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This site and community is one of the best and I couldn't ask for a better outlet on Twins baseball. I look forward to the new articles and I look forward to the 2020 Twinsdaily events!!

As I have the opportunity to watch Spring Training Baseball and watching all of the future MN Twins and future MLB players it got me thinking about the MLB Draft. Seems like an odd time to talk about the 2020 MLB draft, since that takes place on June 10th. The Twins have the 22nd selection this year and there are 40 rounds to draft more future players. I wanted to just write about how I would love the MLB draft to change, and the changes I would make to not only the draft but how the MLB draft could help change the competitive landscape of all MLB teams and keep the fan base fore every team interested longer. Lets start with the basic premise on the current draft style. Each team gets a draft pick in the first round based off of the previous years performance. Simply put, other than some oddities the worst team the previous year gets the number 1 pick in the draft. The World Series winner would get the 30th pick in the MLB draft. This year is a bit different as the Astros have the first 2 picks nullified through the cheating scandal and the Nationals have the 22nd pick vs the 29th pick. In the current format picks cannot be traded and the draft is held in June. There are compensatory picks each year that are called round A and B. This is competitive balance picks for free agents that don't sign with the previous team that signs a contract over $50 million $'s and the team that signs that free agent gives up that pick, which ranges in the number pick it is. Very simple process that has some strategy due to the slot $ allotment, but there are 40 rounds in the draft. Currently the MLB draft is held on the MLB channel, ( which I absolutely love that channel as I could watch it all day) the team is on the clock and the announcers talk about the team needs and who they think they may draft, they have a certain amount of time to talk about the player drafted and the team that player goes to. For what its worth they do a good enough job based off of the data they have to make it somewhat compelling to hardcore baseball fans. Here is how I would change it all: I would introduce an auction style draft, but in this auction style draft I would like to set up some MLB rules that allows money to be distributed to teams a bit differently. First the base premise of an auction draft is you start with a certain amount of money and you pick a player, you start at a bid of (we will say $1, but can be whatever you set the rules at). The only rule is you have to have $1 left for each round you have left to pick the player. If you start with $100, and there are 10 rounds you can only spend up to $91 on the first player because you have to have $1 left for each of the other rounds because you pick the player that will be drafted and if there are no other bidders on that player you have to buy the player for that $1. So that is what we are going to go with except there are rules for each to team to get and accumulate $'s for lets say the 2022 draft. Here are some of the rules before the draft starts: I would change Free Agency to a 2 week signing period that starts the day after the Super Bowl. Free agency period lasts for 2 weeks. After the Free Agency period is over each team understands that they still have gaps and trade season happens before the draft that starts the week before Pitchers and Catchers report to Spring Training. Now this is where the other rules of $'s come into play. Here is where changing the landscape of how each team gets money makes competition and spending money to be competitive comes into play. Right now the average $'s spent on a MLB team is about $129 million. If you take the average spent and you take the bottom team money spent which is the Orioles this year you get kind of a mean from the average to the bottome which is $87 million. MLB has a luxury tax threshold on spending too much, but they don't have a bottom $'s spent penalty and I think there should be. For every $5 million spent under the $87 million you get a $1k penalty in the auction draft $'s you receive. This puts a bottom on the $'s spent without a penalty and that can change each year. This would be the first step in having more team competitive. Next step: Right now the worst team in MLB gets the #1 pick in the draft. I want to give every team an opportunity to get the best player, but I also want the teams that didn't make the playoffs the year before to get the best chance. What if the 15th best team in MLB got the biggest advantage in the MLB draft. A couple of thoughts on why: 10 teams currently get into the playoffs in baseball. Usually another 4 teams are really vying to get in the playoffs and they typically put the best efforts in the rest of the year to get in. What if in an auction style draft we give the 15th placed team the most amount of $s to spend, then the next 7 after that would get $1k less than the $30k on down, then the worst to first teams after that. So 15th gets $30k, WS champs gets $15k. Now instead of the Tigers essentially getting the first pick the 15th best team gets the most amount of money, then next 5 teams, then start with the worst team in MLB which would be the Tigers, then the 10th best team that made the playoffs until the WS Winner. That sounds complicated, but it really isn't. Just $1k increments from the most money to the lowest money to WS Champion Each MLB team gets a minimum of $15k to start the MLB draft, the minimum amount the starting bid is $1k. The max amount that you get based off of the standings is $30k, this doesn't not include what you would get for compensatory picks, as those get added/subtracted based on what those values actually are in comp A and B. A math person can figure out the values of those, and if you didn't spend $87 million you get a penalty for that. All together though no team can start the draft without at least $15k, this is what is distributed after the end of the season. The fun part of this is. A, you don't need to spend all of your allotted money on this years draft, B, during the year you have the opportunity to trade for draft $'s, C this gives every team more incentive to try all year, D, Every player in the draft can go to any team any year. One last part of this draft is the Auction draft only goes the first 6 rounds, after 6 rounds the worst team in MLB starts round 7 and now goes back to a snake draft that starts with the worst team and goes to the best team. The other part of this is the first 6 rounds would have 180 players, MLB picks the top 200 players that will be part of the auction draft. So to summarize, each MLB team needs to spend money on players and needs to spend a minimum or they get penalized in draft $'s. The 15th best team in MLB gets awarded the most amount of draft $'s vs the worst team in MLB. MLB picks the top 200 players that are going to be part of the auction and there will be a 6 round auction draft that includes 30 MLB teams, unless someone cheats again. After 6 rounds the worst MLB team from the previous year starts the snake draft that goes the rest of the 40 rounds. You are now allowed to use trade $'s in any MLB trade. There is still an allotted amount that is based off of the players that the most amount of $ gets spent on them, very similar to the allotment that goes to pick 1-30. I know there is a lot of baseball guys in this blogging room, I know you will through a lot of holes you will throw in this, but me personally I would love a new style draft and more competition between all teams similar to the NFL. Let me know your thoughts.

