Jump to content
Twins Daily
  • Create Account

tony&rodney

Verified Member
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    9,419

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    85

 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

Forums

Blogs

Events

Store

Downloads

Gallery

Everything posted by tony&rodney

  1. tony&rodney
    The bottom line is winning and unless you are the #1 run scoring team by a pile there needs to be players in the field who can turn batted balls into outs. A team can sometimes get away with playing one (or even two at times) weak defender(s). The Twins have often put more than two guys out in the field who struggle. If Emmanuel can stay healthy and Jenkins can make the jump, they can play on either side of Buxton. This would be a decent outfield. Earlier this summer I was wondering how many fly balls fell in right field that were outs with Max out there. It has been a ton. I'm not pining for Kepler at all, but I do want good defenders in the outfield. I would say that Bader did a good job in the outfield. Now we need our next wave of young pups to play the same type of defense.
  2. tony&rodney
    Michael Lorenzen on a rehab assignment in Wichita gives up a 3 run HR to Culpepper and a bomb to the next batter, Jenkins. These two are good.
  3. tony&rodney
    Michael Lorenzen on a rehab assignment in Wichita gives up a 3 run HR to Culpepper and a bomb to the next batter, Jenkins. These two are good.
  4. tony&rodney
    Larnach pays his pitcher back - great swing.
  5. tony&rodney
    13 extra pitches because the Twins think the pure DH is the same as a corner outfielder.
  6. tony&rodney
    Pure DH. We all hope he hits.
  7. tony&rodney
    No direction. That is the problem. Adding players at the same level as a host of players already within the organization doesn't really change anything except for creating depth for injuries or perhaps massive trades of prospects in the winter. The Twins had guys just like every player added. Maybe Tait is an exception but he is so far away and even he looks more like another DH. Meanwhile, who is the player that is a copy of Duran? Simply put, the wholesale trades are not the problem in my opinion, it is the return. An example of a trade that made sense was the transaction between San Diego and West Sacramento. Promise was given and promise was received in that deal. The counter in all deals is to wait for 5 years until a full examination can be made. Fair enough but then we have the trade trees to consider for decades. All I'm waiting for is to see the Twins engage in a plan to improve the talent on the team. For now, the use of current AAA/AA players next year is the only hope. Of course that hasn't changed from a month ago.
  8. tony&rodney
    Perez was sitting on a breaking pitch. Adams had him set up for a fastball. Tough break there.
  9. tony&rodney
    Jax was done with the Twins way. Can't blame him. Wish him well and hope Bradley fills in for him in relief. Where is Bradley? AAA? Why?
  10. tony&rodney
    If you have watched Gasper catch both at St. Paul and in his limited innings (2) behind the plate for Minnesota, you already know the answer to your question. Are you being nice? I appreciate that and any optimism but the umpires can't have Gasper behind the plate. Mickey Gasper is one of those strange but true stories of players who manage to hit at AAA against some really good arms but have about as much chance versus MLB pitching as you and me. He is a good AAA story. Let him play there. It is pretty embarrassing to carry Gasper on a major league roster. The guy is likable but send him down for the integrity of the game. I'm not exactly sure why Keaschall is still waiting. He is not tearing up AAA but he needs experience with the speed of the game and if the Twins see him as a part of the future he should be playing. The Twins are not going to have either Julien or Fitzgerald on their 40 person roster this winter. This is a given. Riverbrain is correct that Baldelli needs to manage differently, playing all 13 players. If he doesn't in these last 2 months, it will only increase the space between the players and their manager.
  11. tony&rodney
    Sure. Hope is all the team has. Perhaps the Twins roll out Matthews, Festa, Woods Richardson, Morris, and Raya as their starting five next year and they excel across the board. I hope they do. Abel had a good start yesterday for St. Paul, Bradley has had some good starts in his career for Tampa Bay, and Rojas is on par with Andrew Morris. I hope all these guys do well as Twins. I'll continue to hope the Twins find some gems.
  12. tony&rodney
    Abel and Rojas are the most likely to crack the MLB team as back end starters hopefully or bullpen arms. Without a fair amount of improvement with the glove, Tait and Mendez slot in at the DH position. The Twins could use a really good DH, so hopefully one of these guys takes the spot. The Twins do have Wallner, Larnach, Jeffers, and Roden lined up ahead of them at the moment, but things change as we know.
  13. tony&rodney
    There is nothing in the 9 years of The Plan which allows for rookies burning up roster time. It may be an idea but no way the Twins play Jenkins and Culpepper. I'm fine with them having some fun in Wichita before being exposed to the Twins ways. Hopefully ownership and POMO/manager change occurs before next season. It needs to happen.
  14. tony&rodney
    According to Dan Hayes, writing for The Athletic, the Twins were too busy to explore Ryan deals and Boston did not engage until the deadline with a lame offer. That seems odd. The Jax deal, Hayes again, came together very quickly because Tampa Bay had made an offer ealier in the day and then Jax requested a trade. So the Twins called TB back with 5 minutes to go or so.
  15. tony&rodney
