Jump to content
Twins Daily
  • Create Account

Dodecahedron

Verified Member
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    1,145

  • 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 Dodecahedron

  1. Dodecahedron
    Things to know about Texas Government.... Texas Congress meets for 4 months every two years, and most of that is prep time. They are in session for only a few weeks. Everyone who serves in the Congress has another job/another income. Salary for House members amounts to $22,000 per year. They make a small monthly stipend ($600 or so), and make more when Congress is in session. Texas politicians are in it for the power, not for the cash. The Texas Governor is one of the weakest governors in the country. He has the power to appoint and recommend policy. Sure, the governors appoint people they can control, but the governor cannot order anyone to do anything. It is assumed that no one in Texas has the power to cut off salaries to the House members directly. Instead, Texas would need to cut off salary to everyone serving in Austin, including the Governor himself, the Lt. Governor, etc.
  2. Dodecahedron
    If you guys are frustrated already, yeah you may want to tune out. The Twins should be OK this week, but next week will be brutal. If they perform next week like we think they will, it's all over.
  3. Dodecahedron
    I have been a big critic of Baldelli this year. My criticism comes only from the perspective that his decisions objectively seem like bad decisions. On the other hand, Baldelli has earned the right to make his own decisions and make his own mistakes. It's what happens next that matters. If I gave the impression that I want him fired or that he is stupid, that was a mistake on my part.
  4. Dodecahedron
    Like much of Stu's work, it's almost like this was written about me.
  5. Dodecahedron
    I think Baldelli deserves some of the blame. He does not seem to know who to play or when. It seems like most of us are able to predict what is going to happen before it happens, so most of us would have put in other relievers. He says he always goes with "The best option," but we don't know what criteria he is using. Some of the REALLY bad decisions at the very beginning of the year should start small-sample-sizing their way out, though. What is the average ERA for other teams in those innings?
  6. Dodecahedron
    That's not at all what I'm saying. The "extra year of Berrios" means two things, not one thing, as you believe. 1. He gets to pitch for the team for a longer period of time, if they want him to. But remember, the goal would be, unequivocally, for him to help them make the playoffs this year. 2. The team gets to trade him before he hits free agency. This is great, too, especially if they traded for him in the first place. The team could trade him at the end of the season, or the team could trade him at next year's trade deadline. But make no bones about it, he is very likely to be traded again. Get it now? Berrios's "extra value to trade this year" is because the acquiring team can trade him again, and thus the second team can come out ahead. With Berrios's production just below that of ace, he will always get a good return on the market. This is a bad idea, and hopefully the Twins are not entertaining it. Let the fans and the bloggers think about it all they want. The universe has tons of space with which to fill up chatter, after all, and there are worse options of things to talk about.
  7. Dodecahedron
    I crossed out the unnecessary part so that I could respond respectfully. Teams who buy at the trade deadline are buying for a playoff push for that year. Teams looking to build for multiple years make deals during the offseason. There is a 50% chance that any team who trades for Berrios today trades him again before he hits free agency. I am being very generous with this percentage. You are speaking in the theoretical, I'm speaking as a businessman. Any team who acquires Berrios will be facing the exact same dilemma the Twins are facing today: He will be a free agent. Unless they want to sign him, they will trade him. And next year, there will be other teams having their own playoff pushes because their windows are closing. This market will be there every year. Any team who picks up Berrios this year and flips him next year is going to be the team who wins the trade, no question about it. The best way for the Twins to win this trade is to not do it.
  8. Dodecahedron
    OK, but what's left after these guys? I was surprised at how quickly the Twins ran out of depth this year. Ober is good depth, Dobnak was only "depth" because of a strange decision to bump him backwards. Kiriloff was expected to be around. Refsnyder is not a prospect, he's a break-the-glass guy.
  9. Dodecahedron
    I agree. And we can't lose sight of the fact that the Orioles are incredibly bad right now. I'm happy the Twins have something they can build off of, but they still have to step into it and do it.
  10. Dodecahedron
