Riverbrian

What is Rick Anderson doing these days? 😉

Great post You are exactly right. I just have one disagreement and that is the last sentence. I don't believe it is to the benefit of the league to put the stars in the largest markets. I understand the more bang for the buck logic and the market disparity between New York and Pittsburgh. However... even the smallest market has a population base worth providing hope to and therefore interest in the product. Pittsburgh may be small in comparison to New York but there are a lot of consumers living in Pittsburgh. What's that old quote: A million Here and a billion there... pretty soon you are talking about real money. All those small markets add up collectively. If you want the entire country to care about baseball you have to give them hope and therefore a reason to care. The Population of the United States is 332 Million, The Top Ten Markets combined is maybe 65 Million. Hope in Pittsburgh is vital. Hope in Kansas City matters if you want to increase your reach and interest in the game. A system that funnels superstars to the largest markets isn't the best thing for 332 million people. I agree with you though'... The Players union doesn't care about that. They want the big markets to spend like they do, then they want to crank the PR machine and cement the word tanking in our brains just to bully the smaller markets for not keeping up when they can't.

If I'm Seattle - if asked if I want Polanco... the answer would be... Yes Absolutely Please Thank You.

It's a trade off - First in Home Runs and First in Walks is a good thing. However... The Strikeouts drag that success downward. Twins First(Tied) in Home Runs(233) - First in Strikeouts (1654) Second in Walks (594) - Fifth in OBP - Fifth in Runs Scored (758) Rangers First (Tied) in Home Runs (233) - Ninth in Strikeouts (1416) First in Walks (599) - First in OBP - First in Runs Scored (881) Angels Third in Home Runs (231) - Third in Strikeouts (1524) Seventh in Walks (518) - Ninth in OBP - Ninth in Runs Scored (739) Mariners Seventh in Home Runs (210) - Second in Strikeouts (1603) Sixth in Walks (548) - Seventh in OBP - Seventh in Runs Scored (758)

Great article It all makes perfect sense Pitchers want hitters to swing at crap and they throw them crap until they make a mistake or run out of real estate. This dance between hitter and pitcher is going to drive up pitch counts including getting to two strikes... which makes strikeouts a natural by-product of this very sensible approach. It all makes perfect sense except for one thing. This isn't new territory. The Twins are not special, New ground isn't being broken. All hitters need to take this approach or they won't be in the league long. They shouldn't change approach but they really need to care about striking out too much.

Every year each front office paint the walls at this time. We watch the paint dry every year.

Yep... You've built that depth... real nice depth. The next move is to better the top end. Garver does that.

I'm not sure what is going on with Sano. Went from 532 Plate Appearances and 30 dingers in 2021 to Basically a lost season due to injury in 2022 to Contract Bought out for 2.75 million dollars in 2023 and not a single team offering a minor league deal for a guy who hit 30 home runs in his last healthy season. The plummet from grace was meteor speed.

I'm under the assumption that the Twins can't afford the player who hits like Garver does and stays healthy. 😉

There articles are fun. However... Watching the Brewers tells a different story. So far this is how the Brewers are acting this off season. What conclusions can be drawn from their actions? Woodruff, Tellez, Santana, Chafin, Donaldson, Winker and Caratini now free agents. Canha traded to the Tigers for a prospect Toro traded to the A's for a prospect Houser and Tyrone Taylor traded to the Mets for a prospect. Burnes and Adames rumored to be on the trade block... both hit free agency next year. The only conclusion that I can draw from this is that they are rebuilding. If rebuilding... Polanco doesn't make sense for them. If you want Burnes... It will take prospects and good ones.

I take full responsibility for use of the word sucks. I used sucks to make my point that he doesn't. What you said... that drew the original response from me was: It's way to early in the morning to a take a trip down the semantics rabbit hole so I'll pass. The Twins chose Jorge Polanco to play 3B when Royce Lewis got hurt. They could have gone with Farmer or Castro they didn't and I assume it was because they felt that Polanco at 3B and Julien at 2B gave them the best chance to win. He made those errors and back to 3B he went. I will also assume that the Jays will do the same thing that the Twins did. They will look around the room and play Polanco at a spot that gives them the best chance to win... If that's 3B because Davis Schneider has 2B locked up... It's 3B. The reason that the Jays would want Polanco is because he can hit and they need players who can hit from the left side and he has 10,000 innings of professional infield experience, the majority of that time was at SS the number #1 spot on the spectrum. Regardless... your latest post stated "never said people couldn't play more than one spot". OK I agree with that... I disagree with the not Polanco at 3B part.

