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tony&rodney

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Everything posted by tony&rodney

  1. tony&rodney
    The Twins are winning about at the pace predicted in the forecasts coming into the season. A season total of 83-88 wins was pretty standard. While the bulk of the blame has tended to fall more to the Pohlad's decision to balance their budget, it was Falvey who made the decisions about signing players and trades. That discussion is tired but the end result is the team on the field and it seems to me that the Twins are doing just fine in consideration of their offseason. The next 34 games going into the July break should be a more favorable schedule for the Twins than the last month and an opportunity to improve their current position of being the Wild Card in a playoff game.
  2. tony&rodney
    Always fun to construct lineups and no true exact answer except for the one Baldelli delivers to the umpires before the game. Castro - 2B Lewis - 3B Kepler - RF Miranda - DH Correa - SS Kirilloff - 1B Jeffers - C Larnach - LF Buxton - CF Defense looks shaky.
  3. tony&rodney
    There have been a number of interviews with players and coaches/managers. My thoughts are based on watching at least an hour of AAA baseball 4-6 times per week via milb.com. My opinion is that MLB is watching the AAA games very closely and discussions are ongoing. Tuesday-Thursday is strictly electronic and Friday-Sunday uses the umpire with an ABS challenge system. The strike zone used, to the best that I understand (there is no absolute statement that I am aware of), is the one from the rule book. Yes, it changes based on the size of the batter. Strictly from a totally unprofessional viewpoint (mine), the system in AAA is working just fine. Perhaps other people have significant more knowledge or thoughts on this subject. I will add that several years ago I was opposed to all reviews and believed there should be a higher bar for umpires that resulted in promotion/demotion along with significant pay rewards based on excellence. Reviews are a regular part of nearly every inning, if only for the manager holding his hand up or someone discussing whether the umpires could "at least talk it over", and it seems time to wholly embrace the technology that already exists.
  4. tony&rodney
    For those who want an electronic strike zone I believe that it is years away due to comments from Manfred and likely the influence of the umpires. There really isn't any reason that baseball cannot have the ABS challenge system put into place. The lame arguments of how to cue the strike zone have not shown in AAA. At a minimum, the use of an ABS challenge system reduces complaints about ball/strike calls and rewards or punishes players for their knowledge of the strike zone. Two years ago I was not convinced that the use of an electronic zone would be beneficial. There were irregularities at that time which have been totally cleared up. The issues with balls and strikes is virtually nonexistent in AAA. It makes for a cleaner game. MLB could actually use it next year if there wasn't politics involved in the decision.
  5. tony&rodney
    I'm happy for Rooker. The Twins could use that batting line from a regular position player but there was never any way Rooker was going to get regular at bats until he landed in Oakland. I guess the question is would the Twins use a single player as a DH. Nelson Cruz was the last guy to be a DH for the Twins, although the team does have players whose defense makes them suited for DH duty.
  6. tony&rodney
    I said several times in the offseason that Buxton needs to rework his swing. He is too much all or nothing and I would never fear pitching to a guy with that severe cut. Buck has a long term contract and the Twins need to insist that Byron move towards a different approach or a .700 OPS is his ceiling. Does anyone believe that Buck is a threat in the batter's box at this time?
  7. tony&rodney
    No worries because the Twins are done with the Yankees after tomorrow.
  8. tony&rodney
    Ober was, indeed, exasperated because the strike zone seemed to move from inning to inning. There is nothing more frustrating for a pitcher than to not know what the umpire is calling a ball or a strike. Still, except for pitch count which is very important, the bad calls did not necessarily influence the game. We have all seen egregious calls for the Yankees, especially in New York. This pretty much happens from time to time to all teams when they play the Yankees in New York and I don't believe it is a conscious decision by the umpires. Such is life.
  9. tony&rodney
    Not sure there was any favoritism but the umpire was all over the place with his zone. It seemed to favor New York though because those glove side pitches mid height favored Gil and the pitches in the zone for Ober hurt his pitch count. On TBS there was some nonsensical discussion that the ABS system is still several years away because they don't know where the strike zone would be calibrated for players from Altuve to Judge. Apparently, Manfred and MLB doesn't have access to modern technology.
  10. tony&rodney
    I believe that there isn't a real good book on Lewis at this point and until he has played a few games pitchers are experimenting with him at the plate. The minor league pitchers were getting him out with breaking balls in the zone, in a small sample. Give Royce credit for staying off the breaking balls and sitting fastballs. That doesn't always work but tonight it did.
  11. tony&rodney
    A pretty good game actually. I like Kepler in the outfield but he really should catch that ball by Torres. He was there and seemed to misread the height of the ball. A 12 inch vertical and it is an out. The announcers noted that it was a home run in .... only Yankee Stadium. Luis Gil threw the ball well. I did think the Twins could have taken a few more pitches, especially Vazquez with Castro on first base. Thielbar committed a cardinal sin. You cannot throw an 0-2 pitch in the strike zone to a big swinger. Oh well. I thought Ober looked really tough. That double by Judge was a fluke and landed on the line. The odds of shutting out the Yankees right now are not real high so the bats need to produce. Oh boy, did Royce give some major ammunition to those who have anointed him the savior. Keep it up RL. Tomorrow?
  12. tony&rodney
    Sorry, but I just say no.
