Meh. 
How does this make them any different than last year with a 481 winning percentage.
For some reason I don’t see this working in their favor. Let’s make sure we keep this thread two years from now
I will eat crow if it happens.
Meh.
How does this make them any different than last year with a 481 winning percentage.
I disagree that this won’t work in their favor. One of the best players of his era, durable, consistent, at the most important position other than SP, and a legit leader in the clubhouse for a franchise that hasn’t had one since Puckett. For 6 years I’m pretty positive he can keep it up for at least 4 of them. Now, I completely agree with how does this make them better than last years squad. It doesn’t. It keeps them from being the bottom of the central. They add another impact arm to the rotation or the bullpen, then we can talk really contending.
It also makes the Vasquez and Gallo signings much more tolerable. The Vasquez signing was a good signing on it’s own but now that Correa has been signed it takes away the Vasquez deal as being the “top signing” of the offseason. Vasquez will really improve this club defensively and offensively from the catchers position. Gallo could be really good, or more than likely really bad. To be fair though, he’s only a couple seasons away from being a really impactful player. Even if he hits .220 with 25 HRs I think that’s a win.
We need to move Kepler, Gordon (now that Farmer is our utility man) and if we want to trade for a good starter Arraez will have to be moved as well. Sucks, because we need guys that get on base, but we need top pitching more and Arraez is one of the only pieces that other clubs will put some value in from our big league club.
spot on^^^^^^^
I think moving Kepler is likely to happen. would like to keep Gordon with how durable our centerfielder is. would be nice if one of our top pitching prospects steps up this spring for once! this team as is should be better and maybe they don’t fold in September this time? the injuries last year can’t possibly keep happening every year.
Getting Correa back you better keep Arraez. Kepler can be moved keep Gordon. Need bullpen no matter what with at least another starter.
Getting Correa back you better keep Arraez. Kepler can be moved keep Gordon. Need bullpen no matter what with at least another starter.
You aren’t getting that starter unless you trade Arraez unless you want another 4th or 5th starter. We’ve got 6 of those. Arraez has no where to play in the field now that Farmer is here and especially if Kirilloff stays healthy this season. As good as he is, he just doesn’t fit well in the lineup. Every time he is in, he takes a starter, and more importantly, a better defender out of the lineup.
I love Arraez, but also wouldn’t mind if he got traded. I just don’t think even with him in a trade they are getting a top of the rotation starter.
Every club is full of hope this time of year 
Going to need the pitching staff to stay healthy and have good years, something the Twins are not known to do.
Even if we don’t trade Arraez, going to need some guys in the lineup to step up. Tough to rely on Buxton or Kiriloff with their injury histories. Other than that, who do we have? Miranda? Larnach? Gordon? None are really proven major leaguers. Gonna need some guys to take a leap offensively. Hopefully Vasquez has a good year, looks like his averages are about .270 and 10 HR.
Optimistic for a good year but not overly hopeful.
Correa passed his physical…rumors are this is the Dr who passed him….said Carlos’s body is in the best shape he’s ever seen of any human being on the planet…
All jokes aside, I sure hope it works out and he’s not watching games in the team suite with Buxton…
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Will any of these moves make the twins not just awful and hard to watch ?
Will any of these moves make the twins not just awful and hard to watch ?
Having Correa on the team is a lot more fun that not having Correa on the team, which was the case 2 days ago
We used to love watching baseball and going to the games. But the twins have taken the fun away. It would be fun to see them play good ball again
Besides winning, we now have a generational SS to watch every day for the next 6 years. That makes it MUCH easier to watch even if they are still a dumpster fire. If we went into this season with Buxton as our franchise piece I don’t think there would’ve been more than 5k in the stands this year. IF the rotation can stay healthy for once (I know, I know), they could win the central fairly easily. It should be pretty strong if healthy. No true aces but 6 or 7 starters that are all 2-4 level starters.
If Baldelli was gone I’d say it’d be a lot more fun to watch but it is what it is. This move also doesn’t give Baldelli many excuses if they suck again this season which may be a silver lining.
We used to love watching baseball and going to the games. But the twins have taken the fun away. It would be fun to see them play good ball again
Did you not enjoy the team from a few yerars ago that set the MLB Homerun record? It will be interesting to see how the new Pohlad running the show differs from the previous ones…will he ONLY run it like a business and do the bare minimum and cash the luxury tax check every year… or will he do what it takes to win a championship? The last part is getting harder and harder to do with the amount of $ other big market teams are willing to spend on their roster (my god the Mets were willing to spend almost $700 million on their SS and 3B positions)… The fact that they spent the amount of money they did on Buxton and Correa gives me hope… the next step is spending the tier of $ needed for a ligitmate pitcher…
Will any of these moves make the twins not just awful and hard to watch ?
