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tony&rodney

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Everything posted by tony&rodney

  1. tony&rodney
    Twins fans hope that Royce Lewis is a force in the lineup on a regular basis. Although totally different players and not as physically talented from a visual standpoint, there was also great hope in April for the potential contributions from Julien and Wallner. As those two have found out, it is tough to excel at the MLB level. The book is still out on Lewis, but everyone will know more by the end of this year. I sure hope Lewis can be a consistent performer for the Twins. The post suggests a quick contract extension for Lewis and I would be shocked if the Twins were even having internal conversations about such a move at this time. Lewis is still getting his feet wet as a major league player. So while I and others (Twins fans) hope that Royce Lewis plays baseball at an All Star level on a consistent basis, we probably should wait to see how Lewis performs over a longer stretch before talking numbers on any long term contract.
  2. tony&rodney
    Yes, I don't disagree with you because none of the Atlanta players are clean comparisons. The Twins will sign a contract that easily benefits them but Lewis would not sign a 6/@$60M deal. Then again, Lewis hasn't proven anything to deserve a contract to this point in his career. The Twins have some big contracts on the books and arbitration coming for a host of players. Until the budget pushes upward toward $170-200 million, there will be difficult decisions made on who to keep, trade, or offer long term positions.
  3. tony&rodney
    I understand what your frame of thought is on barely qualifying for the playoffs with a mediocre team and then watching that team get pummeled in the playoffs. It is worth remembering though that both Arizona and Texas were mediocre going into last year's playoffs. The first goal is always to get to the playoffs. Some of the deadline pickups who have made a difference were not exactly noteworthy either before or after their playoff performances. There are some decent baseball players within the Twins organization and perhaps one of these may provide a dose of magic as opposed to picking up scrap that then performs as scrap. The weeks before the trade deadline are always interesting with speculation.
  4. tony&rodney
    Sorry, I wasn't real clear. I was more thinking along the lines of the Acuna or Murphy contracts, maybe Albies. I just don't see the Twins going much beyond $160 million in roster payroll unless they draw at least 2.5 million in attendance and sign a rich media contract. I question what the Minnesota market has as a financial ceiling.
  5. tony&rodney
    The paper napkin tells us that arbitration and rising costs are coming for the Twins roster. Perhaps the budget increases but adding another big contract seems unlikely, no matter how much one might believe in a player. Lewis banked a lifetime of bonus money when he signed out of high school, which usually means no discounts in future deals. The Twins may sign a player or two to long term contracts if the terms are heavily in their favor, similar to what the Atlanta organization has completed with several players. Additionally, I would add that Lewis only has about a half of one season worth of plate appearances thus far in his MLB career. Reality suggests year to year for Royce.
  6. tony&rodney
    Always interesting to see what ideas people have for additions to the Twins roster. The guesses are difficult and we still have yet to see names worth adding above those already within the organization.
  7. tony&rodney
    An addendum ..... While I was never remotely interested in the Twins adding Jordan Montgomery, mostly because of a cost/benefit ratio, perhaps people can now see how dominant or not the lefty is as a top of the line starting pitcher. Keep in mind that every pitcher gets owned at some moments, but Montgomery just doesn't have the stuff to consider handing out a huge contract.
  8. tony&rodney
    Festa looked decent but the Diamondbacks took some very effective swings against him in the 4th inning. It is always difficult to know if a pitcher loses their edge when they have a huge lead. I'm not sure what to say about Correa being HBP but hopefully he is ok because Carlos is easily the Twins MVP; nobody else even is close in value to C4.
  9. tony&rodney
    Canterino is mostly a myth unfortunately. He is currently (recently) down with a shoulder hurting.
  10. tony&rodney
    I, too, have watched a number of Nowlin's starts in the last two years. Good article and yes, Nowlin has improved with his command and control. Pitching requires so much expertise to put all of your pitches in the specific location demanded by the plan and repeating a delivery to maximize your talent is difficult. If Nowlin can continue to refine his mechanics he has a chance to play in the majors. Several times this year the lefty has shown real potential with his talent. Good luck to Jaylen.