    I thought this was a good game to watch. Reminded me of baseball games from the 80s. Every at-bat was a chess match and the game result came down to just a couple of plays. Maybe everyone who thinks it was so terrible are judging it by 2019 standards.
  11. Dodecahedron
    Just for giggles, I looked at Mauer's swing motion after I posted that. He did the same thing on his front foot. Either it's not as unusual as I thought it was, or it explains Mauer's constant issues with his leg/knee/calf/ankle/etc.
  12. Dodecahedron
    Honestly, I don't see a difference between his swing with the Rangers and with the Twins. His footwork is identical. It's a ridiculous swing when you get right down to it, and the truth is his swing is probably what kept him in the minors in spite of his high level of production there. If his nonsensical foot motion is the only real problem left after his years of professional baseball, he might just pan out as a good player in the medium term. There is no law that says you can't hit a baseball if you tilt your foot 90 degrees every time you swing. No one likes a leg kick, but if the images in this post are truly representative of his usual swing, he has at least gotten better with it. I would worry about his body breaking down over the course of a full season. It would be interesting to ask him where he gets sore after playing for a month. Mauer would turn his front leg upon occasion too, and we all know about his persistent leg/calf/ankle/foot soreness.
  13. Dodecahedron
    Twins pitching, even the relievers, are OK. They often get ahead in the count, and get ahead quickly. After that, something really dumb happens. The pitchers start dinking around the strike zone. The at-bats get longer. The pitchers start to miss on some pitches legitimately, but the umpires also start getting stingy with the strike zone because wtf is this pitcher doing, just throw strikes for chrissake. Next thing you know the pitcher throws a meatball, and whoops there goes a hit. And there goes another one. And whoops, we bored the infield to sleep with these long at-bats, there's an error. Etc. It has been brought up that part of the problem is coaching on the pitching side. Though the pitchers should know better, it seems they legitimately need someone to remind them to stop dinking around after they get ahead in a count.
  14. Dodecahedron
    This is what we are talking about here. The Twins trade Berrios now, because he will eventually be a free agent*, gets 2 or 3 prospects. Another team gets him and is thrilled about getting a year of his production at his salary. That team then trades him before he becomes a free agent, gets 2 or 3 prospects. These prospects will be at least as good as the prospects they gave the Twins. The smart team is the second team in this transaction. This is not a smart move by the Twins. Berrios currently does not have an expensive contract, so he's not going to the high-power teams who can afford him. His most likely landing spot would be a smart team who would in turn flip him again. Berrios's value is not going down. Fringe competitors, which is a group the Twins are part of, will take Berrios any day of the week. Stop the madness before it starts. *This is never a good reason to trade someone. Every player will eventually be a free agent. Break the Terry Ryan cycle.
  15. Dodecahedron
    Your impression differs from reality. Pull up his stats and take a look.
  16. Dodecahedron
    Many are raving lunatics over college football, which often ties up 4-5 hours of incredible monotony.
  17. Dodecahedron
    If you can eliminate the filibuster, I will support literally anything you want to eliminate.
  18. Dodecahedron
    So if Competitive Bungee Jumping changed their rules, should the MLB jump off a bridge too?
  19. Dodecahedron
    Meh. The Twins got essentially nothing out of trading someone named Johan Santana, so what would they get for Berrios? If the Twins can turn this into the Frank Viola Trade Mk. 2, go for it, but that's not going to happen. Berrios's absence would be noticeable and not in a good way. Berrios is cheap now, so trade him now so someone else can get his production on the cheap instead of the Twins because he will be more pricey in two years? Doesn't thinking like that give you a headache?
  20. Dodecahedron
    Lopez is bringing the heat.
  21. Dodecahedron
    Sano probably doesn't catch that throw to 1st.
  22. Dodecahedron
    I am also impressed with Astudillo's barrel.
  23. Dodecahedron
    Lopez looks like Roy Smalley.
  24. Dodecahedron
    We have seen this before with countless other players. Refsnyder may end up being hot all year, leaving the Twins to make a hard decision for next year. Or, he could fall off the map in the blink of an eye. We will see!
  25. Dodecahedron
    I think it's possible if not probable the Twins finish the year around .500. But being at .500 by the trade deadline? That's really tough, but again not impossible. I agree a lot of this depends on the White Sox record, or really the records of all the contenders in the AL.
×
×
  • Create New...