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tony&rodney

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Everything posted by tony&rodney

  1. tony&rodney
    All thoughts about trading any player needs to accompanied by specific names one might think available from another team. The Twins do not need mid level prospects or failing former stars. Teams are not likely to trade players with real offensive value either. Will any team actually trade a top prospect? Would the Twins actually put said top prospect in the lineup? Looking around baseball it seems that it would be very difficult to pry away a strong player without sending off a huge package of players. The Twins have held their prospects for the most part and also their players on expiring contracts. I'm all ears on proposals.
  2. tony&rodney
    The chart above, by mikelink45, really serves as an excellent reminder of those 1960s and 2000s decade teams. I have often thought that the 1970s teams has some really good excitement and were similarly flawed to the current versions of Twins baseball. As for being a patient fan this year, I would say that my wild guess of 83-87 wins looks fair still. Baseball has a lengthy season.
  3. tony&rodney
    Ok, thank you. My next question is whether I'm losing my brain thinking this seemed like a no brain decision to walk Arozarena. Same as the night before too. Bases loaded that throw home creates an out. What am I missing? Generally don't like second guessing but I thought it was a for sure thing last night and today I said it out loud because it seemed so straight forward. What in modern analytics or managing changed that age old strategy?
  4. tony&rodney
    Nick does a good job of highlighting the current debacles that are Brooks Lee and Royce Lewis. Lee is so sluggish, impatient, and often swing off of his front foot but he is still adequate on defense. Lewis can only be judged as hurt. His speed, awkwardness, and reflexes cannot merely be so diminished due to psychological reasons. I don't believe he is fully healthy and his legs are compounding problems. Get him off his feet for two weeks minimum. Plan for a positive return after the All Star Game, which would allow for healing, a reset of his mechanics, and a full rehab stint at the minor league level. The pitching has continued to be superb. The Twins need any offense they can find. I thought Gasper looked pretty overmatched at the MLB level but he could not do any worse than Lewis or Lee. Meanwhile the Twins are still looking decent when Buxton and Correa play. Gotta keep looking for bats.
  5. tony&rodney
    I actually said out loud after the Jeffers throw, "Got to walk Randy here", as I was driving along. I'm curious if there was discussion on the TV because neither guy on the radio said anything. Am I missing something here? Jax is not a guy who struggles to throw strikes.
  6. tony&rodney
    I was driving and listening to the game on the radio today. Wondered why Jax pitched to Arozarena in the 9th inning. Rowdy Tellez is a potential DP or K, or walk Tellez too and have a force at any base with two bottom of the lineup hitters. Was there a reason noted anywhere or any discussion on this? This situation also happened on Saturday night. I was curious if anyone had thoughts on the strategy.
  7. tony&rodney
    Those of us who watched every pitch have been rewarded.
  8. tony&rodney
    Because the Twins didn't put him on the 26 person roster. Someone was too busy; stupid paperwork.
  9. tony&rodney
    Discussion of Paul Skenes and accompanying articles and rumors or suggestions for what Pittsburgh should do are a staple of every sports desk. Skenes is pretty much a shut down pitcher with high value. The Twins don't necessarily need any pitching but any team could tempt the Pirates with an outrageous offer. The Twins could as well but you have a better chance of winning Powerball than Falvey parting with his prospects. Would anyone be interested in Skenes in a Twins uniform? Would Jenkins, Rodriguez, Culpepper, Amick, Raya, Soto, and Matthews or Festa be enough? The Pirates fans have a spectacular stadium with a near hopeless club and this is despite having some real stars like Oneill Cruz.
  10. tony&rodney
    Your points about Before and After are fine, but Lewis really has only played one year of baseball games at the MLB level. Too soon to tell what he was, is, or will be. Putting a crown on a young player is pretty tough. We can hope that Royce can find a process/swing and approach that works against pitchers who have a good book on him. The Twins need to have a plan of some sort pretty soon because just anointing him as the answer hasn't worked out so far.
