Twins 2023 Thread

Well, if you want to get picky all the guys on your list are hurt or got beat yesterday besides Cole.

Dutchboy wrote:

Well, if you want to get picky all the guys on your list are hurt or got beat yesterday besides Cole.

Which is exactly why I said he’s my number 1. He’s one of the only guys that consistently pitches the whole season and deep into games. DeGrom is still great but when you’ve only pitched 90 innings in the past two and half seasons you’re not an ace. Same with most of those guys.

Which is exactly why I like that we have 5 guys in our rotation that could be 2 or 3s on most teams instead of one “ace”. You also realize that if we spent the money for a true ace we would have four AAA starters following him in the rotation. And there’s also the fact that none of them want to live in MN.

I’m not arguing the fact the Twins don’t have a ace. I wouldn’t pay to bring one in either. Lopez has the chance to be pretty good with the Twins if they hit the ball.

Sure looked good yesterday. I’m really interested to see Gray and Ryan this season. Gray didn’t get a normal spring last year and it sounds like it really put him behind. With Ryan I hope he can get his in zone control a little more sharp. Those three could be really quality starters.

Id rather have 3 or maybe 4 2s or 3s than 1 ace and not much after. This team could be really dang good if they get some hitting which is a bit of a concern for me right now. Kepler has been a ghost of himself what the last 2 years?

CaptainMusky wrote:

Id rather have 3 or maybe 4 2s or 3s than 1 ace and not much after. This team could be really dang good if they get some hitting which is a bit of a concern for me right now. Kepler has been a ghost of himself what the last 2 years?

Yeah he’s been bad. I’m a little concerned about scoring too. I think it’ll be better than last season but that’s not saying much. I would rather see Solano or Farmer starting at 2nd base instead of Gordon and leading off. Solano is an on base machine but I get the feeling the Twins aren’t going to use him much more than a utility player. He’s actually kind of a poor man’s Arraez.

anyone else see the stat on opening day and stolen bases……not seen since 1907 they say.
the article stated the bigger bases made the distance between bases 4 1/2 ft shorter and the new pitcher rule of only allowing 2 pickoff attempts or the third one resulting in an out or its a balk!!!!!1

wonder if that will make more attempts at stealing home plate!!!!!! i remember when Rod Carew did it like 7-8 times one year……..yea i was a Twins fan once!

4 1/2″ not feet Glenn.

Dutchboy wrote:

4 1/2″ not feet Glenn.

yea i stand to be corrected…..i thought i was stealing bases!!!!!

I do think we will see a lot more running. That is why they put those rules in place too. I also think the one knee catching style also had managers thinking about stealing more as well and the fact that there aren’t many catchers that throw runners out well.

The game will ebb and flow as it always has. We are already seeing some old school baseball come back in the face of analytics and its resulting HR or bust strategy.

Gary Sanchez got signed to a minor league deal by the Giants today.

Is The Fat Kid signed anywhere or is he back in the DR eating cheeseburgers?

Dutchboy wrote:

Gary Sanchez got signed to a minor league deal by the Giants today.

Is The Fat Kid signed anywhere or is he back in the DR eating cheeseburgers?

Pretty sure I heard he went to Japan or Korea.

South Korea I hope. Him and the Little Fat guy in North Korea would make quite the photo op.

So our all world center fielder is going to be a DH? Is the Joe Mauer all over again? Sure glad we got this Taylor guy

crappie55369 wrote:

So our all world center fielder is going to be a DH? Is the Joe Mauer all over again? Sure glad we got this Taylor guy

For the first part of the season. And for the record, he basically was the reason we won the game on Thursday because without his triple they wouldn’t have scored a run.

The article I’ve been waiting to read for years in The Athletic today.

Rob Manfred got a phone call. It was “one of our more senior owners,” as the commissioner put it, and they began talking about the number of employees who work on, well, numbers.

“You know, I don’t know what this analytics thing is, but I have, like, 75 guys,” the owner told him. “What I want to do is, I would spend a week in the analytics department. I was going to figure out what the hell these guys do.”

“So, how’d it go?” the commissioner asked.

“Well, you know, I got a lot of smart guys down there,” the owner said, “but I am absolutely convinced that analytics is an arms race to nowhere.”

Manfred told that story to laughter Wednesday during an executive luncheon hosted by the Paley Media Council in New York. And he chose to tell it because he agrees with the sentiment.