I think it is still a little early to put a lot of stock in Polanco as being the starting SS going forward. If he can be a 0 DRS SS and his bat is anywhere close to what the 2nd half was last year, with maybe a bit more power, he will be a pretty dependable and quite contributing SS. I think this year we may see the real Polanco step up or fall. The great thing about SS in this organization is we do have some depth, and if Polanco falls Gordon could take those reigns, and we would have to look for a 2B. I would want to push as hard as we can to see if Gordon can be a SS though. SS is a tough position to have a very quality player at, if Gordon lives up to they hype I hope he is a SS. If Polanco overachieves and Gordon "has to play" 2B that is a luxury the Twins would have at either moving Polanco or keeping that IF in tact which would ultimately be ideal.

I think the "baseball guys" in general aren't really motivated by shortening the games. I am just saying if I was Rob Manfred I would have to look at baseball as a whole and continue to grow the game. The general public wants shorter games, I would love an outside the box way to make it more captivating and shorten. I like to see others opinions, again, if it were up to me not much would change.

I do like the idea of dressing less players, and I really don't want to eliminate specialists, but just make decisions on best spots to use them. I really would want to let SP pitch longer, or make it more of a priority. SP get the hook quickly, I also think managers wear out bullpens too easily.

I am a baseball purist. I truly like sitting at a game or watching the game on TV and it doesn't really bother me in any way shape or form that the game takes 2 hours or 6 hours. For me I like the strategy, I like watching each pitch, trying to figure out how they may pitch to a particular person. I like the late inning pitching matchups, the lineup options, and if they are going to bunt (Stop Bunting Paul) or steal. All of these things are fantastic. In the grand scheme of baseball fans I am definitely in the minority. Baseball thrives off of fans. A normal "fan" comes to the baseball game to cheer on there favorite team. The activities include taking the sounds of a game, taking the smells of different foods and giving something new a try, inviting friends down to the ballpark and having a good time while the game is going on, and a person like me who enjoys dark beer, and analyzing different parts of the game. Most of the people mentioned above want a game to last less than 3 hours. The Duke in the Dark Dick Bremer had a tweet the other day about the speed of baseball and how to speed the game up. I have thought about this for the last 3 years, I didn't really have a good take on it, but this tweet got me thinking if I was the commissioner what would I really do. How would probably the most important thing to grow baseball and grow with the times and not take away from a game that doesn't have a clock be done. I put myself in the commissioners shoes, and being a baseball purist I thought of some ideas. I think the sum of the time in the ideas add up to what I think could speed up the game and actually make the game more enjoyable, even for the purist. 1. I think a pitch clock does make sense, problem is that the pitcher can step off at any time and call time. Also with a man on base it is easy to do this any time, but I think internally speeds up the game in the lower tiers of the game and eventually makes the efforts quicker. I think the penalty for late pitch is a ball, no matter what the count is. 2. I also think there should be a batters clock, a batter should be in the box ready for the next pitch right away. I think the batters clock should take into effect the time to have signs relayed, but this takes away some of the bad habits batters do "to get ready" for the next pitch. 3. I think there should be a max of 2 visits to the mound from the pitching coach per game, and 2 visits from the Manager per game that do not include a pitching change. This allows manager to have strategic capabilities during the game. 4. This is the most controversial, but the more I have thought about it the more I like it. Relief pitching has taken on a new level to the game. Kansas City Royals won the World Series on a team predicated on relief pitching. Baseball, just like football can be a copycat league. KC wins, relief was a very hot topic RP's contracts went way up because they were so sought after. Cubs, Astros win the W.S. now every team wants to tank to build up the system like they did. The shift started after all the saber metrics on batted balls come to play, and the shift has increased year after year, and now either players try to hit the ball out of the ballpark or K. I would propose a way to have less pitching changes in the game and eliminate some of the specialty matchups. Now bare with me on this. Imagine if you have to make a pitching change the pitcher that comes out has to face a minimum of 3 batters or finish out an inning. This rule would take place unless there is a walk or a balk by the pitcher. I think this rule would add a lot of excitement to the game, and more late inning heroics. This would not eliminate the stupid save stat. This would eliminate the specialty matchups that we have to watch innings 6-9. I think it would have more flow to the game, and it would save time on breaks of pitching changes. I feel there would be a ton of push back to this idea, but in the spirit of making the game take less time, and more action I think it could be could be a lot of fun. Baseball is a extremely fun sport to watch, there is so much to each pitch, I am in favor of making the game grow, and I think some outside the box ideas are going to come to fruition I will be curious to see what Manfred does. I haven't had a blog post since my first child was born, and now I have 2 others. I am going to try and have some fun with some thoughts surrounding the Twins and baseball. Enjoy.