  11. tony&rodney
    Really? Cleveland has some talent on their roster. I really like Kansas City but feel that Cleveland has the edge in pitching and in the field. It should be interesting. I am still expecting the Twins to win the division by a game.
  12. tony&rodney
    Love Royce Lewis and the enthusiasm he brings to the team along with the loud contact. Some people will look at contracts as a comparison for best or other designation. If we are picking a team for right now and I don't need to worry about a budget, I'll take Carlos Correa as my first pick among Twins players. He plays a good shortstop and has a decent bat as well. There is a pretty significant drop off if anyone else plays at SS.
  13. tony&rodney
    Seems odd to assume the team would be better if they had signed players who made more money. Did people want Joey Gallo back? The 2024 Twins are a better team, via their record, than the 2023 Twins team. I cannot imagine anyone is satisfied with how the Twins have fared versus the Yankees, Cleveland, and Baltimore. Still the team is heading to the half way point of the season above expectations and there is a possibility that some players will be more solid contributors in the second half. If you do not like the roster, that is on Falvey. The amount of money budgeted for players is sufficient. I agree that the TV debacle is an embarassment for the franchise. I will point out that MLB under Manfred has stumbled in more than a few areas.
  14. tony&rodney
    Let's just hope Lewis stays healthy and can play through the entire season this year.
  15. tony&rodney
    Royce has been hot and we all hope he is the MVP of the World Series, etc. Maybe it makes sense to wait until he has played a full year or two before we weigh him down with a crown.
  16. tony&rodney
    Varland got lit up today to continue his minor league struggles after a recent decent start for the Twins. Maybe it is time to shift Varland back to the bullpen to get him some confidence (if he can find the groove he had last year in the pen).
  17. tony&rodney
    I have no idea how Jax might react to a role change. Langin (Driveline) seems to suggest that Jax is nowhere near the guy he was previously because of changes to his pitching technique not because of being a relief pitcher. We have seen many guys pick up velocity with a change to the bullpen and if Jax lost speed it would likely affect all of his pitches. I just found it a plausible argument.
  18. tony&rodney
    Personally, I am a big fan of both Festa and Matthews. They still have some tuning to do before getting their MLB opportunity, but the talent is already present. Currently, my feeling is that the Twins have a solid set of starters in Lopez, Ryan, Ober, Woods Richardson, and Paddack with Varland, Festa, and Matthews waiting their turn. The post posits that Jax with his much improved and wider assortment may be fit for a move to a rotation. That sure seems plausible but also unlikely to occur in a Twins uniform. Maybe there is a team (Baltimore?) that is willing to match up talents in an exchange that results in Jax becoming a starting pitcher next season. The discussion of Duran as a starter have been in Twins Daily posts in the past. Duran depends more on velocity and does not have the array of offerings of Jax, although I believe he is a better reliever. My thought is that Duran could not make the exchange from closer to starting pitcher. Others disagree, which is an interesting part of these comment boards. The Twins have received some decent bullpen work from Jax and Duran thus far. We should expect they will both will be critical to the team in September and October.
  19. tony&rodney
    We may not want to see our most consistent reliever moved out of the bullpen, but the argument by Langin is very well constructed with enough specific evidence to believe that the move would be quite successful. Despite my decades of coaching and playing, I find it easy to defer to the expertise of individuals such as Langin. It seems unlikely that the Twins would make this move without an arm or two to fill in for Jax in the bullpen. Perhaps Jax becomes a starting pitcher once he has moved on to another team. Jax is under team control for 3.5 more years, which means the opportunity would need to come with the Twins or via a trade. One can wonder what value another team places on Jax because of the possibilities. Jax is a totally different pitcher than when he was a starter with his mix, stuff, and experience. I believe he would be a very good starting pitcher. Will he get the opportunity? Who would replace him in the bullpen? Jax is not going to switch this season in any event. Relief pitchers are fairly fungible. Guys like Sands, Winder, Varland, others, and even Balazovic can develop as effective one inning relievers similar to Jax. Not all pitchers can develop more than two pitches. Paddack seems like a good bullpen guy but the Twins may be reticent to put his $7.5 million contract for next season in the pen, although it may be the best use for the team. Moving Jax into the rotation is an interesting idea and one to watch.
