Mauerzy4Prez

Can somebody please find a JPEG of the angry mob that went to kill frankestein's beast and post it on here for me? I am at work and can't get through our privacy blocks....... Seriously though, this is so ridiculous it's not even funny. If TR wants to save himself a whole lot of headaches, and potentially keep his job. I'd like to think that he is having his HR department cut final paychecks right now for the entire medical staff.

I somewhat disagree. It's going to be a real challenge to fill four rotation spots in one offseason. Say you have Diamond and Hendriks filling the first two spots. You add a decent FA for the third spot, maybe even the fourth spot if you get a guy in a trade. That still leaves one spot open to fill. Given the "prospects" on the team after Hendriks, I'd just as soon see Deduno get a shot as anyone else on the roster. Agree. With how often we have let average or worse pitchers with average or worse stuff try to pull it together, Deduno should definitely be in the picture for next year. Lets say Diamond, Hendriks, and only one decent free agent. 2 spots remaining for Deduno, Hernandez, Devries, Walters, maybe Vasquez, Baker remote chance. Deduno has to be in the picture. He pitches fairly deep into games and doesn't saddle the team with big deficits. Sure only 25% of a seasons work, but we let way worse (results) pitchers go to the mound day after day. Marquis, Blackburn, Gray (RP so what), Pavano. Deduno has a much higher ceiling (IMO) than any of the 4 just mentioned, and probably higher than a couple of the others he'd be battling. Diamond and Henricks as our #1 and 2 is not good. Diamond is a #2-3 type pitcher on a legit staff, and Hendricks is right around the same. We have Gibson coming back next year hopefully by July, and I'd like to see him in the 2 spot. That leaves it up to the FO to pick up a solid #1 guy, and figure out their 4 and 5 spots... Personally I think they will end up giving Deduno, Duensing, maybe DeVries/Walters/Vasquez/Hernandez, a chance to fill up the back of the rotation. We will see how some of these young guys do in the next 45 games... For all you that are going to rip me for mentioning Duensing, the main reason I have him listed is because everyone from the organization publicly talks about how they believe he can start in the major leagues. The Twins aren't as ready to give up on him as some of the fans might be.

Let's call him Liam... or Hendriks. Hendy just doesn't sound right. I was just trying to pre-empt Gardenhire's name-mangling usage if/when Hendriks pitches a good game. Hendricksie? I know how much he likes that Dricksie, Hendrizzle, Li Li, Dricks, Dricks the Kid.......

The way this whole medical staff and front office handles injured players makes me think of the South Park episode where they go through the history of the Morman religion and the entire time there are guys singing "dumb da dumb dumb dumb dumb dumb, dumb da dumb dumb dumb dumb dumb, da dumb dumb dumb dumb dummmmmmmmmmmmmmb"

LOL maybe it's a good thing they can't watch them down there?

LOL I think you may have smoked some crack in between your anabolics injections....

- That is too bad that you don't have a clear enough satellite view for direct tv... that is why I use Comcast... or Xfinity now I guess? - I guess I just have a hard time believe the MLB would just pass on expanding their fan base and incrementally driving higher revenues for no good reason. Are you suggesting that the Twins are asking for too much money for their Media rights? Or that Fox Sports doesn't reach enough households to maximize their value? - Yes they do suck, and to the general public are not very compelling to watch. But I think the whole point of this thread is to examine why the true baseball fans still do watch. I absolutely love baseball, and the Twins, and even though losing is never fun, I still watch every game, DVR the afternoon/late night games, and am a season ticket holder. These individual story lines during a down year are what makes being a Twins fan still enjoyable.

