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stringer bell

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Everything posted by stringer bell

  1. stringer bell
    Each remaining regular season game brings its own challenges including playing in an obvious trap game at Northwestern. I'd love to see an undefeated Gopher team take on an undefeated Ohio State for the B1G championship, but it will take considerable focus and improvement by an already good football team to get there. As a Gopher football fan since the days of Bobby Bell and the Minneapolis Star Sports Peach, this is tremendous fun. I don't want the ride to end.
  2. stringer bell
    I think Rosario is a good player overall, but I don't think he's invaluable. Most of that comes from the position he plays and the prospects coming in the high minors. The chance that one of those guys can play acceptable defense and OPS above .800 is pretty high. I don't want to minimize the HR and RBI numbers totally, but some of that is a function of batting behind Kepler, Polanco and Cruz most of the season. To some degree, Eddie is what he is. He is going to have stretches where he is one of the most dynamic offensive players in MLB, but he won't ever be selective and he'll have frustrating snags too.
  3. stringer bell
    Thanks, Brian. I just watched the postgame press conference. PJ is a salesman, for sure, but it seems to work for 18-23 year olds. To get Minnesota on a par with all of the schools in the West of the Big Ten is doable. Row the Boat!
  4. stringer bell
    I like MadBum and think the Twins could use a solid lefty. I think the good-hitting Bumgarner will prefer to stay in the NL, but go for the best available talent.
  5. stringer bell
    Two equally matched teams. Other than the missed Delay of Game call, the Gophers got the bulk of the calls (and non-calls).
  6. stringer bell
    I don't think the QO guarantees anything about Odorizzi returning to the Twins. I do think that his slide in the second half, along with the limited number of innings will make him a bit less attractive to other teams and that the Twins have a decent chance of signing him to a multi-year deal. Odorizzi had his best year last year. I would expect he could back it up with another (or a few more) good seasons.
  7. stringer bell
    I mostly agree with Brian on this--I want to see Buxton in a Twins uni in 2022 much more than I needed to see him in September of 2018, when the Twins were out of contention. Further, Buxton's option to the minors was justified by his play on the field and his play in Triple A was not a golden ticket for return to the majors. To me, the Cubs were blatant in the Bryant case, while the Twins were ambiguous in Buxton's case. I don't think we can blame Buxton for recklessness, it is not like he's driving dirt bikes at 150 mph, he happens to run faster than 99.99+% of us which makes his collisions with the ground or a wall much more dangerous. I hope he is able to stay on the field next year, although my faith is slipping with each new injury. Also, recovery from injury is something that can't be standardized for each person. Some heal faster than others. It isn't on Buxton that some of his injuries have taken longer to heal than similar injuries have for others. Finally, I think it is unfair to demean Buxton's character. I've never seen video of his "rant", but from what was said, while it was ill-timed, I think the volume of Buck's dealing with management and media makes that incident an outlier and not a disqualifier.
  8. stringer bell
    Perhaps it is true of Rosario as it was of Sanó, that unrealistic expectations are being placed on the player. IMHO, Rosario was more frustrating as the season moved along and his remaining in the cleanup spot exacerbated the frustration. I don't think Eddie is a cornerstone of the franchise. The defense has certainly suffered in the past couple of years. There weren't many great catches and a lot of catchable balls were not caught. Teams have learned their lesson about running on Eddie's arm, so his outfield assists which somewhat canceled out his less-than-stellar results tracking down fly balls have become more scarce. If the Twins can't get value in trading Rosario, it makes sense to keep him. Paying him big money the next two years may or may not make sense and the progress of other hitters who can play the corner outfield will probably determine how long #20 is wearing a Twins uni.
  9. stringer bell
    IIRC, Travis played on the Cedar Rapids team with Buxton and Polanco. Best wishes to him in his life outside of baseball.
  10. stringer bell
    In the OP, there was mention of Lewis' fielding percentage compared to Polanco's this year with the Twins. That should be regarded with a grain of salt, if that. Major league stadiums, with their manicured infields and excellent lighting (and kind official scorers) make that comparison near meaningless. That there are scouting reports showing that Lewis has issues as a defensive shortstop would be meaningful, but what are the issues? Does he have the necessary range and arm strength? Can he make a quick release throw? Steve Lein has pointed out that Lewis isn't that quick with his release. I would think that is a problem that can be corrected. I think it is good for Lewis to have work in at third base and the outfield. Year to year conventional wisdom changes on players. Currently, there is discussion about the long-term futures of both Buxton (due to injuries) and Sanó (due to defensive liability). Perhaps both will play their way through those questions, but perhaps these two positions may be where Lewis will get a chance (if he is ready to hit in the majors). Manny Machado was a shortstop who took a third base vacancy to get to the majors and he's played 80% of his innings at third base through eight seasons. Regardless, Royce will need to carry his good hitting from the AFL next season to even be in consideration for a promotion to Minnesota.
  11. stringer bell
    Specifically for the 2020 Twins, it will be important to balance the bullpen with at least one more left hander so that Rogers doesn't have to work two days in a row. I think it can make Rogers even more effective in the coming year and really help the overall performance of the Twins' bullpen. Building enough depth so that the number of back-to-backs for everyone is limited would be very helpful. Of course, the counterpoint is that more innings from the starters will also help to limit overuse by the key bullpen members.
