Thread: Article: The Bright Side

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I like how you think Nelson. .500 is a realistic possibility if the breaks fall our way. I'm a believer until all hope is gone.

Amidst all the pessimism over how badly the free agent market has been handled this offseason, it's easy to forget that with several lucky breaks, this team could easily finish over .500.

Yes, it's a longshot. Yes, it's unlikely to happen without divine intervention. But with Mauer and Morneau on the roster (along with Willingham and Doumit), this team will be able to smack the ball around quite a bit of those guys stay healthy (far from a given) and Parmelee and/or Plouffe turn into consistent offensive threats.

As for the pitching staff... well, yeah. That's going to require actual divine intervention to succeed.

It's nice to read something positive about the twins for a change. Lately it has been too much negative.

When I try to think of the upcoming season from a glass half full type of view I point out to my fellow disheartened Twins fans that Vavra has been replaced by Bruno. Hopefully this will bring out the tremendous talent in youngsters like Parmalee Plouffe and Hicks.

Why not? I don't know about 500 but i think there will be improvement. I am excited to see cf workout, to see parmalee get 500 ABs, at the hope that Mauer and Morneau get off to solid beginnings instead of struggling, to see Meyer and Arcia get call ups, and to watch the first time a sac fly happens and a runner challenges the arm of Aaron Hicks. Lets get this season started.

I think the Twins can make the playoffs. That is what everyone hopes for, There is no reason that the Twins can't be a wild card team. It's all about getting off to a good start. With just a little confidence the younger players can really rally this team.

I can't disagree with anything you've said here. Yes, if a bunch of things break our way, we could win 81 games.

However, I share the frustration that Howard and others have expressed - a little bit more help could have made a big difference i - and the fact that the team either wouldn't or couldn't get that help leaves a sour taste in the mouths of the fans who were assured that new revenues from Target Field would be put back into the product.

I think that's where a lot of the negativity is coming from. I mean if your absolute sunniest day, highest ceiling, best-case scenario is .a 500 finish in the weakest division in baseball, how can you expect fans to get all that excited about forking over their hard earned money to watch this team? Winning organizations demand success, they do not tolerate mediocrity.

I really hope I'm wrong about this team. Sure wouldn't be the first time. Maybe it's still too cold and I'm still bitter over the Timberwolves and the avalanche of bad breaks they've endured in what began as a season with so much promise. But right now, I'm just not feeling it.

It does seem likely that the starting rotation could not be any worse and actually has to improve, lest some little known record of futility fall to the Twins.
Plouffe, Parmelee, Dozier, Hendriks... someone will step up, right? Perhaps several someones.
Let's go with that. It's spring.

The super bowl is now over and it's time to cheer for the Twins Just think what would be if the Vikes drafted C. Kaepernick instead of Ponder.

Well I believe Diamond can be quality starter. Good #3

Worley could become a #2

I'm not ready to give up on Hendricks yet.

Gibson could rebound.

Pelfrey/Harden/Correia could turn into a decent 5th starter.

Saunders could run out of options, sign here, and play like a man on fire here hoping for a deal next season.

That rotation is enough to get to .500.

Hicks, Mauer, Willingham, Morneau, Doumit, Parmalee, Plouffe could produce some runs.

This team could sneak into a wild card play-in game if everything falls together.

Thanks, Nick. Things may not work out as hoped this year, but you give cogent reasons to be hopeful. I plan to remain hopeful at least until the end of April, even if the Twins lose their first 20 games.

Originally Posted by Top Gun

I think the Twins can make the playoffs. That is what everyone hopes for, There is no reason that the Twins can't be a wild card team. It's all about getting off to a good start. With just a little confidence the younger players can really rally this team.

If the rotation does decent, our offense can carry the rest of the team I could see us making the playoffs.

Remember a few years ago when offense was the big question maek and the rotation was great?

Can someone write a post about potential salary-dump mid-season trade targets? Cliff Lee and Roy Halladay come to mind, although you've always got the no-trade nonsense.

Gallardo, Lincecum, someone from the A's...They all sound better than Marcum or Saunders.

I enjoyed this article. Last year, our lineup was reasonably average, our relievers were reasonably above-average, and our starting pitching staff exploded into one of the biggest, bloodiest debacles the Twins have seen in decades. I agree that the Twins didn't do as much as they could have to shore up the 2013 team, but is it relying on an unreasonable amount of luck to think that our staff this year will be better than the combination of Baker, Blackburn, Pavano, Marquis, Liriano, Swarzak, De Vries, etc., etc. from 2012? I don't think so. Hell, even having two or three of our initial starting five make it all the way through the season would be a vast upgrade.

I also agree with the idea that we're playing with a bunch of lottery tickets (Plouffe, Parmelee, Hicks, Gibson, et al.), but these aren't Scratch and Win $100 cards. These are the mega millions kind of guys.

But hey, what do I know? Apparently I'm nothing but a shill for the front office.

Originally Posted by 70charger

Last year, our lineup was reasonably average, our relievers were reasonably above-average

By "reasonably" do you mean they weren't actually that good, but it sounds better that way?

I think this is how it goes, I think we were reasonably not bad last year and not bad this year.

Great
Good
Average
Reasonably average
Not Bad
Reasonably not bad
Reasonably not good
Not good
Bad

I am not optimistic for even 500...because our defense is too weak...we will give up a lot of hits that could have been caught with better defense...Hicks is the key lottery pick...because he must cover a ton of ground in OF with Josh and Parmalee in the corners...I fear a lot of doubles against us...we are also counting on Dozier (more optimistic about him) and whomever in the IF.

Originally Posted by snepp

By "reasonably" do you mean they weren't actually that good, but it sounds better that way?

More or less. They were a bit above-average in some respects as compared to the rest of MLB (10th in OBP, 11th in BA), but they were a bit below average in others (18th in OPS). You can weight it however you want, but regardless, you'll find that the Twins were reasonably average. They weren't blowing anyone away, but let's not pretend like they were anywhere close to the Mariners or Astros, etc. when it comes to batting suckitude.