gunnarthor

I listed the age the guys made their significant ML appearance - I ignored Polanco's cup of coffee at 20, for instance. Buxton played in 46 games at 21. Sano came in third in ROY voting at 22. Rosario came in 6th at 23. Kepler played in 113 games at 23. Berrios made 14 starts at 22, etc. It's not misleading at all. Second, Aaron Judge debuted at 25, Sanchez and Andujar at 23. Torres at 21. So that's not really different. Lastly, yeah, the Yankees and Red Sox are better. Frankly, this argument has been boring for twenty plus years. Let the Twins spend a billion dollars on payroll over a five year period and see how that affects the team's ability to be competitive. It's ridiculous to say that because Servino signed for 225k, the Yankees and Twins were on the same level. The Yankees and Red Sox simply have more resources than the Twins and have used those resources smartly. For instance, the Red Sox got 2+ WAR from 10 players this year and they drafted/international signed only 4 of them (Betts, Bogarts, Bradley and Bennintendi). (Twins only had 6 such players but 5 were home grown. None had the season that Betts had although Berrios would have tied for second and Gibson tied for third). Having three former Cy Young starting pitchers on your roster and paying 100m to JD Martinez probably helps a team win 100 games. Give the Twins the resources that let the Red Sox do that - and they did that with massive payrolls over a period of years - and then the comparison works. The Twins shouldn't be rebuilding. They were playoff competitive in two of the last four years but have had two "total system failures" in between. That's on the ML staff, not the development team. The FO has to figure out why the ML team is f'ing up but I think the pipeline people have done fine. They've had failures but they've had successes in all fields - pitchers/position players, early round/later round, big money signings/low value signings - and have pushed the guys multiple levels with regularity. Most of the problems are on Molitor and his staff. I don't know if they can fix it and would rather the FO found a new team to work on it.

Again, I think there are legit questions about how/if Mauer should be back next year but the idea that he wouldn't have performed in NY or Boston are crazy. He's a borderline HOFer who would have been an easy HOFer if he could have stayed healthy. It wouldn't have mattered where he played.

The obvious thing is an interview of Mike Judge. Lying to the FBI is a crime so if he knows something about that night or any others, he'd (presumably) tell the truth. If he confirms Dr. Ford's story - or something close to it - or continues to insist he remembers nothing, it ends the investigation either way (at least enough for Flake and company). Now watch Judge take a two week vacation to Europe.

Honestly, I think it was the CNN video of Flake being talked down by victims in the hall. He couldn't let that be the last word he has on the subject if he's going to run in 2020. So now he can demand a quick investigation. If something comes up (like another allegation), he looks good. If nothing, he can vote for Kavanaugh after saying he was the reason there was an investigation that found nothing against Kavanaugh.

No, the Twins were relatively dark horses on Jay and most (except Callis) had him getting picked by the White Sox, who would turn him into Chris Sale 2.0. The Twins were linked to a lot of players, including Daz Cameron (who I wanted), Tyler Stephenson (who nobody wanted) and a few of the HS pitchers. Jay was mostly surprising, especially in the lead up to the draft. And when the drafted him, they drafted him as a starter. It wasn't a relief pitcher strategy. In fact, the 2015 draft was mostly a position player draft - although they did take a college reliever in the 5th round.

I'm not overly concerned about Garver. Look at the promotions of the guys in the minors since Steil took over. They are pushed. Just a few of the ages of guys when the made the majors since 2012. 21 - Buxton 22 - Sano, Polanco, Berrios, 23 - Rosario, Kepler, Hicks, Littel, Gonsalves, Stewart, Romero Sure, they haven't pushed everyone as hard - Gordon for example - and injuries affected others (Jay and Burdi) but generally, the development team has pushed the guys. Kiriloff misses a year and immediately starts a level above where he left off and gets a mid-season promotion. Most of our best prospects get mid-season promotions and/or start at higher levels than others. Lewis, for example, is at higher level already than Greene and Gore and the same level as college pick McCay. Sano has already been an all-star and Buxton has already put down a 5 WAR season with MVP votes. Berrios and Rosario have played at or near all-star levels. I think the development team is doing fine. There is something wrong at the ML level that needs to get fixed to address why Kepler has plateaued and Sano regressed etc.

