AlwaysinModeration

90

I don’t know, to me, Ryan Eades has the most impressive line—how does someone give up an earned run and have a 0.00 ERA?

Not only one of the biggest hitter the Twins have ever signed, isn’t his contract literally the biggest FA contract they have ever signed, on a per year basis? When I saw this headline “Cruz Control” I thought it was in reference to him being “player-manager” today. Is Cruz a potential future coach?

I don’t know, but he really had the Yankee batters he faced yesterday off balance. Maybe between 10-12?

Great news on the roster decisions, in my view. Fun to see ask Tortuga make the team. Worthwhile to see Austin stick around. A nice story to see Harper make it. Makes sense the Adrianza and Cave made it too. Rocco will have his work cut out keeping everyone fresh. Also glad that Magill and Reed aren’t on the roster, frankly.

Rosario might need to work on his managing skills. The lineup has two LF, no 3B, and he himself is listed as LF but is batting in the DH position and isn’t playing in the field. Buxton missed a diving catch of a LaMont Wade double.

Rochester player manager Nelson Cruz facing off against the Twins, managed by Eddie Rosario. Cruz gave Rosario a bearhug as they exchanged lineup cards at home plate, and took a looong tip of the cap when he came up. El Tortuga already with a stolen base. Other “Red Wings” include Cave, Austin and Garver.

An absolute laser.

Checking in from Ft. Myers. Sunny and 77. Here with my dad and middle son. Tony Oliva delivered the lineup card. M. Perez hitting 96. Garver with a thrown out stealing. Royce, Kiriloff and Larnach in the lineup. And already caught a foul ball. So, there are your highlights so far, through one....

In my experience, whenever my wife says “I’m 99% sure”, it is, at best, a 50-50 proposition. That said, I want to rec this forum for the title “incredibly silly debate with my wife.”

How about Astudillo getting Perez’ spot until they need a fifth starter?

I would like to see Buxton bat leadoff, mainly because I want him to get as many ABs as possible. I seem to recall a certain Twins CF starting his career leading off (and hitting a bunch of leadoff homers) before settling in at #3.

At what point do we start taking Buxton’s spring training seriously?

This is actually a great question, that goes well beyond Aaron Gleeman and Kyle Gibson. There are times when players, even superstars, “aren’t good”. Some players have entire lost seasons. Some players are pedestrian in the minors before coming into their own. Some players excel in the minors only to flounder for years in the majors. The question is which players are good, either right now, or soon in the future? Which ones are worth investing in, holding on to? Which ones are Cliff Lee, Aaron Hicks, Brian Dozier, while which ones are Oswaldo Arica? There are a million different paths to success in baseball, but the path is rarely Mike Trout-linear. That’s why following the career of Kyle Gibson...and Byron Buxton....and Nick Gordon, and Lewis Thorpe is so interesting.

I also spoke too soon about this extension happening. MLBTradeRumors now reporting the talks went nowhere. Damn.

Well-said. I stand corrected.

There is a fascinating and important article in the Athletic, with in-depth reporting (and a lot of anonymity) about the terrible wages and living conditions of minor league players. It’s an eye-opening piece, behind paywall. Here is a short excerpt, but the whole piece is worth the read to get a sense of the difficulty facing all of the minor league players: “Triple A: $2,150 per month in their first year, $2,400 per month in their second year and $2,700 a month in their third year. (Estimated $11,825-$14,850 per year.) ... Double A: $1,700 per month, which goes up by $100 per month for added years. (Estimated $9,350+ per year) High A and Low A: $1,160-1,500 per month, raised by $50 per year for added years. (Estimated $6,380-8,400 per year) Many players have the option of requesting equipment through their respective agencies, who are able to provide gear, cleats, nutritional supplements and other necessities. Still, factoring in all the expenses of playing professionally, even while recognizing the obvious impact of bonuses, it’s a sobering fact that in 2019, the federally recognized poverty line for a single-income household is $14,380. ... “Let’s say it’s like a two-bedroom apartment with a common living area, we’d have seven or eight guys, probably, and this is not an exaggeration. It’s just basically a bunch of air beds around the whole thing. It actually makes it easier to fit more people into an apartment when it’s unfurnished, which they often are. It’s like, ‘Oh cool, there’s no furniture, that means we can sleep more people in here.’” I’ve seen others post on this topic before, but this piece dig into the topic in a way I’ve never seen before. Covers how MLB lobbies Congress to keep these wages down, gets quotes from a wide range of people involved with the game. The comment section already has 300+ comments. (This is a lengthy piece, and I am not copying much at all, so I think I am well within reason on what I am copying hear as a sample.)

I was just about to post 3/40 when I read you post, Brock. The fact that Gibson is talking about this with the press is a very good sign, he clearly wants to stay in Minnesota, so I imagine this will get done. Then everyone around here fretting that the Twins don’t have any pitching other than Berrios next year can calm down. If and when he signs, I’d like to hear the Gleeman and Bonnes takes. For a lengthy period of time Aaron was in the “he’s just not good” and John was in the “he’s going to turn a corner” camps. Will Aaron admit the error of his ways?

Congratulations on your rapidly growing family! Buckle up, the ride is only just getting going...

I feel like this is a trap, but...remind me what you told us about the bullpen?

The socks, obviously.

For some reason, watching Harper pitch, I’m thinking of Pat Neshek.

I would have no problem with Harper going north with the team in place of Magill.

He’s still only 27 years old, and was considered by the baseball industry as one of the top prospects in all of baseball when he was coming up through the minors. It’s certainly within the realm of possibility that he could start to put it all together in his late twenties - there are lots of examples of that. And a change of scenery, new pitching coach that can help refine his (bio)mechanics and help him increase confidence could certainly help push him in the right direction. Who knows how his season will play out, but it should be fun watching. I think the FO has shown a pattern of targeting post-hype prospect guys who have become borderline AAA/AAAA but are still mainly in their prime years of 26-28. (Cave, Austin, Schoop, Perez.)

Kind of seems like Perez is making a decent case for himself as the #5 starter. Another 4 shutout inning starts today, 3Ks, 3 hits and a walk. /sss, small sample size alert!