twinstalker

1977, 1979, 1984 are candidates, too, though I'm too lazy to look it up. Edit: 1977: 24-11, 42-31, 67-48 were local maxima before finishing 84-77 (35-25 after 60) 1979: 22-8, 53-42, finish 82-80 (32-28 after 60) 1984: 18-15, 54-49, 67-58, finish 81-81 (28-32 after 60) 1972: 23-12, finish 77-77 (33-27 after 60)

He's lucky enough to get paid, but I pretty much lump him in with the mass of pitchers in a system that is going to produce a lot of pitchers. Falvey's infrastructure and hires will no doubt be responsible for this. And unless I had Strasburg or Cole or Bauer in front of me at my draft pick, I wouldn't be picking a pitcher when I'm of the opinion that getting out amateurs has very little to do with getting out MLB bats.

I skimmed the OP and didn't see the part about the "chant" which I'd forgotten about. Trust me, we used to make fun of him for that. I don't really care about statues, take his down. But what I do know is if social media was around for Calvin's generation, pretty much everybody, except for the one guy's dad, would be caught saying things that are totally inappropriate. My mother was the least racist person I knew and taught me about bigotry, but she still said things that could be considered ignorant or possibly racist, even though she would be appalled if someone implied that. Because she was of a different generation. But she raised a kid who is taking this very seriously, and if we want the change to come, we just can't be militantly reactionary to every slight in the past. Not because it was right or excused as part of the way things were, but because there are a lot of people who are partially but not all in on the cause, and you don't want to lose them. Sure, tributes to traitors and slaveholders and murderers must be destroyed. And wrongs that are occurring in real time (there are lots still after Floyd) and Calvin-like statements we hear now must be immediately condemned. But there is a line when it comes to the past, not because Uncle Joe needs to be honored for his comments, but because you will lose people. Right now I know Trumpers who are appalled at recent events. We need to keep these people's attention with current atrocities. I guarantee there are a number of people who, just based on the current Calvin thing, will no longer pay attention to what is happening in this regard. Pick your battles. This is too important.

If you're middle aged, Calvin was racist like our fathers were racist. More than anything, he was ignorant. Certainly his quote about Carew was anything BUT racist, you really have to reach there. I've called a black person an idiot. Is that racist? No, he was being an idiot, and I call all idiots idiot, and usually they are white. Calvin would have called any white player who was top five in the MLB a fool there. I think I'm pretty sensitive to the situation going on, but I'm uncomfortable removing the statue of our club's founder simply because he was ignorant like most everybody of his generation. Let's save our outrage for those doing overt harm, or we will tire out before anything of substance gets accomplished. And yes, I understand the insipidness of latent racism.

I totally agree. Pretty sure I know this Hanson, and he's a hypocrite because I remember him not standing for the anthem at the hockey tournament a few years back. He's was trying to keep his beer on the downlow beneath his seat. It just pisses me off when Stu finds another hick to get his opinions from, because these rednecks do not represent Minnesota or our sports fan. In fact, if Joe Mauer weren't so talentless and overpaid to the point where he destroyed any hope for the Twins in the 2010s, I'd suggest he interview him again.

Dobnak might be their best pitcher, so while I can see an argument that he's not top five due to circumstance and Berrios, I cannot see how he would be behind Devin Smeltzer if there is a sixth spot in the rotation. Besides, Smeltzer has looked very well-suited for middle/long relief, whereas Dobnak has been slotted more as a starter thus far in MLB, And Dobnak was backing it up in ST as a starter this year.

I skimmed this, but the point seems to be that maybe you get actual player more often by choosing corner/1B bats. However, I see no reference to the ceiling, so a 50 WAR pitcher is the same as a 5 WAR bat-first player, but maybe difference in average WAR is what should be tested. Is it better to succeed in getting a bat-first player slightly more often than succeeding in getting a pitcher when it's the pitcher who are more frequently great? Not even sure that's the case, just wondering. But as you mention, there are pitchers drafted that even Falvine might never have passed on no matter if their general strategy is avoid them. Just curious before I look it up...what college pitchers were sitting there for Falvine in 2017? Remembering back, there were two: Brendan McKay and Kyle Wright. While they looked good, I don't think anybody mistook them for Cole (1) and Bauer (3) or even Hultzen, who went 2nd in 2011. By the way, take a look someday at how the Twins crapped all over what might go down as the best draft ever. Three picks in rounds 1 and 1s, none sniffing MLB.

