nclahammer

IMO Halladay, simply put...doesn't have the career stats (not even close) for the HOF and I hope MLB doesn't start going NFL-like and letting everybody who had good post-season or Super Bowl stats, get enshrined (see Joe Namath as one example.) IMO Bonds, Sosa, and Clemens, and other steroid-tied players do not belong in the HOF period.

I hope it was just the triceps for Reed and that he can be a veteran presence in our bullpen next year.

Lower cost, lower risk pick-up. Think of the potential headlines Nick if/when C.J. has a good game or series, "Twins unlease The Krath of Cron" (for you Star Trek fans out there.)

I am excited to see the new renovations and so glad the Twins don't just stand pat when they see a way to improve something at Target Field. I'm secretly hoping they post "something" at Harmon's 520 foot blast, it shattered seats when it landed. Here's a link from featuring Minnesota Twins team curator Clyde Doepner talking about the homerun.

I hope MLB does not go to the clear bag NFL policy, I like being able to shove in a extra jacket in my bag, snacks, or baseballs if I'm looking for autographs. In moving the large glove commemorating Minnesota Twins gold glove winners 100 feet back toward downtown, they are taking away the significance of the spot where it was originally laid. 520 feet from home plate at Target Field. It was placed in that very spot to commorate the longest homerun hit in Minnesota Twins history by Harmon Killebrew on June 3, 1967. Oh' well.

This is one of the most positive stories I've read about any single player. Case well-stated.

Good article and interesting moves. I would put Kirilloff on my "no touch" list and I would much rather move Kepler than Rosario, if I had to choose between the two of them.

Eddie Rosario's 3 Hr day, capping it with the walk-off was the highlight for me. Optimism for the season was still there, and I almost felt that Rosario could be the hero to carry the team to catching Cleveland. But alas, heroes grow fatigued when they're pretty much the only ones doing the heavy lifting, and Eddie too wore down and limped into the off season.

Great article on my favorite Minnesota Twin. First time I've ever seen it written about Rosario wearing down in the second half after carrying/leading the team much of the first half. I've always felt that was the case. Congratulations Eddie Rosario and here's to an even better 2019.

Don't forget about the unicorns too.

Throughout the minor leagues, Brian Navaretto has been known as a defensive catcher, his lifetime batting average in the minors is just .218. I don't view him as a substantial piece to solving the Twins catching problems unless something dramatically changes in his offensive skill set.

I had hoped to see more progress in batting average this year with Max Kepler (.235 lifetime avg.), although I do like his increase tick in walks. Unless he makes strides, I can see him as the odd man out, especially if Buxton bounces back in 2019.

Great food for thought.

Great stuff as always, love catching up on our future Twins. Road-tripping it to Cedar Rapids today to catch their 12:05 game and excited to see Ryan Jeffers and the Kernels.

Max Kepler is very intriguing as a prospect, but until he gets his batting average above .250 in the majors, I'm not completely sold on him.

For me, one of the best postgame quotes came from Rays third baseman Daniel Robertson: "I wanna start off first and foremost by saying Escobar is a good dude, man. We talk all the time at third base. The guy likes Fogo de Chao, I like Fogo de Chao. So I wanna start off by saying that." -- Robertson, on the altercations with Escobar. Love it, if you don't believe me, you can look it up.

I always like to hear both sides, to get different perspectives, here's what the Rays are saying about the bench clearings on their team website: "When Castillo went down and low on [Escobar's] ankles, he stared at him again," Robertson said. "There was already a lot of chatter going on as far as the balk that happened right before that. Everyone was yelling at each other. He was looking back up at our pitcher again, and I just told him, 'Hey, quit staring at our pitcher. Nobody's trying to hit you; just get back in the box and hit.' That's about it, man. Then he kind of came back at me." Order was eventually restored, and Castillo struck out Escobar to end the inning. But as he was headed back out to the field, Escobar and Robertson began jawing again, and benches cleared once more. "I think it got escalated because [the Twins] seemed to be yelling at [Castillo]," Cash said. "We're going to defend our pitcher. They're going to defend their hitter. Saying that, I've got the utmost respect for Paul Molitor, his staff and those players. They played a really good series against us, got big hit after big hit. This series wasn't defined on [the altercations]. It was defined by a lot of good baseball and a lot of offense." Rays catcher Jesus Sucre believed that the series of kerfuffles started because Twins reliever Ryan Pressly was claiming that the Rays were intentionally trying to hit Escobar. "[Pressly] was the one that started it," Sucre said. "He was like, 'Hey, he's trying to hit him.' I was like, 'Hey, calm down, man. Shut up.'" I don't think Pressly is mentioned at all by the broadcasters or by any Twins players.

Great prospect list, I was fortunate to catch a few of these in Cedar rapids this past fall and this spring. The future is bright, the wells not dry.

I think we need to put the white surrender flags away and see what this team can do with its full line-up that includes Buxton, Sano, and Santana. I'm looking forward to enjoying the rest of the season, playoffs or not.

Very well written and thought out article. The top of my priority list for contract extensions is Eduardo Escobar, I'm picturing him as our starting 3B in 2019 with Miguel Sano switching to 1B with Joe Mauer either retiring or not being offered a contract. I agree on giving Mitch Garver more time behind the plate to work on his defensive, Bobby Wilson .115 BA is too painful to watch try ti hit, and let Astudillo share some reps behind the plate and see what he's got. With the return of Buxton and Sano imminent, and the improvement in Jake Cave, we may be seeing the end of the Robbie Grossman era in Minnesota as we know it. Lynn and Duke will be on the move for sure but I can't see much other than that. I'm very curious (and optimistic) to see what the Twins line-up does once the reset button is hit with Buxton and Sano in it.

We can't afford to trade good starting pitching, so I say Kyle Gibson is a keeper right along with Eduardo Escobar, who I pencil in as starting at 3B next year with Miguel Sano starting at 1B,

A little sarcasm can be good for motivation. It's in the bag.

As always good stuff you can count on.

That was uh...interesting, although I used to draw mustaches and beards on some players too. Now I just use this surplus of cards as bookmarks in my 3rd grade classroom.