Baseball in general is hard to watch. All the time between pitches and many other things just make them painful. Far too long. Add in the fact that you have a rookie pitcher throwing a perfect game and you pull him because of “pitch count”.
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Bearcat89 wrote:</div>
Will any of these moves make the twins not just awful and hard to watch ?Baseball in general is hard to watch. All the time between pitches and many other things just make them painful. Far too long. Add in the fact that you have a rookie pitcher throwing a perfect game and you pull him because of “pitch count”.
at least MLB is now trying to produce a better product, this year they have new rules around pitch timers and heavily reduced all the infield shifting…
at least MLB is now trying to produce a better product, this year they have new rules around pitch timers and heavily reduced all the infield shifting…
The whole shifting thing really irritates me. Why doesnt someone just slap down a bunt to the opposite side? There are ways to beat it, but it seems like there is some dumb unwritten rule that people to try and counter it.
As a High School football coach once jokingly told me at a clinic when I asked how they’d be next season after a tough year: “Well we bring back almost everyone, so probably not that good”
It’s a good move for the Twins. However, it’s the equivalent of dumping a bucket of water on a forest fire that must be put out to “win”. Signing him again is great, but they didn’t win with him last year either.
at least MLB is now trying to produce a better product, this year they have new rules around pitch timers and heavily reduced all the infield shifting…
Getting rid of the shift should raise Keplers batting average about 30 points.
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>JoeMX1825 wrote:</div>
at least MLB is now trying to produce a better product, this year they have new rules around pitch timers and heavily reduced all the infield shifting…Getting rid of the shift should raise Keplers batting average about 30 points.
I wouldn’t hold your breath.
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>JoeMX1825 wrote:</div>
at least MLB is now trying to produce a better product, this year they have new rules around pitch timers and heavily reduced all the infield shifting…The whole shifting thing really irritates me. Why doesnt someone just slap down a bunt to the opposite side? There are ways to beat it, but it seems like there is some dumb unwritten rule that people to try and counter it.
I think the same thing about bunting, for guys that can’t seem to hit to the opposite field. But then I watch the Twins (and most other MLB teams) try to bunt and understand why. I don’t know if they don’t practice bunting anymore but most players really struggle when asked to lay down a bunt. They even look uncomfortable – they don’t get squared-up and try to “punch” at the pitch. Bunting is a lost art in the modern game of only swinging for the fences.
I think the same thing about bunting, for guys that can’t seem to hit to the opposite field. But then I watch the Twins (and most other MLB teams) try to bunt and understand why. I don’t know if they don’t practice bunting anymore but most players really struggle when asked to lay down a bunt. They even look uncomfortable – they don’t get squared-up and try to “punch” at the pitch. Bunting is a lost art in the modern game of only swinging for the fences.
Not trying to be that guy but things have changed in the game. When I played ball growing up we worked on bunting daily and took a few reps doing it before every game. Stolen bases were also a key part of the game. So what’s changed?
Emphasis on hitting for power. Bunting and stealing bases nickels and dimes your way to run production, whereas having plenty of guys swinging for power gives you that run production with one swing of the bat. Trust me, I’m with most of you in that I think it’s fun to see the strategy, hit-and-run, stolen bases, etc. But analytics have shown that you really don’t gain that much from the incremental moves like stealing bases compared to the results you do get from swinging for the fences. If you have 4-5 batters in an inning and a few make outs and a few get on and of those few, they try to move them over or steal a base, you could get a run. If every one of those 4-5 hitters swings for power and one hits one out every once and awhile, you just accomplished the same thing.
Home runs are exciting right? Well, the equal and opposite reaction has been an increase in strikeouts. If the teams and fans want our guys rounding the bases and fireworks going off we’re going to see more strikeouts. More strikeouts can lead to longer at-bats, which slows the game down. And these longer at-bats can lead to higher pitch counts, meaning pitchers get pulled more, more visits to the mound, more jogs from the bullpen from our new pitcher, etc.
Glad to see some tweaks made here and there to attempt to make the game more exciting. I don’t think they’ll ever amount to a whole lot because as I mentioned, there always seems to be a counter-effect. Baseball is just an untimed, slower-paced sport.
