mikelink45

Does he make us better? If not forget the nice story. I would like to be rooting for the underdog, but this is when the Twins build towards a WS. I would rather have Lamonte Wade if we are going to have an extra outfielder. But Vargas makes more sense.

MLB has now given us all the right to move on. I have no judgment about this. If it repeats I will have no respect for Sano. If he becomes a productive member of the team for the season I will be pleased. Thanks to MLB for conducting what I can only assume was a thorough examination.

The really interesting aspect is to see how Molitor manages this combination. I think we see Granite as the 4th outfielder and Grossman as Pinch hitter, DH alternative and emergency OF. The infield started so settled, but Polanco set that world spinning and now I think we might see one of our minor leaguers given a chance if we see Sano taking a forced vacation along with Polanco.

The last man on the roster, the last man on the staff present interesting speculation. Has anyone done a study to see how much player 24/25 means to a team and a season?

Romero has to be the ace - take him out of relief. I would say the same for Graterol. Those two are the potential MLB aces of the future.

Keep the young players coming. Keep giving youth a chance - we brag about our prospects - start turning them in to players. Small chances are big growing experiences and very important in the long term.

Duffey and Busenitz did not grab the opportunity. Duffey had such a great start and then the league really figured him out. That is disappointing. Busenitz will be back up. Kinley and Hughes are disappointments and Hughes certainly did not perform great this spring, but that contract guarantees him more opportunities than most and Kinley represents the FO - if they choose someone they are going to make sure that person gets a good long look. Just so they do not look too long, we have a pennant to pursue and that means the best players on the roster, not fringed obligations.

More lawyers! This will really challenge team strategies.

And there will be no more contract dumps here or in the NBA until something changes

What does he look like this spring? Are we seeing him make strides with the new coaching?

The pathway for young hitters is really difficult. I hope he can have a quick rise through the minors. There will be a lot of sorting out of prospects and current starters in 2 years.

I remember Johnny Sain who always seemed to do magic with the pitchers and piss off management. A good coach makes a difference for players and sometimes that is really significant.

Decades ago I worked as a tax accountant for Honeywell and National Car Rental Corporation. Taxes are complicated and state and federal laws impacted the businesses and decisions. Baseball is an interstate commerce and has had many laws passed to protect the teams. Now the new tax law creates another obstacle with unexpected consequences that could play into the teams ability to trade and move players. As we look at the Twins and their prospects we often think of assets that can be acquired. Read the following quote from the New York Times and you will see that things have gotten more complicated for everyone. "WASHINGTON — As President Trump congratulated the World Series champion Houston Astros at a White House ceremony last week, he also heaped praise on himself and congressional Republicans for passing a sweeping tax cut last year. He hailed Representative Kevin Brady of Texas, the House’s chief tax writer and an Astros superfan, as “the king of those tax cuts.” What he did not mention is that the new tax law Mr. Brady helped draft, and which Mr. Trump signed, levies a large new tax on the Astros, and similar franchises across professional sports. The law changed a corner of the tax code that mostly applies to farmers, manufacturers and other businesses that until recently could swap certain assets like trucks and machinery tax-free. But by adding a single word to the newly written tax code — “real” — the law now allows only real estate swaps to qualify for that special treatment. That change is meant to capture more federal revenue, in order to partly offset reductions in business and personal income tax rates. It forces manufacturers, farmers and others to pay more in capital gains taxes, if they trade an asset for something more valuable. The Joint Committee on Taxation estimates the change will raise $31 billion over the next decade. It also means that the Astros and other sports franchises could now face capital gains taxes every time they exchange or trade their highly paid players." There is more to this, but this gives you an idea of what could happen and how confused GMS must be at this time. http://mlb.nbcsports.com/2018/03/19/new-tax-law-could-affect-mlb-trades/ http://www.businessinsider.com/gop-tax-law-make-mlb-nba-trades-harder-2018-3

I do not disagree with what you right, but since I am an advocate of advancing the youth quickly Gordon is close enough for me to move him up.

I began to get excited about Rooker last year and I love it when the good ones blaze through the minors in 2+ years or less. Those that do are special - Griffey, Trout...and I hope Rooker joins the list. Many of you know from my posts that I am always ready to move young players in rather than filling in with average vets. I hope that Lewis gets a good spring look too.

My only prediction is that this will be a really enjoyable season for fans.

What he did is not as important as when this happened. Yes he will miss half a season, but in reality it will be a full season. Will he be in baseball condition when he comes back? Will someone else step up and fill his role? For a young player who has had 1/2 good season this is really a bad situation. And in a competitive sport it is not about forgiveness or team support - it is about getting an opportunity and holding on to it. On a team with Gordon, Javier, and Lewis, wasting a chance is stupid.

The Twins greatest strength is its defense in the Outfield. Buxton is the reason and we need to keep building on that - ultimately defense makes a better pitching staff. We just need to tighten up the left side of the infield and hope that Rosario can keep his talent under control in LF.

Is there any chance that his second half surge had some chemical enhancement? I am fine with Ehire to start, but if Gordon gets off to a good start - bring him up, actually if Lewis gets off to a really good start - bring him up!

