Dantes929

Since this is unprecedented it probably wouldn't hurt to start lobbying now for Pineda's suspended games to decrease at least on a ratio to the shortened season or even better, to just count for every game not played.

To be fair, there are tons of people that had that first knee jerk reaction to this virus in comparing it to the flu. Its kind of like saying back in 1982 "its not even possible for Ripken to catch Gehrig because Gehrig has only played in 162 games".....Ripken was just getting started........ 2nd everything I have read is that if unchecked this is more contagious than the flu but like Riverbrian says is even worse because of slow incubation period...... 3rd, is this.... "you know, this virus has lower mortality rates in first world nations than the flu." I guess it depends on how you define rates. Yes, more people have died from the flu but the current death rate for the flu this last year is 1 death for every 2000 cases. The most optimistic rate I have seen for the Corona virus is 1 death for every 100. The best available data says 2-3 for every 100. That's Spanish Flu territory. Its also a scary thought that getting the virus does not immunize you from getting it again. I don't know if that is definitive but the theory so far is that the anitbodies don't have a very long shelf life once they have been activated..........Lastly, if you are concerned about the flu, there is probably nothing aside from vaccines that will have a bigger effect on combating the flu than the good hygiene habits that this scare has promoted. Kind of the equivalent of you don't have to believe that man made pollutants cause global warming or even that global warming is real but isn't it a good idea to have cleaner air and conserve our resources anyway. This scare has huge short term consequences in every aspect of life right now but it is conceivable that the reaction can have some good long term benefits. As Brock says the best possible outcome is that people are so careful that people say "See, it was all a bunch of hoohaw about nothing" The next best outcome I guess would be for them to actually be right. Either way wash your hands and cover your coughs.

Wait, you can't catch it by drinking Corona? That's a couple weeks I won't get back. Well, I guess adapting is a good thing anyway since I discovered Stella is much better.

I like the outside the box thinking but seems like all we have are big bats and some of them have pretty good splits.. Stacking means there will be times the other team can bring in a righty when you have three right handed batters in a row and then bring in a lefty to face three lefties in a row and you never have a favorable matchup. I never mind our guys being intentionally walked. Its an automatic 1.00 OBP and OPS.

Well, I'm not in favor of Dobnak as our 5th starter to start the season because I would have him as our 4th starter. Bailey in the lead for 5th.

Ok, we are all wondering if Arraez can sustain the success he had last season. Along those lines, anyone think Kiriloff can sustain his current OPS of 1.836?

For starters, Revere really wasn't that bad. In fact, if my memory serves, he was good enough that there was some dismay when he was traded. Weak arm and low power were the knocks. I always said if his OBP was near .350 he would be very useful. Didn't happen. As pointed out earlier, their minor league stats were similar but not identical. Arraez has him beat on every stat I looked at. Still, the same standard applies. Get on base near .350 is acceptable. Higher than .350 is plenty to keep him in the majors and an asset on a power team. Not to mention, in a tight spot late in the game where you needed a hit or just to put bat on the ball, it wasn't Polanco, Kepler or even Cruz that I wanted up there. Last year late it was Arraez.

Two ways to think of that. One of his injuries was making a throw. That can happen no matter where you play. One of his injuries was a pulled ham string running to first. This kind of injury is probably less likely if you are playing in the field. Without Donaldson, Gonzo plays 3rd at least 30 games and Sano plays first or gives Cruz rest at DH. No way was he playing 150 games at 3rd. Personally, I think DH is going to be Sano's position maybe as early as next year. 3rd base isn't really a big at risk injury position though.

I'd have been fine with keeping Sano at 3rd for another year or two and having Kiriloff up to play 3rd base. I hope Donaldson is everything everyone hopes he is and I hope he's that for another 4 years.

With a fair dose of luck. Three runs single late in the wild card game saved the Nats from elimination before they had a chance to get hot. Same for the Royals in a wild card game before that. The fact that the wild cards since the start have a winning record tells you SSS evens things out. One of my favorite seasons ever was 2006 with 2008 and 2009 up there as well. I have been a fan since the early 70's and what I want is what I always want. Meaningful games through September. Being out of the race in mid August makes for a long wait til next year.

I don't necessarily agree that Berrios is definitely the best starter. I liked some of the break I have seen on his curve ball this spring and think he could be the best starter but last year I had more faith in Odorizzi to give us a good start. The plus with Berrios was he could go longer but that means less with a bullpen of guys with sub 3.5 ERAs. Maybe it still pushes him slightly ahead but not in the definite territory in my book. I hope he changes my mind this year.

Nah, best two words in baseball are Opening Day. Granted I am always more of a journey than a destination guy. You can't win the World Series in March. You can't win a playoff game in March. You can't even qualify for the playoffs in March. It may have been an abstract goal in 87 and 91 but no one was saying it out loud. They went about their business and it just developed. I remember them talking about it in ST of 2010 for all the good it did them. Its great to be confident and have goals but why put the pressure on yourselves. Its enough pressure just to make the playoffs. Win one playoff game, then start shooting higher. Can;t do that in March or April.

Power may come naturally and he seems to have a pretty good idea when to go after it. Some how Mauer did also but I have never seen so many beautiful powerful swings that resulted in foul balls straight behind him. I don't care though. If we were down 1 with bases loaded in the late innings Arraez was the one I had the most faith in on the entire team. If we were down 1 with no one on he would still be the one I most wanted at the plate because there was a good chance he got on. I would take .320 with .400 OBP and a bunch of doubles and not care if he ever hit another home run in his life.

