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LaBombo

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Everything posted by LaBombo

  1. LaBombo
    As I acknowledged in another thread, some of the massive dropoff from Mauer to Suzuki is offset by the extra offense Mauer represents compared to Morneau. But most of the visions of equal or improved offense compared to last year include not only more at bats for Mauer thanks to the position shift, but also better ones. If I were the Twins, I would treat that as a welcome bonus, not an expected outcome. They appear to be going with the latter.
  2. LaBombo
    There are other factors as well. Which Ricky Nolasco are we getting? Will Target Field represent salvation for Hughesey's career? Does Willingham hit enough to net a decent prospect? Is Dozier for real? Is Gardenhire really the right guy to manage this team? And did somebody finally buy Rob Antony the current Baseball Prospectus for his birthday? It's not like wins and losses are totally irrelevant. If the team is on the way to 100+ losses at the ASB, Gardenhire has to be gone and the season is a disappointment almost no matter what the youngsters do. By the same token, a 78 win season is at least some degree of success, even if it's achieved with only 250 Pinto PA's and huge rebound years for Willi and Kubel. But yeah, 2014 is mostly about 2015 and beyond for me.
  3. LaBombo
    Pot, meet kettle. Your entire argument in this thread is just legal deposition posturing about defining the team in terms of wins and losses. Do you really believe that the Twins being better or worse than last season comes down to whether they lose more or fewer than 96 games? That just sounds absurd to me. Yes, Nolasco and Hughes are replacing PJ DeWormondez in the rotation, and that's great. But a Hall of Fame catcher was replaced by Kurt Freaking Suzuki, the next best catcher in the organization is likely to ride the bench, both Jasons are apparently back to rob playing time from potentially meaningful players, Josh Willingham doesn't look like he could pass the physical for a beerball league, and the roster features exactly zero players under age 30 and coming off of consecutive above average seasons. And they'll be led by an obsolete manager whose retention was an epically historical anomaly and an assistant GM who doesn't know his xFIP from his lower lip. So, yeah, the Twins might lose only 95 games this year, and be better in a purely abstract, meaningless way. But if that extra 'win' comes at the expense of a lineup with less youth and potential, and if the two value-priced rotation saviors don't show us they're likely to be better than 4th starters when the Twins return to contention, and if no young player takes a stride forward toward being part of a solid core, then the 2014 version of the Twins will absolutely be worse than last year.
  4. LaBombo
    It's absolutely mind-bending how often this is getting butchered, to the point where even the person correcting someone else is wrong. Say it with me: Alex PRESLEY is the outfielder. Ryan PRESSLY is the relief pitcher. Sweet smoking Jesus, people. It's not that hard.
  5. LaBombo
    The same was said often in the runup to the 2012 and 2013 seasons, and even sometimes before the 2011 season. Nearly 300 losses later, predictions of 90+ losses no longer represents the threshold of irrational pessimism. Predictions of relocation or contraction do.
  6. LaBombo
    That's more of a philosophical question along the lines of whether the focus of the season should be about developing players or avoiding 90 losses and saving Gardy's @ss than it is about what to expect from Pinto. But yes, 5 a week sounds about right.
  7. LaBombo
    Yup. And as I noted in another thread, with that bench and Willi and Kubel in the lineup, we will inevitably see a pinch runner selection that is either hilarious or appalling.
  8. LaBombo
    Good read. Would be ok with Pinto here or in AAA, just as long as he's playing as much as he can handle. If 'sitting next to Steiny' and watching baseball instead of playing it had much educational value, then my question as owner or president would be "Why weren't you guys doing that with him in the offseason using game tapes?"
  9. LaBombo
    Oh, and If they really go with 3 catchers all season and the over/under on the total number of times this year that Willingham and Kubel have a catcher pinch run for them is set at 10, I'm putting 20 on the over.
  10. LaBombo
    If a roster with 3 catchers, a lineup 4 or more days a week with Suzuki batting second, and another 90-loss season isn't enough to get Gardenhire fired, then the organization is doomed to fail until there's a complete front office purge.
