Jump to content
Twins Daily
  • Create Account

stringer bell

Verified Member
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    21,040

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    94

 Content Type 

Profiles

News

Minnesota Twins Videos

2026 Minnesota Twins Top Prospects Ranking

2022 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks

Minnesota Twins Free Agent & Trade Rumors, Notes, & Tidbits

Guides & Resources

2023 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks

The Minnesota Twins Players Project

2024 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks

2025 Minnesota Twins Draft Pick Tracker

Forums

Blogs

Events

Store

Downloads

Gallery

Everything posted by stringer bell

  1. stringer bell
    Both Mastro and Benson should be considered organizational depth. If they got a chance with the Twins it would be a Cinderella story, particularly Benson. In my limited contact with both those guys, they seem like good people. I shook both their hands in spring training a few years back. Mastro was pretty nice on what had to be a bad day--the day he was sent to minor league camp and Benson mingled well with the fans looking for autographs
  2. stringer bell
    Cuddy got recalled for the first time on or about 9/11. He had to wait for days to join the team because games were postponed and teams were stranded with no planes flying. His debut was September 23 in Cleveland. He started as the DH and was 1-2 (a double) with a walk.
  3. stringer bell
    Moderator Note: No bickering please. Treat each other with respect.
  4. stringer bell
    Ryan--I'm sure the Twins expect him to take the reins as the starting catcher or at least share the position with the more well-rested Suzuki, but they aren't going to diss their starter already under contract and put pressure on the younger player. At the very least, Ryan is a good upgrade over last year's disaster of backup catchers. If the comparison is between Bethancourt and John Hicks, remember that Bethancourt is out of options. It is great to have a defense-first guy with options available if a catcher gets nicked and Hicks has a glimmer of upside to boot. I am of the opinion that Aaron Hicks will never hit enough to be a full-time regular at any position other than center field and that wasn't going to be the case in Minnesota, perhaps as soon as Opening Day. Maybe they could have gotten more for him, but in my opinion, they got fair value and at a position of need.
  5. stringer bell
    I'm no expert with defensive numbers, but it looks to me that BBRef has Santana's defense in center field as comparable to Hicks (SSS). My recollection of the 2014 season was that Santana was raw and uncomfortable out there the first half of his season, but was more than adequate later in the year. If he can hit closer to his 2014 numbers (yes, that's a big if), I don't think Danny Santana's defense in the outfield will hurt the Twins much. He has accumulated basically a full season of plate appearances in two years and he has an OPS of .710. I would accept that for a fourth outfielder, sometimes infielder or stopgap center fielder for less than half a season.
  6. stringer bell
    Pepé was a fine player and very versatile. He didn't play much shortstop as a major leaguer. I'm not much for stunts like a player manning all nine positions (and position players pitching), but Tovar had a fine career with the Twins.
  7. stringer bell
    I think it is pretty close to 50-50 that Buck starts the season in center field with the Twins. Far less than 50-50 that he is the leadoff hitter in Baltimore to start 2016. I wouldn't be totally surprised if Santana starts the season in center flanked by Rosario and Arcia (or Sano if Plouffe isn't traded).
  8. stringer bell
    A fourth OF and what type of player he is depends on Byron Buxton. If he's going to be ready at the start of the season or by Memorial Day, the key thing is to get someone to serve as a defensive replacement for the starting RF (most likely either Sano or Arcia) and sub occasionally for Buck. I like David Lough for that role. If the Twins want a RH corner OF because their two major offensive departures--Hunter and Hicks--hit lefties well, that is another story. For the season last year, the Twins handled lefties much better than righties. Mauer had modest reverse splits, and almost all of the HR power came from right handed hitters, which should still be the case in 2016, unless Arcia finds and spot and recovers his stroke.
  9. stringer bell
    I have not been impressed by Darnell in his SSS with the Twins or from his numbers at AAA. I know he did well at the end of 2015 for the Red Wings, but I don't think he's got enough stuff to get out big league hitters. I'd rather have Rogers, Cotts, Sipp or Bastardo, or Melotakis (in that order). Otherwise, I think the projected composition of the bully is about right. Fien doesn't really fit for me, but what's done is done.
  10. stringer bell
    I was in favor of non-tendering Fien. As noted above, he's a big league pitcher, but he is on the wrong side of 30 and his peripherals are slipping. Maybe the single salvation could be that he still can be optioned, so he can provide depth without standing in the way of a higher-upside setup guy.
  11. stringer bell
    mlbtraderumors.com has Milone pegged at $4.5M, not $7M. I would submit that what Milone provided to the A's and what he provided to the Twins last year is worth far more than $4.5M. The argument isn't about money, it's about consistency and quality. Milone's worst season ERA+ was a 90 where he stunk it up for the non-contending Twins in 2014. Hughes, Santana, and Nolasco each have at least two seasons where they were worse. Unless he somehow becomes Jamie Moyer, I get that what the Twins got from Milone last year is about as much as they can expect in any year, but his numbers are beyond passable, he is a good pitcher. We don't know if Duffey will come close to duplicating his SSS performance of 2015, we don't know which of the veterans will step up in 2016, we don't know if Berrios is ready. We can assume that at least one of the guys will disappoint or be injured. With so many uncertainties, having a more sure thing (Milone) as the fourth or fifth starter more than makes sense.