I would love to know specifics on who was using the n-word. The first guy that comes to mind was someone Falvine never seemed to appreciate as much as Minnesota fans did. Maybe this explains that, though he seemed like a really good guy and probably is...it's probably someone or someones else. Huh. Maybe not. Torii Hunter and LaTroy Hawkins were hired by the Twins in late November 2016. Here's a list of those there in 2015 with Hunter who were traded/released thereafter, let's just say through the 2018 season. Honestly, it's a short list, as most were gone prior to November 2016, are still with the club, or are Brian Dozier, Ryan Pressly, Eduardo Escobar, or Joe Mauer (who doesn't fit "getting rid of"). Joe couldn't say it in a sound-proof room all by himself experimenting whether he could utter the syllables. And actually, now that I think about it, it didn't have to be a player.

Gasser and Bumgarner, I remember them well. At the time, the only resource I had (busy life then) was Sid Hartman, and surprise(!) he was very high on them. I told my friends how good they were going to be. I also remember being very high on that 1989 class, and that one panned out quickly. The 2002 class looked bad when Span looked like a bust and just a couple of relievers were producing, but then he had lasik or something, and suddenly he could hit and get on base. 2002 was also the first time it seemed as if the Twins had a good farm system. Kubel and Mauer were having huge years, and Morneau was looking really good. Plus the MLB team was young and taking over the division.

Just out of curiosity, are they still planning on switching the Pirates and the Braves to make it easier on the New York teams?

siap. Family. Home.

I must have missed how the five rounds hurt the Twins, in particular. The bad trade they made with the Dodgers already hurt them, as did losing their 3rd for Donaldson. That part hasn't changed. I didn't catch the argument that the strong farm system plays against them. I guess it's possible, but that seems an iffy argument. Most of those players won't be competing with the "strong system" guys, and the rules are such that you don't get improperly buried in the minor leagues of baseball like you did maybe 50-60 years ago. If I'm someone apt to take the $20,000 from a team, I'm going to foremost look for a system that will best develop me. A strong system is at least a possible indication of that, so I therefore let the Twins in the front door. I would look for a team with a strong organizational development philosophy along with a clear cut plan for how they take my strengths and weakness and prepare me for the major leagues. Nobody likely explains this better than the Twins, who are likely to impress with their innovation, their "science," and their detailed strategies that I'm sure they easily customize to me. I think the things that hurts the Twins will be more base, like players preferring the teams that get all the attention or that they grew up rooting for (basically the Twins get shut out in this area of reasoning). A kid growing up in Georgia or North Carolina who's getting screwed by this whole thing might as well at least get to play for the organization they grew up adoring. The Twins get the leftovers of these types. I know if I could choose an organization growing up, I would have chosen the Twins because they were my favorite. But that also means I'm probably not very good, because I probably live in Minnesota and baseball's limited here.

East: NYY, NYM, Bos, Bal, Phi, Was, Pit Central: Tor, Det, Cle, Min, ChC, ChW, Mil, KC South: Mia, TB, Atl, Hou, Tex, StL, Cin West: Col, Ari, SD, LAA, LAD, SF, Oak, Sea Play 42 games in your division, 46 outside, then an extra X (0-8) games against your rival, like Milwaukee for us. That's plenty of season, given what we're dealing with.

Well, if the treatment is as efficacious as what we've come up with for the flu and pneumonia, I wouldn't pin your hopes it making a big difference. We'll all be lined up in September 2021 for our vaccine. Let's hope, anyway.

Ok, first, I had to watch all 3:33 of this. Second, young-ish Carly kind of turned me on. Third, I look forward to the next Carly video with great anticipation.

It will be interesting to see how these Twins handle a late first round pick, because it's pretty clear they steer clear of pitchers early. Twins have the 27th pick. That might be late enough where a pitcher isn't out of the question.

Sorry if this has been said already. I'd be thrilled if the Twins threw them Duran and kept Graterol.

Ridiculous. If the idea is to trade Graterol, and you can't get more than Maeda right this moment (they probably could have), you have him making starts in the minors and trade him during the season. This trade sickens me. If the 4+ ERA over the last three years isn't enough, consider that was without facing the DH or having the worst infield defense behind him. Plus, let's lower your leverage by saying you're moving him to the pen, then deal him. Brilliant.

