nicksaviking

The Twins certainly did get taken for a ride in the Hicks deal, but in the long run they may have dodged a bullet. He looks to have peaked right when he needed a new contract. He's injury prone and only modestly more productive than an average OF. Everyone's talking about non-tendering Rosario, I can't imagine many folks around here would be thrilled to have 10M/year tied up in Hicks for the next half decade, especially with his defense starting to slip. And to be clear, I'd never give the team a pass on the trade, they certainly bungled it. To tie this back into the topic at hand though, Sano could very well be productive next year and/or the year after, but the team holding his leash at that time may have an uncomfortable decision to make about a long term commitment. It might be prudent not to be that team making the decision.

It's a fine line with corner outfielders, and usually it does come down to power. If your strong OBP comes with a modest but not terrible .430ish SLG you can probably Nick Markakis your way into a long relevant career. But I don't think a Bip Roberts type player has much of a future these days. The Twins already have that player at 2B (so I guess a Luis Castillo instead of a Bip Roberts).

Next year's free agent class looks awful, and with the pandemic and owners losing money this year, I'll bet many if not most of the decent free agents will know the market is going to stink and will happily accept a reasonable offer from their current team during the exclusive negotiating window. I'm not expecting a lot of big free agent moves, because unless someone wants to squeeze another corner OF into this roster, only Bauer or LeMaheiu seem to have any kind of fit, and the odds are that those two will find a different landing spot. I really hate those middle of the road starting pitching multi year contracts so thankfully it doesn't look like there is a Ricky Nolasco, Phil Hughes or Ervin Santana this year. The 1 year or 1 year and an option for the bounce back starters always seems like a much better bet to return value, so I'm up for identifying 2021's Michel Pineda or Rich Hill. There looks like there are going to be a LOT of arms that fall into that category. That level of spending will make for a crabby board, but maybe there's a trade or two out there.

1. I'd like to go to a game next year, but who knows what's going to happen. I'd guess at some point there will be some kind of database or ID card for those who have received a vaccine or who have already gotten Covid so those folks can get out and about. Seems like an overreach perhaps, but people are going to want to start opening things up for those no longer at risk at some point. 2. I doubt anyone offers Cruz more than one year + an option. The Twins may drag it out like they normally do with free agents, but I'll bet he comes back, he seems real comfortable here. 3. I don't think the roster has any big needs, so like signing Donaldson last year, just go get the best players you can and sort out the positions later. Trevor Bauer sure does look like a perfect fit. 4. Yeah, I bet Varela is gone. The bats were way off this year. Might not even be his fault but someone will get sacrificed for sure. 5. I'd like to see some trades this off season. Last year I'd have liked to see some prospects moved for pitchers, but I might rather see Kirilloff, Lewis and company instead next year. There's not much room for Rosario, but I don't know who still has value. Kepler and Polanco's contracts should be worth a lot, but then they laid an egg this season. No idea what Sano's value is. Maybe move Arraez? Let Polanco and Lewis man the middle infield? If Berrios won't sign an extension maybe it's time to pull the trigger on him?

We saw the season differently I guess, because it sure seemed to me the offense's inability to get on base was this year's biggest issue. Meanwhile this had to have been the best bullpen this organization has ever seen. I agree that Romo shouldn't have been used as much or in high leverage situations, but they literally had a half dozen arms they could have put in there instead, but stubbornly didn't. With the team acknowledging that Polanco is going to need surgery I wonder why Lewis was never given a shot. It has been clear all year that a half healthy Polanco isn't a very good ball player.

I would disagree with this part. I don't think it's hyperbole at all to say that Romo is the team's 8th best bullpen arm (9th if Alcala was on the roster). That's barely a criticism as the seven above him have been really good. But still, he has no business pitching in the 9th, particularly since he relies on batters chasing his slider out of the zone, and Houston is notoriously good at not chasing pitches out of the zone.

I didn't mind pulling Maeda, but I thought it would be for Wisler. The catcher maneuvers were odd, but I don't know why we are this late into the season and Baldelli hasn't realized that it needs to be Duffey and May at the end of the games instead of Rogers and Romo. Wisler, Clippard, Theilbar and Stashak have been great in bullpen games and middle innings, use them first.