  11. tony&rodney
    This would totally depend on what one defines as an extended period of time, right? If we are talking about a week or the one-third of a season in 2023 or the career which now is roughly equal to one season, one could come to wildly different conclusions. While I remain hopeful that Royce Lewis can recover his career at the MLB level, I have been consistently surprised at the references to Lewis as a critical core middle of the order hitter and staunch third baseman when the young man has unfortunately encountered the difficulties of playing baseball at the major league level. This has been the fate of too many phenoms in MLB history because baseball is a tough game to excel at on a consistent basis. We can only hope Lewis finds his way.
  12. tony&rodney
    Two budding stars in 2023 with similar WAR (2.6 & 2.4) have fallen badly. One is hallowed and still very much a point of focus, both for the Twins and Twins Daily. The other guy was never accepted, most often a point of derision and ridicule, and then rightfully demoted to AAA where the struggles continue. At a minimum it is an interesting look at bias. More clearly it is an example that baseball is a difficult sport to master. Hopefully both fellows have good lives. Maybe one or both can manage to find the keys to succeed.
  13. tony&rodney
    Play Eeles at second base and see if he can be a good fielder and also hit. We know what Miranda, Julien, and Gasper can do. The Twins don't need any more DHs.
  14. tony&rodney
    Gonzalez was just recently promoted to AA Wichita. I didn't see anything and doubt he was promoted last night to AAA St. Paul. Having watched Gonzalez a couple of times when he was a Seattle prospect and then last year I was baffled why the Twins accepted him in a trade. Gonzalez was the single worst outfielder I think I have ever seen. He made Delmon Young look like a gold glove winner. On at least a dozen occasions Gonzalez let fly balls drop and then picked them up as opposed to catching the ball. Well, he has improved dramatically in the outfield. In roughly a dozen games this year where I have watched him as an outfielder he is making the routine plays. He still isn't a good outfielder but the movement to playable has been a significant leap which indicates that Gonzalez has really worked hard at his fielding. Gonzalez has good bat to ball skills and it will be interesting to see how he does in the next few months for Wichita. FWIW, Culpepper is pushing to join Gonzalez in AA and we should expect this to happen pretty soon.
  15. tony&rodney
    The best answer for why Royce Lewis is struggling is that baseball is a difficult game. Proficiency or just being an average productive regular is incredibly challenging. At least Lewis has benefitted from tremendous support from Twins management. All signs point to him receiving a host of opportunities to recover from his current level of play.
  16. tony&rodney
    Playing baseball in today's Tampa weather conditions allows players to be totally loose and ready to go. Having played numerous doubleheaders in Florida heat, it is incumbent on the guys to keep hydrated. It is much easier to perform at optimum physical ability in 90 degrees F than it is in weather that ranges from 30-60 degrees F. Tampa was just better than the Twins today. The weather was not a factor. For those who find warm weather too difficult the weekend in Seattle should be in the mid 70s or with the roof closed if it rains (not in the forecast now). Stay safe.
  17. tony&rodney
    My comments have extolled the excellence of the Twins pitching staff all season. They are really good. However, we don't need to get all giddy about best ever. The 1965-1969 Twins pitching was really good too. The wins may be tougher this year for a couple of reasons. It isn't negative to note the real lack of foot speed and defense on this squad and the offense struggles to score runs as well. With a philosophy that eschews advancing runners (partially due to lack of speed but mostly due to thought process) and relies on extra base hits from players who are largely singles hitters, there are going to be real challenges. A step forward from several players will be needed before this Twins team can take the next step. While I remain bullish on the Twins, it is still a positive statement to expect around 85 wins and a wild card slot.
  18. tony&rodney
    Nice win. Anyone else worried about the bullpen in September? It is too early to think about that though. Varland has been efficient with his pitches and Jax has his dominant stuff.
