Otto von Ballpark

Too stronk indeed.

Great points. There have been multiple steps along the way where Sano could have failed the team. He injured his elbow playing winter ball, essentially putting in overtime at third base. By all accounts, he met all of his rehab goals after surgery, even though he gained some weight during the layoff. He had a fantastic season upon his return, and reached MLB as at least a somewhat viable third baseman. Even after his terrific rookie season, he went to winter league ball again, willing to play a new position as instructed by the Twins, until they pulled him out. According to the Reusse article, he put in at least several extra weeks of work in Ft Myers this offseason too.

It's pretty hard to accuse Sano of breaking promises or lying based on this article. Did Sano ever definitively say "I am going to be there" and then wasn't? Reusse doesn't say that, he writes "The word was he had gone to New York for a weekend for a well-paid autograph gig, and he would be back early the next week." Reusse didn't hear that from Sano, and "the word was" doesn't sound like he heard anything definitive from a first-hand source. It takes only a minimal application of the children's "telephone game" to see how these assumptions are problematic, given all we know from this article. Molitor's quotes don't come anywhere close to saying that Sano broke promises either. They might be disappointed that he didn't return, but that's not nearly the same thing of which you are accusing him.

Yup, I'm aware of screen casting, but quality is lowered and it also depends on the horsepower of the phone, since it is re-encoding the whole video. Some phones can't do it at all, while others can do it but will probably run down the battery very quickly (and prevents you from using the device for anything else in the meantime). Unfortunately, the Fox Sports Go app and sites do not support direct casting right now. They probably don't want people casting to TVs because that makes them far less dependent on cable boxes! (Also probably why authenticating with Charter is not allowed on the Fire TV device -- Charter doesn't mind if you use the Fox Sports Go service, but not on a TV.)

Actually, an update to my earlier Vue posts: I'd hold off on Vue at the moment. In the comments of the article linked upthread about Fox Sports Midwest, another article about Vue is linked that details issues they are having with the regional Fox Sports stations. LOTS of reports of users not getting the advertised Fox Sports stations, and it's apparently not a technical glitch -- Vue still doesn't have the right to stream/broadcast them in all regions yet. http://reallifestl.com/2016/03/playstation-vue-just-changed-the-streaming-game/ http://community.us.playstation.com/t5/PlayStation-Vue-Support/Regional-Fox-Sports-Channels-Missing/td-p/45681981 Hopefully they get it settled soon, but this is a pretty big black eye for Vue right now -- advertising these channels before they can even offer them.

Cool, thanks for the article. You're right, no announcement from Fox Sports North yet. I suspect the regional RSNs don't have much of a choice, but there will be a lot of variability in local provider agreements (as evidenced by my Comcast discovery).

Actually ESPN has been pretty good for cord-cutters too -- their app authenticates with pretty much every provider I've seen (for password sharers), and they also seem fully willing to partner with every online TV startup (first Sling, and now Vue). NHL streams are now produced by MLBAM too. I agree both have been great services within what they control (i.e. aside from the blackout issue).

Yes, you would get your "local" Fox Sports. Although I do wonder if you could use a VPN or DNS proxy as a workaround, much like folks do for MLB.TV blackouts. Might be trickier, though -- Vue also has some restrictions about what channels you can stream away from your home IP address, etc.

I've heard very good things about Vue. It's the first legit online replacement for traditional cable/satellite service. I'm especially intrigued by their online DVR service. I'm happy to keep my cord fully cut, but Vue is very interesting right now.

To be fair, though, Ramos' best/healthiest year was arguably 2011, a year when we had playoff aspirations and absolutely zero depth at catcher which was fully exposed (I still shudder when I look at our B-Ref page for that season, and see Butera listed as our primary catcher). His next best/healthiest years were 2013-2014, the year that Mauer got his concussion and the subsequent season. His presence would have been beneficial to the Twins. His performance didn't fall off a cliff until 2015, when he was making arbitration salaries and only a season removed from full FA, at which time we hopefully would have had a replacement or Plan B at the ready. It was unquestionably a bad trade, in the moment and in hindsight, although you are correct that Ramos' modest health/performance have kept it in the realm of general bad trades. Had he performed better, it could have ranked as one of our worst of all time.

