Bodie

I think we can agree Buxton is a gamer in that he'd never ask out the lineup because of a twinge or minor ache. He wants to play every day. The thing is, he is a Ferrari not a Ford truck (to mix in more metaphors). If your old Ford is misfiring on one cylinder you pop the hood change a spark plug and try again. If it is still misfiring you drive it to your trusted mechanic. You (or at least I) shouldn't just poke around under the hood of your Ferrari. And you REALLY ought not drive it if misfiring as they are a finely tuned piece of machinery. Buxton is much closer to that (mechanically) fussy Ferrari, but he still sees himself as a rugged old Ford. MAYBE he has learned that his style of play necessitates him taking a few games off when there is a slight bit of misfiring...

Post made my mind's day! My broken ribs, sternum and scapula want to kill you...

"90% of life is just showing up." - unknown genius, possibly even me. 90%+ of a 1Bman's responsibility is being able to play catch (granted, with guys with major league arms) without dropping the ball. Most major leaguers can handle that part pretty easily (see Arraez or Sano) That is just barely enough, and works in the short-term (generally). A "big target" is always preferred though this isn't always a physically large man as much as someone who can handle the slightly off-target throws while keeping a foot on the bag. Range is always desired, but seldom found (if he has actual range he is seldom a 1B!). Think back to a young Doug Meintkeiwitcz making plays all over the RF side of the field. For those too young to remember him, after playing 1B for the Twins and Red Sox (at a minimum) he ended up playing years later at 2B for the Pirates! Never saw much of him there (few did - it was in one of the Pirates' dark ages), but he supposedly held his own. If AK can hit like his career in the minors suggest, he will be a good 1B if all he is defensively is that 90% "showing up". As a young outfielder, he should have "plus" range. By all accounts he is AT LEAST that right now, and coachable enough to learn the old "veteran tricks" to keep baserunners a step closer, ot toss a Pendleton off base if necessary!

That, unfortunately, is probably the limit of Buxton's playing time even if he is healthy all season. There is an adage, when dealing with pitchers, that they have a finite number of top-notch pitches in their arm before wear and tear (at best, injuries at worst, usually some combination of the two) ends the career. Of course the actual number is unknown. In Buxton's case he has a finite career span (as all do, except possibly Nolan Ryan...). If he is hale and healthy he should play, and do so basically every day he is so. I don't remember a single one of his injuries being attributed to him being tired or overplayed (aggravating something not included). This would require two things that seem unlikely: 1) Buxton being utterly honest about his condition, no matter how minor something may seem, an 2) Baldelli being willing to play someone pretty much every day if healthy.

The eyeball test doesn't match up with the advanced metrics for Correa. Elite defense? Maybe not, but far better than average. The new shift rules will tell us if he's closer to the platinum glove or to what the metrics said about last year. Almost positive that it will be the former not the latter. I worry MUCH more about 2B defense being exposed, especially if Polanco isn't 100% physically...

Until teams come to the conclusion that a recent Joey Gallo year is preferable to a typical year from, say Greg Gagne, we will get more Gallo types as opposed to well-rounded players.

And if the new rules work like MLB plans, the premium defensive positions (esp. infielders) will return to the prominence of the (not that distant) past. And if this truly happens, the Twins are going to be looking for a dumb trade partner to swap second basemen. And maybe 3B if things don't work as well as hoped.

I've never heard a team with good starting pitching consider a 6man rotation, let alone implement one. If you're talking about going to a six man rotation, it means you still don't have 5!!!

Just a reminder that Johan Santana and Francisco Liriano were brought up into the bullpen (others were brought up the same way) before they forced their ways into the rotation. And it wasn't a few quick relief appearances but most of a season of stellar relief work for each.

We could still have Berrios - the Blue Jay from last year (&Puerto Rico pitcher from last night) say that the Twins might still be ahead... He is nowhere near the guy the Twins had. Just an utter mess - no control, vrlo down and less movement on seemingly all his pitches. And now he's blonde. .

