Lefty74

Watching Royce hit in 2025 was painful. His feet are moving all over and he seemed to make a swing decision almost prior to the ball being released. I don’t remember him doing that when he first joined the Twins. He and to an extent Wallner (who also was often out of balance) had swings that made me feel they were lucky to hit the ball. I also think Royce has maturity issues. That is why I believe Torii Hunter would be a great choice for manager. He has a positive personality but doesn’t appear to be the kind of guy to let things go. He’d force change and accountability IMHO.

It may be that Steer has benefited from a hitting approach that is different than Miranda’s. I’ve watched a few Reds highlights and the batters seem to be loose and confident. When I watch the Twins I see just the opposite. Not sure how to instill that confidence in Miranda or other Twins batters but need it for sure!

I like CJ but seems like $7-$8M is too much. Here’s a thought, trade with Yankees for a very controllable LH hitting first baseman, Mike Ford. LeMahieu and Voit provide Yankees with enough so Ford is expendable. Ford’s MLB stats in 2019: 143 AB’s, 12 HR’s, .909 OPS. Major League Mininum salary for a number of years; spend the savings on a pitcher and get a high upside player w upside.

Agree, and BTW Joe took plenty of grief over the years, so enough is enough. Sano has brought this on himself and we as fans should expect a more mature and professional approach going forward.

Completely agree, Gibson may be older but he seems to have figured it out. It looks like his ceiling is way higher and he may now have a new floor as well. Very bullish on Gibby, may be a mirage but I think he has a chance to be really good for the next 4-6 years.

Regarding your comments about Joe be “clutch” a recent article I read would dispute that. Here is the quote: “Mauer’s numbers vary depending on exactly how clutch you need him to be. He’s hitting .376 all-time with the bases loaded — Mike Trout territory, currently — with 132 RBI in 117 at-bats.” All his #’s w RISP are much better than average.

Totally agree that there have been some very strange moves. It would be nice if Flavine were a little more forthcoming as to their rationale. Seems very quiet over at 1 Twins way. One thing I do agree with is not playing Garver more behind the plate. I know many disagree with this sentiment as he clearly is a better stick than Wilson. At times Garver looks like he is trying to catch with a boxing glove. There have been many wild pitches that IMHO should have been blocked/caught and he consistently stabs at pitches. Does not have soft hands and at 27 I don’t think that changes. Catcher is such a critical spot we just have to find someone to man the position and I can’t see him being the long term #1 guy. Neither is Wilson but I have to believe the pitchers like him behind the plate more than Garver.

Gavin Lux is a very skilled player as well. If Twins could get both they should do the deal now. Brian D has been a great asset and friend to the community but time to move in the younger guys.....

Life is a series of choices. I’ve been a big supporter of Sano and given him a pass on his weight. Now it’s clear that he is very immature and not very disciplined. Miguel talks a good game but he is clearly not backing up the words. From the accusations of sexual misconduct to not being able to step away from the dinner table to swinging at the same out of the zone pitches over and over it’s apparent he has a very long way to go. I hope he makes it but it will take major life changes for it to happen.

Played at Eden Prairie high school. Bulldog on the mound, high spin rate FB that around 89-90 tops out at 92. Very good curveball 12 to 6 type break with great command. Never gives in. Part of Eden Prairie American Legion team that won national championship in 2011. Amazingly 5 of 18 players on that team are playing or have played professionally: Blake Schmit 2010 Eden Priaire HS grad, Minnesota Twins Tyler Peterson 2010 EP HS grad, St. Paul Saints Bray 2011 EP grad Lance Thonvold 2011 EP grad, Seattle Mariners Cameron Mingo 2012 EP grad, Cleveland Indians

Here are some details that provide a +/- 5% view on hours worked and pay for lower level MILB players. I have this detail due to the fact I have a close family relative that plays in MILB and I complete his taxes . Just received his W-2 for 2017 during which he started in Short Season A and moved to Full Season A part way through. Total Comp = $5,800 which includes everything including salary and mileage for driving car to spring training. Since he was in Short Season A to begin the year he was a part of extended spring training. There is NO pay for spring training or extended spring training. Player receives free housing and in his case $15 day meal money. Total hours worked during spring training/extended spring training = approx 650 which is very conservative. Total hours worked during Short/Full Season (early June to early Sept = approx 1200 prob conservative. Players receive meal money while on the road during the season and in lower levels often stay with host families. If they aren’t lucky enough to find a host family they share an apartment and associated cost with other players. This works out to $3.13 per hour. If a player is on a full season team per hour pay is most likely $3.60-$4.00 per hour. It’s very low pay for very long hours, but MLB/MILB has a long line of players who would love the swap places with those who get the chance. That’s the conundrum and probably the main reason MLB/MILB doesn’t feel a need to raise the pay. It is NOT that they can’t afford it!

It is very hard to understand the MLB teams logic on this one. The total cost to give all their minor league players $1,000 more per month (currently lower level MILB players are paid $1,000-$1,400 per month based upon level and years in minors) is less than $1M a year. That would cover 175 MILB players for 5 months. Considering the amount of revenue MLB generates I would think they’d come up with $ to make this go away. MLB players association, IMHO, also deserves a large share of the blame. They could force this to happen in labor negotiations. Again, it’s a pittance in comparison to MLB revenues and salaries. They all played in the minors but seem to have little regard for those who haven’t or won’t make it to MLB.

I agree, this is the same substance most Domincan players are caught with. Clearly not an iron supplement. Also important to note that the teams have supplements that they know are ok and are available for the players. They don’t need to get them from anyone in the DR.

