ChuckkJay

Thanks Seth! For myself, I know that most people on this site have far more insight into the team than I do. I don't personally really care about quotes, I care more about analysis. For example, SoCalTwins fan posted the link to his article on Yahoo named Minnesota Twins' Win Gives Hope for Future. In it he's talking about Hicks, Dozier, and Pressley. Another great example is your Minor League Report itself, Seth. If there were something similar for the Twins themselves it would be great. [h=2][/h]

I'm always surprised when I come to the Twins Daily site [which is awesome] and find that on the front page I can't find some simple summaries of last night's game. Or anywhere, really. Sometimes if I scroll through the blogs page I find some stuff about the previous game, but even that's not consistent. I feel I must be missing something. Am I a dolt? I just want to come to the site and find a collection of blogs or articles about yesterday's game. Maybe nobody else wants this, I guess. Find that hard to believe. Love the Twins. Love this site. But I don't always get to watch them, and reading the beat writers' with "access" wrapups don't do much for me. I want to hear from all you guys and ladies.

I think they're on a pace for about 69 wins. Will they possibly hit 75?

Spot on. Apparently, the creed of the Interweb (brought to you by Al Gore) forumsphere is: The only way to appear sophisticated is to offer negative criticism. Positivity is viewed as uneducated and beneath those of us who are smart enough to know better.

I am always curious if Thrylos is really a Twins fan. If you really are, WHY? I've not read a single thing from you that's positive; it seems you dislike everything about the organization. What is it about the Twins that keeps you interested? I'm all for balanced evaluation and critique of the Twins, but that's not what we get from Thrylos.

That's Spando Calrissian to you, Seth.

I think the best question is this: How many top level, elite players receive top level, elite contracts - and then go on to make them worth it? It's hard to answer, mostly around the "worth it" part. Use WAR, World Series title, whatever. I don't care to get bogged in the minutiae, it's more of a qualitative question. It would seem the answer is "not very many." I don't have any data, this is my perception. I truly believe that if I were a GM, I'd not sign anyone like this. Pujols, Mauer, Hamilton ... any of them. Let them walk. The fans will get over it in two years if you use the savings to sign good replacements. I can't see how it's ever worth it. For every example of someone making it worth it, there's about 20 cases where it wasn't worth it.

I applaud all of you who vigilantly watch/listen/gameday every single game. That's awesome. I always consider myself a huge Twins fan. I was a senior in high school in '87 and we went to a zillion games that spring and summer. Alas, I moved to Cali in September of '87. With no money for return flights to see the games in October. In '91 I was in college in Madison. Didn't need as much $$ to drive four hours back to MN to watch the games in person ... but, being a college student, money was still short and was largely spent on cold beverages while watching the games on TV. I have crystal clear memories of Kirby's Krush (in a bar), and Jack's Gem (solo in my girlfriend's apartment because I refused to watch it with anyone lest I be distracted. She had a nicer TV so I made her leave for the whole game). I live in Denver and, sadly, have only been to two games at Target Field. Sadly, they were the first and last playoff games at that field so far, which we lost and in which the home fans were as full of energy as a plate of cold fish. (Sorry, that's my story, I'm sticking to it, and I've ranted about it here before). I can't watch/listen/gameday every single game. I guess I could, but I don't. I don't view that as detracting from my fandom; but I sure am impressed by all of you who do. I will say though that I've remained a staunch Twins supporter among my buddies, which is challenging. I'm friends with a number of hardcore Boston and Wisconsin fans. Think about that. As a Vikings and Twins fan, I've taken a LOT OF HEAT in the last ten years from those guys.

Just strange to see a Twin crushing it like that. So refreshing.

Seriously, does anyone know why Matt Capps is employed as a "closer" on a MLB team? Doesn't seem like he's qualified. It's Sad. But True.

Booyah !!!

You ever think maybe the manager should override his pitcher's desire to get a CG?

That's an awesome In Game Box Score right there.

LaTroy !!!

