mikelink45

Yes but dropping in the overall ratings

I can't go there yet. I like them, but previous FO brought us to or won the World Series and that is the goal and end game.

As we wait for Cody to reveal is 1 - 5 and there has been debate about Kiriloff v Lewis I was fascinated today to see what Keith Law had to say. Kiriloff is ranked 7 in Law's top 100 and he has this to say about him: "Kirilloff is now on the very short list of players who made their major-league debuts in the postseason, also known as the Mark Kiger All-Stars, but unlike Kiger, Kirilloff will be back. He’s among the very best hitting prospects in baseball, thanks to a beautiful left-handed swing, an advanced approach to the strike zone, and all-fields power. Kirilloff was a pitcher and outfielder in high school and missed the 2017 season while recovering from Tommy John surgery, but he returned without a trace of rust and has continued to make hard contact at a high rate. His power was down in 2019 after he injured his wrist that spring, so look for a big power spike from him in 2021, whether he does so in Triple A or in the majors." Lewis who has been at the top of the rating in the past is now number 46: "Lewis was the first overall pick in the 2017 draft but hit a bump in his ascent to the majors in 2019 after some offseason workouts led to a breakdown in his mechanics at the plate. Lewis is a plus-plus runner who projected to hit for average without a ton of power, but before the 2019 season, he adopted a high leg kick and big hand movement, but instead of driving the ball more he would bail out more often and make weak contact on stuff away. The Twins have worked with him to get him more online so he can work toward the middle of the field, making better quality contact and letting him use his legs more often. Lewis is rough at shortstop, with all of the athleticism and speed to play there but well below-average actions and instincts; the Twins have tried Lewis a little in center but plan to continue to work him at shortstop, which I think is smart from a value perspective but an uphill battle on the field. There’s a ton of natural ability here, and just restoring Lewis’ swing from 2018 would go a long way to demonstrating the type of player he can be. I see Lewis as a leadoff hitter with huge speed and plus defense in center, different from the player he was in high school but still a valuable player on both sides of the ball." Balazovic is number 63! Great: "Balazovic has always shown really good feel to pitch, working well to all sides of the plate with advanced command for his age, and his physical projection has started to come out in the last two years, giving him at least mid-rotation potential. Balazovic, the Twins’ fifth-round pick in 2015, now sits 93-95 and can flash better, with an above-average hybrid breaking ball and a solid-average changeup. He’s a strike-thrower who has already shown a willingness to pitch in to hitters, and gets good deception from his delivery thanks to where he holds his glove. There’s still some more projection left here, and he worked in the weight room last summer to continue filling out. If he picks up more velocity or turns either of those secondary pitches into plus offerings, he could end up a No. 2 or better." Duran is 83: "Duran is best known for his unusual out pitch, a splitter-sinker hybrid that carries the awkward “splinker” moniker, but he’s got enough of a complete arsenal that he’s more than just a one-pitch guy who’ll have to go to the bullpen. He’s 95-99 with his four-seamer and his curveball can be plus, although he doesn’t land the breaking ball as often as he will probably need to do in the majors. He has starter size, listed at 6-5, 230, and his delivery should allow him to start as long as he maintains his tempo and avoids rushing through it, especially the way he gets on top of the ball to take advantage of his height. He has less probability to start than his Twins teammate Jordan Balazovic, but has the better swing-and-miss pitch in that splinker, and might be closer to helping in the majors because that pitch can carry him as he works on the breaking ball and on improving his control and command." No Larnach so I guess he is not equivalent to Kiriloff. Also no Rooker and I suspect that Jeffers played enough to not be a rookie anymore, but if not he should have been on the list.

Please give room for minor league prospects to pitch their way into the rotation for this year and the future.

I like the list except for Cavaco, as I have stated elsewhere I cannot see players on these lists until they have shown something in the minors. But the rest is really good and I long to have Balazovic get a number of MLB starts this year. We have four experienced starters now. That is enough, time to work with the young guys. We are not going to sign an Ace - too expensive and I would not do it - so we need to develop one. You have two nice possibilities here. I do not think Enlow can be a number 1. And Sabato in 2024 must be the end of the Sano era unless Miguel figures out a lot.

Getting interesting. But lining up Wallner and Sabato behind Rooker, Larnach, Kiriloff seems like a lot of redundancy. It would be nice to say they are tradable, but looking at FA signings 1B/LF/RF big bats are not in demand. Good luck to all of them, but we know that they cannot all be Twins at the same time. I do hope Rooker and Kiriloff are not sent to St Paul to gain an extra year. If they are that good give them an extension and get them in the lineup.

