Otto von Ballpark

Our "nice thing" Jorge Alcala may be activated for the series in Boston beginning Tuesday: https://www.startribune.com/twins-jorge-alcala-could-be-ready-for-activation-for-boston-series/600090158/

Sounds like Souhan's column today: Are Twins managers at their best when the expectations are low?

Hey, they put a competitive team on the field in St. Paul, at least. Actually not sure what the Saints are competing for, though. There are no minor league playoffs this year: https://ballparkdigest.com/2021/07/14/milb-turns-triple-a-extended-season-to-tourney-kinda/ The Saints are only half a game out of the division lead, but they're apparently 8.5 games behind the "2021 Regular Season Champion" title, with only 24 left to play for that designation. Then there's 10 extra games, stretching into October, called a "Final Stretch" tournament but without any seeding or advancement.

This is straight news! As I understand, Stu has been shifted to the opinion page.

I wanted to include the Twins as an option, but then Twins Daily would have been legally obligated to perform a mental health check-up on anyone who chose that option.

Standings as of today (odds from FanGraphs) : TEAM W L PCT WCGB WC ODDS DIV. ODDS NY Yankees 72 52 .581 +2.5 61.8% 27.8% Boston 70 55 .560 - 62.8% 9.8% Oakland 70 55 .560 - 23.0% 7.1% Seattle 67 58 .536 3 2.5% 0.4% Toronto 64 58 .525 4.5 10.8% 0.4%

Twins ticket. Should be less crowded.

FWIW, next Wednesday August 25th vs Boston would be the "bullpen game" turn in the rotation. Ryan could slot into that on normal rest, although it seems like "normal rest" might mean +1 day for the Twins in 2021. So perhaps Thursday instead, in place of Barnes? If not then, the next "bullpen" turn of the rotation as currently constructed would be Monday August 30 in Detroit.

Ryan is 25 years old, so the Twins already have control of him through his age-31 season. I don't think they'll bother manipulating that to age 32. And holding him down for cost savings would take even longer -- at least until next June (past the "Super 2" arbitration point), or longer if he collects any service time this September -- and the savings would be fairly marginal/speculative. I think the Twins recognize they need MLB arms for 2022, and Ryan is one of the best positioned to contribute due to his age, health, and AAA performance this year.

I’m just glad that Rocco left Barnes in long enough to qualify for the win.

Actually, since 2021 is his 7th pro season, Burrows will be eligible for minor league free agency after the season (assuming he is not placed back on a 40-man roster by then).

No player is free of concerns, and I didn't mean to suggest that. But Syndergaard would be the first free agent SP in history to get a 5/125 deal without starting a game for 2 years, right? And only pitching a handful of bullpen innings, if he manages to return in September. And like you brought up, Syndergaard will have a QO attached, reducing his leverage -- something Darvish did not have, due to being traded midseason. Again, Syndergaard turns 29 in a week. I guess he had the surgery when he was 27 and a half, but he's not 26 anymore (none of us are ). I don't know where you are getting your other info either, but Darvish didn't return to MLB until 14 months and 11 days after the day of his TJ surgery. Pretty much the same track that Syndergaard was on until he got shut down with elbow inflammation (a "6 week" shutdown that is now at 12 weeks, although I did see that he threw 15-20 pitches off a mound a couple days ago). The shutdown isn't necessarily anything to worry about long-term, but it does impact the near-term issue of his free agent market. Also not sure where you are seeing "an uptick in K rate the last two months" of 2019 -- Syndergaard had the exact same K% (24.3%) and K/9 (9.2) in August-September of 2019 as he did in March-July of that year. And Syndergaard pitching 197.2 innings in 32 starts that year is statistically pretty much identical to Darvish throwing 186.2 in 31 starts in 2017. It's a difference of less than half of an out per start. Nothing against Syndergaard, I agree with you that he could be pretty good going forward.

