twinstalker

His nickname is already EmRod.

Really the only naysaying thing about him has been his too-high K rate. I didn't see that in the four bullet points.

Nice feature. Thanks. I remember that Ron Davis game well. We were very optimistic going into 1985, but then had 9-10ish game losing streak that this was probably part of, followed it with a 9-10ish game winning streak, followed by a 9-10ish game losing streak a month or so later. Ugh. Puckett was fun, but he had no power or patience. Another Twins who was a flash in the pan? We'd had a lot of them in recent years, but Puck already was a cult hero, and it did seem different. Ron Davis and Billy Gardner had to go. They really did. Butcher and Smithson, our lovely haul for Gary Ward, were suddenly not as good as in 1984, and it was reported/implied that Butcher was tipping his pitches, but nothing got figured out. Hrbek, Bruno, Bush, Laudner, Gaetti were in their fourth full year, and as a whole were disappointing. Viola was meh and had no help until we traded for Blyleven (a year late). Somehow Ron Davis lingered, but Gardner was fired for Ray Miller, who definitely was in over his head. Ron Washington and Houston Jimenez (gone) weren't as hustly and/or cute as they'd been the year before, and Tim Teufel simply wasn't the answer at 2B. John Castino had succumbed to his back pain by then, and basically the pitching sucked. I did a quick check, though, and as bad as the pitching was, they had 41 CG, including Blyleven getting 9 in his 14 starts. The other good news I recall besides Bert is Roy Smalley was back with the Twins, a young man with expansive range and a cannon arm took over SS for the next decade, and someone we all called Chief had a great season behind the plate, delegating young Laudner to backup duty the second half. Other than than, it wasn't anything to write home about. There was a young man listening to games on the radio in his Northfield dorm room, disgusted but having too much fun with friends and beer to really care as graduation approached. The Twins were doing well as finals finished, but KC was a number of games ahead, and then that second 10 game losing streak happened. It was all over by the time he emptied his four years into his little bedroom at home. The young man drank much that summer, crushed on a friend's girlfriend, bartended in a couple of meh bars in Maplewood Mall (remember Esteban's?), and watched Live Aid live on TV before heading off to grad school. Ultimately, Don Denkinger handed the Royals their first WS title in what would prove to be their last playoff appearance for 39 years. Is that right? 2014? The Twins' bats came alive that next year, but the pitching stunk (Ron Davis was finally fired!), and the manager was in over his head. If you don't think a manager matters much, remember to compare Ray Miller to his replacement, Tom Kelly. Sometimes it matters a lot.

No small feat for EmRod.

How is Yunior Severino a top 20 prospect? Did I miss something? Oh, the list of names that could hit straight fat balls in AAA: Randy Bass hit .321/.456/.560 in 1977 Bob Gorinski, Mark Funderburk, Boomer Wells (.941 ops in '82), Bernardo Brito, the law firm of Radmanovich and Rupp, Todd Sears, "Restovich and Ryan, LLC," Garrett Jones, Randy Ruiz, Brock Peterson. And Yunior Severino, who struck out 56 of 153 appearances at St. Paul last year in his age 23 season after K-ing 30% of the time at AA in his, um, age 23 season. They mostly all have in common a poor combination of defense, age, and strikeout rate vs league (or MLB) average. Oh, and most played in big-time hitters parks except for the Rochester guys. I have no doubt Severino will get a cup of coffee. He is likely one of those guys who finally gets a shot due to injury, he doesn't show much other than the Ks, and the Twins "lose" him to another team as they attempt to have him clear waivers. But that's who he is. It's ordained. He wouldn't be on a prospect list of mine if the list ended with the last player who might be positively impactful. The Twins system after #4 is super bad, but there have to be more than twenty guys who could potentially someday help after those four, and he's not one of them. I know the people doing this aren't lazy, but his placement at 16 is pretty lazy. This is his age 24 season. He would have to get his K rate under 25% at AAA and put up numbers consistent with last years AA for me to even consider him a prospect. Honestly, it would probably have to be about 20% at AAA for me to have hope he could stay under 30% in MLB at his age. On the other hand, the Twins system might be so bad that it's all darts after #15 or so. Without looking, I'll be shocked if Gleeman or Law had him anywhere close to 16. Ok, looked, and Gleeman had him 18 (boo!), and Law had him...not in his top 20 and not in his "others of note." To me that makes sense. But Gleeman's write-up on Severino pretty much provides no positive predictors for him. Gleeman's stabbing, too, probably because he's a Twins fan. I just don't remotely see it. Take a look at Randy Bass' career if you want some fun. He did make it to MLB but was horrible. Then he went to Japan, and for his 5-6 years there, he averaged an ops over 1.000. I might be wrong, but I sort of recall maybe even an MVP there. I don't predict the MVP, but Severino heading to Japan makes a lot of sense.

I don't think Sano's problem was injuries.

Why would Lewis need to spend the full 20 days on a rehab assignment? History shows otherwise. You really want him crushing homers for as long as possible in AAA?

Hatcher had another crawling-home fiasco with the Twins. He strained his hammy rounding 3rd and tried, unsuccessfully, to crawl home. His relative ineptitude on the bases and in the field accounted for many laughs and pokes at the expense of him and the Twins The Twins were 119 games under .500 the six years he was here, and that includes a year they almost won the division and another year the Twins only played 109 games. He was about the Twins most average player in 1981 and somehow survived the 1982 purge that saw Hrbek take over first, , Smalley leave SS for Washington, Gaetti taking over 3B, Brunansky taking over RF, Wynegar leaving C for Laudner, etc.

