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About this blog

High Spin Rate PitchingI have great hopes for Graterol! What we need most is starting pitching, we need him to work on what needs to be worked on thru spring training & minors until he`s ready. Then take him slow, maybe use him as an opener &

Entries in this blog

Falvey

Why Falvey Should Step Down- Continued

Watching "Moneyball", my take on Billy Beane's best quality as a GM wasn't his knowledge on analytics (that was Paul DePodesta's job); His best talent was initiating, negotiating & closing on trade deals. What really helped him was his ability & courage to think out of the (old school) box, using analytics to come out ahead in trades. IMO, now, the pendulum has swung far to the other side, where analytics drives the sport & "in the box" thinking is analytics. The analytical evaluatio
Doctor Gast

Doctor Gast in Falvey

12
Falvey

Why Falvey Should Step Down- Intro

I was a big Flavine fan. They originally brought in some good coaches like Wes Johnson & Tanner Swanson. They pick up some good FAs, like Castro, Cruz, Cron, Schoop, Perez & Pineda. & Odorizzi trade fell into their laps. The perfect storm of the "bomba squad" that organically came about due to the "juiced ball". This all set up the 100+ game season. Falvey was the head mainly because of the Twins' switch to an analytical approach & his association with the CLE pitching pipeline.;
Doctor Gast

Doctor Gast in Falvey

2
Latin valuable presence

An Observation

I haven't written a blog for a long time. But I have an observation, & that's all it is an observation. My observation is how rich the Latin heritage is in modern MLB. Players like Roberto Clemente, Luiz Tiant & Orlando Cepeda quickly come to mind. Twins' early successful years were greatly influenced by players like Rod Carew, Tony Oliva, Camilo Pascual, Zoilo Versalles & Caezar Tovar, whom I loved to watch growing up.  Throughout the years, we've had good Latin American player
Catching solution

Present Catching Situation & Possible Present & Future Solutions

Right now we have Vazquez & Jeffers as our MLB catching depth. Our MiLB prospects are not MLB-ready and will not contribute to the Twins this season. Jeffers is very good as a weak side tandem, anything more, he has proven that the more he is extended beyond that, the greater his production digresses. Vazquez can handle the greater catching duties & his hitting IMO can resemble his stats at BOS that he had while he was settled in there. Twins hoping that Jeffers & Vazquez keep being
Fundamentals

Bunting is useful!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OsvfG5Qie0 I enjoyed this video & I thought I'd share it with my TD bros.. Now I agree with most that a sacrifice bunt is not beneficial in most cases and some players shouldn't be bunting but I agree with the author that there are many cases when bunting makes a lot of sense. Therefore bunting should not be shunned but should be taught & encouraged, especially those who have the talent to do so. Many INFers cheat by playing back because they don't e
Doctor Gast

Doctor Gast in Fundamentals

15
Gut Instincts

Will Clark Rant

I'm a big fan of analytics, analytics has revolutionized MLB. Analytics is here to stay. Here is a rant by Will Clark. I especially don't like his language but he has something very important to say. & I hope the new owners will take note. https://www.sfgate.com/giants/article/will-clark-sf-giants-analysts-message-19822038.php As I said, Analytics has revolutionized MLB. But many have gone crazy with it, taking the heart and soul out of the game of Baseball and morphing it into a c
Doctor Gast

Doctor Gast in Gut Instincts

17
Roki Sasaki

Roki Sasaki

https://www.msn.com/en-in/sports/mlb/latest-news-on-japanese-sensation-roki-sasaki-brings-hope-for-minnesota-twins/ar-AA1vCsCx  Everybody have said "Sasaki will want to be on the West Coast, be near fellow Japanese, be part of a big market, forget about him". I've been saying all along, "Don't trade away our International bonus money, don't give up on Roki Sasaki!" Seems like he's more drawn to mid-market. MN has a lot going for it, laid back atmosphere, very good pitching development, we c
Doctor Gast

