Twodogs

My worry is that the Twins have a lot of bad losses this year, and I don't mean bad by score, I mean bad by who they lost to, the Pirates? Losing games that you should win really hurts. I know people will say it's early, but it can get late really quick when you lose games to bad teams.

Sano has shown better plate discipline, I've watched him take some nice walks that in the past he would have swung and K'd miserably. I hope he keeps it up, because if he takes enough walks then the pitchers will actually have to throw him better pitches and Sano can do some damage with better pitches.

How does the BP look if Duffy keeps pitching like he did today?? Hope he snaps out of it.

Not going to hit 300 bombs with the new ball and the humidors. Going to have to learn how to manufacture a few runs this year.

Not going to hit 300 bombs with the new ball and the humidors. Going to have to learn how to manufacture a few runs this year.

https://www.mlb.com/news/kenta-maeda-an-ace-for-twins?partnerId=zh-20210311-156906-MLB&qid=1026&bt_ee=0ptN%2FaSmW9CHpiaY8Ktw8lw7e8AqXSr0e8337Zo6igw7oKLUimVeODGISs0eQNlDG7kk3aQjGKtwLj1GALrpvQ%3D%3D&bt_ts=1615466572077 This article backs up your thought process. It also seems like, and I know Spring training doesn't mean anything, that so far Maeda and Berrios for that matter have looked untouchable. Hope they keep it up and can get those relief pitchers going too.

Byron Buxton I think is ready to be the leadoff guy.

Bi lateral leg weakness was very confusing.

First off, to equalize things a little, I think all international players should have to enter the draft just like american players. Many of the international players get hosed because the are offered 40,000 to sign and it's the most money that they have ever seen in their life and they take it at 16 and then become owned property of said team. Sounds kinda bad doesn't it??? Not only that but it puts many college kids in a predicament that they could be just as good or even better than that foreign player, but because he is going to be more expensive teams shy away from the college kid. Also my thought is I don't really like the idea of giving a Cy Young or an MVP the option to void as then some teams may not give a pitcher is final 4 - 5 starts because they are out of the playoff hunt? I can see some team shutting him down because they don't want him winning a Cy Young and leaving early without the team getting the chance to trade the player. Same with MVP, I could see a hitter getting shut down, especially if the team is out of it. Other than that, why not just give the teams 10 or 11 years of control regardless of when they were drafted, each year is a year regardless if they are in the minors or in the bigs. Quit separating the two as its all about the big club anyway. After 3-4 years they have to be put on the 40 man or risk being taken in rule 5. Or schedule a minimum salary based on War or something, so if a young guy is tearing it up, he can force the club to pay him earlier? I don't really see why a team should own someone for 13 years regardless of how old they were when they got drafted. It puts a stigma on the foreign players that they can be owned for longer, they can hold their salaries down longer, it makes it more likely that if two players are identical a team will take the foreign player instead because they can keep them longer and because they for all intents and purposes are cheaper.

That's one prospect, most prospects never get out of prospect land. How many pitching prospects have the Twins had over the last 10 years? Pretty much none of them have panned out except one or two. I'm pretty sure San Diego's fan base is going crazy today. I think it is awesome that a team showed their biggest star that they want to commit to him. He will be 36 when the contract ends, who knows it could end up being cheap in 4 - 5 years where some people will be complimenting San Diego for getting a great deal on this contract. I think what San Diego has done this off season has been great, yeah if it works it will leave the Twins in the dust because they won't be able to keep up, so I can see why some people are scared, but I just like how ballsy San Diego has been all off-season. Doing the exact opposite of what everyone thinks. Trading away prospects for Darvish, Snell and Musgrove and now signing Tatis to a mega deal after having signed Machado to a mega deal. Go Pads!!!

I'm really pulling for San Diego right now. I think it was a little crazy to sign Tatis to such a large contract, he wasn't a free agent until 2025, but talk about a commitment to their fans, wow!!! I hope they are contenders for the next 5 - 7 years!!!

Eddie Rosario was pretty entertaining too.