It really doesn't matter. Of course I would not let Schilling in and I would be fearful of what he might say at the Microphone, but in the long run none of this matters. Does anyone talk about Earl Averill, Chief Bender, or Earle Combs? No, but they are all HOF players. We talk about Shoeless Joe Jackson, but what about his contemporaries? George Sisler? Carl Mays? Harry Heilmann who might have been as good a batter? Pete Rose is an annual conversation icon. But is Tony Perez, Ryne Sandberg, Dave Concepcion part of the annual conversation - two are in the HOF. So we obsess over Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, but during their time of controversy we have put in Whitey Herzog, Deacon White, Alan Trammell while they have been on the voting list and I do not seem them in conversation except Trammell when they talk about Whitaker not being in. So in many ways they have been done a favor, they will have more attention than Larry Walker for much longer.

This is a really good signing. I do wonder at Polanco's true feelings, not the ones that are in the open. It has to be a set back, but if he handles it right we now have a really good infield from second to third. We do not know about Polanco's health after last year. We know Donaldson will probably miss some games as he battles his own physical limitations, we do not know how Arraez is after last years health issues and we also know that Rocco likes to rest players. This really gives him the tools to do it. This excites me. Sano is the weak spot in the infield, but not in a position to really hurt us. I like the Rooker/Sano/Larnach rotation for 1B/DH, but suspect something else will happen. Now for the BP.

I thought you made a good case for not signing him. If we are going to have a utility player he has to be able to cover SS. Wong is a 2B and that is all. No bat, no versatility. Moving Arraez makes no sense, he too has limited versatility and is comfortable at 2B.

I have never thought that players who have not had any professional season should be in the top 20 list unless the rest of the Twins minor leaguers who are not in your 20 are really poor players with no chance.

Kiriloff by far for me. Lewis has not advanced the way that the number one prospect should in my mind. Larnach is actually part of this discussion too.

I will continue shouting into the wind - Kiriloff, Rooker, Larnach - not Cruz, not another DH. Duran, Balazovic, Dobnak unless we trade for a really quality starter and not Odo - that is staying in the same place and we need to improve. NOOOOOOOOOOOOO to Gonzalez - another step backwards. Simmons is the only SS I would look at other than Polanco and it is time for Gordon and Blankenhorn to shine at utililty or get moved on. But the BP is a big need and now that Hand has moved on the options are Rosenthal or ?????????

Now Hand is a National. I guess that leaves only one option in this contest. And Hernandez is a Red Sox so that contest has been settled too.

Finally we are looking at the bottom of the list. After this year we now know how the Twins will operate and all those articles on the best fits or the matchups need a new strategy. Next year make the list, look at the bottom third and start there.

It would be fun to know how that would turn out

Today we can subtract Garret Richards from possible SP and Enrique Hernandez from our utility possibilities - please don't sign Marwin again.

Stick with Rooker, Kiriloff, Larnach - the big name does not always translate to better production.

As much as we appreciate Mike Trout - Jason Stark in the Athletic had these gems: "But Hank Aaron? He had an OPS+ that good over 20 seasons! His average season over those two decades, incidentally: .311/.379/.572/.951, with 36 home runs. Mike Trout, who has had his moments, has had exactly one season in his career in which he beat that slash line, with that many home runs. And Hammerin‘ Hank had 20 seasons as That Guy. Wild." "Hank Aaron played in 25 All-Star Games. Yeah, 25. Granted, it helped that four of those games came at a time when baseball was holding two All-Star Games a year. Nevertheless … Those 25 All-Star Games are the most in history. But there’s also this: The three active players who have appeared in the most All-Star Games are Mike Trout, Clayton Kershaw and Justin Verlander. They’ve played in eight apiece. Which means … The three most celebrated All-Stars of this era have played in fewer All-Star Games combined (24) than Aaron played in all by himself."

That is ridiculous - but the idea of a unanimous vote was not as big a deal then as it is now. When you see Mays and Aaron not getting a unanimous vote it helps us realize the flaws in the Hall of Fame system.

