ashbury

A few years ago I heard Terry Ryan give a broad ranging talk, and one point he made was that if professional baseball wasn't played every day, there were dozens of guys who could hit .400. An interesting POV that I think ties in to what you are suggesting.

What if it's Colabello who continues at the present pace but Nolasco is the one who comes back to his career norms?

Apparently my satire of the glass-is-always-half-empty outlook didn't work so good. Oh well, live and (not) learn.

Uncle.

After watching the Twins today in Cleveland, several impressions come to the forefront. First, the pitching seems to be no better than last year, and quite possibly even worse. The starter, Nolasco, stunk it up with 5 runs in only 4 innings, and could not seem to locate his pitches to save his life. The bullpen quickly coughed up two more runs, a performance that could put a game essentially out of reach by the halfway mark. The defense was also laughable, with somebody inexperienced manning left field, after Willingham departed the game with an injury (thankfully the diagnosis was no broken bone, just day-to-day), unable to make the simplest plays. The team was fortunate to have no unearned runs to tack onto the tally against them. And the hitting? Florimon, the afore-mentioned Bartlett, Hicks and Escobar combined for 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position through the game. Factor that in with an aggregate o-fer by the 2B, LF, CF, and SS positions, and you would hardly be surprised to be told that the Twins were shut out again. I believe it was the Orioles in 1988 who established a major league record by losing their first 21 games to start the season. Though it's early, are the Twins in danger of eclipsing that mark in 2014? Based on this account of this game one would be hard pressed to say no. It would be easy to assume that this debacle in Cleveland was the nadir of the Twins 2014 season, but with 156 games to go I am not confident in predicting that this will even be their worst game this year. Yes, I am giving fair warning: IT COULD BE WORSE. Go Twins.

Please alert the moderators if you need assistance.

I chose Mastro as my TD Adopt-a-prospect a couple of seasons ago, and I mourn his apparent demise. He is like the son I never had.1 1 Because my actual two sons are like their father, and never showed baseball talent that would support a professional career.

The problem with Gagne as a comp is age and established performance. At 24 he was a major-league regular with a .700 OPS, and it was no anomaly since his minor league numbers were good when taking account of age and league level. Florimon isn't in his early twenties any longer, and the chances for further growth at the plate aren't good. Nothing's impossible in baseball, but I don't think the smart money is on Florimon to now become a .700 OPS contributor.

We just need better analytics, to give us the "home runs per dead fish slider" ratio in Spring.

Very fair point in addition.

MLBTR has an item stating that the Phillies would be willing to trade Jimmy Rollins. In the article, it's stated: "Rollins, 35, struggled at the plate in 2013, batting .252/.318/.348..." Meanwhile our resident starter pleased some fans with his progress, posting .221/.281/.330. I don't particularly advocate trading for Rollins, as I assume the Phils want prospects the Twins won't want to part with and the Twins won't want to invest $11M a year in an aging player. I'm just mindful that one team's "struggled" can be better on offense than another team's "incumbent shortstop".

Probably a little late to snare Beltran, but let's keep dreaming big!

Nothing on Revere on MLBTR at this writing. Maybe their sleuths will see this thread and start something.

What stands out to me is the absence of any mention of Christopher Herrmann. With AAA a likely starting location for Pinto, it sounds like a FA acquisition of some kind is all but assured. Question is whether to get a glove man for cheap, to complement Doumit's skillset, or go for a more complete but far more expensive player.

I like this reasoning too, particularly the two throw-ins of the deal. Mastro (though I love him like a son - he was my 2012 TD adoptee ) is barely above waiver-wire fodder and if a team considers him a sweetener I gladly include him. Fien is a guy who, when I think ahead to possible playoff games, doesn't seem like one of the pitchers who drives the other team nuts when you roll out three guys to suffocate their seventh-inning rally. You have to give up talent to get talent, and Dozier as the key piece to get a good pitcher is a reasonable choice. And I am all for bundling multiple players to get an upgrade, in contrast to recent Twins history of trading one guy and getting two "maybes" in return.

http://fuuka.worldathleticproject.org/boards/b/thumb/1376/51/1376513126653s.jpg

Much appreciated. What a relaxed atmosphere. Lucky guys to be at that level.

I would guess that, more often than not, the identity of the clubhouse's true leader(s) becomes evident only in the rearview mirror. But like it or not, it's Joe Mauer's team for the foreseeable future.

Is the 2013 team Ryan's "Glen or Glenda"?

Folks, When the Twins announced their players being sent to the Arizona Fall League (AFL), John Bonnes made an off-hand comment about a Twins Daily road trip. Something of that magnitude might be a little fanciful, but I'm thinking about going and he and I agreed maybe a clearinghouse would be useful for those who plan to go, or are considering it. The Twins players will be on the Glendale Desert Dogs. All the AFL games are in the Phoenix area. Our guys have games from October 8 to November 14; here is a link to the full schedule: http://mlb.mlb.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?t=t_sch&sid=l119&cid=454&y=2013 Team roster is here: Major League Baseball | Winter Leagues | Arizona Fall League | MLB.com: Events USAFChief lives somewhere in or around Tucson, a two-hour car ride away, and has offered a bit of interaction with anyone who makes the trip, but no rights or privileges for his barcalounger (ahem, "Ekornes Stressless, full leather", per Chief). I think one or two others spoke up expressing interest too. Anybody with ideas about going, feel free to post a response here, and if some sort of critical mass begins to develop we can take it from there. At this point, I think any vague but possible idea of going is worth mentioning, without it being a commitment for now. I am considering a trip there during the week of October 14, regardless of whether anyone else goes.

Earlier today while reading another post I spent some time trying to find a pre-season interview with Terry Ryan that said more than "if we'll win our share." Actually I find the opposite in this December interview: Mackey: Will Twins compete in 2013? 'We have to be realistic,' GM says | 1500 ESPN Twin Cities ? Minnesota Sports News & Opinion (Twins, Vikings, Wolves, Wild, Gophers) | Sportswire: Minnesota Twins "I think the goal here is to get better," Ryan said. He danced around the question of competing in 2013. "We'll try," he said when asked directly. I don't see where he insists. Does someone have a different source to point to where he does?

A woman is only a woman, but a baseball game... is a day at the park. / because I don't smoke cigars, and for that matter I've never Kippled

The love that dare not speak its name?

If you're asking how the moderators react, well, it's going to be case-by-case. Satire is by nature caustic, and the best satire burns your skin off without your even realizing you were the target until too late. (Another way of saying why what I tried was just too heavy-handed.) Simply poking a little fun, ought in principle to pass muster, but even then it's risky: "fun" is in the eye of the beholder. If you really think the target of your comment will smile, even grudgingly, maybe it will be OK. But if your intent is just to straighten somebody else out, I dunno - just stick to the facts as you see them, would be my advice, and keep the direct personal comments and the alleged humor out of it. I definitely recommend not trying assess the specific gravity of the content of anybody's coinpurse.