Ricky Vaughn

I've been wondering about him. Nice interview, thanks for doing it.

I've been wondering about him. Nice interview, thanks for doing it.

I've been wondering about him. Nice interview, thanks for doing it.

"I'm counting on it."
Okay, but please don't bet on it.

I think AK has the ability to be the twins most complete hitter in years. So yes he will be the key if his wrist is ok.

Looks like the key was Cubs pitching.

Kirilloff up from St. Paul and back in the lineup and Farmer in at 3B seems to have charged the offense. Some of the outburst is probably coincidence as guys were due to breakout at some point here, but so far I'm liking the allignment. Now, is Buxton ever going to play CF?

Wow 20% of the season played and you want to kick ass and take names. Have a little patience.

Wow 20% of the season played and you want to kick ass and take names. Have a little patience.

Unfortunately baseball is hard. It is even harder when you play against other teams that are also trying to win. 

If the hitting and pitching and fielding lined up and your average runs scored was higher than your average runs given up, the team would be 162 and 0.  It doesn’t work that way.  As for coaches in players faces, the world doesn’t work the way it did when Casey Stengel managed, or even Billy Martin.  You can’t yell a team to success no matter how loud you are. 

I think he would be against being a full time DH considering the way his contract is constructed. How many Dh's get MVP votes? He seems driven to be the best he can be, and I can't see him accepting this role. If he does then I think it must mean his knee and or hip are a lot worse than is publicly known.

You may be right, IDK. When I read your proposal my first reaction was that pitchers would concentrate on a fastball and an off speed pitch they could throw for strikes but the hitter has trouble doing anything but fouling it off. Remember Scott Baker and how He would get two strikes on the hitter then go to his off speed stuff. It wasn't good enough to strike them out and they would foul off pitch after pitch after pitch. He would have been a star in your league. LOL But you may be right, the hitter just becomes more defensive and concentrates on putting the ball in play.  It would be interesting to see a game played under those rules.

I think you’re on to something, though. The evolution to pull and launch at all cost results in so many pitches taken. The pitchers trained to avoid anything but the extreme periphery of the strike zone, the batter focusing on a specific narrow area of the strike zone. Frustrating.
 
My idea is less radical, but also stands no chance of actually happening….
Restrict the number of pitchers available to pitch in a game, and institute new, larger minimum dimensions for newly built ballparks (or deaden the ball which would be much faster, if feasible). When starting pitchers’ goal was to finish a game, they didn’t waste pitches. And necessarily that meant not trying to strike out every batter…at least not by nibbling and trying to get the batter to chase. When there were 5-6 guys in the lineup who couldn’t reach the power alleys, those batters tended to try to put the first good pitch they saw into play. The geometry of the game is out of whack, and the continuing reliance on relief and ‘3rd time through the lineup’ strategies needs to turn around somehow. 

too different, I think there would be a lot of 1-0 games with very few base runners. Unless the pitcher was limited to only fastballs.

Half of the roster would have to be on the IL for this to happen.

I like Joe Mauer & respect his numbers & career a bunch……. if he tares his knee up like Oliva after 8 years his path is doomed as well. Not his fault he stayed more healthy!!……………Oliva is my 4th guy!

Excellent take on things. The only place I disagree with you is Randy Dobnak, If he is healthy and the need arises I think he goes right behind Ober. There paying him 1.5 million this year so If he's healthy and pitching well and the team needs a starter hes going to be used. Also you are absolutely right about Caitlin Clark, She's a human highlight show all by herself.

Excellent take on things. The only place I disagree with you is Randy Dobnak, If he is healthy and the need arises I think he goes right behind Ober. There paying him 1.5 million this year so If he's healthy and pitching well and the team needs a starter hes going to be used. Also you are absolutely right about Caitlin Clark, She's a human highlight show all by herself.

Even if Ryan's arm fell off tomorrow, the Twins did ok on this trade. Joe supplied a lot of innings last year for a team that was desperate for them. Nothing Cruz did would have helped the team more.  I agree with Dr Gast about him coming back some day as a coach.

I like Ryan very much, pretty much coming to MN as MiLB player. That came & showed us that he's a true MLB SP. He has that great FB and he's working on his slider. He'll continue to work on his secondary pitches & maybe Lopez can show him how to throw his CU. Then we'll have another Johan Santana on our hands, we can only dream.
It's really great trading with teams like TB, MIA, LAD & CLE for SPs because they can afford to lose a trade & still come out ahead with so many great SPs coming up. This FO is great at selling at the deadline. I only wished they were more aggressive in their dealings with PIT,  Reds & OAK when they were motivated to sell off their top of the rotation pieces.
Although I've always loved the Ryan/ Cruz trade yet I really don't believe Cruz is washed up. The time Cruz left MN he was having eye problems. Also many players have floundered with the Twins, left & went onto to greatness. Yet there are other that had prospered here, left & floundered. I believe part of that is finding a key in different team that unlocks the untapped potential and also it's chemistry. A player that flounders after leaving MN isn't always because MN was lucky & got rid of a player at the right time. Sometimes it's because the chemistry isn't the same or a player had given their heart to MN & never recovered.
I felt the chemistry with Cruz, the day I heard he was coming here. His time here was magical to the time he left. I wouldn't look at the stats and then his age & come to the conclusion he's done. I'd look at the underlying conditions & see that his eye problem is solved and that he takes good care of himself, if he'd return to MN the magic would return.
Although I know that it'd  be great to see him break many of his records in a Twins uniform. I also know we have a plethora of candidates that'd benefit from having time at DH. I wish Cruz well at SD. Even if Cruz won't make it back as a player, I wish he'd make it back as a coach & bring back that magic.