ashbury

If chess is Right Field, Magnus Carlsen would, um, be really good at the game, I bet.

Ha ha ha ha ha. Did I say I was harmed? I did not. I was not. I was basically unaffected by the first one, I benefited so greatly from the second that I could look forward to retiring before I turned 60, and I did retire after the third merger because I didn't like the outcome and I could. But, please, do, feel free to operate on your own assumptions. I watched these mergers with keen interest and I see parallels to now. Your ad hominem condescension was almost overlooked, because I have you on Ignore at this site, but someone quoted you where you mentioned me. Carry on, HTH, HAND.

Humorous exaggeration aside, we all know that Rocco likes to platoon. But a 13-man squad puts a limit on that tactic - sometimes you have to leave your lefty hitter in, or run out of substitutes. Kepler leads all the lefty batters in PA against lefty pitchers this season, and it's not close - more PA than the other 5, in fact. If Kepler is gone, they have no heir apparent, no Plan B. Trading away Duran, a rumor for a little while there, is by contrast a whole lot more plausible as there does exist someone we could anticipate taking the reins as closer. I agree Max hasn't got much trade value.

If they planned to trade Kepler, then they needed to get his replacement up to speed sooner than this. They have shown no confidence in either Larnach or Wallner against lefties. Kepler by contrast is not a platoon bat. I didn't buy any talk of trading Kepler unless it was a "wave the white flag" move. "3 Factors" or not, they didn't make any moves at the deadline. They had a roster very much in the mix for a post-season berth, maybe a good run in the post-season - and made no moves. That's their professional judgement and I'm fine with that - it's what they're paid for. But once the offseason starts, it's how they'll be judged. To not even make a significant move is "a bold move, Cotton." Three factors are what they can explain at an interview for their next job.

Still burned into my retinas is the flyball hit by Chapman against our Shutdown Reliever of the Future in the top of the sixth in game 1 of the Wild Card Series against Toronto, two run lead, two men on. Maybe you remember the play. MAT ranged to his left and bailed him out big time. He got a pat on the butt when he came back to the dugout, and he earned a Hold for that performance, LOL Two pitches and I was done with him (any other ballplayers you'd like a scouting report on?) and apparently so was Rocco since Thielbar took over in the seventh. He's pigeonholed for me as a Try Real Hard guy we all like to root for - he's got guts and moxie and a fastball the good hitters can turn on. I'm fickle like that when I attend a ballgame in person. I remain unsold on his future, but he can try the bullpen if he or they want - I hope he can succeed, I hope he makes me eat my words.

Trevor Richards. Erm, well, anyway, we have him.

/ obligatory

I was affected by three mergers or acquisitions during my career. The Pohlads' handling of the Twins right now looks for all the world to me like a cash cow that they intended to milk until it runs dry and then they discard it. Baseball's not a similar business* to high-tech industry, so maybe the similarities to what I saw don't apply; warning lights sometimes give false positives. * indeed I've said elsewhere recently that I don't see it as a business whatsover, except in the sense that money comes in and goes out.

Yeah, right.

Waiver wire, baby! / oh wait, you said "upgrade".

Whether or not Max should have been traded, here's why I didn't expect it to happen: he faces left-handed pitchers, while Wallner and Larnach basically don't. When one of them starts being shown some trust, then that could be the end for Max here.

I find this gif helpful therapy in many situations. You are free to borrow.

As is fair. A trade should make the team better, not the same. We're 2 games behind the Dodgers in the loss column. They have no right to expect any favors. Meanwhile I see on MLBTR that Diego A. Castillo has been outrighted. That has been the case since Friday. There's your rumor mill to work from.

If you look at league splits the four different ways, you can understand why. It's not just Twins lefties who flail against lefties. (Also, in the favorable lefty-righty matchups for batters, the right-handers also fare ever so slightly better. Still, because of the far greater number of innings pitched by righties, there's nothing more valuable than a left-handed batter at your disposal.)