  19. tony&rodney
    No big deal. McCusker is being judged on being a rookie pinch hitter. I cannot remember another instance where this has occurred. It is a very strange situation and I'm sure someone else must have questions other than me. To say he has failed is too simplistic to even respond to. Nobody knows what McCusker can do at the MLB level because he just sits and tries to be a good teammate. Can you imagine if Matthews was called up and just sat in the bullpen for a couple of weeks and then was brought in as a closer with a couple of runners on base.
  20. tony&rodney
    Love the way the Rays play. Beautiful play by Correa. The execution on that relay was simply wonderful baseball.
  21. tony&rodney
    So I do not know if you have watched a couple dozen or fifty games with McCusker playing in the field in the minor leagues like I have, but he has actually been a decent outfielder. He is a little bit better on jumps than Wallner and a much stronger defender than Larnach. Unless the lights specifically were the cause of the difficulties in left field last night I would say McCusker catches all three. He has fair speed and is surprisingly athletic. In 9 days McCusker has been mostly on the bench and the strikeouts are not surprising. His K-rate in AAA is about what we saw from both Larnach and Wallner. Yes, we want him to strike out less but acclimating to MLB pitching is not so easy as Jackson Holliday found out last season. It is multitudes more difficult for a rookie batting once every other game. If the Twins just wanted a pinch hitter they should have called up Mike Ford. I'm pretty certain that McCusker goes back to St. Paul soon and would suggest the Twins evaluate where he stands in their pecking order as an outfielder. If the Twins are not keen on Carson in their future plans I'm thinking there would be a decent opportunity to find a Dominican League, Rookie, or A ball player from some team's #10-25 prospect list or a dark horse that someone in the organization likes on another team.
  22. tony&rodney
    Does anyone else think Castro is playing injured. He looks slow in the field and at the plate compared to his usual self. The pitcher needs to make the final decision on which pitch to throw. Sometimes I wonder about the sequencing but the pitching staff has been pretty good this year. Stewart put that pitch on the tee.
  23. tony&rodney
    Doc's comments are the correct response. Read above. I will add that pitching is different today. Roster size has generally been at 25 players and pitching staffs were routinely around 10 or less. The 13 person pitching staffs have changed the makeup of teams position side as well as made max effort pitching more common. If rosters were 25 again, there would need to be some adjustments by a manager. "In the past, players like Rickey Henderson or Lou Brock embodied the classic leadoff profile: speedsters who could steal bases and disrupt pitchers’ rhythms." This line in the article caught my attention right away. Wallner will never hit as many home runs as Ricky did in his career. Wallner is also unlikely to reach the HR totals of Lou Brock. The more things change the more they stay the same. Kids these days.
  24. tony&rodney
    Good point. I thought the same exact thing when the ball was hit. I did not go back and replay that batted ball but it sure did look like Funderburk expected someone right behind him. A pitcher needs to field their position too and we have seen a pile of fielding mistakes by Twins pitchers this season already.
  25. tony&rodney
    Nick, this article may be helpful for some. Personally. I attend or watch a game for the pitching, offense, defense, and base-running; the players/ the game. Neither ownership nor front office management enters my mind in a game. The presence of an MLB team does not drive out small businesses in the manner of a Walmart. MLB (and other sports) teams do push communities to pay for their stadiums, which populations seemingly vote for. The U.S. has nearly always had a rather strange form of extreme welfare for big businesses and then paid their politicians to scream socialism and communism at any attempts to mollify the suffering of the poor or downtrodden. The Twins do have a decent team and their pitching is quite good this year. Where I might have some disagreement concerns the pattern of play and the preferred style of roster. The Twins are the slowest team in baseball, but I must acknowledge the two players who are new this year, Bader and Keirsey Jr., that have some speed. The Twins are also one of the weakest fielding teams. I enjoy watching the Twins but am still hoping Baldelli will try a hit and run or a bunt on occasion. These are seldom used, so I guess the team is outperforming its talent which is a good thing. Hopefully Buxton and Wallner will return healthy and productive, Correa will raise his level of output on offense on a consistent basis, and Lewis manages to do ..... something/anything. The Twins could be a playoff team.
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