jm3319

Umm why should Grienke be suspended? Or are you saying every pitcher should be suspended every time they hit a batter? It's a 3-2 pitch in a 1-0 ball game.... this wasn't an 0-0 pitch as his head, or a 3-0 pitch. Maybe one or two of his previous plunks on Quentin were intentional, but there's no way this one was. If Quentin had half a brain and an ounce of class and just walked to first base to try to help his team win the game, there wouldn't have been an issue. Also, it looked like most everyone else was just breaking up the brawl.

Gotta love early season knee-jerk reactions... By the way, anyone know the route of the Twins' World Series Parade? On pace for 108 wins. All those offseason worries were for nothing!

...except for teams like the Twins who don't have one. Sorry, had to say it.

umm, why not put him in the 2 hole? He's an OBP machine (aka best in the league) and has less power than Morneau, and Hammer. Why put some bum who is going to hit .240 in the two hole just because he is some small dude that plays middle infield and might be able to steal a base if he somehow finds his way to first base? Also leads to more at bats for Mauer over the course of the season (possibly, not a huge issue). It just shifts all the best hitters forward one spot and prevents them from having to hit behind a crappy hitter.

I'll set my homerun expectations around 15-20. Teams have more film on him now and should know how to pitch to him better. Anyone know if Plouffe's homers were mostly pulled, or was he doing a good job spraying them all over the field? If he's been deadpulling his homers, teams will likely focus on pitching outside more, etc. I sure hope I'm wrong and he goes off for 30+ though. It'd be nice to have someone productive at 3B for once.

*facepalm* Basically the same responses to this as the people posting above me. Yes, Mauer is most valuable as a catcher, but he has no value if he isn't on the field at all or worn out from catching everyday. I'd rather see him have a longer career with slightly less "value" by DH/1B more often than grind him into the ground on what's most likely going to be a terrible Twins team this year, and hopefully slightly less sucky next year. If we were actually contending this year, I'd be all for pushing him to catch as much as possible, but would still like to see him rest at 1B/DH.

Maybe not, but let's be honest. A large percentage of Twins fans sure felt that way and still do.

Sounds a lot like Alexi Casilla. Talent, skills, no consistency and a ton of mental mistakes... I'll wait a few years before getting excited.

It's reminders like this that make me glad the NHL came back.

damn, beat me to it. I was going to share the article. Unbelievable.

Amphetamines were still illegal unless you had a prescription (hey, just like steroids!) before 1971. I doubt all MLB clubs got a team prescription to legally allow them to brew a cup of coffee with greenies in them for the whole team to enjoy. Also, it's pointless to say something is illegal in MLB if there wasn't any testing until the early 2000's. Sure, steroids were illegal after 1990 in the eyes of MLB but they did nothing to enforce the rules. And yes, greenies enhance performance. Say you're tired and worn out at the end of the season so you're at 80% but you pop some pills to get you back to 100%. That's boosting performance above your natural state. Say steroids take you from 80% at your fatigued state to 120% of your normal, unenhanced state. Either way, both enhance performance beyond what is your current natural state. I'll admit steroids probably help more than greenies, but to compare greenies to a full night sleep is just silly. Sleep is not a competitive advantage because it's 100% legal in the eyes of MLB and federal law. Nice try though.

