wickedslider

Or it could end up being a reason to run to the liquor store if recent history is any indication.

My current wife's ex was so bad that she had exactly what I needed in a wife...low standards.

he always pitches well at AAA. That seems to be his current ceiling.

I remember that book. IIRC, the kid walked all the time because he fouled off so many pitches. Then he gets a big hit at the end of the season or something like that.

I've heard about those. I think they call them a 1,2,3 inning?

Whew!!!

I pray that we can hold a lead for a change.

I was also surprised at the O'Rourke DFA. His stats seemed to show that he had the characteristics of a LOOGY. I'd have thought he was worth a prospect at least in a trade. Perhaps there is something we don't know?

Not to mention how poorly Molitor used Kepler when he was up here. He should have been playing a couple of games a week at least to keep him sharp and to get an idea of what we have in him.

let's face it, despite being younger as a whole, the '87 WS team lost a of games, for quite awhile before they finally won it all. Yes, we have better pitching than those clubs did, but there is a lot of youth in the batting order. We have inexperience in the whole outfield and our starting DH. That's 4 bats out of 9 with relatively little to no experience at MLB level. There's going to be growing pains. The league has scouted us and adjusted accordingly. Our turn.

Maybe Murphy knows how to throw a clubhouse dance party, ala Torii Hunter?

that has been my continuing argument about this lineup ever since we signed Park. We didn't need a player like him in the batting order. Hitting is contagious.We need a couple of high on base % types, who cause pitchers to lose a bit of concentration, and forces them to throw from the stretch position as some of their velocity/effectiveness is thus diminished. K's don't advance runners the way a sac fly or ground out does. I really don't get this roster compilation.

crap!

Ramos has not been all that for the Nationals. He's only had 2 seasons with over 400 at bats and 1 with over 500 at bats. He has hit .258 with 61 hr's and 68 dbls over 6 years. His one strength seems to be throwing out base stealers with his CS of 33%. But again, he's not been very healthy. If he's have been here with those type of at bat #'s, we'd have seen a lot more of people like Chris Hermann etc.

I seem to recall the same thing. I think I've seen similar articles commenting on Perkin's velocity needing to ramp up from spring training to regular season and that he's been able to do just that.

That would be the best case scenario. We could really benefit if Nolasco would pitch well and reestablish himself as a decent starter. Then he can bring some value in a trade. I am still not sold on our catching situation, nor our options for bench players. We could use a Ben Zobrist type of guy as a sub. If Nolasco could end up being traded for a strong bench player or another catcher to replace Suzuki next season, we would be in good position. We could also use a good lead off type of hitter unless Buxton finally fulfills his potential. It also seems like we have some decent options for the BP and I think May could still become a starter, if not this year then the next.

I think Duffy has an option or 2 left? If he struggles badly this spring, I could see them sending him down and keeping Nolasco in the rotation provided he gives them something to hang their hats on. They would buy a little time and see if Nolasco shows any sign of life, thus adding to his value. Just a thought...

The fact that Ryan has always stated that ownership never refused to spend more money on players puts the onus on him. Do I believe him? Not really, but that's all I have to go on. I read an article that stated the Twin's formula of spending a certain % of their revenues on salaries, is no longer within the league norms, but generally trails that of consistently successful teams. Yes there are exceptions now and then. Face it, we were fortunate to play in a division in which at least 3 teams were always terrible. The fact that he failed to do much to ever make our team of the 2000's better via the trade deadline, tells me volumes about whether winning the WS is the goal of this team. Yeah, he signed Stewart, and went out and got Capps. One of those moves worked to some degree, while the other (capps) was debatable as Rauch's stats have shown. We've had exactly one real "ace" since 1991, in Santana. Even the 2010 team had holes in the rotation, with only 2 guys having ERA's under 4.00 and the best of those was still 3.62. Nos. 3-5 were around 4.5, 4.5, and 5.5. Not much better than last season. Their everyday lineup carried them. Strikeout pitchers are the most expensive to acquire. Whether out of fear of not wanting to pay them eventually, or "pitch to contact" is a real philosophy they followed, is up for debate. I think it was out of fear of eventually having to pay them as evidenced by the fact that they let Santana go. The Pohlads surely have done extensive research on their fans. Present company excluded, but many Minnesotan's for better or worse, are by and large happy to be competitive. Thus the Pohlads know that by fielding a competitive team, they are able to draw fans. Having a little insight to other people's market research on Minnesotans, along with 47 out of my 55 total years of rabid fandom in this state, tells me I'm probably on the right track. The fact is that the Twin's haven't gone all in since 1991, which is the last time they went out and signed a top free agent in Jack Morris. They had a great nucleus then just as they had in 2010. Tapani from then would be our ace now with a 2.99 ERA. Scott Erickson our #3 had a 3.18 ERA. Do you see anyway the Twins put together that kind of staff today, even in this "pitcher's" era? McPhail vs. Ryan. Same owner, but different goals.

