spinowner

Offseason, maybe. But not now, not in the seller's market we're in.

I'm sorry, but when I look at this year's team I don't see World Series champions. I just don't. And I don't think any realistic appraisal puts the Twins even in the top five. Making enough roster moves to change my mind about that would certainly cost us the core of prospects we've been working so hard to assemble during these last four dark and difficult years. Don't let the illusion of this year's win-loss record fool you into thinking that the future is now. It isn't. Unless you are the Yankees, Red Sox or Dodgers you make the big trade or FA signing to try to put a strong team over the top, not to try to re-work a borderline team. We all know that there are no guarantees, but our team has a strong likelihood of improving over the next couple years with the players that are already here. Don't mess it up now.

The last sentence of this article is really all that team management should keep in mind. The Twins are a franchise on the upswing. While not all prospects become stars or even major leaguers we have enough highly regarded players in the minors that we should be a better team next year than this, and better yet in 2017. We should do nothing now that would in any way jeopardize the next two years.

Riverbrian can give you laundry tips.

Loved the two little boys at the top of the 2nd!

Based on the way Hicks is playing center field now I think he could become the best defensive right fielder in baseball. He has speed, the ability to catch a ball he gets to and a cannon. Given a year or so to adapt to the position and to continue to improve at the plate we could be set for years.

So if someone gets married twice in the same year does he or she count as one person or two?

I'm trying to find the most diplomatic way possible to say that this is an astoundingly bad idea. Buxton is 21 years old. Can you name another 21-year-old who has a bigger upside? I can't think of any. I wouldn't even think about trading Buxton for anyone unless I also had Mike Trout on my team, and even then I'd have a hard time doing it. If Buxton gets traded for a catcher he'd have to be better than Johnny Bench.

There was a post earlier that I wish everybody would ignore. One person has already responded to it but I hope nobody else does.

I agree. I think the article does well to describe why these three players are probably the best catchers who could be available in a trade. But I almost always find that specific trades proposed on this site are not realistic, and this article is no exception. We would have to give up more than this article suggests. Quality would have to be dealt; quantity won't do it. I'm pretty sure it will require a prized prospect and/or a good major leaguer to get any of them.

We've already had some good luck. The Angels and Red Sox were rained out yesterday, which was the first rainout in Anaheim in over 20 years. That means those two teams will be playing a split doubleheader today. Hope both games go about 15 innings.

Milone's start today notwithstanding I think there should be at least one lefty in a starting rotation if at all possible. I would guess we could get a worthwhile return trading Pelfrey.

Just got home after being away from the computer. Holy yikes! Stick a fork in me starting game threads.

Minnesota Twins at Oakland Athletics 07/19/2015, 3:05 PM CDT Weather forecast: Clear, 84, winds W (toward right field) 4 mph Pitchers: Minnesota: Tommy Milone (5-1, 2.84) Oakland: Jesse Chavez (4-9, 3.40) Lineups and batting order: TWINS Dozier 2B Rosario RF Mauer 1B Hunter DH Plouffe 3B Hicks CF Robinson LF Fryer C Santana SS ATHLETICS Burns CF Canha 1B Zobrist 2B Butler DH Smolinski LF Lawrie 3B Phegley C Reddick RF Semien SS OK, so this is my first time opening a game thread. I think I’ll take the time-honored five things approach. 1. During Friday’s game Jack Morris commented that O.co Coliseum is a different park at night in that batted balls do not carry well to deep parts of the outfield. His belief is that a prevailing breeze in from the outfield at night is responsible. While that may be the case and that would indeed be a factor I think it’s primarily due to the fundamental properties of gases. In a nutshell, the stadium is very close to sea level, humidity tends to be low and evening temperatures tend to be cool. These conditions result in denser air. This causes greater drag on a ball moving through the air. As a result the ball will lose velocity more rapidly than in less dense air and fly balls will be less likely to carry well. Also, denser air has a greater effect on a spinning ball, meaning pitches will break more. Factor in the huge amount of area in play in foul territory, by far the most in the major leagues, and it’s easy to understand why most pitchers have more favorable statistics in this stadium than elsewhere. 2. Speaking of pitching, this will be the first time Tommy Milone has pitched against the Oakland Athletics. The fact that the Athletics have never batted against him is probably more significant than the fact that he used to pitch for them. Jesse Chavez last faced the Twins on May 5. He got the win in a 2-1 game, giving up only an unearned run in 7.1 innings. 3. Speaking of pitching, I’d like to plagiarize Ann Bauleke. During the late ’80’s and early ’90’s she had a column in City Pages, a free newspaper published weekly in the Twin Cities. One of her columns included a passage similar to this: If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have pitching, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have pitching, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have pitching, I gain nothing. Pitching never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. And now these three remain: batting, fielding and pitching. But the greatest of these is pitching. 4. There were comments on Friday night’s game thread, presumably from people located in the Central or Eastern Time Zone, about hating games played on the west coast. Well, picture in your mind a fan (or an owner) of a team located in the Eastern Time Zone. West coast games are an hour later than in the Central, meaning decreased viewership and therefore decreased advertising revenue. I think that’s the primary reason that major league baseball has an unbalanced schedule. The powers that be try to spin it that it builds rivalries but I think that’s secondary. On the surface one might think that unbalancing the schedule is unfair. A mediocre team in a weak division (like this year’s New York Mets, for example) has an easier path to the playoffs than an above average team in a strong division (like this year’s Chicago Cubs, for example). But what if the schedule were more balanced? Central division teams, or, more accurately, teams located in the Central Time Zone, have an advantage when it comes to interdivisional games because there is less of a time differential traveling east or west than for Eastern Time Zone and Pacific Time Zone teams. A more balanced schedule means more games outside a team’s division and outside a team’s home time zone. For that reason the current unbalanced schedule, less mathematically pleasing though it may be, may actually be fairer. 5. I believe in Bigfoot. I’ve seen him play. He was on the Twins’ roster for five years and was on two World Series winning teams. I’m referring, of course to number 26 (and later 62), Al Newman. He’s only 5’9” but he’s gotta have at least size 13 feet. By the way, he is currently managing the Alexandria Blue Anchors in the Northwoods League. After last night's close loss, let's see if the boys can bounce back today. Go Twins!