I have to add these numbers from todays Minneapolis Tribune - HANK AARON BY THE NUMBERS 755 The number most associated with Hank Aaron: His career home runs. He memorably broke Babe Ruth’s record with his 715th home run on April 8, 1974, in Atlanta off the Dodgers’ Al Downing. 47 The most homers Aaron ever hit in a single season, 1971; he hit at least 40 homers seven times but never reached 50. 3,771 Career hits; take away his home runs and he still has 3,016 hits. He has the more hits batting righthanded than anyone else in major league history. The only players with more hits are Pete Rose (4,256) and Ty Cobb (4,19). 1,477 Career extra-base hits, tops in major league history. Aaron hit 624 doubles and 98 triples in addition to his home runs. 6,856 Total bases — and no one else in major league history comes close. Stan Musial is No. 2 with 6,134. .305 Career batting average; Aaron won NL batting titles in 1956 (hitting .328) and 1959 (.355). 2,297 Career RBI, still the most of any player in major league history, 83 more than Ruth. The Angels’ Albert Pujols, who turned 41 last week, is third with 2,100. 0 Times Aaron struck out 100 times in a season; in 23 seasons he struck out 1,383 times, an average of 60 per season. 25 All-Star Games, the most of any player in major league history. The only other players chosen at least 20 times are Willie Mays (24), Stan Musial (24) and Mickey Mantle (20). 97.8 Percentage of the vote Hank Aaron got from baseball writers in 1982 to make the Hall of Fame on his first ballot.

I keep seeing players signing with clubs and wonder if we have missed key signings. I really do not see much in the SP market that really raises the bar for me. I would prefer number 5 be a group of young pitchers who can compete for that and for the replacement of Happ and Pineda in another year.

I would take Aaron - no doubt about it.

I was looking for a list of the faceoffs and could not find it. How many of the players that have been featured have now been signed?

Schoenfield: I'm not counting J.A. Happ as a big move, so I'm still waiting for the Twins do something interesting to keep up with the White Sox -- re-signing Nelson Cruz, in particular. No, he won't continue mashing forever, but he was the only hitter in the lineup who didn't fall off in 2020 from that record-setting team of 2019. They need Cruz or somebody similar (Marcell Ozuna?). You would think a team that has lost 18 playoff games in a row would want to go all-in, but the Twins seemingly have been content to go about 88% in the past couple of years"

What does Bonds, McGwire, or Sosa's home run records mean in a game that is just another version of video game? Set their record up as per cent of HRs hit. Ruth hit 60 and the teams averaged 58, Bonds hit 73 and teams averaged 185. Time to get some real perspective. Bonds would have needed to hit 191. In an era where we seem to forget how great baseball has been and have instead focused on the "three true outcomes" we have also lost the three great values - excitement, speed, and drama. I do not want to watch 3 hour and 7 minute versions of HR derby where only three HRs are hit. No wonder BB is losing out on fan response. Put it next to Basketball and football on TV and there is no comparison. I have always preferred radio for my baseball fix, but if I went back to my childhood with my transistor under my pillow I could no longer stay awake long enough for the extra 45 minutes, nor would I be captivated by the potential to steal, to hit and run, to bunt. Strike outs are just a prolonged whack-a-mole game. In 2019 the best pitcher in baseball - Gerrit Cole struck out 326 hitters and there were 21,415 strike outs in the AL. In 1946, Bob Feller the best pitcher in baseball struck out 348 batters and the AL had 5225. Cole struck out 0.015% while Feller struck out struck out 0.06% of all the batters who had a K in the AL that year. https://www.baseball-almanac.com/hitting/histrk4.shtml Yes, I like the bunt, the stolen base, and the hit and run. I do not mind the shift because in the past the batters would have adjusted. I do like BA/RBI/OBP/Slugging but I hate to see a percentage like Miguel Sano with 90 Ks in 186 AB - .483 average versus his real BA of .204. Miguel is projected for 2021 to bat 227 with 185 Ks. Baseball Reference. Here is the list of top strikeout percentages (lowest) for 1000 batters in MLB history. https://www.baseball-almanac.com/hitting/histrkop1.shtml or https://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/at_bats_per_strikeout_career.shtml MLB has now hired Theo Epstein to help make the game more marketable, more appealing. I know - the true BB fan loves the game and does not need change. If we are going to attract the best athletes, the most fans, the most income for the game then we need to address more than the hardline stathead. In honor of my favorite player of all time - Hank Aaron never had a season with 100 strikeouts! He came close with 97 and 96 in 1966 - 67, but never reached 90 in the other 21 years! In 1958 he hit 44 HRs and struck out 58 times! The Minneapolis Tribune had this note - 0 Times Aaron struck out 100 times in a season; in 23 seasons he struck out 1,383 times, an average of 60 per season. Jason Stark adds, "And as long as we’re talking active hitters, you know how many have already had more multi-strikeout games than Hank Aaron had in 23 seasons? How about 51! That group includes the likes of Miguel Sanó (70 more multi-K games in 2,759 fewer games than Aaron) … and Mike Zunino (246 multi-K games despite 647 fewer homers than Aaron). … And coming right up, it’s Joey Gallo (202 multi-K games in the first 473 games of his career)."