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Well that's really comforting...

That's good. It looked like his right arm got crushed and then rolled up on. I figured something might be broken or dislocated.

I didn't. I compared him to decent pocket passers, then casually added that in addition to what's expected from an NFL QB, there is also a level above what's expected. My point is the same with or without the redacted emphasis. Why does it seem Cousins can never correctly audible to a quick out pass when he sees a blitz? Decent pocket passers do it regularly (while Brady and Rodgers do it just about every time) but Cousins rarely gets it right.

Yeah, I don't think 5/200 gets a deal done but Boras probably doesn't hang up the phone....At least I hope not. Zac Gallen from the DBacks would probably qualify? Pablo Lopez from MIA?

You and I are too old to learn things.

Very well could be and a reasonable plan. Nice going. I’d love to see Correa back, but I’ve got the under on that. Re Gray, my spidey senses are telling me he’s none to happy about being pulled so early all the time.

No, they just took over a team with a competent nucleus that was ready to go the playoffs. Something we don't have now.

I think that’s more or less the plan and the one they will try to sell to the fans. You nailed it. The only part with which I partly disagree is “this group is good enough to be leading the Central by the end of July”. Even if everyone is healthy - which we all dearly hope, but know is not likely - the true goal for this team has to be a realistic contender for the Pennant and this team is not that. It could be if the players were a) much better at the fundamentals (you know, running, hitting, catching, and throwing); b) the manager was capable of winning more games than losing based on his in-game decisions; and c) the team could get over the mental block of competing against the better teams, notably, the Yankees, Astros and now the Guardians. But we will have none of those things in 2023 as the team leadership is currently constructed and avowed by senior management to remain in place.

Yikes, I wasn’t remembering what we gave up for Lopez.

This sounds right to me. I see 2023 as running out the same guys and seeing if we get better health and thus a better result. IF we have better health, this team could "contend" if that means being in contention for the division title or a playoff berth but not really having much hope of a deep playoff run. With the guys you have if they are all healthy we have a solid rotation missing a number one starter, about two thirds of a good bullpen with quality at the top end but lacking depth, and a pretty good lineup missing one quality middle of the order bat if we keep Correa, two if he goes. That probably is good enough to contend in that division and, if it isn't, we'll probably know about midseason and can make trades and embark on a rebuild. While I would love to see the Twins sign Correa, plus a true number one starter and a middle of the order bat, I think that is a fantasy. My prediction is that they actually sign Correa to a 5-7 year deal and do basically nothing else other than maybe signing Sonny Gray for another two or three years, both with at most limited no – trade protection. The pitch is then "look at us, we re-signed Buxton and now re-signed Correa, we are on our way to contention". They then see how it plays out and make the decision on where to go midseason with both trying to contend and a tear down and rebuild on the table. If it works, great, if not they trade most of the veterans they have including Correa and Gray and start a full rebuild.

Rogers had an almost 5 ERA with negative WAR. That trade definitely did help or hurt the TWINS....other than we couldn't stop using Pagan.

One of the reasons the Guardians won this division is due a lot to the fact that hitters were willing to give themselves up to advance runners. Even Ramirez was willing to lay down a bunt to try and help his team win. Not 90% of this team - it's swing for the fences or nothing. Then they wonder why they lose so many close games and especially why they chronically lose in extra innings.

Hopefully Alcala is healthy. He would be a very good addition next year.

Matt Garza was voted MVP of the 2008 ALCS. That was the year the Rays finally came out of nowhere with their analytical approach and went to their first World Series, after years of being the league’s door mat. I think other teams still don’t know exactly what they are doing right.

Do we know at what point Correa needs to announce as free agent before his club option kicks in? I guess before Rule 5....

I think 1st day of spring training.

If not healthy the rotation could be Gray, Ryan, Varland, SWR and Henriquez. Get another starting pitcher.