Over/Under 1.5 strikeouts per game played for Gallo. I'll pray for under, but no money to back that up!

Agree 100 percent, though it just seems weird to me. Just have to remember that spring training games kinda get played by gentleman's agreements as opposed to the hard and fast rules. Very strange to nod off during/after a pitching change and snap back to attention an inning later to see the relieved pitcher back for more!

Fair point, and I agree that the "new" guys for this year DO look to be defensive upgrades. I will also admit to having nearly screamed when I saw they signed Joey Gallo, not realizing that he is apparently a more than an adequate corner OF (we'll see about 1B). Hopefully he doesn't need to play often enough for his myriad of other weaknesses to really become a real problem for the Twins... I 'll go nuts if he is regularly playing and roaring past 200 K's!

From your post I have to conclude I retained virtually nothing from my statistics classes (far too many years ago)...

There is a line in this story about the Twins "undoubtedly valuing glove work" [paraphrase by me]. I don't know when you last watched the Twins but this really hasn't the case since Falvey took over as GM! Gone are the days of Gardenhire's "piranhas" whose defining characteristic WAS stellar defense. Nick Punto wasn't kept around simply to see if he could get over the Mendoza line... Our last couple of years with Doug Meintkeiwitcz (sp? -forgot what a bearcat that is to spell!) was another example, and that at a pretty low-level priority as far as defense goes. Gary Sanchez (Mike Piazza without a bat - how does that work???). Miguel Sano (the seeming attention span of a gnat negating any and all of his natural physical gifts). Even beloved Luis Arrias (sp? -just can't make that look right!) was playing 1B pretty much because he was incapable of playing anywhere else, even without the new shift rules - no range or arm. These 3 (and they are just off the top of my head) were all being counted on one year ago to be major parts of the 2022 team. Defense was obviously not a major part of any decision-making process for any of these players being counted on! Any, and even all of them could be justified by optimistic projections (Sano/Sanchez) that weren't met (happens to all teams) or by the fact that you'll have one of baseball's best contact hitters regularly in the lineup (I won't butcher Luis's last name again!). His batting title is a plus that you'd have to say covers for 'adequate' (at best) at 1B (granted, at a position that he pretty much learned on the fly at baseball's highest level). No, I don't think the Twins (at least those responsible for putting the roster together) care a whit about defense. If he doesn't have some ridiculously high ancillary defensive stat (don't get me started on that/those as a reliable barometer!!! - I remember reading that, statistically, Gary Gietti [sp?) was a consistently below-average glove over his career).

I eat yogurt every morning and I'm still a broken down, fat bast... Oh, yoga. As long as as it is led by Kent Hrbek w/ a cig dangling from his lips and a beer (or2...) in his hand. (Actual 1987 WS post game 7 (WAY post game) memory)

Woke up early this morning to the Korea/Japan game (??? Korea vs. somebody, it was either very late, very early or both...) and who was batting but a "B H Park". Yep, our very own Byung-Ho. His stats from last season in one of the Asian leagues would never gotten him noticed by MLB scouts. How did his career go off track? It didn't- he is what he is, and whatever that may be, it isn't a quality (MLB) pro ball player.

10 HR, 27 BB & 28 Ks. (Northwoods League) An interesting prospect if only that he seems to understand that NOTHING good happens after that 3rd strike...

Most worrying position(s)? That is really a no-brainer IMHO. It is pitching and it's use and abuse by Rocco! No bullpen I can think of can take a full season of Baldelli's 4-plus innings of relief per game. Either the physical strain will fell several arms over the season, or overuse will expose why they are bullpen guys and not starters. And no, I don't think that can be fixed with quantity (the only real option for the Twins) or quality arms in reserve. Simply put, no team past or present could stand up to the new-wave style of Rocco (backed to the hilt by the front office) or anyone else asking what he does. And this doesn't add in the long-term damage done to the starters who never learn to pitch when in a spot of trouble...