Jump to content
Twins Daily
  • Create Account

JB_Iowa

Verified Member
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    6,113

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    6

 Content Type 

Profiles

Minnesota Twins News, Rumors & Analysis

Minnesota Twins Videos

2026 Minnesota Twins Top Prospect Rankings

2022 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks & Signing Bonuses

Minnesota Twins Trade & Free Agent Rumors

Minnesota Twins Fan Guides & Resources

2023 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks & Signing Bonuses

The Minnesota Twins Players Project

2024 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks & Signing Bonuses

2025 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks & Signing Bonuses

2026 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks & Signing Bonuses

Forums

Blogs

Events

Store

Downloads

Gallery

Everything posted by JB_Iowa

  1. JB_Iowa
    I'd add another finally: the major league team has been abysmal. Draft position does indeed help especially when it comes to the high end.
  2. JB_Iowa
    As long as that pain doesn't derail him from catching permanently. The question seems to be how to maximize Mauer's long-term value at catcher. Is that using him up now or rationing him now in order to keep him catching for as long as possible. Looks like the Twins have hit a pretty good medium for now.
  3. JB_Iowa
    Resurrecting this in an attempt to prevent Mr. Hicks from marching backward toward the Mendoza line again. Considering that nobody did much of anything last night, his performance wasn't so bad but here's hoping that he can use Monday night as a springboard. (P.S. In case its not apparent, I'm tired of talking about Terry Ryan and Ron Gardenhire).
  4. JB_Iowa
    He has picked up his BA in the last 7 days (.250) so that span a week-14 days ago must have been really brutal. It seems to me that Joe traditionally has trouble before the AS Break (this is totally from memory so correct me if I'm wrong -- its a hard stat to look up because he has sometimes gone on a tear after the AS game). Okay, I'm off to resurrect the Aaron Hicks thread to try to get him back to Monday night's performance instead of last night's.
  5. JB_Iowa
    16. years. old. It's always hard for me to get my head around how young some of the athletes, actors, etc. are. Best of luck to him and thanks for posting this.
  6. JB_Iowa
    Don't (or shouldn't) some of the young pitchers gain something (or a lot) from having Mauer catch? That would seem to me to be the big benefit.
  7. JB_Iowa
    And if we look at the schedule for the rest of the year, that's pretty likely to continue.
  8. JB_Iowa
    Replying to both: Successful or unsuccessful, a lot of promotion from within is a good thing. BUT in both types of organizations, you also need to be bleeding in new talent and new ideas. The Twins just don't seem to add much new talent at the mid to upper levels. That was what most upset me about the recycling of Terry Ryan. I started once to track the front office changes but I got so bored I had to quit. While someone could argue that they made significant changes with the coaching staff last year, the biggest change in that group was probably bringing back Steinbach. Everybody else was really just promoted from within if I remember right. The Twins seem reluctant to open up the organization to significant changes. I could understand that while everything just kept chugging along (although some new talent being brought in would have been good, too). Given the mess that the major league team has been for the past 2 1/2 years, its hard to fathom why they won't bring in new talent in the field staff or front office. I'm not talking about "throwing the baby out with the bathwater", I'm talking about bringing in some new towels and baby shampoo.
  9. JB_Iowa
    Somebody should have made soup with a kettle of Rays instead of cars.
  10. JB_Iowa
    If I'm looking at the stats you gave correctly, he has caught 54 of 86 of the Twins games or about 62%-63%. If he maintains the same pace, that would mean he would catch about 101-102 games on the season. My guess is it will be somewhere around 100 games although they may curtail him a bit more later in the season. That seems reasonable to me. It is basically 5/8 games --- allows a decent amount of non-catching days as long as the team has an off-day in there although they may want to cut it back a little when there aren't any off days. It also seems like it should be reasonably sustainable for at least a couple of years barring a major injury. But I also think that we need to see what impact it has on his batting -- especially as the summer heat wears on. He's in a bit of a slump right now -- seems like he always has a slump around the all-star break. Will be interesting to see if he gears up again as July goes on.
  11. JB_Iowa
    I'm in too, but given the heat, I want a VERY icy margarita.
  12. JB_Iowa
    Wow, great read. I really appreciated the way that you wove in the quotes with factual information. Thanks to you and to Mike Radcliff for giving us a great insight into the way the Twins minor league system works.
  13. JB_Iowa
    What do we have to judge Terry Ryan by EXCEPT his past record and what he has NOT done since he has returned? WHAT, if any, evidence do you have that he will be willing to sign 1 or more big dollar free agents? He is conservative down to the core (he is not Paul Ryan's relative for nothing). Yes, I'm a skeptic. I'll have to SEE it to believe it. (Oh, and I didn't say he had to make a particularly splashy move but cutting payroll is not the way to convince me).
  14. JB_Iowa
    I think for some of us (maybe a lot of us), it is really hard to have any faith that would happen. We feel a need to see something happen now to convince us to have some hope of what Terry Ryan will do in the future. Was/is the time right for a long-term, expensive free agent acquisition? Probably not. Could Ryan have done more to show us that he will use all avenues to acquire talent? Absolutely.
  15. JB_Iowa
