Hosken Bombo Disco

Milone might be successful if Goin, Allen, Suzuki and Milone were all on the same page. I'd like Milone to get another chance too. Raw talent helps greatly, but ask Jamie Moyer about getting by without it!

Sure, but last year Pelfrey made it through spring and five starts into the regular season, despite just about everybody on TD pretty clearly believing from the day he was signed that he didn't have the stuff to pitch in a big league rotation. So maybe Pelfrey wasn't blocking Meyer last year, but it turns out he was blocking someone, Kris Johnson even. Blocking happens. I'm not sure Santana will be $15 million better than May or Meyer, so I was ambivalent. Especially if you consider that May and Meyer seem to have a great relationship, and now they are forced to compete against one another for the final spot.. Hunger Games anyone? The Santana signing is maybe not that big a deal to make in the big scheme but fun to argue.

You and I will just have to disagree that a season in the bullpen is an acceptable place for a good starting pitching prospect. Who has passed the age of 25. Trevor May had a couple of compelling outings last fall and I would have liked to see him take some turns in the rotation. I hope Molitor and Allen do not turn him into a pitch to contact bullpen arm. Even Milone might have been given a shot in ST as a possible "different look" kind of guy for the rotation (and only lefty).

Great article Nick.

Said it better than I could have. These are the Pohlads, after all. I think the Nolasco and Santana signings have shut us out of any meaningful signing in the next two or three years, when is really gonna count. I'd be happy to be wrong.

We're talking about the Pohlads, right??

Flip Nolasco for donuts and I'll be happy with this.

Which now rules out the possibility of ever competing on the market for an actual ace or trading for an ace guy like Zimmerman and signing him. Bummer.

What is Santana is the one who gets hurt? Santana might perform as a #2, and he might not. Trevor May has compelling potential as a strikeout guy. Suzuki swears by Milone and they have great rapport. Meyer has been touted as an potential ace. Those guys are all cheap. Plus whoever else is coming up from the minors or the wire. So signing Ervin Santana gives you one rotation spot for those guys to compete for. I think signing Santana would be a shaky business and baseball decision. Not saying Santana couldn't pitch well occasionally, just would rather see what we got in the younger guys as starters.

Nope, in Ervin Santana, I see a guy who is inconsistent until he is pitching for a contract. Anyone is welcome to address how much confidence they have that Santana will be $15 million dollars better than Alex Meyer the next few years.

on the other hand, this might be fun…... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nKKqPOiJxI

I read on another thread that Hamels has a no trade clause to basically any team not on the east or west coast. (except Texas and St Louis)

No but the sequels are getting worse.

We desperately need speed in the outfield.

Nice game writeup! Greg Maddux probably couldn't toss a bean bag without it spinning or darting in some unpredictable direction. He was appointment t.v. in those years, you were not the only one.

Yeah some of these are more ace-y than others. But wouldn't you think guys from the Midwest like Scherzer, Zimmerman or Price would be open to playing here?

Looks ok from here though I still would like to see Mauer in the lower half. But, this is the first time I've seen Hunter's name in a hypothetical lineup, and it kind of depresses me. I guess I always thought 40 is kind of old for a baseball team trying to rebuild and get younger. Or, I imagine Terry Ryan stroking his chin and thinking "I really wish we had a 'veteran presence' hitting at the top of the order."

Question for you: I'm pro Hunter speaking his mind, and defend Berardino's credentials to pose tough questions... how do we all end up taking Us vs Them positions on everything??!

Welcome in Doc, the waters still warm Tell me--do you think if Torii believed so resolutely in the cause he's espousing, that he would call berardino a "prick" for asking him to talk about that cause? Torii is smart and knows it's a bit controversial issue I'm sure, but if this is an honestly held belief of his, shouldn't he use the question as an opportunity to continue advocating for his position?

I respect your take but disagree. Hunter's outspokenness/relatability is a feature not a bug and is part of why the Twins courted him. That's the broader context in which I read Berardino's question (haven't listened to it). Part of interviewing is performance: I'd best most of the reporters served up routine questions they already knew the answers to. "Can you still produce?" "Are you happy to be back?" "Yes." Then Berardino has the guts to ask something which for most of us would be uncomfortable but in no way out of bounds for the circumstances, even though I grant a press conference is typically meant to be a staged love fest. As people have said, there were many reasonable ways to answer that question, and Torii used one--and then went off script. I don't think Berardino cared how the question would be answered, so long as someone asked it. In that respect Berardino and Hunter aren't that far apart. They're both here to mix things up a bit and challenge some stale beliefs. Now that they've had their confrontation they will probably become best of friends It's not a perfect analogy but the journalist-source relationship is something like the physician-patient relationship, in that the journalist has a professional duty to get at the truth of the matter, dealing with inconvenient facts and sometimes needing to probe and ask uncomfortable questions. Nothing unethical about it. Only Torii's old fashioned position on this pet issue could cause anything to become sensationalized (but hopefully won't). And even better if Torii sees the light and changes his beliefs.

+1

Let me apply the "eye test" to this, and then get back to you.

That gif is brutal. I don't think Hunter is loafing but it does show he has a very slow read. His best defense is that they had a 7 run lead in the 8th inning and he was playing it safe. Because you don't want a pop fly to get past you and roll to the wall, or something

Yeah I'd bet there some noise in Torii's fielding stats. An all star outfielder wouldn't completely forget how to play outfield overnight, would he? I'd guess he just lost some range and maybe arm? The only play that stands out to me is his 2013 ALCS play crashing into the bullpen. I wasn't in favor of it but if you squint real hard this signing starts to make sense. Torii has charisma. Is in shape. Is a walking advertisement for how to earn $100 million which I'm sure could get the attention of many of the talented young guys making minimum. Agree this is a little different than the guys we signed last year. If Torii can bring yet one more slightly different voice to this thing, and maybe even *gasp* makes some plays in the outfield and lead by example--and continues to hit--then the signing should work out. And as a few guys mentioned on the other thread. The public is going to love this move. But I sure hope there's a trade brewing because I don't want to see guys like Pinto/Arcia/Vargas not getting their bats. And I like Arcia, would hate to see him go, and maybe left field will work better for him than right field has.

Forget it. Hamels doesn't sound like a guy who wants to spend much time in the Midwest. (*cough*nolasco*cough*)