bunsen82

Ashbury, this has been the storyline since he was drafted. A five tool player that had played 3rd base but that the Twins would try at SS. Most pundits still thought he was a 3rd base candidate. The other thing is go look at him now, he is really starting to fill out. If you can find an elite player at 3rd for the 13th pick you do it. However, the twins were taking a chance on him, he has a really low floor if his hit tool doesn't come around. Your other choice for SS at the time was Bryson Stott - who is now up for the Phillies as a 3rd baseman. Now Cavaco can still be a SS but even on his team you now have Noah Miller at shortstop. I do think there will always be someone a little better than Cavaco for defense at SS. Stott is 3 years olders and would have Miranda competing him with him for the next couple years if he was with the twins. Now lets see where he it becomes interesting even with a lost year. He is known for being a professional. He works extremely hard and his body shows it. He had some rough spots last year but really improved. This year he has come in and to me looks like a different player from where he was before. His swing is much better, and he still has all the athleticism- his ceiling is ultimately higher than a player like Stott even though the odds he reaches it is much less, but based on what I have seen and read about him this year makes him a very intriguing player down the road. SS is still going to be where we will continue to hope to develop. You hope Lewis can be the man, and then we are building up the depth. You have Lewis, Palacios (probably the most ready player) in AAA, You have Martin in AA with not much else, Javier and Holland at High A and then Miller in A ball. Holland unless the hit tool suddenly improves drastically is not likely going to be able to progress. Good defense and speed will only get you so far.

This is a deal you make every day of the week. However that doesn't make it feel any better. Whether he was traded now or in July we were going to trade Rogers. You don't let him go for no value. So what were we able to get. A pitcher who has raw talent can throw 95mph fastball and has a good change up. Essentially he has been a two pitch starter. He either has given up to easily on third pitch or hasn't been able to find a third pitch to incorporate. The other issue is his fastball has become very flat and has been hitting right down the middle a significant amount of time and getting hammered. He has had some poor defense which you would assume would lower the numbers from last year. It appears he can give the fastball more life in the first couple innings then begins to tire out as the game goes on. So the options are he becomes an effective 2 to 3 inning long relief or an opener start - or he develops a little more stamina and ideally a third pitch possibly a cutter. This isn't the reclamation projects of before, this is some slight tweaks, at the very least he should be a strong addition to the bullpen for short stints. Most likely with better defense and a few tweaks and actually working with analytics which the Padres are way behind on, we should be able to find a very capable #3 pitcher. Those don't grow on trees, and we gave up at most 60 innings of Rogers for that chance. The risk is the arm blows out for the second time. You also picked up a reliever in Pagan. Honestly he did really well until mid August then blew up. He can be an effective arm in our bullpen, but again he can get blown up on hard hit balls. He can fill in for Rogers but can't replace rogers. It will be interesting to see which relievers take on the high leverage situations. We were going to need to figure this out next year so why not do this a year early. I have stated it before, management is playing for 2023 - but they have given us enough to be excited for in this year to keep us interested. They did very well in that aspect, continuing the rebuild and retooling at the same time and not fully giving up on the season. We need to be prepared for Correa and and potentially some of our 1 year gambles on pitching to be traded at the deadline unless we have a 2019 situation all over again. We will just have to wait and see how this plays out.

It looks like the twins did very well on scouting the pitchers in this draft. The 2019 draft was known as one of the worst pitching classes in almost a decade. The fact that they found 4 legit pitching prospects, with possibly 1-2 more is outstanding. Yes the rule 5 draft is looming, but honestly I think Canterino is on the big league team by the end of the year. That will leave Steer, Cavaco, Walner, Varland and Julien as likely needing protection. The lower players could also move into this tier and some of these players may fall out. The Twins can find spots for these players or potentially use these players or others on the 40 man as trade chips. This will definitely need to be managed but the fact that we are at this point is awefully good. The 2019 draft was one that left many scratching their heads. It looks much better today than it did at the time.

