IndianaTwin

I've always been a Robertson fan, so yes, on the condition that it also comes with a $250K/$500 buyout on the option for 2022.

Atlanta.

Thanks. This will be some interesting watching.

Oops -- had I read post No. (10 squared plus 8 squared), I'd have seen that it was already mentioned. But at least us great minds are thinking alike!

Let's not forget that Junior Ortiz wore 0 cubed.

You neglected what I see as another plus in the Shoemaker signing -- not having to rush Happ to get ready. The Twins COULD skip their No. 5 with a couple early off days, but they don't tend to do that. I especially don't see them doing that this year, with the concern about guys who didn't pitch a full year. So with Shoemaker, they can start Maeda on Thursday (4/1) and then have Berrios-Pineda-Shoemaker-Dodnak-Maeda-Berrios in the six-day stretch before the off day on the 9th. So, they could IL Happ at the beginning of the year, avoiding the need to rush lengthening him out. Then, on the 10th, they start the stretch with 12 straight days, so they could start Happ then, or wait until as late as the 15th. By that point, they could have all back and make the decision of whether to go with a six-man rotation for a time or move Dobnak to the bullpen or St. Paul. And by then, someone else could have easily gone down, still leaving them with five stretched-out guys and Thorpe stretched out in St. Paul (assuming he gets the extra option).

According to this article, Canadians became eligible for the draft in 1991. Before that, they were eligible if playing for a U.S. college. And Adam Loewen was the No. 4 pick in 2002, the same year the Twins picked fellow Canadian Jesse Crain. https://baseball.ca/preview-2020-major-league-baseball-drafthh

And in related news, with his final clout of last season, Max Kepler now has exactly one-fourth of the home runs hit by players born in Germany -- 101 of 404. He's currently fourth in RBIs, needing 145 to surpass Mike Blower and Bill Keuhne and tie Glenn Hubbard atop the list. He's third in bWAR at 12.50, needing 5.5 to catch 1900s pitcher Pretzels Getzein and 6.72 to catch Hubbard. Ron Gardenhire remains a distant 10th in HR, with four, and 15th in bWAR, with 0.82. He's the leader in wins among managers at 1200, however, exceeding three guys born in the 1800s who totaled 59. One of the other managers was Chris Von Der Ahe, who went 3-14 as manager during the time he owned the St. Louis Browns (the ones that became the Cardinals). His most noteworthy contribution to the game may be that he's considered the first to introduce hot dogs at the ballpark, so I guess he wasn't the wurst guy in the world.

I managed to get two of the three on the bWAR list. Didn't realize the guy in third was born north of the border, eh. Had I, I would have three on the HR list instead of just two. For those who would like to check their answers without giving them away, go to: https://www.baseball-reference.com/bio/Canada_born.shtml

In the cases of Dobnak and/or Thorpe, I think you need to keep them stretched. With the late start to the AAA season, the question becomes whether it's easier to keep them stretched out while in the bullpen, potentially helping the team, or at the alternate site.

Never mind on the previous comment...

Hopefully the comment wasn't written WHILE driving. Doesn't Illinois have some laws about that? :-)

if you want a triple header week, the weeks of May 25 and July 6 can get the Saints at Iowa and Cedar Rapids and Wichita at home.

Yeah, but with all these options that don't include MLB Network, how do you spend your winters when you can't watch that stupid movie where Bernie Mac makes a comeback to try to get his 3,000th hit? 97 times. Each month...

I'll take that a step further, Doc. I went through the 2019 AL stats and totaled the games started by what appeared to be a team's top three starters. They averaged 82 per team, thanks to injuries, etc. Small sample size, sure, but I'm guessing that's pretty typical of most seasons. So basically half your starts from the top 3 and half from "everybody else." I'm with you in saying that I think our top 3 is very close to theirs, but I like our "everybody else" considerably better. And which team is has a better top 3 if one of their top 3 gets hurt? For them, if someone is hurt and the dumpster fire starts at No. 3, they are in trouble. Overall, I think the Twins rotation does more than just match theirs -- I think it exceeds it.

I thought of the 6-man rotation option as well, and would concur on that being more likely (and better) than the pen. Word is that teams are worried about guys bouncing back to a full season after the abbreviated version. In the Twins case, it seems wise to be planning for the possibility of going well into October, something that's less of a consideration for, say, the Tigers. And perhaps especially with the signing of Shoemaker, the Twins are in the enviable position of being able to make this decision based on ability, not necessity. If all six are pitching well, go with that and take advantage of the extra rest. If not, go with five.

Let's just say that my fastball has an above-average amount of vertical drop. (And a pretty high launch angle, both when thrown and when hit.)

They were already outside the umbrella of organized baseball, so they are free to sign with anyone, just like you and me (though at least in the case of me, they are more likely to do so — I’ve found the market for mid-50s knuckleballers sorely lacking).

And though they added him to the 40-man, I’d be a little surprised if they jumped Ober to AAA to start the season, with only four starts in AA and a 79-inning season in 2019 under his belt. The delayed start to the season for AA seems built for keeping minor league guys from needing to a make a significant jump in innings after having a season off from competition.

Uh, Dobnak? If the MLB rotation is Berrios-Maeda-Pineda-Happ-Shoemaker, I’d rather see Dobnak staying stretched out as a starter in St. Paul over being used in the MLB bullpen. Odds are someone from the Saints will be needed to make a Twins start before April is over.