MLB needs to address what is quickly becoming a huge issue, Revenue Sharing. Teams are tanking because they have the advanced analytics proving they have no chance to win more than 75 games. At the same time large market teams have built their own analytics teams and aren’t making the colossal mistakes they did from 1980-2010. This leads to major inequity and if the fans have no hope the stadiums will be empty. 2018 luxury tax starts after $197M payroll. Dodgers, Yankees, Cubs, Giants and Red Sox have the TV/radio contracts and other revenue to more than support the large payroll. Everyone else does not. What payroll could the Twins realistically afford before going deeply into the red? Therefore small market teams tank, hope to stockpile early round draft picks in order to make a run at a future date. The window for these teams is not open for long. The Astros are a dynasty built by being awful for many years. If you can’t pay up to the threshold and major market teams now have similar analytics the outlook for small market teams, IMHO, is bleak.

Had a chance to be on the field during batting practice and was a few feet from Sano as he waited his turn. To put it in perspective, I am 6’3” and a soft 210 and it is not an exaggeration to say his leg circumference is at least double mine. He is a huge person, incredibly strong and will not see 215-230 anytime soon. He has also proven he can still run ok and seems to be quick enough at 3rd. Hoping he gets to 260 but still believe he has tons (no pun intended) of value as he is.

Rarely hear anything about Van Steensel and am surprised at how strong his #’s are. Why is he not considered a prospect? Is it velo related or something else? Seems to have a strong strikeout ratio. Thanks

100% believe Betsy and the story about the harrassment of the usher. That being said I place a large part of the blame on the Twins. Many of these young men arrive in US unable to speak English and are thrown into our culture/norms which are not the same as their home countries. That doesn’t make anything Sano did acceptable, but it places a huge responsibility on the Twins to educate and monitor actions. Inspect what you expect. Letting him get away with things in the minors empowered him; it should have been dealt with immediately. I would be interested to know if things have changed since Falvey & Levine took over. Is there more training for minor league players and coaches? I do know that Cleveland does a lot of work with their minor league players and set very tough standards. I have to believe Falvey has brought some of that with him. Bottom line for me, Sano is responsible but the Twins could have and should have stepped in much earlier to make it clear this type of behavior is unacceptable.

And I should have added that in almost every category his #’s are down this year.....very troubling.

These guys are very hard to watch!! I don’t think Thibs constant barking helps, in fact I think he is losing the younger guys. KAT is going to continue to grow and get better every year. He has the passion/energy and talent to be a real force in the league. Should be fun to watch as he matures. Wiggins may be the anchor that keeps this franchise from accomplishing much. $150M for a player ranked 193 in Player Efficiency Rating! The biggest concern is he is NOT getting better. Examples: In his 4 years his shooting % has averaged .448, league average .458 3 pt shooting %. .310. .364 Rebounds per game 4.0 avg rebounds per game for a team = 43.3 so I would say he is way underachieving on this stat. He’s 6’8” and plays forward!! There is not any stat where he shines. He plays with a look of disinterest that is troubling. He stands straight up and down on defense and when rebounding; no athleticism even though it’s clear he’s a great athlete. 4 years is not a small sample size. He is not changing and due to his contract and the minutes he plays we are going to struggle unless he steps it up. The contract is our anchor unless he really changes his game.

Interested in your rationale for Tyler Jay making MLB by end of 2018. His stats at High A, around 3.00 ERA have been solid, but AA ERA of around 5.50 doesn’t seem to warrant the optimism. It may be that injuries have been the cause, but if so it’s rare that those things disappear. I hope you are right and everything lines up for him in terms of health and success on the mound.

I am surprised Slegers is so far down. Agree that his ceiling is low, but he has had a reasonable amount of success in MILB. Are there really that many pitchers in the system ahead of him....we will see. My impression is pitching is our weak link. I guess it is important to understand the methodology. Most rankings of top prospects are weighted heavily towards the "what if". What If the guy who throws 95+ starts hitting his spots, or the 6'6" pitcher is projected to add 5 MPH To his FB. In reality most often they don't achieve these projections, yet they are considered more valuable because if they do they are higher ceiling guys. Lots of Sleger types end up have MLB careers, but most often they are not highly regarded in these types of evaluations.

Recently spent 3 days outside of Cleveland watching Midwest League games between Lake County Captains and Lansing Lugnuts. Sitting behind home plate the first evening I glanced to my right and did a double take. There with a stopwatch in his left hand and radar gun in right was Terry Ryan. Watching him work gave me an appreciation of the hard work he puts in when watching a game. He had an 8.5 x 14" sheet for each team and he was evaluating every player. Every pitch he put the gun down and wrote something on one of the sheets. I approached him in between innings the first night and mentioned the fact I was from MN and a huge Twins fan. We talked for maybe 5 minutes. I told him he must be proud of the fact that many of the players performing so well were drafted during his tenure. He quickly said something to the effect that "many were involved" and "last year was so tough, really happy to see the success". He also received a call from a Twins employee while we were talking; he clearly still has strong connections to the org. Terry stayed at every game until the bitter end, writing on his sheets after every pitch. There are typically 5 or more scouts at all these games. Watching them work it was clear Terry takes his craft very seriously. Saturday, after the series ended, my wife and I were at the airport at 6:30am ready to head back to MN. I looked up and Terry was making his way over. We talked for awhile about many things and my last comment to him was, "well at least you get to go home for a 3 day weekend." His reply, "oh no, when I get to MN I'm grabbing a car and heading to Beloit to power scout a series this weekend"!! I just laughed and thought, yep he's a baseball man and lifer!

I believe that today they also landed Michael Russo. He has done an excellent job for the Strib covering the Wild.