I don't know. How much more do you wish your perspective broadened? You tell me. Why is winning the World Series less desirable than the America's Cup or the Kentucky Derby? Few can even tell you who won those latter two most recently anymore. I'll give you my answer: billionaires are fickle, just like any human beings. And we're being asked to take their eccentric choices as inviolable law handed down from on his. Examine your assumptions.

Yes, because they routinely let the low-paid rookies throw 150 pitches every game, and they limit only the guys on guaranteed contracts. 😀

In that case: people never understand SATIRE!!!!11!eleventy!

If you have to ask, you already get it. SATIRE!!!!11!eleventy!

Correct.

I didn't think, until just this minute, that ChatGPT might have some views on Joe Mauer being a Hall of Famer now. Herewith, and without further delay, is this sadly belated essay. ChatGPT Oh, Joe Mauer’s in the Hall of Fame now? Well, color me shocked! It’s not like Minnesota Twins fans have been tirelessly waving Mauer flags like it’s a never-ending parade or anything. Seriously, Mauer’s induction is kind of like getting the gold star for showing up on time for a game you were clearly going to win anyway. Let’s not forget, this is the same Joe Mauer who, for a decade, made catching look so effortless that you half expected him to stroll out to the mound with a latte in one hand and a newspaper in the other. And let’s be honest, he was so smooth behind the plate that sometimes you wondered if he was actually playing a completely different game than the rest of us. A .306 career batting average and three batting titles? That’s cute. And winning the MVP award in a season where his team barely made a ripple in the playoffs? Adorable. He made it look so easy that the rest of us thought we might be able to give it a shot, only to realize that he was basically the baseball equivalent of a wizard performing a magic trick—except his wand was a bat, and the magic was turning fastballs into base hits. So congratulations to Joe Mauer for finally getting his well-deserved Hall of Fame nod. The voters have officially acknowledged what every baseball fan in Minnesota has known for years: Joe Mauer was too good for this planet and is now officially on a higher level of baseball greatness. May he continue to make the rest of us look bad in the most impressive way possible. (Full disclosure: I may have mentioned the word "snark" in my request to ChatGPT. And then I asked the service to take the contrary view. You might detect some themes in common.) ChatGPT Oh, Joe Mauer’s in the Hall of Fame? Well, isn’t that a fascinating plot twist. It’s almost like someone decided to mix a ‘Good for You’ award with a ‘We’re Feeling Generous’ badge. Mauer’s induction is a bit like being handed a trophy for showing up to a dance-off in tap shoes while everyone else is busting moves in sneakers. Let’s be real: Mauer’s career was like a perfectly pleasant cup of decaf coffee. Sure, he was a decent hitter and an exceptional catcher, but his .306 career average and three batting titles feel like the Hall of Fame equivalent of getting a participation trophy. And yes, he won an MVP, but he did it in a year when his team didn’t exactly light up the playoffs. It’s like getting a gold star for being the best at a game no one else bothered to play. His defensive skills behind the plate were top-notch, but it’s not like he reinvented the position or anything. And his career, while solid, lacked the explosive moments or transformative impact that often defines a true Hall of Famer. It’s not that Mauer wasn’t good—he was—but sometimes being ‘really good’ doesn’t quite cut it in a museum of legends. So congrats to Joe Mauer for joining the ranks of the Hall of Fame. It’s a nice acknowledgment of a good career, but let’s not kid ourselves into thinking he’s joining the ranks of baseball immortality with the same gravity as those who redefined the game.

Deyvison De Los Santos went 2-for-4 today, lowering his OPS for AAA Jacksonville to 1.357. 😀

Without a mention of words like "payroll" or "salary" the article seems incomplete in the broad analysis it offers. At minimum, assumptions on payroll based on off-season FO comments shift the likelihood toward "standing pat", versus trading away for anything likely to be available.

Just quickly scanning through the game thread. Looking forward to the full TD game recap of this disappointing 5-0 loss.

Been there a couple of times. Enjoyed it and the surrounding part of the city. I'm not the most critical judge of ballparks, though.

Leading the majors. Their pitchers are just about smack-dab in the middle of the ranking, for comparison's sake. And there were no HBP in yesterday's game, just in case I thought bad blood might have crossed over from yesterday.