Bert is a toughie only in the sense that he only played half his career here but that is still 11 years. His win totals while with the Twins are as follows;10, 16, 17, 20, 17, 15, 4 in first stint, 8, 17, 15, and 10 during his 2nd. He was traded during the season in the 7th year of his first stint and didn't leave for greener pastures. He was vital to the 87 team's success, our first major sports championship since the forgotten Mpls Lakers. He is in the HOF as much for what he did here as anywhere else. I am old enough to remember the aging nucleus of the Twin's teams he played on early in his career, thus his nearly .500 record. They won 98 games his rookie year then went on to win totals of 74, 77, 81, 82, 76 and finally 85 until he was traded. Many of his losses were low scoring 1 run games as evidenced by an ERA well under 3.00 during 4 of his 6 first season and at or very close to 3.00 the other 2 seasons. The complete game and innings pitched totals he put up were astounding and he still lasted over 20 seasons. He would be a GOD now with those stats. The Twin's all time pitching stats include those of the Washington Senators so I'm excluding them when I attempt to find Blyleven's place among Twin's pitching records. He's second to Jim Kaat in wins for the Twins, 4th in ERA with way more innings pitched than those above him, 3rd in #of starts, 2nd in innings pitched, 1st in SrikeOuts, 5th in WHIP, again with 1300 more innings pitched than the closest guy above him. Kaat, Radke and Santana all played for much better Twins teams than Blyleven, yet still trail him in most pitching categories. Kaat only bested Blyleven in number of wins, innings pitched and HR and BB allowed rates per season though he did surpass Blyleven in total Hr's and BB's allowed with all the extra innings pitched. Kaat had more wins for way better teams, but his ERA and WHIP weren't as good and Bert struck out nearly 200 more guys in roughly 450 less innings. Radke was near him in wins but gave up over 80 more HRs in 100 less innings. Though Radke did walk far fewer guys than Blyleven he still has a higher WHIP of 1.26 vs 1.19 which tells me that Radke was far more hittable. Radke was the quintessential "pitch to contact" guy that the Twins based their drafting on for too many years. You have to go back to Walter Johnson, one of the all time best ever to find a more dominant pitcher with reasonable longevity in the Twins/Senators organization, than Bert Blyleven. Blyleven is arguably the most dominant pitcher to ever don a Twin's uniform for a reasonably long period of time. Jim Kaat is the only one who comes somewhat close, with Brad Radke and Johan Santana perhaps tied for a distant 4th. I think yes Bert did enough, and certainly more than any other Twins pitcher, to deserve to have his jersey number retired.

at this stage of his career and with his recent injuries in 2012 and 2015, that is a tough call. I would say definitely yes if I could predict the future and know that he could give us at least 3 good years of injury free ball. He is already 35 though and I don't know if he has the ability to age as well as Torii Hunter has. Such a risky trade, though Gibson seems to only have the ceiling of at best a #3 starterin a very good rotation. Mark has also been on 4 teams so I wonder if that is due to contract constraints or how good of a teammate he is? And though he had some important hits in the 09 WS, his playoff stats that year are not impressive the way his regular season stats are. Then you look at our current lineup and wonder where Sano fits in if we keep Plouffe along with the fact that Mauer isn't going anywhere. I see a log jam at DH with Mauer and Sano if we don't move Plouffe and put Sano at 3rd. Though the idea of the added depth is nice, Mark and Mauer don't play other positions, so one of Tex, Mauer, Plouffe or Sano would sit out too many games. Nolasco's health also comes into play as does the durability of Milone. Currently, we have Santana, Duffy, Hughes, Nolasco, Gibson, Milone, and Berrios and perhaps May as candidates for the starting rotation next season, so barring further injuries there is a surplus. Nolasco and Milone are hard to count on to start every 5th day. Will Hughes continue his career history of one good year followed by a not so good year? Will his back continue to be source of concern? With the history of a lack of pitching depth on this team going back decades(though the 91 staff was deep)I'm hesitant to trade one of our better, most durable starters. To finally give an unqualified answer to the question, because of the depth we have in the rotation, I too would probably make the trade while also trading Plouffe for some catching or BP depth. Without a Plouffe trade it doesn't seem to make as much sense, unless the Twin's are ready to add payroll and allow one of their big boppers or Mauer to sit on the bench more than the Twins seem to prefer from a top payroll/production guy based on past history. If Tex was to be injured more often than not or suffered the same age/injury related deterioration in his skills that Joe has, it would go down as a horrible trade though and give me another, in a long list of reasons, to hate the Yankees.