  12. stringer bell
    Concur. If Sanó was the only defensive problem in the infield, it would be a different situation. I do think that Polanco has improved already and another year of the sidearm throwing motion (something new this year) could make him adequate at short. Also, Arraez is a young guy who might get better with experience and focus at second, which isn't as challenging a position as either short or third. The Twins have Gonzalez and probably Adrianza to fill in or take over as situations dictate.I don't think the Twins need to acquire a third baseman from outside the organization. I don't think Sanó is or ever will be a better-than-average third baseman. While he does charge pretty well and has a strong arm, his hands aren't great and his range is limited. If he's going to move, not tendering a contract to Cron would give Miguel a landing place. Again, they have Gonzalez and/or Adrianza to play third base, shortening their bench, but saving some money, and if Lewis is ready to help sometime in the season, there may be a place for him to step in.
  13. stringer bell
    Totally agree with the selection of Rogers as the Twins' Pitcher of the Year. I would hope that the team would add a high-leverage lefty to their bullpen mix next year so that Rogers can stay rested and used in the most crucial situations.
  14. stringer bell
    Sanó certainly played his way into the Twins future this year. He's a minor liability at third base, and if he was the only defensive liability in the infield, I don't think there would be a push to move him. I don't blame Sanó for the two big hits in the playoff series versus New York. With four below-average defenders in the infield, I think something has to be done. Moving Sanó to first could improve defense at first and third if Sanó can develop to league average as a first baseman and if improved defense can be supplied at third.
  15. stringer bell
    I agree that the defense must be improved. However, especially when Buxton was on the field, the outfield defense was very good. On the other hand, the infield featured less than average defense at each position. The infield defense needs to be improved.
  16. stringer bell
    I think the Twins strategy was to get the ball to their reconstituted bullpen with a chance to win. Berríos gave four credible innings and Odo five, but the chances of either surviving another full inning weren’t great. I thought Schoop in the first game was a given and Arraez’ lack of mobility cost them in the field. The club gambled on giving Kepler maximum rest and lost. Kepler is prone to snags like he suffered in the playoffs, and expecting him to be sharp after missing most of a month was a bad gamble.
  17. stringer bell
    OK. This series isn’t over. The Twins played and pitched two bad games in a row. They have on occasion put together three “A” games and if they do, they have a chance. I think the 10% number quoted above is about right. I also think that it is far more likely to see a Yankee sweep than anything else, but a win on Monday just might change everything. This has been the most resilient team I’ve ever seen. I won’t give up on them until the final out.
  18. stringer bell
    You gotta throw strikes. Berríos threw too many non-competitive pitches, so did most of the bullpen. I thought Torres was struck out before he got that two-run double. The ump's zone was tight and that hurt the Twins more than the Yankees. Arraez certainly didn't look right and he hurt the team despite also getting a double and scoring the tying run. I thought Kepler looked OK, Marwin played a good game, but the other injured guys (Cron & Arraez, perhaps Garver) did not look very good. Polanco had great ABs, but the Twins need to pressure the Yankee staff from 1-9 in their order.
  19. stringer bell
    The schedule does get much tougher and the Gophers are very fortunate to be 4-0. As of right now, Minnesota will be underdogs at Iowa and at home to Wisconsin and Penn State and will be favored against Illinois and Rutgers, meaning that the swing games will be against Nebraska and Maryland at home and Northwestern on the road. Six to eight wins seems about right.
  20. stringer bell
    If the Twins were to win the World Series, this has to be considered the best Twins team of all time. If not, well they have a lot of offensive records. In order to win the World Series, the Twins will likely have to beat three 100-win teams and not have the home-field advantage in any series.
  21. stringer bell
    Earlier in this thread, I expressed my doubts about Graterol making the postseason roster and deserving a slot. Less than a week later, I will say I'm in on Brusdar. This is mostly because of the ineffectiveness of starters Gibson and Pérez, but yesterday's inning from Graterol also showed what he can bring to the table. I will let true pitching gurus decide what his future will be, but there are plenty of starting slots available for next year.
  22. stringer bell
    Honestly, I don't think Graterol has earned a postseason spot and I don't know if he will get one. I do think he will get a few more chances in the coming eight days. The raw numbers aren't great, perhaps the front office sees metrics beyond the 100+ velocity that tell them that he will succeed in the glare of postseason.
  23. stringer bell
    KC, like Chicago, has some talent at the top of their order and then a big dropoff. Don't let Soler, Dozier, Merrifield and Mondesi beat you if you can help it.
  24. stringer bell
    Neither one of those guys is hitting much right now. I prefer Castro to the Turtle as the second catcher. It would be nice if some of the guys who are scuffling (Cron, Castro and to some extent Cruz and Cave) picked it up in the last 10 days. Combine that with getting Adrianza, Cron and Kepler healthy and the Twins have a very nice offense.
  25. stringer bell
    It's been a while, but in labor-management disciplinary situations that I have been involved in, a procedural error would invalidate everything. Secondly, if there were a procedural error, wouldn't MLB say that the suspension was reduced for that reason?
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