Bodie

Well, there was a "thing" or two - including the return of Willy Mays Hayes - but not much good...

Why, oh why, do i not have your powers of procrastination?

Harsh, but pretty much inarguable.

I think you are missing something... I grew up, and recently returned to my hometown. It is about 45 minutes south of Rochester. Growing up, I knew several families who would take a trip north for a weekend in the Cities centered around a Twins game (or two) and shopping (even the gals from a town of 800 want the newest fashions). I know several of them again (after 35 years away) will never again set foot in the Twin Cities after your Floyd reactions. They simply see Minny/StP as unsafe. The more "political" of them swear they'll never allow Minnesota another cent in tax money. While living previously in South Dakota, the feeling was similar, if not even more pronounced. Not good signs for a regional team. Whether you agree with them or not, it is a huge factor outside the metro region.

An ace-type start (but there will never be an ace on this iteration of the team - if fact can't be) from Ryan. Solid defense, even from the black hole of d starting at 2B. Bader is a stud. The offensive numbers will likely fall back (.300 average seems unlikely for any Twin, but...) but defense and hustle will get you quite a ways (assuming you also have ML talent), and he can set an example for others. Added bonus: he seems to be having fun playing this game we love. If I go to Target field, he is currently the guy to keep an eye on all game (hopefully he isn't the only one all season!). Best FA signing since Cruz.

I can think of about four AL Central teams willing to pay for the Twins to actually keep Jax the way he is going!

Fair enough. This whole tread (if this was about a competently run team) is basically about arranging nos. 22, 23 and 24 guys on your team. Nobody is going to do much more than "hold the fort", and that'd better be for the very short term. But it is the 2020's Twins, so everyone will play regularly so no one gets butthurt. Hmmm, I might be getting a little too salty about this...

I'll invite you over for a beer this evening. I have the twins.tv deal, so you can actually see Julien play. "Actively bad" is what I've seen out of him since he was first called up. He has no positive defensive traits whatsoever. And waiting for him to prove himself as a DH is a luxury this team cannot afford. I'll take Gasper 100 % of the time over Julien. Not a pretty choice, but bordering on a no-brainer if you see any future for Julien. He is lost, and even worse, has shown no sign he gives a fiddler's fuc...

Why on God's green earth would you keep Paddack???? Only "good" thing about him now is his injury history... at least he won't be a disaster on the mound for too long!

WTF is Paddack getting into ANY game that is within 10 runs??? And after yesterday's game, I'd amend that to games where the Twins are down 10. Wouldn't trust him to come in for the 9th up 10-0. Put him out with this week's trash. 3 years later, but... that's where he belongs.

Felt pretty confident going into the commercial break with the 7-1 lead. The we come back 2 minutes later, and I remember whose pitching and my first thought was "7 to 1 ain't safe with Paddack and 5 innings plus of bullpen". Swear on my life.

Mom always told me "everybody does it" is not an excuse. Only laziness.

The problem with this Twins team is shockingly simple. The solution less so. The vast majority of current Twins are, by execution, simply one-dimenional players. Not by skills or abilities, but in what they actually do on the field. Swing from the heels no matter what. High launch angel, no matter the player and his strengths and weaknesses especially. "Go full Dave Kingman, so when you hit it it goes far". Buxton would have a similar average if he bunted every AB. His actual speed would beat out nearly a hit a game if he literally did nothing else. That doesn't count the times he gets on due to his potential speed - defenders botching makable plays trying to be perfect to get speedy Byron. You can count the number of bunt attempts from last season on one hand. For the team. Buxton ought to drop a bunt once a series, minimum. Move the IFs in half a step, and the angles move in the hitters favor. Twins opponents know that the Twins won't ever bunt, sacrifice or apply consistent pressure on the bases. And that when they try, they will look like little leaguers in the execution. Ask Terry Fracona which iteration of the Twins is easier- the Kingman-esque slugging Twins of last year (as a specific example) or an earlier version where any player might be called on to drop down a bunt. Or run the bases both aggressively and intelligently. Instead we take a Roy Smalley type player (good/plus contact, "good gap power" and acceptable (but consistent) defense) and focus on power to the exclusion of anything else. Instead of a .270 13 80 line, we are treated to a .240ish 18 65 line and little to no effort on defense or baserunning. "We maximized his power." will be the rallying cry, while ignoring the fact that if that player doesn't hit a homer in that game he has almost zero chance of providing any positive at all. Why? Because it has never been emphasized in their pro career that there is more than one way to skin that proverbial cat. The Twins approach to said cat has been very simple - sledgehammer to the head. Very effective when done right. Very messy and unappealing when botched! This isn't going to be fixed with a new hitting coach hyping a new and improved cat skinning method. The guys coming up (not to mention those already here) have been immersed in the "max effort swing = good results" ethos their entire career. It got 'em to the Bigs. Why change now, especially if a .170 average with a homer every 10 games will get you regular playing time. (see Joey whose name we shall not mention)

