Brock Beauchamp

I could get used to watching Correa drive in Buxton for the next seven years or so.

I'm not used to seeing Buxton not reach a ball... but at least he pulled up on it.

Right. I forgot about Sano being injured. An Arraez/Miranda platoon makes a ton of sense with Miranda also spot-starting at third and DH.

Huh, I hadn't thought of moving Urshela off third. I don't really like that much, as Gio has been quite good at the hot corner.

He's scuffling a bit this season but still very excited to see him in Minnesota.

This is the key when talking about the rather shocking length of the suspension and why there was no time served component. In cases like Sam Dyson, he negotiated and did not appeal the decision in return for a time served component and/or a reduced sentence length. Bauer has been quite hostile toward MLB during this process so it shouldn't be surprising they didn't give him time served.

Yep. It's amazing how one move can pivot an entire franchise for years and the Buxton deal is one of those moves.

Oh man, good luck. When I smoke brisket I have it on the smoker by 8am for a 6-7pm meal time. One thing I highly recommend is the cooler trick after cooking, which extends total required time by a couple of hours. Pull the (in foil) brisket out, wrap it in a towel, then drop it in a cooler for two hours.

I chose "win a postseason series" but my real definition of success this season is to win at least one ****ing postseason game.

That's more what I'm talking about. Every young pitcher looks damned good this season whether Winder continues being dominant or not. Just the results of Ryan, Ober, and Duran are enough to make me way more optimistic than I was a few weeks ago.

I can't see Duffey losing a job any time soon, though I pretty much expect him to move down the bullpen hierarchy throughout the season.

I… uh… think it may have arrived. This team may just have gotten really good in a hurry.

I've never understood this inter-state rivalry nonsense. My dad is a Bears fan, I'm a Packers fans (well, was when I watched football, anyway), my BiL is a Vikings fan. What we all agree on is to stand in a circle and laugh at my uncle and cousins that are Lions fans. But really, I've never had any issues cheering on both the Packers and Vikings whenever they aren't playing one another. I simply don't care about the "rivalry", as I have strong connections to both states.

The Brewers logos are sooooo good. All of these are incredible.

They’re a really fun team right now. That pitching staff is kind of ridiculous.

I was born in Iron River, MI right on the Wisconsin border and lived in Bayfield for several years as a small child. In 2008, I lived in MKE for a year or so.

As a long-time Wisconsin resident, I actually followed the Brewers for a couple of years as a small child before becoming a Twins fan. As a result, I've always kept an eye on the Crew and it became really easy to cheer them on after the move to the National League. So when we had the option to purchase a Brewers forum and give it the Twins Daily treatment, it was a no-brainer for me to jump right in. And so we launched BrewerFanatic.com! Right now, it's basically a pared-down Twins Daily but the community is outstanding and, just like here, there is a dedicated community that offers Brewers insight you won't find elsewhere. While the site is still relatively new, users are coming around to blogging about things like how Earl Weaver baseball rekindled a love of the sport. And, as you'd expect, the front page is full of Brewers analysis. Hell, I even talked myself into writing a few pieces over there (which I haven't done here since 2014 or so), like an early-season analysis of Christian Yelich's lingering launch angle problems. We have Jeremy Nygaard doing his typical draft wrangling and Seth is helping the trio of Brewers minor league gurus get up to speed with nightly minor league affiliate recaps. And just like here, we have up-to-date active rosters and 40-man rosters. So if you're a Brewers fan, closeted or not, come on by and check out the site! Also, the site justified me purchasing this hoodie as an acknowledgement of the pure fire that are Brewers logos (they're all great, seriously).

I don't see this front office doing that, either, but I'd probably do it without much hesitation. Sometimes, things just kinda fall in your lap and don't look a gift horse in the mouth. If Correa loves it here, maybe you can get him for $30m a year instead of $32m a year. And if that happens, the team has the ability to move one or two of Celestino, Martin, Lewis, and Miranda. Some combination of those guys would bring back a lot in trade.

But I literally cannot think of a better way to push all the chips into the middle of the table than locking up Buxton and Correa for the next 6+ seasons. It then allows the Twins to use Lewis - and possibly Martin - as trade chips and truly go big, either on elite pitching today or young, cost-controlled good pitching for the next several years.

If the Brewers can afford to pay Christian Yelich $26m per season, the Twins can afford to pay Carlos Correa $30m a season. But also keep in mind that Christian Yelich now hits like a post-concussion Joe Mauer.

I love it when it's the other team that can't do a damned thing right.

Cue Yakkity Sax

The Tigers are not good at baseball.

While we try to keep the cost of our prizes reasonable, for the first anniversary of the awards, I had an idea and I was going to spend as much as it required to find this gem of a prize. After quite some time searching - I'd rather not say how long - I've found the ultimate prize for the top mid-season Community Award. A signed baseball bat. A signed Kyle Lohse baseball bat. A signed Kyle Lohse baseball bat with his Twins jersey number on it. What's astounding about this find is that Lohse played a significant portion of his career in the National League... a league where he never wore the number 49. Why is a Kyle Lohse baseball bat significant? He was a pitcher, after all... well, this is why. Is this the bat Kyle Lohse used to smash ol' Ronnie's door? I mean, probably not... but if Pete Rose can sell his #4192 bat over and over again for profit, we can all pretend that this bat first (only?) saw action against an office door in the Metrodome on that random night in September of 2005. Who's to say otherwise, really? So, dear Twins Daily community member, if you want this prize, start typing, for it will only be available to the user who writes the most popular post on the Twins Daily forums in the first half of the 2022 campaign. PS. I've scoured eBay for months but have yet to find an auction for the accompanying Ron Gardenhire office door but should you come across one - legally or otherwise - you know where to find me and I'm willing to pay big for it.