I agree with both Chpettit and you on that. Castillo has almost double the innings and better numbers over the course of their careers. I still think it's a good comp because when you start getting into the air that these guys breath in financially... there is only so much more room to grow. I'd love to have Castillo on the team... just not sure the financials will work out in our favor on that. Although we must have a spare 20 million lying around just in case Sonny Gray took that QO. 😁 What would it require to waive his no trade? No-Trade Clauses are basically leverage. I think most players don't care as much about the city as Buster Posey suggests. I'm sure that they don't want to get traded to a team that is going to lose 100 games for awhile but what they really really want is the leverage. They have the right to say no and in order to get them to say yes... the agent is going to ask for better terms on the existing contract. For example, they might want to add a couple of players options or at least turn that vesting option into a player option or add an extra year. That leverage is something that the agent/player isn't going to just give away unless it is his life long dream to play for the Twins. Let's just say that it will take more than a coupon to Murrays to get him to waive the no-trade. Not only do the Twins have to be able to fit that contract into their budget. They have to be able to fit what the better contract will look like. I won't spend a lot of time wondering if it will happen.

I think the new Glasnow deal with the Dodgers makes him a really good comparison to Luis Castillo. Years, Money, Age, Ability is all comparable.

Great posts This is going to produce a churn that hits like a hurricane. The ride will be rough. I'm not sure people realize what it will be like to take away accessibility from demographics who are actually consuming to provide accessibility to demographics who are not consuming much. Being accessible to more is the only way to lessen the pain. It's necessary though... actually overdue. The exclusivity that is necessary to secure these RSN deals keeps them locked into demographics that are aging out. While baseball becomes out of sight out of mind to younger demographics more interesting to advertisers. The very same younger demographics that are telling baseball execs in focus groups that the game is too long and slow. Baseball needs to remove the third party, take control of their product, do a much better job marketing the product and the players in the new world they are entering. Then wait for the demographics to grow. It might take a little while but the alternative is to follow cable on the path it is taking.

I've played the game to. Anybody who has played ball for 60 years including long stretches at all positions understands what baseball players are capable of and the shades of differences in skill sets from position to position. Yes 3B requires reflex and a strong accurate arm on SOME BALLS HIT THEIR WAY. Gotta be able to charge and throw as well. Gotta learn the cut system for that position. But, it's a mistake to assume that 2B doesn't also require a strong accurate arm on SOME BALLS. When you think about it... using those 60 years of experience to draw upon. The thought that a BASEBALL PLAYER with 6,674 major league infield innings (the majority of those innings spent at SS - 4,478) plus 6 years of minor league infield is NOT CAPABLE anywhere else but a single position. If defense was the primary concern... The Jays would have just locked up Chapman who is one of the finest defensive 3B that I have ever seen. Besides... the Jays can just play Polanco at 2B and look for a different 3B or play Biggio there. Or move Vlad Jr. back. Players have to hit and field. Logical conversation as a 60 year baseball expert needs to refrain from declarations that Polanco can't play 3B based on a couple of boots in a single playoff game. Probably 10,000 innings of experience in the dirt. Correa is a better SS than Polanco is. That doesn't mean Polanco sucks. Lewis is probably a better 3B than Polanco is... that doesn't mean Polanco sucks. Polanco is probably a better 2B than Julien is... that doesn't mean Julien sucks.

I'd give him a 1B glove and welcome him back home with enthusiasm. I would not block up the DH spot with one guy.

I agree 100% I just posted the same in a different thread. If I'm the Mariners. It's Castillo that I'm shopping. Any team that can afford his contract would certainly listen. He's only 9 months older than Glasnow so I don't think age is a factor. Could the Twins afford that contract? That's the key question. Who can afford that contract? also a key question. The list is probably small and whatever teams are on that list. They would have to have some extra major league bats who don't strike out a lot to send the other way. The teams that are chasing Yamamoto are probably the teams on the list.

