mikelink45

Thank you for complimenting my arguments, although they cannot be that good if I can not convince you. I would love to see a performance based pay that goes up and down - when is the last time that happened?

k/9 is another misleading stat- how many times does he strike out 9. It is like the other data. Great start, poor finish. We can live with that but not for a pitcher like this at this age if we are going for 5 - 6 years.

I must continue my contrarism this year as the dialogue continues to be about spending money on Free Agents. Sure worked out well for Pujols, Carl Crawford, Prince Fielder, Jacob Ellsbury, James Shields, Ubaldo Jiminez, Edwin Jackson, Jason Bay, Oliver Perez, Josh Hamliton, Alex Rodriguez, Mike Hampton, Barry Zito and Seattle's signing of our old friend Carlos Silva for four years or even the Mets huge final contract for our new HOF member - Johann Santana. This 2013 Bleacher Report look at the success of $100 million contracts should give you shivers - http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1880902-evaluating-the-success-rate-of-mlb-contracts-over-100-million I like a good pitching staff. Seldom do teams buy a staff. The Yankees have tried for years, but Severino got promoted from the minors and now they fill in around him. Pitchers blow out arms, pitchers lose speed, and all players just grow old - I know as I am recovering from my third joint replacement right now - my doctor who knows me says I just wore them out! Darvish pitching record does not show me great trends. I would be happy with a shorter and cheaper contract with some of the next tier of pitchers after Darvish and Arrieta, but even they do not excite me now. Santana will regress - if not this year, in the next two at which point the big two will probably regress and the development of our younger arms will be arrested. There will be free agents in a year or two. Then we will have some of our young guys ready and Pineda providing us with at least an interesting story. But not now. The same people who have acted like Mauer's salary came out of their personal savings now want to line up another overpaid vet who will collect paychecks beyond the value of their performance.

No one is better and that is the problem. I want better options. Sometimes the second or third option is the right one. If we get him I will be fine - why not. But would I sign him - no. Do I believe in him - No. I do not think he will be better than Santana was this year. I truly believe that the Astros did more than steal his signs. The really good pitchers who demand the kind of contract that he wants can say here is my - fastball, curve, etc - try and hit it. Darvish cannot. If I am wrong and the Twins get him I will be happy, but this just feels really wrong. The only thing worse for me would be to sign Arrieta who is on a quick down hill slide.

Thanks for a really thoughtful reply. You are right - this is the value of TD. For me, this year is a weak FA class and we do not need to be trapped by that fact. We are not desperate. Lets see Pineda and the rookies and then examine another better set of free agent options.

There is more to acquisition than the fact that someone is a free agent. I have grown very skeptical of the value of free agents. They are very much like gold fever - everyone is going to get rich, but in fact everyone cannot. Trades may cost prospects, but that causes them to be well thought out and if the player is not past prime which most FA are the team will benefit.

No I am just not excited by this years free agents. Here is a quote from ESPN today that I really liked about Darvish - Buyer beware: Darvish will be paid like an ace, but he’s more of a six-inning starter these days. His wOBA (weighted on-base average) allowed was .289 through pitch 50 but .334 from pitches 51 to 100, and he lasted fewer than six innings in 11 of his 32 starts.

I feel like a man in the wilderness - which is appropriate since my career has been guiding adventure trips and leading people into nature for extended experiences, but this is a different wilderness so let me lay out my objections: Darvish has looked like anything but HOF the last two years and he is only getting older. I have watched too many pitchers peak in their very early 30s and then fade. If we have him for 5-6 years and he is not an Ace we will be paying him Ace money and what good is that. Are the Angels happy to pay Pujols for his negative value despite the fact that he was HOF when he was with the Cardinals. The Cardinals were wise. Ervin Santana has 1 or 2 years left. Many project his regression for this year. Berrios is ready to move up. The progression has been great. The young players have progressed and will continue to do so - and we can build with them. If Gonsalves and Romero can put things together this year and star the next we are where we want to be. MLB has become a BP league and we have our strongest BP ever so ride it our and do not overpay for a veteran starter who is aging and regressing. He has completed 2 games in 5 years so the BP is essential to his success. He is good, but how he has attained a reputation as this amazing starter is not something I understand. If we invest in personal coaches, if we truly emphasize development we can bring forth our young pitchers. We have Mejia, Berrios, Goncalves, Romero, Trevor May, Pineda, Thorpe, Slegers and Jorge - can't we develop them? The other teams guys are not necessarily better than what we have. Who knows, in two years It is not my money, but I would not spend it like this.