Smalley is the obvious comp. Switch-hitting college shortstop. Neither project(s/ed) as a star but might make an all-star game or two as an average starter having a good year. That's a pretty good player. Lee might have a hitting advantage if he plays primarily off short.

Honestly, I never thought anything but that the Twins took on a negative asset in DeSc. They had to take him to make the trade. That they pretended for a moment he might be able to pitch is their fault here, preying on a gullible audience. You don't think they'd have rather put $4 million towards a healthy pitcher who might start? smh

If only the Twins had checked with other teams on their interest in Polanco...

Stewart is the big one on the relief staff, because he's the one with superior stuff. He makes Duran's job so much easier.

Idiot, moron, bozo, dullard, sap. These don't make it funnier and actually make it less funny. (This is not about PC, I"m talking about writing satire). The "report" of this guy would never use these words. Certainly the writer of this article (in the fake world) needs to be credible for this to be funny. I've seen it before in this space and believe Stu wouldn't do this without a reason (because he knows this takes away from it all). But it's the same with feeling we need to make sure people understand it's satire by putting the definition up there, and maybe that's the point. It's sad. If it gets to the point where you have to explain it's satire once, much less multiple times, it's maybe time to stop. My guess is that Stu's talents in this arena can be much better used, more comedic. On Canis Hoopus you're not allow to explain the joke. If someone can't get it, that's their own fault.

'65, '67, '69, '87 (sort of), '88, '91, '92, '02, '06, '19 I was starting out to write there weren't six Twins teams better than 1970, but when started to list them, well, you get it. 1970 was the first year I remember watching them, and I wasn't the best judge of talent. I do know, though, that the schedule was unbalanced (IIRC), and the rest of the west was pretty bad. Angels meh, Royals bad, White Sox bad, Pilots/Brewers horrible, The A's were decent and would win the division the next five years. The division lost 54 more games than it won, and that's with the East having Washington and Cleveland. The '87 team probably wasn't better, but it's hard to argue with a WS. The lineup was certainly better, and the pitching wasn't far off, except that Tom Hall was something the 1987 team didn't have. The '02 team was probably the next closest. The Twins were sooooo good in 1988 until Gaetti got hurt and they just couldn't keep pace with the monster A's team. The '92 team was also better. Until the last two months, the '92 team might have been the best Twins team ever. I can't personally argue for '65 and '69, but it seems pretty obvious they were better. The '67 team was supposedly one of the best teams ever, but they faltered at the end and only won 91. Still, they finished one game out, whereas the 1970 team finished 10 wins less than the Orioles while in a weaker division. (Although that Orioles team was one of the best ever). Best Twins team ever? I think regular season it's the 2006 team very slightly over 1991, and I think the 1991 team was really, really good. Add winning mentality into the equation, and the 1991 team is superior and showed it.

Why in the world would they decline Kepler's option? Because the whole league would love to have him at $10 million, and it's close to Christmas? I'm not saying the Twins won't screw up after picking up his option, but you've got to at least take the first obvious step.

Lots of comments (namely, who cares whether someone was once a Twin?), but I'll just lay this one out: If I had to endure Odorizzi for another season, at least and thank gawd there's a pitch clock.

I would say we're wasting AFL spots with some of these guys, but I don't know that there's anyone to replace them.

That would be quite a difference in pressure level, going from second fiddle in MN to top dog in Boston. I'd like to quantify changes in his sense of humor fall 2025 versus now.

How could a Jhoan Duran extension take place? With very little forethought, probably. I might be missing something, but the Twins have team control for four more years, and relievers who depend on velocity aren't generally the same pitcher after six years. I was surprised he made it through this year uninjured. I mean, it's not my money, so I don't care unless it takes away from the Twins signing someone helpful (when he's not). See where he's at after four years here, and it might make some sense. Duran was worse this year than last. It's possible it's a trend. Why not wait to see? His BB/9 nearly doubled, and his runs/9 almost doubled, and his FIP increased by 30%. I would certainly wait a year, probably two, before deciding to guarantee big salaries.

Does it? And was it a "run?" The Twins were two wins shy of the only three years they could ever be accused of a postseason run. Don't let 0-18 affect you the rest of your life.

I would like to see Lewis get the reps at SS, because if something happens to Correa, there is nobody to take his place full-time except Lewis. And if it's career-threatening for Correa, that leave Lee at 3B, Lewis at SS, and Julien at 2B.

So the Twins traded Casy Legumina for a cheaper Farmer coming off a good year. What do you expect to get for a slightly higher paid Farmer coming off a bad year?

I can't see the video, but I don't understand why people think the Twins can extend Royce Lewis. Part of signing with Scott Boras is agreeing to take yourself to free agency, and then signing the biggest contract possible. There is no team loyalty. Maybe it's worth a mil a year vs the highest bidder, but first the player puts himself in a position to have many bidders as possible then selects the most outlandish or gives the team he's on a slightly better deal. The goal, so stated by Boras long ago, was to drive up the salaries of all players by going through the free agency process with all his stars or potential stars. You can agree or disagree with whether that's a good thing, but it simply means Lewis is going to free agency. The only way the Twins could avoid that happening is by giving a guy who doesn't come close to deserving it one of the best contracts in the game, and that defeats the purpose of extending him. That's why I've basically said the Twins have Lewis for three more years if they want optimal return, four more for meh return, or five more for a draft pick if that still is a thing by then.

Twins farm system is the greatest. Imagine if they hadn't gotten lucky with the lottery and had Jacob Gonzalez instead of Walker Jenkins.

Do we really need knees? My uncle lost a finger in a farming accident, and the next year had his best crop ever.