    Last 14 days: BA .180 OBP .263 SLG .220 OPS .483 Last 7 days: BA .200 OBP .250 SLG .280 OPS .530 Pardon me if I have the next part wrong because I'm not much of a stats person but I think I recall some concerns last month whether he could sustain his BABIP which is .372 for the season but only .220 in the last 14 days and .238 in the past .238 When will he turn it around? Can we start some yammering to try to get Joe back on track (it worked so well with Aaron Hicks)? Does he just need those babies to be born?
  16. JB_Iowa
    I have no idea what will happen. I wanted there to be a graceful parting of the ways last season and I guess I'm still hoping for that now. Most of the blame for this season cannot be laid at Gardenhire's feet. But I have honestly believed for several years that it was time for a change. As I've said on a number of occasions, there's a reason for term limits in politics. There's a reason that church bodies often rotated ministers periodically, etc. Constant turmoil is bad but occasional change is healthy. It is really time for Gardenhire to step down and make a place for new ideas, talent and enthusiasm. He may very well find a greater success in another organization than he has with the Twins but he is a stagnant force in Minnesota. I hope it happens. If it does, I think it will be by mutual agreement (even if Gardenhire's agreeement is somewhat reluctant).
  17. JB_Iowa
    I love the interviews and blogging and reporting and video that we see about the Twins minor league system. It is a huge change from just a few years ago -- and not just because the Twins have a wealth of prospects now. Minor Leaguers once toiled in virtual obscurity (and still may in some organizations) but beginning with Seth and others and now even the major sports news sources, we have so much more information about them and their progress in the system. And I think it is absolutely great that even if some players won't make it to the major league club, they often get a moment or two of stardom in the minor league reports. As much as playing ball is a dream for many, minor league ball is still not a easy occupation. But Gleeman's column is a good cautionary tale -- and not just because of Delmon Young or Sano's recent struggles. There is no guarantee that ANY great prospect will go on to be a star or superstar (or even an every day player at the major league level). So much can happen -- they may not be able to make the adjustments, injuries happen frequently, some may get blocked in a system or traded away. It is fun to see what happens with the minor league teams each day -- and even more fun to dream about what "could be" when they get to the majors. But as I'm sure each one of them is told, they need to take each day, play hard, learn and ENJOY where they are at -- and we all need to do the same without focusing too much on the next level.
  18. JB_Iowa
    Who can we start yammering about now to try to keep 'em kickstarted? Florimon? He's picked it up a little tonight.
  19. JB_Iowa
    I took Hicks in our little "pick the stick" group for this series. If he could somehow manage to get a HR tonight to complete the cycle, I think I should get bonus points.
  20. JB_Iowa
    PLEASE love him in Chicago -- so he doesn't boomerang
  21. JB_Iowa
    Its funny, because in the past I've felt that the Twins suffered at times from not having many veterans on the team. But after the last 2 1/2 years of losing, I'm beginning to think that a pretty complete overhaul may be a really good thing. I know Mauer will undoubtedly still be around and I think he sets an example with his professionalism and work ethic but I don't know that he is really the "spiritual leader" of this team. In fact, I'm not sure that anybody really is (although I do think Perkins is a leader in the bullpen). I'm beginning to think that the young kids may need to find their leaders from within themselves and that may be a good thing. As much as I thought Morneau was a leader 4 or 5 years ago, I think that his time may have already passed. Just as I think Gardenhire's time has passed. Time for a new culture (or at least for revisiting and revising the old one).
  22. JB_Iowa
    I don't know how you decide. There's both the longevity question and also the "losing team question." Is the pressure the same closing for a team going nowhere as it is for a contender? (Honestly I don't know the answer to that - in some ways you could argue that it is more because they don't get as many opportunities but I still think there must be added pressure when you are really in a race.) Perkins is very good. I just don't think that there's enough evidence to decide whether he is top 5.
  23. JB_Iowa
    As of this morning, Hicks' July OPS is .824 Do I think that means that he has suddenly made a giant leap forward since his injury? No. But it does confirm that much of the discussion in this thread is totally off the mark. There is NO reason to rush to judgment on Hicks. At a minimum, we should be able to see how the rest of this year plays out -- then we can judge what progress he has made in the field and at the plate. For those of you who think he'll soon be replaced in the field by other prospects in the Twins system, just remember that there is a lot that can happen at every level of the system. Some of those vaunted prospects that you're salivating over may not pan out. If they do, then all the better, the Twins have more trade bait. I just don't get not letting a prospect/rookie play or why this thread has taken such a negative turn regarding Aaron Hicks. Personally I like getting a glimpse of the future when I see Hicks and Arcia and Dozier and Parmelee and even Plouffe come to the plate. It's a heck of a lot more interesting to me than clinging to the past.
  24. JB_Iowa
    Well, 1-2 is better than the 0-3 that I expected from this series. And at least the under-30 guys are doing some hitting. Now if the 30+ guys can get their games back on, the Twins might win another game or two this road trip.
  25. JB_Iowa
    OPS Last 7 days: Hicks .721 Dozier 1.029 Mauer .523 Morneau .564 Doumit .632 Arcia .652 Florimon .333 Thomas .481 Plouffe .481 Congrats (and Thanks) to Brian Dozier for leading the way
×
×
  • Create New...