IndianaTwin

A lot may depend on how quickly Sano is back. If he’s cleared relatively soon and it appears they will only miss him for a week or so, it would be easy to use Gonzalez, Adrianza, and Astudillo, each of whom started at least 10 games there last year. If Sano is out longer, or if Donaldson tests positive and Sano has to go back to third, etc., then look at something from the list above.

I think the likelihood of any records being broken is blowing in the wind, but I could see a few Bomba Squad launches leaving on a jet plane.

Yeah, well, top this for having no life... We were able to complete our fantasy draft this spring, right around the time things were shutting down. Since we didn't have actual fantasy, my son entered our rosters into OOTP, and we simulated a full 162-game season using our fantasy rosters, followed by a full playoff schedule. And thanks to today's 6-5 win in World Series Game 7, I am the champion of the Northern Indiana Rotisserie League COVID-19 Fantasy Fantasy League! Danny Jansen's single plated Nick Senzel in the bottom of the sixth to give me a 6-2 lead, and I was able to hang on for the 6-5 win. "We've got grit," said Pile center fielder Ian Happ, who was named MVP of the series. "We know how to win when we have to."

I’m thinking SPYders would be a better name for Houston.

Lots of very good MLB players, but it seems surprising that the very, very best at the college level produces only one or two with HOF-worthy credentials (I'm including Posey). I recognize it's a different game and context, but I would have assumed more. I suppose one factor is also that by definition, several years of college is going to mean that a player doesn't make the majors before 21 or 22 and likely 23 or 24, so they have a tougher time putting up counting stats than a guy who signs from high school or internationally and climbs quickly enough to reach MLB at 20.

And that's what so rough about listening. As an analyst, Gladden is okay -- not my favorite, but okay. But in innings 4-6 when he does play-by-play, he just doesn't seem to get the basics such as that you can hardly say the score too often.

He probably still hasn’t given the score from that game.

Really? I've not cared for Darrin Jackson at all. But then again, I've mainly seen him when he was paired with Hawk on the TV side, so maybe that was the issue. After all, I wasn't a big Steve Stone fan when he was with Hawk, but I've reconsidered since he's been paired with Jason Benetti on TV. Their teamwork is such that it brings out the best in each other. From what I can see, they've not named a replacement for Ed Farmer yet. I was not aware that he passed away in April because of kidney disease.

He gone. And by that I mean, he’s retired. (I do concur with the spirit of this post, however. The current White Sox guys are excellent though.)

My understanding is that it's still visa issues. https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/baseball/news/twins-fernando-romero-visa-issues-continue/

Though "yes" also works. I just hope the "what" isn't what the dog left behind.

Great — what time will you be on your way home from work? Oh, you meant you were on your way home when you were listening to the radio!

On a different note, do we know when the schedule will be announced?

You're partway there. You can't count games missed in part of two seasons in the numerator and use an average number of games in the denominator. He'll have missed 60 games out of 222, which is 27 percent of games lost over two seasons. I'm not sure this is the best way to see it, but he missed 13 percent of last year and 65 percent of this year, the average of which is 39 percent, or pretty close to the original 37 percent. But it still gets to others' posts, which is to say that it's about games, not "percent of season." If we're talking about "percent of season," does that mean that a suspension this year should only be 30 games, since that's half a season? And at any rate, look on the bright side -- if it hadn't been reduced, he'd be missing 59 games of the 60-game season!

With some of the formats they were discussing earlier, it was intriguing to think of the scheduling options. For example, in the three-leagues-of-10-teams format, two home-and-home series (12 games) against the nine teams made for a nice 108 games. But with just 60 or games on the docket, that really ratchets up the importance of a single series against a contending opponent.

Does that mean that TD will allow us the opportunity to use even bigger type when we celebrate a home run?

But in regards to the question at hand, I place Pineda's return squarely in the camps of "good problem to have" and "we'll cross that bridge when we get to it." You've outlined several good options, but the choice is so very dependent on how other guys have done, both in effectiveness and staying healthy. So to your options, I'd one more -- bullpen reinforcement. Particularly if starters are healthy and effective, I think it's very fair to say, "Big Mike, you're penciled into our 2021 rotation, but we've got a good thing going with our starters right now, and we don't want to mess it up. We're going to work you into the bullpen -- you just made our deep bullpen even deeper. We especially want to use you as a guy to vulture wins -- Bomba Squad 2.0 is at your service! We also want to keep you stretched out enough so that you're ready if a starter does go down."