We should spend money when we have the right guy - a relatively young and productive pitcher like Archer, not because we have the money. Free Agents are seldom the solution, they are add ons, and we need a base of good pitching where the add on really makes us championship quality. ​No one has shown me that Darvish is the answer, or for that matter Lynn and Cobb. Yes they are the only ones available, but there are trades and opportunities down the road. We do not have to make this move now.

At this point I am willing to take that chance. I would much prefer Archer or another young pitcher rather than a 30+ FA.

Sure and we will have a huge contract that will go on as Darvish diminishes in talent and the younger players will need to be paid and extended. I will never advocate for long term, huge contracts for players in their 30's. If the contract starts in their 20s and goes into their 30s yes. But I have watched too many of these great signings go bust. Paying a lot of money for what they did in their prime is only good when you have them in their prime. Look at Pujols. This article was written in 2012, but captures my total reluctance - https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/baseballs-worst-contracts-starting-pitchers/ Beckett, Lackey, Lincecum, Wilson, Buerhle...all looked good in the years before the contracts. As far as I am concerned Darvish is already starting to show signs of slipping.

That is true and I hope Berrios and Romero will move to that level. Old arms falling from the top of the rotation interest me less than those on the way up. We have hired a plethora of pitching coaches from mlb to minor leagues and then put more coaches overseeing those coaches. Let them earn their money. All aces start as prospects.

I have hardly been able to keep up with all the free agents signings this winter. Kaat, Cuddyer, Morneau, join Hawkins and Hunter - and I almost forgot Eddie Guardado who will probably be joined in our front office bullpen by Glen Perkins soon. it is like an all star team! Is Johann next? http://m.twins.mlb.com/roster/coaches I have never seen so many coaches or so many special assistants - the team front office should be able to beat any other front office in a game! And I cannot begin to explain all the men hired for the pitching staff from minors to majors to FO. But who am I to care about that? I want to add one or more. I have stated in some threads that they can take the Yu Darvish money and give Gonsalves and Romero personal coaches to follow them around and get them in the rotation, but now I have another addition - Rickey Henderson. Who else can understand Byron Buxton and his unique combination of speed, power, and potential? Only Rickey combined so many attributes. Of course it would take a second coach or translator so we could figure out what Rickey would say, but boy would he give the writers something to write about. But, if that is not possible, how about having Byron acquire a few hours of Rickey being Ricky (before Manny was Manny).

Move on - I understand we have some young arms with lots of talent - I will take them.

