Vanimal46

Introduction of the series here Part 2: 1961-1962 Offseason MLB expansion here Part 3: 1964 World Series Champs! here Part 4: 1967 World Champs! here Part 5: Modern Day Free About to Begin! here I've been GRINDING THE TAPE as they say and this will be my last long form season recaps. I am currently through the 1990 season and my next blog series will highlight just the champs and milestone highlights... With that said, let's talk about modern day free agency! 1975-76 Offseason: With rumors of free agency about to begin, the Twins negotiated a historic contract extension for 24 year old ace SP Bert Blyleven. Bert agreed to a 6 year extension for an MLB record $4.8 million. As long as he remains healthy, he will be a bargain at $800,000 AAV. 2 weeks later, 24 year old SS Kenneth Bruno will be known as the first millionaire in Twins history. He inked an 8 year, $11 million contract extension. @stringer bellmoved on after 8 years from the Twins and took on the task of making the Yankees great again. They have not made the playoffs since 1963. He got off to a strong start trading for Reggie Jackson. After 21 years with the Pirates, Roberto Clemente will be playing his age 41 season in Boston. Richie Ashburn and Nellie Fox were the 2 selections into the 1976 HOF. 1976 Season: Tony Oliva retires shortly into April after a 14 year career. He finishes his career with a .296 career average, 2.226 hits, 222 HR, 1,006 RBI, and 56.7 WAR. He will likely be a HOF player once he's eligible. 1976 Draft: 1. NYY - SP Mike Scott 2. BAL - 2B Tim Raines 3. STL - SS Paul Molitor 4. SF - CF Harold Baines 5. KC - 1B Greg Walker With the 28th overall pick, the Minnesota Twins select C Mike Scioscia. The Texas Rangers loaded up on talent and they are the AL West Champs after winning 102 games. The Twins finished with 87 wins and missed the playoffs for the first time since 1970. 1976-77 Offseason: Long time manager Curt Simmons leaves the Twins after a conflict with ownership. 38 year old Tony Oliva is named manager after a partial year managing the single A Wisconsin Rapids team. Jim Kaat retires at 38 years old after an 18 year run with the Minnesota Twins. He finishes his career with 229 wins, a 3.21 ERA, pitching 3,503 innings over 485 starts. The Twins first casualty to free agency was long-time OF Reggie Smith. The 31 year old signed a 5 year, $5.7 million contract with the Cincinnati Reds. The first ever free agent class is absolutely loaded. FA SP: Steve Carlton, Catfish Hunter, Tommy John, and Jerry Koosman in their early 30's. Old veterans Phil Niekro and Gaylord Perry who are 37 and 38. FA C: Thurman Munson, Gene Tenace, Milt May FA OF: Bobby Bonds, Reggie Smith, Hal McRae, Al Oliver, Rusty Staub, Dusty Baker, Don Baylor, Lou Brock, and Carl Yastrzemski plus many others. The Twins locked in SP Catfish Hunter to join the rotation for $250,000, 32 year old 6 time gold glove CF Paul Blair for $110,000, along with other minor league signings to fill out our new single A team Visalia Oaks. The 1977 HOF class has 3 first ballot players. Willie Mays, Don Drysdale, and Jim Bunning. 1977 Season: 1977 Draft: 1. MIL - 2B Tim Raines 2. OAK - SS Ryne Sandberg 3. BAL - SS Julio Franco 4. SF - 3B Bob Horner 5. CIN - SS Tony Phillips Cal Ripken Jr. was taken 8th overall by the Cleveland Guardians. Old friend Chili Davis was taken 9th by San Diego. With the 19th overall pick, the MN Twins selected C Terry Kennedy. 1977 All Stars: SP Bert Blylevin (6x), C Butch Wynegar (1x), 1B Phillip Zahn (2x), SS Kenneth Bruno (4x). The Twins won another AL West title with 103 wins, and 1974 28th round pick LF Timothy Clemmons had a crazy boost in player development. He finishes as the first .400 hitter since Ted Williams! Sid Hartman faced off against close, personal friend @stringer bell in the ALCS, and @stringer bell ended up winning the series 4-1. He will face off against Cyborg @USAFChief's Astros in the World Series. Houston wins their first WS in game 7! It's their first WS title in franchise history. 1977-78 Offseason: LF Timothy Clemmons swept both the ROY and MVP of 1977. SP Warren Spahn is the lone entry to the 1978 HOF Class. 1978 Season: The Twins are off to a hot start at 25-15, and the Astros are off to a poor start after winning the World Series last season. Houston was seeking MLB talent, and the result was a blockbuster trade... 