Following the success of the recent 1991 Twins 30th Anniversary Celebration at Target Field, here's a preview of a future milestone, the 2021 Twins 30th Anniversary Celebration from the year 2051. (EDITOR'S NOTE: As time travel can introduce many unintended consequences, especially for the gambling conglomerate which owns Twins Daily in 2051, we have attempted to remove any references to specific baseball events that haven't yet occurred.) Once again, Dick Bremer hosted the 2051 proceedings by himself, as none of his 156 different broadcast partners from the 2021 season were memorable enough to recall. What follows is a transcript of the event from Target Field, broadcast exclusively in 2051 within the Caesar's Palace Sports app (blackout restrictions still apply). [2051 DICK BREMER HOVERS AT A PODIUM OVER TARGET FIELD, AGELESS LIKE HIS NAMESAKE DICK CLARK] BREMER: Many call it the worst Twins season of all-time. Some consider it matched only by [YEAR OF FUTURE AWFUL TWINS SEASON REDACTED]. Blown saves; trade deadline sales; viruses in the clubhouse; no fans in the stands and few watching -- legally, anyway -- at home. Like a Bizarro Lake Wobegon, it was a team where all pitchers were somehow below average. Tonight we will relive that trauma from 30 years ago. We have many of the players from that roster here tonight, even [PRONOUNCES CAREFULLY] Tzu-Wei Lin, and a majority of the 57 different pitchers used by the Twins in that fateful 2021 season. At first base, his strikeout rate was legendary in his time, even if it seems low now by 2051 standards; the "Boquetón" now retired to Boca Raton, Miguel Sanó. At second base, fans may "blank" on his brief time with the Twins, but he'll always be designated for assignment in our hearts: Travis Blankenhorn. At shortstop, the only thing hotter than Andrelton Simmons's glove was his Twitter takes. Simmons could not attend tonight, as he is accepting an honorary doctorate from YouTube University. So instead I present a [AIR QUOTES] "mystery" shortstop that all true Twins fans should recognize. [NOBODY RECOGNIZES THE PLAYER, WHO IS J.T. RIDDLE.] At third base, he is known as the "Bringer of Rain" for washing away all sticky stuff from major league baseball forevermore; still somehow the most expensive free agent in Twins history even after 30 more years of inflation, Commissioner Josh Donaldson. In the outfield, it's -- a bunch of infielders! [TZU-WEI LIN LEADS A SILENT PARADE OF PLAYERS ACROSS THE OUTFIELD; NICK GORDON, HOWEVER, REMAINS ON THE BENCH.] Designated hitter Nelson Cruz, appearing by Zoom hologram from Las Vegas where he is playing tonight for the A's. On the mound, the starting pitcher who in 2021 made the third of his improbable [REDACTED NUMBER] separate stints with the Twins, Andrew Albers. And in the bullpen, the person who traveled the least distance to be here, Caleb Thielbar. Finally, at every position, including catcher, pitcher, mascot, and head groundskeeper, La Tortuga himself, Willians Astudillo! [SEVERAL MINUTES OF THUNDEROUS APPLAUSE AS ASTUDILLO DRIVES THE LATE T.C. BEAR'S FOUR-WHEELER TO EACH POSITION FOR A CURTAIN CALL, LOSING AND RETRIEVING HIS HELMET EACH TIME.] Throwing out tonight's ceremonial first pitch is second generation Twins waiver claim Ralph Garza Jr. Jr. [NOT A TYPO]. And catching the first pitch, the lab-created genetic combination of the 2021 Twins front office, and current 2051 Twins intern, T.D. Falvine. [FAN-ACTIVATED ANGRY FACE EMOJIS SCROLL ACROSS THE FIELD AS THE FIRST PITCH IS THROWN.] And now, please enjoy tonight's intra-continental game between your Minnesota Twins and their legendary opponent from the 1991 World Series, the recently renamed Hotlanta Braves. Our 2051 sponsor, Amazon Prime Time Travel, received a commission for any thoughts you had while reading this.

I'm not sure how Darvish circa 2017 is comparable to Syndergaard now. Darvish had his surgery in March 2015, returned in June 2016, and spent a season and a half as a solid, healthy starting pitcher before he hit free agency after 2017. Syndergaard had his surgery in March 2020, had a rehab setback in June 2021, and will be 2 years removed from his last MLB start (or significant innings) when he hits free agency after 2021. Also, while Syndergaard is younger, he's not quite that young -- he turns 29 in a week, 2 years younger than Darvish circa August 2017. Which is more important, 2 years of age, or 2 calendar years without pitching/starting? The overall free agent market might have been more favorable to players in 2017 than 2021 too. Syndergaard was still effective in 2019, but his K% was dropping steadily from 2016-2019, even as the league K% was rising. Maybe not a big deal by itself, but it doesn't take much of a performance question to put the kibosh on a long-term deal right now, given the setback, absence, and market issues noted above.

MLBTR has a nice list of potential FAs this offseason: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2020/11/2021-22-mlb-free-agents.html It's not a star-studded class of SP, but there are still a lot of interesting names that shouldn't break the bank.

Good point about the qualifying offer. If Syndergaard takes a one-year deal, it's very likely back to the Mets on a QO. And I think him accepting a QO is a pretty likely outcome, even if he comes back and throws well out of the pen to finish the season. I tend to doubt he'll get 5/125 in that case -- that would be unprecedented, given the amount of time he has missed immediately leading up to this offseason (and the questions about his performance during 2019).

It's an interesting question, although as you note, sports are really just reflecting the societal changes. It was truly a different world back then, when you think about advertising: no prescription drug ads on TV, no constant quirky national ads from insurance companies, far fewer phone company ads. Daily newspapers, weekly magazines, and the "Yellow Pages" were still a vital part of every household. The internet really changed marketing (including what can be marketed). And on a technical level, TV cameras, resolution, and sometimes reception were relatively poor. A lot of our modern in-stadium / in-broadcast branding would not have shown up as well on broadcasts in the 1980s, and in-person attendance was still relatively low too. (Note how some old ballparks were plastered with ads before the popularization of television.) There was still advertising of course, but without the internet, I think it generally still flowed into print in the 1980s, and into 30-second broadcast commercials for those who could afford it.

It could be said the the Twins "fertilized their yard" in the early innings of today's game, and are now harvesting their fruit by taking the lead.

Teams aren't allowed to option injured players, or waive/outright them during the regular season. (They can DFA them for trade or release, though.) Of course, in Thorpe's case, they'd just put him on the 10-day IL, and transfer him to the 60-day IL if they need the 40-man roster spot at some point.

The shoulder is what had Thorpe on the AAA injured list for over 2 months too. Tough break.

If it is present on multiple providers, it could indeed be a Bally issue. If email isn't responsive, you could try tweeting at them to get their attention. (I have a Twitter account just for various customer service inquiries.) If you could get a little video clip of the problem, you could attach that to the tweet too. https://twitter.com/BallySportsNOR

Albers would be on short rest Thursday -- he just pitched on Sunday, same as Charlie Barnes who is scheduled to start again Friday.

Since Thorpe is Australian, does the fastball look any better in kilometers per hour?

Beau Burrows would be available to start on regular rest. Although perhaps that would warrant an additional "yikes."