tarheeltwinsfan

My wife and I I watched Eddie Rosario have a nice interaction with a young couple and their small son at Ft. Myers one sunny spring day. The father and son were pitching ball, while Eddie was across the chain link fence in left field. After practice was finished, Eddie walked over to the little boy, knelt down and talked to him and his dad for a while. Eddie was so patient with the little boy who said: "Eddie, you're my favowit pwayer". The next year we were at a spring training game and Rosario was announced over the loud speaker as coming to bat. Behind us , my wife and I heard a little voice say: "Rosario?" We turned to look and it was the same little boy, eyes aglow, watching his "Favowit Pwayer". We reminded his parents that we had seen the interaction between Rosario and their family the prior year and we all shared a really nice moment. Therein lies a problem for me...I come to care about these players when they are in the minors chasing their dreams, I watch them mature. Most don't make it for long in the big leagues, if ever ....but some, like Eddie Rosario do. Then they get dropped, waived, or traded. I personally think of Torii, LaTroy, Berrios, Dozier, Kyle Gibson, Gardy, Nelson Cruz, Morneau, Mark Davidson, even Rod Carew and Harmon Killebrew, all were disposed of by the Twins. And don't forget Harold Mains and his son, Mike, who ran the Elizabethton Twins as a family franchise for years, which was recently abandoned by major league baseball. Baseball can be a cruel profession for those of us who are sentimental fans, but especially for the players, coaches and staff and the Elizabethton Twins "family". But baseball and the Twins have such a hold on me that I continue to dream with the minor leaguers, and those who make it to the Twins, and cheer for them all, and grieve with them when it inevitably ends.

Nice article about a nice man. Congratulations Eddie, Eddie, Eddie.

I agree. A lot depends on whether Lewis can play SS. If Buck gets an extension and Lewis is an above average SS, with Polo at 2B and Kirilloff at 1B (where I thought he looked competent) the Twins IF will be good. enough In view of the defensive shifts, the 3B position requires a good fielder. We can no longer stash a slow- moving player at 3B. I thought Sano was a better than adequate fielding 3b, especially with that rocket arm.

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ! Just NO ! I do not want to build a team this way. As Cuba Goodin said : "Show me the money, Jerry !" Just spend the money and keep and reward the good players and sign some really good FA pitchers. Please. And start promoting players while they are younger. What more does Miranda need to do to get promoted? Get some more hitters, and jettison those hitters who are strikeout artists. Throw the ball hard and accurately, hit the ball where they ain't, catch the ball. It's not that complicated. Damn.

Good article. I think the Twins must keep Rooker over Garlick, due to Rooker's outstanding power. However his defense is lacking, and I am concerned about the number of Twins who have similar traits of big power and huge, rally killing strikeouts, when a single punched to the opposite field is needed., To be frank, I would like the Twins to adopt a new hitting strategy, which favors more singles and less strikeouts.

Outstanding synopsis Nick. "Macro vs. Micro". I felt like I was reading an article from The Atlantic. Really a well written article. Thank you.

I don't want to hear this, Doc.

How about we lobby MLB to require that relief pitchers must go back to their former teams. Let's name a few the Twins would get: Pressley, Hendricks, Graterol, Shaggy, May, Curtis, Anderson, Littel, Romo ( no wait a minute), Fernando Rodney ( uh oh...not again), Blake Parker ( I need to take a phone call) and Sam Dyson..., Astudillo... ? My wife is calling , it is time for me to get off the computer. See you guys later. Now if I can just find my delete button on this new laptop..

Can you tell from my grammatical errors in my post above, that I am upset about this issue? I think I'll get off this site for now and go take a walk.

No to any of the 5 shortstops mentioned here. Let's see what we have already (Lewis and Martin and Miranda) and sign Buck and a top SP and a top, FLAME THROWING RP. Let's get some more heat and promote our existing flame throwers. Did anyone else notice how many former Twins relief pitchers are on teams which are in the playoffs this year? Will somebody on this website please explain why the Twins have waived, traded, lost so many flame throwing relievers, some of whom are now still pitching in October? I am sick of seeing former Twins minor league stars languishing in AAA and AAin the Twins system,, only to be waiver and then succeed on another major league team. We here at Twins Daily invest a lot of our time and energy learning about these rising stars by way of the excellent writers and our minor league reports (Thanks Seth). Seth,, you put a positive spin on most of your articles. Can you explain how these relievers have slipped away and who is to blame? Or am I just over reaction?

