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Dantes929

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Everything posted by Dantes929

  1. Dantes929
    We were 6-3 against the A's, had 96 wins on the year, home field advantage and Santana on the mound. Many national experts were picking the Twins to win it all. Ironically, the team that was way more likely to fold because they lost 3 in a row at home to the 100 loss Royals to lose the division ended up thumping the Yankees of all teams, sweeping the A's and then losing 4 games to 1 against the 82 win Cards. That season more than any other influence me to think that you want the best team going into the playoffs but the really, really important thing is to make the playoffs.
  2. Dantes929
    Yeah, Punto and Gomez had base running gaffs too if I remember right that cost some runs. I don;t mean to pick on Nathan cuz I loved his career here, but that year the Yankees were 17-17 when the Twins came in to New York and the first game Nathan had a two run lead in the 9th and gave up 3 runs. The Yankees went on to have come back walk off wins in all three games. Later the Yankees credited that win and that series as the spark for their WS championship season. I thought it had the opposite effect on the Twins and was the game that completely got in Nathan's head, IMO. He actually pitched well in that game and would have beat anyone else and the Yankees most days but I think it was that game that made him look really scared in the playoffs that year. Of course wins in any of the playoff games might not have changed the outcome of the series, but who knows.
  3. Dantes929
    Tyner hit .312 that year. He DH'd very little during the regular season and I can't figure out why he was DH'ing and Rondell White was playing left field. Even worse, in the first game Phil Nevin was the DH. I don't even remember a Phil Nevin. Our outfield that year was Ford, Hunter and Cuddyer. Tyner came in for Ford when Ford couldn't sustain his prior year success. I guess a trade for another outfielder Might have helped but like I said .312 ain't bad. Kubel was on the team also but doesn't appear to be on the playoff roster.
  4. Dantes929
    Yeah, 2004 was a tough one Two extra inning games. After winning the first in New York we had them on the ropes in the 2nd game and Nathan had the lead in the 12th and gave up 2. I don't even blame him so much for that one because he pitched longer than normal but if we win that one maybe it changes everything and the Yankees are talking about the Twins curse instead of the other way around. The 2nd game in 2009 was the most painful for me. 2 run lead in the 9th and I had $100 on the Twins but when I saw Nathan warming up I asked everyone I was with if they wanted my ticket at cost and I got no takers. One game can change everything. I really wasn't trying to pick on anyone or any element of the game. The offense those years was plenty good but just didn't come through at the right times. Twins made trades and got free agents but it came down to winnable games not being won. I don't know what trades or free agents would have changed that.
  5. Dantes929
    Of course, it is the age we live in. No one tries to build solely from the farm anymore since free agency. I always looked at the lack of playoff wins being due to our highly rated guys not doing the job rather than not being able to do the job. We had a highly rated bull pen those years and if you look back the losses were ofteny due to guys like Rincon, Nathan, and Santana giving up runs. You can trade all you want but Nathan is still going to be your closer.
  6. Dantes929
    I was going to post what a difference it is to have a minor league system like we have now vs the system we had back in 2012 and then I was going to compare and contrast but that system had Sano, Rosario, Hendriks, Hicks, Dozier, Gibson and Kepler. Little of it was major league ready on a team that really needed major league players but still does serve as a counter to those that say you can't count on prospects. That was a poorly rated system back then.
  7. Dantes929
    2002-2010 was a pretty long window and I enjoyed it immensely. The starting pitching is concerning so I would be willing to give up some minor league quality depth to get Thor and/or Lynn and resign Pineda and maybe Gibson if reasonable.
  8. Dantes929
    What do you think of the assertion that Graterol is too much like Romero. I heard reports about Romero and was excited to see him and the reality didn't match up. I heard reports about Graterol and then saw video of him and got more excited. I don't think it is a good comparison. I also don't like the comp to Alex Meyer. He never really lived up to the potential even in the minors. Brusdar's numbers were screaming for promotion. I could be way off base here in comparing him more favorably with Berrios. You have the nose to the ground. What is your assessment?
