IndianaTwin

And the guy on second usually has a bigger lead, right?

Sorry, only partial credit. You're missing the exponent 2 on the hypotenuse.

And I'm sure you told him where he could stick that suggestion...

My dad used to brag all the time, "I can tell you what the score of this game is going to be before it even starts." Yeah, Dad, you've said this one before -- 0-0.

What's our team batting average? Probably about .220, .221, whatever it takes.

I love Jesus too, but I would NEVER wear a White Sox shirt, period. In fact, there are basically two things that all the major world religions (and those who claim none) can agree on: 1. Treat others like you want to be treated. 2. Don't wear White Sox stuff.

in response to... Warning: The following link has some religion and perhaps a little politics implied, but I found it a very thoughtful essay from someone who I haven't particularly cared for as a TV host -- Tony Reali. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2017/03/04/ive-worn-ash-on-my-head-on-espn-for-16-years-this-year-was-different/?utm_term=.1c0dea72a1f5#comments We now return to your regularly scheduled mayhem.

Thanks. And I'd definitely concur if it that's late in the year.

Where do I find service time on the new layout for baseball-reference.com? Elsewhere, it looks like Berrios got 74 service days last year. I don't know the ins and outs on the CBA well enough. What is the date at which he'd save a year of arbitration eligibility? With 74 days, I'm guessing it's much further into the year than is practical to consider a factor.

Thanks for the behind-the-scenes insights.

He's got amazing speed, and I'd love to see him get 15 or more -- they are incredibly exciting to watch. About the only thing better is watching him get inside the park homers.* I'm thinking of it more in this context -- before getting sent down the last time, 4 of his 38 hits were for triples. In September, he had 29 hits, but only two of them were triples. Said another way, it was two triples in 113 plate appearances during September, which would be 10 in 565 PAs. That's too small of a sample to be meaningful, but I wonder if it's representative of teams starting to play him deeper as he demonstrated more power. I could see that continuing and becoming even more of the case. In addition, if he starts to hit more homers, he may nudge towards more of an upper-cut swing. Higher flies don't lend themselves to triples as much as line drives. More homers also means fewer balls still in play. But hey, I'd love it if this evening you'd post this email: "See, I told you so -- he's got three triples already, and it's only April 3!" *One of my all-time favorite baseball quotes -- a Braves announcer (Joe Simpson?) once said, "Watching Greg Maddux leg out a triple has replaced the Kentucky Derby as the 'most exciting two minutes in sports.'"

I don't think he'll have a huge number of triples, maybe 8-10. He's got decent power, so teams will be likely be playing back in their no-doubles (triples) defense. The guys with lots of triples (see McGee, Willie) didn't tend to have that much power. However, that could also lead to even more bloop and ground ball singles turning into doubles.

On one hand, we could argue a long time about the "best" lineup, but the reality is that there will likely be 100+ different lineups used over the course of the year. Last year used 148(!), with no single lineup used more that thrice. All five ALC teams used at least 100, even Cleveland. On the other hand, keep arguing, because that means we're within a week of Opening Day! So my preference is, "Whatever lineup comes after the words, 'Play Ball!'"

Mom always said, "If you can't say something nice..."

Whenever that happens to me, I switch to ice cream. Happy wife, happy life.

I don't know -- I kinda like "playoff birth." Postseason baseball and becoming a parent both involve a lot of pain and putting up with a lot of crap along the way, but they're pretty amazing and a lot of fun when they come to fruition! :-)

Isn't this the perfect role for Nolasco? Oh wait, he's not here anymore. (Sorry, it's been a while since I've read any Nolasco comments -- it just doesn't seem like Twins Daily without one from time to time.)

I don't think you're being negative at all. I agree that injuries are a reality, which is why I don't get too hung up in February about which five are the first five to get a shot. I picked those six, but I'd easily add Vogelsong or somebody else if a couple of those are hurt. Looking at the schedule, I do like the idea of starting with six, however, particularly if that includes at least a couple of Hughes (coming back from injury), May (transitioning from bullpen), or Berrios (still progressing in innings). That's a way of continuing to work them in gradually.

