Possumlad

I think it's probably counterproductive medium & long term to coddle MLB players to protect fragile egos or confidence. If you don't have the intrinsic confidence & resilience to deal with slumps, demotions, tough love, etc. you're unlikely to last long as a big leaguer. Major League Baseball's a humbling sport (a lot like golf) - confidence and resilience are a meaningful part of what separate long-time big leaguers from the guys who never stick or make it.

Are there any examples of players who turned in to useful big leaguers after striking out 67 of their first 133 minor league at bats? Genuine question - I don't think I've ever seen a 50%+ K rate with more than 100 ABs. To this article's point, I will say he's been better so far in May (albeit small sample size). After yesterday he's at 12ks in 33 ABs in May with an 0.916 OPS.

Amen. Shelton's been so refreshing. I almost prefer watching a Shelton team lose more than a Rocco team win. Not quite, but almost. Starters deep in to games (when they deserve it), consistent line-ups, very few early/mid game PHs, creative base-running. Amen.

Good data & points, fair enough. I support anyone who wants to love & talk to me about the Twins full time, so I'll just say good luck Aaron!

I would have said the same thing, and would have been right. Clearly the Patreon podcast isn't paying the bills, as Gleeman was working at the Athletic when he started it & continued to until now... which was my point. I'm not suggesting he won't get any subscribers at all, just that it would be very tough to pull off as a primary source of income... My guess is we see him sign on again somewhere at some point. But I enjoy his work, and I'm not sure why you say I wouldn't personally subscribe. I'm the target market & may subscribe.

The only way to make meaningful money (enough for it to be your primary income) writing about the Twins is to be hired by a larger publication - Star Trib, Pioneer Press, ESPN, etc. Very few people will pay a subscription fee to read a single writer's Twins takes, no matter how interesting they are. Maybe he should collab here at TD? His writing could be an additional "premium content" carrot for the "Ad-Free Caretaker" tier?

Update from a few days ago that I haven't seen posted anywhere: https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/baseball/news/twins-mick-abel-resumes-playing-catch/ "Twins manager Derek Shelton said Monday that Abel (elbow) has resumed playing catch and "all signs have been encouraging," Aaron Gleeman of The Athletic reports."

We need to keep him in the rotation over SWR when Abel returns from the IL.

Much more than I thought I'd be after 23 games! As I've gotten older I've started to care less about championships & deep playoff runs - although both would be fantastic. I just want a competitive, fun-to-watch Twins team - and this group has been well above that bar so far this year. Twins game are the soundtrack to a MN spring & summer. I'll always tune in, and always take my boys to 10-15 games a year so long as they're not utterly dreadful. Enjoying the squad so far this year! So far I've also enjoyed Shelty much more than Rocco. I'm not an analytics denialist, but Rocco was just so robotic. I enjoy the more consistent line-ups and longer leash w/ starters. (Good riddance to 5th inning pinch hitters). Rocco sucked some of the fun out of it for me. And I'll point out that the record so far doesn't seem to be a mirage. Our run differential (+14) is 9th in the majors. With a better bullpen, we'd have one of the best records as well.

If Prielipp has a couple great starts and SWR puts up another clunker, I think SWR's spot may be in jeopardy when Abel comes back. Results matter, and SWR really hasn't looked good. Outside of that scenario, though, I agree with you. Not many other realistic options behind Prielipp.

The Varland trade was the weirdest at the time & continues to be.

Agree, The trades are looking net positive at this point (both current & long term), but separately the bullpen now sucks. We should have been able to add back 2-3 more competent bullpen arms this offseason. My suspicion is the FO didn't really plan on us being competitive. Will be interesting to see if we become bullpen buyers if we're above 0.500 closer to the deadline.

Unfortunately the Twins don't have a prospect anywhere near as good as McGonigle.

Remember that the Dodgers cut him....

Why not Kendry Rojas?