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etwink

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Everything posted by etwink

  1. etwink
    Of course the White Sox are a threat. They improved and we, at best, stayed pat! What have the Twins done legitimately to improve....pull in Clippard? Of course, as a fan, I want to believe that individual guys will get better, but we could be a better team overall and still win less games, just with the law of averages. That’s what ZIPS and other look at - they don’t bring emotion or belief into it. We’re fans....they can’t afford to be. Personally, I think that this entire site should just take a break and just replay exciting plays from the ‘87 and ‘91 World Series until the Twins make another move. Everyone is so annoyed with the Twins right now that most of the articles in the last week are just turning into arguments.
  2. etwink
    Excellent summary of what we’ve been seeing since the All Star break. With the knowledge that SOMEone is going to have a poor year, given the law of averages, there is enough depth of potential impact guys in AAA that this group nearly can’t help but be a strength.
  3. etwink
    Another good “secure the floor” move by the Twins FO. You can say what you want, and probably be correct, about their lack of guts in going after a truly high ceiling type of move, but this FO has shown savvy and skill in making sure that their base is solid. Now let’s just make one move for a starter that could potentially blow up in our faces in two years and really go after that ceiling that is there for the taking!!
  4. etwink
    Sorry, but literally the only thing that Luis Arraez and Travis Blankenhorn have in common is that they are both discussed in this article. Luis Arraez didn’t succeed because people got hurt or there was an extra roster position; he got it by being a professional hitter at every phase of his minor league career and then translated the same to the majors. As well, his high OBP and secondary skills allowed him to ride though his (very short) slumps. Blankenhorn has about one good MiLB season under his belt, doesn’t get on base, doesn’t have a position, and has the kind of game that generally isn’t successful unless he can get consistent ABs. I wish the kid all the luck in the world, but he’s no Luis Arraez. Now if you want to have a discussion about who out of a list of guy might be a surprise candidate to make the team in 2020, TB might make that list, but let’s not get carried away....
  5. etwink
    Yeah, I’m not sure what happened to Graterol yesterday. It was like he didn’t trust his heater. Smalley was nearly begging him to throw high fastballs to (I think) Mejia, because he hadn’t been able to catch up to high and tight all series and Brusdar kept pumping in low sliders one after another. Was he told to work on the slider and forget about the results?? Seemed really odd that a guy known for triple-digit heat was throwing so few fastballs.
  6. etwink
    If Perez gets in, it will be because of tenure, not because he has pitched in any protectable way the last few months. All I saw yesterday was a guy who gave up line drive after line drive and couldn’t find a way to close out batters in a very weak lineup. Sure, he was ok in the middle innings of his start but Rocco has no way of predicting what version of Perez he will get. Same thing with Gibson; any choice in his direction will be tenure-based, given how often he has found himself in the middle of 30 pitch, glacier slow innings. Neither of these guys give any confidence that they can handle the Yankees hitters.
  7. etwink
    I know it’s cool to be pessimistic and cautious, but my opinion is that Arraez will definitely start Game 1 if he’s able at all. Winning Game 1s in the playoffs is so important (statistically and emotionally); I just can’t imagine that Rocco is going to get cute about a Grade 1 sprain on a 22 year old kid playing an IF position. This isn’t basketball we’re talking about, where you are constantly moving. Shoot it’s not even an OF position where you have to run a bit.
  8. etwink
    The pitcher’s job is to direct traffic on IF popups. A really savvy one will hold back guys to keep them out of the way. Duffey just kind of stared in the sky and then bolted at the last second. He isn’t to blame but hopefully he got a talking to on what he could do to help out next time.
  9. etwink
    ...and candlesticks make a good wedding present!
  10. etwink
    Gardy was the mgr in 2002, Ortz’s last season in MN. Look it up. I agree that he isn’t a comp for Sano, which is why I made my comments in response to earlier comments about Ortiz. Looks like we agree after all!
  11. etwink
    If both sides are happy to extend, I’d be good with that. No one has ever doubted the talent; it’s always been a question of whether Sano would unlock it. As for the Ortiz fears; Terry Ryan and Gardy aren’t around anymore. We’re not going to give up on Sano because he won’t hit the other way or advance the runner. If we give up on Sano it will be because he either can’t stay healthy or hits like he did early this year.
  12. etwink
    102 wins is meaningless for me at this point, as it just ties a Twins record. The only thing that matters until the playoffs is the season HR record. In 10 years, no one is going to remember that the Twins broke so many other HR records if they finish 2nd for the season record; the casual fan will just say “oh, the Yankees had the most HRs two years in a row”.
  13. etwink
    I agree with Riverbrian. The question really isn’t “should Randy Dobnak start in the playoffs?” It’s “do we trust Gibson or Perez enough to start in the playoffs?” I think that we all know the answer to that question is a resounding “NO WAY!!!” So, Rocco has two choices: 1) go with seniority and give one of the two boys a chance, with a short leash, or 2) go in a different direction with The Dobber or Smeltzer. How Rocco answers that question will tell us how committed he is to stats and new methods.
  14. etwink
    I love how this thread started with Graterol and is now fixated on Gibson. The horse has died, been butchered, left out to rot, thrown in the rubbish and incinerated....stop kicking it! Graterol’s potential use brings to mind how we treated Santana in his early early days; bring him along slow and then unleash The Beast. If Graterol is this good (though referencing only 4+ innings of excellence doesn’t exactly help the argument), he needs to be in the majors. It’s that simple. If we’re worried about his pitch count, just use him as a reliever next year and then bring him around in 2021. It’s better to do that than leave a weapon in AAA. Oh, and one comment about his pitches....when you throw 101 with that movement, you don’t need 3 or 4 great pitches at 21. Just scroll back through MLB history to see a lot of examples of guys who just brought heat for a few years until they figured out how to pitch. Guys don’t come out of the minors throwing like Max Scherzer does today.
