Jham

I've long said that some teams use the additional years as a way of financing. Player salaries keep going up. Insurance covers risks of injuries.

1) If Max were vaxxed but injured, he'd have to go to the IL in order to make a roster spot available which did not occur. 2) I appreciate you trying to fair about about your arguments against the vaccine, but "We've seen how wrong, and possibly intentionally wrong our government has been about this since the outset. It never had ANY basis in science." We've heard from every major epidemiologist in the planet, drug company, University, countless doctors, statisticians. The vaccine is highly effective. So is science. Neither are 100 pct. Neither need to be. Didn't mean they should be dismissed.

From the brief videos I've seen, he looks like a reliever. Very high effort delivery.

Reality is sometimes painful. Lewis is such a competitor and fun guy to cheer for. He's determined and has the personality and confidence of a star. He's smooth in the field but doesn't have either the softest hands or perfect timing in the field. He also doesn't have a bat that plays in a corner yet. Martin is our 1 or 2 prospect. Noah Miller might be a fast riser. Paddock is hurt and we have no ace.... Would we get more for Correa, Royce, or Martin? Correa's the best player of them and trading him makes us worse, but if we can get the pitcher we need, he needs to be dealt.

Not a swing analyst. Not an orthopedic. But a few years back Kurt Suzuki and a handful of MLB players had found success using an ax-handled bat that is supposed to keep your front wrist in a stronger pronated position and help prevent wrist injuries. https://axebat.com/blogs/news/biomechanical-study-of-the-new-axe-handle-baseball-bats-and-comparison-with-standard-round-knob-bats Not sure if players are still using these, but I'd try it. I'm sure the wrist is causing him to not barrel balls. But not barreling up also jars that wrist. I also just get worried with lefties who primarily stroke to the opposite field. It looks sweet, but all that late contact leaves little margin for error. You have less time to get the swing on plane and if you're fooled and out front, you're likely to roll over your wrists. I haven't looked at AK's swing plane, but presumably he's still pretty straight to the ball. My hypothesis is he's chopping at the ball to catch up and then having to roll his wrists if he's out front. I don't know how else he'd generate so many fly balls.

Personally, I was never sold on Kiriloff entirely. His numbers didn't suggest he was a candidate for skipping AAA. He missed a year, really almost 2. He adds little defensively. And as corner/1b, I was leery he would be above replacement. His classic swing generated power to all fields. He's a pleasure to watch swing. However, his use of all fields didn't necessarily translate numbers wise. Lefties who pull with power are seeming to have more success on average these days. Of course, many players develop pull power as their careers advance. Jacque Jones and AJ come to mind. The wrist injury may force him into being a punch hitter for awhile. Too bad. He had a ton of promise and already came back after 1 serious upper body injury.

This is sooooo annoying. I've never ever cast him as a complete player. I said I was concerned that at 23 he isn't hitting for average or power. Puckett, Arraez, Altuve... All hit for high average. None were walk machines. Guys with great contact skills don't walk much typically. I dunno. It's not like I'm giving up on him.

This isn't about SWR. He's promissing, no doubt. I'm encouraged there. Concerned with Martin. Martin is a top 10 first-rounder with college pedigree who appears to be struggling to hit for power or average. I'm concerned despite Arraez' success with similar ops because 1) Arraez is the single hardest player to strike out in all of baseball and has drawn a fair amount of walks while maintaining a high batting average. IE more balanced approach. (Compare with Tortuga). 2) I do not believe Martin's obp is sustainable as he advances because pitchers have better control. Martin's talent and college success gives reason for optimism that further development will occur. But his minor league record is concerning at this point, from a top prospect standpoint.

Not gonna lie, the argumentative nature of this site turns me off sometimes. I stopped posting for awhile because of it. The premise of the article is "are you worried about Austin Martin". My answer was "Yes. I'm worried that at 23, he can't hit." It turned into some debate about Arraez who absolutely can hitb for average vs Martin who at this time, hasn't hit for average or power. And about SWR's value in the Berrios deal (like he was even close to Martin on prospect lists). If you want to disagree with me, at least pick on things I actually said. I went on to say that he's a likely big league utility guy. Nothing wrong with that. But he was THE key piece of a major trade AND or no. 1 prospect heading into the season. From that standpoint, I'm worried. It doesn't get easier to hit as you climb levels, and it frequently gets much harder to walk as you gave fewer guys with serious command issues. I feel like I'm being fairly objective. Maybe it's just semantics of what "worried" means? If he's Nick Gordon in 3 years, is that good or bad? Going for him, it's much easier to go from contact to power than the other way around. I haven't seen him play. But I question his contact skills as well given the low averages and high bbs. I'm not giving up on him, I just think some concern is warranted.

Miranda with a 2-0 count swings at a ball up and in... His approach needs refining.

