Hosken Bombo Disco

The C could also stand for Character, which is not quite the same thing as charisma. Brian Dozier had Character in spades, in terms of being a guy who kept morale up, supported his teammates, genuinely liked them in good times and bad, and everyone had a favorable opinion of him. It also helps that he was really good for a window of time. What Eddie Rosario brought was talent and fearlessness. Some people would say his internal risk/reward meter was broken and they were tired of it; but lots of others loved that twinkle he had and were happy to let him throw the dice. The front office missed on their evaluation of Rosario. Maybe because they did not know Rosario from the beginning like the rest of us did, and did not believe what they were told about him. My opinion is the front office missed with Correa too. Correa is charismatic and well liked, but that doesn't necessarily translate into leadership. A leader simply would not aim put-down jokes at their current organization when off the field. Not in my opinion they wouldn't. The Giants and the Mets were bidding on Correa for his bat, not his leadership. Correa is a very good ballplayer, no denying that. For Correa to demonstrate leadership for the Twins, I think he will have to do supernatural things with his bat and glove on the field. Otherwise I think Correa's overpowering personality just looks suffocating to me, and it takes oxygen away from some of the younger potential leaders on their way up. That's the way it looks to me from the outside, anyway. Maybe fatherhood will mellow him out!

Sure, we see the occasional split screen, but that only works in small doses, and mostly there will not be time for those beautiful scene-setting shots that help sell the moment and tell the story. If MLB leaves the pitch clock rule in place for the postseason, sure fans will adjust, but something will be lost in the process. I would even like to see something like removing the clock for the All Star Game, then tweaking the rule after the All Star Break some way. Fun fact : In the 2017 AL Wild Card game, the first inning alone took 45 minutes (and the first 40 of those minutes were fairly enjoyable)

I have to disagree. For the postseason, Fox Sports does this best, by far. But here goes: I disagree because when Jhoan Duran is pitching with two outs in the top of the 9th inning of ALCS Game 6 later this October, with a trip to the World Series riding on the next pitch, there won't be time for camera cutaways to Byron Buxton's hard stare in center, patting his glove and spitting a sunflower seed, or to Alex Kirilloff at first base, the batting hero of the night yet his expression perfectly blank, or to Carlos Correa motioning something quick to the second baseman, or into the din of the crowd, where an older couple is huddled together in a Twins blanket somewhere, to a couple of younger fans in Twins caps with their hands clasped together in a prayer position under their chins, or into the dugout, where Rocco, calm as always, leans one leg forward against the step, and then the camera switches back to Duran for a moment, then a brief shot of the hitter, helplessly rocking his bat, and then back to the center field camera view (maybe a better baseball innovation than even the pitch clock!) as the camera starts with a wide pan on the entire scene at home plate, the pitcher, catcher and batter, the fans in the front rows standing and clapping, the camera narrowing a bit now as Duran comes set, the batter waiting for the inevitable, and Duran gives one more look and then steps back off the rubber to call time and wipe his brow...

Couldn't follow the game but did follow the game thread. Great job Twins and great discussion Twins fans! Like some others, a little nervous about Kepler and Jax in those spots but also happy to see Buxton, Lopez and Larnach in good form off the bat.

'Bitter' suits me very well, thankyouverymuch 🙂

Correa also said Altuve was too humble to use the trash cans to cheat, the trash cans. Now cue the video of Altuve shaking his jersey collar and reminding teammates not to touch his jersey as he jogged into home plate after his home run off Chapman. But, no trash cans, see? That reads to me like some high level Cris Carter clubhouse lawyering right there. Good for Altuve, sure. Of course Correa will defend his teammates, and no teammates are going to speak ill of another teammate, Twins or Astros. Some Astros apologized and stayed quiet and minded their own business when this came out. Correa, to me, seems incapable of being quiet. So, regarding how Correa handled the scandal, we are going to have to agree to disagree. Amicably I hope! Let's hope Correa is a new person and brought a new ethic to the Twins, absolutely.

I love leadership stories -- bring on part two! I always thought Brian Dozier and Eddie Rosario were leaders in their own way and able to coexist based on their wildly different playing styles and personalities. Not the biggest Correa fan, and I have always wanted to see Royce Lewis assume the role of leader for the next several years. I don't. think that can happen anymore now that Correa is here. I will save the rest of my teeth gnashing about this for the next installment. 🙂 Anyway, thank you! @Greggory Masterson

No not really. 🙂 Three of them are well within the realm of probability, and one of them is pretty unrealistic.

