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tony&rodney

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Everything posted by tony&rodney

  1. tony&rodney
    Sure, agree. I can't think of any teenagers that the Twins have traded for, but SWR was young and is being developed.
  2. tony&rodney
    This is a good summary of what the Twins are attempting to accomplish. The talk of development is still a work in progress though with only Ober among the starting five right now as a player drafted and developed by the Twins. I still want Varland, another guy drafted and developed, to be the #4 starting pitcher despite the presence of DeSclafani and the 97% of Twins Daily opposed to Varland. I do believe that if the Twins were to make another gamble trade for a top starting pitcher in the next year there would be an openness to signing that guy to a long term deal.
  3. tony&rodney
    The little thing that separates Ober from most other pitchers is size; he is big. Taller pitchers take more time, on average, to reach their potential and then are able to sustain their effectiveness for a longer period of time, if they are able to refine those long levers. Ober is a big dude. He can pitch 200 innings as easily as any pitcher in baseball now that he seems to have managed those limbs. Like he said, physically he doesn't get tired or worn out. It has taken a couple of years for Ober to function comfortably with the mental side of the game, but if you watched him pitch physically tired wasn't a part of the equation. One cannot place Bailey Ober at the front of a rotation because he does not possess the type of velocity and stuff to blow hitters away like a Gerrit Cole or even Pablo Lopez. What Ober can do is take the ball every fifth day for an entire season and give the team 5-8 innings of solid pitching. The Twins are unlikely to be locking up middle rotation pitchers to long term high value contracts for now. Bailey will make a ton of money by the time his career is completed.
  4. tony&rodney
    "Barring injury" are the two key words in the post. We don't need to worry because things will play out. Personally, I would prefer that the Twins just stick Louie Varland in the rotation as the #4 and let him pitch.
  5. tony&rodney
    Do you believe Farmer will start at second base this year? Or should? Is it possible that the coaches choose the starting lineup based on who are the best players in their system for each specific position or is there another criteria that I have never heard of yet?
  6. tony&rodney
    FWIW, Eloise liked baseball. Carl bought the team as an investment because of her interest and he saw it as a viable positive addition to his portfolio of businesses. Carl, very specifically, had no interest himself in baseball. It isn't totally as clear how the sons feel about baseball. Joe and several of the other grandchildren are baseball fans.
  7. tony&rodney
    Go watch the minor leaguers practice for several hours. If you want to see really good competitive baseball, look up the rankings of a Florida high school team near where you are staying and catch a few of their games. If you enjoy baseball, you will have a blast. Forget about the money.
  8. tony&rodney
    It is interesting that Brooks Lee is noted as the second base guy. I'm just wondering who has seen Lee play second base. I have never seen him play there. Nearly every scout projects Lee as a third base player.
  9. tony&rodney
    For the millionth time, an umpire cannot see the glove. It is fair to say that it is possible that an umpire may be affected by where the catcher holds the ball after it is caught. That is correctly called bad umpiring, plain and simple.
  10. tony&rodney
    I was not, not even a smidgeon. Bellinger had a good season last season but the several years of non performance, almost certainly due to a past injury, were a big red flag for most organizations. It made a ton of sense for the Cubs to bring Bellinger back and the contract makes sense for them and Bellinger. I'm curious how the "experts" ever came to a conclusion that Bellinger could sign a 10-12 year contract for money in the $150-200+ million range. That always seemed misinformed, at least to me. I'm not sure how Chapman gains a long term deal either. Three or four years would be a maximum for him. Montgomery and Snell should land deals of around $100 million.
  11. tony&rodney
    This has been a mantra that has followed Julien on Twins Daily since his first awkward fielding plays last summer. Nobody who is familiar with baseball would dispute that Julien had a pretty rough initiation in the field. However, it can also not be disputed that Julien has made great improvement in the field and it is very clear that his lateral movements are actually quite good. Perhaps an analogy is in order. If a player seen as a future superstar is put into the lineup and promptly goes 1-24 at the plate, do we then decide that player will never hit? I have no idea who is just a fan, has specific playing or coaching experience, or whatever on Twins Daily and more importantly I don't believe that should interrupt anyone from having and voicing their opinions. The one thing I would request is for folks to view the players as human beings who are not static in their lives. If a player improves (or declines) that should be noted. Go to a few games and watch how the different players do at their jobs. Julien may not be able to replicate his success from last season, he may be moved at some point to a new position, and he may be traded as well in the future. Perhaps those who do not like him but are Twins fans can just watch and wait before they post ridiculous comments.
  12. tony&rodney
    Milwaukee is more of a comparison due to similarly minded populations.
  13. tony&rodney
    Two things we know from specific conversations. 1. The Mariners really wanted Polanco. 2. The Twins wanted to reduce payroll and saw Polanco as covered (mol) in their system. What we don't know. How long was Dipoto willing to go before giving in? Did Falvey have a deadline? Poker? It is spilled milk / water over the dam.
  14. tony&rodney
    A year ago, the Twins had questions about Lopez and Ober, Maeda and Mahle were either coming back from injury or feeling a little sore, and the Twins felt pretty solid about both Gray and Ryan. Varland and Woods Richardson were seen as depth. On February 24, the Twins feel really good about Lopez, Ryan, and Ober, have hopes and questions about Paddack and DeSclafani, have a really good guy in Varland, and have depth with Woods Richardson and Festa. I'm a huge fan of David Festa. I had speculated that Festa's offseason would be important for him to refine his pitches and add useful weight and strength. Thus far, I haven't read or heard any reports on Festa. His starts were often quite impressive last season for Wichita, but his stamina and focus seemed to wander after a while. Festa could be a strong mid rotation pitcher with a little luck. Seems possible that Festa gets at least a half dozen starts with the Twins this summer.