  15. etwink
    I was thinking the same. We may look back on the last Cleveland series as THE factor that got us to the playoffs. Even if they win out, we just need to go 5-3 against awful teams. If we can’t do that, we’ve no business going to the playoffs!!
  16. etwink
    Nice efficient win against an awful team. Would have loved to see The Dobber pitch a bit more, given how dominant he was and the fact that he only threw 74 pitches....but Rocco has been running the pitching staff like this all year, so it’s pointless to complain at this point. Having said that, I love the fact that I can relax a bit and enjoy the later innings with our transformed bullpen. Who would’ve thought that we’d see Dyson go down and not even bat an eye because of the utter filth that May has thrown the past few months. I love watching a pitcher confidently winging it in there essentially saying “do your best because I know I’ve great stuff”. Lovely!
  17. etwink
    Cheers for that USAFChief. Totally get your points but we’ll have to agree to disagree, as our opinions aren’t lining up! No harm, no foul.
  18. etwink
    Oooh, I really hate the idea that we need to give a guy a break because he’s “hard luck”. The dude is making millions and the FO needs to decide if he’s worth, essentially, a whopping raise (due to experience) when he’s ending the season in such an awful way. The one thing in his favor is that our minor league system doesn’t seem to be able to churn out capable starting pitching on a consistent basis. I mean it’s been Gibson and Berríos and then.....uh....wait it’s coming to me....right, no one. So, given that the league has figured out Perez and the FO is going to have to decide whether to bring back Pineda....Gibson might just be a good bounce-back candidate. But I’m not going with the emotion of Gibson being hard-luck, any more than Buxton being hard-luck. You play with what you got and right now Gibson isn’t maximizing what he’s got.
  19. etwink
    Love your optimism, and totally hope you are right! I like Cave and hope he switches back on. You’ve just got to be ruthless in the playoffs and so, unless Cave snaps out of it, Wade might be the better option. Having said that, the post was a decision for Wade or Miller, sorry about muddying the water!
  20. etwink
    Eddie misread the ball off the bat, then tried to make up for his error by trying to get to the base that he should have reached easily and was barely thrown out. Let’s not over-complicate this; we lost by two runs. If Eddie is safe...we maybe lose by one run?? To me, this was like a basketball player makes a turnover on offense and then tries to make up for it but makes a foul on defense. It happens. I’m not excusing lax play, but thefact that Steve Stone called him out means zero to me given that the Sox’s “star” Moncada makes stupid plays routinely; be a man and call out your own guys, Steve.
  21. etwink
    Wade, and it’s not even close. The Twins need guys to get on base so they can be driven in, not guys to go from 1st to 2nd. Given the Twins OF situation, you may also need Wade to be your 3rd OF, as Cave hasn’t exactly set the world on fire since getting hurt.
  22. etwink
    Ok, I thought you had a good argument going there until you made your comments about suggesting that people were bigoted for having a problem with Pineda controlling his weight. Good, rational, factual, conclusions fall silent when they are followed by a black-mailing straw-man argument. People aren’t mad at Big Mike because he's overweight; they’re mad at him because he’s left a really good, really promising, team in a awful lurch. So, Pineda might be a good extension candidate due to his stats, but you need to allow some people to look past that because of their disappointment. Sabir, you wrote a compelling article that made people think. You put yourself out there, so don’t apologize for an article “not measuring up”....ever. Next time just stick with the facts and stats and drop the arm-twisting bits at the end.
  23. etwink
    I hate that he tried to suggest that he wasn’t responsible, by saying “a close acquaintance” gave it to him (i.e. he didn’t get the pills himself) rather than just leave it with a comment taking responsibility. Does anyone out there really take random pills that a friend gives you (other than teens in night-clubs)?? It boggles the mind that these guys want us to believe that they are utter fools when it comes to their private lives. Big Mike isn’t willing to man-up to his responsibility...but he’s forced his teammates into a position where they have to, if they want to have a chance this year. Gibby is going to have to pitch through illness, Berrios is going to have to drop the illusion that everything is ok and figure out how to miss bats again, Perez is going to have to channel the 1st half of the season, Odo is going to have to find a way to get past the 5th inning and someone is going to have to take the ball every fifth day. It’s hard work being an adult!
  24. etwink
    Zero chance Miller gets in. We go with a guy who hasn’t had a single ML AB yet, over other guys who’ve contributed all year? Not if we are serious about the playoffs. Besides we’ve already got a fast PH option in Buxton, unless he starts hitting again. Can’t see us dropping Gibby unless he’s completely unable to play. Rocco has spent the entire year keeping people happy; can’t imagine him giving Gibby a slap in the face like that, especially in his walk year.
  25. etwink
    Yes, I think that the consensus is that it’s time for Rocco and the FO to make some hard decisions about what we want to accomplish this year. For instance, If we DFA’d all those relievers before the deadline, what is Harper still doing on this roster? We’ve plenty of guys who can give up 2 runs down in AAA. Also, this babying of Berríos is equally mystifying. Here is a man who doesn’t want to be good; he wants to be the best, he has high expectations for himself. With that in mind, he needs a good kick in the rear and he needs to be told that doing the same thing is not working and he needs to change. All pitchers go through this; the great ones figure out how to change and then grow from it....but it won’t happen if we just pat him on the head and tell him he’s great. The only good thing about the game is that it was in the middle of the night for me, so I couldn’t watch it! :-)
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