Danchat

My guess is the Twins gave Kimbrel a lowball deal, which is probably what several teams have already offered Kimbrel the past few months. I feel like if they were seriously interested in him they would have pursued him in free agency earlier in December-February. I suppose how the bullpen has turned out could have changed their perspective, but methinks they don't like him enough to go all-out for him. I'm also just speculating wildly so I could be completely off on this.

I know, we should have offered Darvish that 6th year so he could be an ace for us this season. Oops, I'm talking about the wrong Chicago Cub!

Well, let's wait until we see the numbers on the deal before panicking. Remember the last time the Cubs outbidded the Twins for a great pitcher? I'm hoping for a couple midseason trades for relievers who are in the middle of having good seasons. I'd be happy and willing to ship some prospects off for some relievers / potentially a high-end starter.

Apparently Carrasco won’t be starting tonight’s game as he’s been diagnosed with a “blood condition”. The Indians are out of starters with so many injured now...

I can't remember who, but I recall someone [in the media?] saying before the season saying, "the Indians are locking Shane Bieber into their rotation? Good luck with that!" At the time, I thought that was stupid. Now it's looking even dumber. Just 'cause he's not a veteran and his 2018 ERA isn't great doesn't mean putting him in the rotation was a bad idea. His peripherals in 2018 suggested improvement was coming, and it sure has this season.

But can Rooker throw 97 MPH? Wallner's got some Gimenez potential!

They lose any draft pool money they don't spend, so it can't be funnelled to sign free agents. They will be able to draft and sign better players in later rounds with more money to give, as Tom has already stated.

Welcome, readers! In past years, I’ve taken control of a game thread once or twice a year and ran a Strat-O-Matic game in real time alongside the Twins game in real life. With the game threads headed in a different direction, I’ve thought about how I might deliver some Strat-O-Matic content to Twins Daily in a better-suited format. After some deliberation, I decided to start a blog here and see if this format will satisfy the masses. Just so you know, I work a 9 to 5 job Monday through Friday and I’m also a content creator at Purple Pain, a Vikings forum, so my time is limited, but I hope to bring a somewhat consistent source of simulations this season. And with that out of the way... Today I will lead off with a box score from my simulation of Sunday’s (6/2/19) game against the Rays. In my next blog posts I’ll explain my system of simulation in detail - I don’t actually use the cards that came with the game, I’m using my own custom version that I’ve been working on for the past 8-9 years. Strat-O-Matic sets are expensive and I don’t want to wait a full year after the 2019 season ends to get my hands on the 2019 cards. While my simulation isn’t going to have the pinpoint accuracy and realism that the original game provides, I think it can work as a quick-and-dirty version that is far more flexible than the original game could ever be. Now, onto the game itself: Summary: This game went very similarly to the actual one, with the Twins getting a 8-0 lead at one point, as compared to a 7-0 lead in real life. However, no bullpen collapse happened and it was a rather uneventful outing. Mitch Garver kicked some serious butt in his first game back, and Sano hit a 1B, 2B, and HR. We'll have to see if Garver can stay hot and if guys like Polanco can have better games next time out. To-Do List: Too many errors. The X Chart, which determines whether a fielder will make a play or not, is rather harsh on fielders who aren’t elite. The chances of rolling an error are far too high for my liking. Also, I’m not sure what happened with walks - we saw just 2 in the game and both happened in the 9th inning. There is a solid 8.5% chance of a walk happening on any normal plate appearance, though that varies with the batter’s and pitcher’s tendencies. I won’t tinker anything in this category... yet. Next Time: A intricate breakdown on my unique Strat-O-Matic setup, and possibly another game simulated. I'm not sure how many games I'll get to, but I'd like to do a whole bunch (10 to 20?) and be able to see which players are doing the best in this simulation.

Eh, I don't love the pick, but that's more because it'll probably take 4-5 years to see the kid as a Twin, and I want my instant gratification. It would be wise for them to draft an overslot pitcher in the 2nd/3rd round. We need more arms that have the potential to be good starters; I'm pretty content with our talent at the major position groups in the minors.

I'm not worried at all about Cleveland. Their squad is barely playoff worthy and is very unlikely to make a run at the division with the way things look. The Twins schedule is very soft with plenty of matchups against bad teams, so at this point it would take a collapse from the Twins to even let the Indians get close. Just don't collapse and we'll be fine.

I'm hoping for Rutledge. Thompson would be nice too.

Watching chess can actually be entertaining, if the players aren't taking 20 minutes per move. I've played some rounds of 4 player chess, they're fast-paced and also fun to watch with so many pieces on the board.

Did this start at 6:00pm? If so, oof, I think I'll pass waiting 10 minutes per pick. For the NFL Draft? Yes. For the MLB draft? No.

I’m not going to pretend I know anything about the mlb draft, but personally after going with 4 position players in the 1st round in the last 3 drafts I’d to see them draft the best pitcher available.

BUXTON WHAT A PLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Boy, Fort Myers has quite the rotation - Duran, Ober, Sammons, Balazovic... that's pretty solid. The Escobar for Duran and others trade is looking pretty good, especially with our higher up starting prospects looking rather shaky (Littell, Thorpe, Gonsalves).

Yeah... that was baffling. If you had someone who makes contact frequently, then I wouldn't mind that call.

It's nice to see this lineup can pick up some runs without hitting HRs.

Against some pitchers, his uppercut swing just isn't doing it - he's looking like Slo-Mo (Morrison) from last year. The HRs he'll hit will probably make him worth it statistically, but I'm concerned against better pitching he's going to stink at the plate. There's still plenty of time to turn things around, but he looks like the same player as last year.

I didn't realize Keuchel gave up the most hits in baseball last year - that could certainly be a reason for why teams have stayed away.

I think he's actually been rule 5 eligible for the past two rule 5 drafts... if he keeps this up, he's going to join a long line of guys the Twins need to add to the 40 man roster. I wouldn't mind if they traded Diaz in a package for a pitcher. Not sure how much value he has at this point, however.

That was a clutch HBP for Astudillo! Rosario, let's do this!

He's a solid #2 starter, but they need an ace. Despite so many I've heard calling Berrios an ace, I disagree - they need a true frontrunner if they want a deep playoff run.

I thought putting Astudillo at the #3 spot was a questionable choice by Baldelli, but I see it's worked out rather well. Also, this lineup needs Polanco - they didn't look the same without him yesterday. By the way, when the heck is Cruz coming back?

That'd be great. I'm hoping for at least a 2-2 split.