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tony&rodney

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Everything posted by tony&rodney

  1. tony&rodney
    Emmanuel wants that top spot. I'm looking forward to how some of the young guys develop this year, both with the Twins (Kirilloff, Lewis, Miranda, Larnach) and in the minors (Martin, Julien, Lee, Rodriguez). That is just the position side. The pitchers will also be fun to watch. Royce Lewis was the #1 pick. Sometimes i wonder if he could be as good or better than Bobby Witt Jr. Wouldn't that be something?
  2. tony&rodney
    I'll go with Jaffe and his evaluations of Mauer, which pins him as the 7th best catcher in baseball history. I don't know about that exact placement but I believe Joe definitely belongs in next year.
  3. tony&rodney
    I'm a fan of making Spring Training meaningful, at least for that last spot or two. Additionally, the Twins need to keep an eye out for total nonperformance by a position player. Two weeks of nothing doesn't need to spill into five with the depth within the 40 person roster. If Gallo and/or Kepler are going to hit less than .200, give the starts to someone else. I'm not talking about a quick hook, but awareness of the type of at bats.
  4. tony&rodney
    Gallo has to hit much lower in lineup.
  5. tony&rodney
    Pablo Lopez is just coming into his game and should be really good this year. He will have a good defense behind him and a catcher who is excellent at calling a game. Let Vasquez lead Lopez through his starts. I'm excited to have him pitching for the Twins and he will give the team 6-8 innings in most every start.
  6. tony&rodney
    JB has the stuff to start. That's not the problem. I don't think his pitches play up as a reliever at this time. The issue is command and control plus the manner in which he becomes rattled. Whenever I watched Balazovic pitch he seemed to lose focus. I couldn't tell if he was irritated by an injury, his disgust with himself when he did not execute a pitch, disagreements with the pitched called or the umpire on a close call, his fielders when an error was made, or something else. There were a combinations of factors that caused chaos in Jordan's games. He reminded me of some of the pitchers I coached who could never isolate the world around then from the singular focused goal of throwing a specific pitch to a location. The game gets too complicated for him, seemingly. The thing is - this could all change now and we could see Balazovic find his groove and become the pitcher he has worked and hoped to become. Maturation happens. Thus, he remains a starter in my opinion.
  7. tony&rodney
    I see where one could think this way, but baseball players deal in focusing on the positives more than any other sport because failure is so common in baseball. A guy who fails three out of four times at the plate is pretty decent. The prospects are focused on determining their own future. Those who play well can push the veterans aside. Schoop was a premier defensive second baseman and power hitter who is still playing baseball, but when Luis Arraez proved he was ready to play the job fairly went to Arraez. Likewise players like Lewis, Lee, Martin, Larnach, Wallner, and Julien will need to prove that they are ready for MLB.
  8. tony&rodney
    Juiced ball makes the comparison tough.
  9. tony&rodney
    Byron Buxton or .... Edouard Julien. Julien has a huge March and proves he can take pitches and hit line drives everywhere and then proceeds to ROY.
  10. tony&rodney
    Laughed at the title to this post ... exactly what I thought. Taylor does play a great centerfield though and the Twins were not going to use Sisk or Cruz any time soon. Now what does KC want for Bobby Witt Jr.? jk
  11. tony&rodney
    Can the top three on this list become all stars? Every team looks to its prospects to develop into starting players and then star players. Guys like Julio Rodriguez light up the fan base. Royce Lewis, Brooks Lee, and Emmanuel Rodriguez could all arrive very soon. It is going to be fun watching a few minor league games to see these and other developing players.
  12. tony&rodney
    The biggest change has been how the payroll jumped in the last five years. Financial constraints can limit the decisions that get made. I don't believe there is much room to compare the different front offices of Falvey and Ryan. The move to sign Buxton was a gamble and continues to carry some low grade risk, while the Correa contract was a real marked change to commit to winning, in my opinion. There are several prospects on the verge of breaking out or crashing. It might be difficult to know right now, but the talent is present. Kirilloff, Lewis, and Larnach could or should be able to contribute in a real meaningful fashion this year and Gordon could easily improve as well. His health issues seem to be in the past. Additionally, there are legitimate reasons to believe in Lee, Martin, Julien, and Wallner as prospects pushing for their opportunity. Miranda had a good year last year and would like to prove he can be much better given a second round at the pitchers. Even Jeffers could rebound. The combination of the older core and the emerging core projects potential success. Falvey and friends have some talent on hand which allowed for the team to swap out Arraez for Pablo Lopez. Depending on how the ten players in the paragraph above perform, the Twins may find it possible to complete a further trade for strong starting pitching again, even as they hope to see some of their own pitching prospects flourish. Buxton, Correa, and Vasquez will be around for at least three years. Polanco and Kepler could be around a couple more years as well. The Twins are building quite a bit of flexibility into their roster management. One could even imagine a mid season push for Burnes via trade in the right situation. The financial support from the top has created real opportunity and flexible alternatives for building the roster in recent history.
  13. tony&rodney

