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stringer bell

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Everything posted by stringer bell

  1. stringer bell
    The clock only ticks when the player is on the major league roster during the regular season. Kepler got 15 days or so upon his recall in September, after Chattanooga won their league. He needed about a month in Rochester to give the Twins an additional year of control.
  2. stringer bell
    Maybe not.
  3. stringer bell
    Prediction--The Twins will score multiple runs this inning.
  4. stringer bell
    I get your point, but mine was that people "like" Kasich because he is not Cruz or Trump. They haven't examined his record, because he's unlikely to be nominated.
  5. stringer bell
    On the future of the Democratic party, I think Sanders candidacy has highlighted the division in the party between the corporatists and the "us vs. the 1%" more liberal crowd. I would love to see the wealthiest of the wealthy have their wings clipped and not be running a rigged game where they win and everybody else is fighting for the scraps. However, I think the chances of a take-no-prisoners hard left national candidate are much slimmer, with a much smaller window than a more moderate person that can get some support from Wall Street and the very wealthy, Liberals are getting impatient and Obama's term hasn't given them satisfaction, with the one major piece of legislation (ACA) being really a compromise from a single payer system. It seems that whoever can help the party downballot would be a wise choice. I'm eligible for SS in a short time and I've never seen more elected Republicans in my lifetime. One more thought: Trump running as a third party candidate might work out well for Republicans, His supporters would tend to vote Republican downballot along with the Republican nominee and they might cut their losses to minimal in Congress and state elections despite a Democratic victory for the White House,
  6. stringer bell
    I have no doubt that many polls now say that Sanders would do better in the general election than Clinton. I have real doubts that Sanders would do better in the general than Clinton. Everything about Clinton is known including the hard-right memes about Benghazi and her e-mail account and the Bernie campaign's effort to make her a full-on corporatist. Probably what is least well known are her pretty solid progressive credentials. She certainly been damaged by the long e-mail disclosure story and the longer Benghazi "investigation". How much she has been damaged by "friendly fire" from Sanders' campaign is tough to quantify, but I believe there is some damage there, too. Sanders is running as a Democrat and he's not Hillary. He's clearly running left of her. That is enough to make him as popular as a backup quarterback on a struggling NFL team. Nearly 100% of Republican attacks on Democrats have been for Clinton. The Republican equivalent of this phenomena is Kasich. Actual quotes from Bernie would be toxic to a large share of the electorate. Republican attacks would lower his poll numbers much quicker than they would for Clinton, I think either beats Cruz or Trump or Cruz and Trump, but both would be weak against a credible candidate (Romney and Ryan have been floated occasionally in the past couple months).
  7. stringer bell
    I've been defending Suzuki in another thread, but all things being equal, with Suzuki throwing instead of Joseph, Santana is safe at second.
  8. stringer bell
    There seems to be a correlation between hitting right handed and being business savvy.
  9. stringer bell
    Zuke has an OK line as a Twin (.666 OPS, 85 OPS+) and it is much better than that vs. LH pitching. Let's not ignore the good to emphasize the bad. I don't want to argue to eternity about a player I am not that fond of, but he is a legit major league player who was pretty good just two years ago. In this thread, people have been asking for Quentin, who hasn't been good for a lot longer than Suzuki and Santana who was way worse last year than the Twins catcher.
  10. stringer bell
    I like Nuñez as a proven bench player. He's experienced in the role and has been acceptable for the two years he has spent with the Twins. Murphy is the backup catcher and both Santana and Arcia are wild cards in some respect--young, out of options guys who have demonstrated some success in the major leagues, but who struggled last year. You'll note Murphy and Santana are in the lineup today (if they play).
  11. stringer bell
    I expect that all the bench players will get some starts with this roster, with the possible exception of Nuñez who is more of a known commodity as a bench player than the other three guys. Ryan is the backup catcher, he'll get more starts than Fryer/Herrmann, but unless there's a discernible difference between him and Zuke, Suzuki will get more starts. Santana will start at least one game before the Twins get home and I think Arcia might get a shot if Park keeps striking out. Arcia might be a good choice to PH if they need a long ball, but not against Britton. BTW, Suzuki had a good spring, too. I just don't think Spring Training numbers matter that much.
  12. stringer bell
    You're mixing your stats, Dave. As I said above, even in his off-year last year, Suzuki had a .320 OBP against lefties. That was far better than Nuñez or Santana last year and better than Escobar or Hunter, to name two examples.
  13. stringer bell
    Probably the most surprising move by Molitor so far this year.
