h2oface

When one plays for "all future", the future never comes. Deny the "now", and the future is but a concept, like tomorrow, and once it is there, it immediately is again in the future.

Doumit regularly in right field is horrifying. Kinda like his time as a base runner.

What? Get rid of Gardenhire? Already?

Thanks for the energetic thinking? I don't even know what lazy thinking is, but maybe that makes it even more lazy? I don't know why it needs to get personal, and i will not go there. It is usually much easier to replace a first baseman with power than many, and even most positions. I like Mauer behind the plate anyway. I think I said that. Wherever he plays, he will be in the lineup minus his days of rest (and I didn't say, nor mean, that he would be a liability at first). That is a given and I have no doubt it will happen with the new manager next year, too. It is pretty apparent that Gardenhire is resigned to playing people that don't hit (the hand he is dealt?) everywhere (no, I don't mean Mauer), and batting them in an order that assumes they will. Man typing makes me tired. Time to take a nap.

I don't think so, but I am sure that some will argue about that and the very essence of the change with fervor. Maybe the mound should be raised back to where it was and the DH taken away, and the soft ball returned, and all the other changes that were hard for the non-progressives to take, too? Naaaaaa.

Unexpectedly, the Twins now have a first baseman that hits for little power in a power position. If Mauer plays first, and doesn't learn to hit the ball 10 feet further with that perfect stroke and large body in the prime of his career, the Twins would still have a first baseman with little power. Mauer's value is behind the plate, and even if he plays with some pain, he is paid well to play with pain. Isn't that kind of part of the deal?

I agree with that. As to the first two years with the Brewers, it just shows how much the Twins messed with a young player trying to make him something he isn't and wasn't to fit the current regimes "way".

I am with you on the "art" of catching. The fact is, it is impossible for a human to call the strike zone accurately and consistently, and have any two human umpires call the same zone. The pitch crosses the plate were it does (or doesn't), no matter where the catcher catches or frames the ball. We now have the technology to instantly call the pitch correctly game to game, pitch to pitch, no matter where the stadium is, what the weather, where the sun is, or who delivers the ball. The line of site angle created from looking over the inside shoulder of the catcher is particularly severe for the low part of the zone and the outside of the zone. Heaven help us if it is the perfect pitch on the low and outside corner of the zone. The umpire is just guessing. Always. And now they are exposed as quick as they can call it. (They even miss some of the inside pitches at the belt, right in front of them!) The umpire arrogance comes from standing behind horrible calls with pompous displays. Some say that is the human part of the game. I say it is, and always will be, the ANTI-human part of the game. It is the part that was embraced only because there was no other way to do it until this decade. It is the part that takes the game away from the players...... the humans that deserve to be deciding the game, not the umpire. The players are the human part of the game. The umpires are the anti-human part of the game. The whole "framing" issue is a perfect example of making something it is not, and it is a great example of why to make changes the improve the game, and give it back to the players. The batter deserves the perfect take for a ball, and the pitcher deserves the perfect strike that just cut across the front corner of the plate and ended up 8 inches outside by the time it gets to the catcher's glove. When the human eye no longer is doing the guessing, the game will become more human.

How can winning only 4 more games than last year be a "huge" improvement? It is quite a small change.

The very fact that we talk about pitch framing, and making something that is not a strike a strike, is a travesty for the game now that we have the technology to take the arrogant umpire's bad calls out of the game, and give the fair game to the players.

Hicks hits for about the average of a pitcher. Maybe he should pitch? ;-) Gomez - he never would have blossomed in the Gardenhire/Ryan Twins Way. It has killed the spirit of several that found release and their success when freed from it. Gomez is fortunate he got away.

I prefer text by a wide margin. Add youtube if you like, but don't replace the written word. Talking heads have been increasingly annoying in general, and without written word and graphics on the video......... well....... I quit watching after about 30 seconds. The link you provided didn't work, but gave me a pop up that wanted to use real player, which I have long ago uninstalled because of the amount of resources it uses and slows my computer down. The link SD Buhr provided went directly to youtube and played instantly, so i did start to watch it. If links make you do more than one click to get it started...... you will lose your audience quick - add that to needing to select a player or get a player, and you are dead in the water. Thanks for the reports, always.

Burton? BURTON? Burton can be a closer? THIS YEAR? I sure hope not.

.190s no matter what level... that's funny.

A lot of predictors, based on a couple years in being cultured in the current Twins' Way, espoused that Carlos Gomez could never be better either. Clete Thomas is not my choice for center field with a healthy Hicks available, but to discount his improvement, is to deny that Hicks can improve. I think all players can improve, and so should they. Colabello has too. I don't care if he is 29. That could be another 7-10 years of heightened performance. Some blossom at different times. The keen eye that sees that, and cultures that, will find a team that wins and wins with spirit. Plus, it would help that Hicks has a great rehab, just as he had a great spring training, just for the hope factor.