    Helman

    tony&rodney commented on Paul Walerius's blog entry in Paul Walerius

    I hope Helman gets a look somewhere in the next year. He does quite a few things decently, not a starter at the MLB level.
  14. tony&rodney
    I find my self hoping that Max Kepler stays in right field, batting ninth.
  15. tony&rodney
    I actually believe that the Twins will bring Larnach north but if Julien totally lights it up in the camps, I would like to see him DH. Then again, I want Gordon in LF and it looks like he will be squeezed out. I said on a post several days back that it is likely still too early to tell who will be on the squad in Kansas City. I think, in retrospect, we should all just wait. Me too. I was just thinking about the Cave, Contreras, Wallner outfield at the end of the year and wondering how wild that was compared to what will show up at St. Paul at the beginning of this year.
  16. tony&rodney
    Agree and this is also a reaction to the declining attendance. The Twins look to be good from Day 1 and push this year. Hopefully there is also a corresponding appropriate shift in focus on baseball fundamentals, emphasis on each game, and a general overall more exciting brand of baseball. I think so.
  17. tony&rodney
    St. Paul has Larnach in LF, Celestino in CF, and Wallner in RF.
  18. tony&rodney
    Joe Mauer had a no trade clause in his contract as Byron Buxton and Carlos Correa do now. The most popular and valuable Twins player ever was traded - Harmon Killebrew. Sadly, it is a business just like everything else touching money. Yes, religion too. The way it is. So it goes.
  19. tony&rodney
    When I first saw this trade i thought it was Taylor, Witt, and Singer for Miranda, Lewis, Larnach, Ober, Winder, and Ryan. Oh well. Still a decent trade because it removes all of the angst about poor Byron.
  20. tony&rodney
    Passan reports trade. View full rumor
  21. tony&rodney
    Passan reports trade.
  22. tony&rodney
    Six of the starters in the opening day lineup will be holdovers from before Falvey. That's fine. This is year seven and maybe we pay too much attention to how players are acquired. I have noticed that the Twins have increased their expenditures in the last five years, which may have allowed the team to acquire and keep players. That is a positive move. The process of development is pretty tough. A guy like Juan Soto, signed relatively inexpensively, can change the fortunes of any team. Can you imagine how a Julio Rodriguez would have impacted the Twins roster? Currently, the Twins seem to have a nice blend of veterans and young players.
  23. tony&rodney
    The fact that Luis Arraez is a good hitter is pretty much not worth arguing about. Arraez is a good hitter. I believe this trade was in part a belief in those players sitting on the fence waiting for an opportunity and/or recovering from injury. All of Kirilloff, Larnach, Lewis, and perhaps Julien could more than cover for Arraez. Brooks Lee is coming as well. The gamble is that these guys step up and that Pablo Lopez simply repeats what he did for the Marlins. Lopez should be improved as well, which is a plus for the Twins. There is risk and this trade would seem to benefit both teams, not a bad thing. Salas and Chourio are future tickets that the Twins hope pay off. As an original subscriber to BaseballAmerica and a sicko follower of minor league players across baseball, Salas does carry promise and value because he has physical talent and baseball acumen. Like all prospects, development depends on a combination of talent, health, opportunity, and how the individual handles adversity. Salas projects positively in my viewpoint. In any event, the Arraez-Lopez +2 trade was a good trade for baseball as two teams will be improved due to the exchange.
  24. tony&rodney
    Each part makes a decision at a particular time that attempts to maximize production. Sometimes this works and sometimes it does not. 2023 is a new season and Byron Buxton is healthy once again. Let him play his game. It was reasonable to make numerous accommodations with how and when Buxton played last year due to injuries and availability on any given day. There isn't any reason today to repeat that practice. I doubt Falvey and Baldelli are going into the season with plans based on Buxton being injured and needing to be sat down on a frequent basis.
  25. tony&rodney
    Your opinions are not unpopular. There are many posts that wrote about their high regard for Luis Arraez. You also were not in a vast minority because the trade was received with much trepidation by numerous people. The Twins and Marlins each felt their teams would be improved with this trade which in turn raised considerable negative reactions from both fan bases. The players understand that baseball is a business and both Lopez and Arraez took a positive approach to their next job location. Until or unless a player is a free agent, the choice of where to work is tenuous at best. I wish both players the best and feel the trade was an honest move to improve each team. Vegas has odds for each of your wagers if you really want to put some money in support of your distaste for the trade. It is entertainment, both baseball and gambling. I will be just enjoying the baseball and will also tune in to a number of Miami games to watch Luis Arraez continue to do his thing.
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