  14. stringer bell
    OK, I'm sure there's a lot of complaining about not hitting for Suzuki. Lots of complaints about Sano in right field. The Twins think more of Suzuki as a hitter than we, the diehard fans, do. They aren't going to hit for him until maybe the ninth inning and not with a lefty (even Britton) on the mound. Even last year, Zuke hit .257 with a .320 OBP against left handers. Not great, but not terrible either. Suzuki will get more days off with John Ryan Murphy backing him up, but I doubt they will pinch hit much for him all season. I'm not a great fan of the Sano experiment, but it is defensible. He screwed up the blooper, but it was probably more a mental error than anything else. On balance, the Twins have played just two games. Most things even out over time, but it hurts to lose two close games. I'm not smart enough to second guess the front office's moves and their plans for the future. I'll hold off until more than 10% of the season has been played before I'm hypercritical.
  15. stringer bell
    I thought the ump gave Hardy four strikes.
  16. stringer bell
    Pitcher's best friend!
  17. stringer bell
    I thought Pressly looked very, very good. I stated at the tender deadline that the Twins should let Fien go, and still believe that. Pressly could develop into an outstanding 7th-8th inning guy and Fien (IMHO) never has reached that level. I think Pressly should get the higher leverage situations. They came out of the game OK. That is, everybody should be available by Wednesday. I don't think anybody catches the double by Jones. Sano's route wasn't great, but that is to be expected.
  18. stringer bell
    Warren has left wing cred, no obvious skeletons in her closet and is female. She certainly knows more about foreign policy than the Donald, I would probably vote for her, but I'm not sure she could be attractive to many moderates.
  19. stringer bell
    I've said it before, I'll say it again. Maybe this guy can turn into a 21st century version of the late Toni Phillips. Play a lot of positions, switch hit, steal some bases and play acceptable defense. Phillips was more of a lead off hitter than DanSan likely ever would be, because of his patience and ability to draw walks, but Danny is faster and has the arm to play shortstop.
  20. stringer bell
    I guess the point here is if somebody told the Twins he would be back in Fort Myers in a few days and he doesn't show, they should be disappointed and let the player know. I don't know if it happened exactly that way, If an employee says he will do something and then fails to do it, whether it is required or not, someone in management isn't going to be happy with the employee.
  21. stringer bell
    Regarding the bullpen, my biggest gripe was keeping Fien for a role that would be better suited to a young developing reliever or (as it turns out) a guy who can on occasion go three or four innings. I have liked having May in the 'pen and think Tonkin deserves a legit shot. Pressly won a spot and Abad might be OK as a lefty arm there.
  22. stringer bell
    One thing to expect and remember about guys like Sano. It becomes "his people" who make decisions and promises. Perhaps that will be escalated by his representation. If the understanding was that Sano would be back in a couple of days and didn't return until the reporting deadline, my bet is that one of "his people" made those assurances. We don't know about his sick abuela and we may never know.
  23. stringer bell
    One edit to theJacKemp above: Tonkin was bounced back and forth last year in part because he was only a one-inning guy. If they stretch out someone, my guess is that it's Pressly, but really none of the bullpen profiles as a guy who will go more than four or five outs at maximum.
  24. stringer bell
    I think there are three left for two spots barring a trade or trip to the DL--that would be the two non-roster relievers and Tonkin. Edit: The article on the main page says that Kintzler was sent to Rochester, as well. The four demotions are options for Duffey and O'Rourke and reassignment to Rochester for Darnell and Kintzler. That would mean that both Abad and Tonkin are on the club as of now. Barring a trade or disabling injury, that would be the 25-man roster.
  25. stringer bell
    After reading the article, I think it was worth writing. Sano hasn't been a testament to work ethic and reliability, but he is 22 and has been in the majors for half a season. I'm sure the Twins don't want to "lose" Sano, but they also want him to do what is best for the team (in their opinion). The comparison to Arcia is interesting, in that it took failure in the minors for Oswaldo to come to camp in top shape. Another comparison is with Buxton. In 2013, I listened in on fans asking TR questions and asked a few myself. Ryan had some cautionary things to say about Sano "he's big-he can't get any bigger" and that he needed to work on his entire game, not just hitting the ball over the fence. In contrast, Ryan was glowing in his praise for Buxton--"he was raised right" and that he worked hard and wanted to get better. Perhaps it was a cultural thing, perhaps it is the difference between the Flash and the Hulk, but I've always felt that the Twins regarded their two mega-prospects as Buxton 1A and Sano 1B. On Reusse: I've met Patrick and I have always enjoyed his writing. He is nobody's fool and just contrary enough that if everyone is praising someone, he'll point out the flaw or blind spot. He's not afraid to take shots at anyone and I think this area needs more of that, not less.
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