Riverbrian

"Little bit better" is an implication by me? Is your point that Bellinger is better and available? Or is your point that Oscar Gonzales is better and available? If your point is Bellinger or Duvall... It doesn't belong in a Bubba Thompson signing discussion. If it's Oscar Gonzalez. OK... Carry on.

Castro wasn't supposed to break camp with the club. He made the team out of spring training because of injury. I would classify Castro as one of those around the edges signings that all clubs make. Brock Stewart was probably a little beyond the edges. He was signed to a two year minor league deal in the summer of 2022. Most of us probably didn't even notice that the Twins added him. These type of moves are necessary and every once in awhile with opportunity... They work out.

Positivity has been shred to the point that it can't be recognized any longer.

These type of moves on the edges happen every single year with every single team. Yet... People still seemed to get worked up over them.

I assume that the die has been cast. However... playing devils advocate to that cast die and to offer a shred of positivity. His MLB AB's total 223 and those AB's were scattered over two seasons so he may not have really had the chance to settle into a major league batters box. Down in the minors... his numbers don't look so bad at all. Even a little bit of home run pop. I'm not betting on him but... I wouldn't just throw him in the waste paper basket either. In the end... It's up to him to show the club that he deserves a chance to show the club and if that happens... it really comes down to the question... will the Twins believe what he is showing. If I had to bet... He will end up a 40 man causality before the roster is final and that will happen when a player just a little bit better becomes available.

A strikeout is a guaranteed out. An out is an out but... a ball in play can be a bloop single... advance a runner. And Yes it can be a double play. K's are worse and I'm sure you will agree with that. But to be clear... I am not arguing with the process. Patient hitters will produce more two strike counts and therefore more strikeouts... swinging at crap instead of getting to a two strike count is going to lower slugging. I'm ok with the process... However our result was setting a record spanning the history of baseball for the most strikeouts in a season. That has to be corrected without changing the process. Other teams use the same process and they did not break the record in K's. In our case... It's the result. We need better balance. Losing Gallo is going to help... The funny thing is... we've had a lot of discussion on the subject over the summer about how the Nationals don't strike out much but yet are one of the worst offenses in baseball... so... here come the Nationals signing Joey Gallo to increase those K's for them. The Nationals may also be searching for balance from the opposite end just like the Mariners are. Mr. Miyagi once said: Lesson not just karate only. Lesson for whole life. Whole life have a balance. Everything be better.

Royce Lewis looks like a superstar to me. Not just superstar but rare superstar that people will sing songs about. The Twins have not developed "Rare" superstar in decades. I understand that his injury history makes people nervous because it makes me nervous... However... Royce Lewis looks like a rare superstar and if that is the case... You don't trade him... You pray for health. You pay him and keep him in a Twins uniform throughout his career and you celebrate when enters the HOF in a Twins uniform on the 1st ballot.

The Brewers surprised me a little. The Brewers were in a different crawl space in my head. With the Rumors of a Burnes Trade... Rumors of a Adames Trade. With the non-tendering of Tallez. With the Trade of Canha. It sure looked like the Brewers were in sell mode. It doesn't seem that way now. The Great Chuck Berry once said "C'est la vie", say the old folks, it goes to show you never can tell

I wondered why a minor league deal wasn't available to him last year. Was he not interested or were other teams not interested? Whatever last year was... He got a Minor league deal this year. He's 30... He has to hit his way back. He will be competing with 32 year old Hunter Dozier for that moment in time when the Angels don't want prematurally add someone to the 40 man roster just to put someone on the 26 man roster spot. When the injuries start occurring. Personally... I'll be hoping that Trey Cabbage gets a real shot before Sano or Dozier does. Either way... Good for Sano... It may not be much of an opportunity... but it is an opportunity.

Other than the 70 million they will be spending on two broken pitchers this season... they are not really spending any money elsewhere so If they want to just dump 5 million into the Potomac they can. However... if you put the money aside and focus on that roster spot that Gallo gets... that's a crying shame. Someone else... anyone else should get that roster spot.

If that's the case you have no worries. Thad Levine is the GM.

From Minnesota Boy to Minnesota Man. He is simply one of us. Feels like a family member getting this incredible well deserved recognition. I'm almost as happy as he is. Almost of course... Almost.

Demanding 5 starters as good as Sandy Koufax is absolutely not realistic. Taking the suggestion to that level is what makes it not realistic. What I'm saying is absolutely realistic. You appreciate the need for a solid pen... We agree Tthe Astros for example... the best bullpen in baseball last year. They had Pressly, Abreu, Graveman, Montero, Stanek, Maton - Any of those guys could close a game if needed. The Rays on a budget built a stable of bullpen arms throwing 97 plus. Any of those guys could close a game if needed. The Twins look pretty good this year... I think they have 5 guys who could close games if needed. Duran, Jax, Stewart, Thielbar and Funderburk. Bottom Line... What started this conversation is this: Just cause you got Pressly doesn't mean you can't sign Hader.

