mikelink45

I would not pay that exorbitant fee if I were the Saints. This is moving a franchise from Rochester to St Paul, why would the Saints pay $20 M for that? If anything MLB should pay $20 M to the American Association. It is wise to have the minor league team across the river. There are so many logistical advantages. But part of the Saints appeal is that it is not MLB. Does St Paul want to be known as the minor league home of MLB and Minneapolis the major? Lots to unfold here. Minor leagues will never be the same again and MLB has to do some soul searching. If they are looking at cost benefit then Duluth and Rochester could have A and AA teams, but not if the cities have to pay millions to do so.

Poor Jack will always get downgraded, but he deserves the HOF and he was the number one this year. A great lineup needs a SP that is consistent and willing to do what is needed. This was a great rotation, but the WS demonstrated the pitcher that the team thought was their best when they put him in the key rotation spot.

Big hit Eddie got more key runners home than any of the bats other than Cruz. I know he will be gone, but I think he will be missed.

The baseball owners through their lackey – Rob Manfred – have declared that they lost substantial and unsubstantiated amounts of money in 2020. A May 2020 CNBC report said, “Under the MLB’s plan, the highest-paid players could lose about 80% of their salaries, while players making the least amount could keep up to 90% of their pay. The plan calls for players to retain their salary via a tier system. In short, the more a player is scheduled to earn for the 2020 season, the less he retains under the plan.” There were alterations to the initial plan, but executives were doing what they always do, reducing losses. In August 2020, FOX business reported, “Major League Baseball salaries plummeted to their lowest level since 1996 this year during a coronavirus pandemic that forced a shorter season and limited paychecks for players…” October 20 Bleacher Report said, “After the COVID-19 pandemic forced 898 regular-season games to go on without fans this summer, MLB's 30 teams dropped a combined total of $3 billion in operating losses. "The clubs have done a really good job locally and we tried to do a good job centrally," Manfred told Ronald Blum of the Associated Press. "The liquidity is sufficient to get us through 2020. I think if we’re faced with limited activity next year and the kind of losses that we suffered this year, again, it will become more of a problem." Every article on TD and other sites say that salaries are going way down, free agency will be highly impacted and there were a number of very good players – Wong, Hand among them that were released when in the past their options would have been picked up. Since the wealth of owners, the paycheck for Manfred and the pay to the players is in a stratosphere that I cannot imagine it is still fascinating to see the billionaires taking advantage of this Covid opportunity. We can look back to the great depression when the baseball player was in a similar situation and then the wages were really determined by attendance. In a fascinating Sabr article the author found that the actual cuts in players’ salaries were common but did not match the percent that the drop in attendance would have demanded. Instead, like we are seeing so far this offseason, “When an owner determined that a player was no longer performing at a level worthy of his salary, he was more likely to waive him than cut his salary. When he was waived, he was likely to be replaced by a lower cost player, and the lowest cost players were almost always rookies.” The essay also saw a change in long term contracts, “as the economy worsened, teams proved even less willing to make long term commitments to players.” http://research.sabr.org/business/download/BoB-2009-2.pdf In 1918 the Spanish Flu and WWI had taken a toll on baseball too and the season was reduced in length to 126 games. “In desperate need of hitters after losing some 13 players to the war, Red Sox manager Ed Barrow turned to his best pitcher, Ruth, who had won 24 games the year before (2.01 ERA), while hitting just two home runs.” In May: The Babe got the flu, and when the Red Sox physician treated him with silver nitrate, it only made things worse, causing him to choke and pass out. After being rushed to the hospital, there were rumors that Ruth was on his death bed. https://www.axios.com/coronavirus-spanish-flu-baseball-1918-f498f2d4-7726-4a02-a5f5-59c63d982764.html As a side note - Prince Fielder was owed $24million this year, despite the fact he was not playing. That is the beauty of guaranteed contracts and why owners are hesitant to give them. Ken Griffey gets #3.6 million through 2024, and Manny Ramirez gets $2 M per year through 2026. "Bobby Bonilla is a retired MLB player who last took the field in 2001, but, 20 years later, is still getting paid $1.2 million a year by the New York Mets. In fact, he'll get p/aid $1,193,248.20 a year every year until 2035, when Bonilla is 72 entire years old." https://www.sportscasting.com/retired-athletes-big-paydays-former-teams/ During the World Series a crisis was averted as the two teams traveled by train together and talked about holding out for more money. The public was irate and soon Boston would be trading Ruth – retaliation? Who knows? Whether the reserve clause, the outlaw leagues, or the changes in media coverage the tussle between owner and player has never been smooth and no sport is immune to the economy, wars, or other factors. Now we have a CBA coming to an end, terrible player/owner/management relationships, players released, and no idea what the next season will be. How do those who are supposed to put together a roster manipulate through this haze? What will the Twins do? What do players do? I have to add this addendum - the Twins just let go two of their long-term coaches from the Appalachian League - Smith and Reed had a long history with us, but that means nothing in the new cut throat MLB that is cutting teams, leagues, coaches, players. Is Covid a reason or an excuse? Stay tuned.

