Dave The Dastardly

Colome over Alcala when the season was already lost. Yet another example of player/team mismanagement by Rocco. Scares me to think what he's going to do with the young players coming up in 2022. If there's a 2022 season. If the Twins actually bring the youngsters up... That's like a herd of elephants in the room. Where's Tarzan when you need him?

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/01/12/apple-potential-bid-for-mlb-package-could-bring-big-player-into-sports.html "Octagon analysts used 108 out of 114 games from MLB’s 2018 to 2020 seasons to determine average viewership on the Monday-Wednesday package on ESPN, not including ESPN2 broadcasts. They found average viewership of 761,434 in 2018, dropping to approximately 632,000 in 2019 and 358,947 in 2020." I wonder if either side is looking at viewership as part of their negotiations. Hard to spend revenue that isn't coming in.

A rational, well-reasoned explanation for an Arraez trade. And one I could support, albeit reluctantly because I'd miss Arraez' bat. But I'd still like to move both Donaldson and Sano to make room for players like Miranda and give more AB's to Garver

Your argument is not without merit. Should be fun watching this unfold as the season progresses. If the season progresses...

I would argue keeping Donaldson is short-sighted. He spends almost as much time on the DL as Buxton, gets "injured" just exercising, his salary would more than cover the salaries for Arraez, Miranda and Kirilloff combined, all of whom will be under team control longer than Donaldson and with Donaldson completely out of the picture we won't have to worry about Rocco letting Miranda sit on the bench for a month without getting an opportunity to play. Sano is sort of similar, keeping him on the team blocks Arraez and Garver from DHing, both of whom I'd rather see come to bat with runners on base than Sano, and his absence opens up first for Kirilloff. As to what we could get back in trade, if we acknowledge that other teams aren't willing to accept Sano in trade, why would we want to keep him? Can the Twins be the only team that finds value in him? Salary dump that can be used for pitching, clearing the path for younger players that may well be the future (2023) and giving more at bats to better, more consistent, hitters. To me, that's long-term thinking.

Trade Donaldson and Sano. Keep Arraez. Think long term. Old guys out, young guys in. Donaldson and Arraez both have bad wheels but Arraez is about a bazillion dollars cheaper. Take the "savings" from trading Donaldson and spend it on signing a pitcher not currently residing in a dumpster. With both Donaldson and Sano gone you have room for Miranda and a guaranteed spot for Kirilloff at first and DH open for Garver when he's not catching. When Garver is behind the plate plug in any other player that Rocco wants to "rest".

Sounds like corporate ownership is a panacea. I wonder if the $450 million tax-payer handout has anything to do with corporate interest. Probably be easier to improve team morale just by changing the team name to something other than "Guardians". I bet that will be the first thing the miracle worker Blitzer will change. The Cleveland Blitz perhaps?

I'll take that bet! I usually lose on sports wagers anyway but if I can watch the game for free I'm still a winner!!

I look at this whole thing a little differently. I want to watch a Twins game when I feel like watching a game. In other words, maybe a game or two a week. And I don't want to just sit and watch for 3+ straight hours. My mind doesn't have a 3 hour passive mode switch. And I don't want to be bombarded with commercials while I'm supposedly watching baseball. Already got that crap showing up constantly everywhere else and I'm not going to buy whatever they're selling anyway. And I cut the cord ten years ago when my $38 DirectTV grew to $99 a month and I hadn't added anything to the package. So, until they come up with a single game rate/access, I'm listening on the radio (so I can do other stuff at the same time) and/or checking in via Gameday and TD Game Threads while I'm supposedly working on the computer. So BallyWho.

Good thing you explained that. I've been staring at it for 15 minutes, pondering its secret meaning. Was thinking it meant you love steak, grilled, on the backyard grill, temperatures in the 80's, cold beer in hand, Twins on the radio, one up in the tenth, wondering who they were going to send in to ice the game.