Carlos Rodon, Daniel Norris, Danny Duffy, Mathew Boyd are the AL central SP's. Of course every team has a few decent LHP relievers, but the Twins have a very nice lineup vs the AL central SP. With that being said I feel it is important to have flexibility on the bench and injuries. I think Holliday has been a class act and could be a nice player to have, but don't we have to give Vargas a true opportunity? Granite can spell some OF depth, Vargas can probably produce just as well at the plate than all of them for a fraction of a price. I would save some money for deadline opportunities and pitching of any kind. The only person I would think about would be Holliday. P.S. @Twins please sign one of the top 4 FA SP this week!!!

I think what I get irritated about is if the media asks Gardy about Mauer, the answer is something like, "it's Joe, he is a bit of a funk right now, he came through with a big 2 out single, he'll be back, I am not worried." The media doesn't even show or talk about the questions they ask Mauer, or show them after a tough game. 13 games count if it is 32 degrees or 90 degrees, and when he shows no power, and strikes out 17 times so far, I am concerned, he is in his "prime", and this would be an expected year to put up $23 million a year numbers. Overreaction maybe, at what point does it just become a reality?

Joe Mauer is tied for the 8th highest salary in baseball in 2014. Could this be the worst money spent by a team in 2014? I want to say that I am a Joe Mauer fan. I have said from the beginning, I think the Twins needed to sign him, even though I wasn't a fan of what he was going to be paid. I also believe we should have attempted to trade him in 2012. Can I be a fan, blame the Twins, but also say they had to sign him all at the same time? I am not sure I can be fair on this, but I was always going to be in favor of having Joe Mauer as our catcher. I would have loved a trade, knowing Joe Mauer was going to be our John Olerud. Here is the list of the top 10 salaries in baseball: Zack Greinke-- Dodgers Cliff Lee-- Phillies Ryan Howard-- Phillies Prince Fielder-- Rangers Robinson Canoe-- Mariners Cole Hamels-- Phillies Mark Teixeira-- Yankees CC Sabathia-- Yankees Joe Mauer-- Twins Albert Pujols-- Angels That is the top 10 all making over $20 million a season. Doesn't it seem all of those players are past the prime, and most of the teams aren't going to make the playoffs. The first 13 games count in a MLB season. The reason why fans and media are all over Mauer is the fact that he isn't the Joe Mauer he once was at all this season, and it isn't looking any better. Pitchers aren't really afraid of him, in fact they are much more aggressive against him knowing they can strike him out, knowing that he isn't going to hit a home run. Joe Mauer isn't going to swing at the first pitch. Mauer has a .754 OPS, which ranks 17th among first basemen, he has a .3 WAR, which ranks 18th among first basemen. Mauer ranks 20th in SLG %. He has been struck out 16 times, wait 17th, as I watch him K again, that would be 5th most of all first basemen. He isn't even close to hitting the baseball very hard. I think it is going to get old watching our 23 million dollar man hit squeaking base hits to left field. More than that it is going to get old not seeing any type of games where he gets the big double, or HR. If Joe Mauer was "every day" Joe, would the fans/media be talking about him more, NO. Reality is he is the 8th highest paid player in the game right now, and Minnesota should expect more out of him, RIGHT? I really don't think anybody is out of line talking poorly about #MarkRosen'sSon Joe Mauer. Mauer needs to take some heat, and I don't have any issues putting it on him at this point. It is time to eliminate the #MinnesotaNice when it comes to Mauer. The Twins lone All Star so far would maybe be Chris Colabello, our 505k a year guy, who could be making over a million $'s in Japan, yet we are going to give our $23 million guy a break. Bull****. All of the jerseys I have in my closet that I wear have the #7 on them, reality is Perkins is my favorite player, but I have been a fan of what Mauer has done, and he needs to get some heat put on him, including all of the fans that are paying for watching his service. Here is my suggestion to Joe Mauer: If you can learn how to hit the baseball with 2 strikes, you can learn to hit the ball in a hitters count at 0-0 Take responsibility on your performances, and show some emotion. Everyday Joe is boring, Everyday Eddie was fun to watch!! Be a vocal leader and put this team on your back, we are relying on Colabello, Kubel, Plouffe to hold the offense afloat, and we had to sign Jason Bartlett as a clubhouse guy because you won't do it. C'MON!!! I think Joe Mauer is getting a Minnesota pass right now and it better not last very long. I don't care if the Twins win 90 games or lose 90 games, if you are by far the highest paid player on the team you need to act, play, and be counted on in every aspect of the game, Joe isn't doing that right now!!!! Is 13 games into a season too early to make a judgement, maybe, but I haven't seen this kind of futility from Joe ever, and I have a bad feeling we are not going to get the productive season we need from Joe, and we may have the worst contract among MLB players this season. Let's hope not!!

