39 thoughts on “December 21, 2022: The Winter Solstice”
I'm not getting excited about it until 3:47pm
Carlos Correa to the Mets. Thats a stunner!
Now only 12 years and $315 million.
So the Twins were no better than third in the Correa sweepstakes.
Third monetarily, first otherwise.
That may turn out to be correct. My point, though, is that we kept hearing from the Twins that they were "all in" on Correa, when in fact they were not even close.
Mets have an owner who literally has no payroll cap in his head. That's going to make every team second fiddle that way
True. That's why the Twins should have moved on months ago. Their offer makes it look like it was all for show.
I don't know... I think they genuinely thought they had a shot. Their offer was very competitive and HUGE for a mid market team. Then, the other shoe dropped and large market teams started handing out 12 and 13 year contracts that carried into a player's age 41 season. Every single baseball writer and commentator at the national level I have read, or listened too, has stated that the Twins were truly "in" on Correa. Of course local writers are more skeptical. My take is that they misjudged the market. I trust they think they have a back up plan but I am skeptical they will be able to execute such a plan. The trade market seems to be very inflated too. This makes sense as a lot of potential free agent spenders have been shut out by the big market teams. As a result, a lot of teams are looking at the trade market and those teams that have assets to trade are demanding a premium.
I feel that we will probably make small signings and acquisitions to fill in the gaps on the roster. The biggest question mark going forward will be the health of those players who missed significant time last season. If we are healthy, we can be competitive and have a decent shot at winning the division. If we get screwed by the injury bug again, we are in big trouble.
I would be more willing to believe the Twins were truly in on Correa if not for all the times in recent years we heard they were "in" on top players who went elsewhere. Algonad said, "Their offer makes it look like it was all for show", and that's what I believe it was. I think the Twins are like the guy at an auction who keeps bidding the price up but has no desire to actually win the bidding.
They came in at a pretty low price compared with the other top shortstops in the past two years. They knew that wouldn't cut it. 90% of a competitive offer is not realistic. If they thought it was, it makes me nervous about their competence.
So, am I the only one thinking that maybe the Twins dodged a bullet here?
I don't know what the concern was (but it most definitely was NOT an issue with his back!), but I'm kinda thinking that maybe missing out on this deal was not entirely a bad thing. Time will tell, and I'll be curious to see how Correa does over the next 12 years, but I think I've made peace with him not signing with the Twins.
Maybe but the Twins also had all his medical records, plus direct access, for the entire year already. Anything the Giants found, the Twins would (should) have already known about.
would (should) doing a lot of heavy lifting there.
Maybe but the Twins also had all his medical records, plus direct access, for the entire year already.
an entire year with a trainer who has subsequently been fired
I'm gonna go with the theory that the Giants realized they gave a guy a 13 year contract and got cold feet, "conveniently" finding a "medical issue" to get out of it.
Buyer's remorse ftw
Since buying the Mets, Cohen has seen two other teams in his division go to the World Series in consecutive years. I don’t like how he accumulated his wealth, but it’s nice to see the owner of a sports franchise acting like they own a sports franchise.
I think I counted six times, with results of two flyouts, two caught on the basepath trying to get the double, one single that should have been a double, and one ground-rule double. What a tool
Two of them didn't even reach the warning track.
John Gordon should be narrating this video
Flipping the bat appears to have the same effect on Donaldson as not bat flipping had on ByungHo Park.
The one in Fenway is the best.
Ex-Twins news: Willians Astudillo, aka La Tortuga, aka A-Stud, signs with the SoftBank Hawks in Japan.
Trevor May to the A's.
Sitting in surgery preop waiting to get my knee chopped and screwed back together. Doc says I’ll be back on the ice working on my slapshot by Xmas.
14 minutes of surgery. I’m very stoned which is cool?!? Doc says I’ll be up faster than expected - and told me that my knee cap is the culprit- my joint looks a good and I shouldn’t expect a total replacement. Awesome news
Yeah, good to hear the joint is intact -- nice!
What's a nice joint like you doing in a guy like this?
of all the gin joints ...
All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth:
After almost 3 years without a front tooth (horrible timing with covid, but at least masking helped!), and about a year and a half with a nearby tooth missing too, I finished the implant process yesterday. I'd had a temporary flipper for most of that time, and while it didn't look great and had to be removed when eating, it held up well enough. One of my implants failed about a year ago, which was pretty traumatic, but the doctors took care to make sure everything got set right. It feels weird having these teeth back, but at least now I feel like I can smile and eat in public. That feels good.
Mrs Runner had a spot of squamous cell cancer removed from her lower leg this morning; they were pretty happy with the procedure and called it good after one pass. The tricky part now is that legs are slower at healing so she has a wrap that she has to keep in place.
Good luck to her. At least it's not shorts season!
"I think it's something to be looked at...nobody should have to go into spring training thinking their team has no chance of making the playoffs"
Hal Steinbrenner comments on Steve Cohen's spending spree
If he's talking about small market teams already planning their 2025 tank job, then I wholeheartedly agree.
If he's whining about another team buying an all star team, then he probably needs to 'git gud' or sell the team.
2009 Yankees would like a word.
The other owners are already plotting how they'll be able to blame a lockout on Cohen, and a lot of people who should really know better are going to be doing their work and begging for a salary cap (they already are, in fact).
