The Great Hambino

If you'd asked me "what's the weirdest kind of move the Twins could make right now?", trading for a starting pitcher with one year of control would be toward the top of that list. Not good or bad necessarily, just ... weird. Flies in the face of everything else they've been doing. I'm not sure how I woulda felt about it if they'd sent, say, Culpepper and Abel out for Peralta (is that a fair approximation? I dunno). I'd certainly have a lot of follow-up questions But the fact that there was nothing on this until after the fact makes me think there wasn't really much to this, if anything at all. Kinda like how Terry Ryan would talk about being "in on" all these free agents they didn't sign. You don't get credit for thinking about almost making a move. You either make the move or you don't. No partial credit is given out in this course.

I miss the Metrodome "Pay no attention to the seats behind the curtain"

Which grades in particular do you have problems with? Skule average? In what, the UFL?

You have a source for these indications? I can't find anything about SWR moving to the bullpen. Trading Larnach would be the only way Roden makes the opening day roster. He has options, Outman doesn't. That's how they operate. And even if they do choose Roden over Outman, it's only one trade acquisition making the team on opening day on the position player side.

Why didn't they go full sell-off? Because they're operating under the misguided notion that merely retaining the big names from last year's failure constituted "doing something for the fans." They had Buxton, Lopez, and Ryan on the team last year and drew poorly from the beginning. But simply keeping them around will bring fans back? It makes zero sense. The team on paper at the beginning of last year was much better than the team on paper now. I would've much rather they finished the rebuild they began last year so that we could believe that there was some semblance of a plan - that 2028 was truly go time. And for the deadline sell-off that we were told was going to provide short-term as well as long-term impact? If everyone is healthy, there's a good chance that the only player acquired on the position player side on the opening day roster is James Outman. And if they're not willing to start converting starters to the bullpen immediately, then the only impact on the pitching side may be whomever they choose between Bradley and Abel to fill the last spot in the rotation - or potentially neither if Zebby is the choice (SWR and his lack of options will be in the rotation). Short-term impact indeed.

It's a good value signing, but I'd pump the brakes on this fixing the bullpen or being a reliable high-leverage option Here's his historical K/9 starting with 2021 (his last year with the Twins): 13.2, 11.8, 11.1, 9.6, 9.4 If you squint, you can see a pattern that isn't too promising As for BB/9 over the same period: 1.8, 2.7, 4.4, 3.3 (hey, an improvement!), 4.1 (never mind) He's now 35, and his numbers show it. Prime Rogers ain't walking through that door And he's going to be competing with Cole Sands and a couple guys who've never pitched an inning of major-league relief to be the #1 high-leverage option to start the season. That is not the sign of a good bullpen. But it's still a worthwhile move. He's a better bet than whatever camp invite would've otherwise gotten this roster spot, and he's a good bet to be flipped for something of value at the deadline. Perhaps it buys them a little more time to let the young starter pecking order shake out - and by extension, identifying who should get moved to the pen

The hiring team doesn't lose the pick. It's a compensatory pick in a special category that's tacked on to the 32 compensatory picks they dole out each year for losing free agents. So if there's no supplemental draft or penalties where a team is forfeiting a pick, then there would be more than 256 picks in the draft. In other words, it's a bonus pick created out of thin air. The Steelers lose no picks if they hire Flores

If there's a criticism of McDaniel's time as a head coach, you could argue that he struggled to build a culture that could weather the storm in tough times - in hindsight, that whole "What cold? We're not cold. Can't you tell how not cold we are??" debacle in the playoffs in KC looks like an inflection point in the direction of his tenure. He won't have to be a culture builder at all under Harbaugh. I think this partnership has a very high ceiling, especially if Slater and Alt can ever manage to be healthy at the same time.

If by FA you mean minor-league signing with spring training invite, then yes I put the over/under of members of the opening day bullpen that fit this description at 1.5

They're all in on this strategy of building the bullpen out of the things you can find in the center console of your car. And while I think it's a dumb strategy for immediate contention doomed to failure and a diminished return on their most valuable assets, I'd have been even more annoyed if they'd shipped out their bullpen partly in the name of rebalancing their limited resources to other parts of the roster only to turn around and spend more on worse relievers than they had shipped out. They've committed to a cheap bullpen, so the detriment of spending what they have on the catcher position is a little diminished to me. Plus the fact that it's a two-year guarantee - no opt outs, not option years, an actual two-year contract - means they actually have someone able to play the position in 2027 that's beyond replacement level. Partly because of that, it's actually my favorite move they've made this offseason.

I am also, and now see the same message I also checked last year, and that same redemption occurred in November. That seems like a really strange difference to me. Like they postponed it waiting on the limited partner situation and then forgot to do it. Or they're changing how they price/tier the tickets. I dunno. Doesn't seem like the kind of thing that's ideal to start in January

What? What are they waiting for? I suppose this means you're one of the few that has asked this question

I'm surprised he was able to override his internal programming and crack a smile after the win

I don't think Saleh really got a fair shake in New York with the clown show that was going on around him. The defense certainly cratered after he left. I think he's still got a shot to be a good head coach, especially with lessons learned from the first time around. If that's really where the Steelers' job sits, then it was nice knowing you Flores I have no opinion of Hafley. If it weakens a division rival, then cool

Has there been a corresponding roster move announced? How long do they have to announce it?

