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tony&rodney

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Everything posted by tony&rodney

  1. tony&rodney
    If Lesko is the best high school pitching prospect in ten years and has such high marks for three pitches, take him if available. The Twins need to go athletic, which means taking a vacation on drafting plodding corner players who project to hit the crap out of the ball but whose primary position is DH. The only bat first player I'm interested in is Juan Soto and we cannot draft him.
  2. tony&rodney
    Well stated and true. Baseball is entertainment and entertainers are well paid. The competition for those jobs is much tougher than for executive positions that pay similar wages. Perform or get cut versus a world of glass floors and privilege. Criticism is a right and sometimes warranted but folks should at least have an appreciation for the level of talent and effort at the MLB level. Oh, and I am grateful for my privilege too.
  3. tony&rodney
    Thing is ... who do you replace him with from the Twins system? Garlick? Larnach? We have already had multiple occasions to see outs turn into doubles with less athletic outfielders and batters hit the ball in the air more often in the launch era. Until the Twins employ someone who can cover the ground in the outfield, run the bases, and provide some offense, Kepler remains the second best option in the outfield. I, too, wish we could see an improved output at the plate on a more consistent basis from Max Kepler but I want him in the lineup every day. I'm not too keen on watching any of the others struggle in right field.
  4. tony&rodney
    I feel this too ... often. Twins fans are frustrated by Kepler because the expectations based on his athleticism are high. However, Max is still right behind Buxton, Polanco, and Correa as the most valuable Twins. In short - he is a keeper.
  5. tony&rodney
    MLB changed it to 14 yesterday. The staffs go to 13 in June.
  6. tony&rodney
    Max is an excellent athlete. He is a fine outfielder with a strong arm and is a good base runner. Kepler also has a beautiful swing. He has not been an All Star level player but those skills listed above put him in the starting lineup. One example - Max scores from second base on Sano's hit last night where another less athletic player does not. Right now Kepler is still easily in the top half of the Twins list of every day players; he is quite valuable. If Max can keep his K rate down, stay in the zone with his swing, and continue to work on driving those strikes on the outer half to the opposite field he becomes even more valuable. Kepler has more skills and more promise than any outfielder in the Twins system not named Byron Buxton. Despite the frustrations of Kepler not leaping forward as a superstar, he brings value to the team that cannot be replaced in the near future.
  7. tony&rodney
    Monday the roster goes to 26 players and if the Twins keep 14 pitchers Nick Gordon could be the only bench player depending on a decision to keep 3 catchers. Rule changes are just as responsible for pitch counts, pitcher usage, and playing time as any other item. Past teams used 25 roster limits. A return to 25 person rosters would require more judicious use of pitchers. Additionally, the requirements concerning the IL (formerly DL) have changed and allowed an easier path to demote or promote players without concern of losing their services for 15 days.
  8. tony&rodney
    The Twins get their very own Juan Soto?
  9. tony&rodney
    It is much more fun to be optimistic. Right? It is a little early to declare great things for Ober or Ryan, but they are doing just fine so far. The non rookies, Bundy, Archer, Paddack, and Gray, have also been throwing strikes and getting outs. That's good.
  10. tony&rodney
    The Twins just look different when Buxton plays.
  11. tony&rodney
    I like Trevor Larnach and think he has a future at the plate. I'm just guessing that athleticism and defense will return with the deader ball and this puts a premium on strong outfield defense. In turn, the demand for strong defenders puts Larnach as a DH. If Martin can maintain a .400 OBP in the bigs and run around LF with authority, there is less room for those who are defensively challenged in an era of hitters who send the ball into the outfield.
  12. tony&rodney
    The launch angle swings used by Kepler and Larnach need to be re-tooled in consideration of the new deader ball, unless we see a repeat of Manfred changing the ball midseason again. Players must be confused about their direction. The clubs love power, power pays the bills, but a dead ball kills power. Austin Martin hits line drives but there is talk he is working on adding power. That added power wouldn't play with a dead ball but his line drives would. This is an ongoing dilemma.
