bean5302

If Houston's bat looks like it has in Cedar Rapids again at AA this year, he'll be a top 10 MLB prospect. How exciting would that be?

Take a look at Joe Ryan's xFIP. His ERA isn't likely to stay where it is. If Ryan doesn't have regression to the mean with homers (i.e. continues to be lucky all year), and he doesn't fade like he generally has in the 2nd half, sure. He could totally win. Taj Bradley could also win it.

There's a cheat code. Cans of Summit Twins Pils are $5.99 all the time, I think? Same with Bud and Bud Light. They're available at several locations in the stadium. That said, stadium prices are raising eyebrows from international travelers. Being absolutely gouged at games has become commonplace in the US. Target Field beer prices have been on the lower end of MLB for a few seasons. Not sure about now with the extra gouge happening.

Every Friday just a few different types. Doesn't matter. $2 for a Summit Twins Pils vs $15 for a Summit EPA draft. What do you think people will buy? LOL https://www.mlb.com/twins/tickets/promotions/fridays

Target Field = Delaware North Target Center = Levy Restaurants Grand Casino Arena (Xcel Energy Center) = Levy Restaurants US Bank Stadium = Aramark Allianz Field = Delaware North

Heath insurance has some of the worst profitability of any major industry in the United States. Most carriers profit between 4-5% or so. Don't get me wrong, there's some SERIOUS BS involved in how they go about their process, but it's a very thin profit margin industry. That's why most carriers got out of it. Almost none of the once big insurance carriers still do the health insurance things. The exodus started in the early 2000s. The source of the cost of health care is the staff making 2-4x what their peers in other countries make, and drug companies, malpratice costs, and administrative/processing, TBH. Of course, doctors and nurses have to make 2-4x what their peers make because of the astronomical cost of secondary education, etc. It's a complex issue full of waste and corruption.

If you need me to explain it to you, you won't have a good point of reference. Correct. Age based on when players were good: Carew - You're in your 70s+ Puckett, Viola - You're probably upper 50s+. Santana, Morneau - You're in your 40s. Mauer - Upper 30s Twins demographics are parents with little kids in their early 20s-30s. The average ticket buyer might have attended games to watched Santana, Morneau and Mauer in their prime. Maybe. It's been a LONG time since the Twins had a legitimate ace. Santana was traded over 18 years ago. Morneau's prime in a Twins jersey ended 16 years ago. Puckett last put on a game day jersey over 30 years ago. Viola 36 years ago. Fans of the game who understand dynamics generally start in their 20s+. Tack that onto the time frame and yep. A big portion of Twins fans have never watched a game played by one of those players, let alone played in their prime.

For some background, the bartenders originally voted to unionize. There have been some mixed results which you'd expect from unions. Like tenure over merit where you can suck, but you're going to get the handful of good spots. I noticed this when my favorite concessions worker from the past several years was non-existent this year. They'd seemingly been replaced by less engaging team members. What a bummer. Also have a friend who works as a bartender at Target Field and has for years. They've also gotten the shaft in terms of assignments and cuts. That said, the real back-breaker for the bartenders (assuming for concessions staff too) is the happy hour and the POS systems with default tips. I've talked about this before, but defaulting to 18-20-22% or whatever when everything goes on a $2 happy hour absolutely destroyed concessions income. Beers were $2, people were getting 2-3 before the game and then they're done. Tipping $0.40 vs. tipping $3.00 is a killer. The lousy attendance and semi-automated check out hurts, too. I'm not embarrassed to say that I do not tip when I have to check myself out. That said, somebody has to pay the concessions worker to stand there and help every other customer because the POS system sucks eggs. The number of concessions workers who still need to be present because the kiosks are junk results in limited staffing savings. That said, attendance is sooooooooo bad half the venues or more routinely shut down by the 7th inning or never open in the first place. I guess the semi-automated kiosks are the only way to keep options available later. I also hate the whole predatory, charitable non-profit worker scenario. Those workers rarely know what they're doing so the fan experience is pretty miserable. If Delaware North, or whomever, wants to donate to charity, just do it. Don't make profits off donations. It's gross. Of course people want health insurance. It costs $80 bajillion dollars for health care in the United States so health insurance costs $82 bajillion. The cost of health care, and the underlying reasons it's so outrageously expensive need to be addressed.

Delaware North brought in temps, etc. At least according to them. Another reason is the terrible attendance resulting a ton of early cuts.

Joe Ryan Ace! Sure. Every year until the second half. Ryan's xFIP is 3.43. He's certainly better than I expected him to become, but I'll continue to be highly skeptical of his "Ace" status he earns. Or Buxton MVP. Since Twins fans pretty much don't know what an Cy Young or MVP candidate actually looks like.

Wallner after his first 5 games in AAA .318/.392/.664 OPS 1.055 wRC+ 163, 8.3% BB, 25.0% K Seems pretty apparent Wallner is trying a more contact heavy approach at the plate with a drop off in his walk rate. It's also apparent the Twins have no interest in him on the 26 man and don't consider him a viable MLB player. He's IL replacement depth at this point. I think the Twins should probably **** or get off the toilet. Trade him or play him at DH. Maybe they want to keep him as a replacement for Larnach, who will likely have some trade value at the deadline.

