Respy

I'm cool with pitchers, batters, fielders, anyone being emotional. It's the physical process of flipping a bat that seems absurd to me. What if a pitcher made a big strikeout then flung his glove or hat away in celebration? What if an outfielder made a big catch then spiked the ball and started doing the worm? That's what I equate bat flips to.

Just as long as we don't have the Twins sitting down in a circle along the first base line after a homerun to play a game of Duck Duck *Grey Duck.* Honestly I think that bat flips are immature and childish. I did it once in middle school and realized how dumb it was. Act like you've hit a few homeruns before. But, it's fine if they keep doing it if they want. I don't think it's any kind of moral attack on the pitcher. But if you do it, I'm allowed to judge you. Same as it was my right to judge Randy Moss' behavior with the Vikings. If there's no rules prohibiting it, do whatever you want.

Ichiro probably belongs on a national league where pinch-hitting and substitutions are much more common. Ichiro set an MLB record in 2017 for most games pinch-hit in (109!). At least, Ichiro should be on a team which has several poor-defending outfielders, which the Twins don't qualify. As I've said before, the way things went with Nishioka in the past, and Park currently, Otani likely has close to 0% interest in coming to Minnesota.

Unless they sign a closer with several years of closing experience, I hope they sign an experienced reliever or two, and they should be competing for the closer spot next spring with all the internal options you listed. The quality of pitching from Hildenberger, Busenitz, and Moya in their MLB debut seasons was reassuring as we head toward spring training next year. (hopefully not so reassuring that they don't sign any bullpen arms at all)

Mike is obviously extremely well-regarded and very knowledgeable and experienced. I'd say if anything might hold the Twins back, it's that I assume Maddux is of a very old-school approach. I'd hope they'll at least be inquiring.

If they're trying to cut costs for travel, they should split up divisions by airline hubs. Based on my personal travel experience, that would save a FORTUNE. Delta division: Minnesota, Atlanta, Cincinnati, Detroit, New York United divisions: Chicago, Houston, Denver, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Washington DC American Airlines division: Dallas, Philadelphia, Miami, Arizona, Seattle Everyone else gets Spirit Airlines.

Seems quite speculative. I like the idea of 8-team divisions, but at least now they are all 5-team instead of some 4-team and some 5-team which was unfair when there was only 1 wild card. I'd say the most notable thing here is that I'd agree there needs to be at least 1 more Canadian team. Toronto has too many fans (all of Canada).

IMO Gardy's managerial style is best suited for a national league team. But, myself (and many others I assume) believed he was still plenty capable of being a good manager when he left the Twins, just that the Twins needed a change at the time. Can't say I know much about Cora, other than watching him be an average player a decade ago. I'd have to assume Cora has a leg up from the fanbase, given that he was part of the Red Sox championship team in 2007.

Breslow D-F Tonkin D-F Turley F Haley D-F That should even it out.

I think the Twins front office for now needs to keep the same strategy as last year: Dozier is a star player and team leader, and they should be willing to trade him but only for an appropriate package of prospects. Teams (specifically the Dodgers) were trying to do a 1:1 of a AAA MLB-ready player, and that just shouldn't cut it. More than likely, because Dozier only has 1 year left on his contract, other teams won't be willing to trade a nice package, and he'll play for us again next year. I was more interested in dumping Dozier after the 100-loss season on a rebuilding team. But with the great turnaround this year, for a transitioning team with lots of young, upcoming talent, Dozier is now REALLY important to have on this team. Falvine and Levine really value veteran presence. Wouldn't you rather have a veteran that can be the team MVP, as opposed to someone like Chris Gimenez or Matt Belisle? Looking long-term after next year, I guess it starts with asking Dozier whether he wants to remain a career Twin. I personally don't think Dozier fits with this team a couple years out. It just doesn't make much sense to have a 33-year old second baseman making $15M/year on a mid-market team.