7 days into the Minnesota Twins 2014 season is fun to look at. 4.3% of the games are done, and it has an interesting vibe to start the season. If I were to tell you: Joe Mauer 7k's, 0 RBI, .250 Avg Brian Dozier is batting .143 10K's Arcia/Willingham injured The Minnesota Twins would be 3rd in the Majors in Runs scored??? If I gave you those same stats and you added in the fact that our pitching staff has a 6.46 ERA, and going into the beginning of the season our biggest opportunity was going to be scoring runs would you think the Twins found a way to win 3 games and sit at 3-4??? The Minnesota Twins are spending $11.5 million on pace to be the next Vance Worley. 10 IP, 9.00 ERA, opening day starter. Our home opener number four hitter is making $505k a year!! Kevin Correia is our strikeout leader at 8 k's. After all of that funny business and fun the Minnesota Twins are 3-4. I have to say it has been fun to watch, different players stepping up, hits in scoring position, good defensive baseball, interesting new rules with instant replay. Due to work I have only been able to catch replays and listen to games on the radio and watch the games during lunch, but I have been entertained. Isn't that what we want in the first place. Again a little over 4% of baseball in the books, we do have a Minnesota Twin as offensive player of the week: Chris Colabello, congrats, and the stories come flying out about this guy and Parker Hageman wrote a good story on Chris. He was co player of the week with Josh Hamilton. I am guessing this trend won't stay, but I laughed when I saw Colabello was batting cleanup for our home opener. I wasn't laughing at Chris, I was laughing at the disparity in salary from Josh vs Colabello. After the first 6 games this season Josh Hamilton made $648,148 dollars, at Colabellos current salary he would have to play more than the entire season to make that amount of money!!!! Isn't that crazy? Its amazing when you put those things in perspective, side by side stats for the first week of baseball. Chris Colabello 10/27-- 11RBI-- 1.043 OPS $21,820 in salary Josh Hamilton 12/24-- 6RBI-- 1.433 OPS $648,148 in salary Joe Mauer 7/28-- 0RBI-- .704 OPS $993,827 in salary 7 games is a very small sample size, all the stats we have so far barely put a dent into the entire season, except the 11RBI, that will make a difference in the long run. Colabello's story is as important as looking at Joe Mauer at the beginning of this year. I am a big critic of Joe Mauer, in the lens of what the Twins could have been able to get in the past 3 years if they looked at a trade, and now making $23 million a season, I know we are not going to get the production based off of salary. What scares me is 7 K's so far this year and watching him at bat looks scary. It doesn't look like he is in the game, and missing balls by way more than I have ever seen. If the Twins are going to not lose 90 games again, Joe Mauer needs to have an above average year, and based off the beginning, I am concerned. At that same rate, should I be concerned, as I just mentioned we are 7 games in, and in baseball stats seem to always come to the mean of the talent of the player. I have watched Mauer every year he has been here, and to me, this year he seems the most out of it. Just like Colabello will come back to the mean I hope Mauer improves to what his $23 Million expectation is. I am not expecting the world from him, but he has to be a leader in the clubhouse and be Joe Mauer. All I am looking for is avg Joe Mauer contribution, I would not blame Mauer for the inflated contract I would blame the Twins for not getting the most out of Mauer, and that would have been a trade if the Red Sox were interested 2.5 years ago. Mauer's contract isn't hurting the Twins right now anyway as they are only spending $85 million on this team, as I am sure they had the options if a player wanted to sign to get into the $100 million area or above. 7 days in and I am actually a little more excited than I was on opening day. Willingham, Plouffe, Kubel have done very well, we had an early breakout with Colabello, and we can hope that Dozier and Mauer get into the action. All of our SP's have pitched in very warm markets, yes, they are not used to the weather, yes, that shouldn't be an excuse, reality is they are not going to have a combined 6.48ERA going forward. It is exciting that Gibson is our best starter so far, (yes I know 1 start, but that is reality), things can only go better for the starters, and if the lineup can continue to hit the ball, we will have more excitement than last year!! Go Twins!!