] No, you said FANS gave Morneau a pass, not writers. Your original point was that FANS attitudes have changed. Now you are using articles written by professional writers to buttress your point about FAN REACTION? How do these articles represent FAN REACTION? I fail to see the relevance. And your quote of " filled with a lot of misinformation" wasn't proven at all. You concentrated on basically one point that I made about Morneau. Morneau had stated that he might have to give up baseball because of his symptoms. That was honest and scary to fans. Much more candor in that statement than Bi-lateral weakness excuses. So tell us how the examples you provided prove how FAN'S ATTITUDES have changed which was your ORIGINAL ASSERTION. Not to mention that Morneau actually suffered 2 separate concussions compared to the official stance that Joe suffered one. Morneau got kneed in the head then later in his career got another concussion making a diving play at first base. I don't recall Joe announcing that he has suffered another concussion. Not to mention having to go to Yahoo sports to find what you were looking for? How is their reporters comments even relevant to what OUR FANS ARE THINKING. And the ESPN article barely mentioned his concussion, it was more about his overall health with his wrist being a major concern.

obviously not as evidenced by his performance tonight against Cleveland I figure Molly has to be thinking Hughes, Duffy, Gibson, Pelfrey as his probable playoff rotation. As for a big game? Molly would probably go with Hughes if his next start is good. I'd go Duffy. I love the kid's curveball and the way he strikes guys out.

Non taken. I also mentioned golfers, I just don't know many by name. I just happened to use those 2 younger athletes because they immediately came to mind and I didn't feel it necessary to waste time googling thousands of examples of older athletes who extended their career excellence by working out religiously. Adrian Peterson comes to mind now that I think of it.

Koskie, and Morneau didn't claim that they were symptom free after their injuries. Joe has multiple times. They were able to recognize continuing symptom. Are we to believe that Joe hasn't had the same care and information at his disposal? Why aren't we supposed to believe him? And remember, neither Koskie nor Morneau were here very long after their injuries the way Joe has, so less chance of hearing/reading negative comments for them and more for Joe. I don't recall nearly the amount of baseball discussion on social media or blogs like TD back when Koskie was playing so there was less of a chance to come across negative comments about him. Back then the Strib was the main outlet for baseball talk and their censors were militaristic in deleting comments they deemed even slightly offensive. Out of the clear blue, they suspended my account because they claimed my user name was offensive, no BS. Mind you I had used this name for 5-6 years and thousands upon thousands of posts with no problems. So it isn't a stretch that they would have deleted negative comments about a local personality who they covered in their paper. Another thing to remember, Koskie wasn't anywhere near the status of Joe Mauer as far as accomplishments and expectations. Yes he was an All Star once or twice, but Joe's obviously has had a far better career. With that comes expectations of continued excellence. With those higher expectations comes a greater degree of disappointment if you don't live up. That is natural and to be expected. I question if it is as simple as saying "fans gave Koskie and Morneau a pass". There wasn't same claims of health being made by them, and they weren't really here long enough for such talk to grow into a groundswell like it has with Mauer. Add the lack of a social media/blog driven outlet for the criticism, at least in Koskie's case. Together it opens up the possibility that there just wasn't a long enough time to get upset.

I write this as a long term Joe Mauer fan who is becoming very disappointed in him. People who participate in sports which require stamina don't sit around in the off season conserving energy. It isn't like they have batteries to store energy. So why would a baseball player think he needs to "conserve" his energy in the offseason. I can see a pitcher resting his arm. Joe's not a pitcher. Other athletes work out so that they have more energy and strength down the stretch. Look to successful football/hockey/basketball players' offseason workouts. If you want to have success in pro sports, you workout in the offseason. Even golfers are paying more attention to working out. Then look at J.O. Berrios who has become a workout machine. It sure helped propel his career this season. I read once that Hrbek regretted not working out more so that he could have played longer. He retired in his early 30's, when many of today's players are signing their 3rd contract. I'd like to see Joe try to go through the same West Coast workout that a couple of the Timberwolves and many other athletes went through last offseason. Shabazz Muhammad sure was having a better season until he was injured last year. Frankly, I wonder if Joe is just content being a dad/family guy. Look at his stats before and after marriage/kids. His life is set, local writers and fans are willing to make excuses for his drop off. Many athletes in other sports get concussions and are able to come back in a reasonable time frame and perform well. If a pro QB can get back playing 2 weeks after a concussion and excel, there is no reason for anyone to think Joe is incapable of doing so 2 years after his. QB's have to make quick decisions and have fast reflexes while taking in way more info than a batter. Also, his BA with RISP suggests that he is still capable, but only concentrates/gives it his all when he thinks it really matters. I wonder if he hates losing as much as many championship players do. I don't care that he isn't a demonstrative leader. There are other guys who can do that. I'd just like to think that for $23 million a year that Joe is doing every thing he can do be successful, just as the rest of us would. Reason being, I pay a lot of money to be entertained by sports and I'd like to experience the thrill of my team winning it all. I wouldn't enjoy a concert if the guitar player was missing notes or the singer was forgetting the lyrics. Being a pro athlete in today's games is a year around proposition for successful players, especially as they age. Teams wouldn't win very often if all their players are waiting till training camp/spring training to get in shape. And no I don't expect him to be muscle bound like a weight lifter. I realize that baseball players generally aren't going to be built that way.