YES !

This was an interesting article. Thank you for writing this article, Tom. I believe you are on to something here. The Twins have traded away, given away, lost a lot of flame throwers over the past 5 years. The big question is "Why ?". A flame throwing swing and miss gives the team and fans more energy than a swing and miss change-up, which fools the batter. I really think many of the the Twins pitchers lack energy on the mound. Gardy used to say, "It's a long season." That is true, however I say, "It may be a long season, but you can only live one second at a time. Do all you can to win now, whether it is a cold April day, a drizzly June night, a sweltering day game in Tampa, or the last games in September.. Go all out...every time...every bunt...every batter's ground out to the shortstop. Run to first base, damnit, run. Play with energy. Pump each other up. Get excited and share the energy. Make every game a "playoff game" in actions and energy.

I agree with Ashbury. SS needs range and a rocket arm. By the way, I don't know how to measure this but, looking at the games on my computer at MLB.COM, I thought Simmons' arm was very good. But then I'm having a cataract removed Thursday, so that may have affected my judgment. When the doctor told me I had a cataract, I told him there must be a mistake, I drive a Jeep.

Wait a minute folks. Simmons had the 6th highest fielding percentage in the American league at SS in 2021. . He made some awesome plays at SS. He also made some heads up plays at SS. However his batting was pathetic. His swings looked like my high school teammates. I don't want him back either, but my reasons have nothing todo with his fielding percentage.

Nashville, Excellent . Your analysis makes perfect sense to me. Thank you.

Maybe Wade or Badoo or Rosario are available.

Thanks for all your work Nick. You did a really good job under difficult circumstances of having a disappointing team performance by the twins ( Note: I did not capitalize the "t" in "twins" on purpose. A little 't" seemed to fit this past twins' season better.)

I disagree. Period. Buck IS different. He IS unique. He IS one of a kind and I have been pulling for this franchise since 1952. There has never been a player in this franchise as exciting as Buck. He's here now. Give the man his money. He has earned it and will continue to earn it

Sign the Duff. Sign Buck. Sign Buck. Sign Buck. Sign Buck.

Man , what am I going to do for the next 5 months until spring training? Maybe write a novel. I sure hope I can go to spring training this year. I have missed the last 2 due to this darn pandemic.

PS This invitation is open to any of you TD writers, readers and all the Twins announcers. We Twins fans are fortunate to have genuinely nice people as announcers. If you have not read Dick Bremer's book, "Game Used", get it and read it. He is an amazing fellow who would be a wonderful nest door neighbor and a lifelong friend.

I have am enjoying Justin Morneau's entire baseball career. He was an outstanding player. He was fun to watch as he matured, progressed and became a very talented baseball player. I feel that his true self as a man comes out as a broadcaster. He is humble, polite, funny and brilliant. I have enjoyed watching Twins games with my buddies, Dick and Justin. To me it is like going to a baseball game with two friends who know a lot more about baseball than I do and we just talk during the game as if we were seated together behind the first base side and we cheer for the Twins together. Thanks Justin. If you are ever in Statesville, North Carolina, (Mark Davidson's former hometown). give me a call. 704-871-9000 I'll treat you to some real North Carolina BBQ chicken and cheesy mac and cheese and vinegar based red cole slaw and a bottled root beer, at a small cinderblock restaurant 12 miles out of town in the middle of nowhere, which has a sign on the front door, "No Weapons Allowed." and inside a sign above the counter stating "Do Not take Photos of the Employees". Best BBQ chicken ever. Guaranteed. David Benbow

It's not that hard. I used to do it all the time in Babe Ruth and High School and church league softball, but then I wasn't facing major league pitching. But guys, it isn't hard to do , especially on outside pitches. Forget the macho swings and just hit 'em where they ain't.

Yes ! Exactly what High Heat said.

Order Kepler to hit the ball to the left side whenever the shift is on him. That will raise his batting average a lot and get him on base to score more runs. I think he hit for high averages in the high minors (.318 in AA and .282 in AAA). Is that because the shift was not used then in the minors? I totally blame the low batting average Kepler's inability and/or unwillingness to bunt toward 3B and to just stroke the ball toward 3b every time the shift is on him. Maybe Kepler could ask Cruz (after the world series) and Sano for some tips. Sano has been doing hitting to the opposite field much more this season. Thank you very much.