gil4

I was sorry to see him go, but at the time I agreed with the trade. (I was 24 at the time, not 7, so I probably wasn't as emotionally attached to individual players.) In hindsight, I would make that trade again in a heartbeat. 1991 seals the deal for me. Pitchers are temporary. Championships are forever.

Willie Banks (you should have changed the file name of the photo - I might have cheated.) I remember when he was the next big prospect, but looking back at the numbers it was based more upon him being the 3rd overall pick of the draft than any actual production. He was pretty good throught Hi-A, but K rates plummeted after that. Let's hope Kohl Stewart doesn't throw 151 pitches in a game anytime soon.

Also, Twins fans aren't required to hate the Yankees. There are many other alternatives: Despise, detest, loathe, abhor, intensly dislike... My thesaurus ran out, but I'm sure there are more options.

It's OK. As a Twins fan who grew up in Connecticut, I have enough hate for the Yankees to cover you too.

He's saving the announcement for when he names Pelfrey as the AL starting pitcher

Paging Son of Sal...

Can't forget Laudner's "Buck-Ninety Fan Club" from the '87 World Series.

It looks like J.C. is going to get squeeze every last mile out of his playing career. I can't say I blame him - I kept playing slow-pitch softball until it hurt too much to run around the bases, and there was never any money in that. Some people are critical of guys who hang around way past their primes. Not me - if you're having fun playing and they are willing to pay you...

A Matthew Lawton III was arrested for trespassing in Harrison County, MS, on March 26, 2013. I'm guessing that's his son (the former Twin is a Jr.) and wondering if the events are related. I can think of a broad range of possibilities, but they would be just speculation. His wikipedia page mentions he is married with no mention of divorce, although I don't know how well those are updated once players are done playing. I always liked him and he represented the Twins well during some difficult times. (The PED thing came up later and his reaction to it leads me to believe his regret was sincere, not just for being caught but for doing it in the first place.) I want things to go well with him and I want justice to be done. Hopefully this was a misunderstanding of some kind, although "remained in custody a week later with no bond" doesn't sound too good.

The only affiliate I have seen play is New Britain, and that was almost 5 years ago om he road (in Norwich, CT, against the Cnnecticut Defenders). I would say the Cedar Rapids promotions of hitting home runs and winning games are the best.

You must end up behind different little old ladies than I do. I'm always amazed at how hard that task can be. I haven't seen much to indicate the Twins are any better at it, and even if they are, they often have the wrong items in the cart.

Gave him his present on Thursday and Friday. Took it back on Saturday and Sunday.

I think a part of it was it seems like a long time ago that Silva was with the Twins (although it really hasn't been all that long) and he looked like an old guy even though he wasn't. I have two teenage boys and one who is now 21, and I still try to keep up with them on the basketball court, with mixed (but usually painful) results. (As long as I can stay on the perimeter and shoot 3's and you can find a reasonably slow person for me to guard, I'm good. Until the next day.)

Carlos Silva - 1979? I would have guessed he was about 5 years older than that, which would still have made me 10 years older than him, which is a depressing thought. Thanks for ruining my day! (OK, I'm over it now.)

Last I heard, the break-even point for stolen bases was around 70%, so the total value of those 43 SB attempts was less than zero. We can hope that it resulted in learning and improved skills to change it to a net positive for future attempts (which is what the minors are for).

"...my current residence is hell, under the dominion of Satan" Common misconception. Satan is not even there now, he's on the loose. When he gets there, he won't be in charge, he will be an inmate.

Can't we take away Boone's birthday for his performance with the Twins?

Are playoff tickets on sale yet?

"switching from his current agent to Dwight Yoakam, in response to Robinson Cano’s switch to CAA that is partnered with Jay-Z" That's pretty damned funny, unless you're his current agent.

Another awesome entry in the series. I think the lack of comments means you're so thorough that there's nothing else to add.

The biggest surprise on the list is Guardado. I especially didn't think he would be ahead of Aguilera.

I had to see how close Nathan was to the list. He was 36 IP short. 464 IP, 562 SO, 10.9 SO/9 If we add the IP without adding any SO, he still leads by a comfortable margin - 10.12 SO/9. (Hey, if it works for the batting title...)

"No information about what Alex Ochoa is doing this season was readily available." Nothing concrete here, but this article talks about his likely plans for this year, which include working for Scott Boras in S. Florida so he could be near his dad, who is sick. I really like this series. It would make a heck of a book. ttp://www.csnne.com/article/ochoa-leaning-toward-not-returning-boston

Unlike Badsmerf, I am an incurable optimist. (Last year at this time I was predicting a bounce-back season and a Cy Young for Liriano.) But I'm not convinced by your data, either. 1. I thingk your game score chart is a better indicator than the other part of the chart because it takes into account inniings pitched. Giving up 3 runs in 6 innings does not represent a good chance of winning; it represents a slightly below average chance (4.5 runs per gave vs. 4.3 scored.) I'm pretty sure the starters averaged fewer than 6 IP per start. 2. The guys you chose to represent 2012 only started 50 games last year. Based on game score, I'd guess the record in those starts was 15-39. Even if we replaced those 54 games with a couple of guys from a video game who pitched shutouts every time out, that iimproves us to 90 wins (+24). If they are average (which seems like a stretch), that's +12 wins, or 78. 3. We have three guys coming from the NL to AL, which tends to make numbers worse, although Marquis was dealing with bigger issues at the beginning of last year and I think the blank slate [edit - after he left and went to SD] helped as much as the return to the NL. 4. Harden and Pelfrey are coming off major injuries. I have no idea what to expect from Harden if he ever makes it into the rotation, which is a 50-50 proposition. Pelfrey is less than a year removed from TJ surgery. Maybe he has Adrian Peterson's larm and is completely healed and ready to perform at a level above anything he has done before, but I'm guessing he's an ordinary guy who won't get back to within 90% of his old adequate self before next year. 5. Diamond is hurt. He was a great candidate for regression anyway. Despite all of that, I'm going to agree with your overall record prediction just on blind faith and/or wishful thinking. My way is more scientific.