In the past baseball was a path out of the ghettos for Irish, Italians, Jewish, Germans...Today immigrants still need to learn baseball. In an era when we are wasting money on walls and deportations, one of the best ways to get into our nation is to be able to hit a baseball over the wall. In 2013 Fox News ran this story http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2013/04/03/over-28-percent-players-were-foreign-born-in-mlb-opening-day.html that 28% of the players in MLB were immigrants. The Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Canada, Cuba, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Japan, Columbia and Panama were the suppliers of those players – in that order. Forbes tells us about 2016 – “During the 2016 season, Americans have watched a real World Series, with players born in at least 13 different countries. According to data made public by major league baseball, the leading country of origin for players on 2016 Opening Day rosters (and disabled lists) was the Dominican Republic (82 players), followed by Venezuela (63) Cuba (28), Mexico (12), Japan (8), South Korea (8), Canada (6), Panama (4), Colombia (3), Curacao (3), Brazil (2) and Taiwan (2). (Note: Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens by birth.) Today, approximately 26% of major league baseball players are foreign-born, a more than five-fold increase from the 1940s.” In that year the most popular immigrants were Jose Altuve (Venezuela) and David Ortiz (Dominican Republic). The year that Blyleven went in to the HOF he was joined by Robbie Alomar Alomar was from Puerto Rico – Blyleven, as we know, was born in the Netherlands. In the HOF, Clemente, Marichal, Aparicio, Jenkins, Cepeda, Perez, and our Rod Carew were all foreign born. http://www.thepostgame.com/blog/throwback/201102/foreign-born-players-baseballs-hall-fame I love this list – the first foreign born player from each country – not the only one and not necessarily the best one. and Bleacher report tries to name the 50 best foreign born - http://www.bleacherreport.com/articles/1006505-50-greatest-foreign-born-players-in-baseball-history But this is not new. I remember stories from my Grandfather’s and father’s generations when immigrants were told that if they wanted to fit in they needed to learn baseball. Baseball was the American Sport and if you knew baseball you would fit in. The following article captures the Italian efforts in the early 1900’s to learn baseball – some like the DiMaggio’s learned quite well - “Lawrence Baldassaro explores the role Italian-Americans have played in America’s pastime. He offers a straightforward “chronological history of the evolution of Italian Americans in professional baseball” from Ed Abbaticchio, who made his debut in 1897, to such recent players as Mike Piazza and Craig Biggio.” From the start the Minnesota Twins had an international connection. In the 1960’s before the recent surge in Foreign born players, the Twins had a Cuban connection that brought us Camilo Pascual, Tony Oliva, Zoilo Versalles, Sandy Valdespino, and Luis Tiant. And from Venezuela – Cesar Tovar who took us to the 1965 World Series. In their first years, when I was an usher, I always tried to get near the first base bag as the game moved on and the seats were full so I could watch my favorite player – Vic Power from Puerto Rico. I loved Pedro Ramos who complimented Pascual on the mound and does anyone remember Elmer Valo from Slovakia? Or Reno Bertoia from Italy who lived in Canada and is in the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame? There were 9 foreign born players on our first Minnesota Twins team. So what about the current team? 1. Ehire Adrianza – Venezuela 2. Miguel Sano – Dominican Republic 3. Jose Berrios – Puerto Rico 4. Adalberto Mejia – Dominican Republic 5. Fernando Rodney – Dominican Republic 6. Ervin Santana – Dominican Republic 7. Michael Pineda – Dominican Republic 8. Gabriel Moya – Venezuela 9. Lewis Thorpe – Australia 10. Eduardo Escobar – Venezuela 11. Jorge Polanco – Dominican Republic 12. Max Kepler – Germany 13. Eddie Rosario – Puerto Rico 14. Kennys Vargas – Puerto Rico Maybe this is what make’s baseball the real American Game. It goes back to our roots and our roots spread around the world. Earlier I wrote a blog about American Indians that starred in baseball, beyond them everyone is an immigrant and our game is better because they are here.

I am not as concerned about Sano. The team showed it can do well without him, which actually should be an incentive for him to work on his conditioning as well as figuring out how to drop his strike out rate to 20% or less. I see him as a powerful figure, but one who has as much potential to shut things down as break things open. I want to see him succeed, but I hope that in addition to healing from his injuries he takes steps to protect his own career.

I am the contrarian - I want Romero and Gonsalves. Develop! Hire a special coach for each of them from the money saved and let us celebrate the future.

No shifting to the BP, no messing with a good arm. Don't we have enough of that story? May, Jay, and how many others? He has top end stuff - let him use it. We want to offer $100 million (?) to Darvish with an old arm and we have a young arm that seems rehabilitated. I would root for Romero and Gonsalves in the rotation. The BP suddenly got crowded and the rotation is not. Good article about someone who could be a real front line pitcher.

I thoroughly enjoy these essays - thanks for the research and the stories.

I would love to see us recognize the Senators history, but not in the Twins HOF. We need to use the concourses and other available areas to put up Walter Johnson, Heinie Manush, Sam Rice, Joe Cronin, Bucky Harris, Goose Goslin, Rick Ferrell, Muddy Ruel, Joe Judge, and others that most Twins Fans have no knowledge of. The Twins HOF would be better if we did an every other year ballot. This needs to remain a list with lots of class and I do not see us retiring a HOF player every year.

I am very pleased with this. I was starting to hope that the Twins would cool their HOF ballots for a few years because we are getting down to where just starting for the team was good enough. Johan raises the bar.

If the players step in to the discussion we can cover more, but if they do not, it has to be done and it is up to the commissioner. If we do not make changes within the game the easiest way to control time is to make the games seven innings instead of nine.

https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/how-much-time-the-pitchers-took/ and this is a good article that helps show that there really is a large number of pitchers who will have to step up their pace. http://www.sportsonearth.com/article/106637812/10-mlb-aces-pitchers-pitch-clock

Here is a better reference for slow working pitchers - https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/how-much-time-the-pitchers-took/

Thanks for the note, I put a better reference into my posting. I agree with the between innings, ad time, etc, but it really is the whole package that has to be examined.