ashbury
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Everything posted by ashbury
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Here's an additional point. When you're a bad team, the only games you're going to win are the close ones. You can't blow anybody out; you will get blown out on occasion. Here are the scores of the seven Twins wins so far: 6-5, 10-9, 7-3, 6-5, 5-4, 7-4, and 3-2. Five one-run wins. I can't bear to list the losses, but they have lost both close and not-close. If you want to salvage what you can of the season, you kind of need to be ready to protect the few late one-run leads you do get.
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In their slight defense, on a good team competing for a divisional title, the 8th and 9th are pretty high leverage, aren't they? If you turn out not-good and not-competing for a title, decisions costing a win or two are really at the margins anyway. So going into the season saying "here's what we need to have happen, in order to win" can result in this kind of usage, especially in the first month when results can be the most counter to expectations.
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Yahoo's Twins page had this snippet: When asked what he expected moving forward Sunday, Carroll said he was in the dark. "I don't know what anything entails. I don't know what I need to be doing," he said. "So I don't have an answer for you." I take this to imply he's not totally cool with going back to a fill-in role; this was not a "just happy to be here, anything to help the team" quote. Probably he was given assurances during the free-agent negotiation that SS would be his for the season, and it's not like he's the scapegoat for the whole season starting off bad. He'll go along with it, as he's a good guy, but at this point it stings.
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I'll feel better when I stop hearing rumors centering on Storen. What we need is two divisional rivals both needing a CF/leadoff guy. The one more worried about the other, acquiring Span, may overpay. I'm not eager to see Span go for simply a good prospect, and normally a better-than-average but not stellar player like Span won't bring more. Trading good years now, for a potential of somewhat better years down the line, is the KC/Pittsburgh road to perpetual cellardom.
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Yeah, "ever" is a long time. The name Willie Norwood comes to mind. I'm sure old-timers can think up some more. But, that said, it was clear during the winter that JWill was in the discussion when it comes to worst defensive outfielders. It was part of the package.
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Hope this isn't any kind of explanation; picture Game 1 of any first-round playoff series in New York, Boston, anywhere. You don't want your center fielder puking on his shoes in the bottom of the first inning.
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People who believed Tom Brunansky would work miracles as the hitting coach for AAA have some 'splaining to do regarding Benson.
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I don't condone trying to hurt a player, but purpose-pitches are part of the game. It's a fine line. If you suspend the pitcher for saying forthrightly that he did it, all you'll do is drive the discussion back underground. This was rookie hazing, pure and simple, and Harper responded in exactly the way he ought to have due to lucky circumstance, resulting in perfect justice. But of even more importance is what Harper does with inside pitches the next few games. If he's seen as backing off and not digging in as much or protecting the outside of the plate, people will notice. To paraphrase Don Drysdale (and probably others), "I own half the plate, and the hitter owns half. Which half is which changes from pitch to pitch. And I don't tell him in advance when it changes."
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I see on MLB Trade Rumors that Brad Eldred was demoted by Detroit to Toledo. Did the Twins not have a chance to grab him on the waiver wire? Seems like an opportunity to snare another prospect from this divisional rival has been missed. Eldred can play first base and a little right field, and at only 31 he is just entering his prime. He hardly ever strikes out, whiffing in only 25% of his plate appearances, a mere half of Clete Thomas's rate. Terry Ryan's gotta pull the trigger when a chance like this arises.
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Game 27 - Twins @ Mariners - 5/6/12
ashbury replied to Parker Hageman's topic in Archived Game Threads
Yay, a run. -
Where the Twins are concerned I'm afraid I have to agree.
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Breaking: Scott Diamond and Brian Dozier to join the Twins
ashbury replied to Thrylos's topic in Minnesota Twins Talk
Unlike the other possibilities mentioned, like Mastroianni or Chang, which would have been a move just for the sake of filling a roster spot, this one is more strategic, and thus interesting. I didn't see the front office/manager ready to pull the trigger on it yet. -
I know, I know, it's such bad form to re-post and say I told you so. I was willing to give the brain trust the benefit of the doubt with their wait-and-see approach. But.