3 points to make. And since maybe nobody is going to care enough to read down to the bottom, I'll put my close up here: I love this site and I love the discussions. I think the audience here is perhaps slanted a bit far toward the uber-analytical crowd - which gets me into trouble when trying to make a point because I'm over my head - but I'd prefer that slant over the opposite, which would be people making indefensible, general statements. Well done to all, including whoever put this site together and everyone who contributes. Think about how far the activity of discussing/arguing our favorite team has come in the last five years. 1) I'm reasonably intelligent, despite what my daughter thinks. Or wife. Or boss. I'll stop now. And in general, I much prefer advanced stats when evaluating a player over BA and HR (I recognize that these were the two stats I cited originally, and regret that). My problem is that I don't have the time or the interest to dive really, really deep into their origins and meaning. All of this leaves me with enough knowledge about them to be dumb enough to try to use them in an argument. Having said all that, I do get annoyed when SOME (not all) people use WAR like a bible and don't cite any other stat. It reminds me of when ... well, it reminds me of when people used to measure hitters based solely on their BA. I understand that it attempts to measure in one stat a player's value, and I think it does very well. I don't understand it's intricacies, particularly how the replacement player performance is calculated, but that's fine. I trust that it generally works. But it's proponents would do well to not just say [paraphrasing here, this isn't a literal quote] 'his WAR is great so that really should be the end of the discussion.' Some collateral discussions beyond WAR would improve your arguments. 2) I need to go away from stats here. And I will likely lose many of you by doing so. I'd like to be able to talk just about how it is to WATCH Mauer. Not track every nuance of his performance. And I think that it's not as much fun or awesome to watch him anymore. He used to be MUST SEE. If he was coming to the plate, you had to pay close attention. He was going to get a hit. I never thought of him with power, so I don't much care that he doesn't have any. But he used to be exciting to watch. You used to expect something good. Now, I have to say, I expect a GIDP or a soft liner to the short outfield. It's sad. Maybe the pure stats don't back up this impression. But when I'm watching a game, and I see him hit another grounder to short, I don't console myself by saying "well, that at bat sucked, but his WAR is ok this season." Sorry, I just don't. If you can, more power to you. But I think there's a bunch of us who just miss seeing him be dominant. 3) The Contract. I understand completely all the arguments that the Twins had to sign him. Had to. I generally agree. Certainly agree as a fan. I think for the vast majority of us to talk about how the front office had to do it from a business and baseball perspective ... well, I'm not sure we're qualified. We don't know the inner numbers of the business, of the ballpark, of a lot of things on the commercial side. I'm a financial analyst in the electric utility industry. I'm VERY quantitative every day. But since I don't have the raw data that Pohlad, Ryan, and Smith do, I can't analyze. And I don't mean the big round numbers that get in the press. I didn't say I thought it was a bad contract. I said I'm fearful for the future of the contract. It's quite reasonable to say that it was a necessary contract at the time, but now two years later it's starting to have an odor. I think we all thought it would stink at some point. We just didn't expect that point to come soon. Maybe it's not here yet. I hope not. GO TWINS.

It's not about whining or throwing myself off a bridge. Everybody knew the Twins had to pay him. I didn't say I thought it was a bad contract. I said I am fearful for the Twins re: this contract. Who on this board isn't?? But in fact, I do have an interesting theory/question: Why don't teams just NOT pay their superstars? I honestly don't think it would lead to the doom that everyone says it would have if the Twins had let him walk. What would have happened? Would everyone on this site simply have stopped following the Twins? Stopped going to games? Sure - attendance at the new house would have dropped. Certainly. But how much, and for how long? Longer than the contract is going to hamper them? I seriously doubt it. I think the Cardinals did absolutely the right thing in letting Pujols walk. Ditto for the Brewers. If I were a GM, I like to think that I would've done the same thing. Short term pain when the fans and writers go nuts, but 3 years later they're all still following the team and then you're not saddled with a $24M part time catcher who slaps singles. And I have to say, everyone who is talking about how it's only four games into this season seem to have forgotten 2011.

