Teflon

I believe you also see the impact of opponent pitchers "pitching around" the couple of players in the Twins lineup that pose threats.

This is one of the things that's frustrating about the MLB.TV streaming package blacking out live feeds for in-market games since you could otherwise choose to play only the ambient ballpark noise or the opposing team's radio or TV tracks to overlay the game feed.

The list top to bottom does not have a strong correlation to where teams were drafting plus the Twins are considered by their peers to be a solid scouting organization.

Tampa Bay might fit that assessment, but If you look at the offset win totals for teams (1997 -2012, assuming an average of three years between drafting and getting a prospect to the majors) Atlanta is second in total wins but also second on the list in the ROY metric. Oakland is 6th in wins over that period and 3rd on the list. Boston is third in total wins and 6th . Minnesota ranked 15th in wins over that period. If draft position was a factor, they should be middle of the road, not last.

http://images.onset.freedom.com/ocregister/gallery/m2ymrx-b78945001z.120120423182439000g9q1760s0.1.jpg The disappointing performance of the Twins prospects made me curious to see how the Twins compared with other teams in bringing good players to the majors. The quickest way to do this comparison was to look at the number of players receiving votes for Rookie of the Year since 2000 by team and to see, on average, what percentage of the votes they received. I then created a product of the two to power rank the teams. Guess where the Twins finished. For those of you with short attention spans, they are last. They have produced the worst assemblage of rookies in the major leagues since 2000 according to Rookie of the Year voters. (The list of those Twins rookies receiving Rookie of the Year Votes since the year 2000 is at the bottom.) You can't claim market-size bias on this information as the team at the top of the list is the Tampa Bay Rays. It just simply looks like the Twins do not bring players up to the majors who are ready - or all that good - and this has been the case for the entirety of the 21st century.

1. Twins move Twins Fest to US Bank stadium while Target Field converts more seating areas into non-seating areas. 2. Twins tweak uniforms again. 3. In the Twins only off-season moves, new GM Rob Antony signs NL pitcher Charlie Morton to three year deal and re-acquires Jordan Schafer. 4. Twins move Miguel Sano to SS in spring training. 5. Dick & Bert each one year closer in age to their target demographic. 6. Twins Daily cuts back to Twins Weekly.

Daniel Palka, the player we got in the trade for Herrman is off to a good start, too, with 6 HR and 24 RBI for AA Chattanooga. Last year in High A he had 29 HR and 90 RBI with 24 SB. I hope we see him in a year or two.

They also have a Pork Schnitzel the size of your schnitzel.

One positive thing - the position players have more hot water for their showers since the starting pitchers are taking their showers earlier this year. + > -

My suggestion to Jim Pohlad - sell controlling interest of the team to Cameron and Tyler Winkelvoss. The true investment value of a sports franchise is in the unholy appreciation - not the day-to-day profit. That $44 million that the Pohlads spent in 1984 adjusts to about $100 million in 2016 dollars. The Twins would fetch somewhere around $900 million if sold now (well maybe not right now) so the Pohlads could realize a 800% ROI! Pohlads like that kind of thing, right? Why the Winkelvii? http://cdn.bgr.com/2012/09/winklevoss-e1347890221371.jpg?w=624 First you have that whole twins/Twins thing going. How great is that? They could even stand out in the center field upper deck and shake hands when the Twins Byung Ho Park homers. Second, you get, not one, but two Ivy-League educated masters of the universe making team decisions. That's almost twice as many as Theo Epstein. While the current Twins president's alma mater, the U of North Dakota, is sometimes referred to as the Harvard of Canada, I believe the actual Harvard background of the Winkies would be a nice upgrade for the Twinkies. Third, if nothing else the Twins would be getting a pair of athletes better than 23 to 25 of the current Twins.(The Winkies competed in the 2008 Olympics.) Fourth, you get a couple of guys whose chiseled Hollywood good looks and notable histories would ensure the Twins ballclub gets considerable pub. Better to be a horrible team that's still buzzworthy than a horrible team that's only zzzz's-worthy. What Desperate Measures do you propose?

Oswaldo Arcia is to outfield defense as derivatives on subprime mortgages are to investment banking.

Eddie Rosario, skilled in penmanship, converted his F into a B before showing it to his folks.

A wise man once said that nothing succeeds like succession. May have been Trump.

I believe if the rain delay lasts 5 innings it's an official game.

It appears the Twins are tweaking their mix of replacement-level players in hopes of finding some who can actually play at replacement level. +3 wins if that goes well.

Rosamund's Father: "And what job do you do?" Ken Shabby: " I clean out public lavatories." Rosamund's Father: "Is there a promotion involved?" Ken Shabby: "Oh yeah, yeah. [Coughing] After five years, they give me a brush."

Let's make a pact today to retire the hackneyed McCarverism, "Electric Stuff." Post your alternative and let the Twins Daily faithful choose their favorite with their likes. Examples: "has the Shakira of sliders" "sharper movement than the needle on a Rafael Palmeiro lie detector" http://espn.go.com/media/pg2/2006/0316/photo/a_palmeiro_275.jpg

What I find curious is that Paul Molitor would have favored the Sano position switch as Molitor himself was frustrated and challenged by position shifts in his career - notably the move to CF in 1981 and the move to 3B in 1982. Sano is on the same path. RF is now his third professional position with a further change to first base likely in the future. Molitor was an agile, quick elite athlete, all-state in three sports at Cretin. If he was uncomfortable, someone with as much mass to move as Sano has got to be incredibly uncomfortable. The Brewers brought in a special outfield tutor for Molitor (Sam Suplizio) to help with his transition. I'm not aware that the Twins did anything with Sano prior to Spring Training.

I'm guessing the Twins have some kind of discounted fares. I know the Padres have frequent friar miles.

I also heard that the Twins were stretching out Loek Van Mil.

Thanks for the breakdowns,Brock. His at-bats have certainly looked like he's more assured at the plate this season. I also like that he showed bunt to get the Angels IF out of their shift last night. It seems like a no-brainer, but I don't recall him doing that before.

Escobar is the second coming of Honus Wagner at SS compared to Florimon.

Speaking of "Outweigh"... Sano looks like he's getting to a tipping point athletically from a sheer mass perspective. His attempted slide into 2B in game 2 of the Orioles series was executed it as if he thought he was a 180-pounder and was expecting the physics to work the same way. Instead of a normal sized man sliding, however, a 270 pound man dug in to the ground and was jolted to a stop that looked like it would dislocate a knee. I haven't see anything that ugly since Kent Hrbek dug a three foot chunk out of the Target Field sod trying to slide after a foul ball in a Legends game. The Twins desperately need to pair Sano with a live-in nutritionist and personal trainer.