Trov

I do not mind the 7 inning games for double headers, and would be fine with that move for double headers only in the future as well. Not for non-double-headers though. Pittsburgh is in the central because there are 5 teams in the NL that are more east. Miami, Mets, Nats, Phills, Atlanta. Plus they are the closest to the other NL central teams compared to other NL east teams. So sometimes it would seem it does not make much sense on where teams are, but lines have to be drawn somewhere. I am not fan of the 60 games, but I get it. I get the expanded playoffs, which makes the 60 game season even less of an issue. I do not have an issue with how the playoffs will be though. Having best of 3 is better than a first round single game at least.

We will not know how well the team does in terms of building a good system for a few more years. The key is being able to keep reloading talent as they age and leave via FA or we trade them. Look at Cleveland on how they keep producing pitchers over and over to trade away. Now, they have failed to get good hitting over and over, and they have tried to using pitching depth in trades to load up hitting, but overall has not been all to great lately. Twins have seemed to find some diamonds in the rough lately for some good stints and that is also key to success. Not every top pick will be a MLB player, but finding some late picks to make up for that is always key. We also will not know for another year or two on how great the picks were. So far Jeffers looks MLB level ready and Rooker has had hot start. The rest will come next year or two.

It will be hard for Detriot to come back as they will need to play Cleveland and Sox. I said at beginning of season it will be very hard to have 4 teams from 1 division because of having to play each other. Is it possible yes, but the Yankees, Baltimore, and Seattle will have to lose. Not sure if Yankees and Baltimore will play each other any more. It is crazy how a few injuries to Yankees has cost them so much. They are not alone with issues. Rays have had a ton of injuries, Twins are on there 3rd and 4th catcher, missed several games of "top" starters, many different pen arms, loss of Buck, Donadlson, Arriez, and others. Not saying Yankess are not missing top players, but they failed to have others step up. This is another season of Stanton missing major games. His is by far the most overpaid player due to health.

Lets not forget Pineda was once a top prospect. Injuries really derailed his career early on. If he can stay healthy he shows he can be a good pitcher. Maybe not an Ace, but very good. If he keeps looking this good I bet he will be top 2 pitcher in post season, and we could have a very good top 3 rotation.

I fully believe this will be his last year with team. My guess he will not be traded for all the reasons stated. He will just get DFA and may sign on with a team that is light on OF. We have too many good prospects that will be better than Eddie to keep running him out there. I always liked him, but he has regressed it would seem over the years and not improved. With not knowing what next year will bring, I bet there is no way the Twins will keep him. I would like to defend his base running yesterday. It was not a bad decision to try and take third. If the throw goes home, like most of the time it will, he gets praised for a great heads up running play, but the defense decided get the sure out and let run score. Chances of scoring from third go up a lot with less than 2 outs. If there were no out or 2 outs I would feel different but with 1 out I am okay with him trying to sneak in there thinking the throw would be going home. Now, that being said, if he had just ran hard the whole way he may have just made it outright.

Of the three listed to discuss Odo has worst FA approaching. He took the QO, one for liking MN, and two risk of not getting as good of deal elsewhere. We assume based on other offers he could have, but we will never know now. It was looking good if he could have produced close to what he did last year, but he failed to do so. He also will not be likely to long term deal like most players not knowing what next 2 years bring. If he could have secured his bag last off-season that would have been good for him. May, I do not think is much of an issue because of shifting cost of pen guys. Very few get more than a 2 year deal, and they are top closer guys, which May is not, despite having good numbers in big situations. This year he has struggled in some games. I do not think he is missing out on much as I doubt he would have got a huge deal even in normal FA year. Finally, as said Adrianza is replaceable and aging. Bench guys past age 31 will not be in high demand for more than league min. No team was going to go higher than that in normal season. He may not get offer now because teams may want cheaper internal option but he was not going to get multi year offer anywhere.

