DaveW

Wow, that was a kickass championship game, perhaps the best ever? Good to see Nova win for sure!

Nobody is getting "wound up" we are simply discussing it, some people agree, some people don't.

Yeah, he is another option, or Santana or even...gulp...Nunez! Suzuki when it's all said and done will likely be the Twins worst hitter on the 25 man roster.

Agreed, and while the rotation has "depth" most of it as it stands now at the major league level is mid rotation or worse. Santana is a solid #3, Gibson looks like a solid #3, Hughes- Who knows, he is anything between a 3 and a 5 at this stage, Milone- Solid #5. Nolasco....ugh, don't get me started. May at least IMO and several others has the upside to be a "solid three" or even better! #2 upside, with a solid #3 (That doesn't cost Hughes/Santana money) as his midpoint.

It got the job half done. Down One Run late: Runners on 3rd and 2nd with one out? Getting the job done is getting in both runs by the end of the inning. Getting one run in is a "half win" since you are then just tied. Get both runs in and suddenly that game likely ends up a completely different way. Of course that is all 20/20 hindsight, but again today and moving forward you need to go with a better option then Suzuki. Against a RHP Arcia gives you a better chance to not only tie it up, but take the lead by 1 or two runs in that situation by a non significant margin.

This is my main issue though. Fiens xFIP's as a Twin: 4.18 2.71 3.87 4.27 Fiens k/9 as a Twin 8.2 10.6 7.3 5.2 He is also 32 years old. I don't really see how he is a bounce back candidate, his k/9 has taken a nose dive and his xFIP overall hovers around 4, which is "Ok" for a 4th/5th starter, but quite poor for a bullpen guy, especially one you are giving "big" innings too. In 2013 he did have a real nice ERA 2.03, but that was because of an insane 84% strand rate, basically he was super lucky and got bailed out a ton by teammates (sort of like how Abad bailed him out today). Even then, signing him isn't the worst thing in the world for 2016, however signing him to be one of your 3 "top" options for "big" 6th/7th/8th innings is a huge mistake.

And how many playoff games/appearances did those teams make? Just because their last two opening day RF's sucked defensively doesn't mean they needed to make the same mistake. Especially considering they had a guy under contract who would have likely been the best fielding RF in the game when this off-season started. (Hicks)

It was a weird SF though, one could make the argument that with Suzuki up and Buxton on deck that the Orioles would have been much better off not catching that foul ball. Suzuki only had 4 SF all of last season, while that doesn't tell the "whole" story, I do think that you have better options then Suzuki in that case. Yes, Suzuki doesn't strike out a lot, but a high number of his "outs" don't end up with a run being scored their. Seems like a perfect chance for Santana or Arcia to "prove" themselves to be honest. Two guys that may be a part of the future of this team, rather than Suzuki who is probably (hopefully) gone after this season.

But neither of those guys are an above average RF, or even an average RF..... (In Hunters case the past couple years) Hicks on the other hand...

1. This was maybe the most encouraging thing for me, if Mauer can get back to a .800+ OPS type guy (or even better) this team will do sooooo much better, especially if he is hitting 2nd and can get to a .310 BA .400 OBP. That just sets the table so much for Sano and company. (Which also forces pitchers to pitch to Sano) 2.Yeah, May is the real deal. I still would like to see him get a real shot at the rotation to see if he can be the "real deal" in the rotation as a solid #2/#3 type. If he fails, then put him back in the pen where you know he is a stud. Part of me worries that he would be our best SP on the team currently and we aren't using him to his full potential currently. 3. Rosario looks poised to take a step forward, but his approach against lefties needs to improve if he wants to go from a solid player to a very good/great player. Plenty of time of course, but any improvement in his patience/eye will pay off big time for him IMO. 4. Yeah, Escobar is quickly becoming one of my favorite players, he might not ever be an "all star" in this league, but he might become the Twins best regular SS since Greg Gagne. Escobar may even be able to exceed him. (Hopefully in world series titles as well!) 5. Sano isn't going to be Manny Ramierez/Hanley "awful" in RF, because Sano actually gives a damn, I just think him being average is even a stretch, which honestly isn't a knock on him at all. Hopefully he can be "somewhat below average" instead of "eeeesh" 6. Yeah, Plouffe is a perfectly solid player who has a nice long career ahead of him in this league. As a solid average to above average third baseman depending on the season. The question becomes though: should he be blocking Sano at 3rd base?

Yeah, Abad (more like APerfectlyAccetable so far amirite?) bailed out Fien that inning for sure. Those were some ugly/easy to hit pitches. IMO Duffey can't come up soon enough, or Pressly can't be "promoted" to the more crunch time spots soon enough. I just can't trust Fien in a close game at this stage.

