Jump to content
Our free agent ranking is up to 100 names, and now you can filter by player position! Click here to check it out! ×
Twins Daily
  • Create Account

mudcat14

Verified Member
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    571

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Profiles

Minnesota Twins News, Rumors & Analysis

Minnesota Twins Videos

2026 Minnesota Twins Top Prospect Rankings

2022 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks & Signing Bonuses

Minnesota Twins Trade & Free Agent Rumors

Minnesota Twins Fan Guides & Resources

2023 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks & Signing Bonuses

The Minnesota Twins Players Project

2024 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks & Signing Bonuses

2025 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks & Signing Bonuses

2026 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks & Signing Bonuses

Forums

Blogs

Events

Store

Downloads

Gallery

Everything posted by mudcat14

  1. mudcat14
    Anyone heard if Kepler is injured? Perhaps he's just wearing down, but he's struggled the past 10 games or so.
  2. mudcat14
    Problem is, until Hughes comes back our only 40man option is Darnell. Unless you move May back into the rotation.
  3. mudcat14
    Is it possible that the Umpires interpretation of the rule was not reviewable? Only if he applied the tag or not.
  4. mudcat14
    Ouch! Nothing like putting the fingers to keyboard and proving my ignurntz! You are correct I meant the opposite of dearth. Kind of sad when you live 50+ years on the planet and find you've spent most of them completely backwards on a word or subject. I kind of feel like Arthur C. Carlson, who once said, "Andy, as God is my witness. I thought Turkeys could fly." Regardless, I'm not advocating moving Dozier to 3rd. I'm just saying as insurance in case Sano were to suffer a lengthy injury or prove unusable at 3B. I don't find either scenario likely enough to keep Plouffe around when trading him could enable us to fill greater needs.
  5. mudcat14
    Does Dozier have the arm to play 3rd? Seems like in the next year or two, we're gonna have a dearth of middle infielders. Brian's bat certainly profiles closer to a third baseman than second. He wasn't a quality 2nd baseman initially, but improved rapidly. If there really is such a concern about Sano's long-term viability at the hot corner, maybe Bulldozer is the answer.
  6. mudcat14
    I'm not defending the move, but I can certainly understand it. From a personnel standpoint, the Twins are going to have to make some serious 40 man roster decisions this off-season without utilizing one on Berrios when they're not required to. This is one of the only downsides of seeing our deep farm system finally coming of age. From the perspective of JO's development, sure getting a taste of big league life in the bullpen due to innings limitations could have been beneficial. But as Ryan mentioned the other day, Berrios has done nothing but start since his early days in Rookie League ball. Changing his routine to throw out of the pen, even in low pressure situations may not be all that easy, or beneficial. I have no doubt JO will be given every opportunity, perhaps even the expectation of breaking camp next spring in the starting rotation. Unless they were to throw caution to the wind and place him in the rotation right now, is there really enough upside to risk adding him to the roster for the remainder of the season?
  7. mudcat14
    The Twins are going to have some tough choices creating 40-man space this off-season. Sounds like it is one of the major deterrents to calling up and adding Berrios right now. Below, as near as I can tell are the players who will require inclusion this winter; Pitchers Luke Bard D.J. Baxendale J.T. Chargois Cole Johnson Zack Jones Felix Jorge Brett Lee Mason Melotakis Alex Muren Dereck Rodriguez Taylor Rogers Randy Rosario Tim Shibuya Corey Williams Alex Wimmers Infielders Levi Michael Engelb Vielma Outfielders Travis Harrison Adam Brett Walker II Obviously even if all were left unprotected, only a few would stand the slightest chance of being carried on a ML active roster for all of 2016. With that in mind, I say we have to protect the following; Chargois Jones Rogers Williams Vielma Walker Am I off base here? Thoughts?
  8. mudcat14
