MMMordabito

Long overdue for Berrios. I hope he gets it.

Definitely a silver lining in a lost season. Congratulations, Nelson Cruz!

Go Rosario! Go Adrianza! Go Braves!

It won't be 3.5 trillion. It's stupid that Medicare doesn't already cover hearing, vision and non-cosmetic dental, so that should stay in. They should also give seniors more coverage for home care assistance. The bank account snooping should be cut, and it looks like it's already getting paired down. I already wrote to my congressman and told him I won't vote for him next time if he supports that. The green energy funding should only be in there, if it includes reasonable transition timelines that don't drive up prices on conventional fuel sources while the transition is going on. Most people can't afford to just go out and buy an electric vehicle. Even if it is affordable, someone who just bought a vehicle may not want to buy another one for 10 years or more. Conventional fuel should never be subject to "sin taxes" on the average consumer either. Fuel already gets taxed enough, as it should be for road maintenance and upgrades. I'm not saying that's in there, but it's a direction I could see down the road if they aren't careful. I fully support infrastructure for e-vehicle use though, just don't always give them all the parking spots at the front. Government funding for pre-K is a good idea, as long as funding isn't tied to programming and curriculum. As far as community college, goes, I think it should be more affordable without being free. If there's no skin in the game, then it will only be a matter of time before people think they should also get free meals, free transportation, free equipment and free housing to go along with the free tuition. It should be affordable enough that someone could take a year off after high school and work a $12/hr job for a year (and there are plenty of those) and save up enough to cover a couple years of community college with government assistance. I would even extend that to four year state schools, but that is going to get into a whole other tangent. I know there are other items in the bills, and there will probably be a bunch of pork as well.

So, Rogers, Duffey, Garver, Thielbar, Cave, Astudillo, Minaya and possibly Buxton may all be free agents after it's all said and done or we won't have baseball in April. This should be really fun to follow. The injuries to the top three names in that list sure did cost the Twins a chance to sell harder like the Nationals did, and now they might be left holding the bag.

And they'll tell us that the Dan Gladden phonics school isn't accredited.

I'm pretty sure they both involve baseball at it's highest level with packed stadiums and lots of revenue for the locale. Kudos to Eddie Rosario and the Braves for making Manfred's "political punishment" lose all it's teeth. It will be good that the local businesses there get to make up the revenue that they likely had planned for and was stolen from them.

Hahaha, Manfred. The Braves and the state of Georgia will make way more money off this post-season than what you denied them during the All-Star break. How do you like them apples?

We're also trying to get the fans ready for 2022 and have to stay ahead of the marketing department. Trading Polanco, Rogers, Kepler and anything with a pulse gets us a whole new set of 8-bit pixelated Twins commercials and $99 season tickets. Trading Buxton and Arraez gets us to a level not seen in decades, and that's affordable beer.

Only a simple mind would.

This is an aggressive plan, but I could get behind it. It will surely get the fanbase upset, so maybe we will be offered $99 season tickets. The only two parts I'd change are sink or swim Celestino and the short-stop signing. Celestino needs to get at least a couple more months at AAA. I'd go stop-gap (Hamilton?) in CF to start the season, and let Celestino and Martin battle it out for a call-up to eventually take over in June or July. It's not that I wouldn't want the Twins to sign one of those top shortstops, but unless the overpay is HUGE, I don't see one of them signing here while watching the team be sold off otherwise.

$200 million? Sorry, some guys just break more easily. See Tulowitzki, Troy.

Just wait ... If the Braves make it to the World Series, they'll probably have to play their home games in Colorado.

Bump

Good post. I'd hate to see Polanco go, but this is a good presentation on why it should be considered. I will say that I don't think Polanco is going to be an option B for teams looking for a shortstop, but the trade scenarios that you highlight are plausible.

Well, Colina going to Texas just opened up a spot. Could it be for one of the Rule 5 eligible arms that went to the AFL? Funderburk? This is going to be an interesting off-season.

Wow, other than Wallner and Laweryson, that looks like a showcase for the Rule 5 draft. Especially, those three bullpen arms that could be stashed on the bench/super-low leverage all season.

Numbers aside, Alcala certainly passes the eye test of turning the corner. He's using three pitches effectively now. He's dialed the fastball "down" to 96/97 and has more command of it. He also seems to have more confidence and mound presence than he did before his IL stint. He only gave up one run after he came back. Of course, Houston is going to have more to show for this trade at this juncture. That's what deadline deals typically are - a sale of the now for a hopeful reward in the future. I agree with the post above that Celestino may be a bonus. I'm looking forward to watching Alcala pitch in 2022, and I won't at all be surprised if he ends up finishing the most games for the Twins.

Yankees

Yeah, I think I'm guilty of hasty observation. His status isn't going to help the numbers, if he's kept. And, I really hope they keep him. He seemed ready to turn the corner.

What has Strotman done other than stand in the shadow of Joe Ryan that makes him an autolock? I'm not saying he needs to be cut, but I also don't hold him in any higher regard than Stashak, Jax or Dobnak. I hope Jax gets a shot in the pen, but I'll admit that's partly a fanboy sentiment. Stashak and Dobnak need to be evaluated when they're healthy. I just hope the FO has conviction with their direction. If they're going to compete and go for it, then they probably shouldn't spend much time on fringe evaluations and should probably keep role players and maybe trade someone like Miranda for someone like Means (obviously it would have to be a package). If they're going to build toward a '23-24 window, then there better not be Cave, Refsnyder, Garlick and Minaya types taking up spots. That's where you give a guy like Jax or Stashak a chance to be part of a four or five year solution.

Enlow could also be added to the 60-day IL once ST starts. I'm in the camp that Rooker should be kept for more shots at opportunity, but I think you have a pretty good pecking order.

Is Rooker still chasing the PA total to longer qualify as a prospect?

Farrell's 40 spot should be an easy one to open. Guys like him are a dime a dozen.

At least Jorge Alcala is showing a return again