This is truly a fun group and I am actually hoping that Tony blossoms and AJ falls on his face. Matheny has a steady position and I suspect he is very secure, but of course he could get the Gardenhire effect and be let go just as they rise. Rocco will probably have the consistent support that Francona has.

Interesting is all I can say. I do not know about either until now and you have not convinced me.

Bullpen performance is so erratic that change can be very good. The important thing for the Twins to learn from the WS is that you can over use and burn out a good reliever - Anderson. Bullpen games plus 4 innings of BP per game is too much and arms give out from both injury and fatigue. If a starter needs five days to throw five innings or less why do managers think you can keep throwing out the BP guys game after game - one day off is not enough. I do not care if Rogers comes back or not - the price tag looks to large based on the last two years.

excellent essay - do not delay - time to move to the next phase in MN Twins growth

What has always interested me is a players range - we know Buxton can cover half the outfield now, but what about Kepler and Rosario? In the infield how far does Polanco cover? A SS has to have range. I know his arm is not the best, but how much does he cover? That is really the only position in the IF that has as much range factor - 2B would be second. At 3B I want reaction time - those bullets that come down the line make the 3B almost a hockey goalie. And at 1B I want to know the ability to pickup balls that have to be short hopped from the other IF throws.

In Baseball reference both Garver and Avila had a 0.3 and Jeffers 0.0 dWAR.

What we cannot predict is how the teams are going to approach FA, how many are going to be DFA'd to cut payroll. I look at Rule 5 and think that many teams might look at this as a low dollar commitment - especially for non-contenders. I do not know these players enough to say who needs to be saved. I like the ones this article chooses, but then the question is which players seem most attractive to other teams because the write ups make them all seem good.

I cannot judge this yet. Does Duran pitch in the majors? Does Duran get injured? Too many unknowns. Escobar has contributed well so how can we say we won when the trade players still have not sniffed MLB?

This was interesting, but the thing that caught my eye was what I call Rosario bias - "The 2020 season exemplifies how a small sample size can make a player look better or worse than their career numbers." This could have been the lead to the entire essay, but you chose it for Eddie because he obviously looks better than you expected or wanted. We will miss Eddie when he is gone. Overall the defense is below a championship level and that needs to change. You did not show the 3B or 2B rankings. I am guessing that our players did not get enough games at 2B to qualify for their list. I do find it fascinating to see Goodrum and Schoop ranking so high at SS and 2B, Gonzales was number 8 among 3B, the last one to have a positive score (0.2). I was surprised to see Devers (Boston) really bottom out as the worst 3B and Ramirez (Cleveland) also with a strong negative score. Then there is the big shocker - the worst CF on the list - Mike Trout!

Rocco's Tampa Bay philosophy does not fit with Bauer's desires and an unhappy Bauer is a bad clubhouse. Even though I like Bauer's pitching desires more than Rocco's pitcher usage I do not see Rocco changing.

ESPN had a gold glove preview which I enjoy because it lists the three finalists and not just the winner https://www.espn.com/mlb/insider/story/_/id/30246554/mlb-gold-gloves-preview-which-stars-elite-field so we get 27 candidates to think about for each league. The weakness of the Twins is really apparent - there were two Twins listed. Byron Buxton of course and Kenta Maeda. As usual there is a caveat about Buxton - "Buxton would be a good choice, but he played in only 39 games." In addition the discussions about each position adds six more - no Twins. In baseball Reference Byron had a 1.2 dWAR. Then we had six players with 0.3 dWAR - Garver and Avila both had this (Jeffers was 0.0). Next were our two utility players - Gonzalez and Adrianza were both 0.3. And finally Arraez and Cave (4th outfielder) had 0.3 dWAR which meant that Buxton and Arraez are the only two position players with 0.3 or above dWAR. Two more reserves - Wade and Whitehead were the next in line below the 0.3 level. Sano was at the bottom of the list -0.7 dWAR. The Twins have had 13 individuals win Gold gloves and two years with three winners - Kaat/Battey/Power and Kaat/Versalles/Power. But many with two. I have no idea how this list might have looked if I had all the nominees like this year and not just the winners. The most gloves go to Kaat, https://bleacherreport.com/articles/7787-glove-love-major-league-baseballs-all-time-fielding-team Here is a list of winners http://www.espn.com/mlb/history/teams/_/team/Min/history/awards But the point is, we need gloves. I believe in fielding. The 2013 Orioles and Rays had the best fielding percentage of all time (and I know most don't like fielding pct, but it is a good start). In an article on the best fielding teams of all time David Schoenfield had the 1984 Twins team in the discussion https://www.espn.com/blog/sweetspot/post/_/id/67824/the-best-defensive-teams-of-all-time The emphasis on flyballs has changed the fielding component just like the shift. There are fewer plays in the infield than in the past and OF defense is rising in importance (go Buxton) plus the shift is demanding more flexibility in IF play since 3B players are put at SS and SS move to 2B while 2B play short field. I cannot figure out how we judge the players by position, but I do know fielding and getting on base are still essential skills and we are currently lacking in both areas.