Nice intro! Had to return the Mother's Day gift I bought after the Derby, unfortunately. That said, it was my favorite Derby ever. Amazing story. Here's a link to the presser. Sports fans should enjoy. Paddock reminds me a great deal of Kyle Gibson. Nibble nibble rocket.

I love Arraez. I love watching him play, but I think I'd expect more than that for Berrios. Despite being the hardest player to strike out in all of baseball (7% of ab) and hitting .300, he has a negative WAR this year, He's pulling more and higher fly ball pct too. So even Arraez is less Arraez. Arraez never got under .300 in the minors. Martin never over .300. Arraez hits for average. Martin not at all. Not comparable, imo.

Of course I'm worried. I'm very worried he can't hit. His .400 obp is driven by walks. MLB pitchers don't walk guys, let alone guys who can't hit for power. He's 23. Not young for a top prospect. Looks like a glove first utility guy at this point. Not a great haul for Machina unless the power comes.

The upper cut produces lots of top spin. He hooks balls foul that he could keep fair by just pulling in his hands. Agree that an up the middle and away approach boosts his numbers including wiff rate and lowers k's by keeping balls in play. Generating back spin with swing plane was a big thing a few years back. I know Cruz really worked with him on going oppo before he was traded. He's still one of my favorite players, but his attitude is stubborn for good or bad.

Kepler didn't catch it... Asterisk on mayor's cup if we win it.... Looked scary. Hope Gordon is ok. I still like his upside as player. https://www.mlb.com/twins scroll down for video of the play.

What are the chances he develops a wipe out slider or change to go with the FB? He'd be a potential ace at that point...

He's 25. He won't throw 95mph forever. Will his stuff play at 91?

The Twins never really fast track young arms. When they do, they're usually guys that don't care about service time like Dobnak. They usually bring them a step at a time. Which is fine, except some guys have youth and power as their main asset and could benefit from major league coaching and medical staff. I like the move, but wonder what the cost would have been to acquire Gray two plus years ago when he could have helped us then and now. Importantly, the FO seems to have learned that you always look to add and upgrade talent. Contending or not. Otherwise you leave yourself way too much to do in a surprise year, a trade deadline, or off season. If you wait to add until your "window" is open, you usually leave yourself too much to do in a single off season and then make dumb deals or no deals at the trade deadline.

This is a big part of the problem, IMHO. We lump all owners together despite the fact that many do spend money and try to win. We lump all players together despite the fact that some are in much better position to take advantage of the CBA than others. It's easy to say owners are greedy. Because they are. They are competitors or they wouldn't be in the game. But players are greedy competitors too. Baseball economics is driven by the fans, in the end. By and large, the best economic model to generate fan interest is a cap and floor. It's not fair to the top few players at each position, but it's better for the fans. I'm not supporting the owners, per se, but it isn't ownership that refuses to negotiate a cap. #forthefans

I think there's a hidden cost to trading away talent, letting guys walk, and not signing free agents: your roster gets restless and doesn't feel loyal. The Luis Castillo trade away changed the mentality of that core and lead to Terry Ryan retiring. Hunter approached the Twins about an extension. The twins made a big deal about not negotiating contacts in season. Along with their reputation for being cheap... It's not like the Twins made a great case for player loyalty at that time.

Not sure what your point is or why you're so defensive. No one is being skewered. So far Houston won the trade hands down. If Alcala would have stuck as a starter we probably win. Trades are gambles. Not a perfect science. The FO has made some great moves and a few questionable ones. This one to me was a head scratcher due to the fact that they made such a big deal about valuing additional time vs half-season rentals. I'm a big fan of doing some rebuilding at the deadline so you have less to do over the winter. But hey, they tried something unconventional and it hasn't quite worked out. I hope they still try.

It's not baseless just because you disagree. He has ties to Texas. Fair enough. He also had significant ties to the Twins organization. The money was easily in budget. Those are reasonable bases for an opinion as well. No one knows whether we would have been able to extend him. I would have liked the chance.

Wait, suggesting that Presley might have signed the same contract we know he did sign with Houston is pure speculation? There's at least some evidence that he would sign a contract like that. Since he did. I think there's more proof of that than that a playoff series would have played out in the exact same fashion even if the team would have had Presley and perhaps home field advantage, had a different opponent, or been more well-rested. Maybe it would have, but there's no way the organization traded him because they assumed they were going to get swept anyway.

But... the whole premise of the discussion is hind sight. The question: "Looking back, who won the trade?" Presley was our best reliever when traded and his curve was treated as one of the most effective pitches in baseball. The Astros just let him throw it. The articles on the development of that pitch are in the archives for this sight. Given what Presley has actually accomplished, it will take much more for the organization to "win" the trade than break even WAR. Also, for the people who believed in Presley when he was traded, it doesn't feel like hind sight. I also never said anything about needing new management. In my mind, they made a big mistake trading Presley. But that was just 1 move.