DaveW

Or they are just delusional.

Ah yes the good ole "Free college for everyone" and "Don't worry about those loans you legally took out and were old enough to sign for" issues!

Yeah, it's really immoral at this stage, for someone who is so damned worried about helping the poor and young people, he certainly doesn't mind taking their hard earned money to flush down his hopeless campaign.

The overlap between Sanders supporters and Trump supporters is next to zero, and yes that ticket would be too old for most folks. Plenty of other viable options for VP, Corey Booker would be interesting as would Julian Castro.

People who can't afford it are maxing out their credit cards and emptying their savings accounts to give to him bc he has promised them to get them out of their student loan debt.

I guess I Agree, if they take him over Arcia, that is a massive and unforgivable mistake IMO. The fact is, the Twins already have enough 1B/DH types on the roster. Quentin basically becomes a bench bat and a bench bat only, no? I mean I guess he maybe gets one start a week when a guy like Mauer or Park needs a day off. Playing him in the OF, one that is featuring Sano to boot would be a huge disaster. If you really wanted to find him a spot on the roster/bench then IMO the spot you should be looking at him taking would be Nunez's. In that scenario Santana becomes your backup at 2B, SS and CF. Sano can take 3rd if Plouffe ever needs a day off and really Escobar and Dozier should be playing every day anyways, so there is no need for two MI backups on the bench in Santana and Nunez. If someone get's hurt, Polanco gets called up. Now with all that said, I don't think Quentin should be taking a roster spot from anyone at this stage, try to get him down to AAA for a month and wait for the inevitable injury/someone with options that struggles to call him him.

That's the absolute best part, that was after Saturday's game, a game where Parise had the GWG (albeit in a shoot out, but still, game winning goal!) As I mentioned briefly, perhaps the reason why he didn't do an interview is because he is still hurt and was getting some treatment, they were playing the Blackhawks, In Chicago about 24 hours later in a must win game. Would you rather have your star player getting ready for a must win game? Or would you rather have him talking to a hack like Souhan for a few minutes after one game.....hmm

Trump likely won't get the delegates at this stage and it will create the open/contested convention in all likelihood. At the end of the day though he probably will get the nomination from the GOP though.

Nah, this one just irked me quite a bit.

Yeah, Sano should be hitting third until someone else is able to be a .900+ OPS guy. Sano should be getting the most at bats as possible this year and should be coming up to the plate in the first inning of every single game. As far as the rest of the lineup goes, in a perfect world I would roll with this: 1. Buxton (assuming he starts to hit) 2. Mauer (Assuming he bounces back) 3. Sano (best hitter, hits third) 4. Dozier 5. Park 6.Rosario 7. Plouffe 8. Escobar 9. JR Suzuki

He did that while sporting a 25% k rate and a completely unsustainable .357 BABIP. The BABIP will certainly come down, the question is can he get his k rate down, as of now it's tough to say because of his big time struggles against the curve. If it doesn't you are looking at a guy who will struggle to hit .240 or so in the majors with not enough "pop/power" to make up for it. That doesn't mean he doesn't have a future, just he likely tops out as a backup moving forward. If he can get the k rate down, then he can become hopefully an average catcher. Color me skeptical for now though....he does have youth on his side though.

