Steve Lein

This whole thing is not that big of a deal to me, so I agree a lot with this take. I like it if it gets him to the bigs faster. Since people have been comparing him to other player's in that draft, of the pitchers in the 1st round, only Carson Fulmer has pitched in the bigs (worse than Berrios, I might add). And that was for the White Sox, who don't really care about a players MiLB numbers when they promote. Fulmer would have finished last year in AA for the Twins as a comparison (His AAA ERA was nearly 4.00, at AA was over 5.00). Dillon Tate isn't even out of A-ball and is being labeled a bust already. Kolby Allard pitched in low-A last year. James Kaprielian is in A-ball. Brady Aiken is in A-ball. Phil Bickford is in A-ball. Who is Ashe Russell?! Who is Beau Burrows?! Walker Buehler has barely even pitched as a pro. That's every single pitcher from the 1st round in 2015. Jay has worked out fine so far, to me, even if they're shifting him to the pen. Don't think the Twins were considering Benintendi all that much given who they had coming up. Don't think he'd be in the majors already with them either. The floor here is a bullpen stalwart (he's got more to work with than Glen Perkins ever had, as a comparison), and there is a ton of value in those types now and that's actually a pretty high floor. I don't necessarily think this signals an end to starting in the future, either. But if it is, I'm still excited for him in the 'pen.

You misinterpret what the "guessing" part plays in that, as that is why he also misses a lot in the zone. -> "That's why you see him swing at pitches he has no business swinging at and looking silly for doing so, and missing a lot of other pitches because he's guessed wrong. But, he's also very good at putting the bat on the ball on pitches he is able to touch when he's right, e.g.: the superb bat control."

Easy explanation for all of this, and one I've held ever since seeing him in the minors: Eddie is more or less a guess swinger combined with superb bat control. Yes, it would be great if he could lay off some pitches and draw more walks, but he's deciding he's swinging before a pitch is even thrown most of the time. He admitted as much after his home run from his first MLB at bat that you cite. He was swinging no matter what. That's why you see him swing at pitches he has no business swinging at and looking silly for doing so, and missing a lot of other pitches because he's guessed wrong. But, he's also very good at putting the bat on the ball on pitches he is able to touch when he's right, e.g.: the superb bat control. He's gonna put a lot of pitches in play that he shouldn't because of that, and is what holds him back from putting up the batting lines you're hoping he will. Every once in a while he's going to catch one like that pitch from Tomlin, but he's always going to be streaky depending on how he's doing on his guesses, and I don't find it quite likely that it's ever going to sway the way of benefiting him more than it hurts. The Kirby Puckett reference is a little misleading to me as well because I have to ask the question: Do I expect Eddie to suddenly turn into .318 career hitter like Puckett, where he's so good at hitting the OBP becomes a moot point? No, I don't for the reasons mentioned above. All that said, he's plenty capable of putting up enough numbers with his approach to be a fine player, he has already demonstrated that. But I do also think we've already seen pretty close to the best that he is capable of unless he does become more selective somehow. If I had to predict his career, .275/.310/.450 is about where I'd put him.

Absolutely. As I alluded to earlier, Buxton makes these same awesome plays as guys like Hunter did (probably better ones), but he's not nearly as graceful in doing so. Especially the crashing into and landing parts. I don't think he's especially great at judging walls yet, and that's why he crashed so hard into it the other day and didn't come down on his feet.

My reaction was similar on that Buxton play. Awesome play, and I love that he's fearless... But he still needs to work on his landings.

I would also put in a vote for Kepler to at least be considered. Walked more than he's struck out in the minors the past 2 years with a good IsoD for the spot. But I envision him more as a future #3 or #5. He's not that guy quite yet for those spots, but throw in his running ability and leadoff isn't too far fetched for me. That said, the guy is either Dozier or Buxton. Polanco wouldn't be bad either, but I think he slots in at #2 almost perfectly.

I already write MiLB reports. I'm good

1. Kraft Mac & Cheese: Considering I grew up on basically only this, I say good idea (there are much better ways now that I adult) 2. Take your base or 4 pitch walk: Take your base. Absolutely zero point to playing catch as "pitches." 3. Miller Clear: Hellspawn. 4. Velveeta: Good idea. This is one of the better ways I referenced, but there are a lot of them. 5. Allowing me to write a game thread: I don't think there's a bad way to do this... Let's knock around De Leon today!