We really don't know whether there's been anything discussed. I've had my curiosities and can see merits both in the argument to adjust suspensions or keep them the same. My sense is that with all the other variables being discussed, dealing with suspensions -- of what is it, maybe one to three players -- is pretty low on the list of negotiation topics. Put it this way, if a deal gets held up because of whether or not to reduce Pineda's suspension, we've got bigger problems with owner/player relations than any of us realized!

Joe Thrawlings to rhyme with the Gold Glove sponsor doesn't have quite the same ring to it.

In looking at the PFF Web site, I'm even more impressed: https://pohladfoundation.org/

When the Pohlads make a gift to their foundation, they are not making a gift to themselves. What they are doing is making a gift that is required to have charitable purposes. The strong economy of recent years has made this a particularly opportune time to gift appreciated assets, with donors receiving both the charitable deduction and the advantage of avoiding capital gains. It is true that a private foundation has the ability to make payments to employees, including its officers. According to the Foundation's 2018 Form 990, the total compensation paid by the Pohlad Family Foundation to officers was a little over $300K and to other employees a little over $400K, with a little over $100K in pension and other employee benefits. The only paid officer was the Susan Bass Roberts quoted in the news release. The foundation's highest-paid employee received just under $160K in salary and benefit, another around $130K, one at $90K and one at $70K. With total assets of $118 million at the end of 2018, these seem like fairly modest amounts to be paying to administer the foundation. As a public foundation, they are required to distribute at least five percent of their assets each year, but it appears they gifted close to 10 percent of their assets in 2018 and similar percentages in previous years. I'm impressed with the wide variety of causes and organizations they have supported, with gifts ranging from several hundred dollars to some six-figure gifts. A primary advantage of using a private foundation for generosity is that it allows a donor flexibility in the timing of their charitable distributions. For example, they may well have made their gifts into the foundation over a period of years, which gave them the opportunity to respond to a specific need at this time with a larger amount than they would want to do from current assets. Most of us will not have the resources to make it cost effective to go to the expense of setting up a private foundation, but many of us can use some of the same techniques with a tool known as a Donor Advised Fund. In my line of work, it is not unusual to see a farmer make a gift of highly appreciated land into a DAF. In gifting a parcel of farmland, for example, they can receive a sizable tax deduction, avoid capital gains, and fund their charitable intent for multiple years into the future. For others of us, gifting appreciated stock or mutual fund shares can make sense.

If we're looking at series stats alone, having Garver over Battey's .120 average would have made the offense a little saucier.

"What is hard is Berrios isn’t likely making it as a starter in the 60s. His inning load just isn’t there." Perry threw 167.2 innings and Pascual 156.0 in 1965. Berrios threw 200.1 this year. Pascual had 1.1 WAR on the year and started in the series. Berrios would be a significant upgrade over 1965 Pascual and wouldn't have required Grant and Kaat pitching on two days rest in the series. Kaat lasted three innings on two days rest in the seventh game after going 2.1 on three days in the fifth game. For context, during the season, he'd averaged 7.8 innings on four days rest, only 6.1 innings on three days rest, and 5.0 innings on his four starts on two days rest. (Caveat: The latter includes him pitching just 2 innings in the final game of the season. Given that they won by 7 games, that may have been a tuneup. Even so, he averaged less than 6 innings in the other four starts. All in all, Grant, Kaat, Berrios, Grant, Kaat, Berrios, Grant would have been a better arrangement than Grant, Kaat, Pascual, Grant, Kaat, Grant, Kaat.

From reading reviews of Carew's new book, I think at least a three-part series focusing on 1) his childhood; 2) the 1977 season; and 3) his transplant would be a winner. And Oliva's journey from Cuba to a lifetime with the Twins, including the what-coulda-been injury, would get me tuned in. Depending on what happens with MiLB, nearly a half-century with the Elizabethton Twins.

Herbie's fist pump puts goose bumps on the goose bumps that come from hearing Jack Buck's "...out there! (pause, and then louder) Out there!"