This has probably been said multiple times yesterday and today, but I am going to say it again, one of my favorite times of the year, MLB opener!!! Our beloved Minnesota Twins start the 2014 season in Chicago at 3:10 vs Chris Sale and the Chicago White Sox. Before the game, it only makes sense to give projections and thoughts on what the Twins are going to accomplish this year. Here are all of my random thoughts and predictions for 2014 and your Minnesota Twins. I have heard every opinion out there from hardballtallk.com, SI.com, ESPN.com, and every writer and sportscaster in the twin cities picking the team to have a 90 loss season once again. This puts the Twins with a maximum of 72 wins. The offseason would have had to added 7 wins this year from last years 66 win performance. 7 wins in a division that is better than last year, (except for the White Sox) is tough to do, especially when they didn't add any bats to the lineup, and got worse at C in terms of offense. I am putting the Twins at 70 wins this season, 4th in the Central. Here are the reasons and predictions. Ricky Nolasco will be Ricky Nolasco. Consistent in IP, ERA, and K's. Yes he is coming from the NL, but pitching at Target Field offsets some of the AL/NL difference. 3.80 ERA 200 IP getting 14 wins this season. Phil Hughes will be much better than pitcher we saw in NY. I am not saying moving over is the biggest difference ever, or going to transcend Hughes, I am saying he is going to welcome Target Field, and welcome the Twins loving media here. A change of scenery is exactly what Hughes needed, the Twins have wanted him for years and now is his chance. 3.95 ERA 200 IP 12 wins this season Mike Pelfrey, my favorite signing of the season, especially at that price. I think he needed this year after the Tommy John thing, and is going to have the most surprising year of anybody on the pitching side of the rotation. Another 4.00 ERA season, keeps the Twins in games, and gets them to a good bullpen, which helps him get 10 wins this season. He should also finish around 200IP this season. (Caveat to Pelfrey is he is probably one of the first rotation guys to get traded this season, which changes MN Twins stats) Kevin Correia, my favorite signing last year. I was a big fan of the Twins signing Correia last year, and he was the only one that fulfilled what the Twins were looking for. I guess you can look for the same things this year from Correia 4.20 ERA, along with 10 wins, 185 IP. Kyle Gibson, everyones person in wait last two years is finally here, in the rotation healthy. The Twins marketing directors have put him as a top of the roation guy for years, and in reality he should be a solid 3. He is healthy, and this should be his year to start making that push to be a good 3. Help is coming in the rotation with Meyer/May, and adding a good Gibson would be nice to see. If you split some of the difference from Minor League ball to MLB experience, we can put Gibson at that 4.2 ERA, hoping for 160 IP, 9 W and holding on to that rotation spot until one or two of the other guys in the rotation gets traded in July, then you have Gibson and Deduno in the rotation, and probably seeing Meyer making appearances this season. All being said, the rotation is much better!!! This doesn't include the fact of Suzuki being a great defensive catcher, and the Twins wanted him to call games and help the roation, he will do that!! 55 Wins for the starting rotation vs. 35 W, over 11 different starters that included these names: Pedro Hernandez, Andrew Albers, Cole Devries, Scott Diamond, PJ Walters, Vance Worley, Liam Hendriks, Kevin Correia, Mike Pelfrey, Samuel Deduno, Kyle Gibson. What a difference in the rotation from 1 year to the next!!!! My projections are not that overly homer IMO, and I really think w/o injury, and even if, we have depth with Deduno and Meyer this season. Getting into games deeper will be a huge difference this season, as the bullpen was good last year, and it hasn't changed. The Twins will be in more games this year. The rotation makes the difference to make it to 70 wins, and could bolster the Twins season to get to 73 wins. The lineup has a lot of flaws: 1. We don't have a leadoff hitter, my prediction is Aaron Hicks will be our leadoff hitter come June. Aaron Hicks will be the most improved Twins player this season, and that isn't that bold of a statement after batter under the Mendoza line last year. 2. Willingham is old, and Arcia K's too often. Where is the runs going to come from after Mauer hits a double to the gap and we didn't have a guy on base. 3. Bottom 3rd of the lineup is atrocious. Florimon, Suzuki, ?? not sure how the lineup is going to play out, but we are not going to get production out of that bottom. All reality is the Twins are going to be in the bottom of the AL in runs scored unless Plouffe finds his magic from his 24 HR season, Willingham has something left int he tank and stays on the field, Arcia doesn't strikeout every 3rd AB, and Hicks really improves from last year. That is a lot of ???'s and hopes. This is the reason why the Twins will still lose 90 games this season. The lineup needs to look like this by May to have a chance to score more runs. Hicks Dozier Mauer Willingham Arcia Plouffe Kubel Suzuki Florimon I am guessing by September it is going to look like this: Hicks Dozier Mauer Arcia Sano (DH) Plouffe Buxton Suzuki Florimon Which transitions into 2015. I know I put Sano in there, they did say they are not ruling him out for DH, and to bring fans into the stadium in September I can see this happening. Overall this team is watchable, in my previous blog I didn't have too much positivity, and I don't as far as record, but I can easily see the Twins being in many more games when you compare depth and talent in the starting rotation, it isn't even close. Tigers winning the division Cleveland KC Twins Chicago I am betting on the over for the Twins this season, just based off rotation improvement. I am more than rooting for a few players to really succeed this season. Plouffe, Pelfrey, Hicks, I can't wait for the opening pitch today as everyone has a new record and a chance to compete in 2014. Go Twins!!!!!

