Jump to content
Twins Daily
  • Create Account

ashbury

Verified Member
  • Posts

    42,581
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    473

 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 ashbury

  1. This news stinks.
  2. Moderator's Note: While I doubt it's your intent, let's (all collectively) not turn this into another "PEDs: Pro Or Con" thread, nor draw lines putting every poster in either one camp or the other. Cano was suspended for violating the league's drug policy*, and that may or may not be a factor in whether one would wish to acquire him. But let's not expand it beyond Cano. * As a point of information, he was suspended for use of a diuretic that is banned because it can mask PED use. He denied PED use, admitting only to the banned diuretic which he ascribed to a misunderstanding. OTOH people in the industry have been quoted as lacking in surprise he ran afoul of the rules.
  3. He's an above average offensive player and he plays well at an up the middle position on defense. Regardless of talent, how can someone be lazy and do that? The PED suspension gives one pause. But PEDs do little unless the athlete is willing to work hard. Using PEDs could indicate a certain degree of caring, albeit misguided, rather than non-caring. As for his own interests, those coincide with his team's interests where it comes to results - what other interests are you implying? What harm to the team are you implying? Age, and length/magnitude of remaining contract, are the big negatives. Innuendo is not needed.
  4. Perhaps not. But Tom stated, "That's not a team weakness right now," and I was responding to a response to that.
  5. I worked hard to achieve that. So, yes, about hobgoblins.
  6. 22nd in the majors means around middle of the pack in the AL. Because of the DH, mostly. Always distrust MLB-wide rankings. Always.
  7. The White Sox got a good reliever. Season. Over. They gave up a pretty decent young catcher to get him, didn't they?
  8. I guessed correctly and then checked to see if I was right: Billy Hamilton! (No, not this Billy Hamilton. The other one.)
  9. Swarzak but no Duensing????
  10. It's probably the laser-beam focus on Kepler being positionally flexible that bothers me. If you feel comfortable saying "Cave or one of the OFs need to be able to play a different position" or "Rosario or one of the OFs need to be able to play a different position" now and then, I'll feel like the Positional Flexibility Club truly is inclusive. Cave is about the last guy I'd like to see locked to one position.
  11. We're in agreement that Kepler needs to improve his offense or he's in danger of losing time in the lineup. Where we may disagree is where he should be stationed on defense on any given day he is in the lineup - say, against a tough righty where we don't like our two 1B options. If you think Kepler is our fourth most skillful outfielder on the defensive side of the ball, after Buxton/Rosario/Cave, then putting Kepler at first base does make sense. But I don't care for Cave's judgement in the OF nor his read on the ball. I don't think his range is better, and his arm is worse. So I consider Kepler the better outfielder of the two. Probably I'd put Kepler slightly ahead of Rosario overall, too. I don't mean to exaggerate Cave's ineptitude. On a simple scale, as outfielders I'd rate Buxton a 10, Kepler a 7, Cave and Rosario about a 6*. As center fielders, where the bar is higher, that puts everyone except Buxton at average or slightly below - there are some good CFers out there, and Kepler doesn't rank with those, and certainly not Cave, to me. But, I do see a difference among our non-Buxton guys, and Kepler ranks #2 for me. Maybe that's where the disconnect in all of this is. * For context, I suppose Grossman's about a 3 or a 4, and JD Martinez in the World Series looks like he's degraded to about a 1.
  12. My guess, without any particular evidence except a recollection that he had some peculiar training methods as a rookie, is that Bauer must wear out his welcome with his team, despite good on-field production. Backup guess: the Indians have looked as his body of work and see a sell-high situation. Maybe I should make this my primary guess, after all.
  13. The phrase usually seen for young players is "under team control" for a certain number of remaining years. The team is not obligated to offer a contract each year; the player can be released without further obligation. As the player gains seniority, the nature of the contracts also become less dictatorial by the team (e.g. arbitration).
  14. "That's a nice career you've got. Be a shame if someone was to set fire to it. Fires happen. Fings burn."
  15. ashbury

    Dogs

    Not the best response, but not ba-a-a-ad.
  16. I wouldn't call it a myth, but among the five tools, hitting for average remains key, and power isn't far behind. As I suggested/implied, if Kepler's offensive output doesn't start to increase, all the defense he is capable of won't matter, regardless of the position. He's not a good enough CFer to make his offense be a plus there, and the converse is true everywhere else he can play.
  17. I'm always nervous about taking Texas League numbers too seriously as an indicator of readiness. I wonder also if teams will be leery of his chronic knee problems. Also, as I said above in a different context, just trade for him, if the scouts say he's a good gamble - he won't cost a ton if he's being left exposed anyway, and then you can option him for a few years until he's fully ready. Jay for Martin?
  18. Simplifying my thoughts leads me to point out that I was responding to Nick's proposal to have Kepler split time between RF and 1B, not simply fill in for a game or two. Do you envision Jake Cave in RF when Kepler's at first? Perhaps you like Cave's outfield defense better. That would lead to a different conclusion than I draw. Otherwise, I suggest that positional flexibility should not be a one-way street and should not apply to Kepler alone.
  19. Maybe so. If more than one other team sees it that way, maybe we can obtain something in trade for him. It should be more desirable to a team to roster him on their 40-man, but have no obligation to keep him on their 25-man all season, than to draft him.
  20. ashbury

    Dogs

    Ask the developers of this to set you up:
×
×
  • Create New...