mikelink45

The biggest question mark is Sano. I think we've begun to see what everybody else has to contribute and we know the potential that Sano has. But his health and his desire to cut down on strikeouts remains a serious question. If he can be an intrical part of the infield and the batting order I think the team has their lineup in great shape. If we look at the players who had Up Kicks last year we can expect a few will fall backwards but hopefully not so much that at all make a big difference when we still have some who may just make a jump forward. It's really hard to predict young players. It took a long time for Dozier to make a transition to the player that we've seen the last few years. Maybe the most important question Beyond Sano is Mauer. It would be great to think that he turned his corner to being a walking 300 hitting player again.

The Question I have is not whether we should have dropped these players, but whether there was anything that should have been done before this to either maximize their talent - a reflection on coaching, or if there was some way to minimize their injuries. That is a lot of injured talent and we need a medical staff that does more than react after the fact. Maybe none of this could have been changed, but we have an awful lot invested in our players at all levels and the FO has made major changes in the coaching. Have they done anything with the medical staff and trainers?

Nice story, but we all know the first 2 weeks of ST mean nothing. I hate to see injuries take away a players career or even damage it (Mauer and Morneau).

I am not sure how I feel. It is not a bad pickup, but I need to see the 25 man roster and understand long range plans before this can be judged.

I wonder how we would use him. I think it is right that Vargas would be gone, but if Sano cannot play third would he displace Morrison at DH? I am sure Mauer is not going to sit so 1B is not available. But I like this a lot more than the old Napoli discussions.

I'll take that.

My concern is how they advance those minor league players. Do we keep getting questionable old vets or move the young players to the majors? Do we package prospects or DFA them like we have with the relief pitchers they inherited.

Romero really impressed. It is too early to count, but a young player cannot overcome bad starts like the regulars can, so 3 Ks is really nice to see. With all the noise about starting pitching, he is the guy I want to see force his way to the big leagues. Really good players can start their major league careers young.

I really like your point about using them when they are young and their arms are alive. Get them throwing before the inevitable injury happens. Relief pitchers need two pitches they do not need to develop like starters do. We seem to have mishandled these quality arms. Relief pitchers are also quite erratic and their amount of use - the daily warming up, etc. means that one or two good years are often followed by a bad year. I would rather see one of our young arms in the BP than a Haley or Kinley.

I cannot imagine Aybar being satisfied to be a bench backup for Gordon.

The question for him is whether he will commit to himself - get some conditioning, lose some weight, avoid injuries, learn the strike zone. If he does he can challenge Killebrew, but if he doesn't the chances are he will flame out like the Panda and Prince Fielder.

I am okay with signing him and dropping him. Keeping him is another matter. We have Ehire and Escobar to fill the utility roles and a number of minor leaguers ready to step in. If they send him to the minors and have him start instead of one of our prospects I will also be upset with that. My desire is to let him provide B game play, entertain the front office and step our of baseball at the end of spring training.

