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Jim H

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Everything posted by Jim H

  1. Jim H
    Some people tend to define power based on home runs. If Houston can develop gap power, that is doubles and triples, and raise the average to above league average, he could be very valuable. When Arraez was with the Twins he had enough doubles and triples to get his slugging into a respectable range. If Houston can use his speed to create some extra base hits, home runs won't matter for a guy with exceptional defense.
  2. Jim H
    Nobody should be a lock for this bullpen. Some are more likely, including Topa. It is too early to worry about the composition of the bullpen right now. If the end of the season bullpen resembles the beginning of the season of the season bullpen, i will be shocked. There are virtually no arms right now who should be a back of the bullpen option. Maybe that'll change as the season goes on.
  3. Jim H
    I certainty don't want to defend the Twins after allowing 17 runs. I would like to point out that of 10 pitchers that appeared in that game, only Sands has much of a chance of starting the year with the Twins. It is early in spring training.
  4. Jim H
    Not sure War is best way or on!y way to compare all the players in Twins history. Leaving pitchers out of it there are a lot of players who had better or at comparable Twins careers to Buxton. That might not be true without all his injuries. Off the top of my head: Hunter, Gagne, Battey, Koskie, Gaetti, Kubel, Smalley and maybe a few others. I think we need to have a few more healthy seasons from Buxton before we vault him too far up a list like this.
  5. Jim H
    Traditionally, the GM decides who's on the roster in consultation with the manager. I suspect it is more complicated than that with today's front offices. Still, there is not much point to have people on the roster that the manager doesn't want to use. This assumes the manager actually gets to decide so gets to start on a daily basis. Deciding who makes the 26 man roster based only on spring training never happens. Track record matters, as do a lot of other things. The problem here is that 40 man roster is unbalanced and without making changes to that will likely lead to decisions that many of us will not like very much.
  6. Jim H
    This is an odd article to be writing at this point of spring training. Still, none of Roden, Martin or Funderburk have anything to prove in AAA. I wonder what the long term Twins future might be for any of these guys. If it is decided that there is no current place on the roster for any of them, they should be traded or released. If you have 4A type players or 30 something guys on the roster ahead of them, they have little or no value to the Twins. This is the one point in time where the can take a good look at Martin and Roden and perhaps figure out what role they might have on a good major league team. Keeping them around as injury replacements and bouncing them back and forth to the minors would be counter productive. The Twins have a glut of corner outfielders. They need to make some decisions by the end of spring training. I hope they are good ones.
  7. Jim H
    I would like to visit Cooperstown some day. I doubt if I would spend that much time looking at the busts. The history part would interest me more. It is after all called the Hall of Fame. Nothing in the title suggests that you have to be one of the best players according to some predetermined criteria. I don't know if Oliva, Kaat, or Blyleven are really among the best players ever. I am rather glad that are considered famous enough to belong in the hall.
  8. Jim H
    If you seriously think Rodriguez, Jenkins, etc will force themselves to the majors fairly quickly this season, why not trade both Larnach and Wallner? Neither one has proven to be much more than serviceable corner outfielders. Start Martin and Roden in the corners. Use Clemens as a corner backup, if you really want him on the roster. It reduces the clutter in the outfield, it sends out a couple of guys who don't appear to have a long-term future with the Twins. Also you might find if Roden and Martin are more than major league backups
  9. Jim H
    Jamming up your bullpen with past their prime relievers really only makes sense if you think your potential one inning relievers need some time in the minors to figure out what they are doing. In the Twins case they don't seem to know yet who is going to transition from starter to reliever. These old relievers aren't going to be around when the Twins are competitive again unless a bunch of players play much better this year and next then they've shown so far. So, what is better? Getting some of these young guys up to the majors in the role they are most likely to fill anyway, and let them figure out things as they go? Or hold them in the minors longer and wait for the old guys to either fail or get hurt? This old guy mentorship thing seems overrated to me. You have 3 major league pitching coaches afterall.
  10. Jim H
    I too would like them to extend Lopez. For pretty much the same reasons you gave. He is one the reasons to watch this version of the Twins. I am afraid it will longer than 2027 to create a truly competitive team. I am hopeful that we may see the bones of a good team by 2027. Zoll and company will need a lot of things to go right to transform their current group into a good team that quickly.