My Guess is: Yes... The Mariners would move Castillo if they could and Yes... The Mariners would hang on to the young controllable arms with all of their might. Especially if they can get a decent hitter for Castillo... They could in my opinion reinvest the money saved into another decent hitter via free agency. Castillo is owed 118 Million over the next 5 years. Kirby, Miller and Woo are still pre-arb. Gilbert is in the first year of arbitration. Trading Castillo seems like the most obvious move to me... if of course... Castillo waives that no-trade. Which he would probably do... if properly compensated in return.

Yep... It's in the details. IMO... No matter what. The Minnesota Twins (All of Major League Baseball) needs to be everywhere, everyone is, on whatever device. Anything that prevents that is a huge mistake. If that costs them financially in the short term so be it. This NEEDS to be about the future. Everyone can see the cable demographics and understand what they mean. If any form of blackout is part of the deal... walk away.

These articles are fun... However... Sometimes you have to look at the other teams roster and ask what they need and also ask yourself if they are a contending team or rebuilding. In the case of Seattle... I'd say they are contending team with a fantastic pitching staff that is trying to transform the offense on the fly. The Mariners offense was 2nd in K's behind our Twins last year. They have cleared out Hernandez, Saurez, Kelenic. All 3 of them had strikeout rates higher than 30%. They are rumored to be after Rhys Hoskins who strikes out less, If they are a contending team... I think they are... prospects won't be of much interest to them. They'd be more likely to give up prospects for major league hitters. Look at the Mariners current roster. They are about 4 bats short at the MLB level. The OF besides J-Rod is a bunch of... who are these guys? You'd think that Kepler and Polanco would be of high interest to them and I'd guess that they are talking to a lot of teams in search of bats. Dipoto is fearless when it comes to trades and changing a roster on the fly because he has done it before.

Balance! Moderation! Right? It's OK to have a drink or two. Now... If you find yourself on a first date and ending the night by throwing up on her... you may want to back it down a little.

49 total chances for his career as a 3B. 27 in 2023 2918 chances as an INFIELDER! The Blue Jays have a pretty good idea of what he can do on the dirt. Fans on the other hand... still think they have to stand in a specific spot on the dirt. 😉

Good Nitpick and you are right. 2014 was when the move to 1B was made permanent with no looking back. Bi-Lateral Leg Weakness occurred in 2011 and that brings us back to Drew Butera who was our primary catcher in 2011.

No disrespect intended by me for Drew or any of the Butera's in baseball history. I will vote for Drew in 2024 if he runs. However, the discussion you are responding to was about development over the last decade of the Terry Ryan era. If Butera is the shining example of what our system was able to produce during that time... we are going to fall below the other 29 teams by a large margin. Where's our version of what the Marlins developed with Stanton or Yelich or Realmuto?, The DBacks with Goldschmidt or Corbin? The Rockies with Arenando or Lemehieu or Story? The Angels with Trout? The Mets with Syndergaard? The Ray with Snell? Nearly every team has a fairly significant development success story over the last decade of Ryan. Where was ours? Perkins and Dozier is the best that we can do? Buxton... it wouldn't be much of a stretch to put him into another example of failed development under Ryan. They dropped into the major leagues at 21 in 2015. He wasn't ready and it showed because he wasn't very good until he was 25 in 2019. The club burned 2 years and 160 days of service time trying to develop him which led to Falvey and Lavine sending him down to the minors and not calling him back up in September in 2018 to gain an extra year of control. In 2019... Buxton finally became a special MLB player for straight years before the wheels fell off along with other body parts last year. Our development was brutal over the last decade of the Ryan Part II Era. Under Falvey and Lavine... As a 24 year old in 2014... His OPS was .383. That was the year he was sent down to the minors and they didn't call him back up in September gaining an extra year of service time. Buxton was 13 days short of being a free agent in 2028

1,654 K's in 2023. That sets the record. No team in the history of baseball has whiffed more times than our Twins did last year. The front office can explain to me why it doesn't matter until they are blue in the face. I'll understand what they are telling me but they won't get anywhere because it matters. Our pitching staff led the entire league in strikeouts. Did we luck into that... did we just grab a bunch of pitchers who happen to strike out batters. If K's don't matter there is no reason to go find pitchers who can K. Yet we found them. At the plate... It's OK though. When you say... "The Strikeouts were completely out of control this year". You hit the nail on the head.