Seth Stohs

Definitely CHS.

So I asked Derek Falvey about that earlier this afternoon. The facilities in Ft. Myers and around baseball were shut down to people to be cleaned over a weekend. The Twins have a bunch of their minor leaguers from Venezuela staying at the academy, and then there are rehabbing players down there as well. I don't know about Rortvedt specifically. Balazovic lives off 'campus' with Enlow, Baddoo, etc. I don't think they've all been there the whole time, but I think Balazovic has been. And, I don't know that he has (or has been able to) work out at the Twins facilities anyway.

Balazovic has been in Ft. Myers the whole time.

Not necessarily... This team is strong and deep and any one player being out for awhile will hurt but shouldn't be the end of the world. For Tovar to get called up, maybe Polanco gets hurt and another SS option gets COVID... You have to make sure you're covered three deep at least at each position. And guys like Tovar, Renheimer are definitions of 'Replacement Level Player" but if they can make the plays at short, hold things down, the other 8 in the lineup and this pitching staff can make up for it.

Initial 60-man roster thoughts... the #MNTwins have some of their top prospects that are in at least AA, but they chose their veteran, minor league free agents, most with MLB service time. Tells me they are in it to win it. I think that's OK actually. Sure, I'd like to see Balazovic, Enlow, Canterino, Javier, Baddoo, etc. But, 40-man roster spots are valuable. The minor league veterans are more ready to contribute to what we all think will be a really strong team. And, no need to worry about DFAing. Also, they have room to add thanks to two players on the restricted list and presumably Chacin being on the 30-man roster and such.

I haven't heard that. Nothing has been announced yet.

https://www.startribune.com/twins-coaches-bob-mcclure-68-and-bill-evers-66-sidelined-for-season/571529672/ LaVelle Neal also wrote that the Twins radio broadcast crew (including Cory Provus and Dan Gladden) will not travel on the road during the 2020 season. They will, however, call all 60 games. They will view the road games on a monitor and call them from the Twin Cities. The decision is clearly due to the goal of keeping the traveling party as minimal as possible.

According to LaVelle Neal of the Star Tribune, Twins coaches Bob McClure (bullpen) and Bill Evers (bench) will not coach in 2020. https://www.startribune.com/twins-coaches-bob-mcclure-68-and-bill-evers-66-sidelined-for-season/571529672/ Because of COVID concerns, teams will be cautious (or should be). These two coaches are both in their 60s, making them more at-risk to the virus. The article notes that Pete Maki, the Twins minor league pitching coordinator, will take over as the bullpen coach. McClure (68) and Evers (66) will remain on the payroll and could be called upon in an advisory role of some sorts.

The teams are announcing their rosters... I mean, the ones that have announced their rosters...

Also... Thank you!!

I can add Ryan Jeffers to the list of players who will be on the 60-man roster.

I'm guessing pinch runner will be the final thing they would consider in making their regular season roster... Maybe a playoff roster, but not a regular season roster.

So, the Twins dropped their roster down to 29 players when MLB put the roster freeze on in March sometime... This roster is 30 players... The Twins likely will stick with those 29 and then maybe add one more player. So, who is that player? If I'm reading this correctly, it's Lewis Thorpe, right?

I agree... call a tie if it's still tied after playing normally for 10 or 11 innings. I prefer that too. Also, maybe that decreases the chance of a tie after 60 games.

Depends on the team, the manager, whether they're the home or road team. This isn't new to baseball, just new to MLB. Strategies have been developed for a few years now.

Might as well use the same rules that they've been using in the minor leagues the last year or two. It works fine. That "ghost runner" is an unearned run. Other than that, pretty much everything else stays the same.

I haven't looked. I figure I don't need to know until they start up. But, I thought they might be creative with that kind of stuff, but it doesn't sound like it.

There is no service time if they're not on the MLB active roster. Only active roster counts toward service time. Lewis doesn't have to be added to the 40-man roster unless he is added to the 26-man active roster at some point.

Just FYI... Sounds like the Twins made the phone calls yesterday... I've heard from one player who is heading to Minneapolis, and another who said he is not on the 60 man team. So it will be interesting to see how this gets announced.

Ryan O'Rourke retired a couple of weeks ago and announced that on social media. Maybe that's who you were thinking of? https://twitter.com/RyanO_Rourke/status/1270180198231822338

Matthew did some digging for his list... Just noticed he's got Juan Minaya and Lane Adams, two guys that were minor league free agent signings without invitations to big league spring training. I put Caleb Thielbar over Blaine Hardy since Hardy had Tommy John surgery in March.

