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Kirby_waved_at_me

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Everything posted by Kirby_waved_at_me

  1. Kirby_waved_at_me
    Free Jason Kubel! http://freejasonkubel.blogspot.com/ Wait. I mean, "Free" as in "release." If you let him go and he comes back, it was meant to be. Free Josmil Pinto! in other news, remember 2008?
  2. Kirby_waved_at_me
    I think Suzuki as the Starting Catcher is just fine; and Seth's suggestion o 4 out of every 6 games should be plenty. Suzuki himself stated that his success this year compared to the last few was that he was finally healthy and rested. Having Pinto catch a third of the teams' games (and DH'ing most of the rest of time) would be my vote if being a fan included that right. My other point about the DH spot was just that I would rather have Pinto's defense behind home plate and Willingham/Kubel as the DH instead of those guys playing in the OF to get their bat in the lineup. Given the options on the current roster, it seems like it will be hard to find good defense in LF. I think vs. Lefties is easy enough: Start Suzuki at C, Pinto DH, and reluctantly trot Willingham out in LF. Kubel can be on the bench.
  3. Kirby_waved_at_me
    No grades for the Coaching Staff?
  4. Kirby_waved_at_me
    Well, not hard for a team that has a healthy bench. This year there have been several games in which Gardy basically had one pinch hitter option. I don't think anyone will argue that The Twins have built a flexible and deep 25 man roster, I *will* argue that it is hard to fix the ship now that it has been run into the ground (see: Bartlett, Guerrier, Kubel, Presley/Mastro/Wilson). To your point, though, 100% agreement that having to use a pinch hitter every now and then is not a unique problem and Gardy should be a least willing to have that as a possibility.
  5. Kirby_waved_at_me
    This would be a much easier decision for Gardy if Kurt Suzuki was playing at his career levels and not well above them. Pinto only plays the one defensive position and Suzuki's YTD triple slash .291/.360/.397 puts his career mark of .254/.312/.376 to shame. The last ten games have been a bit slow for Kurt (just one XBH), but he's been playing really well, and it sounds as though the pitching staff loves him too. The DH position is "overcrowded," too - it becomes an unpleasant game of Would You Rather: W.Y.R. play Willingham or Kubel in LF so Pinto can DH? Or W.Y.R. have Pinto Catch and have Suzuki on the Bench so Willingham can DH. I guess it's really a problem in that defensively there's still a laundry list of deficiencies in the outfield. Players that are better suited to staying off the field entirely are thrust into service out there. Suzuki and Pinto both have hit well enough to be in the lineup as often as possible, while most of the LF/RF/DH/1B on the team have played below their expected level.
  6. Kirby_waved_at_me
    Everyone's favorite French Resistance Fighter / 4th Outfielder!
  7. Kirby_waved_at_me
    that works too
  8. Kirby_waved_at_me
    Arcia can have Kubel's at bats starting right now.
  9. Kirby_waved_at_me
    Oh right, Torii! I should've had a V-8. The Twins haven't had many guys that mixed HR power and Speed. Chuck Knoblauch was a pretty prolific Doubles hitter and stole lots and lots of bases, never really hit for power. If Dozier turns into a player like Knoblauch (with a little more power and little less speed) that would be pretty good for the Twins' future.
  10. Kirby_waved_at_me
    He still has the reputation of being able to handle pitchers well and "call a good game." Also, the Dodgers have plenty of good pitchers. Then again, maybe they were willing to part with Sulbaran in the trade to get Butera because they saw the potential he had to replace him?
  11. Kirby_waved_at_me
    It gives new meaning to the phrase "an embarassment of riches." 6 players and none of them are quite ready for prime time (or they've grown out of the regular role in the field and are better suited to DH)
  12. Kirby_waved_at_me
    yeah - earliest he can come back is 10 days after he came off the disabled list and was optioned to AAA.