Well, I don't think you can be too scared off by the injury risk of Buxton or the bust risk of Rosario. Those will go into consideration for negotiating a cheaper contract. My concern with Rosario is that I don't know how many years he can stay in the outfield. Probably only through his arbitration years anyways. I'd leave him alone. Sano, unfortunately I don't think we can afford, by Sano's standards. Sano always wants the best. I think he knows he's no Mike Trout (his buyout was $24M/year), but I think Sano would still ask for something in the $15M-$20M/year range, which I just don't think we can afford. If he plays great the next few years, we'll have gotten some great years out of him fairly cheaply, and he'll price himself out of Minnesota. If he starts to regress after a few years, then maybe we can afford to keep him. Ok option either way. Buxton, on the other hand, I would jump at any opportunity to sign a long-term contract. Now is likely the 'cheapest' he's ever going to be. He also seems to be a confidence-driven guy, and a long-term contract would give him a mega boost of confidence and security, hopefully improving his performance. Lastly, he seems to practice for and play the game the right way, which I think should be rewarded and kept on this team long-term. I don't see Buxton as a big-city team type of player (ala Yankees, Red Sox, Dodgers, Cubs), so I'd say his motivations to turn down a long-term contract are likely low, unless he has a desire to play closer to his home state of Georgia. If they can get Buxton for your suggested starting point of $1M/$3M/$5.5M/$8M/$10.5M, that would be a steal. I'd expect and be ok with something closer to $2M/$5M/$8M/$12M/$15M. Buxton is also 23 (soon to be 24), so I'd expect a 6-7 year contract instead of a 5-year. With the injury risk, I'd make the last year an option w/buyout. Although we'd be buying out some arbitration years, keep in mind that 1 WAR nowadays is valued somewhere about $5M. Buxton was 4 WAR this year, with potential for 6-8 WAR if he hits better. That's HUGE Bux (hehe) on the open market.

I'd like to point out that the Twins odds of reaching the playoffs as of July 27th was 6%. The Twins chance of blowing that first inning least was about 20%. I'm disappointed, but it was an entertaining game and by no means an astronomical comeback by the Yankees. I'm glad they were in a playoff race and even more that they played in the playoffs. I'll be rooting for Cleveland in the next round. Hopefully the front office will give us plenty to talk about in the offseason, so we don't need to lament too much. Thanks Tom for the post-games.

Hicks is starting tonight! I'm shocked, as all statistics I could find, plus him being hurt recently, pointed to him being best left on the bench tonight. Maybe Girardi is trying to get some revenge adrenaline out of Hicks? http://d2s3dt9f4iyeup.cloudfront.net/images/standard_v1/aaca17b9-d16e-4935-998e-4186ac033454.png

So I'm solely in charge of my 2 and 4 year olds during the game tonight. Any experience on how to get them to sit still during the entire game?

I predict the Twins will lay down 2 bunts today. 1 sacrifice and 1 attempted bunt hit.

So.... who's gonna start at DH today? I'd say there's a miniscule chance Sano starts. I was at the game Sunday and he just looked so uncomfortable. Grossman did not play when the Twins faced Severino last. Vargas started that game at first (Joe at DH), and was 1-1 against Severino. Would you dare start Vargas? I 99.9% would not. I'd presume Grossman gets the start, batting 9th like he has lately, with instructions to draw long at bats and get on base for Dozier and Mauer. I'd say the rest of the lineup will be trivial. Castro, Mauer, Dozier, Polanco, Escobar, Rosario, Buxton, Kepler.

And the last, strong argument against the Twins for this game has been: Severino was one of the most dominant pitchers in baseball this year. To which I say, yes he was. BUT, he's young, has never pitched in the postseason before, and the Twins knocked him around during his last start. I'd also put the odds at very close to 50/50, slightly favoring the Yankees. I honestly don't know whether to expect a pitching duel or a shootout. It should be fun. GO TWINS.

Glen Perkins really stepped up during the years when the Twins desperately needed a closer, and did not have any power arms in the pipeline. Really impressive how he figured things out in the bullpen after starter struggles. I think he'll still get a chance to pitch next year if he wants. Someone will at least give him a ST non-roster invite.

If I had to pick one: Sano. Without his bat carrying the whole team in the first couple months, the Twins would have quickly fallen into the cellar and had a hard time climbing out of it.

First time the Indians pitchers have allowed 8 runs since August 22nd.

Well I'll start by saying that I don't have a better suggestion, but Gibson career versus the Indians current roster has allowed a .964 OPS over 225 at bats, with 30 walks and 33 strikeouts. I was hoping that the Indians would maybe have terrible numbers versus lefties this year, to make a case for Mejia, but that's just not the case (.900 OPS versus lefties this year, about the same versus righties). So my biggest question: Did they have any kind of unwritten agreement when they signed Colon? Wouldn't you think that he only would have joined the Twins if he was going to have a playoff roster spot if he helped the team get to the postseason?

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Sorry I don't feel like Molitor deserves a manager-of-the-year. In his own words, he just doesn't pass the "eye test." His bullpen usage has been questionable. His lineup construction is odd and fluctuates constantly. His play by play calls don't seem to dictate gameflow. Maybe the players feel otherwise, but I haven't exactly heard a lot of praise from the players toward Molitor. Any manager who leads my favorite team to the playoffs: I am happy. But I don't think he'll be in consideration for any awards.

Shaving optional. Start the playoff beard early!

I was more ok with bunting when the Twins were in the metrodome on the turf. Granted, the ball scoots faster, but the bunting line is flatter and more predictable. Too many times on grass, a good bunt is near the grass lip and tilts foul.