The Great Hambino

These are initial offers. They were never going to be something taken seriously by the opposing party. This feels more and more like we're headed to something that blurs the lines between a luxury tax and a soft cap. You could argue that a luxury tax is a form of a lenient soft cap anyway. The owners will get some sort of formalized cost control in place and increased revenue sharing The players will still get to say they didn't agree to a true cap and I'd imagine they'll get some meaningful concessions along the way - higher minimum salaries, quicker path to free agency, the effective removal of Marlins-style penny-pinching, etc. And neither side ultimately wants to sabotage the upcoming media rights deals. Lower stakes obviously, but the same reasoning that kept the Americans and Soviets from nuking each other during the cold war I wouldn't put money on it (never underestimate the greed of the rich and powerful), but I think we're playing regular season games by May next year with perhaps a 140-game season, at worst

If you look at your Twins prospect rankings from three years ago, are there any patterns or common traits you can see compared to the rankings today in terms of high risers or guys that fell off a cliff?

I'm not sure how this is all gonna shake out. But "competitive integrity tax" is a great name for the reverse-luxury tax the players have proposed on teams spending below the minimum threshold

I'm not choosing because choosing one and not the other is nonsensical. Neither functions properly and as intended without the other. It's like asking if sauerkraut or swiss cheese is more important in making a reuben. It doesn't matter which you choose - if you don't have both, you don't have a reuben. After seeing the initial proposals put out by both parties ... I still think that there won't be a prolonged work stoppage because the looming media contract renewals are the mechanism of mutually-assured destruction that will prevent one. Neither party can afford to kill their media rights market after all the effort that's been put into getting them all on the same 2028 timeline. But I'm less sure of that than I was before seeing the proposals. This is going to be an awful offseason. Given the uncertainty and the ever-growing pile of mediocre teams that are "contending", it might be an awfully quiet trade deadline as well

No

Rough ground ball there for Provus Ground ball to the right side, base hit -- WAIT -- Keaschall comes up with it --WAIT -- Arcia comes up with it

First of all, this says as much or more about the pit of mediocrity that is the American League as it does anything else - they fall all the way to 10th in runs per game when looking at MLB as a whole Second of all, even that level of run scoring is interesting given that they're about as average an offense as you can have Twins slash: .238/.322/.386/.708 MLB avg slash: .240/.318/.389/.707 Twins 1B/2B/3B/HR/Total Hits: 288/85/7/58/438 MLB avg 1B/2B/3B/HR/Total Hits: 288/86/7/58/439 If this is messy to read, this means they are one double shy of exactly matching the league-average hit output by type, and are within 4 points of league average for every slash stat. They couldn't look like a more average offense if they tried, yet they're producing runs in the upper third of the league. Why is this? As best I can tell, they're outhitting league average in terms of OPS by a pretty decent margin (.795 vs .734) with RISP. Is that something they can sustain over a full season? I have my doubts. Do they even need to if the AL continues to have more playoff spots than playoff-worthy teams? I don't know - you'd have to think that someone from the Mariners/Blue Jays/Astros/Orioles/Rangers basket of underachievers will right the ship at some point - and that doesn't even include the biggest disappointments in Boston and Detroit When Tommy P insisted on competitiveness without any competitive actions being taken, I hadn't considered the possibility of the rest of the league sinking to their level. I guess it counts!

Every ounce of grief Outman gets on here is deserved ... ... but he's somehow outslugging Caratini right now. What is going on Victor? At least Outman isn't owed $7MM guaranteed or whatever next year

Buck had such a good jump you'd have thought there were two outs, not one

In his defense, he might've thought Bell caught it in the air

Enjoy your sombrero Outman

Hot smash where Bell caught the grounder on a short hop with the runner basically standing next to him. Runner first tried to retreat to the bag, Bell stepped on first in the process of trying to tag him, and then the runner basically backpedalled into the outfield while Bell awkwardly tried to chase him down to tag him. Called out for going out of the basepaths well before the run came home

I'm not sure running on this guy is the best idea

Eric Byrnes belongs in a penal colony

Brooks nuked that one

Cleveland is one of two AL teams with a winning record against .500 or better (11-10) They are also one of two AL teams with a winning record against the NL (10-8) Man, the AL stinks

A matchup of teams in playoff position 2026 AL: The League of Extraordinarily Mediocre Gentlemen

Did Gomez just glitch?

I think Larnach successfully matrix'd his way around that tag

With Garcia being dropped to make way for Bradley, there's now an 8-way tie for the team lead for saves on the active roster at 1. Also: does this mean there's now an open spot on the 40? Anyone ready to come off the 60-day IL, or are they going slumming for another vet reliever from the bargain DFA bin?

It was nice to see the Twins on the good end of the dropped-foul-pop-up-leading-to-homer exchange Brooks was about as productive as you can be while going 0-4 with 3 Ks, still scoring twice and making a very nice play at third It was a fun win. Funny how a complete lack of expectations can make for a more fun viewing experience as a fan

Does that mean Larnach has more RBI than swings tonight?

Having a homer and a bunt single in the same game should have a special name

Oooh that's a nice play by Lee

Serves the Boston fans right for starting the wave