Posted this over in the WildExtra forum, but figured we could start a thread here too about Souhan and his lame/cheap/bullplop hit pieces. This one features a few random jabs at Mauer to for good measure. My response line by line are in Bold below (homage to firejoemorgan.com RIP) Zach Parise has played so poorly and sulked so often over the last couple of months that the Wild bosses may have to ponder the previously unthinkable about their franchise player. Oh boy, here we go. Already claiming he is sulking with no real basis, this should be fun... They have to hope Parise is hurt. So you are saying his poor play is probably due to him being hurt. Interesting, you could probably just end the article here....right? Parise scored what would prove to be the deciding shootout goal on Saturday, but there are 10 games remaining in the season and a rival to catch to make the playoffs, and Parise can no longer afford to wait until the shootout to show up. "Parise can no longer afford to wait until the shoot out to show up"- Taken directly from page 6 of the lazy hack sportswriter cliche booklet. He earned a minus-one rating against Carolina, a bad road-weary team. He managed one shot and didn’t record a hit. He didn’t make his presence felt until the third. Oh wow! Using +/- in a short sample size! Minus one, what horror! Maybe perhaps he is....wait for it....hurt? He has scored two goals in the last 23 games. He has 19 on the season, putting him on pace for his lowest goal total in a full season since he was a rookie. #justthefacts #Souhandoes2minutesof research He has declined to fight his way to the front of the net and score on his signature tip-ins. None of that is true, the tip in goals haven't come as much, but claiming he isn't fighting his way in front of the net and trying to contribute is just pure bullplop. He has acted put-upon during recent postgame interviews, and on Saturday did not make himself available despite being requested by the Star Tribune. Ok. Here we go. I'm going to repeat that bit one more time. He has acted put-upon during recent postgame interviews, and on Saturday did not make himself available despite being requested by the Star Tribune. Eureka!! Now we get to the real crux of the issue and the real reason why Souhan is writing this garbage. Parise has apparently not been enthused enough when talking to the media lately, and he hurt the poor Stribs feelings by not talking on Saturday to them. Poor, Poor Star Tribune Staff. So to get back at him I guess it's time for Souhan to act like a child and pen a lazy hit piece. During his first three seasons with the Wild, Parise made himself one of the most endearing athletes in town. He played with abandon, practiced with passion, kept himself in excellent shape, provided visible leadership, scored big goals, played admirable defense and acted as much like a regular guy as anyone with a $98 million contract can. The story of this disappointing season began with Parise bringing in Adam Oates to coach him on the power play, angering the team’s brain trust. Thursday night, he was one of many Wild players who made little effort while giving up seven goals to a punchless New Jersey team. Saturday, Parise was invisible for two periods before investing himself in the third period. “I’m sure we’d like him to get more,” Wild interim coach John Torchetti said. “We’re winning. Now it’s time. If he starts putting the puck in, it will probably relieve tension on both sides for us. “He’s a good player, good things will happen for him, just keep working hard. His game is coming now, he’s getting chances, so that’s a good sign.” Yawn. "Parise used to be a swell guy, then he didn't answer our stupid questions once, now he is a jerk!" Torchetti is offering an optimistic view of Parise because he needs him, as does the entire franchise. Parise is signed for nine more seasons after this one, and neither he nor the team seem happy about the direction they’re moving together. Oh God, don't tell me you are going to make a terrible comparison to Mauer, please don't tell me you are going to do this Jim, it's so lazy and stupid, even for you! The Wild bosses were reportedly livid about his recruitment of Oates. Parise’s play is one of many reasons the team had to fire Mike Yeo, who in an interview with Wild beat writers painted an unflattering picture of his dealings with Parise. Phew, I thought he was going to bring in his other favorite punching bag Mauer for a pointless comparison. Oh, just bringing up the Oates thing for the 10,000th time, haven't heard this one before. Parise is 31. He is either in decline or injured. So you are saying he most likely is injured. Ok cool, not sure why you needed this many words to conclude this, but I guess those 2,000 papers won't sell themselves! The Wild have to hope it’s the latter. The former would leave owner Craig Leipold a mediocre roster filled with bad contracts and disappointing youngsters, courtesy of GM Chuck Fletcher. So if Parise is declining, then suddenly the roster is full of bad contracts and disappointing youngsters? Does that mean if he is just hurt then the roster isn't full of bad contracts and the youngsters aren't disappointing? It could be just me, but Nino and Haula haven't been disappointing since Yeo left town....hmmm...... Parise recently missed two games because of an upper-body injury, although the team now says he is healthy. Saturday, he looked tentative for two periods, but was able to skate with speed and get to the front of the net later in the game. He did look like he was avoiding contact along the boards, but so were many of his ­teammates. So you are saying that it is highly likely he is still injured? Ok. You have said that 3 or 4 times now, so again this seems probably the most likely scenario, no? Minnesotans have learned to regret large sports contracts, particularly the one signed by Parise’s friend Joe Mauer. Oh God Damnit, you just couldn't resist, could you Jim? I figured even you weren't this lazy of a hack! Mauer signed a massive deal at a moment of extreme negotiating leverage and quickly became a symbol of everything that is wrong with the Minnesota Twins and guaranteed money. Yes, shame on Mauer for negotiating a deal to maximize his value when he was reaching his peak. How DARE he take away money from the Pohlads. Also, Souhan should take note that ALL money in MLB is essentially guaranteed. Parise was supposed to be different, a star with a grinder’s ­mentality. Southan can't resist another jab at Mauer, who clearly doesn't have a "grinder's mentality" whatever the hell that means. Oh also let me take time to point out that Souhan is basically crapping all over Mauer, a guy who has had numerous concussions that have lead to his stuggles the past two years. Pretty cool to fault a guy for concussions in the year 2016. That's a stupid take that should have retired along with Sid a decade ago (at least). Oh well, surely this will be Souhan's last dig at Mauer in an article about Hockey. This season, he has performed poorly, gotten one coach fired, and begun to duck interviews or conduct them as if his time is too valuable to spend discussing the state of his hometown team. Poorly may be a bit strong, but whatever. The team losing a ton of games in a row got one coach (Yeo) fired, Parise didn't get him fired, but again whatever. Yeo playing Vanek on 3 v 3 and inability to change up the PP or give the youngsters a chance probably had a LITTLE to do with it as well, but what do I know? I don't work for a dying industry. He apparently ducked ONE, count it, ONE interview, perhaps he had a good reason to? Perhaps he was getting treatment for his injury that you have said repeatedly he probably has? Parise may be hurt. That’s what the Wild has to hope. They can’t afford to have him turn into a sour Mauer. Oh Christ, one more crappy shot at Mauer. Just fold the entire Star Tribune now, Sports "Journalism" is dead at that fish wrap factory.

