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tony&rodney

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Everything posted by tony&rodney

  1. tony&rodney
    This was a well researched article with some solid information, which I applaud. Nevertheless, having played, coached, managed, and watched thousands of games over too many decades I do not believe the current metrics for defense are as useful as those for pitching and hitting. Polanco was never a superior defender but always has been fair and steady. Correa is as dependable as one can be from shortstop. Miranda is raw, but he won't impact as many plays at third as he did at first. Kirilloff will be a major upgrade at first base. While I do think the Twins have a great defensive infield, the eyes say they are adequate. I'm always in favor of athletic defensive players, but for this season we should worry more about our outfielders when they bat than the infield gloves.
  2. tony&rodney
    Makes one wonder if Kyle Garlick might get a chance.
  3. tony&rodney
    There are not that many left handed starting pitchers. Taylor can get some starts early, in addition to spelling Buxton in other cases. The last position player looks like Trevor Larnach. I would suggest that the Twins ignore salary or veteran status for Kepler or Gallo and go with whomever is swinging a better bat. A Taylor-Buxton-Kepler outfield versus lefties is fine. Perhaps Gordon, Larnach, or Gallo get some starts too. Maybe even Farmer in left field. It might be that Royce Lewis or Austin Martin fill an outfield spot by June. The outfield lineup will be in flux when the Twins face a left handed starter.
  4. tony&rodney
    You are correct that teams mostly follow a similar pattern. MLB changed the rules on shuttling pitchers back and forth between the majors and minors, raised the roster size, and teams went to bigger bullpens which meant more usage of relievers. I'm not sure why some of these changes were done but when teams can use more pitchers it is tougher for the batters. Additionally, the larger bullpen reduced the number of pinch hitters and platoon situations, leaving guys with horrible splits batting in the last innings because the bench is empty. If teams had 13 pitchers and 17 batters, there would be guys who could be pinch hit specialist who would devour many of the current relief pitchers. I'm opposed to larger rosters and think we should have 13 position and 12 pitchers on a roster. I also believe it would be appropriate to reduce the number of times players can be sent down in any given year (twice). Lastly, it is hard to see where Manfredball has improved the product of MLB.
  5. tony&rodney
    Great idea which I agree with wholeheartedly and mentioned in the post about Polanco last week. The Twins have infield depth that makes quality contact and they need to use it.
  6. tony&rodney
    No doubt, the Twins are counting on Alex Kirilloff to step into a starting role at first base and hit. I don't think Arraez is traded if AK was not going to be ready this season. Like many, I am looking for a big season from Kirilloff. He is a key answer for both first base and the middle of the lineup.
  7. tony&rodney
    The comments largely suggest that Woods Richardson can be a good MLB starting pitcher, but he faces the challenge of competing with command and control as opposed to stuff. Seems fair. He will need to keep the ball off the barrel. When I watched SWR pitch with St. Paul he looked like he controlled the at bat, which is a difficult advantage to quantify. The reality is that savvy and composure does still work at the highest level. I was surprised by how easily Woods Richardson carved his way through a lineup without wowing with his pitches. We will be watching him this year to see his continued progress.
  8. tony&rodney
    This is humor right? Is this Randball?
  9. tony&rodney
    Every team in baseball needs to have their best players healthy if they are going to be relevant. San Diego, two years ago, is one example. Thus, it is imperative for the Twins to have a healthy year or just not incur a repeat of the total debacle of injuries from last season. Going into last season I was thinking that 82 wins, plus or minus four, was a reasonable guess. I also was admittedly too optimistic, although i had real concerns about their starting pitchers. The coming campaign should be more promising because of our starting pitching. The variables also seem greater as well, however. Can the offense respond? I'm going to guess 85 wins for this year with a plus or minus of five. The path forward for a consistent winning team will rest on whether Baldelli is more proactive in playing the hot hand and benching the non performers. The younger players will need to display their skills and Falvey will then need to make some difficult decisions in July. Not all of Jeffers, Kirilloff, Miranda, Gordon, Larnach, Lewis, Wallner, Martin, Julien, and Lee will hit the ground excelling but a few should and we may see several of the young guys above used to acquire a needed player. The Twins basically are counting on some young players to produce and be supported by what is a fair core of Buxton, Correa, Polanco, and Vasquez. I see the odds sliding in favor of the Twins this summer.
  10. tony&rodney
    Get your point about more hot arms today, but wasn't a tired Bob Gibson in 1968 better than any pitcher today too? Every pitcher can lose their edge as they tire but the guys often called "aces" are conditioned to survive without their flames. Verlander, Kershaw, and so on still pitch significant innings and Sandy Alcantara has evolved into an old fashioned ace with his complete games and higher inning counts. The game always changes and when teams went to bigger bullpens it naturally brought in more heat from the pen while simultaneously removing pinch hitters and shared positions from the field. MLB actually had to step in and mandate a 13 person pitching staff as the maximum. Some teams had gone to 15 pitchers. MLB then went to 26 players on a roster. The game will continue to evolve as those of us over 60 have experienced and those who are younger will experience more changes over the next 60 years. I think it was a big mistake to move the roster size up from 25 players. MLB should expand by two teams within five years. Perhaps a ceiling of 12 pitchers with more stringent rules for shuttling pitchers back and forth between MLB and MILB would also see an improvement in pitching skills. Until then managers will have the use of huge bullpens with a bevy of guys capable of pitching one inning. Actually, I am thinking we see more innings from our Twins starting staff this summer than we have seen in a few years because I believe the staff has more skill and depth.
