Jump to content
Twins Daily
  • Create Account

GeorgiaBaller

Verified Member
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    105

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Profiles

News

Minnesota Twins Videos

2026 Minnesota Twins Top Prospects Ranking

2022 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks

Minnesota Twins Free Agent & Trade Rumors, Notes, & Tidbits

Guides & Resources

2023 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks

The Minnesota Twins Players Project

2024 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks

2025 Minnesota Twins Draft Pick Tracker

Forums

Blogs

Events

Store

Downloads

Gallery

Everything posted by GeorgiaBaller

  1. GeorgiaBaller
    I will pile on. Organizationally, pitchers being taught they are brittle is a problem for the Twins. It runs through every level. You don’t see starters out throwing long ball in the outfield to recover and strengthen their arms. They are not developing mental toughness to still “win with problems”. Bring on the 13. If Rocco gets canned soon, it will be because he overmanages pitching —and is to hands off manufacturing runs with small ball when needed.
  2. GeorgiaBaller
    I like Correa. A Lot. Great leader, good clubhouse guy, in the field and at the plate. He is a solid player---as long as he is on the field. I will just say that long term contracts are not in the best interest of the club---any club. I know what the trends are, but 7+ year deals just do not work out for the team----that being the Twins and Fans, not the FO. If the FO can work out a great $ amt per year for 5 years---not a problem, overpay. 5 years is long enough for a player to have security and short enough that he can never stop working for his next paycheck/contract and his legacy. Overpay short term instead of stretching the $'s long term. Donaldson contract was a bad deal and took a lot of effort to squeeze out of because there are only a few teams who can pay for big $ contracts on trade. There were even times during the Mauer concussion issues that there was a lot of reservation about his deal (although I don't think Joe ever sandbagged a day!). A good contract should be beneficial for both sides---7-10 year deals are much more player slanted---and its not just the back end years, but early years when there's not a lot of urgency for the player to come back from injury quickly. There should be pressure on both sides
  3. GeorgiaBaller
    I agree that Kepler is a B player (+ fielder and AVG hitter) --and that is what your team is made of---not everyone is an A player. Playoff teams play great Defense---that's pitching and fielding. Kepler does not go anywhere until you can have another player at least the same + fielding and adding a + bat. I am encouraged that I have seen Keppler---a pure and constant pull hitter last year---use the whole field and even go Oppo this season. His BA will improve and he should not slump as much by slowing his swing situationally. Thank goodness he finally took the advice/coaching given to him--it IS a real surprise. Oh----and at any point in time, it is relevant to say SANO is not in the lineup, and the team does not miss him at all. All you Sano apologists out there, listen to the crickets now. I can name 4 players I would rather have in his slot---1B or DH---any lineup, any day.
  4. GeorgiaBaller
    100% agree with the article. Lots of this is managerial. if you have a low # of runs on the board, you start situational hitting in the 4th inning. Move runners, score runners. You can play 7,8,9th innings swing to pound the ball--but the middle innings---or from the start with an MLB dominant pitcher---1-2 runs per inning works by speed, hustle and slowing the bat speed for contact. Looping singles can be a beautiful thing. I have a feeling that the art of stealing is not taught well within the TWINS org as evwn our speed guys struggle taking bases---but that is part of owning the tempo of the game and playing aggressively, too.
  5. GeorgiaBaller
    His injuries have NOT been from collision on bases or with a fence---they are from playing regularly. (correction to above)
  6. GeorgiaBaller
    Bullpen guys need to be the trade targets---not starters once the season begins. Bullpens dominate the playoffs, with the exception of maybe 15 starters that dominate in the MLB. SS prospects should make the best trade bait right now---but I am not opposed to trading Kiriloff. I like his skill set, but the kind of injuries he has had are repetitive motion injuries and those seem to be recurring---and he has had several. Wrist injuries are terrible for a hitter. I can't help but feel he has the injury bug and will be out some decent portion of every season. His injuries have to been from collision on bases or with a fence---they are from playing regularly. It may rub some people the wrong way to harp on injuries, but the reality is if a player cannot be on the field, they cannot help the team---and that has to be weighted as a factor in their overall performance score.