Interestingly enough, the so called productive out, which would be the anti strikeout guys might make a resurgence with the new baseball coming into play. I just looked up the teams with the highest OPP which takes into consideration sac flys and sac hits and sac bunts and San Diego has the highest OPP. The five teams with the worst OPP were Detroit, Kansas City, Washington, Texas and the Chicago White Sox which may explain why the White Sox's lineup looked so good last year, but they didn't come through when they needed to. Also, the pitching staffs that gave up the highest OPP were Colorado, Pittsburgh, Baltimore and the Mets. The Mets are one of those teams that's supposed to be good but for some reason hasn't been. The Twins were the 2nd best pitching staff at keeping opposing teams OPP low which may explain why the Twins did well last year while not hitting anything like they did in 2019. Now if you look at the Dodgers they are in the middle of the pack in both aspects of OPP hitting and pitching. But you can look at the Dodgers as just one of those teams that are better than everyone else, by a longshot. I think when two teams are close to equal in talent that the teams with the best OPP come out on top. So taking productive outs into consideration will help a team and having a bunch of guys that strikeout all of the time like a Miguel Sano doesn't really help a team very much. https://www.espn.com/mlb/stats/productive?sort=productiveOutChances&tp=team I like Miguel Sano, he's been a Twin all his life, but for him to really take the next step in becoming a really good player he needs to cut down on his strikeouts, plain and simple, they do nothing to help the club, especially in a season where there may be a few less solo shots out there with the new baseball coming into play.

Buxton needs to start more than 127 games, he needs to be up at 140 or so for the twins sake. Pineda needs to start 30+ games, hopefully.

All of the Twins pitchers pretty much are 5 and fly. Berrios a couple years ago hit the 200 inning mark but he is pretty much the only one.

With the amount of FA's still available, Walker, Paxton, etc.... I don't really see any point in trading away prospects to help the Dodgers keep their young guys like May and Gonsolin from getting buried and lost in their system. That's really not our problem. Price is no better than some of the guys still available on the market.

Taijuan Walker would be a great add, but the Twins will probably get a guy on a minor league deal or something like that. I was looking forward to Wade getting a shot this year as he has flashed some potential recently.

What could they get Taijuan Walker for? How much will he demand at this point in time?

Interestingly enough, over the last two seasons with the Twins he has his highest batting average and hight OBP% ever in his career for a full season.

I don't see the benefit for Berrios to sign an extension right now to Jose. I mean I see the benefit for the Twins but looking at it from Berrios's standpoint he might as well stretch it out for the big payday. Also, I'm not sure if Berrios is super enamored with the Twins? He has made some comments in the past being angry with how the Twins have treated his teammates and such. Not that those comments were warranted or not, just that they were made, so I have a feeling that Jose will be gone when his free agency hits unless the Twins make a huge overpay which we know they don't normally do.

I sort of agree, I mean I like the guys who can strike everyone out, al la Roger Clemens, etc.... But I'm thinking for me it kind of depends on what they are able to do with that sinker and what else they bring to the table. I mean Kyle Hendricks is a sinker ball pitcher and I'd love to see him in a Twins uniform. Not saying Dobnak will ever be Kyle Hendricks, but if he were able to do some of the things Hendricks does on a consistent basis then I'd be good with Dobnak. But that is a big "If"

Seems to me that Tanaka would have been worth 4 mill per year for two years which is what he got by going back to Japan?? 3.74 career era and an 8.5 K9 and was pitching in Yankee stadium. It seems strange that no one would give him 4 mill?

Yes what has happened to Gordon, I mean he was a good prospect at one point in time and now it seems he has just been rotting away. 2nd utility spot seems like a low pressure spot to put him in to see if he can hang.

I feel that Simmons is the exact guy they need, +++ defense and realistically + hitting. His last full season where he had 600 PA's he only struck out 44 times. He's the type of hitter that compliments the Twins power filled lineup.

It will be interesting to see how he does over a full season, I live in Dodger territory and I know dodger fans had little confidence in Maeda over the long haul. He was good in spots here and there and that's pretty much how they used him. God I hope he can repeat his performance this year over 32 starts and become an annual Cy Young candidate, but my Midwest cynicism leads me to look at what he was before the Twins got him. Which by the way isn't bad, but again he doesn't match up well with Cole, Bieber, Scherzer, etc.... Also, by the way who would you take out of the Dodgers rotation so as to insert Maeda? Gonsolin 8 starts 2.31 era? May 10 starts 2.51 era? Or Urias, Buehler, Kershaw? Just curious.