USAFChief

**** just got real up in here?

Games needing a volunteer: 7/12 TB 7/13 TB 7/14 TB 7/15 TB 7/23 @ TOR 7/26 @ BOS 7/30 CLE 8/1 CLE 8/7 @ CLE 8/8 @ CLE 8/9 @ CLE 8/11 @ DET 8/12 @ DET 8/15 PIT 8/19 DET 8/25 OAK 8/26 OAK 8/30 @ CLE 9/1 @ TEX 9/2 @ TEX 9/4 @ HOU ​9/5 @ HOU 9/18 @ DET 9/19 @ DET 9/22 @ OAK 9/23 @ OAK 9/26 DET

It's almost time...the 2018 season is here! Which means…GAME THREADS! Like previous years, we're asking game thread fans to help us out by starting game threads. Riverbrian will take care of all the series openers, leaving the rest of us in awe...and responsible for the remaining games. USAFChief and Carole Keller will be your points of contact, to volunteer, ask questions, get help, or compliment Chief on his fantastic sense of humor and amazing repertoire of laugh-out-loud "original" material. If you want to help, we ask only a couple things: 1. If you volunteer, please follow through. (Or contact USAFChief AND Carole Keller as far in advance as possible so we can arrange for another volunteer.) A list of games in need of a volunteer is immediately below. 2. Have the game thread up at least 2 hours before game time, including lineups. 3. If you can't include the lineups when you post the game thread, come back later and add another post with just the lineups. 4. We like positivity. 5. Funny is great. Innovative is great. But they are not requirements. You are only limited by your imagination.Game thread regulars: step up and help! Newbee’s:get your feet wet, you’ll be great! 6. Length is up to you...but it's not necessary to create an opus. Use the following format for the thread title: (home) Game Thread: Twins vs XXX, 4/1/17 @ 7:10 PM CT (away) Game Thread: Twins @ XXX, 4/1/17 @ 8:10 PM CT 7. Have fun. 8. If you make jokes about old age, expect retaliation. Notes: Lineups are available at several places, just google "Daily MLB lineups" for help. You won't be able to edit your original post, so make sure you have it the way you want in when you hit "post." You also will need to add a second post to add lineups if they're not in your original thread starter. Please do not volunteer in this thread. This thread is for questions, ideas, etc. To volunteer, pick out the game(s) you want, then send one PM to both USAFChief AND Carole Keller. You'll hear back from one of us. ____________________ Instructions on getting started with posting a game thread: To start a thread, go into the Twins Talk forum. At the top of all the threads, you'll see a black rectangle that says 'Start new topic.' Click on that and fill it out. Put in the topic title (as indicated in this post above), then fill out the body of the post with your thread start. When you are done, click on the black rectangle that says 'Post new topic.' Voila, done. [incidentally, any time you want to start a discussion topic on something not already in the forums, feel free ... same instructions.] One of the moderators will pin it when they see it go up. Remember to have it up by 2 hours prior to game time. It can go up any time during the day, but at least by then. Also, once you click 'post' you won't be able to edit after an hour from posting ... I think it's an hour. Anyway, your ability to edit times out. If you want to wait until lineups are out before posting and include it in your thread, that's fine. If not, just post the linesups in another post when you see them up. If you want to post links in your thread start, use the 'link' icon. It's to the right of the numbered bullet point thing. So, starting with the 'Bold' font icon , it's the 9th from the left to the right. I think it's supposed to be a chain link, but it's too small for me to tell. Anyway, copy the url you want to link, highlight the word(s) you want to become your link, click on that icon, paste in your url, click 'okay' and done. Of course, you can simply copy and paste your url into your thread, but this makes it all look so nice. (Click on the highlighted 'word(s)' in red and you'll see that it's a link to the comments policy.) If you want to include any video, such as something from youtube, copy the url of the video you want to use, click on the icon 3 from the left on the top row (between the eraser and the font size), on the drop-down menu under BBC code, select 'Media,' paste your url in the large box, then click 'okay.' When you post your thread the video will embed, like this: You can also simple 'bookend' your url with 'media' and '/media' ... but use [brackets] instead of apostrophes. If you want to post images or gifs you find on the internet, find the image/gif you want to use and copy the url. Click on the icon that looks like a photo with a tree in it ... it's just to the right of the 'link' icon ... paste your url, then click 'okay' and done, like this: If you want to post photos from your own files, go to the 'Attach files' underneath your post, and click on 'browse,' choose the file you want off your computer, click on 'Attach this file,' once it shows, click on 'add to post' and you'll have your photo. It's similar to the same way you select your avatar, only there won't be a size limitation. (If the 'Attach this file' thing isn't right below where the text box of your post, use the 'Use Full Editor' click below and follow the same instructions. Make sure your cursor is in the right place when you click on 'Add to Post.') Any other technical 'how do I post this?' questions, send a PM to Chief and Carole. Carole will answer, thereby informing both you and Chief.