Joe Mauer has been with us a long time and it shows – he is currently number 9 all time right behind Hrbek (16 games difference). Joe has 1731 and if he plays 125 games this year 74 games will tie him with Mickey Vernon for sixth place on the Franchise list and he needs 136 to tie Ozzie Bluege for 5th. In case you wonder – Harmon Killebrew is number one with 2329 ahead of Sam Rice. And if you wonder who is next on the list – Brian Dozier 851. Mauer has the most hits of any current Twin with 1986 (#8 on franchise list) which means we should have a 2000 hit celebration this spring – but problem not 3000 any time soon. The Franchise leader is Sam Rice with 2889 and Kirby Puckett is second with 2304 – just a reminder of how good he was. Rod Carew is 5th with 2085 because of Calvin Griffith big mouth and racial insult or he could have made number one since he has 3053 for his career. If Joe matches last years 160 he will have 2054 and pass Killebrew and be right behind Carew for 6th. Dozier is 42nd with 835 and right behind Greg Gagne. If Brian matches his 167 hits he will be at 1002 hits and we can have another celebration in the fall. That would put him right behind Roy Smalley for number 34. Mauer had 36 doubles last year which put him 4th all time in franchise doubles and if he matches last years total he will be in 2nd place behind Sam Rice and ahead of Judge and Puckett. In one more year he should challenge for number one if he continues his current pace. Dozier is in 34th place with 181 right behind Greg Gagne and matching last years total will put him 26th right behind Heinie Manush. Home Runs is where Dozier in six years has far surpassed Mauer in his 14. Mauer is #14 between Cuddyer and Jacque Jones while Dozier is #12 just ahead of Cuddyer and behind Jim Lemon. Dozier has 151, Mauer 137, Mauer might pass Cuddyer, but no more than that next year while Dozier if he matches last year will pass Roy Sievers for #9 right behind Jim Lemon. Killebrew, Hrbek, Allison, Morneau, Oliva, Puckett, Gaetti make a nice recognizable -1 – 8 on the Homerun scale. Mauer has 875 RBI’s which puts him behind Goose Goslin for number #9 and if he can match last years 71 he will move past Goslin and within one of Tony Oliva. Dozier fits in at number 34 again (with 439)b and if he matches last years 93 he will move to #25 behind Eddie Yost and pass Brunansky, Kubel, Jones, and Smalley from the Twins teams. Batting average is difficult to predict because it is not an accumulating – counting stat. Joe Mauer has taken a plunge since his catching days. At 308 he is between Shane Mack and Brian Harper. Rod Carew is untouchable and is followed by Manush, Rice, Goslin, Puckett. Mauer’s best hope is to hold his position. Behind Harper are Cronin, Oliva, and Knoblauch. In career OBP Mauer is tied with Chuck Knoblauch for fourth. Like BA this is not a counting stat so he could go up or down Rod Carew is tied with Buddy Myers for number one all time with 393 and Mauer is 391. In Between is John Stone who played only 5 of his 11 years with the this Franchise. The weakness of stats like this and all percentage stats is that the fewer the years the better chance you have to place high, but unfortunately we do not have anyone – including Dozier who would be in the top 50. In slugging percentage Dozier returns to the list at number 19 (452) and Joe Mauer (443) is at 25. Killebrew is number one at 514 for his career – and that is really great. I was actually pleasantly surprised to see Mauer that high and equally as surprised to see Dozier that low. If you are an OPS fan Mauer is at position 12 with 834. Killebrew is number one at 892. Dozier at 780 is just below Jacque Jones at 33. Killebrew leads in total bases at 4026 and Mauer is 8 at 2856 with Mickey Vernon and Hrbek right about him. If he matches last year he will pass Oliva and take number 5 behind Judge, Puckett, Rice, and Killebrew. Nice list. Dozier is in position 35 with 1507 – if he matches last year he will jump to 23 right behind Michael Cuddyer. Since there are so many complaints about Mauer grounding in to double plays I had to check that out. Killebrew is number 1 with 238 – Mauer is number 2 with 199. Killebrew played 21 years – Mauer 14. I guess there is some truth here. One more surprising negative stat – Killebrew as expected is first in strikeouts with 1629 and Mauer is fifth with 948 and sure to pass Kirby Puckett for fourth and Hunter for third this year. Killebrew – if we take his 21 years (disregard how much he played each year) averages 77 strikeouts per year – take note Sano. Joe for his 14 years averages 67. Miguel Sano in just three years makes the top 50 – he ranks #30 behind Larry Hisle who had twice as many at bats, Guzma, etc. With an average year, which means not playing 162 games, he will move in to the range of 15 – Greg Gagne. Dozier is number 11 on the list and his Strike out rate should bring him up with Gary Gaetti at number 6. And finally, back to the positive, Mauer is 3rd in WAR behind Carew and Killebrew.

I liked your comment that the Twins have a good group of Prospects for pitching and maybe that slowed down the FO going after FAs. I would have loved to see the FO commit this year to using 1 or 2 positions in the rotation to debut and develop these pitchers. This is a very good list and continues to project well for the team.