As far as Berrios you can see that the curveball in the clip is nasty but is more horizontal than vertical. Most of his curveballs last year seemed to be more horizontal. If you just face him once he could make you look really bad. I wonder if that is easier to track and lay off as the season goes by and more film and at bats accumulate. I only saw a small clip of ST this year but the one I saw was more vertical and way nasty. Just that small change of plane can make a ton of difference. I know in high school there was a guy from Delano that threw a ridiculously huge breaking curve ball but after your knees buckled the first few times if you stuck in there you could hit it. A good 12-6 curveball is tough to hit even if you know its coming.

I especially like this paragraph. You may not like that we don't have what is commonly known as an ace but we have seen Berrios and Odorizzi pitch like aces and shut down good teams. We have also seen aces get knocked around. You would prefer to have the better bets as you say but that is all they are. In any given game with Verlander vs Berrios it is probably something like 60-40 in favor of Verlander but its not more than that. KC won without aces. The 16 game losing streak is a complete anomaly. Statistics say we should have been more like 9-16 in that time and maybe even advanced at least once. I also liked that it was pointed out we took two of three from Cole and Verlander.

Ok, in 4 posts we've got like the shift, don't like the shift. Like the new rule, don't like the new rule. Like the pitch clock, don't like the pitch clock. My vote is for all three. If the next one that posts is against all 3 that would be about right.

I would also have put Ryu at the top. I still don't get the feeding frenzy over Wheeler. Nice pitcher that I would like to have but at the price for that length? Honestly, if he had come through the system for the Twins, fans here would be calling him a mid rotation guy. If the price were equal I would give him the edge over Maeda and Bum but the price isn't anywhere near equal though it is a point well taken that the jury is out on the price of Graterol.

I think you are rating them on best side potential which I hope is the way it develops but way premature. I am thinking more like 2010 Pavano, Liriano and Baker. They were pretty good which is where I rate these three. Depth is better with this squad but the subject is trio. 2007 Santana, Garza and Silva were pretty good. My top trio if we are going back as far as the 80's would be the 2006 staff. Santana was Cy Young, before he got hurt Liriano was in the process of overtaking Santana for the Cy Young so very good chance of having the top two starters in the league but for injury with Twins HOFer Brad Radke filling out the trio.

Most years I can imagine a path whereby the Twins make the playoffs and after that it is really not that hard to imagine guys like Berrios or Odorizzi stepping up big and the Twins getting hot regardless of the dismal showings of the past. This year it is just a little easier to do the imagining. I don't like talking about the playoffs in February or even March, April, May, June, July or August. Simply put, if the Yankees, Astros and Twins were all in the same division where would you put your money to take 1st place. Thats really a better test of who the best team is anyway. Mine would be on the Yankees, then the Astros and then the Twins, so no, the Twins are not the best team in the American League. I'm hoping they are the best team in the AL Central.

I will respectfully mostly disagree with you. Every ST we get a Bryan or a Luke or an Aaron someone just tear up Spring Training while guys like Morneau, or Thome or Kepler bat .110 and it really does mean very little. I am guessing 21 or more spots are set right now and Spring Training really is just training. Its not a tryout. Barring injuries there is probably about 1 utility and maybe a couple pitching spots that are so close that ST performance might mean something.

My understanding is the guidelines for aluminum bats make their performance about the same as wood bats anyway. I know a top pitcher for a good D1 school on a good day with a little luck can hold down a team like the Twins fielded yesterday but even 4th-6th pitchers are going to be better than batting practice. Weather was unfortunate but I think both sides would have enjoyed the game otherwise. Early days and no one really cares about the results. Ironically I then ask whether there is a box score for the game. Which of the Twins did well? How long did Dobnak go and how did he look?

On the trib boards I was the lonely voice in the wilderness saying it didn't make baseball sense signing him to an extension at or near market value after his MVP season. It did make a ton of marketing expense with the new stadium and I wasn't against it because I was a fan of Joe's also and regardless of the contract he was still really good at baseball. I also never complained about the deal afterwards. The main problem I have with big free agency contracts is that you are paying them for good years they had with someone else. At least with our own players the good years were with us. Thanks for the history lesson on TD. I thought I just discovered it after everyone else.

Love seeing posts like this. Lets everyone know where they stood at the time rather than where they remember they stood. Don;t think I was on here in 2009 but would love to see where everyone stood on Mauer extension rather than where everyone said they stood. I remember on the Trib pages it was over 99% for extending Mauer no matter the cost. A few years later about 99% maintain that they were against the deal all along. In this case, my memory was correct in that I liked the Odorizzi signing while also reminding me I would have preferred Cobb. Is it too late to go back and edit? Also the first time I marked like on a comment two years after it was posted. Also makes me wonder what happened to jimmers.

Little known fact. Out of habit, the Astros continued to hit the garbage cans during a couple of Clippard's early appearances, thus tipping off the opposing team;s batters, thus accounting for Clippard's high ERA that year.

I was thrilled with Cruz last year. I hope to be thrilled with him this year but Father Time is undefeated and no matter how good he is this year I would be hesitant to bring him back in 2021. If Kiriloff and Larmach have good years I am hoping they along with Kepler will have the corners and 1st base covered with Sano at DH next year.