23 year old St. Paul, MN native Jack Morris and 22 year old 2B/3B Guy Sularz were traded to Minnesota for a trio of 26 year old players - SP Eric Rasmussen, 2B Leonard Bonk, and 3B Robert Pierce. Milestone watch: Rod Carew eclipses 2,000 hits as a 32 year old. 34 year old Rusty Staub achieved the 2,500 hit milestone. 1978 Draft: 1. SEA - 1B Andres "Big Cat" Galarraga 2. PHI - RF Donnie Baseball Mattingly 3. BAL - SP Fernando Valenzuela 4. CIN - 1B Kent Hrbek 5. NYM - RF Brett Butler RF Chili Davis was selected 7th overall by the Red Sox. 3B Gary Gaetti was selected 9th by Montreal. With the 30th overall selection, the Twins selected 18 year old SP Orel "Bulldog" Herscheiser. 1978 All Stars: 22 year old SP Scott Budner (1976 R15 1x), 26 year old RP Bill Castro (1976 trade with PHI 1x), C Butch Wynegar (2x), 1B/DH Phillip Zahn (3x), and LF Timothy Clemmons (2x) It was a tight race in September, but the Twins ended up 2 games back of the 93 win AL West champion California Angels. The World Series featured the California Angels vs. Atlanta Braves. The Braves won the series 4-1. 1978-79 Offseason: The Twins hired an unorthodox manager once Tony Oliva decided to leave for greener pastures. Recently retired 28 year old Tom Kelly will be taking over after signing a 5 year contract. Timothy Clemmons was once a 28th round pick in 1974, but he has become the league's best player. At 22, he won his 2nd MVP award, and signed a historic 12 year, $29 million extension with the Twins. Minnesota had an opportunity to bring back a St. Paul legend, and did exactly so. Signing 27 year old RF Dave Winfield to an 8 year contract for $950,000 AAV. The 1979 HOF Class includes 2 first ballots in DET RF Al Kaline, and MIN 1B Harmon Killebrew. As well as SF Giants SP Juan Marichal in his 2nd year of eligibility, 1979 Season: 1979 Draft: 1. SEA - LF Eric Davis 2. TOR - RF Darryl Strawberry 3. CHC - CF Ivan Calderon 4. BOS - 3B Von Hayes 5. MON - 3B Danny Tartabull With the 26th overall pick, the Twins select 3B Randy Ready Twins All Stars: SP Bert Blyleven (7x), CL Bill Castro (2x), C Butch Wynegar (3x), 1B Phillip Zahn (4x), LF Timothy Clemmons (3x), RF Dave Winfield (2x) Timothy Clemmons wins his 3rd batting title, and NYM 1B Rod Carew wins his 2nd batting title. The Twins and Yankees face off in the ALCS. San Francisco and New York Mets face off in the NLCS. MIN and SF sweep the Championship Series and face each other in the World Series. The Giants held off the Twins 4 games to 2 and win their 4th WS title in the series! 1979-1980 Offseason: The LA Dodgers poached Assistant GM Adam Thompson, who was Sid Hartman's close personal friend the last 4 seasons. As well as long time bench coach Gus Bell to be their manager. World Series titles since 1961: MIN 5, SF 4, and the following teams with 1 title... LAD, NYY, BOS, OAK, PIT, PHI, ATL, CLE, HOU, TEX Jim Kaat decides to forgo a coaching career and agrees to move up to the Front Office. He will be Sid's new close, personal friend. AAA Manager Wade Blasingame was promoted to Bench Coach. Nolan Ryan after 14 years and 190 wins with the Mets, is heading home to the Houston Astros in a blockbuster 6 player trade. @USAFChief wants to get back to the playoffs after a disappointing 90 loss season. The Twins traded 27 year old CP Bill Castro, an all star the previous 2 seasons, to Cincinnati for 24 year old CP Ron Davis and 27 year old AAAA reliever Al Holland. Jim Rice, the top FA, signs an 8 year contract with the Boston Red Sox. Willie Stargell returns to Pittsburgh for his age 40 season after spending a number of years with the Dodgers. The 1980 HOF class is a lone entrant, Hammer Hank Aaron who finished with 635 career HRs. 1980 Season: Draft time! 1. SEA - 3B Kevin Mitchell 2. SEA - LF Eric Davis 3. CLE - 1B Fred "Crime Dog" McGriff 4. TOR - RF Paul O'Niell 5. SD - LF Lenny Dykstra 6. HOU - LF John Kruk 7. CHC - RF Tony Gwynn With the 29th overall selection, the Twins select RF Devon White. 1980 All Stars: SP Bert Blyleven (8x), C Butch Wynegar (4x), 1B Phillip Zahn (5x), SS Kenneth Bruno (5x), CF Timothy Clemmons (4x), RF Dave Winfield (3x). Willie Stargell hits HR #500 at the trade deadline! The Twins win the AL West title with 98 wins and face off against @ashbury's Milwaukee Brewers. The Brewers prevail 3 games to 2 and face off against the Montreal Expos in the WS. Montreal is the 1980 Champ winning 4 games to 1!