I thought that too at first glance, but looking at his past spring training performances, 2016 doesn't seem special at all: http://m.mlb.com/player/408045/joe-mauer?year=2016&stats=career-s-hitting-mlb In 2013, Mauer struck out only twice in spring training, then proceed to shatter his previous career high strikeout rate in the regular season. His performance this spring is virtually identical to his performance from spring 2015 -- the difference is essentially one extra double, and two fewer strikeouts. If MLB's "GO/AO" ratio is accurate, he may even be hitting more ground balls this spring than last, which probably doesn't bode well for him. Doesn't mean he can't bounce back this season, but there is zero evidence of it so far in his spring training stat line.

He did? If you have a cite for that, I'd appreciate it. I've tried to keep a eye on such statements, but haven't found any since the original one. I doubt he more recently said anything as strong as "it would take something fairly significant" for Duffey not to get the job.

You said yourself, if Duffey had pitched this spring like he did last year, the job was his. Unfortunately for him, that means if he was the best performing Twins starter this spring, the job was his. That's quite a bit different than saying the job was his to lose. You might as well say that any spot was any player's to lose, given an exceptional performance level -- a starting job was probably there even for May if he had performed exceptionally well in his early outings. But that deprives the "his job to lose" statement of any useful functional meaning. The point of saying "his job to lose" is to say that no reasonable performance level should matter. Duffey being the best Twins starter this spring was never a reasonable expectation. Duffey scuffling like he did was far more reasonable an expectation. Although I do agree that Duffey had a chance, and he didn't perform well in that chance, but honestly he was never realistically the front runner. At best he had an even chance with Nolasco, and more likely Nolasco probably had the edge and would have won out even given equal performances. But like I said, I seem to be the only one who cares about revisiting that last point, so I will bow out.

I think our interpretation of Molitor's statement needs revisiting here. First of all, the statement was made I believe once, just before spring training began, and to my knowledge I hadn't heard it repeated. Which is unusual given how much repetition there is in baseball talking points, if the job was indeed Duffey's to lose, I think we would have heard about it again. I think Molitor was either trying to give some confidence to Duffey, and/or put some pressure on Nolasco. Or maybe he fell into the expectations trap -- high expectations for Duffey ("if he pitches like last year, the job is his"), and low expectations for Nolasco ("if he pitches like last year... I don't know if we can just give him the job"). In any case, like I said I am not blaming anyone for the decision, I am actually totally cool with it given our current roster and spring performances. Just trying to discern Molitor's true motivation for making the statement, and analyze how and why so many of us bought into it. Seth's most recent projected roster, just 4 days ago, still had Duffey in the 5th spot, the team carrying 13 pitchers, and Buxton optioned to AAA. That is putting WAY too much stock in Molitor's nearly month-old statement, and/or riding the Duffey hype train a bit too long. Even before yesterday's start, there was nothing about Duffey this spring to suggest that he alone could alter the hitter/pitcher balance of our roster, or force one of the top prospects in baseball back to the minor leagues -- except that little old comment of Molitor's that we bought into too much. Now I think I am the only one even talking about this aspect of it, so I will let it go now.

I'm not blaming anyone. The point of this discussion isn't to assign blame, it's to point out that the job wasn't "Duffey's to lose" in any meaningful way.

