Aerodeliria

Isn't that the picture where Buxton steps on Correa's foot, twisting his knee and Miranda throws out his back giving a high five?

I stand corrected. It seemed like it took forever and a day. I guess the discussion started earlier than I thought. Nevertheless, one must admit that this is the outlier for the Twins, not the rule...

Every year around this time, an article or two will spin this type of rumor but they never really bear any fruit it seems, except once when the Twins landed Nelson Cruz. That is the only time in my memory where one of these rumors came to pass, and that (I'm afraid to say) was driven (IMHO) primarily by Cruz waiting around too long for a better offer, so when none came about he was stuck with either the Rays or the Twins.

Last year we couldn't even get a used Homer Hanky...oh, we got Margot, but a Homer Hanky seems more creative and interesting...

I guess the Mets are talking with George Costanza....

You used Cy Young and Pablo López in the same sentence...

Healing speed is far more important but definitely gets slower....

What are words for? When no one listens, what are words for? When no one listens, there's no use talking at all. Suddenly this just popped into my brain...

Just drop the 'duck' part....

Time and time again, in tight situations, it is defense that bites you. The Yankees learned it in one inning....

Radke was never wild except when he pitched against the Yankees in the playoffs, which bummed me out, but that also brings up an interesting side point. Radke could throw strikes and was effective without having a blazing fastball. Maybe all of these maximization strategies about arm angle, velocity and spin rates come at a high price. Virtually every team has dealt with significant injuries up and down the lineup. Because I am an old fart, I remember quite well baseball all the way back to the 1970s. In those days, a significant injury was headline news. I still remember when Frank Tanana got injured, for example. This in an era where pitchers were asked to pitch a complete game if they were in the zone irrespective of pitch count. Nowadays, it almost a given that one of your starters will be out for a significant part of the season or have his goose cooked for this season and half of the next--one starter if you're lucky. Two or three if you're not so lucky. The same goes for relievers as well. The question becomes what can be done to compete and yet keep players healthy? I wonder if there is a solution. Modern medical and sports training should be keeping players healthier and for longer, but the trend seems to be going in the opposite direction...

Fly balls to left are just outs and only optimized when your team has more than three hits for the entire game...

...I also want to commend Nick on a very thought-provoking read (although I still think Lee is a AAA player at the moment).

Well-said. I especially like your comments about Julien. I think half of his problem is that he has so much pressure on him when he comes to the plate that it obviously has affected his performance, and if ANY team brings in a lefthander, even in the 3rd or 4th inning, he's out of the game. He has a very good hitter's approach when his head is screwed on right. IMHO, he will hit lefthanders over time, but he has to sometimes get a chance to do so...and I think his defense will be fine. Again, you can't just keep yanking him out of the game anytime a lefthander is warming in the bullpen...

I agree in principle but what about Miranda? Lee's decision-making in the field was poor. He cost us two games in Tampa. I feel more comfortable with Miranda at 3rd to be honest.

Of course, I think Castro is a superior athlete and player to Gordon; however, there was a lot of chatter about keeping Gordon around because of his versatility and potential--not from me--but you must admit that these things were talked about right here on TD. The question is what is Castro really worth? More than Gordon to be sure but how much more? As a utility player, IMHO, he's worth the price of a good utility player with speed. If the actual goal is to play him at a particular position for the year, then one should compare him to others playing that position.... PS-Someone just said this very thing about Gordon in: "One Key Offseason Question the Minnesota Twins Face at Each Position"

Sounds like a similar conversation we had about Nick Gordon......

We call it 'The Gene Larkin Story' for some reason. Maybe because he didn't stick around for so long either....

Those championship Twins teams played good defense; that as much as anything was the key to their successes. That TB series was a nightmare on defense. Two games were thrown away by poor decisions, indecision and errors.

The defensive collapse in Tampa where we had the lead in every game was also huge...

BTW, the injury argument is a red herring or at the very least overemphasized. Every team deals with serious injuries. It just feels like your team is the one that is bitten the worst, especially when your team starts spiralling.

90+% to make the playoffs in August and a 0% chance a month later. I'm sorry but that can't be ignored.

That's fairly scary....