A couple comments. Eddie is who he is and will not change now. The base running is not his first time nor will be his last time he makes bad base running call. Sometimes it pays off and we do not remember those times, but we will remember all the bad ones. In terms of defense he is not great overall but has a strong arm. A better fielder could have robbed the HR, but I do not blame him for it. The non ground rule double I do not blame him for not knowing the rule, but he still could have given a little bit of effort to throw the ball in until he saw the call by the umps, play to the whistle as they say in football. In grand scheme it did not cost team much as they would have let the runs score on next hit anyways most likely. If you want to blame anyone for Eddie not knowing the rule that is on Rocco for not teaching all the players the rules. Austidillo should never catch unless we have no other options. I like to see him hit and run because as a bigger guy my self I like to think if he can I could have in my day, but I really could not. However, he is a terrible defender out there. Here is to hoping Garver or Avila can be back soon. The double off day will hopefully limit us to one more game of him catching, a 7 inning game at that. In terms of pen, they did blow this game and they all failed, but that will happen from time to time, not worried.

I liked Bert as a kid, but as I grew up and kept hearing the same thing over and over and Bert's beliefs started to be challenged by data I felt he got old to listen too. He did make the game fun to watch with some of his stories, but after the years they got old too. That being said I felt he was a decent color guy, but was past his time. Over the last decade Bert reminded me of sitting and listening to my Grandpa complain about how things are different and does not care about if they are better than before they just did not like that it was different. My favorite story was when he bet Johan about a shutout and got his head shaved.

One thing the article does not address is situation. I get the average of runs scored in a particular situation over the years will try to mitigate the good lineups vs bad line ups. I am sure bases loaded with a HOF hitter up has a much higher run average than with a pitcher hitting. Baseball has, and always will, have to take each individual situation to worry about. Point in game, who is coming up next, who are the runners on, how good is your team doing, ect. I agree either decision is debatable as the right one. A good manager would have communicated to team the plan, and since it would seem middle infield played back the plan was to turn two. The pitcher knew that and did the plan. Sure, he could have changed it up if he saw Cave heading home, but possible he did not see it, or he was doing what his manager told him to do, and possibly what the players on the field were telling him to do. Personally, I am a fan of stopping runs from scoring. You know by going for two you give a run, by going for out at plate you cut down run, keep the lead and go get the next hitters. Sure, in different situation you let that run score and get the two outs, but to me this was not the time. Good read on pointing out the runs expected, but feel more info on situation could affect how Tigers should have played it. Twins clearly have gone with the run prevention plan all season bringing IF in early in games. They must have crunched numbers and found that playing back does not increase the likelihood that you will get an out and let run score more enough to risk letting the run score. That comes down to how often a player playing back would make an out that a player playing in would not. My guess they found it was very limited compared to alternative.

I get the second point you want to make, that if Eddie runs and the short stop is able to tag him out prior to run crossing the plate then he made dumb move. Eddie has never been a super heads up guy but more reactionary. This would have also meant the short stop had same thoughts that I cannot get Buxton but can tag Eddie, however it would have required to happen before run crosses, so unless Eddie just gives himself up, which he never does on bases when he makes bad move, the short stop is not likely to try to tag him out. Yes, the correct play would have been to stand on 2nd base the whole time and not even take a lead but that means going against thousands of innings of baseball instincts.

What you are saying Gardenhire did not look at game situation and use his brain to make a good move? I am shocked at this I mean the man never made a bad call in his entire time with Twins(if you cannot tell super sarcasim here) Gardy was never good at thinking outside the box on a decision like that. I fully agree walking Buxton was right move. Dick even pointed out the stolen base/defensive indifference was not a small thing in case there is a ball that out could be made at second but harder for first. Not sure they would have tried out at second on that same play. Also, the point that if Buxton does fail he starts at second base something that changes the inning so much. That is why I had been calling for Gardy being fired about 5 years before he finally was.

The reason age affects prospect status is the general age bell curve of player careers, and age of player versus competition. Yes, some players will be late bloomers, but the prospect rankings is more so based on future possibility. If a player does not debut until 26 he is expected to have a shorter career generally, and less likely to have much improvement over the years as age 27 has been found to be most peak seasons for players, and after 30 they really trend downhill. You can point to a few that buck that trend and they are outliers, just like in any data set. I myself point to them as it is always possible. The point I am trying to make is if a player is doing well at higher levels when they are younger it is expected they will get better as they reach peak age of 27. So if they reach majors at 22 or 23, and is say a 2 to 3 WAR, it would not be out of imagination they would get to a WAR of 8 to 10 at age 27. But if they reach major at 26 and have WAR of 2 or 3, it is doubtful they will every become a WAR of 8 to 10. Sure they could and maybe they can play to age 40 and fight for triple crown in short season, but not many will maybe 1 in several thousand.

