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tony&rodney

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Everything posted by tony&rodney

  1. tony&rodney
    Well, Correa will still be the 3rd highest contract paid out by the Twins in each of the next 3 years. So Carlos is still with us in a way, just not in the lineup.
  2. tony&rodney
    Sure. The coaching is pretty similar across baseball. Some times the atmosphere is perceived as better, which may be true. The separation is in how players use suggestions or choose to work on skills.
  3. tony&rodney
    Think he is just as well off playing in Wichita. The difference is minimal and I'm afraid he he doesn't play every day for St. Paul.
  4. tony&rodney
    Pitchers are variable in how they react/recover from pitching, whether it is 20 or 60 or 120 pitches. Some arms recover quickly and these guys can throw 2 out of three days for an inning or two because they recover pretty quickly. Most arms require 3 or more days off when they throw more than 60 pitches. Thus the strategy of using pitchers relies to some extent on whether the pitching staff can physically meet the demands being asked of them. We have seen pretty much every strategy possible used in the last half century, due to a host of factors ranging from a lack of talent to monetary restrictions to experimentation and more. MLB has also changed the rules on several occasions which affects the makeup of the roster. A 25 person roster that also includes strict rules on shuttles between the minors and majors and does not account for position players pitching would affect how a manager uses their pitching staff. I expect we will see a few teams develop pitchers who develop the stamina to throw up to 120 pitches in a game. The general strategy doesn't really change much as teams attempt to use their best collection of pitchers to get through each game and the season. A real problem with targeted strategies that limit pitchers to a specific number of batters is that become more throwers than pitchers. This isn't just velocity but paying attention to the game as it it unfolds. A simple example was how Pierson Ohl reverted to throwing as opposed to pitching. It was very clear that the batter were sitting on the change and yet he still went to it again and again. When a batter is hitting your change off of their back foot they are totally susceptible to a mediocre fastball. So pitching is still about experience and stamina. I suspect that running will return as a means of increasing stamina. So, it's complicated but we will continue to see teams use various ways to use pitching. I'm in favor of pitchers pitching as opposed to just emptying their bullets throwing.
  5. tony&rodney
    Maybe we can retire conversations from the past. The ifs and what ifs and thens are not relevant to a discussion of whether Gabriel Gonzalez can be a guy the Twins turn to in a corner outfield position as soon as next year.
  6. tony&rodney
    Winning streak?
  7. tony&rodney
    Culpepper has been fantastic. He has been the leader of the Wichita team. The concern, from me, was his tendency to chase on occasions. There are times when Kaelen takes some wild swings. I'm seeing enough physical and mental talent that I'm hoping Culpepper can be the Twins shortstop next season. That may be aggressive but he raises the bar for defense, base-running, and is a dangerous bat as well.
  8. tony&rodney
    The improvements from Gonzalez have been substantial pretty much across the board. Based solely on my viewing (via milb.com), there isn't a player in the Twins organization that has improved so markedly. Last year Gonzalez stood out for his complete incompetence in the outfield more than anything else. If that seems harsh one needed to watch him play a couple dozen games. I'm not caring why he was so atrocious then but rather very encouraged by his gains in tracking fly balls and approaching base hits during 2025. Gonzalez has a chance, with some more improvement, to play in the field for the Twins. I'm not talking about just putting him in the game, as we have so often seen the Twins do with pure DH guys, but referring to a player who can make the routine plays on a regular basis. This has been an exciting transformation to watch and I'm very hopeful the next steps are taken. Gabriel has solid bat to ball skills and his biggest improvements at the plate have been his increased ability to look for pitches he can crush. He had great leadership in front of him in Kaelen Culpeper and Walker Jenkins at Wichita. MLB pitchers will test the limits of young players chasing and the hope is that Gonzalez cleans up that part of his game. I have no idea what was the cause of the problems that were evident in the outfield prior to this year but I'm hoping the young man can practice with 250 fly balls a day for a couple of months this winter in addition to his usual hitting routines. The Twins could have a solid corner outfielder in Gabriel Gonzalez.
  9. tony&rodney
    Seems like the Twins reacted to teams coming to them. Did the Twins target any players? Were they willing to pay market to acquire stronger prospects? The unknown creates doubt in my mind concerning how to evaluate the transactions. Certainly it is really difficult to understand what type of baseball player Falvey values. It does seem like he favors LH corner outfielders who may best fit as peripheral defenders or DH's and any pitching. For example, I have to wonder if Taj Bradley was all that could have been returned? Would the Cubs have sent over Kevin Alcantara? Could Jax, Castro, and a minor leaguer have returned Harry Ford? These are all unanswerable and speculative to a large extent. Grading the recent deals doesn't mean too much but (for me) it feels like someone didn't do their homework ahead of time and failed to maximize the potential of those players sent off. There are good players received, to be sure, but they mostly feel like alternatives to what was already within the organization.
  10. tony&rodney
    Always appreciate the work that goes into writing these reports. Thank you for your work. The minor correction below does not detract from the story. FWIW, Keaschall's line drive double (100.9 mph) that scored two runs in the 1st inning was down the left field line off the very tip of Riley Greene's glove. Greene, according to our illustrious play by play announcer, grades out as the best left fielder in baseball for jumps and range. Put in context, Bader, who is a pretty good outfielder, does not get within 6 feet of the ball. So not a miscue and credit where credit is due ... to Keaschall. The Twins seemed to have a very solid plan today versus Flaherty and hit his fastball. The Twins also hustled. I have been miffed why every player is not sprinting all out on every play. If they are worried about injury, sit out.
  11. tony&rodney
    Again, 5 out of 6 pitches were change-ups in same location. Can't hurt any worse to throw 1 fastball there.
  12. tony&rodney
    Great effort on that one.
  13. tony&rodney
    #1. Born in Minnesota and as such assigned by birth to be a fan of "our" teams. #2. Twins fan since their first game in 1961. Too late to quit. #3. Baseball is my favorite sport/hobby. #4. There is always something to enjoy even in the worst of times, such as pitch selections. #5. Baseball is summer and I love summer.
  14. tony&rodney
    Sometimes you need to meet the price if you want a guy.
  15. tony&rodney
    Both Varland and Stewart were traded for ifs. The Twins are addicted to ifs. We can spin and spin and spin to come up with ..... if Outman, if Rojas, if Roden. The Dodgers and Blue Jays reached out to the Twins and saw guys who can, so they offered their ifs.
  16. tony&rodney
    Which is why a number of people were pushing hard for the Twins to add someone like Rushing, Ford, Quero, or another MLB ready catcher. As it is, Noah Cardenas or Vazquez returning are the options.
  17. tony&rodney
    When I read the articles of Dan Hayes I'm left with the impression that it is always the other team that initiates trade conversations. The Twins don't seem to go after a player as much as react to offers and suggestions. While this may not be totally true we did read Falvey quotes about how various teams liked certain Twins guys and the deals went from there. Hopefully the Twins have a specific target when they negotiate trades of Ryan and Ober (Lopez if he is dealt too).
  18. 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.
  19. 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.
  20. 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.
  21. tony&rodney
    Larnach pays his pitcher back - great swing.
  22. tony&rodney
    13 extra pitches because the Twins think the pure DH is the same as a corner outfielder.
  23. tony&rodney
    Pure DH. We all hope he hits.
  24. 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.
  25. tony&rodney
    Perez was sitting on a breaking pitch. Adams had him set up for a fastball. Tough break there.
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