  13. Kirby_waved_at_me
    I think Koskie in 01 was the closest - he had a 25/25 year. (I forgot that he had pretty good speed, and great speed for a corner infielder) Puckett's closest was a 30+ homer, 20+ steal year in 86 Marty Cordova had a 20/20 his rookie season Larry Hisle had a 25/20 season in 1977 4 doubles so far this year for Dozier - he had 33 last year, kind of surprised he doesn't have more doubles, but I guess they've been clearing the fence this year.
  14. Kirby_waved_at_me
    The radio call said he did a good job to get back on the ball, but Dan Gladden specifically said that "you have to know how the wind plays at Target Field" which both acknowledged the difficulty of the play but didn't excuse Hicks from misjudging it. He notes that Hicks got back to the point where the ball would have gone without the breeze, but by the time Hicks looked up again, the ball was three plus feet over from that spot. Outfield play has come up a lot this year (rightfully so) and it's something that these players all have to learn on the fly. Hicks has now had about one full season worth of innings at Target Field, so plays like this one are ones he should be more able to judge than a visiting player (or any Twins infielder that might be serving time in the outfield that day).
  15. Kirby_waved_at_me
    Hicks is on a 5 game hitting streak and has reached base in 7 straight games. I wouldn't say he's turned a corner, but at the very least it's a welcome sight to see and it may boost his confidence a bit. The thing that I've heard people say the most is that he struggles when he is tentative with his swing. A few bloopers falling in for him like they have this week will hopefully give him a little swagger going forward.
  16. Kirby_waved_at_me
    It's quite possible that Cobb would just flat refuse to play on the same team as Bonds, and it wouldn't be a steroid thing.... I *suppose* I would settle for 1956 version of Mickey Mantle in CF instead. I'd sacrifice a little bit of average and OBP for SLG. Or Willie Mays vintage 1954. If Hornsby wanted out also (What a JERK!) Joe Morgan from 1975 would have a spot at 2B waiting for him. But seriously, back to the Twins' lineup - now that he's back up, trying to decide if Herrmann should start in Left, Right or Catch. Either way, he's batting cleanup.
  17. Kirby_waved_at_me
    The good news is that the Twins have reduced the pitching staff down to 12! Arcia will probably be taking Herrmann's place soon. Willingham will come back soon as well, and he'll take over for , uh, Colabello? And when Fuld returns, he'll be taking either Santana or Nuñez's spot on the 25. Probably Santana. As others mentioned, there was really only one move available to add a position player since everyone else on the 40-Man is either a prospect (Vargas, Kepler, Polanco), rehabbing (Fuld/Hammer/Arcia), or Eric Fryer. I suppose they could have called up Florimon again, but really, there was little choice in the matter. Herrmann or make no moves and just wait for one of Arcia/Hammer/Fuld to be ready.
  18. Kirby_waved_at_me
    Ah. in that case, Burton instead of Fien (t)here? Ugh.
  19. Kirby_waved_at_me
    Fien might be pitching in the 9th tonight to give Perkins a night off - at least that's what they were alluding to on the radio...
  20. Kirby_waved_at_me
    Geez - Walking the ball over to Gardy...
  21. Kirby_waved_at_me
    or just keep Suzuki for now?
  22. Kirby_waved_at_me
    Well, we know how "a couple second tier bullpen guys" from the Orioles works out for the Twins... If we could convince the Orioles that Hardy is only worth a couple bullpen guys... wait.
  23. Kirby_waved_at_me
    I went to that card show - I had a pretty good time! I ended up scoring a Kirby Puckett rookie (1985 O-Pee-Chee, looks just like the topps version, but there's French on the back and the OPC logo on front.) and a 1960 Harmon Killebrew. Just a small enclosed section of a strip mall, the sellers all seemed to be private collectors at one point, and they all were into different specialties, so there was lots of variety. I realized that the $$ earned or spent on collecting is just a small part of it- it was a lot of fun to talk shop (or in my case, listen to them talk shop).
  24. Kirby_waved_at_me
    oops! yeah that's Al Newman. Nice gallery otherwise, great to see those.
  25. Kirby_waved_at_me
    Yes- it will be interesting to see how it plays out over the course of a full season.
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