  20. tony&rodney
    Sports are entertainment. A position that requires winning will inevitably ruin anyone's fan experience. The Twins have played some good games and baseball inherently will be frustrating because of the length of the season. Oakland's team is what one gets when all of the prospects are called up and play. They have some exciting moments but cannot sustain for any length of time until the youngsters wade through the ups and downs that most baseball players do in their first few years of MLB. Most baseball fans have allegiance to the team of their youth unless they adopt the local squad when they move as adults to a city with a team. One, almost by necessity, must divorce a love of the game from the machinations of owners and front office folks. I'm a Twins fan and baseball fan, but cannot relate to those who hate or love owners or the office people. I'm interested in the action on the field.
  21. tony&rodney
    The Twins are still playing ahead of their expected 83-87 wins projection. The current stretch of games to the All Star Game could be telling. It is looking like Funderburk does not pitch with confidence at times. Does the team need a reliable lefty in the bullpen and can Thielbar return to his former effective self? Right now the bullpen looks tired. A string of seven inning starts or an offense scoring more runs would help.
  22. tony&rodney
    Hey, anything can happen but it will surprise me if the Twins do anything before meeting up with the Brewers in late July. I also think Falvey has his guys already, which may mean that any additions are already in the organization.
  23. tony&rodney
    Lee looks much better since his return from the IL than he did at any point last season or the season before. The confidence in his current plate appearances is strong. Hopefully Lee can be a big addition to the Twins in time. Right now the sample is still small but who knows. I'm keeping an open mind to the possibilities. Brooks isn't an athlete in the same sense as a Buxton, Lewis, Siemen, or other quick twitch fast guy. He does have solid fundamentals and plays a smooth shortstop. Right now it isn't clear at all that he will be as good at second base. The move is not a simple transfer, although it has been done often. If Lee is to be at 2B, then he will likely put in the time and effort to become a decent defender at the position.
  24. tony&rodney
    My only judgment of Julien as a player is based on my own personal observations. By September of last season I was suggesting that Julien had made major positive gains defensively as a second baseman. The vast bulk of TD disagreed and there were a fair number of thumbs down that followed my comments. The disagreements are fine. In the offseason I suggested that the Twins might benefit from making a somewhat risky and potentially damaging decision about where the team was headed and which players they saw as fit to hold and where a trade was possible. The only untouchables (for me) were Jenkins, EmRod, and Festa. Among those who may have been seen as having decent value were Jeffers, Kirilloff, Julien, Lee, Lewis, Wallner, Raya, Varland, and Paddack. Others had suppressed value (Miranda, Kepler, Buxton, Larnach, Martin, SWR, Vazquez) and were unlikely to bring back anything fair. Still others were too important to let go given their value and any possible return that seemed fair (Correa, Duran, Lopez, Ryan, Ober, Castro). The Twins sat on their stash and are still trying to figure out who is going to play in October, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. The players may be uncertain of their status and futures, which could bring about healthy competition or may cause uncertainty which does not help performance. We shall see. In any event, if Julien can OPS .850 or better he is the guy to play second base. Then again, .... is Brooks Lee going to OPS .900? We are watching for the outcome and hope it leads to a better team.
  25. tony&rodney
    FWIW, even if Kepler goes on the IL, Brooks Lee may get a call before Wallner. Wallner is crushing his pitches but still looks lost with those pitchers who know where the holes are for the big guy. MLB pitchers don't miss their spots nearly as often. Lee, meanwhile, is working over pitchers wherever the ball is thrown. It will be interesting to see who is the next position player suiting up for the Twins.
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