To clarify: 1. Applying for a Visa is something that INDIVIDUALS do in order to by things on credit, much like as with a MasterCard, and it can typically be done very quickly. 2. Applying for a visa is something that EMPLOYERS do to enable people from other countries to work in the United States, and can vary greatly in the amount of time it takes. So, here’s a story idea for a TD writer, though perhaps at a slower time of year in their work activities. I’m assuming that someone in the Twins organization carries responsibilities for the process. How about an interview with that person? How does the process work? How soon are they typically working at it after one season ends and the next season starts? Do they have to restart the process if a player is waived by one team and picked up by another? Can the visa applied for by one team be transferred to another team? What happens with mid-season trades? Common obstacles they run into? “Visa issues” is a common enough, and apparently misunderstood, issue, and it could be helpful for many of us to get a primer. Call me a geek (actually, please don’t — people around me do it enough), but I’d find this interesting. I’d also find it interesting to hear about some of the other uniquenesses of the employer/employee relationship as it applies to a baseball player. For example, it’s tax season. Are they filing a dozen different state tax returns to cover the different states they’ve worked in? Are minor leaguers having to deal with the same issue, which would seem like a real pain given the amounts they get paid?

Not a bad signing, in my mind. If he makes the team, it allows Blankenhorn the opportunity to play every day in St. Paul, rather than riding the bench for the Twins. He also appears to be better defensively than Astudillo.

Worth a gamble, I suppose. Sure can’t be a coward to try getting a first edition contract.

In the 2003-04 offseason, I started fiddling with major league schedules and looking for road trips. My wife didn’t nip it in the bud, and my 11-year-old son and I ended up with a trip that included games in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Mets, day off at Cooperstown, Boston, Montreal, Toronto, and Detroit. Along the way, we also took in the NFL, NBA, and NHL halls of fame in addition to the day in Cooperstown. Then we stopped back home in northern Indiana to pick up my wife and other son and headed to Iowa for a family reunion, followed by games in the Quad Cities (when it was the Twins affiliate), Minnesota, Kansas City (and Negro League Baseball Museum), and St. Louis. All that to say that my wife hasn’t nipped this one in the bud either, so I’m doing some exploring that some of you may also want to consider. With the Saints, Wind Surge, and Kernels now making the top three levels of the Twins system, I started looking for good combinations to see all three of them. Here’s what I’ve found: In the week that begins on Tuesday, May 25, Cedar Rapids hosts Wisconsin, the Saints are at Iowa, and Wichita hosts Springfield. If you’d like to add nearby games, Omaha and Northwest Arkansas are at home. If you want to start a couple days early on the southern end of the path, Wichita will have ended a series in Tulsa on Sunday, the 23rd. Another add-on will have been to take in the Twins before or after. They host Baltimore on the 24th-26th (Mon-Wed) and Kansas City on the 28th-30th (Fri-Sun), so that could kinda be like seeing more minor league teams, especially when they play the Orioles. In the week that beings on Tuesday, July 6, Cedar Rapids hosts Peoria, the Saints are again at Iowa, and Wichita hosts Northwest Arkansas. Again, if you’d like to add nearby games, Omaha and Springfield are at home that week. The Kernels will also have ended the previous week with a Sunday, July 4 evening game in the Quad Cities. This time, the Twins will also be at home, playing the team from the Windy City which shall not be named on the 5th-7th (Mon-Wed) and then hosting a four-game set with Detroit on the 8th-11th (Thurs-Sun). It will take a bit more driving, but if you’re starting near the Twin Cities, there are two weeks when all three teams are at home — the weeks starting June 15 (Iowa at St. Paul, South Bend at Cedar Rapids, and Springfield at Wichita) and August 3 (Louisville at St. Paul, Quad Cities at Cedar Rapids, and Midland at Wichita). The Twins are on the road during the first week, though they will have sandwiched the week by hosting Houston and Cincinnati. In the second week, they will also be on the road, but begin hosting the aforementioned team that shall not be named on the Monday following the week. If one started on the south end, they could catch Wichita, Cedar Rapids, St. Paul and the Twins, in that order, even on a quick Friday/Saturday/Sunday/Monday extra long weekend. If you’re wondering, the Saints trips to Omaha don’t line up well for catching the Wind Surge and Kernels. Their first trip to the Storm Chasers starts April 13, before AA and A are in action. Their second starts May 4 and has the Kernels at home, but Wichita is on the road, though at relatively nearby Springfield. The final trip starts July 20, and again the Kernels are at home, but Wichita is on the road, though again at a relatively nearby park in Arkansas. In terms of drive times, it’s less than two hours from Cedar Rapids to Des Moines and then about 5:45 from Des Moines to Wichita, leaving plenty of time for a stop in Kansas City for some barbecue. If you interrupt the Des Moines to Wichita jaunt with a detour to Omaha to catch the Storm Chasers, you’ll add about an hour to the drive, but miss the barbecue. (So in other words, you’d want to add two hours, because it would be stupid to go that near Kansas City and not swing by for said barbecue.) Who’s in for a road trip?

Very well done! I also enjoyed the Randy Bush song. For those interested in baseball-related music, here's a link to an all-baseball show by folksinger John McCutcheon. Included in the show was a lengthy interview with Kaat. https://www.facebook.com/166909916655518/videos/232156791448433