TopGunn#22

Mike, you're barking up the wrong tree. The split in the democratic party in 1948 was between supports of President Truman's military integration and those who rejected minorities in the armed forces. The Dixicrat party that resulted wwwstood for Jim Crow laws. The Dixicrats added a plank to their platform legalizing racial segregation. They were DEMOCRATS...not Republicans. The 1948 Republican National Committee Platform stated: Constant and effective insistence on the personal dignity of the individual and his right to complete justice without regard to race, creed or color is a fundamental American principle. We aim always to unite and to strengthen, never to weaken or divide." As the Dixicrats of 1948 worked for codified segregation, Republicans said ""We favor the abolition of the poll tax as a requisite to voting. We are opposed to the idea of racial segregation in the armed services of the United States." In 1964, 78% of congressional Democrats opposed passage of the Civil Rights Act (including Senator Robert Byrd of West Va. aa former KKK "Exalted Cyclops"). Of the "nay votes in the house, 74% came from Democrats. 82% of Republican Senators voted "Yea" for the Civil Rights Act. Only ONE of the 21 Democrats who voted against the in the Senate became a Republican. So much for the myth of the big switch. The better comparison is how far the democrats have moved since John F. Kennedy. Again, I say that jackie Robinson would have had nothing to do with Black Lives Matter. He would probably have had feelings similar to Jason Whitlock (outkick.com) or Herschall Walker.

Good stuff Indiana. Thanks for researching and sharing.

Baseball did indeed help break the color barrier. I type this wearing my Jackie Robinson T-Shirt and glancing at my framed 8 X 10 plaque of Jackie Robinson on the wall of my "sports den." But Baseball has no connection at all with Marxism and anti-American philosophy. Jackie Robinson wouldn't be advocating burning cities to the ground, many of them minority owned. Jackie Robinson wouldn't be demanding to defund police departments. I don't know what Larry Doby's thoughts on all this would be. But I know Jackie Robinson would not be a supporter of BLM, Antifa or any of this. Jackie was a lifelong Republican. Anybody that knows anything about Jackie Robinson would know this.

Hill or Odorizzi could always come back for the right price (or not) but why not make a deal for someone like Trevor Bauer and even though he says he wants to sign only one-year contracts, see if you can get hi for 2 or 3 years. We've got the mashers, we've got a pretty good bullpen, so lets try to solidify the starting rotation with a frontline stud.

At this point another 2-year deal for Cruz is a no-brainer. Marwan and Adrianza are good for depth, but I can only see one of them coming back...if at all. May is a key piece in the bullpen but someone could pay him more than we're willing. Other than Balazovic, I don't see a LOT of prime starting pitching in the pipeline, but there are a LOT of bullpen options that could make it tough to bring back May. I really don't see a spot for Astudillo. We have catching prospects, infield prospects and outfield prospects that all have far more potential than him. It's not that he's bad, it's that there's more talent than he has on the way. I'd still like to see Kiriloff this year instead of Wade.

Babylon Bee to the T !!!

I'd like to see the Twins be active before the trade deadline. Dylan Bundy & Tommy LaStella from the Angels are interesting. Trevor Rosenthal as a RH closer compliment to Rogers is interesting. It's kind of maddening to see how long it's taking Donaldson to get back on the field. I have to believe at some point the offense will pick back up, but with Sano struggling, Buxton and Garver HURT and struggling and Kepler, Rosario, Arraez and others also struggling I'm not so sure. The one guy you can count on is Cruz...they better sign him to an extension SOON. What are some of the rumored deals we could be considering? Is Kiriloff close to a look ??/

If baseball can actually begin, play through the season and have a complete post-season...here's what I'm excited about: Josh Donaldson as a Twin. He's the Jewel of the off-season. A healthy Byron Buxton. (OH BOY) Can Kepler & Polanco replicate and even improve upon last season. also Arraez !!) Berrios. Is this the year he steps up?? Our Bullpen. It could be one of the Twins best ever. There are literally TONS of things to look forward to. These are a few of mine. Just watching baseball will be fun. The Dodgers, Yankees, Astros and I think the the Oakland A's will be very good teams. I like the Reds in an upset in the N.L. Central.

I'm very excited about the potential of this bullpen. The Twins have had some really good bullpen's in the past...2009 with Nathan the closer comes to mind. but this crew looks to be REALLY solid.Power arms, nasty sliders, it is really one of the best in the majors.