To be fair on this point, being an MLB baseball player is hardly comparable to having a 9-5 job. He doesn't have to be up by 6:30-8:00AM every morning to do everything he needs to be successful. During the season, when they've got a game at 7:00PM, players aren't at the park by 9:00AM unless they have another reason to be. There's more than enough time available for him to dedicate to hobbies such as this, given what his job actually entails. There definitely is a point where it can be bad, but I would think he's well aware of what that is and is a non-issue.

I seem to recall Gonsalves telling me at the Winter Meltdown he expected to be in AAA. I also seem to recall getting those indications this spring from other sources. Also have seen that Romero is ticketed for Chattanooga to start. I hope that is the case with both of them, as the one thing I'm hoping to see from the new front office is a different approach to how they promote players, especially the pitchers. I don't want the Twins to be thought of as "conservative" on that front anymore.

Yes, this is what I was referring too. They have the following players under 25 starting in their lineup: CF - Byron Buxton LF - Eddie Rosario RF - Max Kepler 3B - Miguel Sano SS - Jorge Polanco Berrios is in there too. I actually think the Twins and this under 25 group could be very comparable to the Cubs (on the position player front, anyway), the Cubs are just a bit further along in MLB development then this group for the Twins is. (I don't expect Sano to be Bryant, but he basically was in 2015). About that pitching, though...

Compare such rankings to "top players under 25" and I think the outcome would be much different... Thus I agree with the article's premise.

Doug's family lives in Florida and is most likely where he'd rather coach. Was not a demotion of any kind. Plus, he'll be around a lot more Twins players in Fort Myers than Tennessee. Extended Spring Training, the GCL, rehabbers, etc... It's basically the Twins 2nd headquarters. Lot more work he can help with there.

If they're looking for a sleeper-RB, one name I want to throw out there is the guy who made my NDSU team's LB's look silly in handing them their first home playoff defeat: Khalid Abdullah, James Madison University. Led FCS in rushing last year, had some good wiggle and speed. Not sure how his receiving game is rated, but he looked good on limited chances in the few games I saw him. Late round flier, maybe?

I don't think there's any reason the Twins care about what these guys are being paid at this point to determine whether they should or shouldn't be on the roster. Keep the guys you think are going to help the most. I would venture to say those players are the guys in this list. And aren't they already below last year's payroll?

Is his name Pat, by chance?

Aligns with my own thoughts. Figure them for about 75 wins as currently projected to be constructed.

All of this stems from him not being familiar with the position of outfield. These aren't plays he's ever made. He had no idea how to position himself or make those plays. That's why you get hesitation, that's why he looks tentative.

This reminds me of one particular game back in my career playing 3B. The field was orientated so the Sun set right in my line of sight toward the batter's box. Of course, when it was in the perfect position a guy smoked a liner right at me. Had no chance to catch it because I couldn't see it, and just stuck my chest out. Hit me just left of the sternum and luckily knocked it down in front of me so I was able to pick it up and get a force out at 2B. Don't recall it really hurting when it happened (adrenaline) or after, but I did have stitch marks in my chest for a few days.

Fun fact I learned from talking with him at the Winter Meltdown: He signs all his autographs right-handed. Also said his arm is good to go, and that they were overly cautious with him in the AFL. I really would like to see him in AAA to start, but if he's in AA and even remotely repeats his results (or improves his walk rate) over the first month or two, I hope he gets the bump right away.

Feels like he should be higher. There's perennial .300 bat ability in there and am not worried about him sticking at SS. He will play there.

It's the natural arm-side run they get. That's why an 80 fastball in scouting terms is a few ticks lower for lefty's than it is righty's.

I'm not making it down there this year, but Jet Blue is pretty cool. Enjoy!

Just from the title: Yes. After reading said article: Yes.

Love hearing the behind the scenes story! The Cardinal Bar definitely didn't like us. Well, maybe they did, but we definitely overwhelmed more than one bar for that event! I still never understood the Mackey thing. Talk about forgetting where you came from and turning into an egomaniac. Pretty sure he turned off at least half of the audience he had built for himself with that whole thing.