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gmarais66

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Everything posted by gmarais66

  1. gmarais66
    I think that's because the majority of his appearances with the Cardinals were as a pinch hitter...
  2. gmarais66
    Well, he had some pretty good minor league numbers.... At least for the moment, it's something to be hopeful about..... I guess it would be tough for him to be worse than Clete, who made Drew Butera look like Ted Williams... In all seriousness, I know Clete is a much better player than he showed in his time with the Twins, he just picked the worst time possible to go into a horrible slump... He'll likely get a chance somewhere else and hopefully he can turn things around... At least Ryan is not letting the bad eggs rot on the shelf... He's dumping them and trying to find one that doesn't stink...
  3. gmarais66
    You may be right to a certain extent, but if their performance rides on playing in the majors or minors, I think that is a huge motivator.... Once a player is in the majors they don't want to go back to the minors... You mention Valencia.... I don't think that Valencia believes he will be sent back, because the Twins don't really have anyone to replace him... He's too comfortable... He has no competition... I think a few weeks with the Red Wings would change his attitude....
  4. gmarais66
    With the way the Twins have been playing, this is the perfect time for managment/coaches to start playing hardball with the players... By that, I mean send a few guys packing (waivers or options) then hold a team meeting and ask, "Who wants to be here?" Make it clear that those who don't play up to expectations are not going to be in the majors very long... As an example, send down Hendriks.... Bring up Diamond or DeVries.... Put one of them in the rotation... Give them a shot... If they stick, keep them, if they don't, send them down and bring up the next guy in line.... Send Thomas packing... Bring up Carson... Same deal... Do the job or lose your job... It's a bit extreme, but the Twins are in an extreme situation... At this point, they have to stop worrying about hurting someone's feelings or giving guys weeks to pull out of a horrible slump... Make it black and white... How bad do you want to wear a major league uniform? Create some competition...
  5. gmarais66
    I think you meant to say Lee WAS a solid first baseman... Have you seen Abreu play outfield recently? He makes Plouffe look like Willie Mays... I would agree giving some of those guys from the minors a shot, especially Carson... However Floriman has a guy named Dozier standing in front of him... Bates is a 1B/DH and we've got plenty of them right now, not to mention his .206 average at Rochester isn't exactly screaming "Call me up, call me up"...
  6. gmarais66
    Because he posted a 6.68 ERA with 8.6 K/9 and 7.0 BB/9 in 33 2/3 innings for the A's in 2011. I'm sure most of the pitchers at Rochester, and even New Britian, could do better than that...
  7. gmarais66
    Outside of Wiggington, most of the players you mentioned are all DH candidates... I'm not sure picking up a DH (Lee, Abreau, Vlad) is really what this team needs... Stop-gap position players are often picked up off the scrap heap, just like bullpen arms... It's a crapshoot... Carroll has been a pretty good stop-gap... Though the others have not really worked.... Sometimes you have to cycle through your available bench players from AAA and the waiver wire, until you find someone that sticks... Finding bench players that can make a signficant impact is not easy... Obviously Burroughs and Thomas haven't worked out, but the Twins need to try some others from Rochester or the waiver wire to see if they can find someone reliable...
  8. gmarais66
    The Star Tribune is reporting that Delmon Young was arrested early this morning in a drunken anti-Semetic altercation.... Here's the link: http://www.startribune.com/local/149232745.html
  9. gmarais66
    Ok, so the Twins are having a tough start to the season... With few positives to focus on, I thought it would be a good time to look back in Twins' history to some times when they were playing much better... - On this date in 1969, Rod Carew collected four hits and Harmon Killebrew belted his third home run of the season to lead the Twins to a 12-1 win over the White Sox. Dean Chance earned the win, allowing just three hits in six innings of work. The victory improved the Twins' record to 9-7 and was the start of an eight-game winning streak. - Rich Chiles had three hits, while teammates Lyman Bostock and Rob Wilfong had two hits apiece, to lead the Twins to a 5-3 victory over Seattle on April 26, 1977. Tom Burgmeier picked up the win in relief. Tom Johnson earned the save. The win gave the Twins an 11-7 record. - On April 26, 1987, Kirby Puckett, Gary Gaetti, Steve Lombardozzi and Greg Gagne each hit a home run to help the Twins beat the Angels 10-5. George Frazier earned the win in relief, after blowing a save opportunity. Bert Blyleven started for the Twins, allowing 8H and 4ER in six innings of work. The win boosted the Twins' record to 12-7.