    Manfred is the worst. When he opens his mouth he lies. I can't imagine anyone could be worse at their job than him. Wait ... there are others .... worse too. What a world.
  16. tony&rodney
    Sorry if I misinterpreted that you thought the Twins would sign a big FA. The carryover of the purge may affect a few small FA signings, although there is no way to know this information. For example, Coulombe was a terrific signing at $3M. Would he or a similar player consider the Twins? My guess is that experienced players will only discuss contracts with the Twins as a last resort. Both Colorado and the White Sox look more appealing at this time. Give it two years and a sale .... things could turn out for the better. For us old folks or maybe just me, I just want a clean slate: new owners, POBO, and manager. There are a number of people in the organization that I would work hard to retain if I were the new owner. Falvey goes though as his vision is too cloudy. In any event, I don't expect a sale of the team until 2027 unless the price and terms (as currently reported) are reduced.
  17. tony&rodney
    The recent trades did not bring in a single position player who stands out as one to hold down the middle of the lineup. The Twins still need to "find" a catcher and first baseman. Ryan and Ober is their best hope to accomplish that need. Pablo Lopez does not have the value but we shouldn't be surprised if he is jettisoned too.
  18. tony&rodney
    No reason that Culpepper is not the shortstop out of Spring Training next season. He turns 23 late in December and has made every progression needed. It is not uncommon at all for players to skip AAA. Kaelen is exactly the type of player the Twins need on their roster. He is athletic, runs, fields his position well, and drives the ball all over the park.
  19. tony&rodney
    The optimism is good. You are correct that the Twins (any team) need to get lucky on draft picks. I watch a ton of minor league baseball. Noah Cardenas might work as a backup catcher but he won't hit. I'm ok if he is just a good catcher. DeBarge plays hard but I think his talent won't play at the top levels. It is possible to play all of Keaschall, Culpepper, Rodriguez, and Jenkins full time next year. The Twins need a couple of players from an expected purge of Ryan and Ober. Where I think you overstep optimism is in the hopes of signing a big FA. That ship has sailed for now. Kyle Tucker is the only big FA this winter. The CBA expires after next season. We have no idea if the team will be sold but I'm not expecting real interest until the price drops. The rebuild only happens if the Ryan and Ober trades are successful. More piles of mid rotation starters and DH position players will hurt more than help. A gamble or two on talent will need to occur. It will take a couple of years for the young Twins to acclimate. Lewis and Jeffers will be gone and Buck in his last year. It is going to take time unless two things happen: prospects develop more quickly and contribute in a major way and the coming trades return 2 major pieces to the position side of the roster.
  20. tony&rodney
    Mendez had a fine game but the player of the game was easily Kaelen Culpepper. Everyone looks to him and he drives the offense. Kaelen's line drive to start off the 9th inning fired up the entire team. It was over for Amarillo right there. Mendez was impressive in the 9th inning with the bases loaded, fouling off two pitches on 3-2 and then flaring a broken bat bloop into centerfield to score the tying and winning runs. Good bat to ball skills on display. That was a fun game to watch. Only watched Abel for one inning. He looked good. Toledo seemed flummoxed by his pitches. Winokur keeps marching along with a hit and RBI. He is developing.
  21. tony&rodney
    Roden struggled in his first looks, at the plate and in the field. I watched the minor league games today. The two guys who are real deals are Culpepper and Jenkins. They are on a roll, laying off the breaking stuff and crushing fastballs of all velocity. They are also hitting with power to al fields. Hendry Mendez had 2 strong games as his introduction to the Wichita team. He looks like he has good bat to ball skills. The Twins best bet is to have Emmanuel and Walker flank Buxton in the outfield next season and stick Culpepper at shortstop. He is already better than Lee. The Twins need to give Keaschall a position and just let him play there every day. He is quick enough to play second base. Perhaps Roden gets a shot at first base.
  22. tony&rodney
    The Phillies manager gave his uniform number (#59) to Jhoan Duran. Rob Thomson said managers don't need numbers. That is a sweet welcome.
  23. tony&rodney
    I managed to catch parts (mostly the last inning) of both games. There was real excitement in the parks and the announcers were fun.
  24. tony&rodney
    In other news, I just watched Wichita score 10 runs in the 9th inning. to come back and defeat the Sodpoodles. Kaelen Culpepper looks really good at the plate and in the field, really good. Walker Jenkins is right behind Culpepper and is also scalding the ball. I haven't seen any other minor league players look as good as these two and I am guilty of watching way too much milb. A positive note on Kendry Mendez, the 21 year old outfielder that arrived from Philly in the Bader trade. He had 2 good games for Wichita. The returns for Stewart, Jax, and Varland were simply strange. The future is not very predictable but did anyone see that coming? Correa? I guess it wasn't meant to be.
  25. tony&rodney
    This the reality in the franchise. Some have stated that a new owner could have directed the recent sell off. That just seems so remote. A new owner would want to have their own people make decisions. While there is no way to know if there is any progress towards a sale or even any interest in the club, we will continue to hear rumors. Meanwhile we wait patiently, for a new era of Twins baseball.
×
×
  • Create New...