  12. stringer bell
    Mega-concur! That was my point about the Royals getting more than fifty starts from the likes of Vargas, Guthrie and Young. The Twins don't have one or two or three guys who we can be certain will be better than Milone. Milone is arguably the most consistent and proven starter in the Twins stable. On Fien, he's 32 and best utilized in the sixth and seventh inning. I'd much rather give those innings to Pressly, Alex Meyer or one of the AFL guys.
  13. stringer bell
    Milone is a better pitcher than Happ, 88 mph fastball and all. The World Champions gave 24 starts to Jeremy Guthrie, 18 to Chris Young and nine more to Jason Vargas. I would take Milone over all of them. He has value. Too much to let go for nothing.
  14. stringer bell
    That's a .288 OBP, .302 Slugging and .590 OPS.
  15. stringer bell
    Just a clarification--Benson signed with Miami and played for their AA team where he hit .264. Joe's only major league experience was the "cup of coffee" that he got with the Twins. Further, his success has been only as high as AA--his AAA numbers are a slash line of .288/.302/.590 in over 400 PAs. I think the chances of him making the Twins are pretty slight. That said, maybe just maybe, what he needs is to be fully healthy and fully comfortable and he could reach his considerable potential. I always liked Benson and wish him the best.
  16. stringer bell
    I spent Thanksgiving in New York City, visiting my son and his fiancée and seeing some sites. No, I didn't find Dave W, I guess I didn't look. Anyway, I did attend my first, and probably only, Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. We arrived early and found a place to stand across from Fox News. We saw the parades, floats, minor celebrities and Santa. A women standing next to me asked me if I was from Minnesota, since I was wearing a coat that said "Mayo Clinic" on it. She said that she had grown up in Hinckley and then moved to Scottsdale. We chatted for awhile and finally starting talking about children. She said that her son played for the Twins. I said "oh really" and shared with her that i was a Twins fan for life and that I often contributed to Twins Daily. She said her son was Aaron Slegers and that he was the tallest player in the Twins system--6'10". I remembered Slegers, but couldn't recall which Big Ten school he attended. She said he went to Indiana and that his catcher was Kyle Schwarber, who has made a name for himself. Aaron made it to AA in 2015, after having a nice season at High A Fort Myers. I really don't know if how highly regarded he is, but it does highlight the many players in the minors--how hard they work and the odds against any but the premium prospects to make it to the majors. After a 160 inning regular season, Aaron Slegers works out every day, but hasn't done any throwing and won't for a while. There were more events and a great turkey dinner put on by my son and his fiancée, but it is cool to have met someone with a connection to the Twins a long way from home.
  17. stringer bell
    Thanks to all-contributors, owners, even lurkers.
  18. stringer bell
    The way I see it is that the starting rotation without Trevor May still has depth and that May wouldn't improve that rotation that much. OTOH, May working in a late-inning role markedly improves the bullpen. Fair to the young player? Probably not, but the idea here is to help the club. In addition, May was dominant on several of his relief appearances, as his stuff played up in relief appearances. Much like the much-anticipated outfield of Rosario-Buxton-Hicks, I like to see a healthy combo of Perkins, Jepsen and May to close out games. I think it could border on elite. Add in hard throwers like Tonkin and Alex Meyer and another capable lefty and the bullpen looks improved and much more capable of strikeouts.
  19. stringer bell
    Gilmartin had a good year in a new role and the Twins could have used his production in 2015, but I doubt he'll be a significant performer going forward. I don't think the Twins would trade either Graham or Pressly for Gilmartin today.
  20. stringer bell
    Trying to post from my iPhone, it figures that he wasn't protected because of his age and past.
  21. stringer bell
    I'd like to see Wimmers make it after the hardships he had to endure. Just glancing at boxscores, he seemed very inconsistent--sometimes dominating, sometimes batting practice.
  22. stringer bell
    If the Twins sign Park and add a major league free agent plus make a pick in the Rule V, they have to designate someone other than the seven guys they just promoted, is that right? Who would then be designated? Darnell? O'Rourke?
  23. stringer bell
    Of the current options, I like May in the bullpen and Milone in the rotation. Milone was quite effective and also is the only left handed candidate for the rotation. We all know that Milone doesn't throw hard and I would like to see velocity in the Twins' relievers. As a starter, Milone struggled often for the first inning or two before settling down, not optimum for a reliever. May has good stuff as a starter, but devastating stuff as a reliever. He would figure as a late-inning, high leverage guy, exactly what the Twins need. Some guys stuff really "play up" in the bullpen, and that is what I see in Trevor May. I'd like to see the Twins add one good arm through free agency or a trade and go with Perkins, Jepsen, May for the late innings, plus Pressly and Tonkin and a starter refugee to fill out the bullpen.
  24. stringer bell
    So to summarize, the Twins added a power bat and power arms and........Pat Dean(?). Curious, but maybe they think he's found something. Not convinced. Regarding Gilmartin, he was older for a Rule V guy, left-handed, and doesn't have the big fastball, so there was some resemblance to Pat Dean. It's real easy to second-guess, but I don't feel real bad that Gilmartin didn't stay with the Twins.
  25. stringer bell
    Dozier was elite at the break despite a BA in the .250s, but by season's end his OPS+ was 101, barely above average, with the OBP falling from .345 to .307, less than his OBP in either '13 or '14. He had an overall better year in 2014, so to me that is less than satisfactory.
×
×
  • Create New...