glunn

I agree. I have never read anything suggesting that Blackburn has ever given less than 100%. Yes, Blackburn's pitching has been terrible, but maybe the bone chips have been a factor.

Good post. Alternatively, a 12 year old kid could develop a 110 mph fastball, but alienate his friends, then lose his fastball and use little league tricks in the final game of the season to put the Twins into the postseason.

None of us have enough information to accurately evaluate Ryan's performance. We will never know about all of the offers that may (or may not) have been made. But the low payroll bothers me. If the Twins spend more later in the year, I will feel like they are being fairer to the fans in terms of their commitment to giving us a quality product.

Mike Trout is another example of someone who was able to move up quickly and succeed.

Good one, and not far from the truth my friend. That said, I remain hopeful for a miracle this year.

In 1990, the Twins finished last in the AL Western Division. In 1991, they won the World Series. Most of us would love to see that happen again. This is intended to be a FUN thread where, within reason, we can post our fantasies about how this could happen. Here are some of my fantasies: 1. Mauer and Morneau both return to MVP form and finish 1st and 2nd in the AL MVP voting for 2013. Plouffe gets a new girlfriend (introduced to him by Bark's Lounge) and finishes 5th in the MVP voting. 2. Some combination of Carroll, Dozier, Florimon, Escobar, etc. comes together to provide at least league average 2B and SS, with clutch defense in key postseason games. 3. Plouffe catches fire often and stays on fire for extended periods, racking up 35+ home runs and lots of doubles. 4. Willingham stays healthy and duplicates 2012. Parmelee is decent in RF and Hicks has a surprisingly good rookie season in CF. 5. Blackburn regains his prior best form, Diamond stays the same or improves, Hendriks finds an out pitch, Deduno improves his control by three inches and the new starters pitch at the top of their potential range. The Twins starters appear in the cover of Sports Illustrated in August. Now it's your turn. Remember this is more about fantasy than reality or OPS or any of that. What happened in 1991 seems almost like a miracle, and this thread is about how that miracle might happen again. This reminds me of the wisdom of ABBA -- "Like history pulled from the shelf, it's always repeating itself". Many of my best fantasies not involving the Twins winning the World Series revolve around being with the ABBA women. [video=youtube;MUJsYLiizvU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUJsYLiizvU

Or maybe they just had one very bad game?

Great post JJ. I wonder why Bane did not succeed in the majors. Injury?

That is bad news. He is lucky to get any sleep, much less training.

Sorry. It's not that great a game, so you may get bored quickly.

I agree with the majority here -- the Twins should avoid these guys so that they have more room to develop prospects.

Maybe the Twins should offer to provide trainers to those who need them during the offseason? Would this violate the collective bargaining agreement?

Basically, it is a game where you collect baseball cards for all 30 teams then train them and deploy them into a lineup. Then your team plays against other teams.

I was hoping that Diamond would be my ace. I have also trained Deduno to his maximum level and he is winning most of his games. If Deduno could cut his walk rate, it seems to me that he could be a decent starter. I hope that Deduno and Plouffe trained with the old guy from Karate Kid during the offseason -- they both possess a lot of natural talent that might be awesome if focused. Wax on. Wax off.

I have been playing a game on Facebook called "Dream Nine". I am playing as the Twins. Every team has one ace. For the Yankees it is Sabathia, for the Dodgers it is Kershaw and so on. It takes some work to get your ace, and when I finally qualified for my ace, I got Nick Blackburn. I guess the game company had as much trouble as we do finding an ace on the Twins' roster. If you play as the Twins, then Blackburn will be your ace. Once you get a player, you can train the player to increase his skills. I have been focusing on training my ace -- Blackburn. I have trained him till he ached. After all the training, Blackburn has now won more than 10 games in a row, mostly against quality teams. This got me to thinking. Maybe if Blackburn trained like Stallone in the Rocky movies during the offseason, he could go back to something close to his production in 2008 (193 IP, 4.05 ERA and 1.360 WHIP) and 2009 (205 IP, 4.03 ERA and 1.366 IP). Blackburn will be 31 years old in February. This year is a contract year for him. It seems at least possible that he could make a comeback. It seems unlikely that Blackburn will ever be an ace -- his strikeout rate has not been high since 2004 (A level). But if he could get some heavy sink on the ball and stay down in the zone, it seems reasonable that he could burn a lot of innings with good results. What do you think?

I cannot wait for spring training to start -- this hot stove talk is getting tiresome.

In a pinch, maybe the guy who has had 5 days rest could come out of the bullpen, and everyone else could move up a day?

Is anyone else here playing this?

I think that you have a very good idea for making the most of a bad situation. This seems like a good strategy for getting a look at more starters and hopefully finding some who can perform. I also like the idea of not stressing the arms that are still fragile.

I just read it and found it informative. Here is a link.

Interesting article. I hope that Doumit can continue to make history of the good variety.

Why do they need special hats for batting practice?

I feel that my shotgun is ample for home defense, and I would not want to lose my "right" to defend my home against criminals who may be armed. On the other hand, assault rifles seem excessive for home defense and more dangerous in the hands of a madman than a shotgun.

I am still clinging to faint hope that 2013 will be a turnaround.

Nice post, and Merry Christmas.