jimbo92107

Brusdar Graterol, I hereby dub thee, "Da Bruiser."

Let's assume Tom is right, and Darvish can deliver about the same ERA that Santana has done, for the next four years. After that, Darvish may fade, but by then the overall situation may be drastically different anyway. Does it make sense to eat the last two years of a six-year deal if you get four good years? That's like giving Darvish a $40 million dollar signing bonus that he collects at the back end. It's the 2018 season, which may still be a year from when the Buxton/Sano wave nears its peak. Or maybe they'll be hitting on all cylinders this year, in which case it would sure be nice to have a couple aces on the staff. The final factor is that it ain't my money. It's Pohlad money, which is banking money, which means that the well of cash doesn't really have a bottom. If the Pohlads want to set a dump truck full of hundred dollar bills on fire, they'll never miss a meal. Go for it, Twins!

It's going to be fascinating to watch how Molitor tries to order bats this season, given the mix of disciplined and aggressive hitters in the lineup. Obviously you don't want Rosario leading off, but if you went Buxton Grossman Rosario Sano That might work pretty well. Or, Buck Mauer Grossman Sano Rosie might work pretty well, too.

Grossman is a good example of the entire issue of plated discipline, including shrinking your swing zone. Yes, he does let more strikes go by, along with balls outside the zone. The benefit for Grossman is a very high OBP. The benefit of having several disciplined hitters is that the opposing starter can't get off that easy throwing out-of-zone junk, which elevates pitch counts and tends to get more guys on first base. Grossman reveals that not swinging the bat is another way to apply pressure. It's also interesting that Rosario's way is not a disaster, either. Rosie pounds baseballs in all directions with power, driving in guys like Grossman. A good manager can play to the strengths of both approaches to produce runs.

Darvish is too costly, but one of Cobb or Lynn would do most of what Chief suggested, taking some pressure off the kids. Still, I'd rather see 2018 be another year of extended tryouts for the Twins minor league talent. If Gonsalves and Romero don't flame out, then we've got the foundation of a solid pitching staff for the next few years. Then you add a hired gun like Darvish in 2019 to see how far you get in a playoff run. Meanwhile, bring up a bunch of AA and AAA guys to see if they can get guys out somehow. To me it looks like the Twins system is brimming with future starters at #3 through #5 positions, but only a couple (Berrios, Romero) as possible aces. Gonsalves looks to be a possible #3, if his arm holds up. I'm not too high on Tyler Jay.

Despite my previous criticism of this potential deal, I do like Yu Darvish. Fantastic talent, but he has now had a serious arm injury, and he's on the wrong side of 30 to sign a long-term deal. Part of this too is because of the recent history of this team with veteran retreads. Twins paid too much money for a few of them, and they didn't produce, other than Santana. At this point, I would rather continue experimenting with kids from the farm system than go after pricey free agents. 2018 could be the year this team firms up as a contender, but it's not the year the Twins are going to make a deep run. I want to see how Trevor May looks, how Gonsalves looks, Romero, etc. I also want to see if Felix Jorge has added a bit of muscle, if Tyler Jay can at least help in the pen, and if Kohl Stewart has finally learned how to pitch. Harvest time's a-comin', friends. Lottery in June, corn coming up soon.

It would take a lot more than Darvish to break the Pohlad's bank account. Richest owners in baseball.

What made Kintzler so good was his late breaking fastball, a pitch he says he learned from Greg Maddux. Even without big mph, that pitch was deadly.

- Let the ump see the pitch. - During the catch, always move your glove back towards the center of the zone. - Don't jab or yank your glove. Be smooth, use small movements. Am I missing something complicated or subtle? This doesn't seem all that complicated or subtle. Seems like a fundamental skill. As a catcher, you want to make it look like catching this guy is easy, because he's always near the zone. I suspect that when a catcher is good at framing, he's also good at stopping wild pitches. He would have an advantage because he'd be anticipating the most likely variations in a correct delivery, as when a pitcher opens up too soon and the ball goes high arm-side. Cheating in the direction of likely error would help in fielding erratic pitches. As a pitcher, knowing that my catcher frames close pitches well, and that he also anticipates the occasional flubber, would give me a lot more confidence than if he simply reacted from the middle of the target outwards.

Sub- .500 starter, or an elite closer for the next decade.

There is a third definition of "valuable" that does not require a rigid definition, yet is still quite significant. I would call it something like "subtractive value." If the Twins had traded Dozier in the off-season last year, how would the team this season have fared without him? It's a speculative point because literally you can't say for sure. You could say they would have several fewer home runs, several fewer hits, several fewer stolen bases. Assuming Polanco moved to 2B and somebody like Adrianza played SS, the defense might be roughly equivalent. On the other hand, who would have spoken up when the front office traded Jaime Garcia? Would the Twins even have contended for the last Wild Card spot? Who would have stepped up as the team leader, Sano? Santana? It has to be somebody that can express himself, in English. Mauer would be nice, but he has never been an outspoken player. If the whole team spoke Spanish, I would guess that Eddie Rosario would be the team leader. But right now, the team leader is Brian Dozier.