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It doesn't matter if you think Kaepernick is a fraud, 100% complete immaterial. Everyone needs to ask themselves if what he is saying rings true. Forget about his motives, forget if it's Kaepernick or Fred from down the street bringing this up; the only question people need to be thinking about is, "Are black citizens being treated equally in this country?" If not, are you willing to make the sacrifices needed to fix it?

I've always thought the logo was pretty hokey anyway. They can do better. I don't think the Twins need to have a caricature of anyone in their logo, but if for some reason that's essential, why not Paul Molitor and Dave Winfield holding up HOF plaques and looking smugly across the river to the West at a forlorn Kent Hrbek?

Falvey is clearly a bigger fan than me; all this time I always thought they were Australian. In fact, I'd like to call for an investigation. I dare someone to think of a word more Australian sounding than Chumbawamba or Tubthumping.

Excellent, my favorite pitch by a country mile. I look at any pitcher in a new and positive light if they figure out a way to miss more bats.

Looks like it's official, the minor league season has been cancelled. The smart teams are going to be the ones who figure out a way to continue to develop the guys not on 60 man rosters. As far as I know, there's no imperative for Indy Ball leagues to grab players from various teams. The Twins could be geographically positioned well as only six of the American Association teams are playing this year, but they include the Saints and the teams in Winnipeg, Fargo and Sioux Falls, with all games being played in Fargo and Sioux Falls, the Twins two strongest in-market cities. As far as fan interest goes, it probably would behoove all four clubs to use their vacant roster spots on Twins prospects. Hopefully the Twins can find games for Balazovic and many other guys who need playing time.

People were offended by what he said 40 years ago. That’s why every paper reported it. Everyone outside of the bigots knew it was awful even back then. But I’m actually more offended that it appears there are still people who don’t think segregation is or was a big deal or a real world problem. I also can’t imagine that even Tony Olivia would suggest his birthday was more important than desegregation.

I didn’t get the impression it was a player, but either way, I’d be uncomfortable speculating about it publicly anyway.

Yeah, Minnesota teams should be taking the lead right now and it looks like the Twins are more than willing. I've done my fair share of Pohlad complaining in the past, but, fantastic work lately guys. Keep it up.

Now we're talking. I've always loved the athletic HS hitters.

A baby pitcher? Ugh, he won't be up for at least five years. We talking t-ball?

Right position, but Mientkiewicz's launch angle is a smidge below what the Twins covet in 2020. That was one of those comments that was both a joke and not a joke. There's probably an emoji for that but I'm as bad with emojis as I am with jokes.

Yeah, those sports have salary caps enabling more teams to be relevant and they are way more open to on and off field changes. And that the NFL does this should say all we need to know. That is an extremely conservative league both in terms of ownership and fanbase, yet they implement a half dozen new rules each year, change up the way they distribute their broadcasts every couple of years, celebrate and promote their current players often at the expense of the their league's historical records and they actually innovate and change how the game is played on the field. Baseball fans start a civil war over what to do about the infield shift or DH, while the NFL purposefully changes rules and pushes for forward thinking game strategies so teams can combine for 90 points a game now.

I'm pretty sure this was Nick's whole point but I think it's being largely missed here. The only thing Nick criticized Kepler for is Kepler's implication that the murder of George Floyd merited a political stance and you somehow need a political stance to weigh in on the situation. Everyone should be outraged.

I agree, but Washington still holds most of the purse strings and Federal Law supersedes State Law. You can still have the right people in charge locally but are handcuffed to do the right things. And I am not at all weighing in on whether the right people are in charge locally.

I did leave it vague intentionally so as to keep politics out as best as possible. I presume Nick Nelson was trying to do the same. To remain vague but a bit more descriptive, if people want this to change, they are going to need to stop sending people to Washington they know will not prioritize this. This is the sacrifice I refer to. Neither party is immune to giving lip service and no substance to this topic.

Requesting that our leaders put the need for racial equality at the top of their priority list instead of somewhere in the middle? And actually do it, not just give it lip service?

I didn't bring up socialism, that was your suggestion. I also didn't criticize Kepler.