Baseball And Cats

I feel the same way about FCL/ACL players. Like, if one of them has a good season, great. But they're still in high school and maybe we should just leave the children alone until at least A ball?

In all seriousness if they want my money to be spent on good seats for a game or two, all they've gotta do is bring back Fernando Rodney for a home stand. Pretty sure he's still playing in Canada.

Entirely fair. I just worry what Austin Martin is without a .347 BABiP and I'm uncomfortable counting on rookies. ERod and Jenkins are way more exciting long-term and Martin fits the current roster better, but it wouldn't shock me if over the next 162 Larnach has the highest OPS in an everyday role.

My (maybe insane) take is the Twins shouldn't trade him because he's probably better than Outman and Roden and he won't bring much in return, but regarding ideal fit I feel like the Reds should want him. He's not really an upgrade over their starters, but the park fits well and their depth is bad.

Never happy about injuries, but always nice to be reminded that the Twins aren't cursed and the whole league is just massively injury prone because repetitive high speed collisions between a hard object held by a human and a hard object flying through the air is bad for the body.

Extremely well written as always, Bobby! Are we sure this division lacks a runaway dominant team though? After the Verlander signing the Tigers are probably going to project as a top 5 MLB team by Fangraphs ELO, and even if the Twins are decent there will be teams in the Central they can feast on.

100%. Walz picking Peggy was among his smartest decisions. Hopefully she has a similar plan.

I think this is something for us progressives to keep in mind. She's much more popular elsewhere, and that's okay. If she wins it's not "rigged by party elites" or any of that nonsense. The DFL coalition isn't always going to produce progressive icons, but it's reliably better than the alternative.

What happened to "we're the right people for the job" and "I'm a go big or go home guy"? I get cheapness, but I don't understand saying these things if they know the plan is cheapness. It's not even a good lie if they do the opposite while they're saying it, and no one likes being lied to.

Bryan Woo does this too. And they use their sliders similarly, although Woo has the more traditional shape. Woo locates his changeup better though which is how he handles the platoon where Zebby still struggles. If Zebby could get that changeup on the corner consistently they'd be really similar.

They are reducing the number to ... 300 more than they said they were going to send in the first place. Lots of work still to do.

I haven't been in a decade but we're going tonight. Got to stand up on behalf of neighbors who can't safely leave their homes.

Thanks!

Hey Eno, cool piece. Quick point of clarification, are these changes applied retroactively to Stuff+ numbers from prior seasons, or only to current results/ future projections? For example is Zebby's '24/'25 stuff going to drop? Also, is there a good place to find new avg Stuff+ value by pitch type?

I get the vibe he legit doesn't understand MLB. He seems to think hard work and long hours can grow the team because it works in other industries. Doesn't feel like he gets that MLB is zero sum and wins are a finite resource where if other teams outrun you you lose, even if you feel you improved.

‘No humanity’: Detainees describe conditions inside Whipple Federal Building Immigration sweep brings overcrowded rooms and overflowing toilets. Lawyers say they can’t visit their clients. The Department of Homeland Security says “all detainees receive full due process.”

Must read: "Holding facilities were so crowded that immigrants in one cell had to take turns lying down because there was no space, according to a refugee detained there for one night in January. Basic human needs like food and medical care were sometimes denied."
www.startribune.com/no-humanity-...

On the bright side at least he also knows very little about baseball and has unreasonable expectations.

Agreed, and what really scares me is the degree to which they've also cut all the secondary pieces you listed. It's one thing to slash major league payroll, but to simultaneously fire scouts and analysts is nuts. The Brewers aren't just winning by luck, they've got a huge development system.

Thanks for the clarification, time is a blur.

Wasn't he 100% committed to Falvey when they fired Rocco though? Or was that still Joe?

These feel like good guesses but if one doesn't that even further undercut Tom's message about competitiveness and ruin any little good will he's managed to build with his candor? And if two, doesn't he by his own admission not know much about baseball? I thought he was just a business guy.

Bobby this is weird, right? After the past two seasons I can see why a change would be made, but waiting until weeks before spring training instead of doing this when they let go of Rocco seems odd. Is this normal?

What struck me is how little faith there seems to be in the pitchers. Granted several key young arms aren't prospect eligible anymore which is a factor, but almost all the Twins guys to make any of the big lists are hitters. Kind of surprising considering how many internal top 20 guys are pitchers.

FWIW:

1) I thought you made good points.

2) I think our fellow nerds turning their noses up at the value of veteran knowledge are wrong, and the reason I think this is that many stats-driven nerdy MLB pitchers keep saying so, and by definition they're the experts on how it feels to do it, right?

For what it's worth your content is awesome. Loved the Top 100 list!

If he can hold up he'd be an interesting starter. My concern is if they don't convert him, the bullpen lacks upside. It could be okay, but they need to put a stuff guy in there to audition for closer. I'd like to see Bradley close, but I don't think they're willing to make that trade a reliever swap

Also, what did they get him to promise? As far as I can tell they aren't actually leaving.

brass solidarity band performing “stand by me” in the streets of whittier next to alex pretti’s memorial. the crowd started chanting “the people united will never be defeated” so they incorporated it into the song. i love minneapolis

Not trying to stoke division, but underline a lesson. Remember the high-decibel whining over the years about the Minneapolis City Council expressing solidarity with various oppressed people? ”Stay in your lane!” Remember how sustaining this outside support feels right now as we face the gun barrels.

This is a city that just wants to fucking fly kites on a fucking lake