  7. GeorgiaBaller
    Definitely have to re-tool this bullpen--or should we call it the shaky leg calf pen---before the trade deadline. its really disheartening to a team to hit 5 homers in a game and still lose. Some of these guys are just not reliable enough to bring to the mound. They are reliable to produce runs for the other team, but not to prevent them on the Twins behalf. We need to cut bait on our worst performers (hello Duffy and Pagan), but can't do so without replacements. That may be another team's 4th or 5th starter that is struggling through 2nd and 3rd times trough the lineup but looks great first inning. It will be necessary to give some things up to get what we need, but that is the shape of baseball right now. rosters change at or before the trade deadline.
  8. GeorgiaBaller
    Prior comment hit it on the head---he just should not be playing based on his current performance. I have compared him to Scott Baker before--but he just can't seem to turn the corner. It seems mental to me looking at this eyes when he comes in. He did better once transferred to the pen when he didn't have to think the game as much. That wore off. Bargain or not---you can't march him out anymore.
  9. GeorgiaBaller
    The big plus for this stadium is avoiding the heat. Doug Melvin really lobbied for a dome when he was there. He would periodically get questions from media about a "home field advantage" over visiting teams in the heat. Melvin would argue that those guys get to go home---my guys get worn out from playing in it everyday. A whole season really took its toll. As for the rest of the environment and activities, i guess we are in a place as a society where we half to be entertained all the time, Sometimes I just love a little more quiet to hear the pop of the bat or the slap of the glove---but I am 0ld School. I just go to the game to see good ball played!
  10. GeorgiaBaller
    Well—pretty consensus everyone was happy to move on from Donaldson. My biggest gripe was he was always hurt. Don’t run your mouth if you can’t play, veteran or not. The albatross of his contract without being on the field was terrible. Once you have the continuous nagging injury like he had, they are recurrent. Time on IL for the Yanks is around the corner. Correa seems to be a good clubhouse fit. Either Sanchez or Urshella gets traded for relief pitching to rebuild the pen this year, so the cycle isn’t over. Thank goodness Sano is not a problem right now! last thought, time to move on from The new Scott Baker—Tyler Duffey. How long are we going to wait for this guy to figure it out? If he has to throw to more than 2 batters, he is a big risk. Medium 90s speed with no movement and questionable control is not a great formula
  11. GeorgiaBaller
    Coffey to the Rays was a big loss---part of the reason the team looked as bad as they possibly could be at the plate last 2 yrs. However---if you watch the at bat starting about 2 weeks ago, more players are starting to go the other direction and hit to center left and center right instead of pulling. I have definitely seen a change in Kepler and saw him go with a pitch on the outside part of the plate that he slowed his wing and went to Left Center. I think Popkins is carrying the right message--just takes a while (and several bad at bats) to get big-leaguers to listen. Lingering injuries like Kirilloff's are really hard to come back from. His swing was so fluid and now he is probably unconsciously changing to avoid as much pain----sometimes playing through causes more bad habits. I hope he finds a path!
  12. GeorgiaBaller
    Geez--please don't put Sano and Frank Thomas in the same paragraph. Thomas looked to hit solid line drives and some of them went out---and he consistently tried to take the ball where he could by the pitch location. He wasn't a pure pull hitter and did not swing to hit homeruns. None of those traits stick with Sano. He will go with the ball and hit opposite field for short spurts---but always goes back to being a hard pull hitter. If you are going to be one dimensional---just a plate guy--you need to be very good at it. He is not--not consistent, not clutch and not coachable. He only averages 23 HR's a year and is CONSTANTLY INJURED. The big question is can any number of replacements do as good or better of a job, and BE AVAILABLE, for less than $14M/year? I think the answer is obvious.
  13. GeorgiaBaller
