NoCal

Great thread. I have a visual image of almost all of these guys. My first Twins game, I say Bernie Allen hit a game winning home run against Detroit. He had been a quarterback at Purdue, and upset the Gophers in their great 1960? season. He and third baseman Rich Rollins were stars in the early Twins teams, before the 1965 champion season. I have not seen the name of Zoilo Versailles, the shortstop who led the Twins to the Series in 65. And other names - Reno Bertoia, who was the Twins first third baseman, soon supplanted by H. Killebrew. What a rich tradition!

Kind of late to this thread. I recommend listening to an interview by David Axelrod with Theo Epstein. Theo describes how he rebuilt the organizations in Boston and Chicago, especially in Chicago. It begins with defining the Way that the team needs to play, and then by building a scouting department, and proceeds to rebuilding the player development process. What goes on at the major league level is almost irrelevant; the long view is essential. And transparency - tell the fans honestly what you are doing, and set expectations appropriately.Check out The Ax Files podcast and get an insight into how these young, new baseball execs operate.

The Dodgers have won 4 straight division titles and are probably heavy favorites to win a fifth. They can wait to see if they have an internal answer at second base. If not, revisit the Twins in June.

The Warriors play right next to the Oakland Coliseum and their games are full of people from all over the Bay Area. Oakland is actually better positioned to draw from the most populous parts of the metro area - East Bay, plus the north Bay Area via Richmond bridge, and Peninsula via San Mateo. The current owners of the A's are totally committed to low payrolls and maximum profits, unlike the Haas family who owned the A's in the glory years. The franchise is very cynically run, and the constant churning of its roster is driving away its core of fans. Contrast that with the Giants, who paid for their stadium (finally) and constantly strive to build teams with a long term view, including loyalty to their core players. Pray that the new Twins organization emulates the Giants, not the A's.

Also nice that Beresford will earn more this month than he probably earned in the last two years.

Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe Meyer's gem was 4 innings. No walks, 2 hits, 6 strikeouts. A good outing but definitive sss. Btw - Nolasco pitched a complete game 4 hit shutout a couple of nights ago. Anyways - time will tell. One thought - now that folks are clamoring to trade Dozier for pitching. Trading a solid major league position player for a pitching prospect is truly high risk. Even the best pitching prospects, like Meyer (or Bundy or Wheeler or Berrios....) are one pitch away from total system failure. You have to develop your own.

Carson Fulmer has an era of 8.40 and 5.4 walks per 9 innings. Probably about what Tyler Jay would have if the Twins rushed him as much as the Sox pushed Fulmer.

As I said in another post - isn't it amazing how dominant Milone was in Rochester? How can you possibly evaluate a pitcher on minor league results - the stats seem meaningless.

Imagine. Milone went down to Rochester and gave up virtually no runs in 3-4 starts; totally dominant. Berrios has also pretty much handled AAA. The jump to the major leagues appears to be huge. The notion that minor league performance tracks pretty clearly to major league success must only apply to hitters.

The most recent number 1 prospect in baseball got called up by Houston a couple of weeks ago. Think the name is Alex Bregman? Last I looked he was hitting .053, and began his career 1 for 32. Coaching helps, but every guy is different; tough sport. Counseling may be more appropriate.

Being a Bay Area resident, I think that this is a wonderful addition for the Giants. Probably a good move for the Twins too. I really hope that Nunez can ride with the Giants to a World Series, after his very frustrating years in New York. Good for the Twins to be enablers. And they may get rewarded with a starting pitcher, someday.

The step from AAA to the major leagues is the single biggest leap that a player has to make. Often too steep, requiring multiple efforts. And some times the Twins do benefit from this struggle - this year, Grossman and Nunez seem to be "late bloomers" who may have figured it out. We seem to remember the "misses" instead of the "hits". Every organization has their regrets, and their "keen judgements".

Duffey is a relief pitcher; two excellent pitches, not a third. One inning at a time, and he would be dominant. He and Chargois, together again.

If Twins starters could get past the 5th inning, the team would not need 8 relievers. The reason that Arcia was lost is because the Twins could not afford to reduce their pitching staff. It all comes down to the starting rotation.......

Duffy has had a nice run as a potential starter, but without a third pitch, his future may be in the bullpen. He did that in college, and I think that he could be an excellent reliever in the majors. But the main problem with the Twins bull pen is their starters - they simply do not go deep enough into the game and Molitor has to use 4 relievers every day just to finish a game. No bullpen can withstand that kind of grind and demand.