Ryan was under team control for 2027 already (he's Arb 2 this year). It wasn't an extension, it was essentially an agreement to avoid arbitration. Not sure exactly what the two sides were thinking except to agree upon an amount which would be easy to accept without negotiation or a hearing for next time. Neat idea, mutual options virtually never work out in practice though. 100% agree on trading Joe Ryan if the Twins are out of it. His once sky high value is dropping with his team control period, and if he gets injured all of his value completely evaporates. Might as well try to sell other GMs on the idea the competitive balance pick might be around in 2027 still, as well. There's so much risk from a potential lock out, etc.

fWAR, bWAR Last 10 MVPs for the AL *led the league 2015 - 8.7, 7.4 - Josh Donaldson 2016 - 8.6*, 10.4* - Mike Trout* 2017 - 7.7, 8.1* - Jose Altuve* 2018 - 10.2*, 10.7* - Mookie Betts* 2019 - 7.6, 7.9 - Mike Trout 2021 - 8.0*, 9.0* - Shohei Ohtani* 2022 - 11.1*, 10.8* - Aaron Judge* 2023 - 8.9*, 9.9* - Shohei Ohtani* 2024 - 11.3*, 10.9* - Aaron Judge* 2025 - 10.1*, 9.7* - Aaron Judge* 2026 Byron Buxton pace (162 / 76) * 2.8 fWAR, 2.7 bWAR = 6.0, 5.8. No MVP since Justin Morneau in 2006 had an bWAR at or below Byron Buxton's current pace. Buxton is not a legitimate MVP candidate as it stands right now. He'll finish FAR behind the MVP winner in voting if there isn't a dramatic increase in his production.

I thought, finally, after all the years the writers here would stop this Buxton MVP garbage. He is not and never will be an MVP candidate. Buxton is a 5-6 WAR full season player. That's not getting you an MVP.

Might have something to do with:

Volpe 83 games played per 1 WAR. Lewis 40 games played per 1 WAR. Career

Normal TJ normally 15-18 months, but some times quicker. Brace TJ normally 12-15 months from what I've seen. Lopez being ready for the normally scheduled home opener would be maybe 50/50 IMHO. I think people have really oversold the internal brace timeline.

It takes two to tango as they say. There aren't going to be a lot of serious buyers to sell to until after the All Star Break. I think a lot more of the sellers will be clear in the next couple weeks, though. Some teams in the AL just have to start playing well. I don't think Emma and Jenkins have anything to do with the decisions, though... at least I hope. The Twins aren't sure when they're going to have a legit roster to compete with, how long this ownership group will last, what next season's landscape will look like, etc. It's possible Falzoll just gonna Falzoll, but we'll just have to wait and see as fans.

Culpepper was diagnosed with a hip strain. I'd expect him to be out a few weeks. https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/twins-no-2-prospect-suffers-153239293.html

Pitchers add velo through major mechanical motion changes involving a long wind up, extension off the mound, etc. I don't know of success stories for infielders who need to get rid of the ball without all the pre-delivery work. That said, 2B isn't throwing that far. Most of their throws are 60 feet or less and the time between an 80mph (weak) throw and a 85mph (median) throw doesn't matter nearly as much. (0.03 sec) difference over 60 feet. If the 2B gets to the ball, it's almost always going to be an out.

Willi Castro could solidly stand where players who played MLB positions stood on the field. He couldn't field like MLB players would if real MLB caliber fielders were standing there, but Castro could stand as well as anybody. Ryan Jeffers could be asked to stand at SS or CF, too.

Keaschall's fielding is the least of my concerns right now. True, he's a very poor fielder, but that is to be expected. Every scouting report on him has said the same thing. Lousy fielder. Needs a lot of work, might be best suited for DH. His bat "that plays" not playing at the MLB level is the problem. It hasn't played. He's been very poor at the plate. He wasn't good at the plate in AAA in a SSS. He didn't really project well at AA for that matter. As soon as Keaschall started facing more talented pitching, his power began evaporating. It's not musical chairs in the field. A bat which barely plays at 2B or 3B won't play at 1B or DH. Defensive versatility is myth. You play guys at the position where they provide the most value or you're wasting resources. Keaschall probably provides the most value at 2B. His arm doesn't play at SS or 3B or CF. He doesn't have the skills to play catcher, and his bat doesn't play anywhere else. It's probably 2B or bust. The Twins knew Keaschall's defense was a work in progress when they called him up. This front office does not really care how badly players field. Brooks Lee is just as bad at SS as Keaschall is at 2B. They gave Lee what, like 150 games to prove he couldn't handle SS, which was well documented and known by pretty much every scout in the industry when Lee was drafted.

I think we're probably going to see more Fedko-like players as time passes. In large part due to the changes in the CBA where it's not so punishing to play MiLB anymore. Wages are still poor, but not nearly as tough as they were, and perks like team provided housing and improved benefits makes it possible for fringy prospects to keep working towards living the dream.

Not adding a person to the 40 man roster is not manipulating service time. Only the 26 man roster counts for service time. Aside from that, you absolutely can run a team based on manipulating service time. Almost every team does this. You say you understand prospects develop differently, then say other players have been promoted so Jenkins should also be promoted? Seems like you don't believe what you're saying you believe. If Jenkins plays well enough to deserve the promotion, he should be promoted. Sure. He hasn't done that so far, but if he's actually good and looks ready when he comes back from the IL for enough games, I agree he should get his chance.

He's out of options after this year. The Twins badly need to get a look at him and a feel for where he's at vs. MLB pitching. He's been in the system 8 years now, 6 years in the US minors. Top international prospects make it to the big show by age 21-22.