IdahoPilgrim

They do tend to have a life of their own, sometimes.

Granted, this is still a small sample size, but... How many of those who were predicting a 90 loss season want to change their votes? Let's see those hands...

Maybe he didn't want to tip the opposition in advance as to what move he would make, if it became an issue.

Hey - the Detroit Tigers have learned to play "Twins Baseball"!

Well, after 1.7 games, the season is shaking out exactly like it was supposed to. Solid starting pitching being undone by an anemic offense. Wait...

Just got in and put the game on - haven't had time to review the thread - can anybody give a quick, short summary - have I missed anything big?

When did Nishioka sign with Seattle?

I imagine I'll end up following the local Legion teams (I think they sponsor three of them).

You have to eat your vegetables before you can get any dessert.

First, the good news: On Monday, I watched the Twins home/season opener on my TV here in Idaho (thanks to a newly purchased MLB.TV subscription and a brand-new HDMI cable running from my laptop to my TV). Now, the bad news: On Monday, I watched the Twins home/season opener on my TV here in Idaho (thanks to a newly purchased MLB.TV subscription and a brand-new HDMI cable running from my laptop to my TV). I knew when I accepted my new call and moved out to Idaho there would be changes, but as I was watching the game from the comfort of my new living room (being the boss has its advantages, including taking a half day off on a Monday afternoon) those changes were driven home to me in a powerful way. Ideally, of course, I would have been at the Twins opener – near freezing temperatures notwithstanding. I had been to the last two, and I had been looking forward to many more. Now, I’m watching it on long-distance TV. I had been attending about a dozen games a year at Target Field; now the best I can hope for is a rookie-level team an hour up the road that won’t even start playing until mid-June. It is new and uncharted territory for me. I know that many others also struggle with being ardent fans from a distance, but having just moved away from Minneapolis I find myself all too aware that it just will not be quite the same. There’s something about being at the park that can’t be replicated; there’s something about seeing the players in person that gets lost on television. So I find myself learning to adjust, adapt, change. I will continue to watch the Twins remotely when my schedule permits, of course. But there will be more needed to fill the gap. So what will that be? First, it looks like that will be the Colorado Rockies. While both Seattle and Denver are equidistant from me, after getting my cable setup and reviewing the channel listings I find that the regional sports channel I receive is from Denver and not from Seattle. I’m actually not that disappointed with this, as it might be kind of novel to watch national league baseball on a regular basis. Granted, the Colorado Rockies might not have been my first choice, but at least it’ll be a regular fix of MLB play. And then yesterday another key piece of the puzzle fit into place. I was driving down the road, happening to pass the local “stadium” on my way back from the church, when I noticed the full parking lot. Turning in, I walked through the open gates (no admission) and took a seat in the moderately filled stands. For the next hour or so, I take in the last part of a local high school team playing a division rival. The game is not pretty (the home team gets shellacked 13-0 and the game is called after five innings due to a mercy rule), but it is baseball! Indeed, there’s something energizing about watching the raw game in itself, full of warts and without the polished sheen of professionalism. There’s something captivating about it. Watching the opposing fielder turn toward the wall as a ball sails over the fence for a home run is exhilarating regardless of the level of play. Seeing the rueful smile on the face of the batter when he realizes he got fooled on that last pitch for strike three to end the inning – it resonates even here. The high school season will only last about another month or so, but it gets me thinking. There are bound to be other opportunities this summer. There will be amateur leagues in town; there will be baseball. No announcers, bare-bones scoreboards, no names on the backs of the jerseys. But there will be baseball, and it will be fun to watch. I’ll still follow the Twins, of course; I’ll face to the east (toward Target Field) when I say my baseball prayers. But even here, in Pocatello, there will be baseball. Live baseball. Real baseball. And suddenly things don’t seem quite so bad.

