AlwaysinModeration

They are projecting Buxton gets caught stealing twice. Crazy town.

Funny, as I was reading though this thread, exactly 5/125 popped into my head as a likely deal for Darvish. That would be fantastic.

I for one would like to see Yu Darvish pitch for the Twins in the World Series, but that’s just me. I would also like to see Yu Darvish and Chris Archer both in Twins’ uniforms this spring. I can’t believe the snails pace of the free agency this winter. Most of the relievers are gone (kind of over market price), but almost no other player (SP or position) has signed. They have to sign, right? Will prices come down?

Reminds of when John Kruk was on David Letterman, recounting how he sold his number to Mitch Williams for two cases of beer. He said “it’s a sad story, Mitch got run out of town, I didn’t get the number back, and the beer’s all gone.” It’s a country music song waiting to be sung.

Bold. Also, some of us will declare some games over before they are over, and some will renounce our fandom forever but still be back. And Riverbrian will be MVP of game threads, which will be tangential as ever.

Ok, I’ll play. Mauer wins batting title and gold glove. Too much? Ok, Mauer gets 2,000th hit on April 22. Jim Thome gets enshrined in the Hall of Fame. Johan does not. Miguel Sano gets a 50-game suspension. Twins lose out on the Darvish sweepstakes, but sign Jake Arrieta. Buxton steals third base. Brian Dozier starts the season slow. Ervin regresses. Brent Rooker gets big league at bats. That’s all I’ve got.

I applaud Betsy, as it took a great deal of courage for her to step forward, and as evidenced by the aftermath of her post, which is undoubtedly prolonging the trauma for her, her hesitation in coming forward is understandable. I hope that this revelation will be a further step in changing the culture in sports - and other arenas, but we are focused on sports - in which young men who become superstars, think that women fawn all over them (reinforced by some who do), and think they can get away with anything. I also think there is a culture of enabling these sorts of behaviors (was his agent “looking the other way”?, do the ushers at the Lookouts need to put up with this sort of nonsense?) that also needs to change. It’s not new - I feel like I should go reread Ball Four - but it is long ovedue. I am sure Sano views the events differently than Betsy does. I hope that Sano takes steps to make amends for his actions, and learns from this and improves his behavior going forward. I hope the Twins organization takes steps to make it clear that they won’t condone it and that they expect and demand better. And I hope that this doesn’t draw on too long for Betsy, but that she can feel good that she did something important in bringing this to light. Thanks to Brandon for your measured piece, and to the moderators for keeping the discussion civil.

Phil Miller didn’t vote for Johan. God, I hope LaVelle does. Johan has 3 votes, and is at 2.2%. He really doesn’t deserve to get booted on the first ballot.

Merry Christmas, Twins Fans!

They are now in “serious talks.” Definitely seems like there is lot to the Rangers / Indians connections. If he helped get Darvish, I’d be all for it. I also think there is enough 1B / DH ABs to go around.

Bob Sansevere did not vote for Johan.

Johan has gotten two votes. He needs approximately 19 more votes to not fall off the ballot.

So now we are judging Hall of Fame cases on the four best years?

You people are doing this wrong. The correct answer is and always has been “that’s too steep for Archer, who is entering his decline phase and isn’t that good anyway.”

Johan is suffering from a number crunch. The ballot is stuffed. You’ve got new guys like Chipper and Thome. You’ve got Vlad and Hoffman who easily could have gotten in last year, but didn’t, so taking votes on most ballots. Then you’ve got Bonds and Clemens, who should have gotten in years and years ago, but the electorate are finally getting over making examples out of them. And then Edgar and Schilling are finally getting the attention they deserve. Finally, you’ve got folks like Mussina and Larry Walker, who are deserving but are slowly building their vote totals over years. Add it all up, and throw in your random Vizquel, Wagner and Rolen votes, and there just isn’t a ton of space for Johan. What a shame. On the other hand, Joe is going in. He has a decent chapter or two left to write, even though I don’t think he needs it. Not really sure how he’ll end the story; gold glove, batting title, 2500 hits, 20 SB season, World Series MVP, or even some random, soon-to-become iconic game-saving defensive playoff game play (think Jeter ball flip against Oakland), but I’m sure there will be something. Also remember, Joe has several intangibles in his favor already: 1) one team his whole career 2) hometown kid 3) crystal clean image through steroids era 4) that behind the catch catch of the backstop carom 5) “Well played, Joe Mauer”

Only $130 million surplus value for Archer? From this perspective it does seem unlikely that the Twins could trade for him with prospects. Just out of curiosity, what surplus value would Royce Lewis and Buxton have? (And Sano and Berrios?)

Since there is a Gerrit Cole topic, let’s try one for a better pitcher who could be a Twin for four years instead of two. What kind of a deal would it take? And could they land him without giving up Lewis, Buxton, Sano, or Berrios? Here’s my suggestion: Kepler, Gonsalves, Jay, and Kiriloff. Would that be enough? Would Gordon have to be in the deal? Or Rosario?

Perhaps, but there is another. Deceptively high spins rates, Yoda has.

I had to dig back through the forums to find this page, but I specifically wanted to comment on the Alston page. Here is a fascinating look at demographic trends in baseball since 1947. African-American players are down to under 7% of all players, and most of them are outfielders, and only 2-3% of pitchers are African-American. Latino players are about 27% of all players and roughly 20% of pitchers. https://sabr.org/bioproj/topic/baseball-demographics-1947-2012 I think the fact that the Twins have hired Rowson and now Alston as hitting and pitching coaches is significant. I note that the two recent signings, Pineda and Rodney, are Dominican pitchers who I believe are both Afro-Latino. Maybe I am reading too much into this, but it seems like the new front office may be setting up the organization to capitalize on a league-wide inefficiency. The article makes it clear that African-American players contribute a higher percentage of the games WAR proportionally than white players. Alston worked with the As on their pitching rehab for several years. With Trevor May and now Michael Pineda as prominent TJ cases, he may have some invaluable experience to bring to bear. On a related note, I also would very much like to see the Twins go after Chris Archer. It would cost a lot in terms of prospects, but he would be an ace for this staff, on a much cheaper contract than Darvish would cost. His 2017 numbers were down because of an abnormally high BABIP. (And new Twins Bench Coach Derek Shelton has been with the Rays for the most of Archer’s time there.) The 2019 rotation could be: Archer Santana (if extended) Berrios Pineda Romero

I “liked” this for sheer randomness.

In that years the Angels went 22-11 in Colón starts while the Twins went 24-9 in Santana starts. Maybe the voters were looking at the wrong win totals.

That seems like a fair price for a pitcher to slot in at the top of the rotation.

Likely back at Chattanooga for another season, possibly up to Rochester. Maybe he gets taken, but I doubt it.

On days that he is the starting pitcher, will the Twins DH Castro? ....that is, FOR Castro?

The Twin Cities have two of the 30 votes for this award? Congratulations, Paul. Can you please lead the team to another 26 game improvement? Or better yet, another 44% improvement?