This was a fun exercise, so I did it before I read through Matthew's choices... Here are mine (in yellow). My philosophies: 1.) Make sure you have enough depth at each position, noting that several players can play multiple positions, but make sure you'll be OK if a starter is out for any extended period. 2.) Make sure there is enough pitching. 3.) At that point, it's all about the prospects. The choices: C: Ryan Jeffers and either Tomas Telis or Ben Rortvedt. IF: Zander Wiel, Aaron Sabato, Royce Lewis, Wander Javier (just can't have another entirely missed season). OF: Alex Kirilloff, Trevor Larnach, Matt Wallner, Brent Rooker RP: Caleb Thielbar, Cory Gearrin, Jake Reed SP: Jhoulys Chacin (who will be on the 40-man probably), Griffin Jax, Jordan Balazovic, Blayne Enlow, Matt Canterino, Cole Sands What do you think? What would your strategy be, and who might make your list?

The cap is only related to the draft, not the free agents.

Larnach should have been inclujded as a college bat, but at the same time, he's just such a good all-around hitter that he doesn't fit that same profile. I don't know. As for Sabato, I looked at a few pre-draft mock drafts. I think Baseball America had Sabato going 14th overall. I saw him in the late teens in another one. I think on draft day, Jonathan Mayo had him going #27 to the Twins. So I don't think he was an over-draft at all. Jeremy Nygaard reminded me on Twitter that Sabato is a draft-eligible sophomore, so he had two more years of eligibility.

On Tuesday afternoon, the Twins officially signed their 2020 first-round draft pick, Aaron Sabato. Slot value was $2.57 million. Sabato and the Twins reached an agreement at $2.75 million.When meeting with media, Aaron Sabato reiterated often just how well he fits into the Minnesota Twins organization. At one point, he noted, “I’m in the perfect spot with this organization and I want to be a Minnesota Twin.” That connection is obvious. As we discussed before the draft, the Sean Johnson-led Twins scouting group has made a concerted effort to select powerful collegiate bats in the high rounds. That has been evident in the selections of Brent Rooker, Ryan Jeffers, Matt Wallner and now Aaron Sabato; all college sluggers who absolutely mash. In 83 college games at North Carolina (64 in 2019, 19 in 2020), he hit .332/.459/.698 (1.158) with 31 doubles, 25 homers and 81 RBI. He walked 61 times to go with 72 strikeouts. Sabato recalled a conversation he had with Twins minor league hitting coordinator Donegal Fergus shortly following the draft. Sabato said that Fergus reiterated the Twins hitting philosophy. “We want you to swing at strikes. We want you to take balls, and we want you to hit the ball a long way and do it at a high rate without striking out and walking a ton. For me, that’s what I base my hitting about. I’m trying to do the most damage on every pitch, but also be disciplined enough to take my walks and spit on the good pitches.” Sabato knew right then and there that he was in a great situation for himself. “Right there, (I realized) that I was in a pretty good spot with the organization that had just drafted me.” Sabato discussed drills that he has done often in college with his hitting coaches. He stands in the batter’s box and takes pitches, calling out the pitch type and its location. He said it has helped burn into his brain what strikes and balls look like, and ultimately which pitches he can try to hit really hard. He also talked about hitting against top pitchers such as former Gopher right-hander, and the #3 overall pick in the 2020 draft, Max Meyer in February. It is a challenge, of course, but Sabato has learned how he wants to handle those situations. “People say you have to get amped up, but for me it’s How calm can I be and How relaxed can I be against the best guys? And that’s when I’m at my best.” Sabato continued, “I realized I need to get more disciplined and more fine tuned in how I go about it. That’s what I’ve learned. I stopped worrying about who I am facing and started just worrying about what am I doing in the box.” The reality is that he has lofty goals for himself and all pitchers that he will face going forward are going to be good, and should he get to the big leagues, he will want to remain calm for every at bat. “I want to play Major League Baseball, and I want to do really well for a really long time.” With the signing of Sabato, the Twins have signed three of their four 2020 draft picks. Last week, they signed UT outfielder Alerick Soularie and prep pitcher Marco Raya. Kala’i Rosario, a high school outfielder from Hawaii, was their fifth round pick. He remains unsigned. The team is about $150,000 under their slot value, so they could go well above Rosario’s slot value of about $330,000. Click here to view the article