    You absolutely trade Plouffe for the best return you can get, regardless of position. Clearly catcher & pitching depth are our primary needs, but they don't necessarily have to be addressed in a Plouffe trade. Additional moves can certainly be made to fill those holes. Perhaps even using the proceeds of a Plouffe deal. The biggest mistake they could make would be to leave any room for doubt that 3B belongs to Sano next year. Escobar & Nunez should certainly be retained as defensive insurance at 3B. But the job must belong to Miguel, no matter what. He is a franchise player. Plouffe, at his absolute best is league average.
  9. mudcat14
    I'm not sure about closing, but the Bullpen seems to be a great spot for him. I don't think I'd move him back to the rotation next year, unless forced to. -----------------ERA--------IP-----H-----BB-----SO------AVG------WHIP Starter-------- 4.43------83.1---97-----18------73-----.290 -------1.38 Reliever-------1.80------20.0---17-------5------23-----.224-------1.10 I think the Royals have proven how valuable having hard-throwing back-end guys can be on a nearly daily basis.
  10. mudcat14
    Rochester should be eliminated from play-off consideration around September 1st. One of Berrios' stated goals was to reach the majors this season. With the success he's had across two levels, I think the Twins would be doing him a disservice if they don't reward him. With the Cotts acquisition, Aaron Thompson is a likely candidate to be outrighted to give him a spot on the 40-man roster. I actually think pitching occasionally out of the pen for 1-2 inning stints to finish out the season might be the ideal way to entrée Jose into the majors anyway. Kepler needs to finish out Chattanooga's season, wherever it leads them. Though he could very well be an upgrade to the Twins OF/1B/DH mix right now, competing for the Southern League Championship certainly has value as a learning experience for him as well. I believe he has already surpassed any personal or organizational goals for this season and will enter 2016 as a viable MLB OF candidate whether he gets a taste this fall or not.
  11. mudcat14
    Nothing more than a hunch here, but look for Torii to officially announce soon that he's hanging them up after this season. I'll bet he immediately steps into a role as Special Assistant to the GM at that time. With his sons active in college sports, it will allow him the scheduling flexibility to follow them, while performing a variety of duties for the Twins. They could utilize him as a roving instructor, spokesperson and general goodwill ambassador for the organization. I believe his ultimate goal is to one day become GM, so entrée into many of those duties, as well. Perhaps he'll prefer a post-playing career in uniform at some point as a coach or manager. But with the level of financial security he has achieved, I know I'd never want to tie myself down to that kind of travel and time commitment.
  12. mudcat14
    Obviously, two huge factors in Sano's future success will be hitters getting on base in front of him and having a power threat or two batting behind him. In a perfect world he will spend several seasons with good OBP guys like Buxton, Hicks, Mauer, Kepler Polanco or maybe Dozier and Rosario setting his table. While slugging threats like Vargas, Walker, Arcia or again Dozier and Rosario make pitchers suffer for pitching around him. Clearly several guys will need to take major steps forward for all of this to come into being. But with the physical skills and track records of most of these guys, I like their chances of forming a pretty dangerous 6 or 7 deep batting order over a multi-year period.
  13. mudcat14
    Would take any of the Power Four arms of course, but from the rest of the list only Wieters & Kazmir hold any interest for me. Even then, it would need to be for no more than 2-3 years maximum. Not sure that either will settle for that.
  14. mudcat14
    He's 6'3", 185#, when he pitches with his LH. Sorry, ...couldn't resist. Seriously though, my 13-year old is 5'9", 130#. Maybe there is hope for him if Wells is only 5'8" and is that successful against professional (albeit barely professional) hitters.
  15. mudcat14
    I was gonna insert the most famously insensitive Bobby Knight quote here, but don't wanna get banned. Sufficed to say, we must accept the inevitable and hope Joe enjoys some sort of revival as he gets further from his 2013 concussion. On a positive note, he has enjoyed an unprecedented run of good health since he forgot how to hit.
  16. mudcat14
    Stupid Sh*t move! We KNOW his spot will come up again, and now we have Robinson batting clean-up. Yes Sano is not a smart base-runner. But what are the odds it's gonna matter with two outs and Poof up? Slim to none.
  17. mudcat14