First, the good news: On Monday, I watched the Twins home/season opener on my TV here in Idaho (thanks to a newly purchased MLB.TV subscription and a brand-new HDMI cable running from my laptop to my TV). Now, the bad news: On Monday, I watched the Twins home/season opener on my TV here in Idaho (thanks to a newly purchased MLB.TV subscription and a brand-new HDMI cable running from my laptop to my TV). I knew when I accepted my new call and moved out to Idaho there would be changes, but as I was watching the game from the comfort of my new living room (being the boss has its advantages, including taking a half day off on a Monday afternoon) those changes were driven home to me in a powerful way. Ideally, of course, I would have been at the Twins opener – near freezing temperatures notwithstanding. I had been to the last two, and I had been looking forward to many more. Now, I’m watching it on long-distance TV. I had been attending about a dozen games a year at Target Field; now the best I can hope for is a rookie-level team an hour up the road that won’t even start playing until mid-June. It is new and uncharted territory for me. I know that many others also struggle with being ardent fans from a distance, but having just moved away from Minneapolis I find myself all too aware that it just will not be quite the same. There’s something about being at the park that can’t be replicated; there’s something about seeing the players in person that gets lost on television. So I find myself learning to adjust, adapt, change. I will continue to watch the Twins remotely when my schedule permits, of course. But there will be more needed to fill the gap. So what will that be? First, it looks like that will be the Colorado Rockies. While both Seattle and Denver are equidistant from me, after getting my cable setup and reviewing the channel listings I find that the regional sports channel I receive is from Denver and not from Seattle. I’m actually not that disappointed with this, as it might be kind of novel to watch national league baseball on a regular basis. Granted, the Colorado Rockies might not have been my first choice, but at least it’ll be a regular fix of MLB play. And then yesterday another key piece of the puzzle fit into place. I was driving down the road, happening to pass the local “stadium” on my way back from the church, when I noticed the full parking lot. Turning in, I walked through the open gates (no admission) and took a seat in the moderately filled stands. For the next hour or so, I take in the last part of a local high school team playing a division rival. The game is not pretty (the home team gets shellacked 13-0 and the game is called after five innings due to a mercy rule), but it is baseball! Indeed, there’s something energizing about watching the raw game in itself, full of warts and without the polished sheen of professionalism. There’s something captivating about it. Watching the opposing fielder turn toward the wall as a ball sails over the fence for a home run is exhilarating regardless of the level of play. Seeing the rueful smile on the face of the batter when he realizes he got fooled on that last pitch for strike three to end the inning – it resonates even here. The high school season will only last about another month or so, but it gets me thinking. There are bound to be other opportunities this summer. There will be amateur leagues in town; there will be baseball. No announcers, bare-bones scoreboards, no names on the backs of the jerseys. But there will be baseball, and it will be fun to watch. I’ll still follow the Twins, of course; I’ll face to the east (toward Target Field) when I say my baseball prayers. But even here, in Pocatello, there will be baseball. Live baseball. Real baseball. And suddenly things don’t seem quite so bad.

I'm not sure what the big deal is. He was facing the Houston Astros. If he had pitched a perfect game, would it have an asterisk in the record book?

You've hit upon a major source of disagreement, both in these forums and in baseball in general. How much should player evaluation depend primarily on past results and various sabermetric statistics, and how much should it depend on visual evaluation by scouts and coaches?

I concur. And let's not forget that he earned his way onto the roster. What's the point of having a spring training and inviting non-roster invitees to camp if we're going to determine who belongs and who doesn't by minor league regular season numbers only anyway? Based on his performance in ST, he deserves his shot now. Whether he capitalizes on it is up to him. And if I recall from earlier this year, the big question people were debating in these forums wasn't whether he was ready for the majors - it was should he be held back a few months to get the extra year of team control.

The big thing Pressly has going for him is that they can't send him down without losing him. As a Rule V draft pick, if he doesn't stay on the 25-man roster all season, he goes back to the Boston organization.

This was the theme of a blog entry I wrote last fall.Why I love baseball (more than the other sports) - Blogs - Minnesota Twins News & Rumors Forum

Cedar Rapids DL.

Found it!

Anybody have the New Britain roster for this year? Their website says the team has been set, but they don't list the players! You have to go to their facebook page, and I don't have (and don't want) a facebook account.

It's going to be a while for Quesada, isn't it? Doesn't he have time to serve in suspension that doesn't start until the short-season leagues start? Like Vargas last year?

I get the impression that one of the "joys" of professional baseball is you sometimes don't get much advance notice of that. Being traded, called up, sent down, all happen without time to prepare for the transition. My guess is they're still sorting out the rosters a little, although most of the players probably know informally where they are going. I think they also have staffers to help with the transition once they break minor league camp and disperse to their respective destinations.

