Today marks six weeks since my last day at The Athletic and, both personally and professionally, I can't imagine things going any better. What was once a big, scary risk that may have appeared crazy to some is now so obviously the best, highest-upside decision I've ever made. My hope is that comes across in the writing here.
More importantly, after sweeping the Rangers in Texas the Twins are 20-17 (.541) since I quit The Athletic, compared to 16-23 (.410) before my resignation became official. Correlation? Causation? You decide!
Let's end the week with some Link-O-Rama.
- Wednesday's article about Yoendrys Gómez emerging as the Twins' best reliever is the type of deep dive I enjoy writing even if I know it'll never generate a ton of page views or social media traction. But now that I'm here, writing directly to my subscribers, there's no longer anyone pushing for that over in-depth analysis.
Yoendrys Gómez, Proven Closer?
How the Twins got their best reliever off the scrap heap for cash considerations and why the 26-year-old journeyman might be for real.
Aaron Gleeman
- Mailbag questions continue to be plentiful, so I'll keep planning to do a new one every two or three weeks. This week's was a super-sized edition covering Kyler Fedko's call up in addition to the typical assortment of topics. I figured that was fitting given how many questions have been submitted about Fedko lately.
Twins mailbag: Kyler Fedko time, first base converts, Varland’s razor, and Olivia Miles
Plus the Twins’ injuries in league-wide context, Marek Houston’s glove, Connor Prielipp’s workload, bullpen blues, and the value of cash considerations.
Aaron Gleeman
- NBA fans: 82-0 is oddly addicting. I spent an afternoon game in the Target Field press box competing with Dan Hayes and Matthew Leach to build the best team. We all got to 82-0, but I won on the points-based tiebreaker. Oh, and there's now a different version, called Better 82-0, based more on analytics.
- As a longtime Brasa regular at the original Northeast location, I enjoyed Raphael Brion giving the now-four-location restaurant a much-deserved spotlight in the Star Tribune. It's the epitome of comfort food, which for me has always revolved around chicken and rice with flavorful sauces.
My go-to order: Arroz con pollo bowl, rice and beans, cornbread, red sauce.
Becky's go-to order: Smothered chicken, cheesy grits, guacamole, green sauce.