I'm going with half a season because that's how the usual negotiation strategies/errors/dumbness, whatever, play out. As an experienced contract negotiator my goal was to always hold the other side (I've worked for both sides) down to what they want. The first few rounds of negotiations will be "pie-in-the-sky" talks; each side will try to get everything they can imagine into the talks whether or not they really want each "improvement" they're asking for. That will take a couple of weeks. The secondary rounds will evolve into demeaning the other sides' "unreasonable" position. That will also take several weeks, maybe a month, as each side will leak stuff about the other side in an attempt to win the public relations battle. That will add another 2-4 weeks in order to do a little polling to see how their story is playing out in the press. Then both sides will want to break off talks, "officially" in order to cool down but in reality to tamp down the hard-liners on each side who are still insisting on shooting for the moon. That's the third step. We'll know when they reach the fourth step, actually negotiating, when each side names a few key members that will be taking the lead in the talks. Plenty of stories will surface in the press how these guys are secretly very good friends and actually play golf together, have lots of respect for each other, hell, even had picnics at each other's homes over the past few years and how they all love baseball, apple pie and America. These heretofore unknown "good friends" will hammer out a deal over a couple of Bud Lights, a steak at Mannie's and a massage. But then they have to take the deal back to the rest of the owners and players for approval. That means they have to give the hard-liners time to display their "toughness" and vent their nonsensical objections while the reasonable guys have to sit and pretend to listen to them while they cut their fingernails and nod wisely. Another week or two of that and then each side will finally get around to a vote. If both sides are ready to admit they're losing money without an agreement and if they're taking hits in the press and from their season ticket holders they'll vote to approve. Upshot: two months from the date they announce their first official meeting they will approve the new contract, both sides claiming they gave up the most in order to save baseball, apple pie and America and those were the only reasons that guided their decision to concede to an unfair contract. Oh, and season tickets and your favorite player's jersey are now available, but at a higher price than last season. Hot dogs and beer? Well, they'll have to go up, too. You know, only because of the coronavirus. So watch for that first public announcement and set your calendar accordingly.

Trade him, if the Twins can actually find a club willing to take him in trade. I'll wager there are few that desperate to acquire an inconsistent DH because he's a liability in the field and nobody will want him as a first baseman. How far he can hit the ball or what sort of velocity he can put on a ball going out of the park is immaterial in my opinion. No matter how high or how fast a homerun gets out of the park they still only count as one run. But a strikeout with runners in scoring position can cost a team as much as 3 runs. So why if we have a young player who can hit more consistently and play a better first base, why would we want to retain Sano? Illogical.

I applaud your effort. My own father was a WW II vet, 4th Armored, Patton's 3rd Army. Got wounded at the Battle of the Bulge, begged to be sent back to his unit when he got out of the hospital and got back in time to fight in Germany itself. I begged him for years to do exactly what you're doing, but he never would. But everyone now and then, in the middle of a conversation that had nothing to do with the war, he'd start telling war stories. Now my kids and grandkids are after me to write down what I recall from those stories. Wish to hell I would've recorded him, but that was before people walked around with recorders in their pocket. Back when I was still teaching history (about five careers ago) I required every one of my sophomore students to interview one of their older relatives, war vet or not, about something they witnessed, did, or experienced back in their younger days. The students complained mightily about it. But every Friday the entire class would sit and listen to the tapes (some made video tapes). Hardly a year goes by that I don't run into one of my former students, or one of their parents, who will come up and thank me for that assignment. Many of them still have the tapes and occasionally blow the dust off and listen to them. I guess it was one of the best assignments I ever made, and I made the assignment because I failed to do it myself. Sometimes failures turn out to be good things.

I stand outside when it's 15 below zero and try to seal my nostrils shut by inhaling deep breaths through my nose. You know, so I won't have to smell the stink coming off the Vikings. When I'm inside, snuggled up to the wood stove, a couple fingers of Jameson in hand, jar of peanuts on the coffee table (little known fact - you can set whiskey glasses on coffee tables if you use a coaster, or if the Little Woman isn't around) and I tune in the sports channels, dreading to hear what broken armed pitcher the Twins have unearthed out of the Elephant Graveyard for next season; if there is a season. Of course this year is different, with baseball, not the Vikings, you know, because of the strike. So I've been looking for the picket lines. Be kinda cool to see that many millionaires strutting around outside baseball stadiums in patched jeans waving signs that say; "Need To Feed My Family" and "Billionaires Are Greedy". Saaay! Might be a good place to get some autographs for my great-grandson!

Been following this kid ever since I saw an earlier video of him. Great stuff and lots of movement. I think he's going to climb his way up to AAA in short order and make the Bigs in 2023. Love the bit about the "Woody" nickname.