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stringer bell

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Everything posted by stringer bell

  1. stringer bell
    I used 100 plate appearances as a qualifier and used OPS as the measuring stick of hitting performance. Here are the rankings in the American League of the 10 Twins with over 100 PAs: Catcher--Mauer--2nd of 14 First Base--Morneau--11th of 18 Second Base--Dozier--13th of 15 Third Base--Plouffe--8th of 13 Shortstop--Florimon--7th of 14 Left Field--Willingham--8th of 15 Center Field--Hicks--17th of 17 Right Field--Arcia--4th of 15 and Parmelee 14th of 15 Designated Hitter--Doumit--8th of 10
  2. stringer bell
    To summarize, the Worley option allows the Twins to go the entire Detroit series with an 8-man bullpen. The likely transfer of Wood to the 60-day DL clears space on the 40-man for Deduno, but if another player is added from off the 40-man roster to fill Worley's spot in the rotation, someone will have to be DFAed and someone will have to be sent to Rochester. Pelfrey could "solve" the 25-man issue by being ineffective his next start and accepting an option. The Twins could solve both the 25-man and 40-man issues by DFAing Pelfrey and outrighting him to AAA if he would accept that.
  3. stringer bell
    I can't be too down on Vanimal because of the glasses, the hat or anything he has said. He just hasn't done the job on the mound. I think he falls right behind Gibson (and ahead of Hendriks) in upside, but he isn't dominating, he is another guy with little margin for error who has to hit his spots and depend on his defense. Not an ace or #2 or even #3.
  4. stringer bell
    While I agree that "pitch to contact" and bad range is a lethal combination, I think the Twins are moving away from both but the changes haven't hit the major league club yet (or Rochester for that matter). I have thought how cool a defensive OF of Arcia/Benson, Buxton and Hicks would be for a while. They will be able to run down a lot of line shots and gappers that the current group has no chance of catching. I will submit that Parmelee has been a much better than advertised outfielder as well. The only position in the infield that has yielded negative fielding results is third base. Plouffe may never be a gold glover, but he isn't a statue over there either. The pitchers on their way to the majors aren't all command and control guys. It will take a while before they make a mark, but the club is moving in the right direction, especially in the lower levels of the minors.
  5. stringer bell
    A serious question. Do the Twins alter their rotation a bit here? Deduno was supposed to pitch yesterday, I believe. Maybe he should go right away on Thursday, giving Diamond an extra day. Also Pelfrey could probably go any time between Friday and Sunday since he only worked two innings thanks to the rain. Gibson's scheduled day would be Friday, but if he's called up, Saturday would be a good day to start him.
  6. stringer bell
    Ironic that Worley's two worst starts were against NL teams, including one with no DH. Then again, maybe not so ironic since both the Mets and the Braves had seen him multiple times.
  7. stringer bell
    Well, after relative stability, the Twins have made a rash of roster moves. I am glad that success stories Thielbar and Colabello will have their chance. Thielbar has been good so far, while Colabello will hit some, I think. Can they be useful big leaguers? It would be good for the Twins. Deduno is an enigma, but after witnessing Worley and Hernandez pitch, it is certainly worth seeing what Deduno 2.0 (3.0, 4.0, or 5.0?) can do. I consider Gibson a different class than both Walters and Albers. He has the potential and the profile to be a good starter. His numbers are good at Rochester and I maintain that a surehanded rangy infield would make them considerably better since he has a 2-1 ground out/air out ratio. While it makes sense to see what Albers and Walters can offer, it is doubtful that either will ever be a regular starter in a major league rotation. One further reason that Walters might have an edge over the other two is that he has over a full year in the major leagues.
  8. stringer bell
    After today's disaster, perhaps it is time for Vanimal to head to Rochester. He's been mostly dreadful. The easy answer is to promote Gibson for Worley. Pelfrey is a runner up, but given his veteran status, it will be tough to send him down. He might want to be DLed and then rehab. I am all in favor of sending the youngsters, Arcia and Hicks, down. There is a glut of Corner OF/1B/DHs on the team so perhaps Arcia can go first, and then depending on the productivity of several players Hicks could be sent down and replaced by Richardson or maybe just maybe Joe Benson if he is able to get it going at Rochester (two hits last night).
  9. stringer bell
    What is Vanimal's 1st inning ERA?
  10. stringer bell
    That part is easy-peasy. Since Deduno isn't officially on the roster 'til Friday, they need to clear one spot on the 40-man--that would be Mastro to the 60-day list. Making space for Deduno will be a little more difficult.
