Han Joelo

Ever liked Bonds, that is.

Not that I ever liked him, but Sano has a Bonds like plate presence, to me. You can almost see it just looking at box scores.

Thanks for sharing. Great article. Why did I just waste five minutes of my life reading the comments, though?

I'm down with the M hats. I guess because that was what they were wearing when I became a fan. I thought that was just the way it was.

When I look at what Kimbrel and Giles garnered in trades, I think finding out what they have in Bullpen May is a smart business decision. I see the Twins handling this situation like parents might handle a teenager--supportive, not wanting to entirely squash his dreams…yet pragmatic enough to know his math skills ultimately aren't going to get him to NASA. I guess you can criticize the Twins for telling him white lies, but I won't. My dream of going to space, while incredibly unlikely, isn't dead yet either.

I feel like whatever happens with Minnesota, and even disregarding whatever his grade is, Polanco just seems like a guy who is going to have a good, long, major league career. I guess I mean his floor is pretty solid.

As far as the title and premise of the article goes, I applaud May for his attitude. He drew a short straw but he's using it to drink some tasty lemonade he's making. Some say that relievers are failed starters, but no one says all failed starters make good relievers. And I would say not all good starters make good relievers. At least I'd say that to myself if I were May. He's looking at being able to make a lot of meaningful contributions to the team's success. I'd also channel John Smoltz, Rick Aguilera, Adam Wainright, the kid from Toronto (egads, theyre leaving him in the bullpen in favor of J.A. Happ!) I'd even, gulp, channel Liam Hendricks. Relish the opportunity to be a fireman, and maybe take those lessons back to the starter's mound with him when he goes back to it.

I don't presume to know Laroche's motivation. Nor do I put much stock in out of context quotes. Maybe he is some self-centered jerk and this whole thing is indeed a contrived way to win a parent of the year award. I just disagree with those who think the notion of a 14 year old young man spending time at work with his dad is somehow bizarre. Unusual in this day and age, yes. Which is unfortunate--but hey, that is just my opinion.

Our parent's didn't have to pull us out of school. The "workplace" was our homes. I for one got up and worked before school, after school, and everyday all summer. Some school districts in Idaho still took 2 or 3 weeks off every October so kids could help with potato harvest. This was the 1990's, not 1840 mind you. Drake Laroche goes to school in the winter and gets the best tutoring money can buy the rest of the time. Assuming he doesn't have intellectual or learning disabilities, I would guess that he his probably academically advanced, when measured by some precious statistical testing device. Regardless of where he heads in life, no matter what career, he always be able to say to himself that a Cy Young pitcher stood up for him when he was only 14. Good for the Laroche's to gain some kind of advantage from playing baseball besides just making money.

I would suggest that any apprenticeship is beneficial to young adults. Like bigben, I and most of my friends grew up on farms, though few to none of them farm now. I think we were part of the last generation of farm kids. I took me a while to realize how much I'd learned just about hard work, ethical behavior, and resilience from that experience. Its been an advantage for me my whole life. As far as baseball specifically as an apprenticeship, well, I suppose watching people who are among the world's few elite at their jobs might be helpful--players and coaches alike. Here's this: Yeah, hanging out at work with his Dad was bad idea for Bill Belichick.

What is bizarre and weird to me is the overwhelming negative reaction towards a 14 year old young man accompanying his father to work. At a baseball park. Not a slaughterhouse. Not a courtroom. Not Dunder-Mifflin paper sales. A baseball park. A hundred years ago 90% of the population were farmers (something like that.) 14 year olds then and now not only accompanied their fathers and mothers to work, they worked. But whatever. Obviously I am in the vast minority here. I'm just truly flabbergasted over the indignation people have over this "horrifying" concept of teaching young people experientially.

Doesn't it feel like there is more to this story? Especially the way Reusse ends it, "I was a good kid…" We'll probably never know, and maybe shouldn't, but maybe there was some incident, maybe some practical joke gone bad. Maybe it was PED related. I just can't fathom how Ortiz didn't have some kind of trade value, let alone pass through waivers.

It's hard to speak to this situation exactly, without knowing every last detail. Still, generally speaking I don't see any reason a 14 year old young man couldn't apprentice with his father. Wasn't long ago that would be the norm. If I was Kenny Williams, I'd of found a real, actual job for that kid--probably start him off on latrine duty, and see how sincere he is about earning a locker spot. Maybe that was even the case, and they wouldn't go for it or find some other compromise. Too bad.

