Dantes929

A lot of parallels to golf here. It never ceases to amaze me how just a slight tweak to alignment, grip or just keeping connected can make the difference between shanks or weak slices and effortless power. When I see power hitters try to pull the ball by opening up too soon or stepping toward the line (bucket) it makes me wonder where the hitting coaches are. Its akin to trying to stop slicing your drives by opening up your stance and shoulders which just accentuates and causes more slices. Monreau, Cuccyer, Young, Willingham and Kubel have all been guilty of this in the past. I have no objection to pulling the ball. Its TRYING to pull the ball that is the problem. You can see in the videos that stepping toward the pitcher creates a more centered, balanced and hence more powerful turn of the hips. A lot like golf.

All relevant points. Buxton is projected to be an offensive weapon whereas Flormon never was. If Buxton is still batting .200 when he has as many at bats then the comparison will be more apt. The real question is whether the Twins have better options. I don't care to see an infielder out there unless it is Santana. Would you rather have a non hitting elite defensive center fielder out there in Buxton or a non hitting defensive mediocrity in Hunter out there in a playoff chase. There is rarely a convenient time for a player to struggle but some players need to do it and maybe need to do it several times before they shine. I would stick with him. On his days off he is still an asset as a pinch runner and a late inning defensive replacement. In games he starts where we are behind late he can be lifted for :Vargas. No point sending him back down now. Maybe in a week or two he will have made us forget his bad start. Hard to believe every scout that has ever seen him can be wrong.

"More often than not, being in the middle isn't going to produce the results to get you to the top." :To be fair, with 30 teams, more often than not, nothing you do will get you to the top.

"More Left Hand -- Around 10 years ago... I invented a left-handed hammer and I was sure that I was going to get rich. Turns out there were no left-handed nails and the venture failed miserably." Reminds me of when my brother tried hanging a picture. He put the head of the nail against the wall and started hitting the point, obviously with no success. He said " A real idiot made this nail. He put the head on the wrong end" I said "You're the idiot. That nail was made to go on the opposite wall".

I hope that word means what you think it means.

That's just baseball. In just a few short weeks you might be saying you were right in wishing we had traded him.

"Tyler Duffey was pitching best for the Red Wings when he was called up. He was drafted the same year as Berrios, but he is three years older because he went to college. He is mature. He was ready for the big leagues. And, he was clearly nervous when he made his debut. It’s fair to say he’s calmed down well over his last three starts. Summary There are “business” reasons for the Twins to wait until about April 20, 2016, to call him up, but the fact that the Twins are in strong playoff contention in 2015 and the opinion that he may be the best pitcher in the organization right now, it seems pretty apparent (in my humble opinion) that JO Berrios should spend most of September with the Minnesota Twins." I am fine with the conclusion. Get him up here especially in relief though Duensing, Jepsen, and May have been really good its always nice to have another good option . The idea that he is the best pitcher in the organization right now is a bit far fetched especially in light of your comment about Duffey who indeed did have a better ERA at AAA and I would not put Duffey ahead of May, Jepsen or even Milone and others. Let him get a few major leaguers out before even speculating that he might be the best pitcher right now. . .

I see baseball prospectus has them at 6%. Their odds of making the playoffs are about 10 times greater than the 87 team had of winning the WS. Probably not going to happen but would be a lot of fun if it did and the chances are why I watch. If it was 100% I wouldn't bother.

First of all the Twins played .741 baseball in May so there is some reason to think it is in the realm of realistic possibility especially since we now have Sano and Buxton and whatever help we might get from Jepsen, Cotts and maybe Berrios. There is more talent on the field. Secondly, there is no telling what it will take just based on short recent history. I am ok if they win 25 or even 24 and take my chances. Do I think it will happen. Probably not but I am guessing most teams that have played .700 ball for 40 games did not think it would happen before it did. Beat the Orioles tonight would be a good start..