“It’s become one of my favorite lines because I think it’s actually true,” Manfred said.

Manfred’s hour-long conversation centered mainly on the sport’s new playing rules — rules that are, of course, largely a response to the way baseball evolved as teams pushed toward efficiency and analytics. That anecdote came up in a conversation about the defensive shift; moderator Tom Verducci’s question was about whether the new ban would remove an edge that some teams had built for themselves.

“The competitive advantage piece, I think there was a point in time where if your analytics department was more developed than somebody else’s, maybe you got that little edge,” Manfred said. “Right now, everybody’s playing that same game.

“Once everybody’s doing it, that little margin that maybe you’re getting … I am sure that whatever that margin was at one point in time — whatever it is today — it sure as heck is not worth the damage that was done to the game over a period of time.”

Indeed, some front offices probably are still behind relative to others in research and development, modeling and so on. But it’s a striking declaration for the commissioner to make: that in the aggregate, the pursuit of those edges over a long period ultimately damaged the game.

The link between front-office behavior and the overall decline in action in the sport is clear. Teams searched for ways to perform most efficiently within the rules, and in doing so, created a version of the game that steadily grew less appealing, at least in the eyes of many.

Whether one holds individual club management at fault is at one’s discretion. Even with the new rules, general managers will always want to win as many games as possible. But in an environment where innovation-driven club management has for so long been revered and praised, it’s notable that the sport’s top executive sees the arms race now as something of a dead end.

I couldn’t agree more.

Now if somebody would just convince him that historical numbers matter in baseball.

So, now the game has swung towards experience & knowledge with guys like Baker, Showalter, Bochy, Francona, Melvin running the top teams. If only they would have listened years ago.

mahtofire14 wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>crappie55369 wrote:</div>
So our all world center fielder is going to be a DH? Is the Joe Mauer all over again? Sure glad we got this Taylor guy

For the first part of the season. And for the record, he basically was the reason we won the game on Thursday because without his triple they wouldn’t have scored a run.

Didn’t they still shut out the royals. So he wasn’t exactly the reason they won the game.

I may be wrong but if I remember correctly you have to score to win in baseball…..

The only reason they scored late in game is because Buxton hit a 1 out triple. Had it been a single or walk, they wouldn’t have scored.

mahtofire14 wrote:

I may be wrong but if I remember correctly you have to score to win in baseball…..

If you don’t let the other team score they can’t win.

The only reason they scored late in game is because Buxton hit a 1 out triple. Had it been a single or walk, they wouldn’t have scored.

Actually I think he scores with a walk or single. They had a walk and three singles after. With a Miranda foul out mixed in.

Anywho I think it will be interesting to see how many games he plays this year in the field.

If he can handle a month or mostly DH’ing I think you’ll be a 50/50 mix the rest of the season.

Greinke was pretty darn good too. If they struggle against the pitcher today, than we can start talking about the offense being bad.

It’s a little early to crown them or bury them.

I agree but if you can’t score runs against the Royals, you’re going to have some problems. I don’t care what time of year it is.

The fact that no one has taught Buxton how to slide is proof that this organization has no idea what they are doing fundamentally.

He almost broke his nose face planting sliding headfirst.

Oh and, Miranda rbi single.

I think Buxton hear everybody talking about how slow he looked in his triple. I thought he kinda pushed it going for two, he would have been out by 3′ had the throw been on target & held.

I agree on the sliding. I’m also a old school feet first type of guy. (surprise, surprise)

mahtofire14 wrote:

The fact that no one has taught Buxton how to slide is proof that this organization has no idea what they are doing fundamentally.

He almost broke his nose face planting sliding headfirst.

Oh and, Miranda rbi single.

teams probably talk about sliding once a year in the minors. if you don’t know how to slide by the time you get to the big leagues that’s on you.

Gray is really fighting his control but he’s hanging in there.

Ripjiggen wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>mahtofire14 wrote:</div>
The fact that no one has taught Buxton how to slide is proof that this organization has no idea what they are doing fundamentally.

He almost broke his nose face planting sliding headfirst.

Oh and, Miranda rbi single.

teams probably talk about sliding once a year in the minors. if you don’t know how to slide by the time you get to the big leagues that’s on you.

That’s fair but I’ve seen more terrible slides from this team over the last two years, Buxton especially, that they should be doing something about it.

Buy a team slip and slide. That’s how I learned playing hot box with my buddies on a slip and slide.