But he'll have a much tougher time chucking the ball out of the stadium in dead center in frustration after forgetting how many outs there were earlier in the inning (this actually happened)

I swear I've seen it before but I can't find it either. There's even a compilation of Hawk calling walk-off losses that doesn't include it. I don't know how that's possible. It does include a Mauer walk-off walk, so at least that's something

Disclaimer: my Twins memories begin with the 1991 World Series Highlights VHS (that baby should've won an Oscar and is available on Youtube). And this is favorites, not best C: Mauer 1B: Morneau 2B: Knoblauch (if you never heard anything about him after 1997, he was really fun to watch). If he's disqualified for his post-Twins-career shenanigans, then Dozier 3B: For one season, Sano's all-star year. For their Twins career, Koskie SS: Correa (that throw home might be the best sporting moment I've ever witnessed in person. And we at least got to pretend that we were a Big Boy Team for once when he signed) LF: 2019 Rosario, I guess (can Hunter slide over to left?). Maybe the chalk outline they put on the Metrodome wall for Butch Huskey CF: Buxton (close call over Hunter). Unlike Knoblauch, Puckett has more viable replacements behind him to make up for the post-career icky-ness of it all RF: Cuddyer DH: Cruz DH2: Thome (I don't care, I'm inventing the position for him, simply for shutting Hawk Harrelson up for an entire trip around the bases) DH (nice guy edition): I had a college football teammate get drafted by the Twins and spend a few years in their system (he's also now a surgeon and an incredibly nice guy. Some people are just good at everything, the jerk.) Anyway, he got a chance to meet major leaguers on rehab assignments every now and then. When Rondell White joined his team for a spell, he took the entire team out to dinner and couldn't have been more friendly and helpful. I felt that deserves a shout out here Utility: La Tortuga (the clip of him scoring from first against the Yankees was a modern art masterpiece) Backup C: Redmond (smell 'em) SP: Johan, Radke, Pablo, Morris, The Summer Of Liriano (I thought we were watching a mutant pitch that year) Closer: Guardado (Nathan was better, but Eddie was more fun to watch) Bullpen (nice guys edition): once upon a time, a 9 year old Hambino and his family road tripped to KC for a series against the Royals. For the first and only time, we tried to get autographs after the game. Little brother dropped his baseball and it started rolling toward the team bus. Out of nowhere, Rick Aguilera sprints after it, gets it before it disappears underneath, signs it, and hands it back to him. Also, Mark Guthrie made every extra effort to sign my ball even though my crappy pen wasn't working. Even wiped it off on his shirt. They didn't have to do these things, so they get a shout out here Bullpen (local guys edition): Neshek and his funky motion, Varland pitching like a wrestler, Perkins for reinventing himself so successfully as both an effective reliever and fun TV personality (my old college teammate also interacted with him when he was still a starter and on a rehab assignment, and let's just say the experience wasn't exactly the same as with Rondell White) Manager: Kelly (Cigar + Zubaz + Titles = GOAT) GM: McPhail (Ryan disqualified for not going for it at the 2006 deadline) Owner: N/A

I'd argue that you might find a better trade market for relievers at the deadline but in the offseason for starters. At the trade deadline, teams have only one way to improve their team (trades) and only one way to pay for it (prospects - you're not trading away major league contributors if you're in contention). So their capital available to use toward improving their team is limited and they must allocate their resources based on the needs of their roster. If a team is in strong contention, they probably have a pretty solid rotation - at least enough to fill out a shorter postseason rotation. Sure, everyone would like to upgrade, but they have to weigh the opportunity cost of not upgrading their lineup, for instance, at the expense of upgrading their rotation. There's a finite pool of prospects that can really move the needle that each team has, so they have to allocate wisely. So the pool of potential buyers for starters is smaller than the pool of contending teams, thereby shrinking overall demand for starters. On the other hand, every team could use an upgrade at reliever. So we see a lot more relievers moved than starters since the overall demand for relievers is higher, at least in quantity if not quality In the offseason, on the other hand, there are a) more potential buyers since more teams are plausible contenders and b) more resources available to acquire upgrades since free agency is available. Right now, quality free agent starting pitching is ultra expensive, so it's perhaps a more efficient allocation of resources to use prospects (or maybe even major league position players), and not dollars, to upgrade at starter. In addition, you don't have the same opportunity cost problem since using prospects to add starters doesn't prevent you from upgrades elsewhere - you can go shopping instead in the free agent market. Teams are also more willing to use major leaguers in trade for starters since they can be replaced with free agency - that's not an option in the middle of the season. As for relievers, they're so volatile year to year that it's tougher to make a bet on them in the offseason. Unlike at the trade deadline, where we have a better idea of who's good and who's not this year.

If they didn't do any meaningful buying at the deadlines in 23 or 24, I have no idea why they would be buyers now in the incredibly unlikely scenario where they're competitive this year

Re: Raiola, I'd imagine he's waiting to see what shirt Patrick Mahomes puts on next before making his decision

If that's the reasoning, I think it's a pretty risky bet He almost quite literally has nowhere to go but down. And even if he doesn't, is there any reason to think the Jets won't be picking high again next year, and with decreased chances that they had taken a QB this year?

Add in Sonny Gray, and the Cards are paying a lot of money for players to play for someone else.

Wow. Zac Taylor is now currently the only head coach employed by the AFC North Also keeps this impressive streak alive: the Steelers haven't fired a head coach since the AFL was still in existence

If they can't find a viable second location for expansion, I wouldn't be surprised if Nashville becomes what LA used to be for the NFL: the boogeyman that gets communities to shell out giant stadium subsidies under the threat of relocation. A whole lot of stadiums were built between the mid-90s and mid-00s (including markets like Cincinnati and Pittsburgh that are already smaller than Nashville), which means a whole lot of stadium leases are going to be expiring in the next 5-10 years