You should see what you can get for it on ebay. Or is it too late for that?

Unreal.

Rather than trading prospects or exposing them to rule 5 I'd be more inclined to trade or release some of the veterans. I bet I could name ten players on the current 41-man (Nolasco makes 41) whom I'd rather lose than some of the up-and-comers.

One reason is that Fort Myers has 6 starters on their roster already. At least they did as of a few weeks ago. I don't know if there have been any roster moves recently.

The title of this article refers to being poised for the playoffs. But these two statements make me think that OTB has being poised to win the WS in mind when this was written. I don't think the Twins should take any extraordinary steps to try to win the WS this year. Having the second best record in the league is a pleasant surprise, a happy accident. But the vision of building a perennial contender should not be derailed by trying to win it all this year. I'm in favor of trading surplus major league parts for needed major league parts but I'm not in favor of trading a promising prospect for anyone.

I've never set foot in a casino in my life and if I ever do it will be just for the experience of looking at it. But if I had been in Vegas in March I'd have bet the over on the Twins win total. I think they had the line at 70 or 71.

Like the cream color on the '60's unis, as well as the pinstripes. Don't like the script on the front. No particular reason, just think it's kind of ugly. So take the old unis and put the new script on them. The current gray road unis are fine, but I wish they could be reworked a little so they don't bear a strong resemblance to the Atlanta road grays. And for me, that should be all they wear. No blue jerseys. No red jerseys. TC on the cap, not the 1987 M. The occasional century-old throwback games are fine but for the love of god please don't bring back the late '70's/early '80's look. Not ever.

Barring a trade the most likely scenario is that the Twins' four outfielders next season and for a few seasons to come will be Arcia, Buxton, Hicks and Rosario. So who plays where? First, you want to put your strongest arms in right and center. That means Buxton in center and Hicks in right when they are both in the lineup and Hicks in center when Buxton is out. Second, since Rosario appears to be a more skilled defender than Arcia it makes sense for him to be the one to adapt to alternating between right and left and have Arcia play one position consistently. That would be left field. Third, it hardly matters at all whether right field or left field is larger. There are three outfielders and the same amount of area to cover no matter who plays where. Since left field at Target field is a bit larger, the center and right fielders simply shade that way a bit to make up for it.

I KNEW it didn't sound right.

Left field is where a major league team's least skilled defensive player plays. (Recall Delmon Young and Troy Willingham.)

Getting caught stealing is a lot worse than not stealing, whereas stealing is only slightly better than not stealing. Running the bases well is much more important than running the bases fast. Fast is better than slow, but I don't think it's as big of a deal as some do. That said, if you can bother the other team's pitcher with a reputation for speed, so much the better.