Jump to content
Twins Daily
  • Create Account

tony&rodney

Verified Member
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    9,764

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    86

 Content Type 

Profiles

News

Minnesota Twins Videos

2026 Minnesota Twins Top Prospects Ranking

2022 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks

Minnesota Twins Free Agent & Trade Rumors, Notes, & Tidbits

Guides & Resources

2023 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks

The Minnesota Twins Players Project

2024 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks

2025 Minnesota Twins Draft Pick Tracker

2026 Minnesota Twins Draft Pick Tracker

Forums

Blogs

Events

Store

Downloads

Gallery

Everything posted by tony&rodney

  1. tony&rodney
    Will another team place a high value on Julien's skills in order to bring back a starter like Pablo Lopez? Are you willing to see a trade of one of Wallner, Kirilloff, Lewis, or Lee to bring back a good starting pitcher?
  2. tony&rodney
    Sometimes players arrive to the major leagues with rough skills in the field. Those who look awkward while fielding receive more criticism than a player who looks smooth. Julien is a guy who looks worse than the results. No doubt there is still significant room for improvement, but Julien makes most of the plays. Wallner has the same issues, rough and looking awkward. He too has been better than he looks. Both can and will improve as fielders but with outstanding feel for the strike zone both Julien and Wallner will make their marks with a bat in their hands.
  3. tony&rodney
    Long season and the Twins are pulling it together too. The at bats have been consistently better for some time now and opposing pitchers just get worn down trying to throw so many good pitches. Cleveland played hard, using pretty much all of their main guys except for the closer. Tomorrow the Twins could put the AL Central to bed with a win, which would effectively mean a nine game lead. Is it greedy to feel the Twins could catch the AL West winner for the second bye?
  4. tony&rodney
  5. tony&rodney
    Always love your work. The top five are all thriving right now. I have caught a number of looks of the three college players recently via milb.com. I'm not aware of how one could watch either Clark or Jenkins. The talk of bypassing Jenkins or Clark was annoying. The videos show that Jenkins has a sweet swing and he looks very athletic.
  6. tony&rodney
    Manfred could change the rule. Maybe no team is allowed to use a position player as a pitcher during September or in the playoffs. Consider that each team has an extra pitcher in September. I do not like the usage but it does make sense if your team is battling to win every game and find yourself down early like Cleveland did tonight. Fans hate it but the batters hate it worse when they make an out. Ugly baseball.
  7. tony&rodney
    I understand that Cleveland needs every pitcher possible for the next few games and beyond, but I very much dislike ant time any team uses a position player to pitch. Maybe the Twins can score 13 more runs and then let Castro or Luplow pitch.
  8. tony&rodney
    Larnach still has potential, despite his rough year. The Twins will hope to duplicate the Arraez-P.Lopez trade, which will be names far above Trevor. Trades depend totally on player value perceived by negotiating teams. If you want to acquire a good player, think about who you would want if you were a participant in discussions about Twins worth trading for in return for one of your valued players.
  9. tony&rodney
    Varland is a fine addition to the team. He does not have experience in high leverage situations. Sands has been fine in AAA, but clearly untrusted if one looks at how few times he gets the ball for the Twins. Getting Ober back in a week after a rest will strengthen the starting staff, allowing others to shift to middle relief (Keuchal). Down towards the last week or so the Twins could get back guys like Paddack and Stewart to allow a break for Jax, Thielbar, Pagan, and Duran. In the meantime, Funderburk, Winder, Headrick, and Floro will need to step up.
  10. tony&rodney
    It isn't necessary to win a trade if the players fill the voids in their new team. Luis Arraez has a terrific bat and is an instant fan favorite because of how he works a pitcher and frequently gets on base. A number of people were upset to see Arraez go to Miami, which is understandable. Pablo Lopez has stepped into the Twins rotation and been a consistent quality pitcher with occasional starts to hint as to his becoming what so many desire, an ace. The Twins can look to solid starting pitching as the main reason they are currently leading the AL Central. Pitching remains a main barometer of success for any team. While it was understandable that folks were sad to see Luis Arraez traded, the return (Pablo Lopez +2) was excellent at the time of the trade and has made the Twins a better team. Pitching is always volatile and injuries a big concern. Both Sonny Gray and Kenta Maeda will be free agents after the current season ends. It makes sense for the Twins to investigate potential trades for an additional strong starting pitcher for next season. This may mean the loss of an exciting fan favorite from the current team, but also result in a more favorable outcome in victories going forward. Free agents are a potential way to add pitching but development and trades are likely to bring a more positive outcome. The Arraez-P.Lopez trade is an example, although these are difficult to forecast.
  11. tony&rodney
    The Twins definitely need Polanco and Kepler to lead the team throughout September (and October).
  12. tony&rodney
    Have really enjoyed watching a pile of games via milb.com (Hi-A, AA, & AAA). Wish the Ft. Myers games were on video. Cedar Rapids is having fun. Emmanuel Rodriguez started the year very slowly, working his way back from knee surgery. He has come a long way as a player since June and his bat is tremendous. He still needs to work on controlling his swing at times but has improved in that area since early in the year. He has a tendency to go for home runs in blow out games versus having consistent at bats. He also is better in the field and on the bases than expected. Wichita has lost most of its best players yet continues to win. Ohl has looked good. St. Paul has struggled to hold leads lately but had a fun season so far. Austin Martin has come on and Brooks Lee continues to improve at the plate. His swing looks soft on occasions but the kid is strong. David Festa looked excellent last time out, but might improve much more with room to add some meat to those bones. I haven't seen Walker Jenkins via game feeds yet, just the video highlights. All of Jenkins, Rodriguez, Lee, and Festa could be ranked in any order among the top Twins prospects. They all look really good and they all have plenty to learn still.