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50% of starting pitchers will require TJ surgery? I wonder what Dr. Mike Marshall would have to say about that.
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Has anybody collected statistics for all MLB organizations, for the various kinds of major injuries like this? I don't follow any other team closely enough to know if a UCL is a once-every-three-years thing for an organization, or if everybody loses two or three prospect pitchers this way every year?
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Their biggest need is a middle infielder, they have no one on the 40-man except Nishi, they have no one at all in the organization who is ready and as good as Luke Hughes as a backup (Dozier needs to play everyday, so he would mean pulling the plug on either Carroll or Casilla and I don't see that happening right now). So if they add someone like Chang to the 40-man just for the sake of doing something they will face the same dilemma (as with Hughes) if they need to take him off later. If they bring up an outfielder who is on the 40-man then Plouffe remains Gardy's heartburn backup in the infield. Dropping Hughes is looking more and more like a screwup to me. Bring back Bill Smith, I don't recall roster issues with him. I'll vote for my adoptee Mastro since he does the least harm, being on the 40-man already.
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They probably could use a 14th pitcher, preferably one with backup catcher skillz.
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The AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees are enduring home-field renovations this year, and they are temporarily dubbed the Empire State Yankees. Many of their "home" games are being played in Rochester. Does anyone know details on how this is being handled? In the current series against the Red Wings, nominally a home game for the Yankees, are the fans who attend let in on the "joke" before the National Anthem, and then cheer as the announcer says "and now, YOUR Empire State YANKEES" and the defense takes the field, for instance?
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He played April 30. Today is May 5. They said "Friday at the earliest" after the exam. If he plays today, they'll be off-by-one. If this lingers, I will agree that questions about accountability will need to be asked. It's still a few days premature for that. And putting an important player on the 15-day list, to avoid roster problems for three games (if he resumes playing today), would be a tough one to swallow. I prefer to wait and see before second-guessing.
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Twins Claim Erik Komatsu, DFA Clete Thomas
ashbury replied to Seth Stohs's topic in Minnesota Twins Talk
Problem is that most of these outfielders are on the lower end of the "Jason Spectrum", ranging from Tyner to Repko but never to Kubel - decent batting average, good defense, will steal a base, power anywhere from "nil" to "doubles and an occasional home run", at AA-AAA, projecting to hit .280 with an OPS of maybe .650 in the majors if they reach their potential. They're OK to stock up on, as insurance for injuries and to help make the AAA team more competitive for the fans in Rochester. But they are not the kind that "can make the [major league] team better". And they won't be significant trade bait: they're the very definition of Replacement Level - the other teams can get one for no investment at all. The Rule V draft isn't what it was a decade ago and it's just about not worth bothering with the players available through that route. That the Twins are spending time bottom-feeding isn't very strategic looking, to me. -
Morneau was "Friday at the earliest". It's Friday, I guess he's not quite right yet. Could well turn out to have been a mistake to not DL him; let's wait and see. Mauer took a foul off the knee and hasn't been behind the plate since; likewise, let's see if this drags on or if it's just another day or two, although the fact he's able to bat and run suggests it shouldn't be much longer.
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Willingham is the emergency catcher. Oh, drat, he's in the lineup too. What will they do?????
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So he's somewhere between Butera and Mauer in the batting average department. That pretty well narrows it down.
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Versatility guy? Howzabout Plouffe?
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This. Supplemental "first round" picks are a misnomer. Coming at around player #31 and lower, they are what used to be called second rounders, and unlike in football the certainty of draft picks after even the first dozen guys is far from 100%, more like 50/50 to ever reach the majors even for a cup of coffee. I'd much rather see a trade for a specific prospect in someone's organization, who has already passed the first few years of winnowing out, than take a chance on a supplemental pick. It doesn't look good for getting much for Capps right this minute, but sometime between now and the end of July you could have a couple of teams both in need and nervous about the other team acquiring help. That's when a decent prospect might come our way. And unlike last year, there isn't likely to be indecision about whether the Twins are "buyers" or "sellers" at the deadline. The white flag can already be waved without fear of hurting clubhouse morale. This should give Ryan lots of latitude to time such a trade.