So in case you haven't heard, MLB games on regional Fox Sports networks (like the Twins on Fox Sports North) are supposed to be available for in-market streaming, for the first time ever, via the Fox Sports Go site/app. It will require an authenticated cable/satellite login, but still, something is better than nothing, right? Having Twins games on any device, or while you travel around "Twins Territory", should be a pretty neat perk for cable/satellite subscribers. http://m.mlb.com/news/article/157696528/mlb-to-expand-safety-nets-in-market-streaming Well, I am a cord-cutter myself, but over the Easter holiday, I endeavored to set this up for my extended family so they could stream games for the upcoming season (and maybe for my benefit at some family function ). I have three family members who live in the Twins market and have yet to cut their cords, each subscribing to a different major cable/satellite provider that carries Fox Sports North. So I thought, piece of cake, right? Wrong. First family member has Dish Network satellite. When you go to the Fox Sports Go site/app, Dish is conspicuously absent as a login option. They apparently still don't have a streaming deal with Fox. A quick call to Dish support confirms this has been going on for several years with no end in sight. Ugh, okay. No Twins streaming here. Second family member has Comcast Xfinity cable. We click on a Fox Sports North show in the Fox Sports Go app/site, and good news, Comcast Xfinity is clearly listed as one of the featured providers! So we log in with the Comcast account, and... it returns us to the schedule, with the Fox Sports North content removed. Apparently, Comcast's agreement with Fox doesn't allow for the regional RSN's to be streamed. The only thing that works for Comcast Xfinity users in Fox Sports Go are the national FS1 and FS2 channels (UFC and poker, yay!). But again, no Twins. Third family member has Charter Spectrum cable. We again click on a Fox Sports North show in the Fox Sports Go app on the Fire TV, and... Charter Spectrum is nowhere to be found in the provider list to login. We do a search of our zip code, and it says Charter Spectrum is supported, but still no place to log in with it. An internet search reveals that for some odd reason, Charter Spectrum's deal with Fox prohibits streaming on Fire TV devices. So no UFC, no poker, AND no Twins. But finally, some glimmer of hope -- on devices other than the Fire TV, or through the web site, Charter Spectrum does allow RSN streaming. We watched a little of a Wolves game on a laptop and an Android phone, and it worked. No really convenient way to get them on a bigger screen, but we didn't get completely shut out. A moral victory.But we're not in the clear yet -- the baseball season has yet to begin, and the Fox Sports Go site/app shows a full week worth of events, but absent are the Wednesday and Thursday afternoon Twins spring training games on FSN, as well as next Monday's regular season opener. A quick search of Fox Sports Go's Twitter help account suggests that they don't have the streaming rights for spring training games (which makes little sense, as these games are already on Fox Sports North), but that still doesn't explain why Monday's regular season opener is not yet listed either. In any case, it doesn't much matter to me, because I am a cord cutter who listens to the radio and supplements with MLB.TV. But this experience has only solidified my cord cutting position. By 2017, MLB.TV is supposed to offer authenticated in-market streaming for all 30 MLB teams, not just the Fox ones, so hopefully it gets better, but I wouldn't bet on it.

I don't really disagree with it, so much as caution others about reading too much into management's statements on such matters.

Posted today: http://www.minorleagueball.com/2016/3/28/11310760/the-top-175-mlb-prospects-for-2016 Buxton 7 Berrios 9 Kepler 39 Gordon 61 Park 81 Jay 124 Polanco 154 Burdi 159 A few more "honorable mentions."

I think that, given the team we assembled on March 1, that is was a perfectly reasonable position to give the job to Nolasco, barring an incredible spring from either Duffey or May or an implosion/injury to Nolasco. Which is what the Twins did, and was probably their honest position the whole time, regardless of whether they could say so publicly.

Could be. Still seems Kintzler is in the mix, and Tonkin and O'Rourke aren't exactly stiff competition.

I wouldn't be thrilled about giving up part of my offseason time off either, if my employer decided not to tell me about a big new objective for the upcoming spring until said offseason. I think if Sano was in Ft Myers at all before the reporting date, and willing to play winter ball as original directed, there should be no issue with any of that.

I don't think they would do that. If they wanted Duensing back, or Cotts, or whomever, they would have done it long ago. They like the group they have, for better or worse, and it's not in character for them to deviate from their plans this early (absent a major injury or something).

Are you one of those folks that says this any time an athlete fails to succeed? I don't even have a problem with Duffey and Nolasco being on uneven footing in this competition -- I just want folks to remember that the next time a player like Duffey gets widely labeled a virtual lock. We're not debating bullpen strategy on this thread -- just stating that the remaining candidates in camp for the last bullpen spot shouldn't be a factor in determining the winner of the rotation competition. You inexplicably brought up Burdi and others even though they are no longer in camp. Tonkin will not be "trade-able" in a few weeks any more than he is today.

FWIW, in the 5 games since the last split squad day, the first pitcher to come out of the Twins pen already has been one with a spot locked up on the opening day roster. Today, Brandon Kintzler was the first out of the Twins pen...

Palka, 3 HR in 5 spring training at bats. I know spring stats are largely meaningless, but that's a fun stat line!