Teflon

I'm sorry, they're not going to compete with the '82 class. Hrbek and Gaetti both finished in the top 5 of ROY voting. Laudner, Hrbek, Gaetti, Brunansky and Bush played in nearly 6000 games for the Twins and compiled 86 career WAR. They also played in a combined 71 postseason games and 5 all-star games as Twins. Add to that 4 Gold Gloves. (All Gaetti -Hrbek should have 1 or more) On the pitching side, Frank Viola pitched in 260 games for Minnesota and another 5 postseason games. He pitched in an All-Star Game, won the '87 World Series MVP award and the '88 Cy Young award. He posted 27 career WAR for the Twins. Pitcher Pete Filson was another '82 Twins rookie and would appear in 130 games with a total WAR of 3.5. Gaetti, Brunansky, Viola and another Twins rookie, Jim Eisenreich, would all go on to add significantly to their career totals outside of Minnesota. I don't see this year's group matching those totals. - especially as sticking with the Twins for as many seasons as the '82 group isn't as likely for players in the current era.

I think it depends if the Twins plan to deploy a conventional clockwise rotation or surprise their opponents with a counter-clockwise rotation.

Last year, 10 AL pitchers received votes from the 30 local market voters in the BBWAA: Justin Verlander, Dylan Cease, Alek Manoah, Shohei Ohtani, Framber Valdez, Shane McClanahan, Shane Bieber, Nestor Cortes, Gerrit Cole and Kevin Gausman. Justin Verlander won the Cy Young receiving all 30 first-place votes. Verlander was 18-4 with a 1.75 ERA He also led the AL in WHIP by around 100 basis points. His 5.7 in pitchers' WAR (as calculated by Baseball Reference) was 4th overall behind Cease at 6.4 (14-8), Ohtani at 6.2, (15-9) and Manoah at 6.0. (16-7) The most similar 2022 AL Cy Young vote-getter comparison to a 2023 Sonny Gray looks like Shane McClanahan who was 12-8 with a 2.54 ERA, 4.1 WAR, a 0.926 WHIP. (2nd in WHIP to Verlander, 6th in Cy Young voting) Framber Valdez, meanwhile, had a higher ERA than McClanahan, a higher WHIP, a lower K rate and a worse SO/W ratio but got 4 more BBWAA writers' votes than McClanahan. (Both had a single 4th place vote, Valdez had 12 5th place votes, and McClanahan got 8 5th place votes) The main things in Framber's favor seems to be the 17 games he won and that he led the AL in innings pitched with 201. (McClanahan finished at 166), This year, there isn't anyone having a Justin Verlander-type season so it's likely that 1st place votes will be split. That should make the overall scores lower and more dispersed. Still, should Gray stay among the leaders in AL pitchers' WAR at season's end, the additional wins that Eovaldi and Eflin have will be enough of an aesthetic differentiator to move Gray down the list. Since Voters have to list 5 pitchers, he'll definitely get some 5th place votes, maybe even 4th. With Ohtani and Cole also in the mix, however, I would be surprised if he gets any 3rd-place votes or higher. Wins are like the bathing suit contest in the pre-2018 Miss America pageant. Miss Arkansas and Miss Ohio may be neck-and-neck after the talent judging, but...

While Sonny Gray has been the best Twins player over the course of the season and has impressive qualitative stats, the Cy Young probably involves some quantitative minimums, as well. Not sure that Sonny gets to 10 wins or that the Twins post a better than .500 record in games that he starts - which is not his fault. Gerrit Cole, Nathan Eolvaldi, and Zac Eflin look a lot more like traditional Cy Young candidates than Gray.

Thanks for the summary, Ted. I appreciate the effort that you and the others put into these recaps.

"It’s very likely we won't see a player like Mauer again for decades." I hold out hopes for Walker Jenkins. That kid looks like he came right out of central casting. Nice piece, Ted.

Here you go:

I take Ted's view, too. A person can't just look at the high contracts at the end of a player's career for the simple reason that star players are so grossly underpaid at the beginning of their careers. You have to look at total production and total compensation like Ted's tweet did. For the whole of his career, Mauer's total salaries equated to only 70% of his estimated value to the Twins. That's quite a bargain.

Thanks, Matt. I really enjoyed reading that.

