55 thoughts on “December 4, 2019: Rebrand”

  1. I'm all for MiLB teams going a little goofy with the naming, but this is a hard pass for me.

  2. Urgent musical assistance needed: construction began on the same block as my place of employment, and the sound of the pile driver is going to drive me out of my mind. Hip-hop seems to be the best for masking the noise, so I'd love some recommendations.

    1. Not-on-point, but the spring of my first year of law school my apartment window overlooked a spot where a very busy 395 ran through D.C. (you go under the mall, then come up right by the campus I was at). They did their construction at night, to alleviate traffic issues. That pile driver was the worst... So I can't offer you music recommendations, but I can empathize.

      1. Oh, that's awful!

        The worst non-pile-driver part of this construction project is that a couple weeks ago workers ripped out all of the bushes where birds (and AMR) used to hang out.

          2. I'm busy as hell at work, taking the earliest bus most mornings and last bus most evenings.

            Spending any free time trying to find a way to get the Three Rivers Park District to remove the vault toilet it installed just past my backyard, and contrary to their "final plan".

            Occasionally lurking...

        2. I worked for a bit in the Rockwell Int'l building south of LAX when they were putting in an off ramp for the new Imperial Hwy, and while we didn't hear it we certainly felt it shake the building.

    3. The Into the Spiderverse soundtrack has been on pretty heavy repeat for me for a while now

    4. I have been digging the Spotify Trap Instrumental Beats playlist for work noise masking, though I havd not had to deal with a pile driver. Lately I kind of like the Music from Silicon Valley soundtrack, but the lyrical situation at times can be as toxic as a SF start-up. I like P.O.S., but they at times have quieter sections, not sure if it entirely meets the requirements. And more of a throwback but I like the Speakerboxx half of Speakerboxx/The Love Below.

      For less noisy times at work lately I have been into the Spectre soundtrack.

    5. Yeah, that pile driver. I've been grabbing a few bakery items at the grocery for a cheap lunch many days, so I hear it. Wondered how hard it was to work past that.
      The only daylight I've been getting on the walk there.

  3. I am down with the Might Mussels if and only if their logo is a mussel stylized in the shape of a smiling, flexed bicep.

  5. Could be worse, they could have gone with Geoducks.

    I was going to link that to a Google images search, but seriously, borderline NSFW in case anyone is tempted to learn more.

      1. Heh, well- I was trying to be positive about the mussel.

        I would have enjoyed Geoducks more, in a completely "can't-look-away-from-this-wreck" sort of way, so yeah, maybe it would have been better.

    2. This is also reminded me, via Twitter, that Doogie is a hack and only exists as a water carrying lackey.

        1. Go read Doogie's tweet again. The way he wrote it made it sound like there was nothing the Twins could have done even though they, basically, lowballed him compared to what he got (and it looks like even more of a lowball when reading this tweet.) Doogie has been a hack for a while now.

            1. I saw somewhere (and I can't find it right now) that they offered $93M, which is considerably less than what he got.

                1. Plus, they may have gone back to him only to be told her wants to be on the east coast so don't bother.

                2. I may have exaggerated by calling it lowball, but none of this changes the fact the Wolfson sucks.

                  2. My only recollection of him at all is that he wsa on the radio in late August when I was driving around looking at horse farms for a hearing and he said the Twins were strongly considering giving NIck Anderson a September call-up. I was confused because I had no idea who Nick Anderson was. (He also said the Twins were going to shut-down Buxton despite him wanting to get recalled).

          2. TwinsDaily & FanGraphs Crowd Sourcing had him at 4/$72M
            MLB Trade Rumors had him going at 5/$100M

            The Twins could've (and very well may have) beaten both by a decent margin and still not been close. I don't think it's fair to call whatever they offered a "lowball" offer, when the most sought after Free Agent didn't sign with them.

            1. I think this FO has done a good job so far (tough to say otherwise after a 101 win season that was fun as hell), but the franchise does have a history with free agents. If the 5/$93M offer is true, then I would say they weren't really making a completely serious offer. That said, I'm more than willing to place the blame for that on the Pohlads.

              Mostly, though, I just think the mainstream sports reporting in the TC are is pretty bad and Doogie is a really good face for that terribleness.

              1. I'm definitely of the opinion that there's some work that needs to be done to solidify this roster. Losing Wheeler hurts a bit, but there are pitchers remaining who would make it hurt quite a bit less, and they won't cost $118M to bring in -- and if some of those extra $$$ were to bring in, say, Donaldson at third base, that would make it worth it, IMO.

      1. Because his rookie year in 2013 matters. He was worth 3.9 rWAR in 2018 and 3.5 rWAR last year. He's good.

        1. His ERA+ was 102 last year. He's solidly above average but hardly the ace that Twins fans are pining for. I keep forgetting Bumgarner is the same age. He has a career 120 ERA+ and pitched over 200 innings last year with a 107 ERA+. Wheeler has potential, but I think the Twins should have made Bumgarner a higher priority anyway.

          1. Are you saying he's only a league average pitcher? No one thinks he's Cole or Strasburg. He's the discount version and that's why he handily beat the contract predictions. He has 1100 fewer innings on that arm than Bumgarner and teams think Wheeler is on the rise. His performance post-Tommy John is good. Bumgarner is also good but he was below 3.0 rWAR the last two years and only 3.1 in 2017. Wheeler is clearly the better pitcher right now. The ZiPS projections aren't out yet but I bet Wheeler has a higher WAR projection for the future.

            1. Don't change my comment. I said solidly above average, just not an ace. I think Wheeler and MadBum are very comparable pitchers but everyone (in general) seems to be super high on Wheeler and all his great potential and think of MadBum as this old and wornout pitcher. Wheeler has potential and less miles on his arm but has a weaker track record and major injury history after missing 2 full seasons. MadBum has more miles on his arm but has a better track record in not only pitching well but pitching long plus has a ton of postseason experience. I'd be happy for the Twins to get either one. If the Twins spent $120M on Wheeler, how would Twins fans feel if he was their third starter to start the season because both Berrios and Odo were better last year and have postseason experience.

              1. You keep emphasizing the average ERA+ (100 and 102 are your quotes) and then say you think he's solidly above average. I don't think anyone here doesn't want Bumgarner but Wheeler is clearly better and thus preferred*.

                * I'm curious about Geoff's opinion on this with his desire for acquiring Bumgarner during the season.

        1. Rating based on All-Star selections is not a good look. Wheeler is 76 inches tall versus Odorizzi's 74 inches and I like tall pitchers.

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