  13. tony&rodney
    Lewis is super-hyped by Twins fans. The grand slams and home runs in the playoffs caught people. Royce can gather fans quickly, as he did with his two at bats on Opening Day. Baseball is a slog though and hopefully Royce Lewis can play in 90 of the next 103 games and prove himself to be a full time regular at the big league level. I'm thinking positive thoughts about where and how Lewis can contribute to wins for the Twins but I'm also aware that he hasn't had a full year of baseball yet and am also aware of how difficult many MLB players have found it to adjust to adjustments. Good luck to Royce.
  14. tony&rodney
    The Marlins may ask for EmRod or Jenkins or Lee or Festa or some combination with one or more of those guys plus others from Minnesota for Luzardo, but there is a very close to zero chance that happens. The Twins need dynamic position players far more than they need pitching. If any of the Twins top position prospects have a chance to be above average major league players, Falvey should not consider trading them. I guess I am specifically referring to EmRod, Lee, and Jenkins with Keaschall in the background. This means we can forget about Luzardo unless Miami decides that lesser prospects bundled are worth gathering for their future.
  15. tony&rodney
    Matthews is a good choice. I have enjoyed watching Nowlin pitch quite a bit.
  16. tony&rodney
    Do the Twins need starting pitching or better position players? I'm not seeing a trade for Luzardo but sure, why not send off Gonzalez, Raya, and Schobel.
  17. tony&rodney
    ROKU
  18. tony&rodney
    Looking ahead to the trade deadline is futile at this time because nobody knows who will be injured, available, or worthwhile right now. It seems highly unlikely that the Twins would add players who raise the roster budget more than a few million. Maybe if the team averages more than 32,000 fans per game from now until the end of July, the purse strings could be loosened slightly. Doubtful that the Twins have any interest in Montas, Pressley, Renifgo, Alonso, or Morabito for varying reasons. The Twins are not going to acquire Luzardo, Peralta, or Canha for those players noted. Brooks Lee will not be traded, especially for a rental. Good to think about this again after the All Star Game. Fun read but don't quit your day job.
  19. tony&rodney
    Unbelievable that this is a pay site. After the debacles of their numbers last offseason I thought everyone had totally ignored them. BTW, who among those who pay attention to Twins prospects has Tanner Schobel as having the same value as David Festa? Everyone is better off just designing their own trades/values and arguing their points.
  20. tony&rodney
    I will not be surprised if Miranda is at third base and Lewis at DH on Tuesday.
  21. tony&rodney
    My point was it doesn't hurt to talk and find out and you concurred. I'm not suggesting trading Julien. Julien's a mess right now but things might get worse using someone else. We don't know the ask for the A's Miller just as we didn't know the ask for Bryce Miller last offseason. The idea of Polanco, Wallner, Raya, and a low A unranked guy may have been close. DiPoto was going to get Polanco one way or another. That's in the past though and I only made rough reference to it because we don't know what a team wants for their players and that was an example, but I'm hoping that the question is asked at the very least. The Twins have Duran, Jax, Alcala, hopefully Stewart, and potentially Varland for late in games. Still if Miller could be added it seems worth looking into at this time.
  22. tony&rodney
    Simeon Woods Richardson had a really good game. Baldelli was correct in lifting SWR because both Tucker and Bregman seemed to like hitting against our young starter. I'm not sure who calls the pitches but a couple of the sequences were open for debate. That doesn't necessarily mean those are on Jeffers. The pitcher must dictate what is thrown in the final analysis. Conversations usually are fairly complete before the game and also there are multiple times for discussions between innings for catcher and pitcher in addition to observations from the coaches. Simeon probably doesn't feel he can shake off the pitch calls because of his relative inexperience. Miranda looked pretty keyed in at the plate which made the bunt a good call from Baldelli. Houston should have pitched around Miranda.
  23. tony&rodney
    The last couple of days Lewis looked weak at the plate. The single today was a routine ground ball that the second baseman kicked out of his glove and should have been rewarded with an error. Also Lewis did take it easy on the bases and failed to score on a long double. I hope Royce is pumped and saving himself for MLB at bats because he has not looked very comfortable playing for the Saints.
  24. tony&rodney
    Just an FYI that will be rejected by many, Farmer is no longer a better second base defender than Julien. We saw it today on a play where Julien ranged to his left and with his herky-jerky style easily made the play byond where Farmer is diving and looking smooth. I always liked Farmer but his skills are visibly diminished. That said, Julien is a mess at the plate and has let doubt restrict his bat. He had a great chance to just sit on a curve ball today and he took two rather bland curve balls that landed middle/ middle for called strikes one and two. He had the opportunity to hit those out. By contrast Bregman sat on a curve ball and despite a slightly better location by Woods Richardson, Bregman hit it out because he was keyed in on that one pitch.
  25. tony&rodney
    We don't know the ask. Right? People on this site want to plug in Brooks Lee at second base and send down Julien. If the Twins think Lee is their future guy at the keystone, that makes Julien expendable. Naturally, one should avoid trading prospects like Emmanuel Rodriguez, Walker Jenkins, Brooks Lee, and David Festa. It always makes sense to find out what is the required return for a guy like Miller. The Twins missed on another Miller because of excessive caution last offseason. That's fine if the demands are beyond the ability of the Twins level of risk. Just ask and find out, which I guess we never hear even if the phone calls are made and information exchanged.
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