Of the current MLB teams, I'd give the nod to the Giants for having both the best TV announcers (Duane Kuiper, Mike Krukow) and radio broadcasters. (Jon Miller, Dave Fleming.) Kuiper and Krukow are definite homers and a bit irreverent but you really get a sense of them being buddies and enjoying being at the ballpark together. Miller is, IMO, the classic play-by-play caller with an elegant style, a great voice and a handy trove of facts. It's refreshing to watch/listen to a Giants game and to not be subjected to the usual ex-player stock phrases or regurgitation of the team's game notes. The Giants are also bringing in some interesting new faces on TV with Javy Lopez and Hunter Pence. PS - I really miss Herb Carneal. His voice was as much a part of my memory of summers past as the sound of the lake or the crickets at night.

I'm surprised on the timing of this as the Luplow signing could potentially upstage the Joe Mauer Twins HOF weekend.

Cleveland hasn't exhausted all options until they bring in Lonnie Smith as a special assistant to oversee baserunning.

The Twins and their MLB cohorts need to put more effort into the assigning of phantom injuries to players they want to sit down for a while. Something like, earlobe necrosis or having a vestigial tail removed. PS - Glad to see Keuchel. Not so much that I have high hopes for him, but just because it's something different and therefore interesting.

If modern technology can make a home ear-cleaning tool for the masses with a microscopic ear canal camera, I refuse to believe medical science can't fix Buxton for however many millions the Twins insurance would shell out.. Shut him down now for as long as necessary to surgically repair him and rehab him. I don't want to seem him at all in 2024 if he's going to be the same player he is at present. They invented a unique surgery for Tommy John back in the day, Somebody needs to pioneer the "Byron Buxton" surgery.

As a Minnesotan, I think Mauer's a first ballot Hall of Famer - but as a Minnesotan, I also know things hardly ever go like that for us. Harmon Killebrew, for #@!$'s sake, took 4 ballots to make it and he was the number 5 all-time HR hitter when he became eligible.

I'd be shocked if the Twins make front office changes for 2024. This season should have already been viewed as a write-off given Correa's funk, Miranda's regression, Polanco's injuries and Buxton's limited capacity. The Twins actually should have been sellers to see if they could get something for Gray or Maeda or Gallo or Kepler but I suppose standing pat is the compromise when you're mediocre but in first place by default.

Seeing as Gray and Maeda are both free agents to-be and the Twins are contenders only because they're the Eddie the Eagle of MLB this season, at least one of those pitchers should be traded for a player with some estimated future value. If it's Maeda that's traded, the Twins can make Gray a qualifying offer for next season to ensure they get a compensatory draft pick when he invariable signs with another team. That seems like the best case scenario.

In April Rocco Baldelli told the team "There's snow tomorrow" which the team misheard as "There's no tomorrow" and began swinging willy-nilly. In May, Baldelli told the team to "Only swing at pitches in the zone" but he failed to specify whether that was the strike zone or the central time zone. In June Rocco asked the team to be more selective at the plate so they started choosing more leafy greens in their post-game buffets. In July, Baldelli told the team the fans were getting fed up with all the K's at which time the team's left fielder began signing autograph requests, Max 'epler.

Even with the downgrading of wins as a factor, it's hard to believe a starting pitcher ending the season with a (likely) single digit win total in a non-shortened season would draw any consideration. PS - According to Baseball Reference, Gray's nickname is "Pickles". I, for one, believe that Twins Daily should start using nicknames more frequently. An exception would be made for Trevor Larnach. In his case his full name -Trevor John-Ikaiakaloa Larnach - should be used at all times because it's simply music to the ears.

Luis Arraez ranks among all NL players: #1 BA #1 OBA #1 AB per Strikeout #3 OPS+ #4 Adjusted Batting Wins #5 Offensive Win % #6 WAR #7 OPS #7 Runs Created

I would be really really excited if Max Clark was still there at #5 - but also worried that he turns out to be as brittle as Lewis and Buxton who were similar toolsy Top 5 schoolboy picks. Do you think requiring "adamantium bonding" would be viewed as unethical?

There needs to be something for struggling hitters as effective at improving their performance as Driveline is for pitchers. Why yes, I do have some certain hitters in mind.

As we play Baltimore on Saturday, time will be running out on the payment owed the Twins by Bally's Sports in order to keep broadcasting their games. Bally's hasn't announced that they won't be making the payment and, if the situation with the D-Backs is any indication, there's probably more negotiations to come. I hope not. It's time for Bally's limited streaming coverage to be replaced with something more accessible (MLB.com) for the remainder of the season. Anyway, slight chance we may be seeing the last Bally's broadcast of a Twins game this weekend. Fingers crossed.

So Carlos Correa is making the decisions, now?

Winston Churchill coughs. Franklin Roosevelt pats his arm.