K's are bad. There is no circumstance where the K is good. K's are a problem that smart people will try to solve. K's are a negative result from a good thing much like the air pollution produced by a factory that produces defibrillators. I won't pretend to know the perfect balance but I think it is safe to say that setting the team strikeout record isn't good. It is certainly not something other teams are going to admire or strive for. The team that struck out the 2nd most (The Mariners have shoved their 2023 K leaders out the door in an attempt to repair something broken) There is no chance that other teams will look at a team that was 10th in runs scored and 1st in K's and think it's a blueprint. Now... will baseball drift the direction you suggest naturally. Maybe... but it will face resistance from the front offices as they try to navigate the ship much like the Mariners are doing.

Bummer I like the A's going to the B's idea.

I actually made this suggestion for Oakland 3,4 or 5 years ago. I was joking when I made the suggestion however... maybe it is becoming reality. My joke suggestion was: The Oakland A's move to Las Vegas. While waiting for the stadium to be built... They temporarily move to Salt Lake City and become the Salt Lake City Bee's. The Bee's are the name of their minor league team. They go from being the A's to the B's and when they get to Las Vegas... they can be the C's. C's, Seas, Sees. Being serious now in 2024 Salt Lake City would be perfect... It's a larger minor league ballpark and Utah would be a natural geographical expansion to the Nevada market. By playing in SLC for a couple of years they can grow a fan base in Utah giving them Nevada and Utah as territory. They keep the Vegas minor league team until the stadium is built and when it ready... they just switch. Of course... the Angels would probably have to be paid a little something to give up SLC as their AAA home. The Angels can take the cash and set up AAA home closer to home like the Twins are set up with St. Paul. Their team in the California League San Bernandino for example could be the Angels new AAA affiliate. The Angels might like that geographical accessibility. I'm sure the Twins, Braves, Astros, Red Sox and Mariners like having AAA close by. Yeah... they should get out of Oakland as soon as possible. Just get out of town as quickly as possible. Do the temporary home thing until the stadium is built. If they do decide to try and hang around Oakland until the stadium is built... Oakland should tell them to pound sand. There is no reason to keep that toxic relationship. What a great idea I had... way back whenever it was.

That sameness was probably a big reason why Arraez was a breath of fresh air in a Twins uniform. The Twins approach is fine... We just need some players to be better at it. BTW... If Vlad Jr. settles down a bit... I believe he would be better... and that's good for me because I have him in my keeper fantasy league.

I haven't read up on all of the plans so maybe they are already working on it. But... All major league teams should be asking for new stadiums that follow the Truist Park model in Atlanta. Not just the stadium but the land and the subsequent businesses around the stadium. Restaurants, Bars, Hotels, Shopping, Entertainment can all produce additional revenue for baseball teams. Revenue beyond the gate receipts, private suites, broadcast rights and hot dogs. In 30 years time... it may not be that old for a stadium but the game has changed over that time. Teams have figured out how to increase revenue from stadiums over 30 years. In the end... that is what we are talking about. Money... Stadiums make money. Some more than others.

You need your entire bullpen to get outs. If you can get outs... You are a closer. We need to stop thinking the last inning is special. Yes I understand that a blown lead in the 9th is game over on the road. I also understand that you only have one inning to come back from a blown lead at home. However... bases loaded nobody out in the 6th inning is a pretty big moment. The 8th is important, so is the 7th. Members of the Bullpen will need maintenance days making them unavailable. You can't hide members of your bullpen. It needs to be strong from front to back and back to front. If you have to hide bullpen guys because you don't trust them... you are not bullpen serious and it will bite you. The answer to your question that I singled out above is: 8 We need 8 closers it doesn't matter what inning they pitch.

I have no problem with the Twins taking the approach of being patient, not swinging at junk, looking for that mistake to drive. The Twins front office has explained that patience will lead to more K's... I understand this. However, I suspect that this approach is universal. Explaining the approach may explain why strikeouts occur but it doesn't explain why the Twins led the league in strikeouts because I believe most teams take this very same approach. They probably all preach patience. I'd be willing to bet that the Blue Jays have had a few conversations with Vlad Jr about swinging at the right pitches. Like you said... It's important to strike a balance between power and K's. Our balance was off... we set a strikeout record... no team in the history of baseball has struck out more than the Twins did in 2023. This needs to be improved. Gallo off the roster will help a lot.