    Interesting that Dee Gordon was a tremendous defensive outfielder, but was light in the bat. I think one of the problems you start to see, that this article skirts the edges of, is it is very hard for a Utility guy to be great at the plate. Moving to a different position continuously and not playing every day is unsettling. Baseball players like their routines---understandable since they wake up in a new city and ballpark consistently. Many infielders struggle from SS to 2nd or 2nd to 3rd. Utility players must do that all the time---and it is a distraction mentally that throws things off at the plate. They strikeout more because they are trying to hit and prove their worth---to get a daily spot somewhere. Ultimately, you must choose whether you want you Utility player to be a bat or a glove specialist. You won't get both---and we should not judge them on the same basis we do as the guys who can camp out at the same piece of dirt every game.
  14. GeorgiaBaller
    Wow---what to say. Although the some is better than none argument is understandable, the better answer is Buck in Center and let Gordon get used to left field. these guys are major leaguers, but Gordon will get much better faster if he stays put and has a constant LF view and smaller field to cover. Buck at DH is like only driving your Ferrari to the grocery store on Saturday, while you take the Caprice Classic everywhere else. I think he has really turned a corner. I am convinced this injury was a fluke. When he plays---he is the heart of the franchise. I think he understands he can't be the heartbeat of he is hurt in the dugout. He really is a generational talent, you don't cut time for those players, you just help them understand when to throttle back and when to stay full speed.
  15. GeorgiaBaller
    Really comparable styles at the plate between the great one, Mr Carew, and Arraez. both great eyes, only swing at strikes and are high contact rate---sometimes even slap hitters. Wish Arraez had the legs on the basepaths that Carew did---but lets don't spoil the good we see. Arraez is an adpater, as well. Would like to see him play a stretch at one position. He drives himself hard---i think some stability would just serve to settle his mind and increase his productivity. Sano? My opinions are well documented. He's not worth the ink. Move on.
  16. GeorgiaBaller
    Frank Thomas has said multiple times he went out to make good contact, barrel up and hit line drives. He never swung to hit a home run. If he hit home runs, it was incidental to good contact. When you are big man with strength and good bat speed, its not necessary to have an upswing to hit the avg 23hr's Sano produces. He would hit them anyways. But, as you alluded to, he is not mentally disciplined to listen or stay in shape a whole year and give his joints a break with less LBs to carry. why should he? He gets a paycheck and plays regardless.
  17. GeorgiaBaller
    Kepler only is playing because his Defense is spectacular. Otherwise, his slumps are too long to make his streaks tolerable. He refuses to hit the other direction, like he did for the one best season at the plate, so he remains limited. But---Sano is not a plus player at first----just a streaky hitter with pretty good power. He's a poor DH creating a liability at 1st---and worse---unreliable due to injury regularly. Please quit thinking he is going to develop some additional skills and be something different. He is who he is---he's already played 7 seasons! He has proven who he is, You can tell there is a smokescreen by the organization for him by the commentary Justin Morneau spewed the other night on the game broadcast about how good an athlete he is for his size and how much potential there is with his power. Please. If you have to continue to make the case for someone EVERY SEASON, they are not worth it. Miguel is your buddy from childhood that always has an issue of some kind---and you have to justify to your wife why he should be given a break over and over again. Each the guy. Play him every 3rd game. Every player on the field needs to earn their spot---as far as i know he's not the owner's kid that the coach has to make a spot for. Quit the special treatment.
  18. GeorgiaBaller
    He has a very small sample size so far. Good location on his fastball is OK. A reliever can live fine on good location and a large change on the offspeed pitch. They can be a HOF'r if that fastball can move---like a cutter---ie Mariano. All the items you just stated that can be "developed" are what my concern is. At his age, these should already be developed. spotting the fastball is great, but it really does not tail or dip and he does not have enough velocity to live on a 4 seamer. I fear that once the book gets out on him, the second time teams start to see him, he gets barreled up more. Watch his next start and let me know if his fastball moves or not.