  9. Dantes929
    For every Cole and Verlander there is a Darvish and an Archer but that's the risk/reward part of the game. Syndergaard hasn't been a top 10 Cy Young since 2016 but has been very good. His year so far hasn't been that great and it is hard to argue he has been as good as Stroman who just went for not that much. My point is Thor's trade value SHOULD be at its lowest but their reported ask would reflect value beyond his highest. Your caveat of "Assuming the asking price comes down, which I believe will." changes the whole dynamic. Buxton plus top prospects would be buying high while selling our assets low. If the asking price comes down to Kiriloff or Lewis plus lower prospects that changes everything. Everyone here would like to get Thor and many would be ok with a slight overpay. If the current asking price doesn't come down would you want to pay that to get him and would you consider that a reflection of a low point in Thor's value? If the ask does come down then we have a different conversation. I don't think the Mets want to part with him and are not considering the "lowest Syndergaard's trade value is going to get." part of the equation. They are asking what we would hope the Twins would ask for if someone came to us now wanting Berrios. I get a bit attached to top prospects and don't like giving them up but it certainly projects like at least one of them will be blocked or one of the current guys we like will be expendable so I have come around to the idea of giving up some of the young talent for a guy like Thor. If their ask DOES come down I hope we can pull the trigger. What would you be willing to give up?
  10. Dantes929
    I don't know why they stopped there. Why didn't they ask for Kiriloff, Lewis, Garver, Buxton, Kepler, Polanco and Berrios along with cash to sweeten the deal? Hey, I'd like to get the guy. After all, with their current ERA;s he would fit nicely in the 5th spot if we go to a 6 man rotation. Berrios 2.94, Odorizzi 3.84, Gibson, 4.10, Pineda 4.30, Sydergaard 4.33 (NL by the way so maybe he falls to the 6th spot) Perez 4.38..... I am kidding. I would like to get him but Kiriloff, Enlow and maybe Gordon is as far as I would go since I liked Stroman just as well and a lesser package got him. If I am a Mets fan or owner of course I would ask for the moon because they have Stroman now that would help fill out the rotation for next year. Plus they are not out of it for this year either. Mostly what I am saying for the Twins sake. Is this really an ace? 10 quality starts out of 20. It would be the essence of buying high on Syndergaard and selling low on the prospects. Go get Lynn.
  11. Dantes929
    When Brock said he will not be up I thought it was reasonable and I imagined rehab to consist of a lot of workouts, soft tosses and building up gradually such that being ready in two months might be stretching it. I accepted all that. However, he has obviously been doing more than just resting for the last two months if he is already seeing live action and they are letting him throw that hard. If they were going to baby him now is the time they would be doing it. A fairly long lay off but if he can show the same stuff he did earlier with the same control he could be the shot in the arm the bullpen needs. All of this is, of course, conditional on the reports about consistent 100 mph being close to accurate. I may be too excited about this guy but I really don't see using options as being a big deal. He just has too big an arm not to stick the first try or three.
  12. Dantes929
    Not really a fair assessment. The other two we gave up were picked up and no way the rest of the pen would have cleared waivers. Romo should help and I am hoping for Kennedy. I would also really like Lance Lynn if not too costly. 16 of 22 quality starts is ridick. Also, although I have been told we won't see Brusdar Graterol this season he just had a clean inning in rehab with reports of constant 100 mph. He was absolutely on track before going on the IL. If he stays healthy I can't imagine he won't be up here for the stretch run in September.
  13. Dantes929
    Nick Blackburn pitched great in his two must win games. All sorts of aces haven't I didn't even trust Santana to beat the A's back in 2006. The guy in the majors I trust most to pitch a great game in a must win spot is Justin Verlander. who by the way is 0-4 with a 5.67 ERA in World Series games. We have beat plenty of Cy Young winners already. Of course the better the pitcher the greater your odds but II am fine with any of them in the playoffs because that means we made the playoffs.
  14. Dantes929
    Graterol's return shocks me. 100 mph already!! I don't expect him to build innings to be a starter for the Twins this year but the way he was throwing the first half I find it hard to believe there isn't a place for him in the bullpen this year. I'm not a guy that is generally super impressed by 100mph because it is usually accompanied by wildness or lack of secondary pitches. By all accounts, not the case with Brusdar. This is exciting new to me.
  15. Dantes929
    "The big news is that Brusdar Graterol made his return to the mound in a rehab start. He threw the first inning and worked a perfect first inning with two strikeouts. The fastball was mostly at 100 mph per reports." This shocked me since it came out of the blue for me. I didn't think he would be throwing live and certainly didn't expect 100 mph. Are you still convinced the Twins can't use him this year?