There is zero chance he gets moved if the Twins are in contention. None.

If you tossed your Willie Banks autographed baseball, I bet somebody drilled it for a ringing double off the right center fence. Back to Vargas...he has never demonstrated enough to get too worried about.

Need? No. But you’d certainly WANT one, because you’re better off having one than not. That’s the important question.

In addition to Spy's age rebuttal above, Vargas has 764 AAA PAs, and another 556 in AA. More time in AAA wasn't an issue either.

K and/or 4-3 a lot.

Dozier has been a fantastic player for the Twins, and I hope he has another fantastic season. But he owes them nothing, and vice versa. Offer a QO, and let that dictate 2019.

And Morrison has had an OPS higher than the .730s once since 2012 and isn’t an OFer. There’s nothing wrong with adding Morrison, but we’ll see both how he hits and how he gets ABs. And I still would have preferred a RH hitting 4th OFer....which were available.

Carlos Gomez, Matt Holliday, Carlos Gonzalez, Jose Bautista, Austin Jackson, off the top of my head. Trades, too.

Well of course you don't think so. We already know that.

Instead of impacting the outcome of the games, how about violations impact the players' wallets? Make pace of play violations a fine, and there will be few violations.

CBU.

I think a RH bat who can play corner OF makes so much more sense.

"Aaraon Slegers?" You spelled Yu Darvish wrong.

Depending on minor leaguers doesn’t ever work, for anyone. Don’t make plans that include them. Don’t worry about “blocking” them. Don’t fail to add proven talent in hopes that “by mid-season, so-and-so will be ready.” Fill your team with proven talent. When/if a minor leaguer forces his way onto your team, then you’ve got a great problem to deal with. When you fail to fill your bullpen because all that A ball talent is “going to need room” you are very likely to still have that room much longer than you anticipated.

Concur, concur, concur. I take the player with proven big league experience almost every time, and I don’t care what some spread sheet says about “decline phase,” “over 30,” or much else. Depending on minor leaguers is folly.

I don't have kidney stones, but I'm a carrier.

I'd caution you about railing against things that haven't been said.Because as far as I can tell not one poster has called Sano a terrible, lazy waste of a human being.

//hat tip to Chief Jr// what, Mauer needs a day off already??

Too easy: EE-Zee-Zee.

yes.

It's rather mind boggling to me to see so many posters posit that being overweight doesn't negatively affect a baseball player. That just doesn't make sense. Not rendering him useless is not the same as not negatively affecting his performance. At the very LEAST, it slows a baseball player down. It almost certainly HAS to negatively affect ankle, knee, and hip joints. And I'm just not buying the idea that a 3rd baseman isn't negatively affected defensively if he's carrying extra pounds. C'mon people.

Nit pic: the Hicks-Murphy trade was awful from day one. Awful, from any perspective. Nothing like this, IMO. I agree Odorizzi is worth much more to the Twins than Palacios.