  10. gmarais66
    I think it's a little more than a stretch to compare Bautista with Plouffe... Bautista had a minor league track record of good offensive numbers... He had shown power potential in Pittsburgh... Plouffe has no such history... No indicators to say the Twins really need to stick with him until he reaches his potential... With the exception of 2011, which I would argue is a 51-game anomaly, his eight seasons in the minor leagues showed he is little more than mediocre.... Not to mention, he's a liability every place he's played on defense...
  11. gmarais66
    Ahhh, did anyone see Plouffe's drunken ballerina performance on that ball he should have caught last night? The guy has no defensive position... He has no range in the infield and looks lost in the outfield... Not to mention he's a marginal hitter... He tries to hit a home run every at-bat and just hits a lot of fly balls and popups... I was shocked when he got that hit up the middle last night, but even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while... Hitters like Plouffe are a dime a dozen at the AAA level... Like Hughes, he's disposable... He's a filler with no options... Send him packing and give the playing time to Revere.... I know, I know, you'll say he doesn't have the arm... But he would have caught that ball Plouffe missed last night and that would have been the difference in the game... Not to mention, Revere is a spark plug... He can make things happen...
  12. gmarais66
    The Baltimore Orioles released pitcher Ryan Edell. He has some very good minor league numbers. He might be a promising pickup for the Twins. Does anyone know anything about him?
  13. gmarais66
    I think Hendriks, along with Pavano, have been the only bright spots in the Twins' rotation so far this season... He has good control and mixes his pitches/speeds well... He doesn't seem to get flustered when he gets in trouble... Let's hope he stays on track as the season progresses...
  14. gmarais66
    I agree with giving some of these guys chances, although Swarzak has been given plenty of chances and he's proven to be very inconsistent as a starter.... We have guys like Gibson and Hendricks who seem to be legit prospects for the starting rotation.... Unfortunately, we'll have to wait until next season to see what Gibson can do, but I've been impressed with Hendricks so far... The truth is, the Twins aren't going to be able to go out and get a proven, solid starter at this point, unless they make a big trade... The best route is to try out some of the guys in the minors or search the scrap heap for someone that is just one chance away from turning things around... Take the old "Who really wants to be here" approach... Competition can be a great motivator... You never know, someone might stick... Look at Humber... He stunk when he was with the Twins and later the Royals... The White Sox picked him up and gave him a chance... Now look... No one could have predicted that one...
  15. gmarais66
    What about Scott Kazmir... He was throwing for teams this spring, but no one signed him... Might be worth taking a second look....
  16. gmarais66
    I was looking through Liriano's splits to see if I could see any redeeming stats that stand out... The only thing that stood out was that he has pitched well in the first inning, which tells me, if his next start is just as bad, they should try him in the bullpen to see if he can hold it together for one inning, like he does in his starts... Incredibly, opposing hitters are batting .415 against Liriano on balls in play... That is powerful bad... Compare that to Pavano in 2011, when he led the league in hits allowed and opposing batters hit .291 on balls in play... Also, I found it amazing that he has yet to retire a No. 8 hitter this season...
  17. gmarais66
    I hope it won't be too much longer before the Twins DFA Plouffe... He isn't good at any defensive position and he's never going to be a decent hitter...
  18. gmarais66
    P.S. While on 1500, Gardy said Willingham had agreed to be the emergency catcher, since he was once a catcher...
  19. gmarais66
    A few minutes ago, on 1500, Gardy was asked about the third catcher and the whole situation sounded up in the air... Reusse mentioned that Rivera worked well with Liriano last year... Gardy mention Towles as somone to bring up if you want a third catcher who can hit... He also said Towles can play some third or OF, giving him more options...
  20. gmarais66
    I totally agree... The Twins have played so poorly against the Yankees and had so much bad luck against them - for so long - they've become a symbol of the Twins' shortcommings.... To win this series would be a definite confidence boost to the team and it's fans... Hey, if you can beat the Yankees, you can beat anybody... Right?
  21. gmarais66
    Burroughs at least has some history of success at the major league level... Hughes has struggled, for the most part...
  22. gmarais66
    Maybe this is precursor to another move, calling up Dozier to play short, moving Carroll to second and Casilla to the utility role.....
  23. gmarais66
    Hughes is very similar to Plouffe... Both have some power, but aren't very good hitters, and neither has a position they are particularly good at... They are expendible, because the minor leagues are littered with players like this...
  24. gmarais66
    Hopefully he'll be more than a great spring training hitter, which is all Hughes has proven to be....
  25. gmarais66
    Just wanted to say thanks for these great minor league updates... They're one of my favorite things at Twins Daily... It might be nice though, if at the end of each summary, you had the link to the box score... Just a thought...
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