Alright this appears to be as a good of time as any to bring this post back up. 2 years later here is where we stand. The top 50 prospects of the twins is absolutely littered with this draft. Prospects #8 Canterino (2nd round) has all the talent needs to stay healthy #12 spencer Steer (3rd round) very very solid prospect #14 Cavaco (1st round) may have been more hurt by Covid than any other player, he is looking much improved growing into his body (however other SS prospects have done better) #16 Wallner (CB-A) This is a well know pick. Very good bat tool, needs to move faster through the system. #29 Varland (15th round) - honestly this is low in my mind - Varland has the talent to be a #1 to #3 pitcher. Very interested in how he does this year. #31 Julien (18th round) - He is playing very well. Appears to have a shot at making the league if he continues to improve. #36 Sawyer gipson-long (6th round) - has the talent, needs to remain consistent #37 Cody laweryson (14th round) - another pitcher with talent likely even slightly more than long in my mind. #41 Will Holland (5th round) - hit tool is struggling but the talent is still there #47 Ben Gross (round 10) - just a solid pitcher in the minors, likely doesn't have the stuff to make the big leagues This excludes 5 other players Mooney, Prato, Legumina, Thomas and Isola. Prato I think can still continue to improve and be a player down the road. Injuries have hampered Mooney and Thomas. Mooney did very well last year on limited innings. Both Mooney and Thomas if they play have the talent to move up the rankings. 2022 Will be a pivotal year for a lot of these players but this 2019 is well on track to be one of the best drafts in recent memory for the Twins.

There is too much money in a handful of stocks, that bubble will burst, at the same time there will be some massive money made in newer companies that are going to be well equipped to make really good money in the future. I am almost exclusively in hard asset stocks and leaning towards commodity stocks, silver and natural gas stocks being my primary investment. We are over halfway done with injection season for natural gas, which appears to have found a bottom, and will begin a continual rise up. Supply is down drastically and it takes over 6 months to drill and see the returns in increased supply. The stocks in general have been beat up and have extremely low valuations, and there should be minimal correlation between the rest of the stock market which I don't trust, and natural gas stocks. I also see the dollar going down, so silver and natural gas should really benefit in those environments.

Antibodies generally last at minimum 6-9 months, similar to flu vaccines. I sure hope the season is done by December. The bigger issue is if there are different strains caused by mutations.

I am surprised by the responses in this thread. Assuming asymptomatic, this is an ok occurrence, happens before the start of the season, and will likely have immunity the rest of the season. If I were the baseball players I would be tempted assuming I had no one else at risk, to have gotten the virus back in june, and then quarantined myself for 2 weeks. Then there would be minimal risk to effect the season, the downside is if someone had severe complications. The team is going to be affected by someone contracting covid during the season, right now we have 3-4 players who we know will not.

Well, my initial post appears to be more accurate that not. The larger markets as a whole have done better, however, the Royals have been a major outlier, not only with the number of signees, but the quality of their signees. They have found something in their messaging that has clicked. And with a farm system ranked at 18, its not as if the farm system was absolute bare, however, there will be a lot of open spots on the big league roster available to prospects in the upcoming years. The red sox being ranked as the #3 farm system, shows my initial theory big leagues team would have an advantage signing players. I am curious if those players would have been drafted after round 25 or higher which would cause for more signees, but not necessarily any one that moves the needle.

Small market teams I expected to be at disadvantage in this format unless players feel the organization is superior at developing the talent. The first being players now have the options to pick which team to sign at for the ridiculously low amount. So the teams that have huge fan bases will have a couple advantages. The first being if the players were fans they may be more willing to sign with that team to say, I was signed by the Cubs or Yankees. The next is to think long term and say if I do make it, I may be able to make more on long term contract with a large market or mid market team than a small market team.

Look at it this way, if the season were to occur we have a chance we could trade someone like Rooker to an NL team to either use as a DH bat this year, plus a few days in the field, or to increase the hitters on an NL team for the minor league system as I would guess from here on out the DH will be used. It allows us to replace that strength and give us more options at having elite hitters in the future for DH, 1st Base and Right field. Allows the team to construct the rest of the roster how they see fit. We have taking alot of picks at 3rd base and SS as well. Needless to say we have a lot of hitters in the pipeline.

As much as its age its how long Brees has been in the public light, and actually dealt with this exact issue 4 years ago. But as to age, I think by age 30 you should at least have a decent understanding of your surroundings. I will say I was surprised to see Kepler was 27, I though he was 23.

Adding to this as slightly different, how old is Brees vs Kepler - 41 vs 27. Brees in my opinion has been around the block and should have known better, this was fully intentional on his part (kepler unwittingly walked into it). However his reasoning is different than what all the other players are upset about. His opinion is political beliefs/concerns should be separated from saluting the flag which he sees as honoring A. the flag B. the military. Makes sense right. He made no claims about social injustice yet that is what every one and his brother took it as yesterday and he got crucified and had to apologize today. We are so easily angered, slow to reconcile, and generally unwilling to look at others belief systems. I am not sure I like the whole group think mentality and trying to force everyone's opinions into the same box. However, at the same time that is exactly what Brees tried to do yesterday, he was attempting to force his team to make a decision on this before the season in the way that he saw this issue without considering the implications of how his other teammates would view this.

