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stringer bell

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Everything posted by stringer bell

  1. stringer bell
    Five teams for two spots--one of Texas, Houston, or the Angels will win the West. Here's today's scoreboard--Angels 3 Houston 0 first inning Texas-Oakland later Twins Cleveland 0-0 bottom of the first.
  2. stringer bell
    The top three hitters in Cleveland's lineup are hitting .302, .318, .315--top three for the Twins: .260, .236, .266.
  3. stringer bell
    I don't think there are any guarantees about the future. Having a Kepler waiting at AAA in the event of injury or hard regression is a good problem to have, especially if he continues to develop. What is slated to happen can be derailed by the player's own struggles (see Arcia, Oswaldo) as well as others who figure to play the same positions. As far as Kepler's profile, yes, there are real similarities to Mauer--sweet LH swing, contact and strike zone discipline and late-developing power. I am not willing to write Kepler off as a big slap hitter just yet. He's hit the ball for extra bases more this year and the homers mostly came late in the season. He just might develop 20+ homer power.
  4. stringer bell
    Too many shoulda, coulda, wouldas to just be happy being close. The last two extra inning losses at home against teams with worse records currently are giving me heartburn.
  5. stringer bell
    Kepler gets this promotion as a reward for a fine minor league season. That is fair and right. Would he have helped the Twins for the last three weeks? Maybe, but only because he would be a better pinch hitter than Danny Santana. It is not like he would be starting any games. As Seth said, service time shouldn't be an issue at all. Kepler will almost certainly start 2016 in AAA. Instead of having to stay for three weeks to gain another year of control, it would be five weeks.
  6. stringer bell
    I doubt Kepler gets any starts until the Twins fate is determined.
  7. stringer bell
    Beat me to it, Swain! Good to see. He homered again today.
  8. stringer bell
    Scott Walker out. Not really a surprise, but a lot of people liked his chances a few months ago.
  9. stringer bell
    To go one step further on the gerrymandering, it makes for bad government. To use Minnesota as an example, there are three "safe" Congressional Districts made up now of McCollum, Ellison, and Emmer (formerly Bachmann), who happen to be the most extreme members of the Minnesota contingent of Congress. When there is one-party rule in a Congressional District, it tends to produce more hard-liners. There is only one flank to protect and no serious risk (barring scandal) of being thrown out by the voters.
  10. stringer bell
    Have you ever? I'm going out right now with the mindset that I'll be successful if I break 90.
  11. stringer bell
    If the Twins go 3-4 with Cleveland, and finish 9-4 overall, Cleveland would have to win every game in the other two series they play just to tie. Of course, if the Twins win 4 of 7 vs. the Tribe, and still win 9 total, Cleveland is done. I think the Twins will be lucky to win 7 of the 13, but I thought they were primed for an 8-2 homestand and the wildcard lead.
  12. stringer bell
    He's having a great rookie year. He gets my vote for team Rookie of the Year. Yeah, he doesn't walk much at all, but he hits a lot of balls with authority, runs the bases, and is an excellent outfielder. Molitor saw what Eddie had to offer and promoted him before Hicks.
  13. stringer bell
    Iowa and Arizona have both removed the politicians with good results. Minnesota's lines were drawn by a three-judge panel and the Congressional Districts seem pretty fair. Compared to states where one party or the other has "the trifecta" and I will take non-partisan every time.
  14. stringer bell
    Certainly both political parties want to win elections. However, I consider elections as something where legislation is designed to make voting and counting the votes fair, easy and transparent. Using election procedures and processes as a way to "put your thumb on the scale" is over the line. Manipulating election laws in registration or adding a barrier like Photo ID is an example. Republicans have trumped up the specter of rampant voter fraud as a means to pass laws that they think will help them win elections. I think that is over the line. Gerrymandering has been mentioned, as well. There is ample evidence that gerrymandering is a large component in the current Republican House majority. There is also evidence that Democrats held onto a House majority in part because of gerrymandering. I think boundary-drawing should be taken out of politician's hands.
  15. stringer bell
    Nice opener North! Good job by Rosario.
  16. stringer bell
    Gibson misses bats in the first.