The third trip through is something that has been highlighted over the recent years. To me, it really comes down to the pitcher, I have not looked up the numbers and there may not be much for them, but I recall Radke and Johan both being guys that if they made it through the first two inning without giving up runs they normally would do pretty well the rest of the game, my memory could be wrong though. I think starters that have a good mix of pitches and know how to set up hitters for future at bats can pitch deeper. I am wondering how the pitch count has affected this third time numbers thing. What I mean by it, with pitchers knowing 100 pitches is basically the cut off now a days, and 2 trips through order, do they not worry about that 3rd trip and not worry about setting up hitter for a third time, or saving some stuff for that 3rd time? Also, as the first comment pointed out it is more likely the pitcher is facing the better hitters the 3rd time and not getting to end of line up, so the numbers may be a little skewed. What I mean by setting up hitters for a third time. Some pitchers will go with same approach against hitter every at bat because it worked, but against a good hitter he will adjust to what pitcher is doing. A good pitcher can think ahead and think about if the hitter will make that adjustment and bet one step ahead. That is the chess game that is baseball.

First, I am not sure they have made agreement on "bubble" neutral site games for post-season, but sounds likely just to make sure they get played. Second, there is an inherent advantage to being home team even in neutral site. You get to hit last, which is always an advantage because you know what you need to do to win. You will play different in the late innings, and extras. That being said, I fully agree matchups will be huge. Cleveland will be a tough first matchup for anyone with their starters, but second round could hopefully not have to face Beiber or only once. Sox same thing with them only having 2 starters, but we have handled Gioleto well. I am sure the team is just worried about winning games and not playing the who will we match up against. Just please please please no Yankees, I cannot handle another Yankees sweep of us.

I agree with the comments so far. Every player will struggle from time to time. Look at who some were picking to be best in basebal, Yelich. I am impressed with Sano's scooping and stretching, still needs the reps for when to go after a ball and when not too, but that is something only reps will get you. People forget he was signed as a SS, but no one expected him to stay there but he did play a year at SS if I recall in the minors. When he is on, he hits the ball as hard as anyone in the league, but he clearly is a guy that needs a lot of time to get right in the box.

Loved this comment. I have made very similar comments years ago when Twins were winning but their run differential was poor. Everyone said expect the Twins to start losing because their winning percentage did not match run differential. However, those are predictive stats, they are states controlled by results. I agreed it was unlikely that both would continue and it was true, but what change was the run differential not the winning percentage. I will agree that looking at stats can help confirm or refute what your eyes are seeing, but they do not predict future outcomes. The writer of article points out that Rodgers should be having better results, but he has not. It asks who is having better season. Duffy clearly is, the results show that. If the question is who is pitching better overall, maybe it is closer answer, but Duffy has not given up a bunch of runs, Rodgers has. Does it mean Rodgers will continue to have the bloops fall, no he could start having those be outs, and Duffy could run into bad luck. At some point you need to just see results and agree they are what happened good or bad luck.

The FO and system seems to find value in relief pitchers, now lets get the same for starters in the system like Cleveland. How crazy that they were able to trade away 3 pitchers that would most likely be our number 1 and number 1 on over half the teams and still have the best pitcher in baseball, and other great starters. They know how to keep bringing in good starters and trading at good times to fill other wholes. If their owner was willing to spend like Chicago does Cleveland could be super scary for many years. I want to get to that point for Twins.

It is crazy the moment you think you have your team back two fall down. Shows how important depth is in this league because no player plays every game any more. Plug and play lineups are thing of the past. The defense for both teams look bad the whole series. Sano had many bad plays, but he had some great scoops saving some bad throws. Aarize was just bad out there fielding this series, fumbling the ball on several plays. The Sox were not any better, in fact worse. Dropping fly balls, throwing the ball all around. I found it interesting when coming into series it was talked about good defense of Sox, but in the games I have watched their defense is not doing well. I do not follow all the metrics so maybe my eyes are not telling me the truth or maybe Sox just play bad defense against the Twins.