He would be exactly the kind of big bat addition that the team needs. Great Power with a lower strikeout rate. He's exactly what we need. There will be playing time for all who deserve playing time, There will be injuries that need cover. There will be players who struggle, If everyone stays healthy... a manager can figure out playing time. A manager with too many good options is a good thing... it's isn't something to avoid. If everyone stays healthy AND performs... we will win our division and get home playoff games. The manager will figure out playing time in the process. This is a good thing... it isn't something to avoid. Hoskins, Lewis, Julien on the corners Correa, Polanco, Farmer up the middle Buxton, Kepler, Kirilloff, Wallner, Castro in the OF. Jeffers, Vazquez behind the plate Castro can play some IF if needed, Kirilloff can play 1B if needed. Julien can play 1B and 2B, Polanco can play 2B and 3B. I'd say Lewis can also play some OF if needed. Larnach, Miranda, Martin and Severino with options and on the waiting list in AAA. We got depth... We don't need more depth... We need a big bat addition that raises the bar above our depth and Hoskins would be exactly that.

October 4th, 2017. Yankees vs. Twins One game series - MLB Wild Card Round The Twins jumped out to a 3 run lead in the top of the first on Home Runs by Brian Dozier and Eddie Rosario. Ervin Santana struggled in the bottom of the first. Gave up a walk to Gardner and single to Judge before getting the 1st out on a Gary Sanchez pop up. The next batter with one out, Gardner on third and Judge on 1st was Didi Gregarious. On a 2-2 Count... Didi watched strike three for what should have been the 2nd out. It was ruled a ball. On the next pitch Didi tied the game at 3-3. There is no telling what would have happened with the next batter. There is no telling what would have happened in the 8 innings that followed if Santana would have gotten through his struggles with a zero hung in the first inning. But, there is no denying that a strikeout for the 2nd out of the inning with runners on 1st and 3rd is huge and there is no denying that a 3 run home run erasing a 3 run lead is huge, no matter the inning it occured and there is no denying that the playoffs are huge. There is also no denying that... The Twins were done for 2017. The Yankees went on to face Cleveland and then the Astros. The playoff losing streak was now at 13 and eventually reach 18 providing fuel for 7 more years for fans to rake the Twins organization over the coals. Those who are pro umpire randomness will argue that the Twins probably had some missed calls to their advantage during the course of the game and they would probably be correct. I argue that two wrongs don't make a right. 15 Wrongs certainly don't make a right and those wrong will not balance out to make it equal. It was October, 4th 2017 was when I decided that I was ready for an auto-zone and no one will ever change my mind. I'm so pro auto-zone that I refuse to go to O' Reillys or Pep Boys.

Agreed 1000% Perfection from an umpire is impossible. I think major league umpires do an incredible job calling balls, strikes, safe or out, fair or foul. They get my respect. It's an impossible job that they do extremely well. I also think the umpires want to get the call right and if they want to get the call right... they should be happy for the electronic help. It's just a tool available for their utilization much like a clicker in their hand or a rule book to memorize. It's also near impossible to calculate the affect of a missed call but at the very least players will have to adapt to the mistake and the mistake is typically inconsistent. It's ok to assume that some missed calls are not game changers but then again... how do you know because that last call may have created a fastball instead of the slider and who knows what the hitter would have done with that slider. There is a difference between a 1-1 count and 0-2 count. Also... Pitchers are not making it easy for the hitter and therefore they make it harder for the umpire. They don't throw it down the middle for the call that nobody will ever miss... The hitter will clobber that pitch. They pitch out of the zone trying to catch corners to make it harder for the hitter. They live on the edge, they are aiming for that borderline and they are good at hitting that borderline and the borderline is the location that makes the calls harder and harder for umps to call correctly. The pitcher is trying to make it really hard for the umps... the catchers are trying to fool the umps. The catcher fools the ump, the fans boo the ump, the managers turn their hats around so they can scream in their face. social media will replay the missed call and the car mechanics will repost and comment on the mistake. This is charming? It's the exact opposite of charming. I get that the automation may not have been perfected yet. OK... However... a human calling balls and strikes hasn't been perfected yet either and they have been at since 1876. 1876... the very same year that Alexander Graham Bell Patented the Telephone... Let me check my Iphone 15 and see if that is correct... Yep... it was 1876. 1876... the very same year that electric light was first exhibited. They've made some improvements since then... I think the Sphere is Las Vegas has done some interesting things with the exhibition of light. 1876... the very same year that Marshall James Brooks cleared 6 feet in the high jump for the first time. 6 Feet will put you in 28th place in the Indiana High School boys state championship today. I randomly chose Indiana and I actually researched it to make sure that I was correct. When discussing a catcher... framing is not something that I want to discuss. Strike zone automation is a tool to help the umpire, I had a Timex in the 80's. now my watch tells me how much sleep I got last night. 7 Hours and 18 Minutes.

Thinking that umpire mistakes is part of the charm of the game is no different than being in favor of leaving really big rocks in the infield for that crazy random bounce.