First, I don't consider it a bridge too far. 1.5 games back is too far? On this day in 2006 they were 8.5 games back. 1.5 games can change in two days. Of course it can go farther south as well but competitive doesn't mean come close and lose it means come close and either win or lose and so far I am happy that the Twins have been competitive. Of course I would like the pen to be stronger but has the lack of moves really been the culprit here. Since the all star game our all star closer has blown 4 games. Should the Twins have tried to upgrade what was the best closer in baseball in the 1st half? Lack of scoring and a bad stretch of starting pitching was the main culprit so far post ASB. In fact the pen just won two more games for them this past weekend. The pen gets slammed but they just pitched 7 innings giving up just one run (Perkins). IMO the relief corps has struggled most when the game was likely lost anyway and have held strong numerous occasions when the Twins were very close after short starts by the rotation. I would like better but it can't all be laid on them. There was a post a week ago about how the Twins rotation were all above and in some cases well above 5 ERA since the break and the Twins scored an average of 2.6 runs in the losses.

I am ok with the conclusion but the premise is not correct as I understand it. Twins did not move May to the pen out of need to bolster the pen but to open a spot for Santana. This is supported by the fact that he hasn't really been used as a guy that was moved to bolster the pen. He has been used as a guy that they are not sure what to do with. If the staff comes around and we are in more close games and May becomes the 8th inning guy at least we would get some value out of our pitcher with the best combination of stuff and control though I would prefer he be our 7th and 8th inning guy.

Perhaps the reason Milone landed on the shelf was also the reason for the post ASG high ERA. Gibson did just fine last night in stopping the bleeding with a run better than a quality start. While I was against the 6 man rotation because we had 5 guys doing really well when Santana was activated it makes more sense now if Hughes is dead armed. Very annoyed that May is out of the rotation for the season and hope Ryan is good for his work that he will be back next year. In the meantime there is no reason not to bring Berrios up. If the Twins are fading out of the race as many believe then bringing Berrios up is the equivalent of bringing May up last year. Get his feet wet and start him next year. If he does great then maybe he is the shot in the arm the Twins need to go on another good streak and be relevant for the rest of this year. I also hope the plan is to bring Buxton back. I would be very happy not to see Escobar, Robinson or Nunez in the outfield again this year. Buxton, Rosario and HIcks makes me happy.

Of course the Twins May was not a reflection of who they are but neither is 4-18. Plouffe Hunter, Dozier, and Mauer are not .210 hitters. The rotation is not a sub 3 ERA group but neither are they a 7+ ERA group. Perkins is not the 2nd coming of Mariano but he is not a 4 blown games in a row poor man's Ron Davis either. No doubt they were going to slump eventually but I don't think it is a coincidence that it was after the ASB. Momentum is such a fragile thing in baseball and taking a 4 day break when hot is often going to cool a team down. Not complaining because in their pennant years I often welcomed the ASB because I thought it helped them start fresh after a losing streak. Kind of like a reset button. My biggest criticism of the Twins this year is how they handled May. Arguably the best stuff on the rotation and maybe the last guy they should have taken out. Then instead of him being the guy they give the ball to for 4 innings when a starter only goes 5 and the game is still close they hardly use him at all and then only for an inning at a time so when Milone goes down he is unable to go back to the rotation. It is hindsight but even with the good start my worst vision of the shakeup may have come true. The Twins may have inserted the worst starter and taken the best starter out. Again, hindsight, and I wasn't in favor of it but a 6 man rotation would probably have given us better results.

Fans push and push for Ryan to make move and then criticize him for dong so. They say prospects are just prospects and have little value until they prove themselves and then moan when one is dealt for a 2.81 ERA. Personally, I almost never want the Twins to make moves. May is under utilized, Berrios could have been promoted to the pen, and Polanco can be give a shot at shortstop. Fans get what they ask for but apparently never what they want.l

Pretty much from the start Hicks has been major league quality from the right side and though .405 is not sustainable the focus should still be on his splits. If he can continue to hit around .250 from the left side and over .300 from the right side he is an every day guy with breaks against rightites. Otherwise he is still a platoon guy and a very good and valuable one. I still wish he had never tried bating left. Rosario, HIcks, and Buxton is a very real possibility and would transform our outfield from glaring weakness to better than anyone.

Is there a Colorado site that is discussing this trade. I am guessing they would want Dozier, Gibson, Dozier and Perkins.