I have a feeling Royce Lewis could jump straight to AA ball and by mid-season he'd dominate. The kid is a major star in the making.

Paul Molitor was a student of the great Dick Siebert, one of the finest college baseball coaches in history. Siebert literally wrote the book on baseball fundamentals. In the early 1970's my dad used to coach little league kids right out of Siebert's book, and among the photos demonstrating correct fielding, throwing, and base running technique was a young college player: Paul Molitor. For a team loaded with young, impressionable talent, it's hard to imagine a better teacher than Paul Molitor. It's true that baseball has advanced since Siebert's time, but Molitor is a Hall of Fame example of how to play the game right. Especially in an organization that depends on developing its roster through its own minor league system, you need a manager at the major league level that is also a teacher of the game. As this generation of Twins players matures in their expertise, perhaps the team will be better served by a more demonstrative emotional manager. But for now, at least the next few years, Paul Molitor can teach these young guys a lot about baseball.

Right choice for number one. Second place is a tie between Mejia and Busenitz. Twins need next year's ROY to be Stephen Gonsalves. If not, then it could be a rough season. If so, they might just have a chance to cause a ruckus in the tournament.

Byron Buxton's improvements truly were extraordinary this year, if you compare the level of his technique at the beginning of the season to the end. Among the specific areas I saw: Bunting. His technique went from poor to expert. In April Buxton commonly would poke at the ball. He would pop them up, whiff, or offer at pitches well out of the zone. Around mid-season, Buxton became far more selective, and his bunts got much, much better. He was setting up earlier, meeting the ball farther out front, and waiting to finish the bunt before breaking for first. Weight transfer at the plate. April, Buxton's weight transfer was a confused mess. He was in the process of eliminating a big leg kick that wasn't doing him any good because he would kick his leg, then rotate his front hip away from the plate, making him meat for pitches outside. Gradually during the season Buxton began to get it right, more and more shifting his weight into the pitch, while keeping his torso level, like a balanced skate step. The outside hole disappeared, and as this happened Buxton's confidence rose, allowing him to become far more selective at the plate. These improvements combined into a sharp rise in good contact rate, power, average and OBP, as well as setting the stage for another huge asset. Base stealing. Buxton clearly got by early in his baseball life with nothing other than blazing speed, and you can't really blame him. Even sans technique, nobody in the minors could hold him, so he frankly didn't need to improve. That changed when he hit the show, where pitchers hold runners better and most catchers have quick, powerful arms. Suddenly his speed wasn't enough by itself, so Buxton stopped trying to steal. For this improvement I give tons of credit to Paul Molitor, who spent time teaching Buxton every aspect of base stealing, from correct form to careful film study of pitchers to figure out their cues. Around the All-Star break, Buxton was becoming impossible to stop going from first to second. Next season it will be fun to watch Buxton learn to steal third with equal impunity. Buxton is now prepared to break records. Fly ball catching routes. Not as noticeable as some of Buxton's other improvements, his routes to catch fly balls got better as the season progressed. This not only helped Buxton make more impressive catches, it also helped protect him from some of the more violent wall collisions we saw earlier, because now he was able to better control his bursts of speed, slowing down as he neared the wall on deep drives. Even on Buxton's last collision, clearly he timed his leap and squared his body to the wall, allowing him to make the catch without the ball popping out of his glove. He did get injured, but his improved technique may have prevented a more serious injury. The future looks incandescent for Byron Buxton. His awesome raw tools got him to the major leagues. With continued good coaching and Buxton's enthusiasm for learning how to do it right, he appears destined for multiple years of MVP-level play.

Good season, major improvements for the core position players. Solid second year for Berrios, plus a possible good mid-ro guy in Mejia. Surprising production and improvements from Polanco, better plate discipline from Rosario, Mauer's bat is back, Sano's future looks bright. Young team on the rise, needs more pitching. See ya next year!

If at all possible I would love it if a Twin hit a homer while the Yankie kissers are interviewing Girardi.

Here, use my Synonymicon. It's...Hey, it bit me!

Stick with Berrios, if possible. He's got whiff stuff, even when he's not locked in.

These announcers have almost no shame pimping for the Yankies. That's right, from now on it's the Yankies.

Whoops, right down broadway. Bang.

I like what I'm seeing. Twins players are here to mix it up. They're battling. That right there makes it worth watching.

Love it with Rosie on 3rd...

Berrios is a rookie? I had no idea.

Last couple pitches to Judge, it looked like Santana was starting to find his slider. Too late, Erv.