After a grueling unwatchable 2013 season our Minnesota Twins signed two of the biggest free agent signings in Twins history, Ricky Nolasco and Phil Hughes. We all know that, we added Pelfrey to the mix, and we already had Correia. 4/5 of the rotation is set, good news for Twins Territory, right? Thinking about the off season moves, and the moves the Twins made during 2013, it seems we were set up to make some major moves in free agency, I don't think the Twins had a choice. I do find it funny we signed the two biggest acquisitions for the Twins in free agency on two pitchers that would barely make a #3 on a good team. One of our choices had a 5.19 ERA last year. We signed Pelfrey for two years as well and he also had a 5.19 ERA last year. After having the worst ERA in MLB last year, we signed three sought after free agents and we are still projected to be the 3rd worst rotation in MLB!!! First, that shows how bad the rotation was last year. 2nd, that shows how poorly Bill Smith and company did retaining and judging talent. 3rd we significantly improved from last year, yet we are a miracle away from competing still. What happened?? I look forward to every season of MLB, I look forward to always having a chance, except I got spoiled in the 2000's, and this year I am really trying to be a realist. I can always hope things go right for the Twins, but when I mention miracle from earlier, I am going to shoot out the realities of this season, and what miracles have to happen to be relevant in August. Realities 1. Atlantis sports book just released over/under on wins. Minnesota Twins over/under is 65.5. 2. Bleacher Report has the Twins as the 2nd worst rotation in MLB, ESPN has the Twins as the 3rd worst rotation in MLB. 3. Fangraphs has the Twins 28th in the MLB in runs scored. 4. The Twins PR department is really good at there jobs, Paul Allen sells hope, the Twins PR team has taken notes from him, we signed big free agents, which was a must for the team to even be competitive in MLB, and yet they still have a lower payroll than last year. 5. The Minnesota Twins are projected to be one of the worst teams in MLB!!! Miracles, and how fans like me hope for. 1. Phil Hughes was pitching for the wrong team and in the wrong stadium. Phil Hughes was a very talented prospect for the Yankees, a change of scenery sets a better stage for Phil Hughes talent. 2. Mike Pelfrey is in his 2nd year after Tommy John, My belief is this was the best signing the Twins did this off season. I think Pelfrey will be much better this year, and I was very glad that he is with the team this season. 3. Willingham, Plouffe, Parmelee, Kubel have significantly better seasons and stay healthy. All four have had signs of being above average, and to score runs this year they have to come through and stay in the lineup. Willingham is in his contract year, Plouffe has Sano behind him, Kubel is coming back to try and recreate 2012, Parmelee is about at his last efforts to gain a starting spot here. 4. Joe Mauer stays healthier, keeps his legs under him and is able to hit for more power, and not start a decline in productivity. 5. Aaron Hicks can turn it around at AAA and be able to be a productive lead off hitter. I am sure Presley is going to start the year, we can only hope after Hicks had a real off season, added 10 pounds that he can produce, and make the starting lineup this season for the Twins. This year is probably my first year that I am expecting to be a bottom feeder and I am not going to get sold on hope, I am going to root for the miracles that I have listed and if they happen I will be a very happy fan. They have done a phenomenal job selling Meyer, Sano, Buxton, reality is they won't be starters for the Twins til at least 2015. I got sold hope on those 3, and sold hope on landing the 2 biggest free agents in Twins history, I am not buying anything until I see it. I AM HOPING AND PULLING FOR MIRACLES, and I still can't wait for MLB to start in 2014.

Bud Selig is leaving as baseballs commissioner at the end of the season in 2014. Good Riddance!!!! I haved spoke about how Bud Selig destroyed some of my modern day baseball. He helped destroy 2 of my favorite baseball players growing up, Jose Canseco and Ken Griffey Jr. I am not going to go into details surrounding those two players, but I thought it would be fun to give me the job for a day and tell you what I would change in the game if I got the chance. Now I don't know all of the details surrounding luxury taxes, I don't know or understand how TV/Radio deals play in to the overall revenue, or where that revenue goes, and I don't really know where official MLB merchandise goes to specific teams. When I go through some of the changes I would make, I am not going to be able to argue some of those points. Salary Cap in baseball, with a minimum and a maximum. I know that putting the major market teams in the forefront of baseball is always going to produce $'s for the bottom line of baseball. I get that. If I am growing the sport, which this is Americas past time, I want to grow the sport all over the United States. NFL football has fans that provide for the NFL everywhere, no matter who is in the main games, they promote the best teams and have prime time games that aren't always biased, they have rivalry games, they showcase the best teams, best players. Strictly saying, player salaries on the 25 man roster at any given moment when the game starts shouldn't be over a certain $ figure or the team would get fined. Here are the salaries for the 2013 teams at the beginning of the season. New York Yankees $228,995,945 Los Angeles Dodgers $216,302,909 Philadelphia $159,578,214 Boston $158,967,286 Detroit $149,046,844 San Francisco $142,180,333 Los Angeles Angels $142,165,250 Texas $127,197,575 Chicago White Sox $124,065,277 Toronto $118,244,039 St. Louis $116,702,085 Washington $112,431,770 Cincinnati $110,565,728 Chicago Cubs $104,150,726 Baltimore $91,793,333 Milwaukee $91,003,366 Arizona $90,158,500 Atlanta $89,288,193 New York Mets $88,877,033 Seattle $84,295,952 Cleveland $82,517,300 Kansas City $80,491,725 Minnesota $75,562,500 Colorado $75,449,071 San Diego $71,689,900 Oakland $68,577,000 Pittsburgh $66,289,524 Tampa Bay $57,030,272 Miami $39,621,900 Houston $24,328,53 From 24 million to 228 million? WTF? How can the league be competitive when you have payrolls that are that defined. Now you have to give credit where credit is due and look at Tampa Bay, Pittsburgh, Oakland, and Cleveland for making the