Bogus! These guys SAVED baseball in 1998. The game was dull and boring, then came history assaults on the homerun record books. Hell, MLB should give them medals for putting their long-term health at risk in order to revitalize the fans' interest in the game. (not really, but I would still argue they helped the game despite the HoF mess they have caused) and YES! it did make the strike look like a "funny little side note in history" That's the whole point! "Rewarding dishonesty is always a bad idea. So is patting someone on the back for injecting themselves with dangerous chemicals. Nice messages for America's youth: 'Cheat and abuse your body! See you when you and your shriveled grapes get voted in!'. So you're against rewarding dishonesty, yet are totally cool with completely ignoring how hypocritical MLB and all of the baseball writers are? How many of the HoF writers were gushing over how awesome 1998 was, and how insane Barry Bonds was during the end of his career? Some of them even voted for his MVP's and Roger's Cy Young Awards. Yet now they pretend to be abhorred about how awful these guys are for the game and their cheating ways. Sure, some of them didn't know what was going on in 1998 (neither did I, but I was a 9 year old kid, not some beat writer in the clubhouses seeing how ripped these guys actually were with all their backne and swollen heads) but other people close to the game (players, coaches, GM's owners, writers) HAD to have known what was going on, yet did nothing. Maybe the commish even knew, yet did nothing. Why? Because it helped bring interest back to the game. Now MLB is turning their backs on these players, scolding them for their wrong doings. The whole thing is a joke.

News Flash: People have been cheating since the game began. The only thing has changed is how they cheat. Who is to say that amphetamines are perfectly okay, but steroid use leads to being not voted into the hall of fame? Hank Aaron admitted to using amphetamines. Bonds used steroids. The homerun total is 755-762, steroids win by a hair. Both used PED's of some nature. Both deserve to be in the Hall. Yes it's unfair to anyone who was 100% clean during their career, but we have zero way of determining who was 100% clean.

So if we had given Willingham something like 18M a year you would have been happier? Sounds like all you want is upgrades to the payroll and not worried about the return. Getting cheaper and better, like the Twins did by signing Willingham, is the ultimate win-win for a team.

Had it not been for a rash of injuries, Tommy Kramer really wasn't that bad, all things considered. Pretty sure he meant the University of St. Thomas Tommies....

I like it. Trading from a position of excess to fill a void. Makes too much sense not to do it. Here's hoping this guy develops into a Major Leaguer in the next couple years.

I'd take a team of 25 A-holes that wins games over a team full of the 25 nicest guys on the planet that loses 90 games a season.

The Tiger's owner spends some of his own money out of pocket to improve the team and doesn't care about making money with the Tigers. The Twins owners base payroll off of revenue only. There's your difference in payroll and attitude toward winning.

I'd rather the Twins build a team that has a chance, or is projected, to win 95 and miss the mark and end up with 90 rather than aim for 86 and end up with 81. No one knows what it will take to win the division, but I'd rather aim for the best team possible rather than building an okay team that might squeak it out in game 163.

hmm let's see. For example: $8million/year to play on a team that's consistently in the playoffs, or $8mill/year to be on a 90+ loss team the last two years, everything else being equal? Pretty obvious choice if the players care about winning.Thus, the crappy team needs to overpay to attract players because they can't use winning as a reason to attract the player looking for a ring.

he's a goner. Bye-Bye Baker. http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/8571140/minnesota-twins-decline-option-scott-baker-contract-2013

Bye-Bye Baker. http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/8571140/minnesota-twins-decline-option-scott-baker-contract-2013

I could not agree more. People hate on Mauer for taking a walk instead of getting a hit which is a stupid criticism. The site below show's Joe at 28th overall in RBI% and Willingham at 86. Just providing more info to back you up. http://www.baseballmusings.com/cgi-bin/RBIPCT.py?StartDate=04%2F04%2F2012&EndDate=10%2F03%2F2012&SortField=1.0*%28OnRBI.RBI-OnRBI.HRs%29%2FOnRBI.RunnersOn&SortDir=desc&MinPA=100

It's not only allowed, it's encouraged. Well done, sir. Same thing: Good player, most hated team for Minnesota, respect his ability and him (kinda, i personally think he is a bit of a tool though) and love to see him get sacked 8 times in a half and lose as often as possible.

because Jeter IS the Yankees and Twins fans better hate the Yankees. I respect Jeter, but because he plays on the Yankees, I hate his guts. I feel bad for him getting hurt though because injuries aren't good for anybody. No sympathy towards the Yankees though.