I've been waiting for this article to come up again. Before Covid wrecked everything we all had a very spirited debate about what the lineup should be, with differing opinions, discussions and arguments. It was great. And so much more fun than debating whether Max Kepler is a closet racist. Nash, I came up with the same lineup you have for much the same reasons. Arraez is just too PERFECT as the leadoff guy. Donaldson and Cruz are right where they should be against LH-Pitching or RH-Pitching and Kepler makes the most sense at cleanup...if he's a guy that can hit 30-40 HR's and a LH bat, that's where he belongs. Most of my lineups have had Polanco hitting 3rd, but then I started moving him around in the 5th-8th spots. He's a great fit a 5th because he switch hits and is one of the most consistent hitters the Twins have. Both he and Kepler have tremendous potential as RBI guys so I had also settled on Polanco hitting 5th. Then came the question of where to hit Sano. 6th seemed like the best spot. He too could be an RBI monster and with Kepler and Polanco consistently getting on base ahead of him he will have plenty of opportunities. This is where it gets interesting and I was surprised we came out the same. Rosario fits at #7. He's a LH hitter to hit behind Sano. He has power, he's been a 100-RBI guy. But I ended up with Garver there because his power and on base ability is just to good for #8. Maybe Eddie hits 7th when Garver is out of the lineup or there's a RH pitcher he's hit really well well against on the mound. Finally, as much as I always wanted Buxton to hit leadoff having Arraez there and Buxton 9th is as good as your going to see with a #9 to #1 transition in a lineup. This is a lethal lineup and one that stacks up extremely well against the Dodgers, Yankees and Houston.

You nailed the three guys I'm most concerned about. I was really surprised Balazovic was left off the 60-man. This guy has a chance to someday be our Ace. I think he should be there. Cavaco I just don't know enough about, but he was a first round pick and I trust the Twins new FO guys knew what they were doing when they picked him. Javier has been a favorite of mine since we first signed him as a teenager. He's had nothing but bad luck, and this was a year I was really looking forward to seeing him healthy and productive, making him a part of the Twins future. Heck, he's still only 20-years old. I hope he can put things back together.

I think the pick is O.K. but I really know very little compared to say a Vikings draft. Still, we have MAYBE one more year (after this) of Nelson Cruz. And what happens if the Twins decide to move on from Sano and invest his $$$ in pitching. What if Rosario is let go to make way for Kiriloff or Larnach ? And on and on. It's just impossible to get too excited or too disappointed when the names aren't Griffey or A-Rod.

I believe Ted pointed out that ultimately, the owners can mandate a season however they want it to be. But yes, this is so disappointing on many levels. Whereas Ted feels the owners are clearly at fault, I think this is your classic 50/50 as is usually the case with MLB. The players would have the regular season last thru October and then treat us to post season baseball outdoors in November at Target Field. Absolutely not realistic. The owners, while being cagey about their overall earnings seem to have no incentive to move forward since whatever the independent arbitrator decides for how many games, pay, etc... would be just fine by them. If the Twins were looking at a "hopeful" 3rd place finish in the A.L. Central all this would STILL be hard to stomach. The fact that they're a legit World Series contender makes everything even worse.

If anybody can screw this up it's the baseball owners and the players association. I'm rather wary there will even be a season, but I prefer to have a more positive outlook so if indeed they DO play ball: I'm all in favor of the DH in both leagues. It's about time ! I'm not sure how baseball could be played at Target field if we're talking post-season games in NOVEMBER though. If they want to expand the post season this year and in future years, they have to seriously consider going back to a 154 game schedule. You just can't play baseball in Minnesota on Thanksgiving (or any other day in November). We opted for a beautiful outdoor ballpark with no retractable roof. October baseball is fine. November baseball is not.

Good point mlhouse. As a 7 year old during the 1965 World Series and a life long Twins fan it was sad to see how things unraveled for Jimmie Hall. By any definition of that era he was a pretty solid player in 1963, 64 & 65. He possibly could have been marginally better than Nossek (who except for one nice running catch was a complete non-factor) but the Dodgers were loaded with LH pitching. In addition to Koufax and Osteen they had Ron Perranoski and Jim Brewer in the bullpen. Even Oliva was pretty much held in check.

Excellent brute_squad. Very well thought out and very well written. I just wish Nick had spent 1/10th the time thinking over what he wanted to say like you did, but he had an agenda to push (which he can if he wants, it's HIS platform) but 85% of us also have the right to reject the snake oil he's selling (which we did).

Nick, everything you've stated you didn't want to do...YOU DID !!! Brock B may think you're a hero but I don't. You walked into a room, ripped the stinkiest fart you could, and then walked out and said "But I didn't want to make anyone uncomfortable." You tried to make a point. And you did a TERRIBLE job. You attacked Max Kepler's character. you virtue signaled that YOU thinks HE's a RACIST.