What I would suggest is something that would lower revenue and thus never happen. But compare baseball to the gold standard in our country, football. The obvious difference is that one sport is (or can be) fast-pasted and violent, while the other sport is slower. One sport seems manly and confrontational while the other gave birth to the phrase “general soreness.”
What else is football’s advantage? Rarity. You get it once a week. For a lot of people it’s must-see viewing. 162 games vs. 17. The Vikings schedule for next year includes the Bengals in Week 17. Do you know how impactful that game may be for both teams and both conferences? Compare that to baseball-you buy Twins tickets right now for a random game in August and you could witness a no-hitter, the cycle, or you could see 3 veterans get “rest days” and another hitting DH to take him off the field, and you could see your favorite catcher not behind the plate because it’s the Twins and “he can’t catch a day game after a night game.”
Again, never gonna happen, but I’d start the season in April, have it wrapped up for sure by late September, and play 3-4 games a week. That would make each game more exciting and meaningful.
HR’s only help if you have someone on base. A solo HR isn’t a big enough impact and doesn’t happen with enough occurrence to win games. Take the Twins record setting HR total a couple year ago. Broke the record but were still 15th in the league in runs scored. You have still have to be able to manufacture runs. There WILL be many games that you don’t hit home runs. The problem with this strategy is small ball is completely forgotten about to the point where teams can’t manufacture runs and that’s why it’s made the game so awful to watch. There needs to be balance between real baseball and spreadsheet baseball and it’s something that the MLB is really struggling with and it’s the main reason they are losing viewers.
Yeah I definitely agree with you, I was just commenting on where it seems the game is headed.
One of the funnier takes I’ve heard was a guy on KFAN that said when he was in school the idea was always to chase the starter out of the game and get to the bullpen. After catching back up on baseball in the past few years he was surprised to see that now the strategy half the time is to bring in your bullpen early!
It would be interesting to have a game simulator where managers can interject and make decisions and, without telling them, simulate Game 7 of the 1991 World Series and see when today’s managers would have pulled the starter…
It would be interesting to have a game simulator where managers can interject and make decisions and, without telling them, simulate Game 7 of the 1991 World Series and see when today’s managers would have pulled the starter…
Can you imagine any manager trying to get Morris out of that game? From what I hear he gave Kelly a pretty good talking to that he wasnt coming out. That was one of the most epic, probably best of all time, games ever. Both pitchers going deep into the game.
As a High School football coach once jokingly told me at a clinic when I asked how they’d be next season after a tough year: “Well we bring back almost everyone, so probably not that good”
Haha that’s great!
Slightly adjusting a Crash Davis quote for the home run topic: “Homeruns are boring! Besides that, they’re fascist. Hit some doubles and oppo singles – it’s more democratic.”
Slightly adjusting a Crash Davis quote for the home run topic: “Homeruns are boring! Besides that, they’re fascist. Hit some doubles and oppo singles – it’s more democratic.”
Probably my favorite movie of all time. No one has nailed a sports movie more. Everything in that movie is so damn true.
Looks like Triple A ball will be using automatic strike zones this year (more details in this article).
https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/35434317/sources-all-aaa-parks-use-electronic-strike-zone-23
I don’t know if this will be a hit with fans or bring anyone back to the game, but I like the move. I think one thing that groups of people have gotten sick of is humans calling balls and strikes, some of them being blatantly wrong, and go about it with a “nothing we can do about it attitude.” I’ve never liked stories of “different strike zones for different pictures.” You’ll hear people say if a guy like Maddux was just off the corner he’d get it. Just like when people will refer to a certain basketball situation and say “Jordan gets that call every time.” Always seemed backward to be: if these players are good enough, they shouldn’t need the extra help.
I hate it honestly. But I’m a purist so that probably won’t surprise anyone. I just think if everything is perfect it takes the interesting parts of the game out. Human error is what makes things real and interesting. Does it get frustrating at times with umps? Sure. But if they’re going to have an robot involved I’d rather see the human umps calling balls and strikes like normal and if they miss a call, they have a buzzer that lets them now it wasn’t the correct call.
I don’t know. I just don’t like it. 
I can be in the minority at times but like the measures to make games fair, and this could end up doing it for strike zones. There are always those the NFL that say they don’t want the delay for watching replay to take so long, but I just want the call to be right.
Oh….and the Atros will probably find a way to hack into the robot umpre
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