Good question. His numbers are about the same. Showed more power when playing in the field but drew more walks when he DH-ed. Last yr 2022 was really the only season he was DH so it's the only season I looked at, and maybe too small a sample to draw a conclusion. By the way you can go to a stat site and search by 'splits' and Baseball Reference has other good ones you can look at . https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/split.fcgi?id=buxtoby01&year=2022&t=b

That's what I think, too. However, if Polanco has a mutual player option, or some other obscure rule comes into play, then Polanco could be gone.

I have no freakin' clue why the Twins aren't putting screens in front of the mound in intrasquad scrimmages. EDIT: let me rephrase that: Shouldn't the Twins be using screens in front of the mound in back field stuff? It would be nice to know more about Polanco's vesting option for 2024. If Polanco does not reach 550 PA and therefore becomes a free agent after this season, then I actually think it's in Polanco's best interest, and also the team's best interest, to let Polanco take it slow with his knee. Let him get healthy and play really well for the last 4 or 5 months down the stretch as he heads for free agency. The fans win, too. Granted, the Twins do desperately need Polanco's bat early in the season.

Maybe this is the year Buxton plays the entire season. If not, I'd like to see him come into camp next year with the mindset and determination of being an everyday player, like 150+ games (not including playing spring training games). You hear the phrase all the time but I think this year is a make or break year for Buxton. He turns 30 next year already. I'm rooting for him as well. How can you not?!?

Some incredible stuff happening in this blog entry! I'm so old I remember when Kepler struggled to get a hit during spring training 2021 and the people who were concerned about Kepler were dragged over the coals. 🙂 I think people aren't realizing that every team has players who take live batting practice on the back fields. An 84 mph fastball from Aaron Sanchez on a back field is not a game simulation. What I would like to know is if Buxton is with his teammates in the dugout during the games. If Buxton is not in the lineup again tomorrow then I would want someone who is down in Ft Myers to at least tell me that much. The only other example of a healthy player skipping spring training, that I could find, was Ryan Zimmerman in 2018, who got off to his typical slow start in April and then got hurt in May.

Speaking of trading for Taylor to be Buxton's caddy, and signing Gallo, who is basically just a guy, add the 2023 salaries of Taylor and Gallo together and it's more than Buxton's base salary in 2023. Think about it.

Frankly I was surprised Team Fiji Islands got past Team Afghanistan

I'm just glancing at Fangraphs, and comparing Farmer, Solano, Arraez, and Polanco, at second base. No doubt the Farmer and Solano signings were highly praised on this website, but I'm not convinced either of those players, glancing at their profiles, is any better than Luis Arraez at fielding that position. In that sense, the Farmer and Solano signings just look like ordinary free agents that would be signed in any other year, not sneaky signings designed to get a leg up on other teams with the new rules in mind.

footwork, cutoffs, developing a rapport with the pitcher and catcher on pickoffs, with the pitcher and second baseman on ground balls... some guys can make it look like a cakewalk if they are not tested for a while. Here is one example of what getting your wires crossed up, looks like:

There were no factual arguments being made about Eddie Matthews and there was no sworn claim that he ever played only one position and was never moved for any reason. Here was all that was said: "Can you imagine Willie Mays playing anywhere but CF? Eddie Mathews any place but 3B?" Let's drop it.

Look at it this way:

but not mad hits like he was Rod Carew..

One of the old scouting rules of thumb was, never draft a short right-handed pitcher directly out of high school (i think i read that in money ball)

Point taken, but age is on his side here.

Kudos to Twins Daily for shaking up the rankings! Raya looks like a guy to watch. Hits per 9 is a number I like to check to get a basic idea on guys I'm not familiar with, and that checks out really well with Raya. Then yeah the good analysis by @Hoze 🙂 and yeah the physical profile and even the windup comparison to Berrios is hard to miss.

I would like to see Do-Hyoung Park on Jeopardy against Mike Gelfand and that meteorologist guy who just won a bunch of money, answering all those questions about meteors.