wsnydes

I think part of the issue here is that with the disaster that was 2021, even small dips in production are amplified as people try to explain why it was a disaster. I think that's happening here to a degree.

I've always enjoyed the exclusivity of the MLB playoffs. That said, I've also always hated how they're set up. I would like to see them condense the series' to make them more like the regular season. Ideally, that would also keep the WS early enough in October to avoid really foul weather in northern cities.

Kirby, Torii, Mauer. Hoping Buxton stays healthy enough to join that list.

I despise the opener concept, but I don't think this team is in a position pitching-wise to ignore a potential strategy or jettison pitchers that could potentially help. They should hold on to any and all potential options for any tangible strategy to get through the season. As @Sconniehas posted several times in other threads, they don't appear to have enough pitching options to get through the season without using guys AAAA options.

I'll never understand why sports, especially MLB, make it more difficult to consume their product. It's asinine and very short sighted. I think the NHL does a pretty good job of getting their product out there, BSN issues notwithstanding. I wish MLB would emulate them more.

The wider range of possibilities is intriguing to me. Couple that with the need for them to be on the higher end of that range for this team to really blossom, and you've got a recipe that could be very exciting... ...or you could end up with something that is oversalted like my dinner...

Thanks for the excellent read, @mikelink45! I'm younger than you, but the things I enjoy (music, cocktails, sports among them) skew older than me. I think I was born at least 20 years later than I should have been! My wife's grandpa played collegiate ball and town ball for a really long time, and he would sit around with his buddies and talk baseball. Especially if the Twins were on at the time. I could sit there for hours and listen to them. Such a treat! I have my own nostalgia of the era that I grew up watching, the 80s and 90s and have my own baseball heros but it's never as interesting as listening to the stories of the older generations.

I'm always going to lean towards Kirby for the simple fact that he hooked me on baseball. I'm also not old enough to realistically remember Carew. With Kirby, it's always going to be a "what if" conversation. Perhaps not fair, but it is reality. Carew's numbers are pretty crazy. I mean, having a batting title trophy named after you is a pretty sweet gig if you can get it!

Yup, I could see that happening. He's too important to the franchise yet. It just has to be understood by the fan base that he hasn't played in 2 years.

This is an interesting point. They clearly have a better sense of where he's actually at than us, but I would hope that they'd put him where his ability puts him. It doesn't do them any good one way or another to overwhelm him. They need him to succeed for a variety of reasons, whether they keep him or deal him.

The economics of the game are very much part of this negotiation and that's solely on the owners whether they're talking about it or not. They don't want anything to change. You're going to have a very hard time convincing me that that doesn't hurt the game. To say that they have no part in hurting the game is either disingenuous or flat out naive. The players have very little, if any, control on that aspect of the game. I've said my piece. I have little interest in continuing this discussion at this point.

As far as I'm concerned, this is semantics. Changes or not, the status quo is bad for the game, which ultimately appears to be your point about the players. You're trying to have it both ways. The players are hurting the game with what they want, but the owners wanting things to stay the same isn't bad for the game. The fact that the game is trending downwards yet the owners want nothing to change is clearly going to continue to hurt the game, just as it has been. So yes, the demands by both sides are hurting the game.

They essentially want the status quo. Hard to imagine that being good for the game given its trajectory. And let's not forget this is a lockout, not a strike. Also hardly good for the game. This has been hashed out all over this site. Probably doesn't need to be done here too.

No, see, I added that as an option in the poll! You're doing this wrong!

Well played, Squirrel.