Max Kepler, being a German, seemed like quite an exception in baseball history, so I had to do some research. Bleacher Reports was so fascinated by his story that they published http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2568511-max-kepler-the-german-baseball-player-who-spurned-soccer-for-mlb-dreams. The article included this Max Kepler quote – "Soccer is the No. 1 sport in Germany," Kepler said. "Baseball was barely poking its head out the window at the time. Being one of the best [soccer players] in my school, people frowned about it and they were just surprised that I would take baseball which is kind of a long jump." What I found out follows - https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/History_of_baseball_in_Germany Baseball Reference says that in a 1796 book by a German, Johann Guts Muths, rules for a game called "English base-ball" appeared and as you might imagine it was a little different than what we play today. Then in 1936 Germany hosted an exhibition of baseball in the Olympics. Baseball was played by American prisoners of war in the notorious Nazi prison camps. http://mopupduty.com/baseball-in-germany-091412/ Following WWII the GIs that were occupying Germany introduced the sport again on their bases. The military men followed their American examples and set up a league that included - Frankfurter Black Knights, Mannheimer Tornados, Münchner Broncos, and Stuttgarter Hawks. The Tornados – an all-black team was the best and the most popular. These teams had many Negro League and Major League players, but as service representation diminished Germany set up its own league – “In 1951, the first season of Baseball-Bundesliga was played, the first German championship.” Eventually they became part of a European baseball association that helped spread the sport through the Continent. Now Max Kepler came out of this history, but he was not the first German player in the majors. Baseball Reference has this to say about the history of German’s in the American League and interestingly it is not Max Kepler who is the noted Minnesota Twins German: “The first Major League players from Germany were David Lenz and Marty Swandell who both debuted from May 7, 1872 for Brooklyn Eckfords. Swandell had played for the club since 1863, while Lenz was a 21-year old catcher who played the opening four games of the season with the club before being replaced by William Bestick. Over the next twenty years another eight players played in the majors, but only two played more than forty in their career - the most successful of which was pitcher Charlie Getzein who won 145 games. From 1893 through 1897, there were no Germans in the majors, but then until the American entry into World War I another twelve players played in the majors. Of course, Germans were part of American history since the beginning so many players in the early years were still recognized by their home country and there have been 41 players who were born in Germany, including Max and Gardy - http://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/birthplace.php?loc=Germany Check out the list. Only three Germans played in the Majors between the two World Wars, a single player (Heinz Becker) played in the World War II-era, and during the 1950s and 1960s no Germans played in the majors. Thirteen players have debuted from 1972 onward, most of whom were the children of American service members stationed in the country. When Ron Gardenhire became the manager of the Minnesota Twins in 2002, he was the first German skipper since Chris von der Ahe in 1897.” Germany’s domestic league – the fifteen team Bundesliga – reformed in 1982 and continues to play to this day. Baseball in German website says that from this league baseball started to sign players like Mitch Franke in 2000, and then Rodney Gressman, Donald Lutz, Max Kepler, Tim Henkenjohann, Simon Guhring, Kai Gronauer, Ludwig Glaser and Jennel Hudson with Max leading the way into the majors. In the book – Beer, Brats, and Baseball – the author Jim Merkel writes about the 1860’s when many Germans, including some of distant uncles – settled in St Louis where the brewed beer and started a local baseball club – not the Cardinals – while joining the Union and helping preserve Missouri as a free state. This coincides with the official advent of Baseball in the US. Baseball history is also filled with “Dutch” nicknames like Hubert Benjamin "Dutch" Leonard, (April 16, 1892 – July 11, 1952) was an American left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball who had an 11-year career from 1913 to 1921, and 1924 to 1925. He still holds the record for the lowest ERA ever – 0.96 in 1914. But he was born in Birmingham, Alabama. Lots of nicknames were based on the players ethnic backgrounds. Should you want to see how German born players did in baseball careers – Baseball Reference provides this summary of statistics https://www.baseball-reference.com/bio/Germany_born.shtml You will be happy to know that Gardy is the greatest German born manager in history! Glenn Hubard is the best career hitter, and Edwin Jackson is the greatest German born pitcher. And Max – three years, two full years in the majors – his line is 239 – 310 – 422.

I think Gardy has become a specialist for teams that are going to lose 90, but stay together and learn. In three years watch for another tanking team that needs a manager who knows how to be sane with all those losses.

This is one rating that really has me excited. This looks like a star for the future which I hope is not too far away. I would love to see him stick at short - assets like Ripken, Rodriquez...that carry a bat and a glove at short can really make a team. I think the Orioles are figuring that out this year.

I think it speaks volumes. Sano is too young to give up being a two way player, but he has shown a lack of discipline and he will do fine, but he will not do what he could have done. Remember the Panda? How about the quick demise of Prince Fielder? Perhaps this will work out - http://abcnews.go.com/Health/MensHealth/baseball-players-overweight-study-suggests/story?id=10001820 but I doubt it. We are getting bigger and bigger in all sports but baseball seems to be leading - https://www.menshealth.com/guy-wisdom/fat-baseball. I am sad because he has so much potential and he also has the potential to flame out by 30.

Starter! Relief pitchers are those who fail at starting. Getting an Ace is damn near impossible for a MN team so groom him, pitch him, coach him. Relief down the road if all else fails, but I believe in starters!

I like Kiriloff here. He has to prove he is back that he still has the talent and then if he moves up I will be happy with his improvement. I am glad you were not influenced by draft number or other ratings.

That is a lot of hoping. As a person with a bad back I can tell you it takes a lot more than wishing. I hope he finds the magic.

As a fan - I can only say I am confused. We have accumulated a plethora or #4 and #5 rotation guys - FA, veterans on the roster, potential call ups. I see notes about not judging the FO, why not? We have been sold a line that I hope is true about how good they are and this is their second year - so I am waiting to be impressed.

Too high for me if all the reports can be believed. It would seem that even within our organization and with one short stop traded for Odorizzi, he number three in the minor league SS depth chart behind Lewis and Wander Javier. I suspect he is closer to the majors right now, but will be passed this year. If I am wrong I will not be bothered, but for rankings I would move him back some.

