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stringer bell

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Everything posted by stringer bell

  1. stringer bell
    The Twins have a lot of pitchers on their 40-man, I would think it should be a pitcher who is DFAed. With the two free-agent righties added, I think Harper is the best choice. While the position player roster looks nearly full right now, injuries always happen. The beauty of having both Gonzalez, Austudillo and Adrianza around is their real versatility. Every position except for center field is covered by this trio and Adrianza and Gonzalez are probably better fielders than the starters at most positions.
  2. stringer bell
    The 11-2 record was nice and it is really nice to finish in the Top Ten. I'd certainly like to see Floyd, the Axe and the Jug in the university's trophy case. If they finish 8-4 next year, but have two or all three of the trophies, I'll be satisfied.
  3. stringer bell
    Specifically about the Yankees, I'd like to believe it is all about sign stealing, but New York has compiled such a huge advantage over Minnesota as compared to other teams that I doubt it is all sign stealing.
  4. stringer bell
    It sure looks like more of the same from the Vikings, despite losing both the OC and DC. Zimmer commented that they lost a close Wild Card game, and reached the divisional and championship rounds in the three years that they made the playoffs. What he didn't highlight was the total beatings his team has absorbed in the last two playoff seasons. IMHO, the two scintillating wins over New Orleans are negated by non-competitive losses to Philadelphia and San Francisco. The franchise has a long way to go to compete for a championship and the current cast of characters is an extreme long shot to get there.
  5. stringer bell
    I watched the entire series in the last month--my primary entertainment on airplanes and down time when on vacation--and enjoyed it. The secondary characters and villain were well-portrayed, I thought, and the alternate reality of the US divided between the Axis conquerors was interesting to me, especially as presented in the series. The fourth season was weaker, I thought, and the ending was not quite what I was hoping for, but overall I really liked the series.
  6. stringer bell
    Best season for the Gophers since at least the early 60s. This team was better than Mason's or Kill's best. Winning 11 college football games plus winning a New Year's Day bowl game is terrific. Now, let's see some more trophies in Minneapolis (Floyd, the Axe and the Jug). Regarding Johnson, there are a lot of good receivers in the current draft. He could be a real value pick for the purple and gold, who really don't have a good option for their third wide receiver.
  7. stringer bell
    Well, I expect that the offensive line needs reinforcements and the entire defense is aging, so there is a lot of change needed. The last three years have featured two playoff teams which won a game and then lost decisively on the road in their second game, where they looked totally outclassed. I'm not sure how far away they are, but today they looked a long ways away. With Cousins under contract for another year, I don't think the club will "blow it up" this offseason.
  8. stringer bell
    Outclassed today.
  9. stringer bell
    As someone who hasn't bled purple and gold for the last 20+ years, I think this game sets up pretty well for the visitors. San Fran doesn't have a huge homefield advantage, their defense has been much leakier the last quarter of the season, and they have a QB facing his first playoff game. The Vikings match up well talent-wise and are reasonably healthy. I think turnovers will decide this game and Minnesota has a nice positive ratio.
  10. stringer bell
    Vikings are locked into the #6 seed. They will visit either Seattle, New Orleans or Green Bay. My guess is they go to the Big Easy. I don’t like their chances to advance.
  11. stringer bell
    Baseball Reference lists Castro as #3 in similarity to Avila. Saltalamacchia was #1.
  12. stringer bell
    I think two more proven starters should be the goal. The Twins' starting rotation was extraordinarily healthy last year--Pineda had two respites and Odorizzi and Gibson each had a couple weeks off--it shouldn't be expected that whoever is in the rotation in April will get 30 starts. Certainly, Pineda will be out until mid-May so having four other proven guys should be the floor. i expect some of the guys who had limited opportunities last year to get quite a bit of work as starters. It may be that whoever we view as the starting rotation won't all be healthy at once. I consider Keuchel an undervalued asset. I think there is a chance that Bumgarner could become dominant again. Gausman intrigues me. Go get two more guys for the rotation and make a sneaky good addition to the position players (I have been beating the drum for Travis Shaw) and get a good backup catcher and I'll be happy.
