biggentleben

Probably wouldn't have qualified for the list, but "celebrity" in my world, Larry Barton, Jr. passed away Thursday. He was a long-time MLB scout and was a major influence on some of the scouts that I consider my mentors in scouting, so it's a big name in my world. RIP.

I thought the third season was a pure mess. The fourth season was better, though not to the point of the first two, as you said. The finale was gold. Then watching the interviews afterward with cast members got all the feels going.

Providing the deal doesn't go under and Graterol gets returned, I chose to have Rijo be the guy to replace Graterol on the list. Here's the write up for him that will be added at #30 when/if the deal is finalized: Luis Rijo ETA: 2022 Ceiling: 45 Realistic: 30 Steady delivery and excellent control could move quickly in 2020 Originally signed by the Yankees, the Twins acquired Rijo as part of the return when they sent Lance Lynn to New York mid-season in 2018. Rijo has responded well to the Twins pitching philosophy changes that were implemented with the arrival of Wes Johnson, and that could give him a chance to move up this list. Rijo's frame is filled out at 6'1" and 200 pounds. He's very athletic off the mound and notably has a very good pickoff move. What's notable in his delivery is that he has very long legs and arms for his height, and Rijo employs a high leg lift in his delivery, yet he is able to consistently repeat his delivery, allowing for fringe-plus control now with a chance to improve even further. The work Rijo has done in the new Twins pitching teaching has seen a bump in his velocity from a guy that sat low-90s and bumped 94 MPH to a guy who sits 93-94 and bumps 96 late into games with added life. He transitioned from a pure slow curve to utilizing multiple breaking pitches in 2019, one that is a traditional slow, loop curve, and one that has been classified as both a hard curve and a slider with less depth but a sharper, later break. Rijo's repeatable delivery and improving stuff could allow him to move forward in a hurry, potentially jumping multiple levels in 2020 or 2021 to establish himself at the upper levels before joining the Twins rotation.

Not points to be gained, but considered putting Douglas on my list just as a tribute, hearing that he was headed downhill late in 2019. Dan Rather had a tremendous tribute tweet as well.

I think Vallimont has significantly more chance to start than does Canterino long-term, and if I'm reworking the list I put out in November for Prospects Live with video viewed over the offseason, Vallimont is #10/11. FWIW, I added in Luis Rijo at the back end of my top 30 to replace Graterol.

Essentially how the Braves got Donaldson last offseason. The details on the bidding for Donaldson have been incredible. The public details are juicy enough, but some of the things beyond that indicate that the Twins and Braves were both dwarfed in their offers, but Donaldson was appalled by the structure of the deal. He also had a very high AAV offer for 2 years that he turned down with a team that was never in rumors for him. Crazy stuff. Ozuna fits and doesn't hurt long-term financial flexibility for the Braves. Atlanta has also ramped up discussions with a few teams on infield options. This could end up being nothing before the season, but it could put the Braves in the driver's seat in July, as they were with the Giants ant Tigers when they'd already had talks on the prices for players on their clubs coming into 2019, nearly making a deal for one Tiger pitcher before the season until Detroit pulled out at the last second. That made negotiations go quickly when the team moved off their primary target of Pittsburgh (thank goodness that didn't work out) midseason and began looking for bullpen arms. The team may not have a new 3B before the season, but prices are getting set for a potential mid-season buy if Riley/Camargo aren't the hot corner solution.

Intriguing point to consider is just how quickly Walker rose to the point of election from mediocre vote totals. Essentially, anyone writing off Andruw Jones from the Hall of Fame right now should reconsider if they're doing it based on his current vote percentage, because Walker was at a similar vote percentage 7 years into his candidacy that Jones is in his second year. (Others are around Jones' vote tally, it's just notable that they had nearly the same percentage this year as Walker's last year before his final ascent began to election)

Ask Atlanta how well that works.

There are those that would argue, but for my money, no one was better. RIP drummer boy...

