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In 1918 Spanish Flu became the last act in the horrible loss of life that had been WWI, "By the time it had spread across the United States, the deadly event had killed an estimated 675,000 Americans." If you wonder why the world is reacting so vigorously to Corona think about this from MLB.Com history - "In just 15 months Spanish flu killed, according to best estimates today, between 50 million and 100 million worldwide. It infected an estimated 500 million people around the world, about a third of the planet’s total population." United States Surgeon General Rupert Blue in September 1918. “People are stricken on the streets or while at work. First there is a chill, then fever with temperatures from 101 to 103, headache, backache, reddening and running of the eyes, pains and aches all over the body, and general prostration. Persons so attacked should go to their homes at once, get into bed without delay and immediately call a physician.” MLB.com reports, "the flu took: Cy Swain, a minor leaguer from 1904 to 1914 who slugged 39 home runs in 1913; Larry Chappell, a big league outfielder for the White Sox, Indians and Boston Braves between 1913 and 1917; catcher Leo McGraw, a minor leaguer between 1910 and 1916; catcher Harry Glenn, a minor leaguer from 1910 to 1918 who spent time with the 1915 Cardinals; minor league pitcher Dave Roth, who played between 1912 and 1916; and minor league pitcher Harry Acton, who played in 1917." The death of umpire Silk O'Loughlin shocked everyone. He was the name most people recognized. "O’Loughlin umpired in the American League from 1902 to 1918 while working the World Series in 1906, 1909, 1912, 1915 and 1917." The Philadelphia Inquirer reported - "Officials responded by banning most public gatherings. Impacted sporting events included high school and college football games, amateur soccer matches, and a fight between Jack Dempsey and Battling Levinsky." The Inquirer added - "Penn’s game against Georgia Tech was canceled. The Quakers postponed a contest with the Navy Yard’s Marines, and when it took place on Oct. 26, it was played at an empty Franklin Field. A campus rally for a much-anticipated game against eventual national champion Pitt was called off, as was a war-bond fund-raiser featuring movie star William S. Hart. "Penn wasn’t alone. Most college football teams, including an unbeaten Michigan squad, had to shorten their schedules because of the epidemic." "Major League Baseball got lucky. Because of World War I, its season had ended a month early, on Sept. 2, before the worst of the outbreak. Still, throughout organized baseball, at least seven players, including Negro League star Ted Kimbro, eventually died from the flu." In the World Series that was played in September the paper reported, "Boston’s Babe Ruth, then a robust 23-year-old, was stricken twice but fought it off sufficiently to pitch and win a pair of games for the victorious Red Sox." Baseball is a wonderful sport, but health is first and should always be first in our nation, politics, and decisions.

Let's assume everyone is harmed the same way - there is no option - imagine if a group of fans gets the virus at a game or some of our players go down. Lets just assume this is another season with a different story line. The only winner in this might be the Astros.

I always laugh at the NFL coverage - 6 days of speculation and then one day of games. In MLB it is 4 months of speculation and 8 months of games - I like that best. What no system can predict beyond injuries is the wild career year of some player who will impact the game from the mound or the batter's box. If I give myself a challenge of predicting the season I would start with last year - then subtract any losses and add the WAR of the newest additions. Of course that would mean a 110 win season for the Twins so I have to adjust for quality of opponents and that brings me back to last year's record. Unlike the past, I expect us to win the division and my nerves are set on edge only as I look at the playoffs.

Wonderful This is what I have been hoping for. If Polanco or Arraez go down they have to call up Royce - if it is an extended absence.

I have been a fan of Rosario since he first came up. I do not deny his bat and his flare, but I think it ultimately will come down to his price tag and with so many waiting in line I cannot see the twins being willing to pay the price to keep him after this year no

Happy for him as the Buxton soap opera enters a new phase. Won't it be nice when we just expect and see him in the lineup everyday.

Yes - like so many I am emotionally connected with Dobnak and really have no connection to Chacin. Perhaps the real disappointment is that this was supposed to be a four person contest and Thorpe for reasons we might learn along the away did himself and his pocketbook a real disservice by leaving the team for two weeks. I hope whatever happened is resolved and Smeltzer just does not look like an MLB starter. He had a good story too, but I do not see him making this improved roster. Right now Dobnak is the guy and Chacin will probably be released to seek another opportunity.

This is a real change from the ST stories we have been reading and it fun as a change of pace, but of course it is way too early. They could all be injured and not make it out of ST. As the season moves on the real question for each is who replaces them? If the Twins think that Balazovic or Thorpe can take Odorizzi's place they are less likely to pursue him, although I think Bailey would be the next one removed from the rotation. I hope Odo really shows improvement and fines a way to get to inning seven. Ehire has a waiting list behind him - Lewis, Gordon, and Blankenhorn will push him or Gonzalez off the roster. May has had a nice couple years - will he have another. I have such a hard time judging RP and we do seem to have Duran ready to push him and excess like Smeltzer who I think will be gone in a year, Stashak, Ober, Poppen, Sands, and Jax and Dobnak. If May shines and accepts the Twins offer we will be fine, if he hesitates or we get a good offer he is gone and so are some of the other alternatives that I listed..