I'm not getting excited about it until 3:47pm
Carlos Correa to the Mets. Thats a stunner!
Now only 12 years and $315 million.
So the Twins were no better than third in the Correa sweepstakes.
Third monetarily, first otherwise.
That may turn out to be correct. My point, though, is that we kept hearing from the Twins that they were "all in" on Correa, when in fact they were not even close.
Mets have an owner who literally has no payroll cap in his head. That's going to make every team second fiddle that way
True. That's why the Twins should have moved on months ago. Their offer makes it look like it was all for show.
I don't know... I think they genuinely thought they had a shot. Their offer was very competitive and HUGE for a mid market team. Then, the other shoe dropped and large market teams started handing out 12 and 13 year contracts that carried into a player's age 41 season. Every single baseball writer and commentator at the national level I have read, or listened too, has stated that the Twins were truly "in" on Correa. Of course local writers are more skeptical. My take is that they misjudged the market. I trust they think they have a back up plan but I am skeptical they will be able to execute such a plan. The trade market seems to be very inflated too. This makes sense as a lot of potential free agent spenders have been shut out by the big market teams. As a result, a lot of teams are looking at the trade market and those teams that have assets to trade are demanding a premium.
I feel that we will probably make small signings and acquisitions to fill in the gaps on the roster. The biggest question mark going forward will be the health of those players who missed significant time last season. If we are healthy, we can be competitive and have a decent shot at winning the division. If we get screwed by the injury bug again, we are in big trouble.
I would be more willing to believe the Twins were truly in on Correa if not for all the times in recent years we heard they were "in" on top players who went elsewhere. Algonad said, "Their offer makes it look like it was all for show", and that's what I believe it was. I think the Twins are like the guy at an auction who keeps bidding the price up but has no desire to actually win the bidding.
They came in at a pretty low price compared with the other top shortstops in the past two years. They knew that wouldn't cut it. 90% of a competitive offer is not realistic. If they thought it was, it makes me nervous about their competence.
So, am I the only one thinking that maybe the Twins dodged a bullet here?
I don't know what the concern was (but it most definitely was NOT an issue with his back!), but I'm kinda thinking that maybe missing out on this deal was not entirely a bad thing. Time will tell, and I'll be curious to see how Correa does over the next 12 years, but I think I've made peace with him not signing with the Twins.
Maybe but the Twins also had all his medical records, plus direct access, for the entire year already. Anything the Giants found, the Twins would (should) have already known about.
would (should) doing a lot of heavy lifting there.
Maybe but the Twins also had all his medical records, plus direct access, for the entire year already.
an entire year with a trainer who has subsequently been fired
I'm gonna go with the theory that the Giants realized they gave a guy a 13 year contract and got cold feet, "conveniently" finding a "medical issue" to get out of it.
Buyer's remorse ftw
Since buying the Mets, Cohen has seen two other teams in his division go to the World Series in consecutive years. I don’t like how he accumulated his wealth, but it’s nice to see the owner of a sports franchise acting like they own a sports franchise.
heh
I think I counted six times, with results of two flyouts, two caught on the basepath trying to get the double, one single that should have been a double, and one ground-rule double. What a tool
Two of them didn't even reach the warning track.
John Gordon should be narrating this video
Flipping the bat appears to have the same effect on Donaldson as not bat flipping had on ByungHo Park.
The one in Fenway is the best.
Ex-Twins news: Willians Astudillo, aka La Tortuga, aka A-Stud, signs with the SoftBank Hawks in Japan.
Trevor May to the A's.
Sitting in surgery preop waiting to get my knee chopped and screwed back together. Doc says I’ll be back on the ice working on my slapshot by Xmas.
14 minutes of surgery. I’m very stoned which is cool?!? Doc says I’ll be up faster than expected - and told me that my knee cap is the culprit- my joint looks a good and I shouldn’t expect a total replacement. Awesome news
Yeah, good to hear the joint is intact -- nice!
What's a nice joint like you doing in a guy like this?
of all the gin joints ...
All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth:
After almost 3 years without a front tooth (horrible timing with covid, but at least masking helped!), and about a year and a half with a nearby tooth missing too, I finished the implant process yesterday. I'd had a temporary flipper for most of that time, and while it didn't look great and had to be removed when eating, it held up well enough. One of my implants failed about a year ago, which was pretty traumatic, but the doctors took care to make sure everything got set right. It feels weird having these teeth back, but at least now I feel like I can smile and eat in public. That feels good.
Mrs Runner had a spot of squamous cell cancer removed from her lower leg this morning; they were pretty happy with the procedure and called it good after one pass. The tricky part now is that legs are slower at healing so she has a wrap that she has to keep in place.
Good luck to her. At least it's not shorts season!
"I think it's something to be looked at...nobody should have to go into spring training thinking their team has no chance of making the playoffs"
Hal Steinbrenner comments on Steve Cohen's spending spree
If he's talking about small market teams already planning their 2025 tank job, then I wholeheartedly agree.
If he's whining about another team buying an all star team, then he probably needs to 'git gud' or sell the team.
2009 Yankees would like a word.
The other owners are already plotting how they'll be able to blame a lockout on Cohen, and a lot of people who should really know better are going to be doing their work and begging for a salary cap (they already are, in fact).