Ashbury, I think the ultimate issue is this: most of us understand the implications of what is going on around us. However to put the frustration and some point of blame on Kepler just doesn't sit right with many of us. Nick, you and Brock can back track and say no its his right,and that is not our intention, but your post above doesn't match with the other 15 lines in Nicks original post essentially disparaging Max, and Brock has made it very clear as much as he does not want to place blame, he thinks he dropped the ball and essentially "deserved" this thread. This is my last post on the topic, as all of us at some point need a little tap on the shoulder to say as my daughter sings every day "Let it go." It doesn't mean we can't continue to fight for equality and make things better, but in my world that includes building each other up, possibly causing some positive change, but also realizing others have opinions that I don't agree with and that's ok, ultimately I think that is where this thread falls short.

The owners know they have the upper hand in this negotiation, but with the bigger agreement coming down the road they are taking a very short sighted approach. I love how I have heard a couple of announcers state, well they plow all their money back into operations and no one could foresee this and this is fiscal responsibility and they are not hoarding any profit. True but their profit is in the increase of value in their ownership stake. They can take out so short term loans, or defer some payment to make this work, besides fans will likely be in the stands by August. As to the twins in a 60 or 100 game season. I am really curious to be what will be considered the central division, and will a team like Pittsburgh be part of the Central league. If so 3 of the absolute worst teams in the league would be in our division. With then a couple mediocre teams white sox and then the rest of then the Indians, reds cubs, brewers and cardinals being above average, and then the Twins being elite. Odds should be 95% of getting in with a 14 team playoff.

Different situation, different time. Societal issues from the pandemic to uprisings is infringing on baseball. This is a baseball topic, with one of our players. I don't agree with all of the premise, but I understand it. I've always been one, that you aren't forced to read this thread, and obviously you disagreed with the post. That is fine I can understand it, but to dismiss it all together is not improving any situation. If thats not what you come here for, open up the other 99% of posts and everyone will be in a better place once baseball hopefully opens back up again.

I will admit, I haven't read through the entire string, but I've read through the majority of it, and the initial 2 pages of response, that is not the perception that is being relayed in the messages (evidence by the response, and in my opinion it is not as much lack of individuals concern of the issues as has been portrayed). However, trying to clarify after already blasting him, is no better than him having to backtrack, or a cop trying to fix a situation after they fired first without asking questions. Personal interactions need improvement across the board - not just this board but in society.

I don't want to speak for Brock or Nick and other posters, but I don't think its their full point, as to his initial post, they seem to be more upset by has lack of understanding and publicly making a sincere apology. I somewhat understand their stance, I also think Max unwittingly walked into a hornets nest and merely tried to get out of it as quickly as possible. In my opinion he doesn't deserve vitriol or negative response he has received. Intention is more important to me than the actual act. Max had no intention of demeaning african Americans, and to insinuate as such is short sighted. We at all times have to be educated on issues. His lack of awareness is nothing more than lack of awareness. Education on the issue is the number 1 key. Acknowledge issues and create solutions while minimizing destructive forces is our best way to move forward.

Just curious, has anyone here been in the blue eyed, brown eye experiment? Did it in 10th grade. You want enlightenment, have a little taste of prejudice and it opens your eyes really quick. Still stuck with me 20 years later. That singular day in the morning was one of the most awful experiences I have ever had. You learn real quick why individuals who are subjected to racism are jaded, don't excel as well and generally do not achieve their potential and make poor decisions due to the negative feedback loop they receive.

We can agree agree to disagree. I believe it does. Its not as if he is inherently racist, and he has not gone through history 101 at the high school level or the college level, and has apparently had no negative interactions to make his conscience aware. Its similar to kid, you need to educate. If this is his first awareness, educate, let him have some conversations with his teammates, done. You are taking a moral highground approach, that everyone should be on your level of awareness, and if not should be blasted. That approach does not create change, as I have posted above. Its from honest conversations, relationships and putting the work in to cause change. I am impressed Brock and a few plan to donate. However, that will cause a pittance of change of what any of us can cause by merely getting involved, getting out of our own comfort zones, and becoming good role models, friends, confidants ect. Relationships cause more change than money any day.

If we want a better site, community ect., there are better ways to have dialogue, educate and come to either a common ground. Merely having understanding, allows for a better base, but the messaging has not created a situation in my opinion that has changed anyones opinion. Individuals can have differing opinions based on facts, circumstances and personal experiences. We need to get the vitriol out as whole. I do think those that our way out in left field can be somewhat called out, but also understand their perspective. What does a white business owner have a perception of african americans if his business has been burned down? Likely not very good. As a whole everyone needs to take calm down a bit, listen. Ultimately I home everyone takes more of an approach of Martin Luther King than Malcom X. Ultimately Kings approached caused a lot more change to occur, but we still need more progress.

