or two out - I’m not sure how returning a couple of more position player prospects, or 17 years olds, would help anything). The defense can’t be argued, but who in their right mind is paying a premium for right field defense? That’s the major driver behind his bWAR. Also, throwing him in the conversation with Judge and Betts over the last three years is a little liberal. Without the time to research, I would guess Betts doubled up Kepler in bWAR. Judge is probably significantly higher, even with a bunch of time missed for injury. Could they get a decent return? Sure. But I don’t think they’d get anywhere in the neighborhood of what it seems like you’re assuming. Kepler is a good player. The shared German connections make him one of my favorite players of all time. He is by no means a superstar. He’s not even our best outfielder (Buxton, and one could argue Rosario has been much more consistent offensively with a career OPS more than 20 points higher). The condescending attitude of thinking anyone who disagrees with you must just be “presuming” while you’re bringing the science should be reconsidered.

Yeah, the funny part here is that we’d never in that situation. If we were, I have no doubt that some crusty old ball guy like Reusse would write a scathing piece. Baldelli would’ve pulled Kershaw after 3 1/3 for whichever bullpen pitcher that had the highest OPS allowed over the past couple of month. Then, defensive subbed in Adrianza somewhere, who would inevitably come up with the bases loaded and nobody out the next inning and start a double play from pitcher to catcher to first. We would’ve been down 5-1 by the time the 8th rolled around.

I’m not as infatuated with Wade as some. I’ll take upside over a high floor any day. The walks are nice, but there’s some missing context there. How valuable is walking vs. more XBHs if he’s hitting in the 7 hole front of a guy Adrianza?