This new development changes things for me. Cynically, I have to agree with what Ken Rosenthal said in his column about this--If Laroche was coming off an All-Star type season, Kenny Williams wouldn't have ever brought this up. Sounds like a cowardly way to save $13 million bucks. Talk about creating a clubhouse cancer. My personal opinion--it's not really fair to generalize the term "workplace." Laroche isn't hiding a kid under his desk--he's bringing him to work to learn how adults go about the business of working. I grew up on a farm. When I was 14 I was expected to do a man's work, and my Dad treated me accordingly. I feel bad for kids today, and worry for my own, when I consider how few opportunities for meaningful life/work experience young adults have. If it were my 14 year old, I wouldn't have any problem with him hearing anything that goes on in a locker room--and we'd be able to talk about the things he'd seen and heard later, unlike whatever he might have heard in his junior high locker room. For crying out loud, Miguel Sano was barely two years older than Drake when he signed a multi-million dollar contract. Do you think anybody was curbing their language or stories on his behalf? As far as precedent setting, Williams just looks weak. Rules are for fools. Laroche sounds like a highly respected veteran and Drake sounds like a really good kid. If this situation were to ever arise again, it could be dealt with on a case-by-case basis. Yeah, Williams might actually have to say: "You are an a-hole and your kid is a little jerk," instead of just shrugging his shoulders and pointing at the rules. That is what vice-presidents have to do. As far as school…I am a teacher. I have mixed feelings about home schooling, but in this case, Drake is getting experience that far outweighs whatever he might be missing. Academically, I have no doubt, with his Dad's $70 million dollars at his disposal, that he will be able to pass any sort of test required to get a diploma. Below that one line on his resume, the one almost everyone else can automatically fill out as well, he'll have a little bit more to put on his resume then "mowed lawns and worked at the Tasti-Freeze." Reminds me of this guy I guided on a river trip once. His dad had owned the Yankees right before Steinbrenner. He didn't seem all that bitter that his family had sold the team for $10 Million dollars and it was now worth $2 billion. Instead, he remembered all these great stories about hanging out at Yankee Stadium as a kid. Telling his high school coach, "But Mick said my swing was just fine." Hearing Yogi stories. In another 4 years, Adam and Drake will have spent over 90% of all the time together they'll experience in this life. I applaud Adam for trying to maximize that time.

Leonardo Reginatto? Sounds like a most interesting fellow...

I can understand the cynicism some (one person?) has shown, but I don't agree. I am just now past that same age. I had a seasonal job that took me away from family--pretty conflicted time for me. I've finally let that job and lifestyle and self-identity behind, with "nothing" to show for it besides great memories and friends; certainly not millions of dollars in the bank. We toss these dollar figures around so much they lose all meaning. I could live out my life on Laroche's salary from last year alone. And if I am looking in my child's eyes, how can I tell them $13 million dollars is more important than being home with them? Especially if the situation is leading to marital problems that might lead to a divorce. I have a lot of respect for Laroche, Cuddyer, as well as Sabbathia, for what he did. Cuddyer said it beautifully in his Player's Tribune piece, something like "I've had a chance to follow my dreams, now it is time to support my children as they begin to chase theirs."

Very cool. Thank you as always for sharing.

Re: Chargois. What has Burdi done differently to separate himself? Just curious.

Eureka! Thank you. And, umm, duh. I'll shut up now.

Parker, Good to know my instincts aren't entirely worthless when it comes to analyzing swings and whatnot (largely thanks to your analysis.) Or maybe I am misreading your post, and I am still wrong, just in a different way. At any rate, the comparison to McGwire didn't seem right to me at all.

Clearly I am in over my head with some very basic math here. 8 starting position players + 5 starting pitchers (even with the inevitable "don't need a 5th starter until April 20th or whatever_ + 8 relievers = 4 bench players. OK. I'm not the only one who needs math help…not sure where the 6 relievers comment came from. Anyway, if I wanted to keep a fifth bench player, and if I actually knew anything, I'd probably expose Dean to waivers if I needed a spot on the 40 man.

So are we talking five man bench? Murphy, Nunez, Santana, Arcia, and ?? Why not Sweeney?

Tom Verducci's latest "Three Strikes" column features a segment on Sano. There is a lot of good stuff in it, including how he aced the interview in English, thanks to offseason lessons. Sano has some great, encouraging quotes, borderline cocky, but definitely brimming with purpose and confidence. The brunt of the article centers around his inclusion on this list: Verducci notes that projection systems like Zips predict a greater fall off than anyone on that list, greater even then Puig's last year. My read of Verducci's take is that Sano's non-math profile is a lot stronger than Puig's, and finishes with this quote from Sano: Whether you like Verducci or not, it is always fun when one of the big national guns pays some positive attention to the Twins, and I'd recommend the article.

Nicely stated. I hope Arcia and Vargas show up with their hair on fire, but it doesn't hurt to add some gasoline in the form of writing in Park and/or Sano as locks. Same goes with Murphy, although I doubt there is anything that he can do to get in that opening day lineup. He can affect how often he'll play, though.

I thought the premise of the article seemed promising--do the Twins have any against the grain, Moneyball strategy at all? But then it just states the BP decided the Twins don't, and moved onto a rehashing of current events. I would have been interested to hear about how BP defined a MB strategy and how they came to the conclusion the Twins don't have one, even if it is the ol' college reliever-to-starter theory. If the premise of the article is: the Twins "System" (definition please, I am getting the impression this is referring to the way in which they count cards while playing blackjack, in which case grouchy uncle Terry and his 'gut feelings' would certainly be seen unfavorably by the Harvard Math grads at BP) is broken, as evidenced by their lack of developed prospects…uggh, long sentence fail. Arguments that throw out Sano, or top draft picks, because those are gimmes, seem pretty biased, as do ones who give little credibility to recently graduated players like Rosario or Duffy because they are unproven or something.