It's probably not an inefficiency if you're spending $92 million for it.

Excellent points brought up, Matthew. It's funny to see the expected "best case scenario" arguments: "of course Josh D. is a great signing because he's so great that we will have greatness now and the Twins will be great." Or something along those lines. You have laid out much better than I why this was a signing I would not have done. Personally, I think the Twins will get one year of "better than what you'd find in the normal course of filling the position," and yet they are likely paying $60 million more for that right. The Twins did not succeed in getting a premium starter this year. That doesn't mean in the next year they won't get get a premium starting pitcher to pay over 3-4 years. But, well, now it does. You may say the Twins will still have money for 2021, but really they won't because whatever they have will be no more money than a lot of teams have. Not every year is the same, in terms of pitchers rejecting us. I think we could outspend to get an impact pitcher...but no longer. This contract will be an albatross, and the front office will not admit that until at least 2023, because it's their deal, just like they've favored the guys they dealt for at the past couple trade deadlines while not placing many of the since-successful guys from the past regime on their 40-man (think Nick Anderson, Dereck Rodriguez, etc). It's natural. I've stated my position, which is similar to what we generally can infer from Falvine's actions to date: better to build for every year than use your magic beans for one year. The window is always open if you don't go overboard or trade away your future. Winning takes a lot of luck, so put yourself in a position each year by building from within and spending wisely. But instead they play loose with their money this off season. $92 million is about $60 too much for a good player there. How much is Donaldson going to outplay "good player," and is that worth $60 million? On average, I think he's going to be at best "good player," and I think we only see one year where he's better than that. Nope, wouldn't do it.

I have to admit, I'm not as excited about this as you all. Between injuries, payroll concerns, and a drop in production vs NL pitching, not to mention he's now 34 (Mauer was basically on his last leg at that age), I can see this going badly. For one or two years, fine, but even those years are risky. I'm not so sure this is as good a deal as you all think it is. Hope I'm wrong.

I am sure Marwin let the Twins know. If he didn't, that's almost fire-able in and of itself. Funny, I just checked Marwin's 2017 and 2018 stats in Houston, and his away stats are significantly better.

If MLB had done any of this, then Crane would have demanded an investigation into every team, and MLB can't withstand that. Especially because the Yankees, Red Sox, and Dodgers (the teams most likely to be doing it) are too important to MLB's brand.

Why would we give the Mets Kirilloff when they only asked for Buxton?

I think a lot of us think it's okay to spend a whole bunch of $$$ unwisely this "one" time. I'll take my chances with someone who thinks there's a better way to go about this, to use the extra money this year on one-year moves, to use all the bad money saved in years 3 and 4 or 5 to make a smarter splash next year or thereafter. Cole and Strasburg (and Rendon) were the only real game-changers. After that, I'm not sure we could have anything more than a hope that the addition worked. Falvine's job is to win as much as possible for as long as they're here, with emphasis on championships. Right now Derek Falvey should expect to be here for thirty years and win multiple championships. Why do anything to the detriment of that vision? He and Levine know they have a chance to win in 2020. It's not a good chance no matter what they do. The Yankees, Astros, and then a bunch of others stand in the way. At best the Twins are approx 5% to win the WS after they do something. They will do some things to make the team better, we know they will. But to expect idiocy with money that will improve your chances 1% or 2% is perplexing to me, especially when the moves that will be made will likely get you that same improvement in chances anyway. Of course, and here's the kicker, when things ultimately don't work out, everybody will be blaming the moves they didn't make. Because this group-think mentality we have going on here (Twins fandom) is the king of Captain Hindsight: 1. Expect them to do everything. 2. The Twins will lose eventually and certainly be likely to win less than 101 games. Because, one winner. 3. Blame the FO for not doing the 99% of the things in #1 they didn't do. This is a process. I wish the Twins had been able to sign Zack Wheeler. It turns out there was no realistic chance. If they had signed Wheeler, their chance of winning it all may have improved from 4% to 6%. Now they will do something different, and their chances will improve to 5% or 5.5%. But eventually, when our Klubers, Civales, Biebers, Plesacs, and Carrascos have taken over the rotation and our prospect hitters we keep drafting high are ready and add to Kepler and Co., we'll have a much stronger starting point and be less in need of a major upgrade that, except in our best-case scenarios, stands little chance of being filled to the degree we need, especially at the $$$ we throw at it.