Danchat

Good thing we didn't have Paddack compete for a starting job because of his salary... even though Festa was the better starter as a rookie. Ugh.

There is a big difference between a starting shortstop and somebody who can handle the position defensively while likely being a black hole in the lineup. They currently don't have that.

If true, seems like malpractice... all it would have taken is to bump Ober down the order and have Dobnak or an emergency option from AAA pitch the game. Ugh.

Castro reminding us he is not a good 2B, but Wallner bailed him out.

That was a cookie… maybe we need to slow down on the whole “Cy Young” discussion. We be overrating our starters.

The bats will eventually get hot, but their volatility paired with them being a below average unit defensively is a bad combo. Not a good sign to see a AAAA hitter DH'ing in the #6 spot on the second game of the season. Yikes.

Haven't noticed many differences with this lineup with the new hitting coach... last year's lineup had hot and cold streaks, seems like it will be more of the same this year.

Could also be the decline in velocity and reduced command that we saw this spring.

Seems like most starters in the league aren't going very long to start out. The Cardinals just pulled Fedde at 73 pitches and pulled Gray very early yesterday. Don't think it's a Twins thing. Most starters aren't getting to the 6th.

Holy cow, it's 13-3 in the 3rd inning! Judge already has 2 HRs.

Lineups: MIN Lineup Matt Wallner (L) RF Carlos Correa (R) SS Byron Buxton (R) CF Trevor Larnach (L) LF Ty France (R) 1B Mickey Gasper (S) DH Willi Castro (S) 2B Jose Miranda (R) 3B Christian Vázquez (R) C STL Lineup Lars Nootbaar (L) LF Willson Contreras (R) 1B Brendan Donovan (L) 2B Nolan Arenado (R) 3B Alec Burleson (L) DH Iván Herrera (R) C Jordan Walker (R) RF Victor Scott II (L) CF Masyn Winn (R) SS

I believe that's the most prospect value I've ever seen in our AAA rotation!

I betcha the Cardinals Daily forum is throwing one... 😉

Looks like we are getting the same version of Lopez that we saw in Spring Training. I guess we'll have to wait another 2-3 months until we see him pitching his best again.

A balk in the first inning of the first game of the year? Come on, Pablo.

Let's hope not!

Is Cleveland really only at 22% of making the playoffs? Feels like we underestimate them year after year and they always overachieve.

A couple sources are reporting that Dobnak is getting the last bullpen spot. He has options left and will likely be the first to go once Tonkin / Stewart are ready to go. They could also opt to pluck someone off the waiver wire.

I think this is the root of the problem... they're drafting bat-first players and their plan to develop their defensive skills are questionable. Then they reach the majors and it's then we figure out, oh hey, Julien can't handle 2B or turns out Steer isn't gonna be a 3B, so on and so on.

My guess is Blewett makes the pen, he pitched well last year and is continuing that in camp. I see Tonkin is on the IL, is Topa there too?

I thought there was a surprising amount of parity in college football despite the NIL concerns. It will keep some players a bit longer in the college ranks but they'll have to leave at some point. It might lead to older prospect ages but perhaps less raw players.

Creative pun there!

I'll admit I haven't studied the draft as much as I usually do, so I will share what I can. So far this is probably the weakest draft I have covered, I'd say only 4 prospects in this class would be ranked in the top 10 last year, and barely 20 guys are clear 1st rounders in my book. However, the DL and edge classes are stacked and RB is really good. As for your targets, @TheLeviathan, I like Nolen a lot. The only downside is the character concerns, so I'll leave that to the team scouts to figure out how big a problem like that is. I would take him at #24 if he clears that check. I'm not as high on Harmon but I need to do more work on him. I like Zabel as a guard, maybe he can develop into a center. In this class, taking him in the late 1st round is fine. The CBs in this range scare me, I feel that the bust potential is high with this group. Amos is my favorite of the bunch but I still think he's a 2nd rounder, Hairston scares me with his crazy athletic numbers covering up his poor play at Kentucky. I've found that there is a high correlation between low PFF grades in a player's last year in college and busting (notably, I've found little to no connection between high grades and players panning out). My favorite draftniks also aren't high on him. Az Thomas is also a no from me. Revel and Porter are two guys I like more, but need to develop and I don't see them as 1st rounders. The RB class is fantastic, so many quality options to pick from. I like Skattebo in the 3rd round as a 1B option - change of pace and dangerous in the passing game. So many great options on Day 3 as well - Bhayshul Tuten, Brashard Smith, Kalel Mullings, Ollie Gordon. I'm not as high on the TEs, but Fannin Jr is one of my favorite sleepers. Oh, and if I haven't shared this before, you should try out my Mock Draft Simulator I built from scratch: https://supersimnfl.com/draft-sim (I recommend you use it on a tablet or PC)

It has been a while since I have shown off my Vikings depth chart, have a look: (ratings from PFF, graded over a span of 3 seasons) Hard to argue that this hasn't been a successful free agency spending spree. Now if some of our draft picks can hit for a change...

I get the reasons to be optimistic - Jax is a beast, having Alcala/Varland/Coulombe as middle relief is better than what we usually have, and if Duran and Stewart are healthy, this could be a string unit. But there are legitimate reasons to worry about Duran regressing and I'm doubtful on Stewart making 25+ appearances due to his health. Will they stick with Alcala/Varland or option them for the likes of Blewett/Tonkin too quickly? Will Castellano prove to not be a liability when he eventually gets put into a close game? I think Ynoa has sneaky upside as a reliever if he can stay healthy. I also wonder if some former starter prospects could make a dent in the latter half of the year like Prielipp and Raya. And please, if we get to the trade deadline and we're competitive but the bullpen is running out of gas, do something! I'm not asking for a massive move, but acquiring Trevor Richards and doing nothing else last year was the equivalent to flipping the bird at the fanbase.