One thing that I have noticed is how many women have stories like this. I was speaking with a female lawyer friend of mine and she told me some things that happened to her when she was a young intern that would never happen to a man. Dr. Ford's testimony about the incident sounded so real I can't believe she's lying and I don't think she's mistaking Kavanaugh for someone else. Kavanaugh's anger fit the narrative of entitled prep kid so well that I think he was fully capable of doing what she alleged. And he's probably going to be a judge on the supreme court. Gads.

Sure, I make my post and Flake says he'll vote for Kavanaugh. -sigh-

I dunno. I think it'll be hard for a Collins and company to defend their vote if they vote for him. They are under incredible pressure and his testimony didn't make their lives easier. We'll see what happens but I think they don't have the votes and will actually get a delay before Monday. But I'm the optimist. I thought the Twins might be good this year. :-)

Small sample size. Mauer could and would have hit anywhere but I think his approach would have been tailor made for Fenway. He'd have been another Wade Boggs and just bounced everything off the Monster.

Kavanaugh is doing a good job of stalling when the dems question him to eat up their 5 minutes. Very annoying.

I missed Klobuchar's questioning. How'd she do?

I think the GOP members of the committee will probably vote for him but I think he's ****ed this up enough that a few republicans not on the committee probably can't vote for him. Susan Collins might actually be on the fence now. His anger in this hearing is off-putting.

Kavanaugh is coming across really bad in his hearing. I don't think he'll get on the court now.

No question. His numbers wouldn't have been as good in the AL but he would have been a first ballot HOFer. But it's still fun to note the comparison since 2012.

This post is a tangent and not really on-point. That said, Pujols put those numbers up in the NL. The two leagues were miles apart in talent, esp in the mid 2000s. Since 2012, when Pulojs came to the AL, Mauer has been the better player. Admittedly, because Pujols was three years older than Mauer, it's not that fair a comparison but ... what the hell. Pujols has been worse with the Angels than Mauer has been with us.

Agreed, I find it boring too but not sure how to fix it. Make the OF walls higher? Get rid of bandbox parks that make offensive/defensive extremes possible (Fenway/A's Colosseum)? Hopefully, this is just a cycle that the game is going through.

Ryan wasn't the GM.

I don't have a problem with the contract. The team had the money. The fact that they've only spent that money on Mauer pisses me off to no end but I don't think we should blame Mauer for getting paid like he deserved. I also remember thinking that Mauer would be a safe bet to survive the contract. Even if he had to move off of catcher, his high avg and elite on-base skills would make him a Paul Molitor like DH, late into his career. That didn't happen.

I think there's a lot of stuff to complain about the FO but I'm not sure we should say they are conservative in rushing minor league players. Frankly, that's been a false narrative since Steil took over. The Twins have pushed a lot of young guys up the system. I think the development guys are doing a pretty decent job, frankly. It's the ML side that needs to be fixed.

I made this comment a few weeks ago but Stewart's stuff is better than Slowey or Blackburn's stuff. But they both knew how to pitch with their stuff and both had much better command/control. Stewart's ceiling is better than both of them although I'm not sure he can reach it but I hope he does.

So if the Twins had drafted the college players, here's what they would've nabbed (based on the best college player after their real pick): 2012 - C Zunino or P Appel. (Appel was considered the best college player by far, Zunino went #3) 2013 - 3B Colin Moran 2014 - P Aaron Nola 2015 - P Tyler Jay 2016 - C Matt Thasis (although we picked 16th so maybe we could nab a HS bat at that point?) 2017 - P Brenden McCay (although $ played a big part in the selection here and later in the draft) 2018 - OF Larnich The obvious upgrade is Nola over Gordon although Nola was not favored when discussing the draft at the time. Would still rather have Buxton over Zunino or Appel. McCay wasn't even my favorite college arm (I wanted Wright) so I'd rather have Lewis. Thasis seems decent and close to the majors. Kohl Stewart or Colin Moran? On a side note, it's interesting looking back at the drafts and remembering some of the names. I really liked Alex Jackson and I remember rooting for some scenario where Kolak falls to us. Shows what I know.

I think Stewart is unfinished and I think Jay won't be a Twin much longer.

He had good insights/connections but I never much cared for him so I'm ok.

Anyone else enjoying the fact that the Packers are constantly getting nailed because of the new Rodgers rule?