The Great Hambino

Well, at least he's trying to show some fire

Looks like that was one too many

With St Peter out of the picture, who's going to be the one to tell me this is my fault?

A manager can't really help it much if his starters are constantly failing to get to the fifth inning. Stack a few of those together, and no amount of effective bullpen management will avoid the crunch. But a manager absolutely can control starter usage when they are pitching effectively, or at least aren't letting the game get away early. You don't know what the next few days will being you in terms of start length (especially with this rotation so far) so you need to squeeze whatever you can out of them when they're on to avoid using bullpen resources when you don't have to. Not that he's had a lot of chances in this department so far this year, but I think Rocco has shown mixed results in this area. It's easy to imagine him pulling Lopez after 6 in his good start based on track record, but letting him take the 7th meant one less bullpen arm compromised going forward. On the other hand, I know Ober was about as sharp as a butter knife in his second start, but he was at 84 pitches with a 5 run lead going into the 5th. I think he should've sent him out instead of going to the bullpen there. Even if he doesn't finish the inning, you're giving yourself a chance to save one more arm going forward. But he didn't, and then Paddack does his thing the following day, and now you're relying on SWR to relieve the stress on your bullpen with no off days in sight. Not a good spot to be in. And if we must keep Paddack around for the time being, can we at least get him away from SWR in the rotation? I'm starting to get Bundy-Archer vibes with that arrangement

Chandler Bats owes Nestor Cortes an endorsement deal or some stock for everything he did to raise the bat's profile

You could see the extra 5 innings of rest in that dive Great play

That, plus more aggressive baserunning, plus lineups seem more static generally so far ... it does seem like Rocco at least read the comment cards

We now return to your regularly scheduled White Sox

Castro busting out Mary Rowengartner's floater pitch

Maybe they're trying everything they can to get Buxton/Correa to waive their no trades

Release the McCaughan! (Or DFA him after the game, anyway)

I do think burning the state to the ground would be harmful to many, many women

Everything looks like it's up and running for me on MLB.TV now. Couldn't watch anything on the laptop, but Big Inning was still working on the TV app for some reason

Rocco: "Exactly. And then in the eighth when they bring a righty back in, you just put Larnach back in for Vasquez and - " [Jayce Tingler whispers something in Rocco's ear] Rocco: " ... I have to make some calls" [Rocco quickly and quietly leaves the room]

The announcement in the chart says 668-3 will go live with the pregame shows, sort of like how when a game airing on FanDuel/Bally's/Fox Sports North Plus would show up on 668-1 or 668-2. The channel is active just for live events

I haven't had the Twins.TV sub in the past (obviously) but I have had the out-of-market version of MLB.TV (also through the MLB app) for a few years now. In the past, all spring training games were freely available regardless of location, broadcast feed, etc., and the restrictions didn't kick in until the regular season started. My understanding is that would also be the case with Twins.TV. So if my understanding is correct, it's showing up to you the way it should be.

It's only $50 for the year if you have a season ticket package - excuse me, have a MyTwins membership <eyeroll> - so if you're really on the fence about either purchase, it's not the worst perk in the world.

The tease of the possibility of new ownership only to have Lucy pull that football away right when most fans are starting to pay attention again may have hurt optimism more than if they had never been put on the market in the first place. Plus, the biggest offseason addition the past two years has been, what, Carlos Santana? I know he worked out as well as anyone could've hoped, but at the time of his signing it didn't exactly fire up the fanbase, especially given the lack of any other meaningful investment in what seemed like the opening of a championship window. On another note, I'm surprised the A's had any fans available to answer the survey

If they're going to try to protect him and use him only in mop-up duty, then they better manage like they have a 7 man bullpen and adjust their starter usage accordingly. It sounds nice on paper to let him grow into the role and ramp up his leverage gradually, but all it takes is a couple short starts/extra inning games in a row before they've potentially boxed themselves into using him in high leverage if the've been dipping into the pen earlier than necessary. We saw it last year with Henriquez. If they're not willing to push their starters deeper than normal, then they'll inevitably be choosing between Castellano and, say, Duran for the third day in a row, or Castellano and Alcala for a second inning when he wasn't 100% sharp. Worth noting that they don't seem have the usual number of early-season off days built into the schedule this year I find it hard to believe that they can't work out a trade if they really want to keep him that badly.

One of the side effects of those PED-era ballots getting overstuffed as players that would otherwise be shoo-ins kept failing to clear the hurdle: some players that absolutely warranted serious consideration would get lost in the wash and fail to get the minimum to stay on. Johan - along with Kenny Lofton, Jim Edmonds, Johnny Damon, and I'm sure several others - definitely deserved the opportunity to let their cases develop over time. I think if Johan were to show up on the ballot today, he'd not only stay on, he'd get elected within five years. There could be some pretty strong veterans committee classes in the next decade

According to Over The Cap, the Vikes are currently projected to receive the top third-round compensatory pick in the 2026 draft thanks to Darnold. They pulled this off while also spending the most money in FA so far (again according to OTC) in terms of both total and guaranteed dollars. Nicely done

My boss is hundreds of miles away, so blocking off an afternoon with "meetings" shouldn't be a problem. I'm going to do a test run of using the new gold bus line to get to the park (switching over to the green line in downtown St Paul). At least that's how I'm justifying leaving my wife alone with two kids in diapers for dinner/bedtime. The things I do for this family ....

If the reports that the Rays are being pressured by MLB to sell in the wake of their stadium fiasco are true, that can't be helpful for a Twins sale if the Pohlads have a number they need to hit before pulling the trigger. Supply up, price down

But then they can't tag and trade him!

1987 World Series, right handed, a bit of a tummy ... is that Senor Smoke? Fun fact: young Hambino once homered off his son (and struck out ... more than once against him, but STRIKEOUTS DON'T MATTER)