Wyche I knew was getting worse, and he was on a preliminary cut of my list (which I've still not gotten done with family stuff). Much better coach than history will remember...

I did a trophy parade in South Minneapolis. I'm not sure if that's tradition, and the people staring out their windows at me really weren't quite sure what was going on, but there's at least one angle for you to consider.

Or perhaps there's a better path to a head coaching job going that route rather than staying. Lots of things to weigh in, not just job for job.

Vaughn Johnson, part of the Saints excellent defense in the late 80s/early 90s passed away at 57.

Horrible. I loved (still love) Roxette's vocal harmonies.

Strasburg had deferred money in the part of his contract that he opted out of - that's what I mean.

Koufax. All this talk, and his own team didn't go to Drysdale in those games.

Yeah, it's been considered one of the largest voting travesties of HOF voting, followed closely by Lofton being a one-and-done, though I'm sure that will be changed soon as well.

You can say that, but I've talked to HOF players who faced him who say otherwise... Before attempting to disparage a man's accomplishments solely based on your own view of them, it's often good to research for perspective. Reggie Jackson, who faced Blyleven more than any pitcher in his career, called him Captain Hook in reference to his devastating curve. Jim Kaat once said Blyleven is the one teammate that he was ever jealous of in mound skills and work ethic - paraphrasing, but he said, "I could outwork the guys with better raw stuff but lazy, I could outpitch the guys with good work but less stuff, but Bert had both, and, if I'm honest, better than me at both."

More than one "old-timer" I've talked to said that they faced all the best, and no one could compete with Bert's curve. It was, bar none, the best in the game. People may not have been going to watch, but he also had one of the lowest team W/L records of any player with more than 250 wins. His teams were not fun to watch. When he was on good teams in his prime, he was considered a vital part of those teams. It wasn't JUST WAR that made Blyleven's case after the fact, otherwise, he'd not have still been on the ballot to have the case made.

His opt-out actually cost him significant deferred money. It was a major gamble that he did win. The Nationals won their case with the Orioles this winter and will receive not only a 9-figure total compensation from the Orioles over the previous years lost in broadcasting revenue but their upcoming years should be significantly better as well, though it's hard to budget that right now as they've never experienced life with a fair and equitable television deal in their shared portion of their market. I guess I'm just getting sick of the deferred money jokes as the Nats aren't doing it just to avoid the luxury tax. They've legitimately been in a legal battle over their primary source of income for their organization the last few seasons, and until that was resolved, deferments were a wise business decision for the team and player.

...and fans who know baseball will shake their heads and wonder why it did. Simmons was an elite backstop that was considered at that level for many years. I was too young to buy a ticket, but living in South Dakota, I was a Ted Simmons fan. My great-grandma, who taught me the game and was a HUGE Cubs fan, HATED Simmons because of the way he tortured her beloved Cubbies (her memory was good, too, as he hit .334/.396/.507 over his career against the Cubs), and she was one of the first to point out to me how a guy pitched better with certain catchers, using Steve Carlton throwing to Simmons as her example She swore that when both were young with the Cardinals, Carlton settled in with Simmons behind the plate in '71 before Carlton was traded, and Simmons hit significantly better when he was working with Carlton.

As far as people who impacted/changed the game, Miller is in a realm that only Ruth, Jackie Robinson, and Branch Rickey can argue higher impact overall. Simmons was SO good, but he did it for so long under the radar with arguably the greatest catcher in history in the same league in Johnny Bench.

If I were to pick the matchup of the rumored potential ones that I wanted to see most, this was the one. Now they need to go show out.

One thing to consider with names like this is how many names and logos are trademarked. It becomes a minefield for teams when they attempt to re-brand. As far as the Miracle name, there are mixed stories on that, but Fort Myers did sue Florida (now Miami) over the Marlins name, as that was the team name in the city for many years.

I live in South Dakota. I find no spending comparably frivilous as the state's current ad campaign.