A new Twins season arrives

 I am REALLY excited for the 2023 MLB season. Not for a team or a player, but because of a rule change. 


Among several other rule changes, MLB has finally made a pitch clock official. No more of this preposterous garbage of watching pitchers take 45 seconds between pitches for no reason other than that they like the attention. 


I didn't get a chance to watch too many spring training games, but I can read a box score, and seeing games routinely ending in 2 1/2 hours even if it isn't a pitcher's duel was thrilling. Some people are really cranky about this, but this shortening of games is not taking away anything good. 


Will it help baseball from a ratings standpoint? Can't hurt. I love baseball, but I couldn't stand watching a 9 inning game go for 3 1/2 hours for no reason. 


So, on to the Twins. Their September collapse last year was so complete that it is easy to forget that they spent more days in 1st last year than not. 


The big news of the offseason was the strange free agent saga of Carlos Correa, which saw him sign with the Giants, who backed out, then the Mets, who backed out, then finally ending up back here on a fairly team friendly deal. 


The Twins also made a big trade, sending Luis Arraez to Miami for opening day starter Pablo Lopez.  Out went Gio Urshela, Miguel Sano, Gary Sanchez, Chris Archer and Dylan Bundy. In came Christian Vazquez, Kyle Farmer, Michael Taylor, and Joey Gallo.


Do all these moves make them a better team? Can't hurt. 


But the biggest Twins bugaboo has returned: injuries. They will already start the season with 2 starters, Jorge Polanco and Alex Kirilloff, sidelined with injuries that they already dealt with last year and are not going away. Byron Buxton apparently isn't able to even play CF and will be DH only for who knows how long. And Kenta Maeda looked very bad this spring as he looks to return from TJ. 


The Twins fired their head trainer but still seem incapable of keeping players healthy. It helps that they have more depth, and have some good prospects just a step away, but this trend that seems unending may keep them from getting back to the playoffs.


And how the fuck is Emilio Pagan still on this god damn roster?


So my official pick is that the Twins finish a respectable 2nd behind Cleveland. Can they then be a wild card? I think that can be a realistic goal, since there are not a lot of great teams in the American League. But they will be sweating it out. 


As for my world series pick, look, I pick the Yankees every year because one year our luck as a society will end and these bastards will win. There will probably be more than enough juiced balls thrown to Aaron Judge (funny how the media buried that story). Who will they beat? Gonna go with the loaded Padres to finally break through. 


If nothing else, it should all go a lot faster. 

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