TheLeviathan

This is based, imo, on the misplaced assumption that debt is driven by baseball operations and not the absolute bath they took on commercial real estate.

As I've said many times: for a great many Twins fans they will rejoice at the price, be happy for the certainty, and pony up. I'm genuinely glad they are getting something they want at a price they are ok with. But for another, very large, group of fans.....that sticker price won't be worth their time. They'll sail the seven seas, turn on the radio, or just plain tune out. There really needs to be a long term plan.

I'm, like, 99% sure that Randy Dobnak played with Boof Bonser. Also like 98% sure they're the same person. It maths in my head.

The only people who know their sources are the reporters. I have never claimed the sources are Falvey or St. Peter or anyone else. For all we know, Hayes talked to Joe Pohlad himself. And before you start to say that there's no way Joe would be dumb enough to say anything to the media: I present you 10 years of media malfeasance and "right sizing". I don't know who is saying what or why. But I do know journalists don't rush to publish gossip in The Athletic. They aren't going to publish something on feels and vibes. The man is a credible reporter which means he has sourced the information and believes it to be accurate. It may not be the whole picture, but it's almost certainly not complete nonsense either. This ownership group has earned skepticism. I see no reason to believe this situation is any different.

If the brokerage is dumb or incompetent....guess who hired them? If the media leaks are wrong....guess who is employing them? It's one thing to believe all of those things are true rather than the Pohlads are running this like the gong show we've seen from their marketing, TV deals, and other "right sized" public communications....but there is yet another layer that make this absurdly unlikely: Mass media incompetence/malfeasance? Your position also requires tht every media person was hearing that the deal was going to be done by the home opener and just went along with bad sources. This would entail that every reporter who has written a story on this (not just Dan Hayes) is willing to impugn their credibility, defy reporting norms, and listen to people they know are lying or ignorant. That's quite a credibility attack to keep going with an opinion that keeps getting less correct the more information we get. But sure, I bet it's all of that and not that the Pohlads continue to run their baseball business like a bunch of dinks.

Always have been. Hence why I was skeptical and hoped the beat writers would do more digging so we know more about where this process is and why it's so profoundly weird. That digging has only reinforced my reasons for skepticism and also revealed that your stance about Ishbia being just one buyer of many, or this pro-Pohlad post here, or any of the other comments made during the last round of this just don't hold up under scrutiny. Maybe the simple explanation is the right one: the sale process is being run about as well as the team. Marketing certainly matches historically.

At some point are you willing to consider that you just haven't read this situation correctly?

I'm going to push back on this a little bit - $450M simply can't be accounted for because of Covid. That's roughly 3 entire seasons of major league payroll. Minor leaguers, support staff, and even TV revenue drops don't account for that much money. I'd argue not even close to that much. It's far more likely that a major portion of those debts relate to Pohlad business activities outside of baseball. Which means our hopes of a sale rest on someone else being willing to bail the Pohlads out of their terrible business ventures. If that's the bar, then yeah....I agree with you. It ain't happening any time soon.

It appears I need to update that meme I used last time.....

When Ishbia bowed out there were so many people that brushed that off as it being "just a buyer dropping out, no biggie".....that never made sense to me. This is the Pohlads we are talking about here. Shady practices, incompetence, incoherence....these are what we've experienced for decades. The canary already sang, we're just late to hearing it. My skepticism has now grown to full blown pessimism.

Well said old man, well said.

I think I share a similar conclusion (I'm pretty down on the offense) but my opinion is a bit different. I trust Correa, Wallner, and Lewis to be really good players when healthy. I trust Buxton and Jeffers to be good hitters. If Larnach repeats last year he's in that group. My issue is that of those 6 guys, I have serious doubts about the health of 3 of them and my confidence is lacking in their potential replacements.

Man I wish that was feasible. That we could just have clubs or rec leagues, but we're so far past that we can never unring that bell. I hate it, and rooting along with you, but we'd be better off just considering college semi-pro at this point.

Yup, off to a great start. Great actors who really understand their characters. Jon Berenthal was born to play the Punisher.

Adolescence on Netflix is brilliant. Just a stunning piece of art.

I think this is right - you hold and hope. At the same time, nothing also implies you don't double down either. We're approaching the point where many organizations would extend someone like Lewis potentially and buy out a few of his FA years with raises now. That, I think, would also be a mistake. I think nothing is correct in that you neither invest nor devest in Lewis as an asset to the team going forward. To me that's the takeaway of this article - you can't center your future on him and hope that he can be "The guy" for the core going forward. At the same time, it'd be foolish to move off of him. Hold and hope.

Dig the simulator, well done!

@Danchat who are you eyeballing my friend?

He has some technique to learn. I liked him early but the tape says he is really raw. But yeah....the measurables? Gimme that.

This draft is really hard to predict because the RB class is so good it might cause a lot of weirdness. Post combine here are the guys I think are realistic targets that could be there: DT Kenneth Grant - a dancing bear. Dude is so good with his hands, he can move well. He's a beast. This is your zero or 1 tech nose tackle guy. DT - Walter Nolen. He's more likely to line up as your 5 tech or 3 tech in a pass rush. But when you watch this guy, his drive is upfield. He's got a motor on him and just pushes and pushes to collapse the pocket. OL - Grey Zabel - Moves well. Good base. Good use of hands. Not a dominant guy but he's feisty. Can play anywhere but probably best as a guard. DT - Derrick Harmon - Dude just beats people. He reminds me of Ndamukong Suh. CB - Maxwell Hairston - This dude is long and his burst/speed is stupid. Great zone corner but also good in man2man because he's smart. Willing tackler. CB - Trey Amos - More of your man2man guy. Not as wirey or athletic, but he's got some dog in him. I remaind a huge fan of Cam Skattebo. RJ Harvey is another one I really like. Kaleb Johnson is going to be good. Damien Martinez is getting slept on by some rankings. Personally, I'd prefer to take a safety later in the draft, not in the first. I love the TEs in this draft. Would be happy to snag one at that position group too. Jason Taylor's kid and Luke Lachey are both nice players. Some quality linebackers might fall in this draft too. Jay HIggins is nice. Cody Lindenberg staying home would be awesome.

Last year really sucked out a lot of my willpower to watch them play. Like, I'm an adult with kids. Watching baseball requires me to make an effort. Most nights, it felt like my effort was not rewarded with the quality of baseball I was watching. It's hard to shake that feeling.

I don't mind the value, don't like the pick. Kenneth Grant, Kaleb Johnson, and Tyler Booker all there instead. Hairston or Amos at CB too. It might be a trade we do, but we better walk away with better players if we do.

Also, the more I think about it.....I think they're waiting on backup QB precisely because of the comp formula. If they wait until the second Tuesday after the draft, then anyone they sign has no impact on their comp picks. Since anyone with an AAV of 4M or more qualifies....I think they're waiting on purpose. Right now they'd have a 3rd from Darnold and a 4th from Bynum. That seems worth waiting for.

Cam Robinson gets us a 5th, maybe a 4th round comp pick.