MN_ExPat

He could be back and throwing (at least in pens) around the All-Star Break,, although a lot will be dictated by how his rebab is going and barring and setbacks. So while there is a good chance he will miss out on game action for the whole year, we may see him back in the second half sometime. Keep your fingers crossed and say a prayer for good health .

That could be a pretty intriguing level of talent there

I believe that it does still count towards Tax threshold.

That's a fair assessment. While other players have done the same type of things, or possibly worse, few have been as polarizing personality wise as Bauer (or in other words he seems to have an almost pathological need to be a waste orifice). While I do believe players and people deserve a second chance usually (it's sad to see a player possibly just throw away all that talent because he's stupid), it's hard make a case for someone who just keeps getting in their own way. Note: A few folks may have seen my blog entry on the same thing, again... I'm not condoning or campaigning to pick him up, and I'm pretty sure the FO won't even consider it beyond the most ephemeral of fleeting thoughts.

In my defense... no one down here refers to it as Georgia. It's south Georgia or Coastal Georgia... unless you're talking to a Yankee, then we just tell them to stay in Atlanta .

I concur. We (at least I) really appreciate you and all the other TD writers for you passion and enthusiasm for all things Twins. While being stuck in South Georgia makes it a wee bit difficult to attend games at the Target, I do subscribe to MLB.com and wind up watching almost every single game during the course of the season. Although that it is not nearly as cool as actually attending 57 games (so jealous, you suck ).

Thanks Ash, appreciate it... that link makes it all make a heck of a lot more sense now.

Not saying that I don't believe you, but just a little confused by this one ?. Perhaps baseball is run differently... but I and many of my cohorts have to travel nationwide for work (sometimes for extended periods of time). We don't pay local taxes for the areas that we deploy to, those come out of our place of residence/home office. Just doesn't make much sense that a person has to pay taxes in areas that they are required to travel to due to work and are only in for a limited period of time. Can you further elaborate? Edit: Disregard chpettit, just found the follow on messages.

It came up "well short" because the G-Men made an insane (and yes I realize that has been the status quo so far the off-season) offer.

I'd say the Donaldson trade evened that out some ?‍♂️.

Ja... makes much more sense now

He was traded mid season and was thus ineligible for the QO tag.

Yes Sir. So here’s hoping a team is looking for a “crafty” righty when he’s done with college ??.

Also, keep an eye out for this young man 4 years from now. Fast riser with HUGE potential (filthy slider and plus sinker ?)

Thanks Matt, great write up. Like you said… it (the 5th overall pick) may not actually mean anything significant but it’s a pretty cool look back. I for one appreciate the time and effort that went into it. Whomever the young man that is picked to be added to the Twins family I say “SKOL!” And May God be with him and his family on a very exciting next step in his journey!

I’m with Doc on this one. I watched Dollander pitch a bunch this last year, and the kid is legit and if he was available at #5… take him. No questions asked.

I have to double check, but I THINK it flip flops. Last year the Twins had the Comp Round B pick.

"When Balazovic is able to get his hips pointing toward the plate at foot plant, he’s able to efficiently rotate his torso and throw strikes. When he isn’t his arm lags behind and the result is more often than not a ball. In short, in order for Balazovic to improve and become a solid MLB pitcher, I would argue that he needs to not only tighten up his mechanics but improve his motion's consistency. His windup consists of many long levers and moving parts, both of which serve to reduce consistency (and, theoretically increase strain on the low back; he's struggled with back pain at time during his brief career). The options I've laid out above may help accomplish the opposite." Nice write up Lucas. I think you hit the nail on the head here (also, from what little I was able to watch him this year, #2 & #3 were big culprits as well). I truly think this season was a whose who of mechanical flaws and issues, exacerbated by nagging/lingering injury issues. As you said, pitching is hard (heck, it's cruel and unforgiving even in the best of times). I've seen this happen with a lot of young pitchers. Electric stuff, but they fail to consistently get results. Why? Mechanical issues are at the root cause of almost every single one. I think in the end the Blazer Beam was a victim of his own drive and trying to fight through the discomfort/pain (Lord knows I saw this from my own son last season) and it caused him to alter his mechanics, in most likely unconscious ways. This coupled with the fact that he probably wasn't 100% consistent to begin with and... voila, a recipe for disaster. Will he bounce back at all next season? I have NO good answer so I consulted the Oracle of Baseball Wizardry, The Magic 8 Ball, and the reply was: "It looks like yes".

Thanks Matt, great write up. Have to agree with just about everyone on the list.