Not true, several teams make a lot of money by letting Stub Hub be the "official" 3rd party/reselling partner of the team. But you are correct, the Teams don't see the "difference" it the person selling a $50 ticket for $400

But most of the contact he makes is...poor. I mean we aren't talking about a guy you can just count on to hit it deep enough to get a SF. Now he did get the SF, but it was also on a foul ball... Also down 2-1 with runners on 2nd and 3rd (one out) you can't just be thinking about tieing the game, bring up a guy who can take the lead.

Yeah it really is dumb. I get the reasoning behind it, but that could very easily be fixed/avoided. Just have the majority of the teams open up against divisional foes. That way if a game or two is post poned, you have another 1,000 chances to make it up later in the season. Or you could always just go down to a 158 game schedule and have a couple "make up days" at the end of the regular season.O Or you can keep the 162 game schedule and just give each team 3 or 4 "scheduled" double headers each season, hell do it against big rivals! It would be awesome! That way you then have an extra couple days at the end of the season (prior to the first playoff game) to make up any "needed" make up games. I mean sure, maybe a few 60-70 win teams will only play 160-161 games in a season, but it makes more sense then what happens now!

One other thought: DickBert were talking about how Pressly came up as a SP prospect for the Red Sox, now I am not saying he should be a SP, but wouldn't in be wise for the Twins in their current state to stretch him out a bit? There is no reason why he shouldn't be a guy that they can't turn to for 2-3 innings when needed.

I have never been a Fien fan, but when you are a 96 loss team you have a lot more pressing issues then a guy who "should" be pitching only in low stress appearances. But on a contending team? Having Fien as one of your clear 3 "goto" options in the 6th/7th/8th innings? That is a disaster.

See I just don't see the reasoning on why you wouldn't do that. Especially when you have an off day the next day anyways! The odds that the 2nd catcher get hurt (hurt enough to have to be taken out) are so incredibly small that it doesn't make sense to "worry" about that anyways. Catchers are tough, its so incredibly rare for them to take themselves out of a game.

I'm not too worried about the strike out rate, guys like Dozier and Sano are gonna get a lot of K's because they are power hitters, it's part of their game. Now, should a guy like that be leading off? I would argue no, but whatever. Once Buxton comes around he hits leadoff and we ideally have this: Buxton Mauer Sano Dozier Rosario Park Plouffe/Kepler Also it's pretty common that strike outs are significantly higher to start the season anyways, as pitchers are "further" along then hitters. Of course that also means that Fien may be in for an even rougher year then we previously thought.

Best case scenarios: Fien Sucks, Nolasco sucks. Both are gone in a month. Duffey (pen) and Berrios (rotation) take their spots. Kepler tears up AAA Some team gets a 3rd baseman hurt, Sano shows he really can't handle RF. Twins trade Plouffe for a couple prospects. Sano to 3rd, Kepler to RF. Berrios in the rotation and Duffey presents another solid option out of the pen. Ideally the Twins are at least .500 at that stage as well.

One more thing: When you know that there is a 80% chance+ of rain on opening day, I don't understand why you would take one of your bullpen guys and have him pitch 50 pitches the day before in a minor league game. (Tonkin) I'm not saying that "cost" them the game, but it just seems to be so short sighted.

Sorta. Yes, I know it's one game but there are a few thoughts I have and I'm guessing most other people share: -If Jepsen regresses, this bullpen is in even more trouble than we thought. -Fien, 3.87 xFIP as a RP, that is pretty poor. His pitches looked terrible today and his k rate has taken a nose dive the last two seasons, if he struggles over the first couple weeks I hope the Twins don't hesitate moving on from him. -Buxton looked better, but still looks completely over-matched at the plate. He is there defensively no doubt, but I worry about how long it will take for him to become even a .250 hitter. (I think he will be fine overall, I just worry it won't happen until July or so) -Mauer looks better than he has in a couple years, hopefully big things ahead for him. -Suzuki came up against a RHP in the 7th inning down 2-1, and once again in the 9th inning against a RHP. One of the big reasons the Twins went out and traded for Murphy was having a 2nd catcher who could both handle the defense behind the dish, as well as offensively. Why not PH for Suzuki in either case? Santana has been hitting lights out in ST and should have gotten a shot in the 9th, Arcia needs a chance to prove himself and the opp in the 7th would have been a perfect chance. -This game never should have started when it did, to have it go a quick two innings, and then a long rain delay? Someone screwed up no doubt. -Sano didn't cost them anything serious in the field in this game, but his routes were....interesting, it's going to be a work in progress. -Escobar looked great.

The bullpen is fine!!! Good thing these April games only count 60% of what August and September games do.

Can't be walking guys with 2 down in a tie game in the 9th

Uh. Oh.

We also would have accepted a H2 and a Mini