  11. stringer bell
    I wouldn't bet on it.
  12. stringer bell
    Add in a little bit of bad luck and yet another loss.
  13. stringer bell
    Anatomy of a losing streak: Questionable managerial decisions, close losses, slumping offense and deteriorating pitching. Most things that went right when the Twins were winning more than their share have regressed toward the mean, while the problem spots have truly been exposed.
  14. stringer bell
    The collision did not look good, but he was able to walk off the field under his own power, FWIW. Sad to say, but Trevor's the third best offensive player on the team right now.
  15. stringer bell
    This thread has morphed into an examination of the Twins management staff. I have mixed feelings about both. 1) Gardenhire has won when he had the talent and a couple times when he didn't have as much talent as the competition. However, most managers have a "shelf life" and he probably has passed his expiration date. A different style and voice might be needed for the next generation of players. Gardenhire can manage another team if he doesn't get his contract extended or is fired. I'd like to see what Gardy can do with a strong rotation, but it doesn't look like he'll have a chance. 2) Ryan comes from the scouting side of baseball front offices. He knows talent and has demonstrated he can build a farm system. My questions about Ryan center on the change for the Twins from small market to medium market. Ryan has handled the checkbook as if Calvin Griffith was signing the checks, seemingly always opting for bargain basement players, sometimes hitting, but often missing. When pursuing free agents, he has been unwilling to pay the price for good talent and may have not adjusted to the "strikeouts good" pitching philosophythat favors hard throwers. I submit that Ryan has again built a good future for the Twins, but 2013 is a lost cause. Middle market teams should do better in down years.
  16. stringer bell
    Trevor's not a great baserunner.
  17. stringer bell
    Justice for Swarzak. He certainly didn't deserve the loss.
  18. stringer bell
    The Twins have a lot of candidates for demotion and Arcia is among them. It looks like the second half of May might be one of the worst fortnights in Twins' history.
  19. stringer bell
    Please rain, stop. let Pelfrey get back out there and lose his position on merit.
  20. stringer bell
    I would consider the catching tandem of Mauer and Doumit being in the top 20% of catching tandems to be meeting expectations. I am not a Mauer hater by any means, but the man is the highest paid catcher in baseball, he's in his peak years and he's healthy. Mauer is 10 points above his career batting average, seven in OBP and 10 in slugging. An 0-fer would have put him below in all (I know he got a hit already). Doumit in 14 games is significantly below his norms in all those categories as a catcher.
  21. stringer bell
    The catching position for the Twins is manned by a capable hitting backup (Ryan Doumit) and a future Hall-of-Famer (Joe Mauer). I did not say that compared to the rest of the league they were meeting expectations. I said that the performance of the Twins two catchers approximately met expectations. A healthy 30-year old Joe Mauer is close to matching his career norms and his backup is below his in 57 plate appearances as a catcher. Mauer is an All-Star catcher, no question, and I think Twins fans should expect at least what he is doing offensively.
  22. stringer bell
    The comment about Sano's defense falling off--does that have to do with errors or scouting reports? Errors can come from a lot of things like throwing to unoccuplied bases or hitting sliding baserunners and they can be reduced drastically by a decent first baseman (ask Pedro Florimon). IIRC, many if not most of Sano's errors have come on throws and his number of errors has little if anything to do with hands or range.
  23. stringer bell
    It isn't about "team control" for Gibson, it is about arbitration. If Gibson were promoted today, or June 2 or July 10, the Twins would get this season plus six more out of Kyle. It is just that he would be eligible for the bigger dollars of arb after two full seasons plus this partial season.
  24. stringer bell
    If Pelf has another "disappointing" outing, I think it is possible that the Twins add either Walters or Gibson for a start in Detroit. I really would like to see Gibson sooner rather than later given his innings limit, but Deduno was going to win a spot in the rotation until he came up lame after the WBC.
  25. stringer bell
    Going through the postion players, position by position (and counting Arcia as a RF), the Twins are getting less than expected performance from 2B, LF, CF, RF, and DH. I would say they are near expectations for 3B, C, and 1B, and have exceeded (low) expectations for SS. Individually, Mauer and Morneau are performing "well", but unevenly--Morneau hasn't hit with power and Mauer has been uncharacteristically streaky and strikeout prone. They both have been in the lineup more than could be expected and they both are playing well defensively. Given the team's low slugging and batting average, it is surprising they've scored as many runs as they have. I would argue that Plouffe has been average for a regular at the hot corner, but I suppose that is picking nits.
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