  15. tony&rodney
    If you are going back to November, skip the Twins and buy one million shares of Nvidia (NVDA). It will bring you more satisfaction and is just as realistic.
  16. tony&rodney
    Kirilloff doesn't fall into that category at all, not even close. He was pretty much the same as Julien, Lewis, and Wallner last year despite the injuries. I would not give up on AK. His bat can play as well as anyone on the Twins team. Only Correa and Kepler are more proven. I'm not counting Santana, Farmer, or Vazquez as regulars but they are proven as well.
  17. tony&rodney
    Perhaps we all need to just agree that while there is a general range of numbers related to revenue and expenses, we just don't actually know what those numbers are and relax the angst toward the Pohlads because it is not something to stress about. The team is fine. Baseball is fun to watch. I'm going to watch some high school, college, minor league, and town ball games again this year in addition to feeding my sorry addiction to the Twins. I hope to see good baseball games. On a side note, it was sort of funny when Carlos Correa said that the money concerns were above his pay grade. I wondered if that was just a canned response or tongue in cheek.
  18. tony&rodney
    Fair response. The team was already teetering with increasing injuries and the depth was pretty clearly not there. Cave and Company would have been a miraculous couple of months. I opposed the Mahle trade strongly before it took place but supported it after it was completed as a positive sign that the Twins were making an attempt to win.
  19. tony&rodney
    Bill James and his work is well known as are his arguments of the means now used. Of note, but perhaps even having relevance, is that James finds disagreement with systems separate from his own. James has a special ego. I always found his work interesting but I hope I'm not the only one who doesn't believe or think that James and his generation were the first to consider data or actually believe that baseball people from before 1970 had no idea what they were doing or how to develop means to winning games. Every time new civilizations are "discovered" from long ago, people are astonished to learn that some ancient crude group of humans had means of production and sophistication in their lives which seem impossible because our current era is the best ever. How about the science uncovered in the last fifty years that animals are intelligent and can communicate. We are learning .... slowly. Perhaps some day someone will find John McGraws complex notebooks that he devised to identify which player worked best in each specific situation over 100 years ago.
  20. tony&rodney
    Good post. Taylor has a good year last season and if he is resigned he may provide some needed experience and depth to the team, particularly because there is always going to be worry about Buxton. I'm not sure that Taylor can replicate he campaign from 2023, but he was well liked and more importantly, effective. The Twins will face economics next season and this season should help the front office find who can step forward as expected contributors. I was sorry to see Polanco move on and will be similarly miss Kepler next season. These were the two Twins i enjoyed the most in the last decade. Baseball is tough and new guys move in and prove themselves over time. We can hope a few of the younger guys take positive steps in their careers this year. For now, the leadership and experience of Vazquez, Santana, Farmer, Correa, Buxton, Kepler, DeSclafani, and Thielbar will be important.
  21. tony&rodney
    This is exactly the way forward for a team to win. 2024 will be a year for answers.
  22. tony&rodney
    Nope is your most complete comment yet. Stream of consciousness, so I understand what you are saying, but I'm pretty sure you left a ton of others baffled. Let me tell you though .... Max Kepler is in his last year with the Twins. It has nothing to do with money or his play.
  23. tony&rodney
    Too much focus on the payroll and the Pohlad's role in shaping a team versus the opportunities for Falvey. The Luis Arraez for Pablo Lopez trade was quite a gamble for Falvey and the Twins. That trade could have gone bad quickly if Lopez ruins his arm. The Mahle trade was a horse of a different color. Fans liked the trade because it was a statement that the Twins were trying to win. However, that 2022 team was going nowhere and it turned out to that Falvey lost that gamble. This offseason Falvey had a few opportunities for a bigger gamble and he decided to hold the big chips. That's the way that PBO's and GM's win and lose their jobs. It is a tough position (PBO/GM), which is why they make the big bucks. The payroll is fine and so is the team. The chance to make some gambles will roll by again.
  24. tony&rodney
    Naturally (greed) I want both players on the Twins. There really isn't a position for Lee right now but if he forces his way on to the roster the Twins will find a position for him. I don't believe that health is as easy to predict as we all wished. Alex Kirilloff has had years ruined by TJ surgery, Covid, his wrist X2, and shoulder. That is a bunch of injuries. I don't know about injury-prone. Look at what AK did in 2018 and at how he dominated in AAA at St. Paul in 2022 and 2023. Perhaps Alex is healed and fully healthy. We will find out soon enough. For both now and going forward, an Alex Kirilloff who can get in his zone at the plate has the ability to hit for average and power on an every day basis. We may have subdued expectations because of the repeated time missed, which is to be expected. Like I said, Lee is real close and should be good, but he has never dominated like Kirilloff at the plate and still must conquer AAA. BTW - I believe Brooks Lee will do very well at AAA.
  25. tony&rodney
    The injuries have really put a damper on the thoughts concerning Kirilloff. I do not expect AK to get traded this season unless some team suddenly and against all odds sees him as the missing piece for their team. I don't have a good feel for how Alex is with his wrist , shoulder, conditioning, and swing right now. When i think about the maximum potential of Lee versus Kirilloff in the lineup, I believe more in AK.. Brooks Lee will almost certainly have a strong career, hopefully for the Twins, but Kirilloff has a swing to really boost the lineup. Again, that potential has been muted by injuries up to now. I'm guessing the Twins want a long look before any trade.
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