  11. Jim H
    Interesting topic. I have followed the Twins since they came to Minnesota. I tend to agree with Chief on his points about pitching. Pitching shouldn't be all about velocity and spin rate. One of things I miss is the lack of craftmanship. Few pitchers have good command of their pitches. Few pitchers field their position well, cover 1b well, or hold runners on well. It is interesting that with the emphasis on velocity, the use of the fastball is actually less. Reducing workloads for starters means we are seeing more pitchers to the point where we usually see at least 25 different pitchers a year. The rotation of pitchers to protect your best pitchers arms means we get to watch a lot of bad pitching. I don't have good solutions for all this. In the good old days a lot pitchers blew out their arms from overuse and poor management. There were a lot of guys who had a great season or two and were done at a young age. Unfortunately, modern pitcher management doesn't really change that reality.
  12. Jim H
    There is something in what you say here. But, expecting 30 something dfa relievers to develop more velocity and movement on their pitches seems more hopeful than realistic.
  13. Jim H
    Your 7th paragraph suggests the Twins were putting pitchers into bulk reliever roles instead of fitting them into 5 or 6 man rotations. Since the once a week plan for starters in the minors has been in place for a couple of years it would seem that 4 day rotation for bulk pitchers was instituted at least in part to guarantee more innings for certain pitchers. My point is that this plan doesn't seem to prepare pitchers for the majors very well. It is probably a bit off your topic. I personally don't really think this plan for the minors was necessarily being used as a template for how pitchers should be used in the majors. I could be wrong.
  14. Jim H
    Hendry Mendez, part of the Phillies trade. He is younger than the others obtained, but he is a left handed hitting corner outfielder. The Twins are talking about trying him at first base. He falls in the same bucket with Gonzales and Rodriguez. So technically he is mostly blocked, if he is blocked, by the near ready outfielders already in the system. Sure they could dfa Outman and lets not worry about Roden. But I circle back to the question, why did they trade for these 3 guys in the first place? If they don't fit the needs of the organization why not request different players in the trades? They did that with the catchers acquired at the deadline. Why acquire corner outfielders if you already have a bunch and don't really plan to get rid of any? Now, obviously there is likely a plan and the extras will be reduced eventually. You can certainly justify Larnach's current place on the roster as you did. The question is still why did they do what they did at the trade deadline and why have failed to address perceived weaknesses on the current roster?
  15. Jim H
    One of things the author and many others don't realize is that the Twins minor league starters weren't on a 5 man rotation. They pitched once a week. The same day every week unless they were hurt or ill. This was true of all full season teams in the Twins organization. The starters were all on pitch counts and other limitations as well. If you ever wondered why all the Twins minor league starters pitchers have so few innings, that is why. This plan explains in part the minor league bulk pitcher thing. You have to cover innings somehow and designating a couple of bulk pitchers on each staff would be one way to do that. Also nearly all minor league pitch more than 1 inning an outing. My opinion is that this organization plan helps explain why the Twins minor leaguers seem so unprepared to pitch in the majors. They aren't used to 5 man rotation or 1 inning at a time use. They never pitched enough to learn sequencing, holding on runners, or fielding their position. Most throw hard and can spin the ball. Many can throw strikes but have spotty command.
  16. Jim H
    I care nothing about Larnach's salary. What I care about is that he is a below average corner outfield platoon bat. The Twins were dissatisfied enough with their current corner outfield options to bring in 3 left handed hitting corner outfielders at the trade deadline. Now those guys are blocked by the holdover corner outfielders and are likely to be leapfrogged by the near ready minor leaguers. Explain how any of that makes sense. Even better the Twins have likely blocked up the dh spot by what they did this winter at catcher and first base. One of the reasons people are expecting a Larnach trade is that its the cleanest way to clean up the mess they have made of their roster. Now, that might not be the best way to fix the outfield situation but by waiting this long to address the situation they will likely find limited ways to improve their roster.