I think UChief means that we've seen nothing from Mauer to suggest he's ever again going to be the player he was that one season. The one that got him the contract. The one that was an aberration from his entire career. I know he won some batting titles - though most people on this site discount batting average as a particularly meaningful stat. There's a reason Ichiro doesn't make $24M. I like Mauer. He was a great story, MN hometown and all that, back when he was great. He's not today. He wasn't last year. He might be again, but that seems less and less likely. I'd say it's much more likely that he never hits a dozen HR again in a season, and might not ever even hit .325 again. I am very fearful for the Twins re: this contract.

Well, now I feel like an inadequate Twins fan!! Of course the Twins' opener is the one that matters and that's Opening Day. But I definitely thought of MLB's Opening Day as a holiday, with the frenzy of so many games around the league, similar to March Madness's first day. Now it's just so diffused. Please please let Mauer hit .350 again and Morneau jack 30-40. Please. And count me among the people who like Casilla and really hope he can put together a full season of his ability. If we get those things and a bullpen which outshines the gloomy expectations, 85+ wins and a hopeful September are headed our way. GO TWINS

WHICH Opening Day?

Sorry Thrylos. I meant that they've ruined it by dribbling the games out little by little. I don't think there IS an Opening Day. I don't mind the Japan games so much, although I'm not sure why they had to happen a week or so ago or whenever it was. But I LOVED Opening Day, when all or at least the vast majority of teams went out and played ball. Now we've got one game tonight, another handful tomorrow, and a then more on Friday. It sucks.

Thanks, MLB, for ruining Opening Day.

Great story, I had been wondering what had happened. I have a 7 year old daughter so I was very curious about what kind of accident it could be. I'm very very glad that Rosenthal has that Access - and knows how to use it.

Camden is awesome. Fenway too. I am a huge Twins fan. I have a banner in my basement that I painted during the '87 run. My wife wants to ditch it --> not happening. I do like Target. I live in Denver, so I don't get there very often. In fact, the only two times I've been is Game 1 and 2 last fall against the F$%^&NG pinstripes. Here's where I may make some enemies .... I was sorely disappointed. Not at the field. Very well done. Great ballpark. I'm jealous that most of you get to go anytime you want. Coors out here is a good park, and I'll go see Cuddy a few times this year, but the Rox aren't my boys. The Twins are. What disappointed me was, well, ... it was the fans. These were PLAYOFF GAMES. Against the F$%^&NG pinstripes. And the crowd had about the same amount of energy as the crowd at the last funeral I went to. It was QUIET. During a playoff game. I was standing and cheering - FYI, I never, ever curse or yell anything negative during games. I just like to be loud and supportive of the Twins - and was asked to sit down and shut up, three different times. I've never seen anything like it. I went to a number of games during the Rockies' run in 2007 and THAT HOUSE WAS ROCKING. It was electric. Target Field? It was running on a three year old AA battery. Sorry folks. I'm honestly not trying to stir anything up here. I love the Twins. I hope some of you agree with me, and I hope it changes. I was so disappointed.

It's tough to speculate. Common sense would indicate that he go to the Minors. As far as I can tell, I've seen all his public comments on the matter - but, you know, I don't really have any "Access" - and I've not seen anything that suggests he's thinking one way or the other. As the father of a 7 year old girl myself, I'm guessing that he's spending very little time thinking about his baseball situation as of yet. I'm sure he is increasingly so, because it sounds like she's made it through the worst part, which is awesome. Now that he's starting to think more about it, if he's a reasonable guy he'll likely take the option. Someone up above said it right - why would he choose to leave the Twins right after he signed with them? And after the organization has treated him well through this ordeal? Sure - maybe he's greedy. Maybe he's scanning the mainmedia and the blogs, looking for a team that has a desperate need and he thinks he may get some extra $$. But as I said, I'm guessing he's doing nothing of the kind, he's probably working out to take his mind of his daughter and when he's done working out then he goes back to thinking about her. Some of you are parents. You know how it is. Unless he's an absolute jackhole of a parent, I can't believe he's spending a lot of time scheming about how he can leave the Twins.

@mattsaari - I'm not sure which bloggers you're referring to. Most of the good pieces on this site cover subjects I don't see anywhere on the mainmedia. Take Parker's piece about Doumit's walk rates. Who in the mainmedia wrote about this, that Parker is just "distilling"? Let's see some examples if you're going to make those kinds of categorical statements.