Bring in Gordon. We will soon have a logjam at 2B/SS so take advantage and do some experimenting. Do not go to old utility players - look to the future.

I have read and thoroughly enjoyed Aaron Gleeman’s Minnesota Twins the Big 50 and thoroughly enjoyed the nostalgia and stories. It is an excellent book and I am sure that Aaron dislikes the one big editing error that has the big page for Jim Kaat as Jim Katt. Otherwise Aaron should be very proud of the book and the quality he maintained. There are players for every era and some choices that surprised me, but nothing that I completely disagree with. I was surprised that it was not 50 players and there were sections on world series games and teams and even our previous two managers – where is Billy Martin? This made me wonder if we did not have 50 worthy players. I tried to think of who I would add. I am sorry that Lyman Bostock was not there and as an old Twin fan I missed Vic Power. Two seasons for Vic, but gold gloves and 280 average with 26 homeruns. He was colorful, exciting to watch and a player who really connected with the fans and the other one was Mudcat Grant who also had too shore a Twins career but was so much fun to watch and cheer for and his 21 wins made him worthy of our fandom. However, since we had managers and teams and games in the Gleeman book I thought about who I would have as NUMBER 51 – and Is THE OWNERS. What can I say to summarize the owners of this franchise? Of course, there is the forever echo of fans calling Pohlad cheap, but I think the most egregious of all his actions was during that low point in major league baseball when they were considering contraction and Carl volunteered to let the Twins be eliminated. Willing to accept $250,000,000 Carl was not going to lose money, but he certainly gave up Twin City admiration. “Well, he was frustrated,” Selig told the Pioneer Press last month during an interview. “The guy tried everything. I know. I was up there. I thought we had a deal two or three times and every time it fell apart, mainly for political reasons. “Contraction had nothing to do with Minnesota. Baseball was really struggling at the time, losing a fortune as a sport. There were owners who believed that contraction might help. I wasn’t of that particular view, but the owners were searching around,” Selig said. Then a local judge stepped up – “Hennepin County Judge Harry Seymour Crump became a local folk hero when he issued a temporary restraining order that forced the Twins to honor their lease and play the 2002 season at the Dome. “The vital public interest, or trust, of the Twins substantially outweighs any private interest,” Crump wrote in his ruling.” (Brian Murphy) Then there was the original owner – Calvin Griffith. In a well written article Kevin Hennessey wrote, “Calvin reacted to the new baseball economics by futilely trying to resist changes such as salary arbitration, player agents, free agency, and the increasing importance of television revenue, which gave an advantage to teams in larger markets. As time moved on, Griffith was considered a “dinosaur” or a “vestige of yesterday” relative to the new baseball owners of the late 1970s. Then there was the Waseca Lions Club meeting where Calvin let his tongue run loose and ended up losing Rod Carew - “Griffith interrupted himself, lowered his voice and asked if there were any blacks around. After he looked around the room and assured himself that his audience was white, Griffith resumed his answer. “I’ll tell you why we came to Minnesota,” he said. “It was when I found out you only had 15,000 blacks here. Black people don’t go to ball games, but they’ll fill up a rassling ring and put up such a chant it’ll scare you to death. It’s unbelievable. We came here because you’ve got good, hardworking, white people here.” Next was the feud between Calvin and his son Clark who refused to serve an apprenticeship in the minors. And in 1983 the team considered moving the franchise to Tampa Bay. http://sabr.org/research/calvin-griffith-ups-and-downs-last-family-owned-baseball-team-0

Nice report I like the photo since I see that as our SS/2B combo in 2019 - by the end of the year and if they can package Polanco and Gordon they can accumulate more of that minor league depth that Falvey mentioned.

If you are going to change batting average we need to start reporting in % Mauer is a 30% career hitter. And then a 297 average woult be 29.7%! Of course, besides the fair pole we have to redefine foul balls to offensive balls, or spoiled if we do not want to confuse with offense and defense. I believe, for accuracy, it is not instant replay it is a slow and boring replay. With all the shifts we may have to redefine positions too. Although even now a shortstop sounds like a refueling (gas) station. And a GRAND SLAM??? Not a four run home run. Which actually should be a four base hit since you better run to first, second and third too. Keep working at it - you might have a publication and then a career teaching people the new terminology.

I have great hopes for him and it is exciting to see him develop. Pitchers need time. I am reading Gleeman's Minnesota Twins 50 book and it is fun to read the stories and remember the players and experiences, but one thing jumps out as I read about Santana, Viola, Radtke - they were brought in young and given a chance to learn in the majors and it paid off. That is why I continue to push for Romero and Gonsalves to be given the opportunity Berrios had to experience MLB and work through some struggles. Our biggest opportunity to get back to the WS is not Odorizzi or Lynn - it is the maturation of this young player and the rise of one or two more from the minors.

This makes no sense - yes DFA Vargas and let him prove himself where they give him a real chance. But I read the LF summary on TD and with Kiriloff, Baddoo, Wade I do not see Cave as a need. Maybe they will prove me wrong.