Both Detroit and KC just showed us how to win without hitting the ball 450 feet. They ran the bases well and KC stole their way to the W. And, lest I forget, they played clean baseball in the field. Those are lessons to the Twins coaches in the future.....

When the Twins opted to select Rocco as their field boss, I was all in. I thought that someone who used spreadsheets and computers to help in decision-making was going to elevate the Twins to new heights. Certainly talent matters, but it seemed that Twins had a pretty good farm system supporting it, and a few important players added here and there meant that I thought the Twins were going places. However, the past few years there have been many-a-complaint about Rocco not relying on his gut or not having instincts for the game. These complaints are often countered with just the opposite kind of complaints. He does not use enough analysis in key situations and so makes poor decisions. I contend here that they are simply opposite sides of the same coin and Rocco really does cling to his spreadsheets, but it can look like he is going with his gut when he really isn't. The problem here IMHO is that Rocco does not understand statistical analysis as well as he thinks he does and so he is blind to things that he should be aware of. Let me explain before firing the poison arrows in my direction. (You can do it later.) Let's first look at the woeful pinch-hitting of Margot. When Margot was 0-10 as a pinch-hitter, Baldelli was still looking at the percentages...Margot should pinch-hit here for Julien because the A's just brought in a LH pitcher and Margot hits LH pitchers at a much higher rate when compared to Julien. The spreadsheet showed that Margot had to be a much better option, so after Margot grounds out to short to go 0-11 as a pinch-hitter, it doesn't change anything in Rocco's mind. He's looking at it like flipping a penny 100 times...the odds are that 50% will be heads and 50% will be tails, but this is erroneous thinking....The problem for Baldelli is that it is not at all like flipping pennies because when flipping pennies there are no corrupting variables. In the case of Margot's pinch-hitting, one cannot simply say, "Well now he is bound to start collecting hits because the odds are really in his favor." Because we assume that Margot is a human, we can also assume that he has emotions. Baldelli does not consider emotional variables because we have no way to measure them during a game, so they are ignored by him. Because ALL teams now use these spreadsheets, this is where instincts become important. The good managers are still using the spreadsheets but they are also able to sense the ephemeral emotions that are at play. Is 0-10 affecting Margot's hitting? Yes! Why? Because he is probably feeling increasing pressure and is somewhat more anxious than at other times. We could measure his psychological state with a questionnaire and then run the data, but it would be impossible during a game and a player would likely lie anyway, so this is where in-game management is key. Letting Margot pinch-hit will not increase his odds as the data on paper would indicate because variables not on the spreadsheet are taking their toll on Margot's hitting. I'll use one more example. Zebby Matthews was pitching very well against Boston as the Twins clung to a 3-1. In the 5th, he gives up a two-out double bringing up the top of the order. This is the 3rd time through the order and the spreadsheet says that Boston should start ripping Matthews. However, Matthews is probably pitching his best game of the season up to that point. Jarren Duran comes up to the plate and Baldelli jogs out and signals immediately to bring in the LH pitcher Irvin to face the LH hitter Duran. There were many a-groan in Twinsville including my own. The spreadsheet shows that Irvin has a better chance of getting Duran out than Matthews, so for Baldelli, it's a no-brainer. Again, all of the psychological factors that are corrupting his data, he cannot see, such as Matthews' confidence being pretty high and Irvin's performances (likely due to increased anxiety) in such situations being pretty bad (after all that's why Baltimore jettisoned him in the first place). Because in the confines of a live game, these kinds of things cannot be measured, so in Baldelli's mind they simply don't exist. And, we are aware of the very costly meltdown that followed. The effect of being unable to sense emotional factors that are at play can be devastating. They can even have a boomerang effect. For example, the next time Matthews pitches in a tight game will he not have the smallest of nagging doubts that if it is the 3rd time through the order that he will automatically be yanked? Psychological variables can be measured. We do it all the time in assessing students via questionnaires and interviews. Granted, it is much tougher for managers on the field to sense these things, but very good managers are able to make pretty good assessments. I remember when TK tried to take the ball from Jack Morris in the 10th inning against the Braves and Morris said, "I have one more inning in me. Let me pitch the 10th." TK just handed him the ball because he could sense that the confidence was real. Baldelli absolutely takes that ball and turns it over the relievers because that is what the data show.