nicksaviking

I'm sure the impetus to fire him is the Sam Darnold decision, but it really should have been due to not being able to build a sustainable team through the draft. With Darnold, we really had three choices, let him walk, franchise him or extend him. Hindsight says franchising him was the right call, but I'd still not have wanted that extension. He's a good QB but he's not great. We'd still be in the same kind of Kirk Cousins purgatory if Darnold was here on a three year deal.

I always thought we tied Falvey and Levine/Zoll too tightly together. If these guys all did the same jobs, the Pohlads wouldn't have been paying two people to do them. Totally agree Levine and Zoll likely made most of the detailed personnel decisions and Falvey likely was the one who made the blueprint and stamped his approval when he liked what they came up with.

I doubt few people in those positions are uncomfortable with holding the top position in a company outside of the owner. I'll bet just about every single one of them is uncomfortable when the owner tells them they are losing their title and job responsibilities though.

I think the Dolphins are starting over and will eat Tua's money. I don't think they'd have benched him otherwise. I would have thrown Brissett into the Mariota/Flacco/Wentz group. So they maybe wouldn't dumpster dive but only because they already did. Brissett's numbers did look good last year, but that was mostly garbage time passing and the team went 1-11 when he started. I don't think Atlanta parts with Cousins any longer, I think they need him. And if he did leave, I don't think he goes anywhere that he has to compete for a job, because he wouldn't have to, there are openings for him to start. Yeah, the Vikings could get Mariota or Taylor. That doesn't help the team any more than signing Wentz did though. I'd take Wentz over both of those two in fact. At least he pushes the ball down field and has a respectable completion percentage; at minimum, he'd make for a happier Justin Jefferson. People who are demanding a veteran to compete certainly aren't thinking about any of these guys though, they're thinking about some abstract savior without realizing there isn't one. Also, Ty Simpson started 15 games in college. I hope one of those idiot teams draft and start him but I think even dysfunctional teams like the Jets and Browns will see he's got the same problem as Anthony Richardson and Trey Lance. I think he's riding pine no matter where he goes. And I think he goes way later than people are predicting now.

You mean assistant To the exectutive?

With no one but Falvey leaving, the baseball side doesn't look any different. That's why this move has to be due to the operations side. $orry, I mean the operation$ $ide. Hmmm, those dollar signs don't pop like I thought they would.

OK, I was going to type that this is the right move but the wrong time as this doesn't make any sense. But I think I got it. Falvey was hired to be in charge of the baseball part of the operations. He then got promoted to run the whole show after Dave St. Peter was fired retired. Which was still a baffling move because Falvey cut his teeth scouting pitchers, not negotiating TV deals and approving marketing campaigns. However, the TV deals and marketing campaigns almost certainly are what the new ownership group is most concerned with, as their primary goal right now is to reverse the downturn in revenue. Putting someone with experience in those areas in charge should have been a no-brainer this whole time. But I bet Falvey didn't want the demotion so I bet they 'mutually parted ways.'

Agree, it won't be Richardson. But it's also unlikely anyone that will make the fans happy. As free agents available, I have: Daniel Jones, Malik Willis, Marcus Mariota, Russell Wilson, Joe Flacco, Mitch Trubisky, Tyrod Taylor, Zach Wilson, Gardner Minshew, Carson Wentz, Jimmy Garoppolo and Teddy Bridgewater. I don't see any other free agent as having a prayer at being a bridge or veteran competition. Then likely Kyler Murray, Tua Tagovailoa and Justin Fields get released, MAYBE traded in Murray's case. Kirk Cousins is a wild card. He'd have 100% been cut prior to the Penix injury, now I suspect he's starting week 1 in ATL. Mac Jones could also be traded, but the Vikings shouldn't be paying what it would take just to get a veteran to compete. So then you have the teams that absolutely need to find a QB next year, AZ, IND, LV, MIA, NYJ and PIT. CLE absolutely should be looking, but possible they don't and LAR would if Stafford retires. Mendoza goes to one of those teams, but I'm not sure there's another Day 1 starting QB in the draft. I wouldn't want one anyway. So Jones will be the only overly desirable free agent. Then probably Murray. After that, blegh. Willis has some steam but nobody has noticed that in his four years in the league he's never once thrown the ball more than 23 times in a game; he is and should always be a backup, he isn't a good enough passer. Russell Wilson sounds like a bad idea for any team. Flacco will get recycled again, but that instills no confidence in actually being a playoff team. Tua has had some really nice stretches, he might be good in a new location, but no one will trust him. So after Daniel Jones, Murray, Mendoza and maybe Tagovailoa and maybe Mac Jones, that still leaves one team minimum that has to find a QB from the scraps and maybe up to three teams, before the Vikings can start digging for the next best scraps. The Carson Wentz signing drew overwhelming eye rolls last year, but that's what's going to happen again regardless of who the 2026 veteran is going to be.