I am pleased with this trade. It is a solid trade and we were able to move a prospect that is our most crowded position - SS - for a solid #4 rotation guy. Of course he will be higher than 4 for us, but still it was a good move. Last year he was 10 - 8 4.14 era and O WAR. That is replacement level, but still better than Sanibal. In the previous 5 years he acquires 8.1 WAR so he could step up again.

I thought I would wait to post this, but of course my curiosity got the best of me so I had to explore the all time ranks of pitchers and see what milestones lie ahead in 2018. Let’s start with wins, which I know people now discount. It is true that now wins are a combination of more than offense and the starting pitcher. No long do we have the complete game stat meaning anything. Jack Morris completed 175 to rank 176 and Syl Johnson ranks number 500 with 82 complete games and in that 500-pitcher list there is not one current pitcher. So yes wins don’t count so much now, but they did. Current leaders in complete games are Sabathia – 38 in 17 years of pitching, Colon 37 in 20 years, Hernandez 25 in 13 years, Kershaw 25 in 10, and Shields 23 in 12 years. Ervin Santana is 8th among active pitchers with 21 in 13 years and new comer Anibal Sanchez is 23 with 9 in 12 years. It is almost embarrassing, my favorite all time pitcher who I used to watch in Milwaukee had 382 complete games in 21 years with 363 wins. Camilo Pascual – my favorite early Twin had 132 in 18 years and Blyleven had 141. Colon has the most wins – 240 – and ranks 54 – and 5 wins gets him to rank number 50. He ranks 81 in losses. Sabathia has 237 wins – rank number 58. That is it for top 100. Going to 150 on the list is Lackey and Verlander – 188 rank 143. MLB’s lifetime ERA list has Felix Hernandez 3.20 ranked 107 which is the highest current teacher. Hamels at 161, Greinke at 171 – 3.40, Verlander 193 – 3.46 are the others in the top 10. MLB did not give a cut off for how many innings are required to be on this list. Going to ESPN and Kimbrel 2, Jansen 9, Chapman 16, and Betances 29 are the current pitchers in the top 30, but if you are like me ERA for one inning pitchers has no value. Kershaw is tied for 38 on this list and would be higher than that on MLB, but I think 10 years is required for the MLB list. The only other current pitcher in the top 50 is Chris Devenski and all of his 44.1 innings. Ken Giles and Darren O’Day are the only other active pitchers in the top 100. Sabathia is number 18 in strikeouts 2846 and should pass Jim Bunning this year. Colon is 37 right behind Jim Kaat and with 24 he can catch Jack Morris at 34 – that sounds possible, but based on what I saw last year I would not guarantee it. Verlander has 2416, ranks 41 – tied with Luis Tiant and he should move to 23 with another 200 Ks this year putting him near David Cone. Felix Hernandez is 48, Grienke 57, Hamels 58, Scherzer is tied with Dennis Martinez at 66 and Clayton Kershaw is 68. Shields is 72 which seems to reflect on the abundance of Ks in this period. Lester in 77 and our own Ervin Santana is the last current pitcher in the top 100 – he ranks 99 and 107 Ks (when he is healthy again) will catch Catfish Hunter at 81. Eventually there will be many current era pitchers near the top of the list which makes Nolan Ryan all the more remarkable. Fernando Rodney is tied with Bruce Sutter (HOF) and Jason Isringhausen at #26 in saves. Thirty more saves and he ties with John Wetteland for #14 and is right behind Rollie Fingers. There are more current players on the list below Rodney, but of course there are, in the past pitchers pitched when needed and the artificial Save stat was not important or kept. In WAR, Cy Young has set the standard – 170.3, second is Walter Johnson with 152.3 from our Twin predecessor team, our Bert Blyleven is 11 with 96.5, and Juan Marichal closes the top 50 with 61.9. No active pitchers there. The highest ranked active pitcher is CC Sabathia with 60.7 at 56 tied with Charlie Buffinton which is a player I never heard of – he played for 11 years in the 1890s and was both a pitcher and first baseman. Clayton Kershaw is 68 with 57.4, while Greinke and Verlander are tied with Eddie Cicotte at 72 with 56.9 and just behind Minnesotan – Jerry Koosman. Cole Hamels is 87 with 52.7, Felix Hernandez is 91 with 52.2. Johan Santana is ranked number 100 with 50.7 and Bartolo Colon is 116 with 47.5 just ahead of our Frank Viola 47.4. Jim Kaat is 130 at 45.3 and just two ahead of Max Scherzer at 44.6 and ranked 133. Minnesota native, Ojibwa pitcher from Brainerd and in the HOF Chief Bender is 137 and two places ahead of Jack Morris who had 43.8. My favorite – Twin/Senator great, Camilo Pascual is 191 with 37.8. I do wonder if applying WAR to past performers really is accurate. I suspect many of them are under valued because the game was so different in those days when relievers did not bail out the starter every game.