To me the quick response to bullets down the 3B line is one of the most difficult and challenging fielding reflexes in the game.

The comment is from the article - not mine, but the fact is that Kiriloff has never impressed with his fielding in the OF (look at past TD prospect notes) and 1B seems like the bottom of the lineup locations for players (other than DH). I do see Larnach and Kiriloff in a competition - if Sano does well and I expect him to then 1B is no longer open. Cruz probably has only one more year at DH, but seldom does that go to a young player and if it does Rooker comes back to the discussion. Kepler stays in right, someone takes CF and that means that when Rosario becomes to costly LF will be available. I have no idea who gets it.

Are we at a point where HRs are the only measure of a players value? I have no idea if the famous sophomore slump will hit Luis, or if he will simply regress, but I am also a big fan of his and would like to give him some more playing time before we start reaching for comps and attacking what I think is a really great skill set for this lineup. Go Arraez.

We did not rush Buxton. He just fell apart when he got here.

My guess is that you have not stood at 3B when a wicked pulled ball comes soaring down the line - scares me.

Yes - of course we are holding them back. That is not bad when the player that is blocking their way is an outstanding MLB player and that seems to be the case in all our positions except CF where Buxton remains a conundrum and we have no second choice - sorry no real prospects are ready here, although I would go to a lower ranked prospect which I know frustrates some of you. Rooker has looked good this spring, but where do you put him? In fact Kiriloff, Larnach, Lewis and especially Gordon have to wait for injuries or retirement. Will Cruz go another year? That will open one slot. If Buxton is not ready do we put Kepler out of position again and give a rookie a shot - Larnach? I would. A great team continues to find a way to slip an influx of youth into its lineup like we did with Arraez last year. The old Yankee dynasty was notorious for finding a way to slip new players in and that helped them maintain a decade of dominance. What I really want to see is the development of our young pitchers. Hopefully Balazovic and Duran will me more than fifth spot competitors next year.

The baseball HOF has 17 3B elected - the least of any position except DH which says a lot about how difficult that position is. Is recent years we have started to add more 3B than in any other two decades of the hall with Molitor listed at 3B, Brett, Schmidt, Boggs, Jones, Santo and Deacon White (who?) "White is the oldest player elected to the Hall of Fame – having a birthday (Dec. 2, 1847) that predates any other player enshrined in Cooperstown." And he actually was better known as a catcher. So the fact we do not have a line of prospects ready to challenge for playing time is no surprise. Right now with Rendon, Arenado, Bryant we have an unusual high standard for the base and we probably could not afford anyone else. We were lucky and I am glad. Keep him healthy and the team will be healthy.

I just read the ESPN prospect ratings by Kiley McDaniels and is was an interesting look from a new perspective. Riley came over from FanGraphs and he has a different style than Law and others I have read. What interests me is the Twins prospects ratings, of course, and he challenged some ideas. https://www.espn.com/mlb/insider/story/_/id/28820713/kiley-mcdaniel-top-100-prospects-2020 First of all he has Royce Lewis rated the highest at number 15 - a surprisingly high rating in my mind, but he also lists him as a CF. "His hitting mechanics still need a little work in terms of timing and quieting his hand movement, but scouts rave about his makeup, and the raw power and speed are still elite. I'm betting on Lewis figuring things out and becoming an above-average everyday player with some chance to become a star, possibly in the infield" Jhoan Duran was #54 - "The maturity and command look to be in place for a ground-ball-focused rotation workhorse with swing-and-miss stuff." This is really nice to see, I expected Balazovic to be above him. #58 Trevor Larnach, "He's a slightly better bet in my book than Alex Kirilloff to be an above-average everyday player, but they're in roughly the same area." So the argument about who is number one - Kiriloff or Lewis has a new twist. #63 is Alex Kiriloff, "Kirilloff's pitch selection leaves a bit to be desired, while he's moving down the defensive spectrum to first base and his wrist has been giving him trouble." #93 Jordan Balazovic, "He also doesn't have a bunch of plus pitches that he's learning to harness, rather a number of above-average offerings that he already has a good feel for mixing." It appears on all the lists that the top five prospects is the same (Graterol by the way is #92 "his command might be enough to start, but it's legit closer stuff"). Of course the question remains - who is the not on any list prospect who will be the next Arraez and throw the rankings out of the window. The second question - is it better to suddenly appear on the list and shoot to the top or to start your career with high expectations and high rating and then slowly slide down the list?