Phonetically the 'H' doesn't make any sense no matter where you put it. One of those quirky spellings that's left over from bastardizing Latin I presume. As to your specific question, Wikipedia lists many Jhonny athletes, dating back decades. Mostly football (soccer) players. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jhonny

I honestly barely see pregame stuff anymore. Maybe it's because of streaming, or maybe it's because I've realized I don't need to waste my morning hearing people talk about football before I waste my whole day watching football.

Adams can go for all I care, they have enough of these kinds of guys they can experiment with. But just about every one of the good bullpen arms they've developed over the last couple of decades didn't pop in relief until after they stopped dabbling with starting or being a 'long man' all together. The year(s) they spend straddling the fence at the majors or in AAA almost always were bad. Jax, Varland, Sands, Perkins, May, Duffey. I want to see what these guys look like one full year after completely giving up pitching extended innings.

It's intolerable. I mean, he plays the idiot frat boy instead of the arrogant entitled frat boy, so I guess he's got that in his favor, but it's so ridiculous. And enough with those ads. Ugh. And yeah, Bradshaw is past his expiration date. Which is hard for me to say. It's not that I've ever thought too fondly of him, but I mean I've listened to the guy and known who he is ever since I started following football in the mid 1980's. He was THE Sunday color guy before doing the pregame stuff. Crazy how an athlete who no one under 50 remembers watching play became such an enduring media presence.

Cousins doesn't strike me as the play calling type. If he's involved in football after he's done playing, I'd guess it's either in broadcasting or some kind of front office consultant.

You got me there. Which makes him even more unlikely to succeed because there's really never been such a thing as a junkball righty.

I almost asked the same question, but I'm sure it was an attempt at satire. If the POBO of a professional team publicly predicted that their team would be below .500, it wouldn't just be picked up by the local guys, it would be on ESPN and national outlets. The Twins would have no choice but to fire him on the spot if for no other reason than he cratered attendance and TV revenue three months before the season even started.

I'd put good money the difference was their velocity. Ohl is topping out at 91 MPH and has a slighter build so it's unlikely there's much more to add. He's going to have to be a smoke and mirrors junkball lefty if he can't get his fastball by anyone. We've seen that work in small stretches, but after the opponents see the guy enough, usually it's lights out, game over.

I personally am going to reserve the right to feel the Twins certainly could finish over .500 (again, because the AL Central is just that bad), but still be overall disappointed in just about everything the organization is doing.

Great analysis. I think you should save the template but I've made minimal edits so that you can re-use it for evaluation of every other position.

Yeah, it was the one reason I was open to seeing what happened with a new coaching staff. I'm not blaming the old one. but I also never once saw them get any young player to adjust successfully.

Yeah, his whiff % was always low because his strikes were so largely based on being passive and watching strikes. His strong contact rates really felt like a sign that he just needed somebody to *successfully change his approach. *I know there was at least a modest attempt, but it clearly wasn't successful.

Well the Cubs just signed Reese McGuire to a MiLB contract. So teams are able to sign better 2nd or 3rd catchers than Jackson AND keep them off of the roster until needed. Also still available are Jonah Heim, Elias Diaz, MJ Melendez, Austin Barnes, Tom Murphy and old friends Gary Sanchez and Christian Vazquez. All of who at this point are looking like they'll have to accept a MiLB deal, which at this time of year has to be preferable to guaranteeing a 26-man spot to Jackson. And that's not considering all the current 2nd and 3rd catchers that will inevitably lose their jobs when non-40 man catchers start making teams.

Sure, sign me up for the over. New managers tend to give the team a boost, even if there's no rhyme or reason to it. But mostly, I think the "top" teams in the AL Central are frauds. I wouldn't be surprised if a .500 team wins the division this year. I'll fight any of you if you call me an optimist though!

I don't know, just because the TWINS did it, doesn't mean another team would do it. The closer we get to spring, the more teams are going to consider the 26-man implications of having this guy on their team. I'd guess he doesn't pass through waivers initially because other teams would try to claim him then try to pass him through too, but ultimately, I suspect he won't be on anyone's 40 man come opening day. Your back up catcher situation would have to be really bad to hand it to him.

Julien was a guy I was curious if he would benefit from a change in coaching staff. I'm not complaining about removing players from the bottom of the 40 man though. They just need to stop re-filling it with MORE bottom of the 40 man players. Either via free agent or trade, start adding to the top, or stop adding all together.

Caratini hasn't caught more than 60 games since 2022, I don't think anyone views him as a primary catcher.