Don't think The Wrench was ever that swole (as the kids say)...

A depressing performance against an historically (literally!) awful team. Wondering when last the Pale Hos last won a 9+ run shutout, but any answer will only leave me feeling worse... #FireRoccHead

No need to praise them though... and if he can't figure out how to get this particular team going, there are two options- 1) get a new team (ain't happening now), or 2) find a new manager.

"Hipster Twins Fan Torn" is what showed up in my Google feed. Imagine my disappointment when the full headline did not include any of the following words: "pack", "feral" or "dogs". Thought we'd have an article to unite us to a man, but alas....

Hmmm, sounds like Brian Harper but with some defensive chops.... Acceptable.

This is a Twins page, so the answer to your second question is obvious... Matthew LaCeoix! (now with extra fat!!!)

The Dodgers didn't sign Stewart to his latest contract. Same with Paddack and the Pads. And the M's gave away d'Scalfini. Somehow this "everybody does the same" argument looks like a lot a small wins for everybody who does business with the Twins, while the Twins just keep signing people others won't. And don't act like I listed every injury. That is being purposefully obtuse (or being a Minnesotan, maybe not purposefully...). The "core" of today's (Correa, Buxton) stars are unmovable from the Twins roster. Few teams would clear a roster spot for either if we gave 'em away. Tomorrow's stars (Lewis - who'd be a star if he wasn't injured- and Jenkins) look to be following the same career path as Buxton's. Worse, actually as Buxton didn't have that BIG of red flag entering the majors as either of these to do/will. For thier sake, I hope they get his contract before anyone wises up! The only team that can compare to the Twins' catastrophic injuries, AND injury history is the Angels. And that is 95% missing Micky Mantle. I mean Mike Trout.

Lets be honest. Those are the same people whose sterling track record includes keeping Buxton on the field. And Kirilloff. And Brock Stewart. And the stellar rehabs of the above mentioned. And Paddack. Or keeping injury prone players healthier than expected. I'm sure that has happened, but for the life of me I can't think of a single one! Maybe they are better at diagnostic/scouting side? Doing a good job on reviewing medical records and shared reports on prospective Twins? Correa, d'Scalfini, Paddack or Toppa looking better by the day, medically speaking? Not saying the entire medical staff is incompetent, but the track record needs to be considered as least as much as the "Dr." preceding his name. You don't take diabetes information to use from your one-footed diabetic friends!

It takes a lot of... personality to cause Twins fans to go full-on Philly, but little Chucky did it! People forget just how popular he was before he piddled it down his leg. If he wasn't your favorite Twin at the time, you still saw a huge career ahead of him. And as a Twin. His career ended with much of the state of Minnesota quietly chuckling to themselves as they heard the latest on him. And to have him stinking up Yankee Stadium? A lot of us laughed out loud, and talked of karma or some such.

And in the end, this fancyassed new metrics will remind us that Luis Arrias actually stinks! Three straight batting titles be dmned! A fourth in a row will prove just how bad he is! Curious as to what these stats would say about Wade Boggs and his 2000 hits (approximately) through what was known as the Boggs hole. FYI, the Boggs hole had nothing to do with chicken or beer. It was literally the gap between SS and 3B where he gathered a ridiculously high percentage of his hits. And often not hit with great authority. Too bad he never learned how to REALLY hit...

You had me at "free beer", though I am a bit baffled by the modifier "a" preceding it...

There might have been 83 players better than him last year, though I really doubt it. Even considering his playing time. Saying he is barely average as a shortstop just proves the old adage of "there are three kinds of dishonesty- lies, damnable lies, and statistics." Or, to make it easy for my northern neighbors, I'll quote Homer Simpson: "you can use statistics to prove anything. 90% of all people know that."