Derrick Henry to the Ravens is such a perfect match. Good luck AFC North with Lamar and Henry running RPOs all game.

Not even close to true. Edit: to make this a better debate, compared to what? If a team is drafting a QB in the top ten the odds of them working out are better than a late 1st round pick, and better than a 2nd round pick. Etc. etc.

Never said there weren’t busts in the top 10. Where are your best odds of finding a top 10 QB? Likely in the top 10 of the draft.

Where do you think you’re going to find a top 10 QB? I wonder if it’s in the top 10 of a draft… History says yes.

Just named 6 out of 15 top ten picks in the last 6 years and they all seem to be top 10 consensus QBs. Would you like to judge the 15 picks by a different metric?

I wonder what all of those QBs I named have in common? Couldn’t possibly be top 10 draft picks in the last 4 years right?

Where do you rank Trevor Lawrence? Tua? Herbert? Burrow? Allen?

Gee, I wonder if the Vikings take a QB in this draft at some time. Odds are pretty high. If Darnold signs here he won’t play a lot of games unless he becomes a top 10 QB overnight

He was a rookie last year and firmly in the top 10 of most analysts’ top QB list.

Where do you rank CJ Stroud today?

Yeah, let’s pretend a rookie draft doesn’t happen between this potential signing and opening day.

Kwesi is cooking today!

4 years… Amazing. Good luck with that Atlanta.

There goes my pipe dream of signing Wilkins.

Here we are… Legal tampering day for FA. I think Kirk and Danielle are both out the door. I am crossing my fingers for a big splash signing of DT Christian Wilkins.

One week until the deadline for Kirk, Hunter, and Davenport. My gut feel… 25% chance Kirk is back, less than 10% chance Hunter returns, and hopefully 0% chance Davenport is back.

Going from $600k savings to $3.3 million savings is a nice surprise! Mattison is just a guy… Better off as a backup to someone more talented than him.

I wouldn’t say my track record is great for evaluating QBs, but I really don’t see what there is to like about McCarthy to elevate him to top 10 status. He looked like nothing more than a game manager in the games I watched this year. I watched all of their games at the end of the season thinking okay, maybe now they’ll rely on him more for the Big 10 championship game and the playoffs. Nope, he continued to hand the ball off 40+ times and throw maybe 20 passes a game.

Why would it be an extra $80 a month just to watch Bally Sports for you? Fubo is anywhere from $60-80 per month depending on which plan you select, and YouTubeTV for existing users is $72.99 a month.

Thank you Swifties for the unprecedented cap increase! The Vikings start the offseason with $38 million to work with. Likely more if Kirk, Hunter, or JJ is extended.

It’s already happening. 3+ years of the TV broadcast not on growing platforms like YouTube TV and Hulu. It’s been out of sight, out of mind for many casual fans. My friends with toddler age children don’t have any interest bringing the family to a game at Target Field.

Joe Pohlad at least is being honest. DeRusha conducted the interview in a way where he let his guard down. Joe has been coached on how to answer these questions vaguely to still instill hope like Jim did. He was even starting to corporate speak his way around the spending on current free agents question, but then he pivoted and said no. This is status quo for the Pohlads. Even in the seasons where the stars aligned, they didn’t make the commitment to go for a World Series title.

It’s going to take blind luck and existing pieces having career years like 1987 and 1991 to win a World Series now and in the future.

I think we all knew Adrian Peterson was going to be broke once he got out of football… Some of his possessions are now up for auction in Houston. https://hibid.com/catalog/524140/adrian-peterson-final-auction