Doctor Gast in Roki Sasaki

20
missed opportunity

Frankie Montas

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ijr9gTviMl0 Finally, someone who shares the same opinion as me. Last deadline I suggested Frankie Montas as a SP option. I stated that Montas was the same formula as Sonny Gray. Good years with OAK, bad years with NYY, rebound with CIN & like Gray surge with MN. Montas was traded to MIL, his ERA was up & down but his K/9 was very interesting.  I was blasted for suggesting Montas much like NYM was for signing Montas now. NYM was able to take another fo
Doctor Gast

Doctor Gast in missed opportunity

7
PIT pitching

Confirmation

I stated a little while ago about how bad PIT pitch coaching was & how pitchers blossomed after leaving there, Gerrit Cole was one example. I got a rebuttal that Gerrit Cole was always a monster. Here is a statement contrary. "And yet as Cole adhered to the organization’s pitching philosophy, prioritizing efficiency and soft contact, the results were only good, not great. “Not the monster we know today,” said Ron Wolforth, founder of Texas Baseball Ranch. Cole struck out less than a bat
Doctor Gast

Doctor Gast in PIT pitching

3
D*** Yankees

D*** Yankees! Why do they have MN's Number?

Is it that the Twins' players are psyched out? At least not in the beginning. This has been going on for decades w/o the players being aware of. So what is it? IMO NYY organization is ruthless. They know the advantage of owning a team especially one who they'll probably face in the post season. I imagine that they really psych up their players & fanbase before they face the Twins, to go all out to hold advantage over us. After that it affects Twins fans & then the players. Last season we
Doctor Gast

Doctor Gast in D*** Yankees

15
Central AL Division Competion

Cleveland vs Minnesota

Cleveland has a young team, Last year they made a few more mistakes than this year. A team that focuses more on pitching, defense & playing small ball. This year CLE's salary is 28th at $93,333,629. MN is 20th at $124,077,590. CLE normally trades off their veterans (except Jose Ramirez) & not sign big-name FAs, MN extended Buxton & Lopez & signed Donaldson & last year Corea & Vazquez. Because of CLE's limited budget & confidence in their young players, they stood pat.
rally sausage

Is the Twins' sausage magical?

Is Twins' sausage magical? Short answer, No. So why the Twins' turnaround? Let's look at what led up to the winning streak. Shortly after the '23 season, Falvey credited the "all or nothing" approach for the team's success. BTW it has been the Twins' hitting approach since '19. During the off-season, Baldelli was questioned about their hitters' SO record. He responded with "SOs are not important and they weren't changing anything". Spring training, "all or nothing" was implemented again wit
Pitchers Innings

An "The Athletic" Article

I read an article from "The Athletic" that sparked a concern of mine about the health of today's pitchers. Below is the article you can read if you have a "The Athletic" subscription. https://theathletic.com/5325032/2024/03/08/elbow-injuries-mlb-pitchers/ My concern is besides the extra stress that today's pitchers put on their arms with extra velo & spin, they are expected to pitch the same number of innings that those pitchers of yesteryear pitched. The article stressed reducing
Transition

So What Now?

When Pohlad dropped a bomb saying paraphrased "We aren't going after any $30MM/ yr. FA" & " We'll live where we're at". Many fans went berserk, I'm not taking sides if the Pohlads can afford to pay the money or not because I have no idea. But I do know we live in a much lower market than NY, LA & CHI. & can't compete with those teams in spending. But is spending big in FA the answer to being successful? NYY & NYM went big in FA last offseason, how did they do? Is FA the solution
Doctor Gast

Doctor Gast in Transition

44
WAR

WAR! HAH! What is it good for?

WAR, what is it? I know it's wins above replacement but what does that mean? How do they come up with that? And what formula do they use? WAR is a stat that drives Fantasy Baseball &  analytical baseball; helps us evaluate individuals, teams & even determine HOF inductees. I've heard that most HOF voters often use total WAR to determine who to vote for unless they have some bias. But is WAR really the end-all means to evaluate a player's worth? Let's look at catching. Catchers often
Doctor Gast

Doctor Gast in WAR

47
Matt Canterino

An Interview With Matt Canterino

I've always enjoyed Seth's interviews at Twins Daily which he gets into players' heads. Here is an interview by Aram Leighton, (I really enjoy his evaluations.) with Matt Canterino. Through this interview, I could see Canterino's intelligence, methodicalism & the control he has over his mind & body. The interview gets into the physics & mechanics of how he throws his pitches, I thought some of my TD friends might like to watch it. Enjoy 
Doctor Gast

Doctor Gast in Matt Canterino

3
Trevor Bauer

Will The Twins Get Their Postseason SP?