  11. tony&rodney
    Sonny Gray is a good established MLB pitcher, respected across baseball. That is quite an accomplishment by itself. However, no baseball person has ever deemed Gray an outright ace. When he was building his career with the A's he was a budding ace, but that never fully blossomed. Ace is an overblown term, yet it is often apt and we should still reserve a status for Verlander and those few pitchers who have managed to deliver across time and in volume with consistently high results. Who is a full blown argument. Cole, Bieber, Ohtani, and Verlander in the AL with several others building a strong case (Valdez, Manoah, Gilbert, Cease, and McClanahan. Sonny Gray is such a fiery competitor and fun to watch. Let's hope he can stay healthy all year.
  12. tony&rodney
    Yes, and we can also add ... or Polanco moves to 1B/DH. Let's not forget that Jorge has been the best overall Twins player of the last 4-5 years and he remains the best batter the team has with risp.
  13. tony&rodney
    The prospect lists are just for fun. Those who can read The Athletic will sift through Law's list of the Twins coming stars. Guys like Joe Mauer, Byron Buxton, Miguel Sano, and Royce Lewis to name a few were highly ranked in these lists of Twins prospects No reason to get anxious or judgmental. It is an entertaining process and many of us look forward to reading what different people have to say. The Sporting News was pretty thin on the minor leagues and I can testify, as an original subscriber, that Baseball America was/is a good read and totally amped up the coverage of prospects as well as the minor leagues. Keep up the good work; it's great stuff.
  14. tony&rodney
    Well, #7 is lucky which may mean that Connor Prielipp is our best prospect.
  15. tony&rodney
    Mahle and Maeda are coming back from injuries and will get the ball until they are not able to handle it. Varland is there to step in as needed. If he performs, he stays. This is how pitchers work their way into a rotation. Varland, and others, need to get an opportunity and earn it. The Twins will have a shorter hook for guys who are unable to use their pitches this year. Ober, Varland, Winder, and Woods Richardson are waiting for their time. Varland seemed like the one that is ready.
  16. tony&rodney
    You may be correct in your guess, but going into his last year of a contract the trade value would be a lower prospect. Polanco will not have peak trade value for sure. All of Royce Lewis, Brooks Lee, Jose Miranda will (should) have trade value and maybe Alex Kirilloff, Trevor Larnach, and Ryan Jeffers will have rebuilt their trade value as well. Then there are guys like Austin (you mentioned), Julien, Salas, Gordon, and who knows that may be used for trades. If the Twins want to add a substantial player/pitcher it will need to be from those in the paragraph above, because guys like Kepler and Polanco have gone past the time when they had high trade value. Oh, I also am not opposed to seeing Polanco for five more years if he is healthy. Naturally, health drives all careers.
  17. tony&rodney
    The 2023 season will give everyone a real good idea of how valuable Joe Ryan can be as a starting pitcher. He was quite successful as a rookie, but he did struggle against the better lineups. Ryan was mostly very dependable. He can improve to become a #2/#3 guy or at the least (hopefully) remain a solid #4 pitcher. It is going to be interesting to see if Ryan can continue his dominance over weaker teams and improve in his outings versus the top offenses in baseball.
  18. tony&rodney
    Interesting to see Salas ahead of either Martin or Wallner. Salas should be able to find both a position and the at bats needed to firmly display his skills in the coming year. Twins fans will be more aware of his potential as he develops and refines his skills this summer.
  19. tony&rodney
    Seems like Buxton will be a DH for 30-40 games at least. I'm hoping we see a patient line drive machine possessing power who can run the bases efficiently leading off against right handed pitchers - Julien.
  20. tony&rodney
    That is so true. Maybe Miguel Sano was affected by injuries or whatever. Maybe he can bounce back but the winds are stiff for him. Pitchers face the same problem. They lose their fastball and re-create themselves as junk ballers to remain competitive but even the soft tossers need to slip the fastball by a batter or keep it off the barrel. Zack Greinke games are must viewing for anyone who ever pitched for years at a competitive level. He is a master.
  21. tony&rodney
    I think everyone wants to see Miranda put in the best possible position to succeed. He will DH some. The Twins likely feel that Miranda is a better player at third base and he is more comfortable there as well.
  22. tony&rodney
    Spring Training is just around the corner. It will be interesting to see Julien take his hacks against the top staff and others in early spring games. While it surely seems that Julien will be across the river in April, I'm waiting until the final roster cuts if Kirilloff is not fully ready to go.
  23. tony&rodney
    Big guys have so many moving parts to align. I thought both Vargas and Sano were good athletes but they faced struggles with their weaknesses. Baseball is a hard game to play. It would be terrific to see both Sano and Vargas resurrect their careers and find success at the major league level, and they each could too. The odds are stacked against them though. It would be delightful to see each suddenly become stars again.
  24. tony&rodney
    There are factors, to be sure. Something that is a major part of any players's career is adjustment. Players receive far more attention after their first big year and must adjust to how their opponent has changed towards them. Respect is sometimes slow to earn. If I can get you out using the same pitch, you will never see my other pitches even if the pitch you miss is my worst offering. The game has many factors and many are intellectual, particularly the acceptance of failure.
  25. tony&rodney
    Alex - it is bat speed and wrist strength. Two guys who have identical bat speed and wrist strength ... the edge goes to the guy who is bigger and stronger. However, there have been and still are plenty of smaller guys who smoke the ball (Altuve) Look up Jimmy Wynn, the Toy Cannon. who played for the Houston Colt .45's/Astros. He could hit any ball as far Sano, Gallo, Judge, or Stanton. Harmon Killebrew was 5-11 (generous) and 180 for the first decade of his career. He was what was once referred to as "strong". Oh, it always helps if you can square up the ball.
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