when I speak of blackburn in this thread I speak of the half decent Blackburn from a few years ago. There was a huge thread on BYTO where the most ridiculous reasons (ability to induce weak contact was my favorite) were given to defend why he could maintain a 3.00 ERA despite being entirely mediocre in pretty much all of the advanced stats. It wasn't really a surprise to many of us when his luck reversed at the end of the season and in the next season. You can talk up Deduno's small sample size but if his movement was really that nasty then he would strike out WAY MORE batters (more like Slama). Throwing 50/50 balls/strikes is awful. If a pitcher continues to put hitters on base (1.5+/inning) things are going to blow up at some point. Diamond is actually a pleasant revelation this year and is a legit MLB pitcher but I would compare him more to the Twin's version of Carl Pavano. A good but definitely not great pitcher that you expect a 4.00 ERA. I'll take it as a start since everyone else is awful. You're right he was half decent a few years ago... and I'll admit I never went to BYTO so I never read any of those threads. I am sure now looking at where he is, most of the reasons look ridiculous now. Deduno's MLB sample size is relatively small, and yes statistics proves that he will likely slide a bit. BUT in 8 seasons in the minors, he has a SO/9 of 9.6 and BB/9 of 5.1., a 4.18ERA in 780 innings, a very good 39 HR's allowed, and 835 SO to 441 BB. Right now his SO/BB is actually a little bit worse than what his career numbers prove, and I really think he will only get better from here. This isn't me saying I think he needs to be our ace, or even a top 3 guy... I just think he deserves credit where credit is due, and following Diamond is probably the next pitcher the FO should be strongly considering for a spot in the rotation next year. Diamond is solid, and I certainly hope he turns out better than a Twin's version of Pavano... Pavano has a very good understanding of what it takes to be a successful pitcher with his type of "stuff", but can't stay healthy for the life of him. We do not need a Pavano2.0 in Scott Diamond...

I believe that there is a 75% chance that Baker will be back next year. They are obviously not going to pick up is option, but he has stated that he would like to return. Also the market for him isn't going to be that great due to his injury. 75% is pretty optimistic. You are absolutely right that there is no way the Twins pick up his option, and I also have heard that he has an interest in returning for less... but the big question is(and I don't think anybody but the FO knows this)... Do the Twins even want him back? I wish him the best in his career and wouldn't be upset if he did come back and pitch as well or better than he used to. I just think a lot of different pieces have to line up for it to happen.

Seem like you have options (Direct TV) to watch the games and you are making the choice not to. You'd be willing to pay the $25bucks a month to watch the games online on MLB.TV, but you aren't willing to buy a satellite package that includes much much more than you can get online? I respect your freedom to chose your tv provider, but you can't have it both ways. If you don't live in MN, no matter who you use for cable/satellite, you would need to pay extra to see the Twins games. Probably around $15-25 extra per month.... which happens to be the same amount you'd pay to watch on MLB.TV (I pay for this service and get blacked out in Minnesota some times). I doubt that the MLB just blacks out the state of Iowa for no good reason, are they not a business that wants to maximize revenue in every way possible?

Really? I get being realistic and considering all possible scenarios, but we don't need to start putting bad karma on a guy that is already becoming one of the best pitching prospects in our system and is a teenager still.

The beat writers and reporters for the Twins are a bunch of pathetic suck-up yes men. Too concerned about having a good working relationship with the team then actually questioning the way they do business. Common and Rosey went after Gardy, Mauer and Morneau after Sunday's post game interviews. How ridiculous it is that they keep talking about what a good team they could be, etc. Common is at arms' length, but Rosen is on the field before BP often. I was surprised by that. Common is a bit. Everything he says is a bit, that is what he does... He has no real sports knowledge on anything other than golf. He is there to entertain you, when the going is good, he is positive, when the going is bad, he gets negative. DPJ saying all the beat writers and reporters are a bunch of suck up yes men is bad, but I certainly don't think Common being negative has ANYTHING to do with a legitimate opinion about the team.

I agree with you that we need 2 front end type guys in the rotation, and that they will likely come from FA and/or trades in the off season. But your first paragraph is confusing... a) Baker is not going to be back next year. Hendricks has done nothing to prove that he can compete at the major league level. He has proven himself in AAA, but I think he is still a couple years away. C) DeVries, and Deduno are not even on Rochester right now... are you including them because they once were? Walters may be there, but it's a rehab stint... Hendricks, Vasquez, Hernandez, are some of the more notable starters that have helped them on this playoff push.

He is proving he belongs every time he steps out on the mound. Just because a guy walks batters a bit too much, doesn't mean he's on a scholarship program. I am assuming you were being sarcastic here... at least hoping so.