3 world series to 0 world series, I won't get over this until the Twins win another World Series.

Again, Walt was the central character and there were huge stretches where his character took a back seat. I'm sure this will just be the same, they have some time to kill with Jimmy -----> Saul so I am not worried, once that transition begins to happen then things will be amazing.

Yeah, great work as always on this Seth! This is the type of info/news that would otherwise be near impossible to find. Hopefully a few of these guys can catch on somewhere.

They gave up on Poulson too quickly, guys who throw that hard don't grow on trees. Should have given him one more year IMO.

And no, Sano-Rosario-Arcia would absolutely NOT work in the short term.

Dude it's 29 at bats...you don't need to bring Quentin north at all. Suzuki also has a .971 OPS in ST this year....again SSS and spring training numbers are pointless overall, everyone is "mashing" because 50% of the at bats are against AAAA or worse type pitchers. Don't believe me? Mastrionni is above .820 OPS Sweeny is above .800

It's apparent that Suzuki is still the starting catcher, you don't need to trade a young guy with upside to fill a "back up catcher" need. If Suzuki wasn't around, I understand it a bit more, but in this case, it just seemed like a trade to make a trade. An OF defense of Sano-Rosario-Arcia is a little less than "sub par" it would be an unmitigated disaster.

Why would that be a problem? In breaking bad it could be argued that Jesse's story overshadowed Walts for the better part of the last few seasons of the show. No issue having "co-leads" IMO and Mike is an extremely well done character both in BCS and in BB. Kim is also stealing the show IMO, and that is a good thing. The more great actors/characters/storylines the better.

JR Murphy had a .350 BABIP+ in his time in the majors and his numbers still weren't that good. One glance at that and his 25% k rate shows that it's going to take a significant improvement across the board to become anything more than a backup (his D needs work as well) More to the fact, by having JR Murphy on the roster, we are now forced to rush a guy in CF who clearly isn't ready at the plate and will struggle to hit .200 the first couple months more likely than not. Sort of reminds me on how the Twins rushed the guy who they traded for Murphy to begin with, it's sort of like deja vu all over again, no? (note: I think Buxton ends up being a stud, I just don't see how giving him the starting role out of ST where he will struggle more than likely is a good decision)

fine. I will talk about this trade, you seemingly want to give the Twins the benefit of the doubt on it. While I give the GM who has beaten the Twins 9 straight playoff games (and has won World Series) the benefit of the doubt on it. Ntm most everyone around baseball said the Yankees won that trade. If the wild made a trade with the Blackhawks would everyone just give Fletcher the benefit of the doubt? Nope. Also, the Yankees seem to be pretty damn spot on when it comes to evaluating catchers.

You are right, not all of those happened under the current GM (who has failed to win a playoff game in 10+ years and has won exactly one playoff series in 18 seasons) As far as being interested in what has happened the past 2-3 seasons: -Suzuki extension (terrible) -Pelfrey signing and re-signing (terrible) -Nolasco signing (terrible doesn't even describe it) -Hughes re-signing (terrible) -Santana signing (TBD) -Jepsen trade (good) -Park signing (TBD) -Roster crunch that forces your best player(Sano) in a position he can't handle (terrible) -Forcing young talented pitchers (May...Duffey perhaps) out of the rotation in order to give starts to mediocre or terrible pitchers (Nolasco, Pelfrey etc) -Colabello walking (Not terrible, but definitely a whiff) -Stauffer signing (terrible results, but meh) -Not fixing the pen earlier last season and relying on Boyer types in crunch spots (terrible, may have cost the Twins a wild card berth in a "down" year and a "lucky" year) Playoff appearances the last 2-3 years: (0), overall record during this time? 48 games under .500 Yeah, I'd say that's a pretty significant indictment.

Murphy becoming league average isn't a solid endorsement when their are already a ton of other indictments of the Twins scouting and analytics when it comes to trades (and DFA and FA) Garza and Bartlett for Delmon Young Letting Liriano go Letting David Ortiz go Nolasco signing Colabello etc Murphy has a long ways to be league average IMO, he can't keep up his .350+ BABIP, so he needs to get that K rate down or he is going to be screwed. Hicks at least had his defense to fall back on (though he was flawed offensively), Murphy? Not sure about that.

I think Mauer has a bounceback year and posts a .820-.840 OPS, plenty of rubes will still be crying that he doesn't hit the longball, but he will contribute quite a bit.