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Dantes929

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Everything posted by Dantes929

  1. Dantes929
    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.
  2. Dantes929
    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.
  3. Dantes929
    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.
  4. Dantes929
    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.
  5. Dantes929
    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.
  6. Dantes929
    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.
  7. Dantes929
    Like I said the logic is unassailable but the execution is questionable. it does matter who the best 5 are which is not solved by who makes out the list. Its why I wanted Santana to start out in the bullpen and simply wait until performance or injury sorts it out. I think all the current starters have earned their way to keep going right now.
  8. Dantes929
    First of all, it seems to me that :Gibson in particular doesn't pitch quite as well when rested. The gain in velocity is more than offset by the lack of movement. I don't know about the rest. I absolutely agree with the logic that you should throw your 5 best out there and move the other to the pen or minors but I have a few problems with the reality. Its not even certain that Santana is currently among the top 5 with his age, PED's and layoff. In your list you delete Milone from the rotation. I know you don't value ERA much but it is a fact that he has the lowest career ERA of the whole group. You say that results from favorable conditions in Oakland but then there is the fact that he has the lowest ERA on the team this season to go along with lights out pitching in the minors. You say small sample size but you to at least admit that there is the possibility that he is currently the best pitcher right now and that Santana is the worst. By going with your 5 man rotation you have now replaced your best of the 6 with the worst of the 6. it absolutely matters who the top 5 are for your basic premise to work out favorably. 6 man rotation in that instance trumps the 5 man.
  9. Dantes929
    Funny how people see the same thing and draw different conclusions. From my view Vargas looked very balanced and under control last year and swung according to where he was pitched. (not trying to go the other way but able to if that is where the pitch was). This year it looks like he is swinging much harder and trying to pull the ball more with poor results. The "Twins Way" is a myth, IMO
  10. Dantes929
    Its not like he is Clayton Kershaw. HIs career era of 4.17 is not spectacular and may have been aided by PEDs to go along with his aging and suspension. It would be very dumb to put him right in the middle of the rotation replacing guys who are currently sporting ERA's a run better than Santana's career mark I don't mean the really dumb part. I hope he does well but it would not be really dumb to put him in the pen to start out as long as the rest of the rotation is doing well. That element can fall apart quickly.
  11. Dantes929
    If I order a brand new expensive driver and while waiting for delivery, hit long and straight drives with my old G15 I will probably try out my new expensive driver even though the smart thing would be to continue to hit my old driver until I am no longer hitting it long and straight. In this analogy the new driver is :Santana and the old driver is the rest of the rotation. The smart thing would be to put Santana in the pen. People do not always (or even often) do the smart thing. Of course the upside is that if Santana actually is currently one of the top 5 starters and the Twins happen to pick the worst starter for him to replace the rotation will be better. The down side is if Santana is currently the worst starter and the Twins pick the best starter for him to replace we have spent a lot of money to downgrade our rotation. . Currently I have a good feeling that any of our rotation has a strong likelihood of keeping the team in the game even with the sputtering offense and I don't think it should be messed with right now. 6 man rotation would be ok except there is a reasonable theory that Gibson does better without too much rest.
  12. Dantes929
    The future is probably not now but the current team is likely diminished by putting Santana in the rotation right now. Future is not hurt at all by putting him in the pen until it become clear who should be replaced. The elephant in the room is fact that Santana has not dominated the minors and there has been little talk about how much the PED's contributed to his last couple of years of success. It is absurd that the Twins are not able to void or renegotiate his contract.
  13. Dantes929
    It really is kind of absurd. The ONLY thing that makes sense at all is putting Santana in the pen until someone falters. Milone has the best career ERA, pitched lights out in the minors, and has an ERA of 2.03 in his last 5 starts. If he is demoted I will be pissed. May had 5 quality starts in his prior 7 games. Even this last start might have been better if Robinison makes the catch and May turns the double play. If he is demoted I will be pissed. Pelfrey has the lowest ERA on the team. If he is demoted I will be pissed. Gibson has been great. If he is demoted I will be pissed. Leaves us with Hughes who has been pitching better recently against Santana who hasn't pitched at all until recently.
  14. Dantes929
    Funny that Milone is the lone starter with the best ERA and is a likely candidate for being the one to be replaced. If this were spring training I am fine with putting Santana in ink but I never like the idea of replacing players that are doing well currently. For example I would take Santana's career over Scot Diamond's career in a heart beat but I would not take him over Scot Diamond of 2012. Rotation is doing well and Santana will fit in for someone eventually. I just see no need for it to be now.
