Jocko87

I can't help but notice that Varland is on the same schedule as Kuechel. Wonder if its just a co-inkidink.

Great thread and great stories. I wouldn't have a place to tell this otherwise but it's nice to tell these things we remember vividly. I was born in a tiny town in SW North Dakota with no cable TV and antenna reception of 1.5 to 2.5 channels. What we had was KNDC, the mighty 1490, which carried Herb Carneal and the Twins. As I understand it, I was infatuated with baseball on the radio very early and while I can remember "sneaking" the radio under the pillow at night, that post dates this memory. My first and most vivid memory of the Twins and sports in general was the 1987 World Series. I turned 9 that October. I don't remember a single thing about the season, the series, the team or anything sports related. My interest had to have been radio related but you couldn't prove it by me. The thing I remember, like yesterday, was begging my mom to take me to grandma's house to watch a game as she had basic cable in her apartment. No idea which game I actually got to watch but it had to have been a weekend. A school night would not have been an option. I think it was one of the later games as the excitement built she may have relented but I have no idea. The other part of the memory is of my mom and grandma (dad's mom) sitting at the kitchen table waiting for the game to be over. I'm sure it was late and all the coffee and chit chat was exhausted and they were long ready for bed. Later in life I can recognize the feeling when a woman who is being exceptionally patient with my **** is ready to be done but I didn't know it at the time. I now know it was that same feeling. At the time I was oblivious and loving it, although I don't remember a thing about the game. We all know how that series finished and when I was 13 they won it again. Like so many Minnesota sports fans of my age (44) my expectations were damaged in a way we still can't fully understand. My relationship with baseball on the radio continued and at 15 I started working at that same radio station after school and in the summer evenings. If you are tracking along with the timeline that was John Gordon, who was great, and the 93-98 Twins, who were not. Somehow it didn't matter what the team did. Surely I tuned out quite a few blow outs and missed many a 10 second ID break and a few inning breaks as well. Fortunately in those days the feed still was live with crowd noise so it wasn't dead air. I still prefer baseball on the radio and with the advent of technology I've devised several ways to watch on TV with synced radio audio. I became a Twins fans literally because it was the only option and here I am. It's still the only option and it still doesn't matter if they are any good. Although I have my frustrations as we all do, I still follow every day. One day, I'll get that feeling again and this time I'll remember it. Bonus side story. Very similar situation with Saturday night WWF wrasslin. I would beg to stay up and watch because everyone would be talking about it at school Monday. Mom would say "I'll wake you up when it starts" Uh huh, sure she would. I was sleeping so good she would say. Then I got nothing for school on Monday. I did get to watch a few times but must have fallen for the same thing 100 times. 😂

It is with Kuechel on the mound. Rocco can futz around at first most of the time but tonight is not the night. Gallo at first is the best lineup until Kuechel goes put.

I'm putting Varland in the bullpen in about 2 weeks. The starter depth will be less important the later we get and I'm very interested in him cutting it loose in a short stint. It's his only good route to the post season roster and he can start again next year.

How's mom and them?

Skip throw catching on.

Gilberto Celistino? Oooohhhhhhh, gotcha.

I always get a chuckle when I see one of these pieces that presumes we know what the front office has planned. Overall, we should not be getting too attached to any players not under long term contract. This org is going to trade a lot more than the fan base is used to going forward, trade deadline notwithstanding. Someone said in the game thread the other day that they hadn't been following Akil Baddoo as much as they should have been as a former Twins prospect. That concept is foreign to me. I'd have a slightly larger list than just Jenkins as untouchables, Lee and Lewis are certainly on that list, but otherwise move and shake. Fingers crossed they pick the right guys to keep but right now Larnach has shown enough that I won't miss him if he blows up somewhere else.

Naw, let em go. Remember them fondly when they come to town. If the transaction was truly horrible you won't be able to avoid hearing about that player. Otherwise just wait for the daily/weekly TD article lamentations about standard baseball moves. In Baddoo news, he looks horrible in the outfield.

And into next year he would be behind Martin I would assume. Not having options (positional and minors) in that role is really tough.

Left field is probably it, surprised they are waiting this long. Run to the fence, throw it to Correa. Go hit. In the general first base mix what does it say that in the recent promotion wave Sabato is still in Wichita? Even if a Chris Williams was in the mix Sabato would be the fill in. They could move him any time I guess but Wichita is a ghost town all of a sudden and he missed out.

The name ain't Donnie slides.

Hot hitter in the clean up spot. Maybe more for the pinch hit opportunity later.

But he can't be a reliever either if he can't fix this.

It very easily could have been 6 or 7 but he would have been pulled first. If teams can run at will on him it puts amazing stress on the no strikeouts part. Arizona may have been the worst team for him to face because now the word is out. Non-typical base stealing teams will see it a go as well. Its a significant risk.

But that's a different discussion than exercising the option. The options are a large part of the value they bring for a trade.

Its certainly something to watch with Kuechel going forward. He used to be the lefty that could shut down the run game with his pick off move and quick delivery but with the rule changes that would seem to negate that advantage. Combine that with low velocity a catcher doesn't have a chance. Maybe he can make an adjustment but if not his upside is gone.

I think its pretty obvious they will pick up the option, its a procedural matter at this point. It's much less clear if he will remain with the team next year but that's a completely different question. There is almost no chance they let him walk for free at that number. Same post for Polanco, when that article comes out remember me fondly.

For another comp, Usain Bolt ran 4.22 just messing around and has been clocked at 37 fps in competition.

It might get you a minority stake. You’ll want another couple billion laying around for petty cash.

Ok, see above.

Did anyone make a Carson Wentz pick 6 joke yet?

To be fair I’m not sure if it would occur to the beat writers to ask. Gleeman took a two part question about it on the podcast a while back but ignored or forgot the specific question about a reporting structure. Most likely he forgot as he talked about the first part for 5 minutes but that also indicates that it wasn’t the important part to him. It’s a natural question for me but that’s also the world I live in. I would like some reporting about who does what and I haven’t seen any.

This is where these conversations lose me. We don't even have an org chart to know who does what. Rocco the puppet! Doubt it. I still can't get an answer to my question of who the hitting coach reports too. My guess would be Rocco but it's only a guess. This is one of the safest front offices in the game. That doesn't mean there won't be changes but I'll bet we have this discussion about Falvey every year for at least the next 10.