    Not that I'm comparing the two, but HOF'er Ozzie Smith was a career .262 hitter who didn't even eclipse that mark until season #8. It's a different era for SS's now, but stellar fielders can still be vital regulars without being Silver Sluggers.
  18. mudcat14
    Thanks for the fine forensic review of his swing. Clearly you have a much keener eye for the mechanical details of his approach and have seen reason for encouragement. About all I could see is that he seems to throw his butt out and extend his arms more from the LH side. I realize that a balanced or even near balanced split for switch-hitters is not the norm. It sounds like you and others feel that he is at least trending in that direction.
  19. mudcat14
    I certainly am not in the 'Trade Dozier' camp any longer. But doing so for the right return is far from preposterous. Numerous HR's, especially in the clutch have skewed his value upward among Twins fans. I'm not sure the rest of the league even shares that sentiment. Brian will finish the season with over 2,000 career AB's and a lifetime BA at about .245, with no signs of rising. Polanco will never replace his power, but could and should exceed his numbers in every other way. Jorge is probably a better 2-hole option behind Buxton, as well. Again, I'm not endorsing a Dozier trade. But I would be curious as to what he could bring.
  20. mudcat14
    You may be right, but there were reports that the Pad's were desperate to unload salary at the deadline. Of course, none of them came to fruition. The trade as proposed is pretty much a wash for them financially for the first 2 years, but saves them $40mil over years 3 & 4. Plouffe would solve their 3B woes for a couple seasons anyway, while a healthy Nolasco (who knows?) could at least account for Shields innings. I don't know. Maybe you throw in a non Top 10 prospect or something to get it done. Regardless, adding Shields might be the bold type move we need for 2016, to keep things going forward.
  21. mudcat14
    Personally, I would trade Plouffe & Nolasco to San Diego for Shields & Hedges. SoCal natives, Trevor & Ricky will cost roughly $40mil over the next two seasons, while Shields could reach $80mil over the next 4 years. Much has been posted about Shields 'Bad' contract. But the fact is, this will be his 9th consecutive 200+ inning season more often than not as the #1 starter. His numbers have been and still are very solid and he has been extremely consistent. Hedges has the potential to compete for the starting gig next spring, but poses zero financial risk.
  22. mudcat14
    2 for 4 with double & dinger. He's OK.
  23. mudcat14
    Saw it online. Got hit on a check swing. Umpire called it a foul. Kepler showed him the bruise and was ejected. Dougie then got ran too for sticking up for him. Max sat out the 2nd game. Hopefully just as a precaution.
  24. mudcat14
    Since Hicks has actually attempted this conversion briefly in the past I would submit that it's not delusional, rather it's quite conceivable. I accept that doing so in-season at the MLB level is probably the most inopportune time to make that adjustment. But it is merely that. An adjustment. Granted, a major adjustment, but good hitters make adjustments all the time. Great hitters do it very well. It's not as though I'm suggesting that he start throwing with his foot. We've actually had a couple of former #1 picked RH CF's with our beloved Twins that made lesser significant adjustments in their hitting approach, with career altering success. I've done no research, but will confidently state that the vast majority of professional pitchers throw with their right arms. On top of that, a majority of professional ballplayers bat from the right hand side. I'd even be willing to bet that in the history of the MLB, there have been more righty vs. righty AB's than any other match-up. Some, I believe have worked out quite well for the batters. IIRC, Hicks began switch-hitting in his mid teens. Perhaps it's just a failed experiment that's gone on for too long. It isn't the first. The Edsel, New Coke, Betamax, ...do you remember the Chevy Chase Talk Show? Wise people, who could read the writing on the wall, pulled the plug. Maybe it's time for the Twins and AH to do the same.
  25. mudcat14
    First off, I am very happy with the improvement we've seen from Aaron this season. I have to ask though, with the tremendous disparity between his RH/LH splits (over .400 in OPS,) might it be worth a try to have him shelve switch-hitting for the rest of the season? I know he's done so briefly, in the past. Unless he can start to solve RH pitching, it's hard to see him as anything more than a platoon partner.
×
×
  • Create New...