Diamond and Deduno are nothing alike. Deduno is failing constantly. His 3.33 ERA has been helped by extraordinary luck. He has a 1.59 WHIP for those of you that don't like to use any of the complicated stats. There are baserunners out there everywhere and it's a miracle that he's pitching better than Blackburn. I don't think anyone in this thread hasn't said that diamond has shown that he's a competent MLB starter but expecting anything beyond a 4.00 ERA is risky. Unfortunately the same could have been said of blackburn a few years and this is exactly the type of arguments being made in favor of blackburn. Except those arguments just got ridiculous. How is he failing constantly? He has a 3.33 ERA, is 3-1, and he only allowed 2 runs in his loss. You can bring up the walks all day, but in August batters are hitting at a .210 clip against him. In 2012 5/8 starts were quality, and he has 9 GBDP. Looking back on his career minor league numbers and the stats are almost the same. This guy may be a loose cannon at times, but as long as he is throwing 50/50 balls and strikes, and keeps that nasty movement on the strikes he is throwing, it is not crazy to think that he can be a legit piece of the rotation. Comparisons to Blackburn just because Blackie USED to have movement on his pitches is wrong. Blackie had allowed 28 HR's before he was sent down (1.2/game) Deduno has 4 (0.5/game)....Not to mention 18 of Blackies 28 HR's came in the first inning... I know this thread is about Diamond, but the contrasts between Deduno and Blackie are too large to put them in the same boat. Diamond as well shouldn't be compared to Blackie for more than the fact that they are both control pitchers that need to spot their pitches well and work both sides of the plate. One of them is proving this year that he knows how to do so... the other (Blackie) has lost all presence on the mound and listening to his post game interviews, doesn't even know what to do to fix it.

.... and then come back from Spring Training next year, look like he "found his confidence" again, start the season with the Twins and lose it all over again.

Exactly! What would people be saying if Joe swung at the breaking ball on 3-1 and hit a week grounder or eventually struck out? People sometimes just reach for an excuse to criticize Joe, and usually their point surrounds how much money he is making.... I guess I don't see the problem with Joe taking walks... yes he is hitting in the three spot and should drive in runs whenever he can. But another equally important role for a 3 hitter is to get on base for the clean up man (and Morny in the 5 hole), and let them do their sole job... drive in runs!

Rob Antony said last night that they were discussing a potential demotion to AAA again since he has options. They wanted to talk to TR this morning to get his input... IMO this is going to happen, and we'll either see Hendricks or Vasquez come up and take his place.

I am sure that has a good amount to do with his struggles. Also if he still feels discomfort in that thumb it will impact his swing quite a bit, hand injuries are a hitters worst nightmare because they tend to stay around for a while and slow down a guys swing. He will be fine, the last few games he has started making solid contact and hitting line drives. Just needs to keep squaring up balls and eventually they will start dropping for hits.

"Overall, in 25.2 innings split between Elizabethton and the Gulf Coast League, Berrios has allowed two runs (0.70 ERA), just 10 hits, only four walks, while fanning 43. That's right, 43/4 K/BB in 25.2 innings with 10 hits allowed." John Sickels. Very impressive numbers and I am really excited to hear that he is being brought up as a starter. This guy has excellent mechanics, his throwing motion is consistent across his velocity and off speed stuff, and I am really looking forward to seeing him in a Twins uniform.

There has only been one comment in this thread so far that had someone saying he wasn't any good. I really don't see much negativity at all going on here, people are mostly saying they hope he can get back to where he once was... or just making predictions about the rest of his career. The worst player to ever make the big show is better then you ever were? Speak for yourself... have you seen Nishioka take ground balls, take an at bat, or do anything at all on a baseball field?

Nevermind!! So who is going to get DFA'd?! Mr. Jeff Gray finally?

Link isn't working

He'll still be on the air, he just won't be obligated to butter up the Twins organization at every opportunity. Correct me if I'm wrong but don't the Pohlads own KTWN?

That comment that I underlined and put in bold above is EXACTLY the comment that I read and was offended by. I am glad I wasn't the only person that took notice to it and decided to make a statement. As Dave just said, the overall rhetoric towards him is probably not coming from a place of hate or racism. But it only takes one stupid remark on here to set the tone. I get that some people may not have any experience being discriminated against, or have their character judged just because of the way they look. But some of us have, and I wouldn't wish that feeling on my worst enemy.