Its true but that is the split you should be dealing with. None of his future games are likely to be at Coors if we get him and the splits are quite different. .819 OPS should cost much less than an .889 OPS. I would give up Ervin Santana, Arcia and Polanco. You devalue pitching from the NL and you devalue hitters from Colorado. The three I mentioned would do quite well at Coors field.

This is a reasonable statement but in this case we have a prospect that we want to be the full timer at third so Plouffe, much as I have come to like him is expendable. As you suggest, the exchange should be for someone in need of a 3rd baseman that has depth at catcher and is willing to part with a top 10 catcher that is under control for 2+ years. I don't know who that is but agree with the premise. The other thing I have proposed in the past is Sano for a similar catching or shortstop prospect, meaning very highly rated and near major league ready. Also, a statement at large. TD posters do value Twins prospects higher and make trade suggestions based on that inflated value but don't kid yourselves that we are alone in this delusion. Its not just the fans either. Aside from a very few GM's most organizations have this bias as well which is why trades really don't happen all that often. I can see parting with Berrios and Polanco for a great catcher but not just a good one. I know not all prospects pan out so there is the possibility that we are parting with nothing. There is also the possibility that we are parting with really good future pros. On the flip side, not every "proven" top 10 major league position playerr pans out once acquired either.

Twins biggest weakness are their announcers. Morris says something like "Well, with two outs and no one on, Perkins is going to continue his perfect save streak" I started knocking on wood and throwing salt over my shoulder but it was too late. Infield single, wild pitch and a blooper later and the Twins lose. Bremer says stuff like that all the time too and it always costs the Twins. Aren't baseball people superstitious anymore?

The worst thing about all those positive numbers is the All Star break. In the past 15 years it has sometimes seemed to be the break the team needed to regroup and start fresh and sometimes it has seemed to come at exactly the worst time. This is the year of the latter. Momentum is a finicky thing both on an individual and team level. Mauer and Santana were just starting to heat up and Sano's start is unsustainable. All these things are more likely to continue in the short term without the break IMO.

Not really fair. Blackburn did have two seasons that were pretty good and I do remember fans calling him the ace after a few good outings in a row. He also pitched a really good game 163. What is remarkable to me is that they always talked about his sinking fastball and on TV it always looked pretty straight to me which I attributed to the subtleties of angles. However, the break on Gibson's pitches are certainly not subtle. I remember the article talking about how lucky and unsustainable his results were given his low strikeout rate. I responded that it was his strikeout rate that was Unlucky and unsustainable given how well he was throwing. I honestly don't care about his strikeout rate. It was easy to see how batters were able to square up Blackburn. It is just as easy to see why Gibson gets a lot of groundballs and weak pop outs.

The Royals weren't good enough to go far last year either and yet they did. Nothing about what I have seen this year tells me the Twins cannot compete if they make the playoffs. I would be just fine with throwing Gibson, Hughes and Santana out there. That doesn't mean I think we should be buyers to get there. Sano appears to be working out just fine and Hicks has shown a lot of life recently. May did a good job out of the pen the other day and could be the short term answer if Pelfrey finds his groove again. I agree this team has outperformed their talent but their talent appears to be getting better. Lack of strikeouts by our staff does not concern me. Double plays are tough to achieve with strikeouts.

Its not KC but I am not as discouraged as most. 4 innings shut out ball last night to win it. In KC Pelfrey gave up 3 in 4 innings and the pen held for 5 scoreless. Unless you are KC you will give up some runs and from my viewpoint a lot of the relief runs given up are when the game was getting away from them anyway. I have confidence in Boyer, Fien, Perkins, Graham and now May. Not big on a one out specialist but Oliveros and Rodgers are intriguing.

I really hope they give him a clicker instead of a tape measure for his home runs. I want quantity of home runs and don't care about the distance. The two aren't mutually exclusive but I really don't want him falling in love with the tape measure.

My last point here is that the rotation has been what has kept us in it. The offense has been spotty at best and the relief corps has been suspect also. Putting Santana in the pen will strengthen a weakness without weakening our strength. Depth is great as long as we have the order correct.