  13. tony&rodney
    Should be a good series. The Twins have a rested bullpen and their three best starters going against a team that battles in every at bat but still struggles to score runs. I would say that it is up to the offense to step forward and whack the ball around the stadium in Cleveland.
  14. tony&rodney
    Correa, right now, fits best hitting sixth as was stated above. His consistent play at shortstop seems underrated, but the bat and base running are suboptimal due to his physical issues. The Twins could sure use a resurgence of Correa's bat. Those batting in the top five of the lineup need to step forward too.
  15. tony&rodney
    Brooks Lee has developed his baseball skills at a fast rate. It takes time to hone talent and experience the differences at each level leading up to being a an MLB player. Lee has done a remarkable job of staying consistent and meeting the challenges faced at AA and AAA thus far. He projects as a regular starter in the big leagues but does not have the projection of a superstar. There is quite a bit of value in a player that can be counted on to be routinely penciled into the lineup. Jorge Polanco has been a terrific asset for the Twins and Brooks Lee could have a similar value despite the differences between the two athletes. It may be 2025 before Lee is a regular but he has a bright future.
  16. tony&rodney
    Platooning and injuries have been around as long as the game has been played. Set lineups work wonderfully if you are rolling out an all star lineup that is always healthy. The manager has to use the players who are able to go each and every game and make adjustments. Right now, Taylor and Julien are banged up, so there are times another player slides in. Taylor was supposed to be a fourth outfielder but has played due to Buxton going down. Julien only gets a chance because Polanco went down, and so forth. The Twins are in better position than many teams. Kirilloff and Castro could be back on the roster in Cleveland. Perhaps Taylor goes on the IL for 10 days and a pitcher (Sands or Headrick) go down. Should be a fun month.
  17. tony&rodney
    For whatever reason Julien has a bad rep with umpires. We have talked about this before. He lets balls go by and swings at strikes. Forget the box, those three pitches were not strikes and the umpire just called him out. Should he swing at balls out of the zone or expand his zone with two strikes? He doesn't hit those pitches out of the zone but perhaps he needs to work on fouling a few off.
  18. tony&rodney
    Actually, it isn't at all. Surgery may not be even an option. Cartilage damage can only be fixed so much and then one gets shots, injections, therapy, and another couple of rounds before the eventual knee replacement surgery. I don't believe Buxton will be able to play MLB with a new knee. Not the same at all, but Stephen Strasbourg is going to retire because the time spent attempting to rehab is no longer beneficial or helpful towards returning to pitch in the major leagues. The contract situation has not been divulged yet to my knowledge. It makes sense that the team would just continue to pay Strasbourg and call off the pointless continuation of him coming in for therapy. Although it is far too early to guess or stress that this is the end result of Buxton continual build up sessions, fans should at the very least be understanding that it is the player who is suffering physical and mental pain as they attempt every avenue to get back on the field. The Twins did what they felt was best for Buxton and the team. I believe the fans should rest easy with that idea.
  19. tony&rodney
    Emmanuel Rodriguez has a ways to go, but man does he possess a wicked bat. The swing talent jumps off the screen. The discipline to keep the swing under control is a work in progress. Easy to see him as the most talented Twins prospect from milb.com (note - no game feed of Walker Jenkins). I'm wondering what Keith Law will write about ERod this fall. Does he get any Arizona Fall League action? sure seems unlikely.
  20. tony&rodney
    Stevenson has looked good for the Saints, hitting the ball and running the bases aggressively and playing solid defense. He can absolutely help the Twins as a centerfielder and pinch base runner.
  21. tony&rodney
    Bottom line is that if the Twins cannot win the AL Central this season given their current lead and the remaining schedules for the Twins and Guardians, there is nothing or nobody to blame but themselves. The Twins are in the driver's seat and hopefully know how to steer through these last 28 games. Maybe the Twins should be watching the Cedar Rapids team to see how to deliver a knockout.
  22. tony&rodney
    It really doesn't matter who fans are willing to trade. What Twins players are appealing to another team? Then the fun starts. Luis Arraez was a specific target of Miami's plans last winter. We received Pablo Lopez plus in return. This was a good trade for both teams. Seattle has some exciting young arms. What would it take to acquire either Logan Gilbert or George Kirby? This will be a topic for the offseason, but these pitchers could be worth any one of the Twins hot young guys. Julien is fighting a leg injury which is probably fairly minor. He isn't missing by much and is still making pitchers work much harder than they want to with a guy at the top of the lineup. I think he has another hot streak in him. Scherzer challenges batters right away and often finishes hitters with well located pitches. Can EJ strike early?
  23. tony&rodney
    The offense has its turn now. The starting pitching has brought the team to September in a fair position. Now, it is time for C4 and the other bats to bear down, put the ball in play, and score 5 runs or more on a consistent basis. Buxton can get hot, Kirilloff took better swings tonight, and Kepler, Polanco, and the rookies can all be better.
  24. tony&rodney
    The Twins only play 3 games versus Cleveland. The remaining 25 games are against other opponents. The Twins have a schedule that should be in their favor, in terms of teams faced with records below or above .500. I believe that Cleveland can go on a run of 18-10 to close out the season, but I don't see the Twins below 14-14 in the last month. The Twins have the talent. The AL Central crown should be won. Sure would like to see the Twins end up with 87 wins.
  25. tony&rodney
    Floro needs luck, that is for sure. The trade allowed Jorge Lopez a chance to be close to family. He has had some stress. Pitchers live on a fine line. If they lose their edge (command and control), they often lose their jobs. Tough business. Both J. Lopez and Floro are still working hard but struggling to get the results.
×
×
  • Create New...