  17. stringer bell
    Dozier had a remarkable run of over two years where the OBP was high enough, the power was there and he ran bases and fielded very well. The hitting has unraveled, is it a slump or have teams figured him out? I think it is too soon to say. From May of '13 to the end of July this year he was among the elite. I don't consider a two-month slump something to brush off, but I don't think it is a death knell of him being a productive offensive player. To the point of him pulling the ball so much, yeah, he needs to be able to rip the ball to center and right once in a while. When he hits the ball weakly, especially in the air, it seems those balls are fairly often hit to center and right. Does anyone have a chart on his outs?
  18. stringer bell
    I expected to be at the first stop, but have been unavoidably detained. I'll meet up with you crawlers at The Office. How many have made it to the first stop?
  19. stringer bell
    Both the strib and PP have notes about Ricky Nolasco rounding into shape and throwing. Apparently, it might be an option for him to return to the Twins staff this year and perhaps even start a game or two. Right now, the rotation consists of Santana and Gibson, Duffey (whose innings are supposed to be monitored), Pelfrey and Milone, who appear to be on down cycles of effectiveness.
  20. stringer bell
    On the PGA tour, they call the Saturday round of golf "moving day", because players can move a long way up or down the leaderboard setting the stage for a high-stakes finish on Sunday. Tomorrow is moving day for the Twins IMHO. They currently trail the second wild card by one game and are tied in the loss column. Two teams behind them are within a couple of games and one of them is their opponent for tomorrow's split doubleheader. Consider if the Twins were to manage to sweep the Angels while Cleveland and Houston also lost: Twins would hold the wild card edge by a half game over the Astros, they would be three games up on Los Angeles and three and a half ahead of Cleveland. They could be two and a half behind Houston, one game behind the Angels and only a half game ahead of Cleveland if all the results go the wrong way. Outside of postseason, tomorrow will be the biggest single day of baseball since the advent of Target Field. This late in the season, a double loss might be the end while a sweep could propel them to a date at Yankee Stadium for a playoff game. As Donald Trump might say, tomorrow is uuuuuuge!
  21. stringer bell
    May wasn't available with hip/back issues IIRC. Since 9/1 the Twins have lost Perkins, Darnell, Hughes has come back and shown he isn't ready, Milone has put up two bad starts in a row, Robinson has missed time, Sano has been hobbled (I believe that happened after Sept 1) and a few players have slumped terribly (notably Dozier). Molitor is sticking basically with a set lineup and trying to squeeze enough out of his guys, but I don't see it unless both health and performance improve immediately.
  22. stringer bell
    Disagree. Getting Alex Meyer was a gamble. One that so far hasn't worked out. Having Denard Span for the last three years would have made a bad team a bit better, but I can't believe it would have made the Twins relevant. Some projections had Meyer as a top of the rotation guy, that didn't come close to panning out. Some projected him as ending up in the bullpen, perhaps as a power arm at the end of games. Perhaps that is the role he'll play. Far more likely (now) is that he'll end up a bust, but it was a gamble worth taking IMHO.
  23. stringer bell
    Because someone says it is not true doesn't mean it is true or it isn't. I certainly believe that one party sees a benefit in lower voter turnout and further I believe that the Photo ID is a vehicle to lower voter turnout in what they view as constituencies of the other party. At the very best, the "solutions" for voter fraud are killing a gnat with a sledgehammer. I think more likely it is a smokescreen for voter suppression, as well as limiting polling times and having fewer polling places in heavily Democratic precincts. Anything to get that 1% to 2% frustrated enough to walk away or not go to the polling place at all. If you google "voter suppression" you can find many instances where Republicans and former Republicans admit that their goal is to win elections and that voter fraud is a subterfuge.
  24. stringer bell
    Another non-Twin double inital--Ugueth Urbina. The only "double U" of which I am aware.
  25. stringer bell
    Four different players and four different cases. Kepler has truly earned a promotion of the basis of his superb season. However, he's getting regular at-bats in the AA playoffs, which is probably better for him. Buxton isn't playing much and he is the better player. I believe they are right keeping Kepler in the Southern League playoffs. Polanco also is probably better served in Chattanooga. However, it would have been nice to have another infielder and pinch runner in the last game of the Tiger series. I thought Meyer should have been called up on September 1. I don't know if he would have been a better option than Achter, but then again he couldn't have been worse. If I was GM, I certainly would not have promoted Arcia. He was terrible in AAA and a promotion to the Twins would smack of a scholarship. I think he really needs the message that he can be a major leaguer, but he needs to perform.
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