  16. Dantes929
    I have always preferred building through drafts. Its why I look at the minor league report. You hear about these guys and watch them develop. At some point many here wanted to trade almost our entire team. Berrios, May, Gibson, Sano, Polanco, Arrraez, Garver, Buxton, Rosario, and Kepler all went through our system and now it is paying off but pitching is lacking and finding a spot for Lewis, Kiriloff and others will be a challenge. I would trade Kiriloff and another lower top 10 for a stud pitcher. Is Thor still a stud is my question. So Kiriloff, and Enlow maybe. Seems like more than Toronto just gave up for Stroman an hard to make the argument that Thor is better than Stroman at this point. At least if run prevention is the goal to pitching.
  17. Dantes929
    I don't really understand the Mets picking up Stroman unless they think he is a nice add for the unlikely but still possible wildcard race in addition to being a nice piece to go with Thor for next year. If I were a Met's fan, that is the path I would want them to take. They were supposed to be fringe contenders this year. They just added afron line guy. Add a couple free agents and 2020 looks promising. As far as the Twins go... Pick up Kennedy. All it cost is money. Get Lynn if not too costly. It was actually a good signing last year that just didn't work out. I would have no problem with getting him back. Is he an ace? Who cares? Plenty of aces don't pitch like aces in the playoffs and plenty of guys considered #2 and 3 guys do pitch like aces. If we got Lynn and Kennedy I would call it a day and a good day at that.
  18. Dantes929
    I agree completely with many of your points. Pretty much every season has top teams losing or getting swept by bottom teams. When the Twins couldn't buy a victory against any East team last decade the last place Royals seemed to do pretty well against some of them. You absolutely have to take care of business when playing bad teams and you can't assume Cleveland will lose against the good teams. My all time favorite example of this was in 2006 when we were tied with the Tigers and 3 to go. We were playing a pretty good White Sox team and Tigers were playing the 100 loss Royals. Everyone was saying we absolutely had to sweep the White Sox to have a chance at the division title. We ended up winning 1 game but the Tigers, with everything to gain, got swept by the Royals.... At home! However, over time schedule does matter. Yes, give credit to the Indians for their winning streak but it has been against the bad teams. Twins giving up ground while playing the Yankees, A;s, etc, was predictable. Twins are winning 70% of their games against losing record teams. Over time those stats matter. Throw them away for short term. Twins should do better in August but whether they do and whether it is enough remains to be seen. They do play the Indians 10 more games.
  19. Dantes929
    Pineda now has 10 quality starts out of 20 which is about league average for all starters and exactly equal to Noah Syndergaard. I prefer to cherry pick and say that since May 11th he has 9 quality starts out of 13 which is way better than average and top of the rotation territory.
  20. Dantes929
    Hoarding prospects has given us Garver, Sano, Polanco, Araiz, Rosario, Buxton, Kepler, Berrios, Gibson, and Rogers. Maybe not a super team of emerging breakouts but pretty good and if we had hoarded a little more would have HIcks, Hendricks, and Pressley. Ok, thats a stretch I know, but every one of those guys was a piece of trade propositions at some point. The hoarding has not given us great pitching so I am open to the idea of trades. I am a little higher on Stroman now than Thor but I do like the control of years on Thor. Lewis is more versatile than Kiriloff. I laugh at the idea of both for Thor but like the idea of adding other pieces to make it less laughable.
  21. Dantes929
    Thank you. He was killing it in AA and I don't think he had much more to prove there. If he can get back to where he was in 5 weeks or so I could easily see him being one of the missing pieces in the pen. I have no idea if that is feasible.
  22. Dantes929
    I have asked on several boards for the last week whether anyone has a status or timeline for Graterol. He has been on the Il for over 2 months now. I was hopeful he would be able to help the Twins this year yet but have no idea if he will even pitch again this year. Anyone?
  23. Dantes929
    Syndegaard has a 4.33 NL ERA. He has 10 Quality starts out of 20. The only stat in his favor over Stroman or any of the Twins is FIP and Stroman still has him beat there. My question is Syndergaard really still a stud? I don''t generally trust NL ERA's anyway but 4.33 gives me pause. He strikes me more as Darvish risk than Verlander.
  24. Dantes929
    Really hard to believe Span wasn't picked up by anyone this year. Batted .272 last year an for most of the 1st half this year no outfielder for Cleveland had an average over .210. Shane Mack played 180 games in center.
  25. Dantes929
    Solid list. "Carlos Gomez scores on a Luis Castillo hit" It was Alexi Casilla with the game winning hit. This one makes my list.
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