  13. stringer bell
    Can we be greedy and get Bumgarner and Keuchel? I'd take a rotation of Berríos, MadBum, Odorizzi, Keuchel and Pineda.
  14. stringer bell
    I think the Vikings are pretty close to when the window closes with the current group. It is a young man's game (except for PK and QB) and if they don't get there this year, they might not be in contention for a few years (or more). Strategically, the Vikings need to win the division and maybe play the Rams or the Packers in Minneapolis. If they get in as the second Wild Card, that road is difficult, to say the least.
  15. stringer bell
    After the Twins I follow Gopher football and basketball. I am old enough to remember the Sports Peach in the Minneapolis paper when the Gophers game was more important than the Vikings game was on the following day. IMHO, this team was the best since the Rose Bowl teams of the very early sixties. The best Mason team and the best Kill team were pretty close to this outfit. The schedule broke right in a lot of ways--Maryland, Nebraska, and Purdue were played at the right time and all had pretty bad years. Minnesota played Illinois when they were flailing and beat a very good Penn State team. That they could not secure either the Pig or the Axe leaves me unfulfilled, for sure. The point here is will the program continue to improve? I believe they should be able to compete with Iowa and Wisconsin on a yearly basis and that they should be able to win the West B1G on a fairly regular basis. The program appears to me to be one step from that reality.
  16. stringer bell
    Unfortunately Bumgarner hits right handed.
  17. stringer bell
    I tend to support Levine and Falvey, but the Twins have huge holes in their rotation and a large amount of payroll that they can commit to filling those holes. They need to sign top pitchers this offseason.
  18. stringer bell
    All of the left handed relievers who were non-tendered should get a look. With the three batter minimum, they need to be able to have some success against right handed hitters, though. Given the Twins roster construction, they already have three utility types (Gonzalez, Adrianza & Astudillo) and a regular for every position except first base (or third if Sanó is moved). A right handed hitting outfielder who can play center field well (as well or better than Kepler) would be a good add. There were also a number of catchers non-tendered, although none of them hit left handed. If the Twins are interested in Garver getting reps at first, they should be interested in adding major league catching.
  19. stringer bell
    My vote is to move Sanó. Sign Shaw and have Marwin available at third, particularly against left handers.
  20. stringer bell
    First base is a far less demanding position. There are many, many examples of players being moved to first from more demanding positions. I can't think of a single player who was moved to first and then moved back because he couldn't handle it. The one "skill" that a first baseman really needs is scooping low throws out of the dirt. With the manicured infields and the level of skill needed to make the majors, just about every major league player is adept at this. I would expect Sanó to likewise be able to scoop his fair share.
  21. stringer bell
    The 10 duplicate entries are deleted. Sometimes it does take a while for a posting to happen, particularly when on a phone.
  22. stringer bell
    A one-year deal for Shaw makes sense. According to BBRef, he's a plus defender at third. Good power and a little bit more L/R balance.
  23. stringer bell
    Other than Grandal, I don't think there were many (if any) catchers that move the needle for teams. I like Castro and Avila to provide a LH bat in the lineup on occasion, but mostly I'd like to see solid run-prevention in all aspects of the backup catcher's defensive game--handling pitchers, framing, throwing and preventing wild pitches.
  24. stringer bell
    I have much to be thankful for, as well. We waited for the weather to clear and drove to my daughter’s bringing goodies, sweet corn and wine. Looking forward to a Thanksgiving weekend of food, football and family.
  25. stringer bell
    I didn't know that ESPN named an All MLB team, but they do. I was surprised to see that Taylor Rogers, as well as Nelson Cruz, were named to the first team. Mitch Garver was named to the third team. https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/28114533/espn-2019-all-mlb-team
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