playoffs, while being at such a low payroll. The median payroll is about 100 million, I would have a tough time slimming it right away in 2015, but I would start at the bottom and in 2015 you would have to have a minimum payroll of 40 million, and keep the top at 225 million, and really start making it closer starting in 2016, then closer in 2017. Then I would continue to analyze the following year based on revenues and making the difference from median to the top at 50 million, and the median to the bottom 50 million. This would have a lot of research and buy in from the owners, but I think if you have that many teams in the league you have to have more parity I would promote some of the best players playing in high school and college. I would create excitement surrounding what the draft can bring you to sell faith to the draft. I would try and make the draft a different experience for the viewers. I would bring in the International draft and regular draft into 1 draft. I would want to run a dollars for draft auction for the first 6 rounds. Starting in 2016 the bottom team in the league would have the most amount of dollars to draft in the first 6 rounds, those dollars are able to be traded during the year. I would run it just like an Auction draft, each of the 32 teams picks a player, they bid on the player, if, lets say the Twins throw the name out Mark Hamburger, they say a certain dollar figure and nobody over bids, the Twins get Mark Hamburger. This puts the top 6 rounds, and trading money during seasons a pretty big deal, and it is fair for everyone. This would create drama in a draft, and everyone would have the same options getting these players. These players all have a slot of dollars they get paid based on how much they go for in the auction. Most dollars gets this amount as guaranteed, least gets this amount guaranteed. Every team gets an opportunity to draft a player. These drafts could become very big in a salary capped MLB We need to make games go by faster. I think the rules of a batter getting into the batters box, the pitchers getting on the rubber and pitching. A simple "shot clock" and the umpire can see this clock and call a ball or strike, if the batter/or pitcher goes too long. On the flip side of this, in todays technology we need to figure out the correct calls made on the field. This would be a cost, I would use the challenge option, and I would have a place in NY, that have the games on, and can make a call very quickly, 2 challenges per game. HR's if there is any controversy should be challenged, but the challenge should be done quickly. This central hub would cost money, but it would help getting calls right, and try and keep the games in that 3.5 hour mark that they need to stay within. MLB incentive based play on the field. Fed Ex has a cup in golf, and NASCAR, MLB should have some incentives on certain accomplishments that really make the races for the HR, Avg, SB, Triple Crown, MVP, Cy Young, Silver Slugger awards. I think these should be incentive based and promoted at a higher level over MLB. This isn't really promoted too much in other sports, I think these should be promoted, promoted and promoted where the players get more than the trophy. I would also put a bigger dollar incentive on winning the World Series, so not only are you a world series champion, you also get paid, this money doesn't come out of the salary cap dollar figure. The foolish warnings given out to teams after throwing a ball inside to a player, which then if the next team even tries to pitch inside, the pitcher can get thrown out of the game, this is foolish. I also don't think throwing a hard ball 95 mph at a player isn't the right way to handle problems among teams. I think these should be finable expenses to the team/players. I think teams need to do in house accountability for dirty play, but they also need to be reprimanded in the ways that happens. I am not sure how that is, but if I am going to purposely throw at someone it better be below the neck, if it is not, that is a very severe fine. The newest playoff system. I like the top 3 division winners, I like the 2 wild card teams. What I don't like is a 1 game playoff. Nobody has a 1 game playoff system, and I don't like it. I like the fact that the division winners have a much bigger advantage than the wild card teams. What I would do is start the season 3 days earlier and schedule 3 Double Headers per team schedule. Same type of setup as far as days off, but I am adding 3 days off to make up for some of the rain outs, and I would start the playoffs 3 days earlier, and I would make it a 3 game series, just like the regular season, you play a 3 game series more often than not. This would at least put the best pitchers up on each team, and a fluke play doesn't make or break the game itself. Very strict illegal substance policy. A very updated list of illegal substances so everyone knows, there should be no reason a player shouldn't take the time to understand what he is taking, first time offense 81 games, 2nd offense 1 year, 3rd offense banned. This should deter everyone from not taking banned substances and keeping the game clean. Bring Pete Rose into the hall of fame!!!! Guys like Mark McGwire, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens used performance enhancing drugs to get to the stats they put up, and they still have an opportunity to get in. I think Pete Rose exemplified what baseball is supposed to look like as a player and played the game very hard. I get he bet on baseball games, was it ever proven he threw a game based on a bet. No. Pete Rose deserves a chance to be in the HOF. All stats of proven PED users should be asterisked. A lot of these stats are very flawed and diminish some of the possibilities of the newer generation, without PED's I am not sure some of those records will be broken, they will stand in the test of times from "cheaters". I get one selfish thing I would change. I would want to do a realignment somehow to bring the Brewers back to the AL Central!!!! If I were to get 10 things to change in baseball in my tenure, I think this is a good list, I love baseball, and I want it to thrive. Watching the Pittsburgh/Cinci game last night gave me goosebumps watching that crowd interact in a baseball game. I think you could bring that mystique back to the casual fan if we were to create more parody and excitement through the year, and have every fan base part of sellout crowds and bringing dollars in as you would run a business.