Minnesota resident arrested in D.C. for trying to resell baseball tickets to a makeup game that he could not attend. The streets are safe once again. http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/welcome-baseball-fan-go-directly-to-jail/2013/06/21/a34b67ee-d911-11e2-a9f2-42ee3912ae0e_story.html?hpid=z1 Perhaps the public servant could have just explained the rules, asked the guy to move 15 feet to the accepted area? Serve and Protect ......or...... Annoy and Bother?

Minnesota resident arrested in D.C. for trying to resell baseball tickets to a makeup game that he could not attend. The streets are safe once again. http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/welcome-baseball-fan-go-directly-to-jail/2013/06/21/a34b67ee-d911-11e2-a9f2-42ee3912ae0e_story.html?hpid=z1 Perhaps the public servant could have just explained the rules, asked the guy to move 15 feet to the accepted area? Serve and Protect ......or...... Annoy and Bother?

minnesota nice? hot dog cowardice. i remember it well.

I always find it amazing that the Wartman gets sited as an all-star. Yes, he was the Twins lone representative the time he got the nod, but it was a mandatory selection. 1 Twin had to be picked. His numbers were mediocre that year, but it was the best the Twins could offer. (This year......... for Colorado, he actually deserves it). I guess the point is......... it should always be qualified because he wouldn't have been selected any other way. Plouffe, like Gomez, Hardy, and Ortiz, will probably shine brightest when he plays for other management.

Why would he pick Gardenhire? Personally, I agree totally. The interesting part, to me, in my dumbest thread ever?, is that fans are constantly reminded how much Leyland says he respects Gardenhire, in print and in video, and the clip about Leyland picking Gardenhire to be on the all-star staff the last time he was in this position was even played again in the last series against Detroit. The "machine" and propaganda promote this to defend the fact that Gardenhire is still the manager of the Twins. The fact that he has had two consecutive 95+ losing seasons has not seemed to bother the Twins front office. This is unprecedented for him to still be at the helm after the last two seasons. Leyland has no criteria to follow in his choices for these positions as his staff for the all-star game. It is totally his choice. Chicago White Sox manager Robin Ventura and Toronto Blue Jays manager John Gibbons were picked. Not Oakland's Bob Melvin, or Texas' Ron Washington, or the Yankees' Joe Girardi, or Baltimore's Buck Showalter. As these were all playoff teams from 2012, one could argue that they are all the deserving ones if it was about the team's records and performance. The White Sox and Blue Jays don't fit in that type of equation last year, nor are they ripping it up this year. Personally, what Melvin has and is accomplishing in Oakland and what Buck Showalter has done for the Orioles, one could argue that they are the ones who deserved the nod. The fact that Leyland's pick has nothing to do with any of that, and that he picked who he "likes", why not Gardenhire? He always says Gardenhire is such an amazing baseball mind. But not this time. So where Leyland acted, the Twins did not. I found that ......... interesting...... and appropriate.

Interesting who Jim Leyland DIDN'T pick to be on his 2013 American League All-Star Team Staff. Actions speak louder than words? After all that verbal love he gives Gardenhire, I guess he knows when to let a guy go that can't get the job done. Bochy, Leyland Announce 2013 All-Star Staffs | MLB.com: News

Interesting who Jim Leyland DIDN'T pick to be on his 2013 American League All-Star Team Staff. Actions speak louder than words? After all that verbal love he gives Gardenhire, I guess he knows when to let a guy go that can't get the job done. Bochy, Leyland Announce 2013 All-Star Staffs | MLB.com: News

It seems that Slama's youth was stolen by the Twins' system, used up and spit out. I will never understand why they didn't just release him 3 or 4 years ago if they were never going to give him a shot.

Thanks! Perhaps they are saving the great debuts for the Twins!

Kohl is not even signed and is a top 5 prospect. Well, that's hype for ya! For me, I think an important factor that is left out of the "prospect" equation on individual team's lists, is how fast they get to or can get to the MLB team. With most lists, they are devalued as they get more MLB ready (except the ones that include all the teams, perhaps), where as they actually become more valuable as they get closer to contributing, like Arcia (who may not really get to be called a prospect now). Kohl Stewart, for the very fact that in the Twins organization he is at least 3 years away, and more likely 4 or 5 or even 6........ well, his value is not as great in my mind. Kyle Gibson, as the pitcher most ready to actually contribute, would be surely ahead of Stewart for the Twins. But I respect your post and offering, for sure.