LaBombo

Was it a m∅∅se? You were bitten by a m∅∅se, I'll bet. Nasti.

I'd tell you but they also have a gun pointed at my dog right now. Just at my $6 hot dog, not... you know, my... dog dog. But still, six bucks is six bucks.

The correct reaction of the interviewer: "You drove THAT to get to the interview?!? You're hired!!!"

If it's any consolation, your investment in your education carries both a lower risk and a higher upside than most of the stock tips we motleys can come up with. Yes, it sounds like an awkward Hallmark card, but it's also true.

This is a nice article that helps put free agency rumors and projections in perspective, and technically it's based on a success story in the sense that it's told using the example of a guy who, in the end, the Twins actually got despite stories to the contrary. With that disclaimer being made... Stories in general about the Twins' loftier aspirations in free agency are now, at least to me, on par with stories that the stoner you knew in high school told you when you'd run into him in your 20's about how his career as a rocker was about to take off, and how close he recently came to getting his big break.

I only had time to look at the graph. So the Twins lean Republican with Sano in the lineup? Anyway, I'm more worried that Sano will have a bad season at the plate than I am that he will have a great offensive season but seemingly not help the team win. And more than either of those two, I'm thinking that Sano will be just ok (2016) offensively and the Twins will just be bad regardless of his contribution.

100 MPH, maybe? My impression was that jsteve96 was referring to the relatively recent evolution of pitching toward harder throwers, along with the resulting shift in innings from starters to relievers. My guess is that the shift means it takes starters longer to reach a given number of innings for them to be 'ready' for the majors. Relievers should then develop faster, but it probably doesn't matter as much because they tend to be sheltered from high-leverage use at the back end of a 7 or 8 man bullpen anyway

I'd prefer to see them get snowed out a week or two into October, but that might be expecting a little too much from Rocco the Rookie.

Maybe three if a couple of games get snowed out?

Yup. Sid will call him "Rocky Colavito".

Looks like a good hire to me, for these reasons in descending order of seriousness.... 1. If the Rays liked his analytical ability enough to let him shape their use of statistics in the field, that's good enough for me. At the very least, we know he's not an anti-cybermetrics crackpot, and probably closer to the opposite. 2. Baldelli the player was a very talented kid whose career went off the rails due to health issues. The Twins' immediate future hinges on getting Buxton and Sano back on the rails. Hoping his personal experiences will aid and inform his efforts to get them going again. 3. He's a bass player. In most bands that would mean his role would be to keep the prima donna vocalist and lead guitarist from strangling each other, keep the drummer from jumping out of moving vehicles, and get everyone where they need to be on time. So pretty much the same job as a baseball manager. 4. His name is Rocco. Even if you're a loose cannon type of player, how much crap are you gonna give a manager whose name is "Rocco"? It is my desperately irrational hope that he hires a coach whose last name ends in 'ski'. Then on the off chance a real problem child needs straightening out, Levine can finish a disciplinary conversation with "Rocco. Ski. Take Mr. Xxxx outside and make sure he understands".

His style isn't my cup o' tea, but I'm rooting for Fleck and will withhold judgement for another year. That being said, he seems to be on track to follow the recent U of M tradition of hiring a coach whose only job is to make us retroactively appreciate the guy he replaced.

Several fund managers are high on it.

The philosophy going into 2018 seemed to be 'We were pretty good in 2017 and our young core is improving, so let's add some veteran talent on short-term deals and go win our lame division!' It sounded like a good plan, and it probably was. By July the plan was shattered, and the Twins devolved into a bipolar cruise ship. On the bow there was a reasonably orderly abandon ship drill taking place, with Dozier, Esco, Pressley and Co. going over the side. Meanwhile on the stern, seniors like Belisle and Wilson continued to putter along on the shuffleboard court as if nothing were wrong. And in the middle of it all, the crew of the S.S Twins wandered around assuring everyone that the cruise line was handling it and everything would be fine. To be honest, I've not really the foggiest idea where the TwIns are getting it wrong. But I'm fairly certain of where they're NOT getting it wrong: 1. They're not playing in either a market or a stadium that dooms them to bottom-five revenue like the teams mentioned at the top of the article. 2. They're not being grossly mismanaged by a chronic incompetent on the field. 3. They've had injury issues, but it's not like the frigging team charter went Marshall on them, either. What's that leave? Ownership isn't allowing the needed payroll, the front office may be struggling to acquire talent, their on-field staff throughout the organization is failing to develop it, or it's a combination. In spite of that, Molitor will be jettisoned before Falvine. They'll get another year at minimum to sort things out, and I wish them well. They still seem like sharp guys, and maybe they'll get the cruise ship righted. On the other hand, while the Twins are 'only' 12 below .500 and 'just' a -70 run differential, they're playing in the worst division in baseball. Against AL teams with winning records, the Twins are sporting a .375 win pct., which would work out to a 100 loss season. In other words, even with Buxton and Sano healthy and back on track, there's a metric **** ton of work to be done.

This is in no way a knock on anything you wrote, but I'm strangely compelled to admit, with The Almighty as my witness, that I initially misread the fourth from last word of that sentence as 'feces'.

He's certainly not the problem, but isn't it possible that a player who is the third mostly highly paid first baseman in MLB, but not among the top 20 1b's in either WAR, slugging, or weighted OBA, is at least a problem?

Not only is this a pale imitation of the FRE by Kimbrel, it may even be a copyright infringement.

Jim seems like a very decent guy and he and his family have been extremely active and generous philanthropists over the years, and the Twins moved into a very nice new ballpark during his tenure as CEO of the Twins executive board. But if memory and a little internet research serves, Jim and his brothers had very little to do with the WS titles, which are now over a quarter century behind us. They really didn't become active in the decision-making process until their father's health declined in the year prior to his passing in 2009. I don't know about anyone else, but I would be hesitant to seek attention for a medical issue from someone whose main qualification was that their dad or mom was a doctor. Owning a MLB franchise may not be brain surgery, but it's certainly demanding enough that simply inheriting a team is not a sufficient qualification for success. Under Jim's tenure as CEO, the Twins have squandered nearly ten years in their new ballpark with nothing to show for it but a couple of pretender-not-contender seasons and potentially one of the most disappointing slow-motion rebuilding efforts that I've seen from a Minnesota sports franchise in my adult lifetime. The current front office should probably get another year or so to sort things out, but it's hard to feel optimistic about the direction of the franchise after what amounts to nearly a decade of futility under Jim Pohlad's leadership.

Definitely a candidate for the Bill James Theorem of Pitcher Recycling: Roughly one out of every ten pitchers in the majors was left for dead at some point or another in their career.

At the time of his injury he was abstaining from stealing for Lent. Someone just needs to remind him he's ok to steal until next March.

It's one thing to play against teams with a rising superstar shortstop that we never had a shot at drafting, but seeing the formerly attainable Andrelton Simmons become a good hitter in addition to being a supernatural fielder is enough to make me want to sign a 'Free Nick Gordon!' before he even sniffs AAA.

Exactly how many, or just, like, rounded to the nearest multiple of 10?

If there's a better way to make sure a reliever is cooked when the postseason starts, the Twins would like to hear it.

Pressly very cautiously covering his mouth with his glove during the mound visit so that no lip-reader can see him say "Poop!"...