I only know the "Twins Way". The Twins way in my lifetime has pretty much been this: Solid pitching, pitch to contact guys, throw strikes, eliminate the free pass. Solid defense, the Twins more the most part of the last 20 years has been very solid, and preached. Sac/bunting guys over, taking the extra base, hit and run. "Piranha" "Domeball". Doing so requires guys good with the bats, hitting with RISP. The last 5 games for the Minnesota Twins, the Twins have scored 22 runs, 22 of those runs have come from HR. I don't remember ever seeing anything like this, ever for the Twins. Yes I know it is a small sample size, and that is not the point I am going to be making. The Twins are batting .241 (26th) this year, with a .385 (22nd) SLG%. The last 14 days the Twins have a SLG% of .414 (10th) .227 (26th) batting avg. What a difference SLG% makes in winning baseball games. Of course I don't expect the Twins to continue this long ball surge, but isn't it fun having guys that have an opportunity to hit the ball out of the park. Dozier in the leadoff spot hitting for more than just avg. Morneau finding his groove back, Willingham is turning into an Adam Dunn, but Dunn hits over 30 HR a year. If Plouffe can find it, he always has a chance, then Arcia is just fun to watch. Last 30 days the Twins have 5 guys that have .422 or larger SLG%. Arcia, Dozier, Morneau, Colabello, Mauer, all of these guys are going to be around for awhile. (I know Morneau may not be here, I hope he is though) A lot of things get overlooked when guys are hitting the ball over the fence, I guarantee w/ losing 3/5 or 4/5 of those games I would just be so irate every game watching them squander leadoff doubles, 1st/3rd 1 out, leadoff walks and not ever scoring runs. The Twins have to hit the long ball right now to overlook how poorly they can score runs when high % chances get squandered over and over. Like everyone says in anything winning solves just about everything. If you look at the Twins lineup going forward into next year, and year after there is a chance to have "pop" in the lineup that I haven't seen in the years I have been alive, which is going to be a lot different than I am used to. Storylines always come up in baseball, even though the Twins are 10 games under .500, there are reasons to watch the games, makes you look forward to competitiveness. In case you haven't noticed check out some of the teams the Twins have a chance to have a better record then. Big Free Agent signings, Big market teams. Toronto LA Angels NY Mets SF Giants Phillies Nationals Would the Twins have won that many more games signing a big 2013 free agent? The answer is no. Did the Twins build the farm system this year? Yes. The fan base gets irritated when the Pohlads don't spend money to get better. Reality is the best teams right now have done it through the farm system. You take a chance when the chance presents itself to win a championship and those days could be coming if they continue to improve in each position. The Twins could be consistent, and have a chance in the upcoming seasons and you can only look forward to it. I look forward to watching the rest of the season w/ more storylines coming soon, Albers continuing his phenomenal start, Deduno's chances to make the rotation next year, Sano/Buxton getting a call, waiver deadline, Arcia, Dozier, Morneau. Go Twins!!

I got married almost 2 years ago. I had two things that were a must as we got married. 1. When the Twins are on, I am going to watch them. 2. I have to have a man cave. Those are pretty easy things to ask for in a marriage. My wife is not a sports fan at all. Her current, but traded favorite Twins player is still Nick Punto, her current favorite current Twin is Brian Dozier. I also said out loud about a week ago " I really hope we don't trade Perkins" Her response was " I love the Country Club Melt at Perkins." She asked me a question the other night that was frustrating. "Why do you 'have' to watch the game? All that really matters is the end result. All you do anyway is tell me they aren't even going to make the playoffs anyway. I casually said I love baseball and I want to watch what happens during the game. She didn't believe my answer and I instantly became frustrated and it had me thinking. Sure the Twins are not going to make the playoffs, sure they aren't going to be .500, a lot of people hope they lose to get a better draft pick. I want them to win. I want to be able to cheer while I am driving home, or watching the game for the Twins to win the game. The great thing about baseball is there are soooo many intriguing parts to your favorite team, and baseball in general. My wife will never read this, but I just have to list the things that I want to watch the game for every time they are on. This is list includes where we are at today, the great thing is this list can change every week, every year. 1. I want to watch the drama unfold to see my favorite team win or lose I love watching human emotion, and I get into it as well. 2. The Twins have typically in my life played good defense, it is fun watching great defensive plays, even if it isn't a Twin making plays. 3. Pitching, Pitching, Catching: When I played baseball I would have considered myself a good pitcher all the way through Babe Ruth, I loved pitching more than anything else. I love watching pitchers set up hitters. I love the dynamic between the umpires and pitchers. The difference of the advantage for hitter vs pitcher on the 1-1 pitch, catchers make a huge difference in framing and Joe Mauer does a phenomenal job with the glove in where he catches and turns the glove. 1-2, is such a huge difference to 2-1, I really like watching good framing catchers work. 4. New players that we don't get to see, Albers starts tomorrow, he threw a great game vs KC, I am really curious if he can even throw up another quality start. I loved Greg Maddux growing up, Albers doesn't have a great fastball, if he can get ahead of hitters and pinpoint the baseball he has a chance. 5. Spoiler, I want to see the Twins play good baseball and play as if it means something. I still like the walk off hit and celebrating at home. That is exciting television, there isn't much more that I would like to watch then your home baseball team comeback for a walk off win. 6. Managerial calls, I love being the knowitallsitonthecouch manager. I like to criticize what I think we should do, or why Gardy, or any manager is doing what they are doing. Most of the time the manager is probably making the best call, but some things scratch your head and it allows you to yell into the TV why the F are they doing that? Wife, I love baseball!! I can try to answer your question, but it is hard to answer the question when you don't understand how intricate baseball is if you are a fan of the sport itself. All I want to do is have the two non negotiables and I will be pretty happy.