Boy am I glad I didn't see this post for a couple days. Even still, a lot to unpack. 1. In general many individuals do not understand- the extent of racism, or things or symbols that could be construed as racist. To have an entire post focused on an individual player who is extremely young and not likely fully aware of past historical context is short sighted at best. 2. There are a few bad cops out there, there are a lot of good cops out there. Just like there are a lot of good protestors out there and there are also a few vandals, thieves, and individuals have extremely poor intentions that are merely looking for an excuse to violate the law with potentially getting away with it. 3. If we are looking for tolerance and understanding, there is better ways to try to educate and have conversations that calling out players, posters, admin ect. (This goes for all sides) 4. I have seen seen the posts stating african-american individuals are more prone to be targeted, injured killed ect than white individuals. There is truth to this, but it also doesn't paint the full picture. There is multiple reasons african-americans are only 3% of the population yet 30% of the incarcerated population. Its due to quality of education received, opportunities, generally lower incomes, not as many good role models readily available, and an important distinction- minimal financial resources to afford good attorneys. Watch the movie Just Mercy. Overall a very good summation of some of the issues and racism that is still occurring in this nation. How do you fix this, you invest time, energy and money to help create a better opportunity. It will not solve all the problems but it will allow individuals to be on a more equal footing for opportunities. 5. This is a pet peeve of mine, but I get frustrated with individuals on facebook or even posters hear who appear to feign outrage whether due to true feelings or merely to appear politically correct in the moment than actually doing something that will cause change. This includes putting in time, energy money and generally just being involved with minorities, or lower classed individuals. Then you will gain more appreciation for their circumstances by actually building relationships with those individuals but also allowing for lasting impacts in their lives. Otherwise this post will just be forgotten about in a week or two - just like the nations focus on the issue similar to the 2015 2016 black lives matter protests. What exactly did those protests acheive? From my perspective obviously minimal impact. 6. Lastly the epidemic allowed to create this tinderbox, due to creating more financial uncertainty for many individuals, putting minorities more at risk by dis proportionally putting them at risk by either working in factories that didn't have the resources or plans to protects them, and bringing to the forefront an issue that has continued to be an issue for this country as it has been since essentially this nation was formed.

I have found myself really going through the last years draft and have become very impressed with the strategy and appreciate it more that I did when the draft occurred. We have a had a few months to acquaint ourselves with some of the players and see some performances. This is a developmental draft by far, and the performance of Cavaco is going to determine a lot how good of a draft 2019 was. Even still I really think the Twins are on to something with their draft style, get a lot of hitters in the first 6-7 rounds, a pitcher or two sprinkled in, and then draft pitchers in the rest of the early to mid rounds, that 1st have good body types and at least 1 good pitch and the rest can be trained or learned. Also they are willing to draft injured players. For example, in a redraft Cody Laweryson would likely be drafted in the first 5 rounds now. He really is well put together and has extremely good stuff at the lower levels, but his stuff looks very projectable to me. If both Canterino and Laweryson pan out, along with a reliever like Dylan Thomas, this draft on the pitching side looks very good, and that doesn't include all the other pitchers drafted that really have a chance at succeeding. Regarding the bats the upside is very very good. Cavaco and Holland both have very high ceilings, whether the bat tools get there is questionable. Wallner is very projectable and appears to be at worst a solid mlb bad. Steer, Gray, Prato and Julien all look like they have the potential to be middle infielders or 3rd baseman. It would not surprise me at all if 6 of the players drafted make the big leagues with the possibility of a couple players if they hit being truly elite. Its going to take a few more years, but with some time removed and getting ready for spring training I am anticipating to see how some of the players perform this year.

We will know more after this season. I will admit Cavaco ceiling is high, and he was drafted high last year, but for me he is more like #15 and behind Walner and Canterino.

I think the front office was being risk averse. Graterol is a boom/bust prospect, they would have loved to have the success, but needed a more projectable positive performance and were able to get that from Maeda.

The issue is the Red Sox screwed the pooch on Graterol. I am guessing the Twins made sure everyone was aware that the Red Sox had destroyed his reputation, and also the Twins value merely to improve a deal they got flack on. I think the Dodgers wanting to get the deal through and not burn a bridge with the Twins ( and make the Red Sox look bad) took on Graterol. They have cash to burn which the 10 million is worth more than Raley and the pick. Essentially the Twins got a better deal than was previously reported unless cash was always supposed to be part of the deal. The Twins can buy someone elses comp pick before the draft to get back to whole or use cash to purchase other prospects in trades.