tarheeltwinsfan

Seth, I think you got so excited about all the great Twins hitting prospects, who in June had the best month of their careers, that you forgot #2. It's OK. Your report was so positive (as are most of your articles and interviews, and I mean this in a very good way) that I wonder how much better could your report possibly get, if you added a #2? Be careful that you don't overdo the excitement. Keep up the outstanding journalism, Seth. And thank you.

I met Chris Williams when he was at Elizabethton. He was a personable, humble guy who was very friendly. I wish him well. I wonder how his fielding and arm strength are at catcher?

Go Twins. Beat the Oreos.

Great analogy.

Interesting statement. I'm not sure I agree, but it is something to think about. There is some sort of a correlation.

No.

I read somewhere that Willie Mays said that he loved baseball so much, he would play for nothing. That may be so for Willie Mays, but look at the position players featured in this dynamic article by Nick Nelson. Which player on the 26 man team has the most "financial" incentive to play the hardest? Who must scratch and claw every time he is on the field, in order to stay on the 26 man roster and be paid as a major leaguer? I contend it is Willi Castro. The man is a competitor because he has to be in order to get major league pay and to get a good contract next year, where he can make some big money and be set financially for life for the first time in his baseball career. Now ask yourself, which 4 position players mentioned in the article by Nick, have the least "financial" incentives to succeed? Is it the player who: 1) Has an 11 million dollar guaranteed contract this year based on a piss poor prior year, because he can hit a home run 25 times, even though, if he played regularly he would set a major league record for strikeouts ( nothing good ever comes from a strikeout) and field well at a position which normally is used to hide a team's poorest fielders? 2) Who is guaranteed 200 million dollars no matter how he plays? 3) Who is guaranteed 100 million dollars, no matter how he plays? 4) Who is guaranteed 30 million dollars, no matter how he plays? There is a fifth player I must include in my comment and that is 5) Max Kepler, who is an enigma to me for a number of reasons, but by the end of this season will have earned almost 33 million dollars from the Twins. I don't know about you, but 33 million dollars earned in a lifetime is an amount I can only imagine. Kepler is being paid 8.5 million dollars (another figure I can only imagine) this year alone, no matter how many times he hits a two hopper to the second baseman, refuses to hit the ball to the opposite field and sometimes dogs it in the OF. These 5) have the least "financial" incentives to succeed, to play well, to do the little things that lead to team wins. to perform, to compete, to claw and scratch. I'm limiting my questions here to "financial" incentives only. Is there a correlation? I have no way of knowing what motivates each of these baseball players, but I do know this: I love my job, but I go to work every day for the money.

May I add Kepler this the above list?

Friends, I'm going to go on the IL for a few days. I need to forget about Twins baseball, unless or until, this train wreck turns around.

Thanks for this super update on some of the Twins minor leaguers who are performing well. Fingers crossed for them. Come on Brooks Lee.

I was all excited about this Atlanta series. Not so much now. I turned off the game during the second inning last night, but went back several times to check if a miracle had occurred. It is healthier for me to turn off the games as soon as a Twins loss seems inevitable.

If you want different results, you have to try different approaches.

I'm holding my replies on this subject until I see a mistake in these comments. Unfortunately, this article and most of the replies appear to be correct. "Strike Three. You're OUT !"

Agreed.

Plus Castro and Jeffers can do something no other Twins player can do. BUNT!

I watched that verdugo hit on mlb.com as it happened. Then I watched several replays to see if the ball was fair or foul. But now I have watched it to see if the ball could have been caught and I believe it could have been caught if a right fielder had exhibited more effort.

Really good preview. Thanks.

Really a great article Nick. Duran is a uniquely talented pitcher. He is a joy to watch pitch for the Twins. I also enjoy the occasional views of the opposing batters shaking their heads in disbelief after a Duran pitch.

Please, please do not put Duran on the cover of Sports Illustrated. That is a guaranteed jinx.

Most fans in North Carolina are Braves fans. I am one of the few Twins fans here in North Carolina. So this Atlanta series is big for me. If Don Beaver had been able to buy the Twins 20 + years ago and move them to North Carolina, as he attempted unsuccessfully to do, the Atlanta/Charlotte rivalry would have been huge. Go Twins. Beat Hotlanta.

The Twins must sweep the weak teams and break even with the good teams. But then all of us at TD know that.

A wonderful victory, complete with a walleye fishing vest, Maeta's insistence on staying in the game, resulting in Jayce having the good sense to let him finish off the toy tigers, showing fight and guts and above all...confidence, while there were plenty of Maeta's pitches, placed as perfectly as a Martha Stewart place setting, plus an emotional Rocco trying to act more like Gardy, resulting with an early exit once again for our beloved manager, all followed by Matt Braun's exquisite literary game summary. Life is good.

Can't hurt. We shall see.

Seriously, the blown call may have worked in the Twins favor. Especially since the Twins had a player coming up to bat who knew how to make contact without trying to hit a home run ( cough, cough Gallo, Buck) or a 2 hopper to the second baseman (cough, cough Kep).

I thought this too, but could not figure out who to send down. Solano, Farmer, Castro, Julien...? I don't think so.