  15. Dantes929
    Lol, read the sentence again in a different light. I said I liked the signing of Pelfrey as much as I did the signing of Nolasco. That wasn't really an endorsement. I didn't hate the signing because I really did like what he did in those three months and thought there was potential beyond that of Correia and at least that of Nolasco. I would have been ok with not signing either of them.
  16. Dantes929
    Santana to the pen. Every starter has an ERA lower than Santana's career ERA. Why take anyone out until there is a real likelihood of Santana doing better than who he replaces. It will happen. It just shouldn't happen now.
  17. Dantes929
    I couldn't understand why they didn't give him a two year contract in the first place since or at least an option for the 2nd year. The second contract had some logic to it. He had 9 good starts out of 14 from June to August in his first year before understandably wearing out toward the end. His ERA is July was a very good 3.6 and August was an even better 3.25. There was every reason to think he would come back strong in 2014. I liked his resigning as much as I did the Nolasco signing. Like I said, with Tommy John recover I thought and option on his 2nd year would have made sense in his first contract. Good thing I am not GM since if that had happened we would not have him this year.
  18. Dantes929
    Lol, I have no idea why I keep making that mistake. Blind spot in the brain.
  19. Dantes929
    I was at the game and was surprised it was a strike. It looked like a pitch out to me but either way it was a good pitch for the catcher. I knew he was going that pitch and figured they did also. he did not get a good jump.
  20. Dantes929
    I don't think Molitor makes as much difference as many people think though I do think he is doing a fine job. Gardy needed to go because he was definitely getting stale but managers in general are overrated IMO. The guy I believe has more influence is Chad Allen. Biggest difference between this year and the prior 4 is not the use of the bullpen, or the offense. It is the starting rotation. Now maybe Allen doesn't deserve full credit for that either since Pelfrey and Gibson have benefited from health they haven't had in the past but it is the rotation that has made the difference so far. Does Molitor get credit for that or is it Ryan?
  21. Dantes929
    "There's absolutely no doubt that the Twins need to find a place for him in their rotation. It's also a great thing that we are having to ask this question, rather than be able to point to three different pitchers that don't belong." I have plenty of doubt. Hughes has a higher ERA than Santana's career ERA, May's is very close and the other 3 are far outperforming Santana's career ERA. Put Santana in the pen and find the spot in the rotation when one of them falters or gets hurt. And get rid of Nolasco.
  22. Dantes929
    Article doesn't really touch on how much better the outfield defense has been this year and how much better Rosario, Buxton and Hicks can be than Willingham, Schaefer and Arcia. What was a huge liability coming into the season looks like it could be a huge asset. Team can afford Hunter or Arcia in right as long as Buxton and Rosario man the other two spots. I like Arcia and Vargas but am leaning toward one of them leaving.
  23. Dantes929
    Honestly, his career numbers are not that much worse than Santana or Nolasco. I don't think we would get much for Pelfrey but I think the added pitch changes who he is as a pitcher so I do not want to get rid of him unless it is for a good catcher even up. If we are going to lose guys for little in return I would prefer it be Nolasco. I know it won't last but right now I don't want anyone out of this rotation. They just held the best team in baseball to 8 runs over 4 games. Don't fix it til it breaks. Santana to the pen unless someone messes up their next two starts.
  24. Dantes929
    It will probably work itself out by the time Santana is ready but I would really like the current rotation to thrive and then simply put Santana and Nolasco in the pen until a spot opens up due to injury or ineffectiveness. I disagree that Santana has the best track record. Milone had a sub 4.00 career ERA before he got here and it is still below 4.00 after 89 big league starts.
  25. Dantes929
    I have been saying all along that he should ignore the shift. The pitchers were even throwing to the outside corner which should be in his wheelhouse to go to left. In other words he should be able to square more balls up going the other way which would offset the fact that the shift will take away some of those well hit balls. Another factor psychologically besides the shift is the strike zone. I listen to opposing team's broadcasts and several times they mention that Mauer didn't like a strike call and for good reason. This goes with when I watch the games and fox tracks show that borderline calls on the outside corner and even a little more than borderline are called strikes. This would naturally erode one of Mauer's strengths which is discipline in the strike zone.
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