  19. GeorgiaBaller
    Absolutely. Arraez is a utility man, but forced his way into the conversation with contact and base hits. Lets see some more of these prospects kick someone out of a position because they are better! Beat them out---can we say that anymore, or is it not acceptable now? High level competition is good ---and should make major league competitors sharper. Dump Sano
  20. GeorgiaBaller
    Let's be honest---outside of Johann Santana, Brad Radke, maybe Eddie Gordado and Jose Berrios, the Twins have not had talent they grew and developed. In fact, very few memorable people to toe the rubber in the last 25 years. There is a fundamental problem down through the organization about what to look for, how to cultivate field/game tenacity, and what pitches are bedrock to develop for success against major league hitters. I'm not saying that all falls on Wes Johnson, there is a blindspot in the organization that has to be addressed---especially when you see some organizations like Cleveland, Tampa Bay, Houston, LA and San Francisco acquire and develop talent organically or improving the asset after trade. FA signings can only be a small piece of improving a staff. There very obviously needs to be a philosphy change organizationally---that has to do with scouting, coaching and drafting of arm talent and teaching them how to see and feel the game on the mound---not just to take signals from the bench. Oh...and...DUMP SANO
  21. GeorgiaBaller
    I think I may be the only one, but Joe Ryan concerns me as a starter. I would call him a plane pitcher. He throws from a low delivery point and his ball stays "on plane" to the plate. No natural movement to his ball--he doesn't cut or rise. Major league hitters do well with straight pitches---especially after a small amount of film. That would give him 3-5 good starts this year before he starts to get hit hard---and they will only be 4-5 innings. You are not going to change his arm angle at this point, so, in my view, he has to be developing a cut and/or good changeup quickly. Or, I fear, we may see a high percentage of hard hit balls at, on or over the fence when he takes the mound.
  22. GeorgiaBaller
    I hope Jeffers does pan out---he definitely has all the tools. I appreciate the background on the field sense and communication skills. So overlooked, such important intangibles and probably the reason the front office has shown so much faith in developing the other defensive skills. Great insight. There is a reason you see very few tall and thick catchers in MLB. Joe Mauer was a freak of nature, Jeffers probability of injury at a similar size is high. That is one of the core reason's they moved on from Garver, injury probability went up substantially after a major issue that cost him major playing time last year. That may sound heartless, but its the athletics business. If Jeffers will remain good, he will need a break from behind the plate regularly. Sanchez will be a good alternative and hopefully Banuelos turns out to not only have good feet and glove, but game calling sense, as well. Can't end a post without sticking with my them to DUMP SANO. We have other players that need to push their way onto the field and prove their worth at 1B, LF and a 4th outfielder---but we know what Sano is. He is not going to be anything different. He's not going to develop plate discipline or improve at 1st. He's not going to learn how to hit the hook. He continues to get a spot because of HR power, but he shouldn't. He has missed a decent amount of time due to injury. Put Kirilloff at first. If Buxton is a 5 tool player, Sano is 1 of 5---move on.
  23. GeorgiaBaller
    Please don’t mention MS’s name again so I can pretend we moved on! DH can be handled by Sanchez, Larnach and Kiriloff alternating. Rooker is still in prove it territory
  24. GeorgiaBaller
    Don't fall into the Twins rhetoric. Don't write off past media guide points. The twins have two outfielders that are excellent. If (big if) they stayed healthy all season, Buck and Kepler could shift enough to cover part of left and make up for the HUGE hole there. Kirilloff and Larnach are bat assets---maybe 1B-- not outfielders. Neither is quick or flexible enough to play OF in the majors. Nick Gordon starting from scratch is a much better possibility for left because he is so much more athletic. There is no depth! We saw it all last year---if either Buck or Kepler are hurt, there are no backups ---they are all below WAR in the field. Not only do you not have trade chips, you are razor thin.
  25. GeorgiaBaller
    Donaldson. The most important ability is AVAILability
×
×
  • Create New...