Obvious or not, this study seems skewed by looking only at, as the writer stated it, "notable Twins pitchers." Do the study on first MLB career starts, period, and the data might show a stronger correlation. Maybe low quality first career starts are made mostly by pitchers who ultimately don't pan out? In that case Berrios might look like more of an outlier, while luminaries like JC Romero would cluster at the lower left. That "other" Romero, with game score 34 in his first major league start, was pretty terrible for two dreary years until he was converted to full-time reliever (which could be another variable to try to account for). Does anyone remember Brad Thomas? Me neither, but his 2001 debut led to a 30 game score and presaged a lifetime WAR in the negative numbers. Leaving guys like them off the chart might lead one to think those 30ish first games are the rarity. I think it's also a mistake to limit the Y-axis to be the portion of a pitcher's career spent with the Twins. Kyle Lohse's value is a good deal higher than the 6.5 WAR he earned as a Twin. Although, really, achieving even 5 WAR is a pretty good accomplishment by itself, as would be demonstrated better if the chart showed every Twin who was allowed to try. The "notable" pitchers would stand out without having to be sifted through beforehand. I'm just not much in favor of throwing out data that doesn't happen to fit a narrative. (Except perhaps whenever it's my narrative. )

Caleb Hamilton and Stashak can be DFA'd. No need to add Urbina. Keep Megill. I'm thinking maybe we should add Camargo. If he's good defensively, I might do that. You have to put Paddock on the 40 man but exactly when can you move him back to the 60 day IL?

If healthy, that's a big if, Twins could have rotation of Mahle, Gray, Ryan, Maeda, and Ober with AAA rotation of Winder, Varland, SWR, Henriquez, Headrick, and Dobnak as 6th. Twins appear to have developed some depth at SP, hope a few of these develop into top to middle of rotation SP, have plenty of back of rotation SP. At least next years Twins should not have to go to the scrap heap to find a couple of SP to fill out rotation to start year.

It's true. I'm both a football and baseball fan and watch both on TV. I would much rather watch a playoff ballgame between two teams I don't follow that up layout baseball game between two teams I don't follow. Why? Because football is better entertainment. It is more fun to watch, there is twice or three times as much action in a three-hour football game that there is a 3.5 hour baseball game, and it is "win or go home" not just a game in the series. And I'm almost 65 years old; my three sons aged 32, 30 and 28 all like both sports but are much more interested in watching a football game that a baseball game. This is baseballs existential problem. The product is not sufficiently fast-paced or exciting for modern America. It is already way behind football, and is being passed by the NBA of all things. I hope the new rules help but what needs to happen the most is the game needs to be cut down to 2 1/2 hours or less, including breaks and commercials.

Problem is that both Polanco and Kepler are under contract and either might get you a lottery ticket at this point, not a good sell time. Kepler is now a 4th outfielder and if you plan to have Gorden as the 5th, then Celestino should be gone. We need a decent right hand hitting outfielder, Gordon and Arreaz as utility types and Miranda probably at 3B. Urshela should be kept at this point until we know there is no regression from Miranda and Polanco is healthy. You either have to sign a SS or move Polanco back there until Lewis returns. 2023 if going to be a transition year (with hope), and expecting the Julien, Rodrequiz and others will make their mark in 2024. Still need one major starter and one major bullpen piece.

Correa is the best player we have had for a number of years and the Twins have the opportunity to sign him long term. All we have to do is pay the market value or close to it for his services. That's all he's saying. I'm a little surprised people are upset or put off by that statement. The good news is we got a one-year trial and both sides seem to be interested. That was the best we could possibly hope for and frankly that is exactly the way the contract was structured - a one-year trial for both sides who can now decide whether they want to go forward. I think we should go forward and try to sign Correa long-term. I don't think we have another shortstop on the horizon with Lewis having torn his ACL now twice, Palacios unable to hit, and Lee an unknown. A quality free agent shortstop is going to cost almost as much as Correa or maybe even more and we will not have the depth of experience with that player. I am completely against signing mediocre veterans on one-year deals to cover shortstop. How much? I would absolutely give him five years, $200 million but I don't think that's going to carry the day. I think he'd be looking for at least seven years and probably north of $250 million. To me, that would be worth it but it's not my money. The real conundrum I see is I think we need to sign one top end starter to go with him, and then I think we can carry the rest of the team with what we have. I would love to see them sign Correa long-term and sigh a three or four year deal with Carlos Rondon, run the rest of the team back and see how we do. Actually, I would like to see them sign Justin Verlander or Jacob deGrom but neither one of those two is coming to Minnesota and we couldn't afford them even if they wanted to come. I would also think about trading young pitching with real upside like SWR, Ober, Varland, etc. to a bad team that happened to have one really good starter but I'm not aware of any such situation.

What about Lawyerson at AA? After Varland and SWR moved up to AAA, Headrick and Lawyerson were battling to be considered the best pitcher at Wichita.

They were hired after the 2016 season concluded, which was of the 103-loss variety and marked a low point in a dismal period starting in 2011. I'm not impressed with the current status but it's not like they took over a perennial contender.