This is something that was brought up awhile ago on here that Twins are seeking players that have good sliders and seeking them to throw them more often. This is based on the fact that slider release is similar to fastball and harder to pickup the difference but has greater movement than a traditional change up. We have several relief pitchers that main pitch is slider and Duffy changed to slider from his curve. It is how the Twins are going forward slider happy pitchers that have good movement on it. I wonder when league will adjust and a new trend will come up. I know when Wes Johnson first came in he wanted all to learn changeups, but this is like that but think it may be easier for pitchers to deceive hitters with. I hope Pineda pitches well down the stretch and is out there in post season. Twins have put a lot of faith in him signing and resigning him when full or half seasons would not be played.

96 was when I really started to follow Twins and sports generally. I was a huge fan of Bert as commentator when I was young, but in recent years felt he just became the grumpy old man that complained about how things are different and he does not like it. As I got older I learned how little he added to broadcasts on the annalist side of things, but he entertained fans with the circle campaign that many loved. He was like a broken record the last few years and personally looked forward to when he was not in the booth. Any time a guy got a hit it was always because the pitch was up, even if it was not up. He was against the shift, or any other changes to the game. He would complain about how no pitcher went 9 anymore, and the Twins were the leader of the 100 pitch count and pull him thing. So we had to hear about 100 pitches and the guy's arm will fall off every game. If he would have adapted with the game and accepted times had changed I would have liked that but he was stuck in his old ways. I enjoyed him in his prime as a broadcaster, but as he aged I was glad he dialed back his games. Personally, I wish him well with whatever life offers. I am glad he made HOF, but I am happy to see some other perspective in the booth.

I would not say a middle of road player that made big plays a big trade. Yes, some teams made huge trades that paid off well, but many of the names you listed would not move the dial all too often. So they added some players, but we would never know how it would play out if they did not, would the replacement have played the same, or worse. We do not know. Lets play this year out and see. Dodger made no trades and everyone still thinks they should win the whole thing.

Pineda looked good overall. The play by Sano in first was a miscue by him and had it been made maybe Pineda does not give up any runs, I never assume everything plays out the same after something is changed. I am not sure if Pineda hesitated running to first on that play assuming Sano would not run 60 feet from the base trying to get to a ball. However, you need to remember this was a RH hitter and many times now the second baseman is up the middle on those, so Sano may have reacted thinking he was only chance to get there. Overall, I am very impressed with what Sano has done at first. I was thinking it was going to be a train wreck, but he has scooped the ball very well, guess his time at 3rd helped with that. He has looked shaky at times with pop ups, but that is normal for him he always did at third too. His decisions to come off the base at times has been an issue, but that just take time and paying attention to who is running, and where are the fielders, and who is pitching. Pineda is a large man that may not be too fast and Anderson will be him every time to first base, I do not know. Regardless, team won, they fought hard and hopefully we can start a win streak today.

I am not opposed to Rooker, but my question is how bad is his defense? He has been touted for hitting but his defense has been stated as an issue. I get offense is struggling, but how many more runs will he let in with poor defense. Eddie has been good from what I have seen on defense, and he is so streaky at any point he could carry the team for a week. Max, despite his terrible play the other night, is a good defender. I would be all for Rooker in games against lefties, but that is about it. As long as Buck is healthy they could drop Cave and bring in Rooker.

He could do it, but unlikely. Still a little early to really watch it. Get back to me in the last week of season to see where he stands. In this short of a season a couple good weeks from anyone will make big differences.

It will be interesting to see if any minor league guys get call up. I could see Cave getting demoted if Buxton will be healthy and bring up an OF. Unlike in other years where you want guys to have regular playing time and not waste time on bench, they are not getting any more time really than what they would at MLB level. Personally, I would not mind seeing Adrianza going and Gordon getting a look, unless he has not been doing well over in St. Paul. I could see Lewis getting a call to play center if Buxton gets hurt again. All that being said, it would not surprise me if no moves are made in this crazy season.