A week or so ago, there was a discussion about adding another bat (Napoli, etc.) Given that Wieters is still available, on a scale of 1 to Stupid, what about pursuing him as the other side of the platoon? Besides catching 40 percent of the games, he could DH or even play 1B in a few more games. I know that managers are loathe to DH their second catcher because of losing the spot for an injury, but realistically, that might cost them 1 or 2 at bats over the course of the season.

After the day off after opening day, the Twins play 21 games in 22 days. Rather than making a big deal out of who gets the No. 5 spot, I'd say plan toward a 6-man rotation of Santana, Santiago, Gibson, Hughes, May, Berrios,* with the assumption that one will be hurt by April 26, resulting in a five-man rotation by when the off days start to appear. Pitchers getting hurt is just what happens. Then, keep with whichever five are healthy and start to feed in the others as needed (or when ineptitude sets in). We're going to start at least 10 guys by the end of the year. Does Vogelsong have an opt out in his contract? If so, he'd need to be included if he's pitching well in spring training, a possibility that shouldn't be discounted.

Some impressive clips. Including that Jon Miller pronounced it "Ay-ray Odd-ree-ONZ-a." When it comes to Anglo guys pronouncing Latino names, I'll take Miller against anyone.

My standard line is, "Football and basketball are just something to have on TV until baseball comes around." The best part of the Super Bowl is that it means it's only about a week until pitchers and catchers report. That said, I think it speaks highly of this site that so many players and others responded. Thanks again for all you do to make this a great distraction from the stuff I SHOULD be doing.

I'm an old goat too -- do you have a couch I can crash on? It's not like poor sleeping conditions will negatively affect my performance.

How about this one -- sign me! For the league minimum, I'll gladly be the 4th outfielder and endure the wrath of Twins Daily posters.

I don't think I'm selling them short. And I don't think I've said that they NEED extended inactivity to get familiar. Rather, I've tried to say that I think they should have the freedom to jump into the pond at the time they are ready. Rather than selling them short, I give them props for making what they think is an educated judgment on what is best for the organization and not trading him if they haven't gotten what they think he's worth. I also give them credit for not jumping to an assumption that many of us on this Web site (and many in the national media) are making -- an assumption that says, "I've got to trade Brian Dozier for whatever I can get by the start of spring training, because there's no other way forward." Sorry if "Can anyone think of someone who came in as a GM (particularly a first-time GM) from outside the organization and made a good move in trading away the team's best player within three (or even five) months?" feels too specific to be helpful. It's intended to be pretty general. I'm fine if you prefer it as "How often do rookie GMs come to an organization and win a blockbuster trade early in their tenure?" I stuck in 3-5 months because they've been on the job about three months and it will be roughly five months into their tenure when the season starts. Some of us on this site probably think waiting a week was too long, and some of us probably think waiting 9 months is too long, so I was trying to emphasize our current situation. Similarly, I said "best player" because we've been talking about Dozier. If you want to expand that to "guys as good as Dozier or Santana," I'm fine with that too. My underlying points still stand: 1. I think it's human nature to be pretty cautious in a new job. 1.1 That may be even more the case when you're new to the organization. 1.1.1. And even more so when it's your first job at that level. 2. They're still early in their job. 3. Given 1 and its subpoints and given 2, I'm cool with the fact that they haven't traded Dozier (or Santana) yet. I also heard someone say recently that we should pay attention to the anomalies, because it's in the anomalies that we are typically pushed into new and better ways of thinking. I was asking for a little help in finding the anomalies. The best possible anomaly I've heard so far is Matt Klentak trading Ken Giles. Probably too early to tell if he won the trade, but we'll see. Even if it was anomaly in coming early in his tenure, he did seem to follow conventional wisdom in forcing both quality and quantity by making it a 2 for 5 trade, something that for what we know, the Dodgers haven't offered. That we don't have others swarming to mind makes me think that it probably is pretty common for new GMs to be cautious, and I'll continue not getting too worked up about the fact that he hasn't been traded yet. And if they make a trade tomorrow, I'll either give them credit for making a good trade or say, "Hmm -- they must know something I don't."