  17. Jim H
    Several years ago I read a comment by a national prospect guru that the Twins had a lot of interesting prospects. Right now the Twins have Jenkins and a lot of interesting prospects. The major question is whether all these interesting prospects can turn into at least some effective major league contributors.
  18. Jim H
    Yes, moving Mendez to first was talked about last fall. Yes, it is a good idea. Filling the lineup with good hitters is always a good idea. It is likely he adds power as he matures. I also think that having big power isn't absolutely necessary for a first baseman if there is gap power and a high average and good defense. Good defense at first includes reducing infielders errors.
  19. Jim H
    There are currently 9 outfielders on the 40 man roster. Adding in Jenkins that gives 10 ready or near ready major league outfielders. There are several other guys on the 40 man who could potentially see time in the outfield. If I am reading the comments right, most commentators here view Lanarch and Wallner as platoon players who shouldn't see more than 450 plate appearances or so a year. Very few view either one as more than major league average. If that is true, trade them both. Find out if we have anybody that is at least potentially, a full time player. As far the rest of the big moves, keep Jeffers. Extend him if you can. At least he helps give you above average catching. Keep Lopez and Ryan too. They help make the Twins watchable. If you don't catch lightning in a bottle among the position players, they can still be traded at the deadline. The bullpen needs to be sorted this spring. Figure out which marginal starter should be a reliever and get them to figuring out what they need to do to be successful in that role. I also don't view the first base situation very favorably. I wish that there was someone there who could be viewed as a middle of the order bat who is above average defensively. Maybe someone will emerge there.
  20. Jim H
    I don't know if any of these players are underrated, except possibly Lewis. They are probably rated pretty much as they are. Jeffers is a bit above average hitter for a catcher. Probably a bit below average defensively and who knows working with the staff. He is unlikely to be an all star but he is better than a lot of major league catchers. Wallner even if he regains hIs form is slightly above average offensively and below average defensively. Neither Wallner nor Jeffers should be hitting in the top half of the lineup but way too often they have. That isn't their fault but it shows the lack of better options. It is likely they are what they are. Better performance is possible, but? Sands is likely what he is as well. Maybe he could perform better than he has so far, but he wasn't used in high leverage situations until the sell off. He has yet to show that he should be. As far as Lewis goes, the talent is still there. If the injuries are behind him I think he could become what he has shown in brief flashes. I don't if that makes him underrated.
  21. Jim H
    I think the let Falvey off the blame articles can stop. Everyone who follows the Twins has an opinion on Falvey that is cemented in stone. That opinion, whatever it is, won't be changed. Move on.
  22. Jim H
    If Caratini is a better hitter than Clemons, why is Clemons on the roster?
  23. Jim H
    All of this is likely true. He also likely didn't benefit from the weird platoon role he was put in in 24. Still, he is largely a 3 true outcome guy. He needs to be a lot more consistent then he has been to this point. Right now he looks to be more like a guy who should be batting in the bottom third of a lineup then the middle of the lineup. As I said above, his rope should be kind of short. There are a lot of corner outfielders on the 40 man who could potentially provide or exceed what Wallner has achieved so far.
  24. Jim H
    Falvey was in charge of how the money was spent and the overall direction of the franchise. He was in charge of hiring the people who worked for him. He hired Levine and Baldelli and Zoll for that matter. It is true he didn't have control over his budget but how it was spent was entirely on him. I am sure he had to get permission on big budget commitments, but the recommendations and implementation was on him. He was wasn't scapegoated. He was fired or mutually let go because the team and perhaps the whole franchise was in worse shape than when was hired.
  25. Jim H
    This story is about as optimistic take on the bullpen as it possible to take. If you believe a competitive team is possible this year, a reliable bullpen is necessary. While it is likely that building a bullpen the way it was laid out in this story will eventually lead to a good bullpen, it will take much longer than spring training to even lay the framework. If it is true that Zell doesn't even know which young starters are being converted to one inning relievers, I think that getting them ready for the start of the season in that role will be pretty tough. Last year's bullpen was pretty good until the best 5 relievers were traded away. Given the amount of time it took to get to the bullpen to that point, hoping for a decent bullpen this year seems pretty optimistic. If Zell can do that, I will be impressed.
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