  13. tony&rodney
    Nothing prevents using Archer as a relief pitcher, but he would not have signed the specific contract with those incentives if there was not very specific conversations about how he would be used as a Twin. Now if Archer really struggles as a starter over the course of (just for example) 4-8 weeks, then the Twins would have a conversation with Archer about turning to a different role as a Twin. Look to baseballprospectus.com for the rough details. There were several articles about the opportunities the Twins would provide Archer to return as a starter. The Twins would really have a difficult time signing anyone if they ignored all contract terms and conversations that occurred prior to a contract signing. Right now, the Archer signing looks very good for the Twins and hopefully he builds up to 100-110 pitches with sustained stuff and command.
  14. tony&rodney
    While we still hope Larnach, Wallner, and Sabato do well and wish Rooker luck in San Diego, the Twins need to stick to drafting power pitchers (Petty) or athletes who can do more than swing a bat. There should be delicious choices at draft position #8 this July.
  15. tony&rodney
    I never wanted reviews of the plays and have been opposed to the electronic zone as well. However, it must be more and more difficult to call balls and strikes, perhaps due to velocity. There was an article last week that a MLB home plate umpire (Mark Carlson) missed 47 pitches in one game. It seems like electronic balls/strikes will arrive next year. Reviews? I am ok with them but there needs to be 2-3 challenges allowed per game and the challenge needs to happen within 10 seconds of the play. The micro replays and 4-10 minute delays while MLB figures out which of five camera angles definitively provides an answer is lame. The process is too slow. When people call for a pitch clock they need to remember that the umpires already have a pitch and batter rule clock. Currently, for whatever reason, it is never enforced. Putting in a pitch clock would not necessarily change the situation if the umpires still refuse to call a ball or strike.
  16. tony&rodney
    Chris Archer has a contract written in a way that he is used as a starter. The Twins are likely hoping he has worked himself back to being a strong starting pitcher worthy of the $10 million option for 2023. Archer could also have trade value in July. may earn additional $9.5M in performance bonuses based on starts and appearances of 3 innings or more
  17. tony&rodney
    Palacios is athletic too and he can play shortstop in the bigs.
  18. tony&rodney
    Wholeheartedly agree with your assessment of Martin concerning his defensive position. He sure looks comfortable at the plate though and he exudes athleticism. Makes one wonder ... how much more time does he need at AA?
  19. tony&rodney
    Jax was on so take him out?
  20. tony&rodney
    Martin could move up to AAA. He doesn't look like power is in his immediate future but he barrels the ball and gets on base a ton, and brings athleticism to the field with his agressive running. The Twins could use a couple of athletes as soon as possible, whenever that works. Polanco, Gordon, Buxton, and Kepler are it right now and the Twins can count on Correa to play a wonderful shortstop and he will hit. We all hope Kirilloff, Sano, Arraez, Urshela, Larnach, & Garlick hit but they are mostly station to station. Jeffers and Sanchez get a bye because they are catchers.
  21. tony&rodney
    That is what the guy wrote on Gameday. Actually, Morales hit a ball back up the middle off of the pitcher to the second baseman who stepped on second to force out Encarnacion who had singled the Manfredball runner Pratto to third base and then the 2B made a poor throw to first. Morales was safe at first and Pratto scored the tying run. Then Carmargo hit one off the base of the fence in rightfield and Morales scored from first base. The players celebrated wildly. Two walkoffs - fun night. Thank you for writing the summaries. They are excellent. Encarcion swings a pretty mean bat right now. He is a free swinger.
  22. tony&rodney
    We will wait some time before anyone knows how this young man will turn out. I hope he does, as a Twins fan. He is, FWIW, well behind Chase Petty both in talent and in development. Nice that folks fall in love with the prospects but we will need Paddack to continue what he has done so far and hope Pagan works out. Rogers is still a good relief pitcher and the goal of any franchise is for the top team to win.
  23. tony&rodney
    Those who may have watched a number of AL Central games the last two weeks may state that the division runs through Cleveland. They run out some fun athletes, can pitch, have a low payroll, the best prospect list, and could easily make a trade to bring in a couple of key pieces. It is a long season though and anything can happen.
  24. tony&rodney
    The Twins can always say that it takes five years to judge the trade.
  25. tony&rodney
    I watched Cleveland yesterday against Chicago. The Lake Erie crew have some athletic players and with Francona at the helm it would not be shocking to see them win the AL Central. They need Franmil Reyes to have a big year and someone to step up at first base. Straw and Kwan are not going to give up any base hits in LF and Cf; they are both exciting athletes. Maybe the Twins should fold in a few athletes and step away from all or nothing defensively challenged players. Lewis time?
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