USAFChief

1. Playing RF and playing LF aren't much, if any different, IMO. One job is a mirror image of the other, except for longer throws to third base. 2. In another thread, you said RFers are normally better than LFers. If that's the case, and you believe Arcia can never be a good outfielder, wouldn't you want him in left, if he's going to be on the field?

Hunter's age is established. Let's move on.

My opinion: were I building a MLB team, corner OF defense would be pretty low on my list of priorities. I further believe current metrics overstate the importance of same.

"Sorry if you were eating lunch." Yeesh...maybe an advance warning next time instead of an apology after... :-)

I'm not sure "fair ball" is the definition I'd use for "successful bunt." Afoul bunt is just a strike. If you are only bunting strikes, which you should be, a foul ball is no more harmful than taking the pitch for a strike, no? For that matter, A foul bunt may do just as much good as a fair one in forcing the defense to defend against bunts. And I think bunting against a shift is different--easier--than bunting against a standard defensive alignment, and much easier than bunting in a sacrifice situation, where the corners might be 60 ft from home plate as the pitch is delivered. So I'm not sure how helpful this article is. Yeah, bunting is hard, and may take some practice. So is swinging away.

And for a noon game, I'd look to the first base side, so the sun will be going behind the overhang sooner.

I wasn't necessarily talking about bunting against a shift, but that's part of it. Even in a regular defensive alignment, it's to the hitters advantage to force the third baseman to play in.

I have no proof, but it seems self evident to me there is also some value to your average in forcing teams to defend against bunts for hits. My personal opinion is anyone with even modest speed should drop down a surprise bunt every so often just to keep the corner IFers playing honest. Just not with two outs. I hate that play. And sac bunts should be exceedingly rare. Late game, one run is huge, good hitters due up situations.

I'm going to go out on a long limb here and guess there really isn't a "contract." Sometimes, people exaggerate for effect.

JIM Souhan??

I'm not disputing the strike zone expanding over the past half decade or so. I question whether MLB made a conscious decision to expand it. As for Mauer, I stand by my opinion that if he's so attuned to the strike zone--your claim, not mine--he should be able to adjust his personal one, particularly since this alteration has been, as noted, going on for some time. It's not like he woke in 2014 and suddenly the low outside corner was two inches farther away. Now that I think about it, it sort of fits with my opinion on Mauer in general, he's a very good hitter, who could benefit from altering his approach at times.

Souhan has to sell the signing? Maybe it's just something noticeable when reporters show up.

I don't think MLB "decided" to expand the strike zone. I think there was much hue and cry from outside baseball about umpires not calling the Questec zone, and so we've gotten what many asked for. In the specific case of Mauer, if he's so in tune with what is and isn't a strike, shouldn't it be quite simple for him to adjust to what is being called, instead of what he thinks should be called? Or is he just too stubborn, or too egotistical to adjust?

IMO there is close to zero chance Schafer is a long term asset as a regular. He is the CF equivalent of giving starts to Sam Deduno...ultimately, it's going to fail. So why do it? I'd rather see Hicks, and I don't really want to see Hicks.

Similar to the potential value of base on balls? It ups the batter's OBP, but is only valuable if somebody else knocks him in.

and still had more RBI than any Twin.

I would also be mildly surprised if Gardy got another managing gig.

yes.

Zaun sure doesn't seem upset. Just the opposite, in fact.

Yes...you can volunteer for more than one series.

Twins fans: we need your help! We love our game threads. Where else on the Internet can you find, in one spot, lengthy discussions of the merits of Ginger vs Maryann, endless "Princess Bride" references, and a strong collection of the corniest jokes this side of Iowa? PLUS, you never know when someone might mention something baseball related! Riverbrian has done a fantastic job in the past of setting up game threads with "5 things to think about," and Chitowntwinsfan has added the lineups...and away we go. This year, we would like to try something just a bit different...we would like to see game threaders involved in setting up game threads. Our preliminary plan is to have Riverbrian do the setup for the first game of each series, just like he's always done. We are asking for volunteers to do the game thread setup, and post lineups, for the remaining games of each series. We want to keep it to one person per series. We would ask you to stay loosely within the "5 things to think about" format, although if, like RB, math is difficult for you, four or six works. We like positivity, too, as who wants to watch a baseball game with a frown on your face before the Twins have even fallen behind? We would want the game thread up at least a couple hours before game time. We will be in contact with volunteers later to cover details about how to start a thread, how to edit, etc. TD owners are considering making the game threads a front page link, and we will help with all of that if and when necessary. All mods will be a PM away to help with anything, for that matter. If you have questions, post them here. If you want to volunteer, please do not do so in this thread. Send a PM to USAFChief, and let me know which series you can take on. Series:

One minor quibble, JB...everyone is welcome in game threads. Even those who want to talk about baseball! ;-)

No, I don't think so. Nor is there a great deal of anti-metric vitriol. Just some honest reluctance to jump to firm conclusions based mostly on what some consider theory, not fact.

I also have a problem with taking the already questionable data, and then deriving further data... There's a post above that quotes someone as saying Lucroy has gotten 442 more strikes than Posey over three years. That seems a little too...exact to me. But the follow up is even worse...even if Lucroy has gotten 400-odd more strikes called, that's about 1 per game. I'm supposed to believe 1 more called strike per game equals "60 or 70 runs"? 20 runs per season? I'm skeptical.

Do you really believe the "worst case" career for Sano is over 8000 MLB PAs at an .850 OPS? I would think the worst case is "finishes professional career without a MLB appearance." That's not likely, but that's worst case.