Now that spring training is quickly coming upon us. I'd like to ask the question, will the Twins get their promised postseason SP? There hasn't been any inkling that they were focusing on anyone. Jesus Luzardo was my favorite but looks like that's he's out of the question, if ever FO was willing to make the necessary sacrifice. The rentals Glasnow & Burns are gone if FO was ever willing to pay the price (I wouldn't either). Do we have a shot at Cease (CWS)? Interdivisional trade will up the
Doctor Gast

Doctor Gast in Trevor Bauer

49
'24 offseason

Reevaluating the Jorge Polanco Trade

Listening to the Mariners podcast the team & the fans were overjoyed by the trade. That Polanco had been a target for a long time & they really liked his #s though social media tried to put him down because of his injuries. That the pieces they gave up were not that necessary for their bigger plans. But we have to see there are 2 Polancos, The long-time untreated injured Polanco & the healthy Polanco. Most like to focus on the long-time untreated injured Polanco but with last year of
Doctor Gast

Doctor Gast in '24 offseason

39
Proclamation

A New Years Prayer*

* a definition of prayer- an earnest hope or wish. - Blessings & thanks to all TD writers, who continue to give us great articles to discuss even amidst some opposition. - Blessings to my friends at TD. - Blessings & thanks to the moderators who keep the baseball forum civil & open - Wisdom & insight to our FO so they can evaluate our needs & make the right decisions. - Uplift the lowly & humble the proud. - Health, soundness of mind & bo
Doctor Gast

Doctor Gast in Proclamation

4
catching coach candidate

Jeff Mathis: Could he become a Twins catching coach?

Pitching, SS, CF & catching are the 4 most important positions where hitting prowess is nice but it takes a back seat to defense. There's a lot of emphasis on drafting & developing SPs, SS, CFers, and MN puts a lot on bats but catching as of late has been ignored. Defensive catching is a vital need, which any serious team must have. Defensive catchers that can hit are very few & are in great demand. It's not that hard to find catchers that can hit but to draft & develop them into
Twins survival

Dying Fanbase

jharaldson's blog got me thinking & instead of discussing it on his blog, I was afraid we'd get off-topic so I opened a new one. 1st we have to look at the older fan which makes up a good portion of the total of fans, that would get lost streaming , So cable would make more sense, going back to Midwest Sport Channel or Fox. But cable is more expensive & we have to make Twins games more accessible. The older fans are less active so cable works but more active younger fans needs
Doctor Gast

Doctor Gast in Twins survival

18
Sonny Gray

Gray declines QO

First, I congratulate Sonny Gray for coming in 2nd in the CY & thank you for what you accomplished as a Twin. As expected Gray turned down the Twins QO. In this thread I like to show how  Gray should appreciate the Twins. Below is a '21 comparison between Gray & Mahle before the '22 offseason   Name G GS W L PCT ERA SV IP H
Doctor Gast

Doctor Gast in Sonny Gray

5
Catching prospect trade target

Edgar Quero- A Catching Prospect Target

For some time now I've advocated to trade for a very good catching prospect because our cupboards are bare and I don't see Jeffers as very good catcher who I want to start on any frequency. Last year I advocated for Endy Rodriguez (PIT) who will debut this season, who we could have picked up cheap because they had the '21 #1 draft pick, catcher Henry Davis and he was behind him. Now Endy's talent is very well known and has become very expensive and has leaped frog over Davis.  I have a new
Catching prospect

Ricardo Olivar

Although the Twins are really hurting for viable future catching yet it seems like Ricardo Olivar is totally off the Twins radar. In '22, Olivar was named the MVP of the FCL, FCL post season All-Star catcher and FCL player of the month in July. Although he's listed at catcher, where he played the most of his games, he still played a lot of games at CF and some at 2B and cOFs. He's also good defensively w/ above average arm. Season Team
Doctor Gast

Doctor Gast in Catching prospect

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