No Nick, our country is NOT broken. No Nick, Max Kepler is NOT a racist. No Nick, Chris Cuomo is a poor example to use. He's the epitome of "do as I say, not as I do." I don't agree with a single thing your post stated. I much prefer your baseball opinions. You guys at TD opened Pandora's Box with this attack, and make no mistake fellow TD readers, this was an ATTACK on Max Kepler. A better target would have been the far left anarchist group ANTIFA. THEY are who are fueling everything bad up in the Twin Cities and across the country now. The bottom line is that ALL LIVES MATTER. Anything less is an obscenity.

Rooker is certainly an interesting prospect. Being the RH complement to Kiriloff & Larnach doesn't hurt. But logically, the Twins can't keep them all, and neither is there equal opportunity for everyone, especially when Kepler is young and locked up for awhile and Buxton and Rosario are still relatively young. Something's got to give. But when Rooker can be mentioned in the same sentance as Will Clark and Rafy Palmiero that tells you what this kid is capable of doing.

To paraphrase Joe Biden "COME ON MAN!!!" You must have 1967, 1969 or 1970. 1967 Carew ROY, Killebrew ties Yaz for HR crown, soldi pitching. 1969 Billy Martin's only season managing the Twins. Killebrew MVP, Carew Batting Champ and steals home 7 times, Oliva .309 24 HR, Tovar and Leo Cardenas solid, Perry, Boswell and Perranoski lead the pitching staff. 1970 Perry, Tommy Hall, Blyleven and Stan Williams lead the pitching staff, Killebrew 41 HR's, Oliva .325 23 HR's, Tovar .300. The main thing holding this Twins team back was Rod Carew battling injuries and missing games due to a National Guard commitment. Carew hit .366. The other thing holding those Twins teams back was the Baltimore Orioles. They won the World Series in 1966 with a pitching staff of 20 year olds. But in 1969-1971 the Orioles won 109, 108 and only 101 in 1971 despite having 4 20-game winners. The Orioles only won 1 World Series in 1969-1971 but they were clearly baseball's best team. My list 5. 1988 Viola Cy Young. Puckett, Gaetti, Hrbek great seasons. 4. 2006 Mauer and Morneau with Hunter and Cuddy--Santana Cy Young, Nathan. 3. 1969 See above 2. 2019 The Bomba Squad, solid pitching and Rogers leading a great bullpen 1. 1965 It took vintage Sandy Koufax to keep the Twins from winning their first World Series. Anyone who ever saw him pitch, especially in World series games knows what I'm talking about.

Explain to me why every player's "Overall" grade was a 50.

I would flip flop the Twins and Astros and that's nitpicking. I think you did a great job ranking. I think the Astros are going to be a little "off" this year, and they ARE relying heavily on two pitchers who will be 37 years old (no matter how GOOD they are). The Twins lineup is better, but not by much. The Twins bullpen is better. So I slide the Twins to #3 and Houston to #4. We play the Yankees in the ALCS and find out if we can break the curse to move on to a 1965 rematch. I nominate Tony Oliva and Sandy Koufax as the World Series Honorary Captains.

At this point, "strength of schedule" and such should be of no concern. I like the idea of a July 4th start and a minimum of 81 games. People are getting restless. As the President has said, "We can't let the cure be worse than the disease." It's time for people to get back to work. It's time to move forward. All the models predicting death on a massive scale have been waaaay off (kind of like climate change models). Life itself is a daily risk. Nobody is guaranteed anything. We need to be smart in how things get back to normal, but we don't need to be terrified. Plus, as Governor Cuomo recently said, 66% of the deaths in New York have been from people who "sheltered in place." We need to get people out and about so that our bodies can develop the ability to fight Covid-19. Let's Play Ball !!

Polanco will stick there for the next couple of years. His bat will play anywhere. Who moves him out of SS is one question. Lewis? Wander Javier ?? (if he can regain his former status) someone else drafted in the next year or so ? But it isn't as simple as just saying "move Polanco to 2B. Where does that put Arraez ? His bat will put him on the firld someplace as well, and 2B is the BEST place to have Arraez. Does Polanco move to 3B ? That works when Donaldson moves to DH (or 1B) but Donaldson has at least 3-years at 3B...probably more. Lewis will probably begin as some sort of super utility guy, like Caesar Tovar, playing all 3 OF spots and SS,3B & 2B with his bat in the game 5-6 out of 7 games. And I remember all the optimism concerning Wander Javier. Then 2+ seasons marred by injury issues. Will Javier ever get his mojo back ? And if he does...what a pile of riches the Twins can contemplate.

He gets on base. He scores runs. THAT's what leadoff hitters are supposed to do.