No, I don't base my opinion solely on that small sample size, but neither can it be ignored, nor can his spring training numbers be ignored, nor can it be ignored that apparently nobody else in baseball rated him that likely to succeed as well, as he was passed over in the last two rule V drafts. I do not believe he has been passed over because of some bias inherent in the organization; he's been passed over because, when the opportunity was there, he didn't take it and make the job his own. He had the opportunity to win the job this spring, just like Ramirez did. Ramirez took advantage of it; Slama didn't. Success in the minor leagues does not always equate to success at the top level. There's a reason the batters Slama faces in Rochester are at the Triple-A level. I'm skeptical about Hendriks, too, for the same reason.

As I sit here getting myself ready to celebrate Easter, thinking of miracles (Easter is, of course, a time to celebrate the central miracle of my faith), I find my mind turning to the upcoming MLB season. What miracles can we hope to see this year? What dreams do we have for the coming season? What needs to happen for us, at the end of the year, to know that something wonderful and unexpected has happened? Here are the miracles I’m hoping for this year: The miracle of Mauer and Morneau returning to their form of a few years ago, anchoring a lineup supplemented by Willingham, Parmelee, Plouffe (who does NOT have a sophomore slump), Doumit and Hicks (who surprises everybody and is a ROY candidate). The miracle of a rotation with a sub-4.50 ERA and starters who can regularly take the game into the seventh inning (and occasionally the eighth). Anybody remember that complete game Walters pitched last season? Thank you, sir, may I have another? The miracle of a middle infield that routinely makes the routine plays and which makes "pitch to contact" not necessarily a thing to be feared (a little help with the bats wouldn't hurt either). The miracle of a bullpen that is tried and true so that when the door to center field opens we can be filled with optimism and hope rather than fear and trembling. The miracle of health as the inevitable injuries are mild in comparison to other teams, allowing us the luxury of putting our best team on the field more often than not, eliminating the need to bring players up from Rochester who are not ready or able to contribute. The miracle of a coaching staff that knows how to teach, and of players who are willing to learn, fundamental baseball, throwing to the correct cutoff and knowing when to try to take the extra base. The miracle of a Twins community that gathers around and supports the players (whether they agree with the acquisition or not) rather than cutting them down, and that is more concerned with looking for the bright spots than finding reasons to be bitter and resentful. And most of all, the miracle that, whatever happens, whatever position we finish in, we can look back in October at the season just passed, with a smile on our face, and say, “Wow, what a ride!” and then go into the offseason having thoroughly enjoyed another year of Twins baseball.

As I sit here getting myself ready to celebrate Easter, thinking of miracles (Easter is, of course, a time to celebrate the central miracle of my faith), I find my mind turning to the upcoming MLB season. What miracles can we hope to see this year? What dreams do we have for the coming season? What needs to happen for us, at the end of the year, to know that something wonderful and unexpected has happened? Here are the miracles I’m hoping for this year: The miracle of Mauer and Morneau returning to their form of a few years ago, anchoring a lineup supplemented by Willingham, Parmelee, Plouffe (who does NOT have a sophomore slump), Doumit and Hicks (who surprises everybody and is a ROY candidate). The miracle of a rotation with a sub-4.50 ERA and starters who can regularly take the game into the seventh inning (and occasionally the eighth). Anybody remember that complete game Walters pitched last season? Thank you, sir, may I have another? The miracle of a middle infield that routinely makes the routine plays and which makes "pitch to contact" not necessarily a thing to be feared (a little help with the bats wouldn't hurt either). The miracle of a bullpen that is tried and true so that when the door to center field opens we can be filled with optimism and hope rather than fear and trembling. The miracle of health as the inevitable injuries are mild in comparison to other teams, allowing us the luxury of putting our best team on the field more often than not, eliminating the need to bring players up from Rochester who are not ready or able to contribute. The miracle of a coaching staff that knows how to teach, and of players who are willing to learn, fundamental baseball, throwing to the correct cutoff and knowing when to try to take the extra base. The miracle of a Twins community that gathers around and supports the players (whether they agree with the acquisition or not) rather than cutting them down, and that is more concerned with looking for the bright spots than finding reasons to be bitter and resentful. And most of all, the miracle that, whatever happens, whatever position we finish in, we can look back in October at the season just passed, with a smile on our face, and say, “Wow, what a ride!” and then go into the offseason having thoroughly enjoyed another year of Twins baseball.

I challenge the concept that a division title is ever meaningless. And I indicated I was not happy with his playoff record, although I think "abysmal playoff futility of historic proportions" is the kind of rhetoric that detracts from your argument rather than supplements it. It led me to disregard the rest of your post.