  11. LaBombo
    Three catchers = only 2 non-catcher bench players. Hmmm
  12. LaBombo
    He'll go as far as his left-handed bat will let him. If that's a .250 average, he'll need a lot of walks to push his lefty OBP above .330 or so. If that's the limit, he could still mash lefties enough to put up a season like the .270 avg/.350 OBP one people are projecting, but he'll also need those 15+ homers and 20+ SB's to really be a plus in a corner. My guess is that he'll end up hitting enough to be a good but not great CF, and pretty close to an average corner OF. After seeing Benson, Parmelee, Plouffe and others flame out to varying degrees, it's hard for me to get really excited about any young hitters in the organization besides Buxton and Sano. Hope I'm wrong, like I was about Dozier.
  13. LaBombo
    http://www.clickypix.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/challenge-accepted-8.jpg They replaced the best-hitting catcher in baseball with one of the worst. With Mauer at first, the bat that Suzuki replaces relative to last year is actually Morneau's, but he's still awful even relative to Justin. Agree about Willingham needing to rebound for them to have a prayer of respectability. In addition, they'll need breakout years from Arcia, Hicks, and Pinto to avoid having one of the worst offenses in the AL. Overall, my guess is that this will be about like 2013, maybe a little better, with a bad offense offsetting most of the improvement in the pitching. It will be a more interesting year for following the prospects, as they face stronger competition and we get a better picture of what to expect when they arrive.
  14. LaBombo
    It's come to this for the Twins. They're going to have to make due with only 12 pitchers, just two more than what many teams in the league used to get along with even after the advent of the 5 man rotation, and one more than many use now.
  15. LaBombo
    The running joke was that if he'd only had a bat instead of a shovel, he'd never have been able to hit it. Ouch.
  16. LaBombo
    Meyer is 24 and has one season's worth of pro innings spread out over the past two years. Might be a little early to throw up the hands in despair. And May was hurt. It happens. The lack of return on guys they've traded is frustrating, as is the lack of return on guys they didn't. And yes, infield, except for Sano and maybe Rosario, is pretty much a black hole. Pretty much a 20 year drought at this point.
  17. LaBombo
    Failure to sell high, Chapter 174.
  18. LaBombo
    Yup. In addition to being utterly dominating, the Tiger starting 5 was also essentially bulletproof last season. Yet they still ended up giving 6 starts to something called Jose Alvarez. Deduno will probably see at least a half dozen starts this season unless the wheels fall completely off his wagon. Which is always a possibility for guys with wacky, seemingly unsustainable success relative to their peripherals.
  19. LaBombo
    Yeah, Cuellar has probably already had a talk with his all of his guys about the uniquely challenging work environment pitching behind a Twins rotation, and having enough gas in the tank for more than 3 outs if needed. All of them except the one with 44 career MLB starts, that is.
  20. LaBombo
    Yeah, there's a fine line between drawing on the predecessor's corporate knowledge and making the new guy feel like he's on probation the first year.
  21. LaBombo
    NP. Might have made the connection sooner but he's sporting a more modern 'do. Looks like retirement didn't last very long. Not that they've officially brought him back, but I'll go out on a limb and guess that they're still as interested in what he has to say as he is in how his prospects turn out.
  22. LaBombo
    Closer to a profile view: http://stmedia.startribune.com/images/630*354/ubas0508rantz.jpg Sorry, link only, won't post. Looks even more like him.
  23. LaBombo
    Notorious mouth-breather Jim Rantz? http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/4fb4c62d6ee9a6befed5f06cd315fb021f54864b/c=0-0-680-510&r=x404&c=534x401/http/archive.kare11.com/images/680/510/2/assetpool/images/121015100213_Jim%20Rantz%20MN%20Twins.jpg
  24. LaBombo
    Sounds right. Fans of most organizations would be asking 'How many other teams use two bullpen slots on long relievers who can give you two good innings per appearance instead of one great one?' Twins fans wonder how many other teams need two.
  25. LaBombo
    Of course one good game can change anything. It's the Twins. Scouting trumps spring training trumps anything with numbers in it. But if you feel that the Twins organization is suffering from a glut of effective starter candidates, well, optimism is pretty cool, but...?
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