Jump to content
Twins Daily
  • Create Account

jokin

Old-Timey Member
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    11,852

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    8

 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 jokin

  1. jokin
    I think that you and the Twins have this backwards, perhaps he should have come up to the majors last year the same way Santana did, and earn his spot in the rotation after a bullpen apprenticeship.
  2. jokin
    I like Oswaldo's kid brother and Michael Taylor a lot! (although Terry would hold out for Denard Span). Come on though, you started out the post so creatively, you couldn't come up with a scenario in LA to palm off Nolasco on the Dodgers or the Angels?
  3. jokin
    Nice theory, except he's already demonstrably conquered AAA-level pressure. I really think you and the Twins are reaching if you are concurring with the Twins "whispers" in ST that Meyer needed to get more mentally tough. This "mental anguish" thing should be strictly a theory for now.... he's 6"9", Occam's Razor reduction says it's all about the unnaturalness of someone that large consistently maintaining his mechanics. I do like your "inside-out" thinking on 2015. A tad ironic, but very apt.
  4. jokin
    Exactly, there were many, many of us at the time of the trade that questioned why Meyer was the only component in the trade ( I actually posted much of this quote on TD the day after the trade).
  5. jokin
    Ryan was inadvertently exposed on the spending issue by Pohlad ,over two consecutive offseasons, practically shaming him into increasing the payroll, and in the process, giving lie to the previous SOP concerning the signing of FAs in that Terry was supposedly unable to "give his money away."
  6. jokin
    That's why the qualifier of "if" is always used by me in the case of Meyer. And no, the decision-making is not "good", even judged strictly in a vacuum. The Twins knew what they were getting when they traded for him, Meyer hasn't had a catastrophic injury, the onus is on the Twins to develop, by all accounts a Top 25-35 prospect with triple digit velocity, to major league readiness. Failure to do everything necessary to insure this outcome still counts as failure overall. I'd be happy if the Twins resorted more often to a few kicks in the rear.
  7. jokin
    I agree with your second paragraph, but if it turns out to be a bad trade, in addition to that blame on Ryan, the blame for Meyer's lack of development ends up falling to Ryan, as well. Despite the club's love of pursuing tall pitching prospects, how many have they developed into competent major leaguers?
  8. jokin
    I disagree. They should have known in ST 2011 that they were in big trouble, they even admitted between the lines that they had made a colossal error in jettisoning Hardy for Nishioka, and then optioning their new "co-closer" Jim Hoey to Rochester. Re-upping Matt Capps and signing Phil Dumatrait to "round out' the bullpen. Other than that, they had delayed fixing Joe Mauer's problems immediately going into the offseason. He showed no signs of being ready to play in February or March, and of course, the "bilateral leg weakness" announcement was made in mid-April. Once the season progressed, it appeared that the club had grown old and creaky overnight. Aggressive action needed to be taken by mid-season to change the direction of the club (as you so aptly noted), but Smith, and likely the corporate Twins culture of inertia were woefully short of being up to the task at hand. Solution? Bring back more of the past culture- a decade of "rebuild", Twins 90s style. (Yes, in Terry Ryan's own words, his proudest moment as a GM, was getting the rebuild underway by trading away Scott Erickson for legendary Scott Klingenbeck and Kimera Bartee).
  9. jokin
    I like this idea. I hope the braintrust gives it serious consideration as an option. Not to indict anyone specifically, but it would be a good idea in taking a specific look at everything around Meyer's 2014 season and making the attempt at determining what happened last year in Rochester when Meyer's wildness spiked up. It looks like he often got into bad habits within an individual game, but was usually able to both correct and adjust, as well as battle, out of situations with his overwhelming stuff. This season, it looks like the "bad habits" have completely taken over- he seemingly has no idea where his pitches are going from the get-go, so even though he's still battling and overwhelming at times (as evidenced by lots of Ks in both ST- 6 Ks in 5.2 IP and AAA- 9 Ks in 8.2 IP), but the "correcting mechanism" appears to be currently inoperative.
  10. jokin
    He was a little behind this spring, but he hasn't been himself from his first ST appearance. It seems to me that Bob Sacramento and /or Halsey mentioned him also wild and getting rocked in ST minor league games. The good news is that so far there isn't a hint of injury concern, so hopefully it's just a mechanical fix that's needed, and all-too-common for tall pitchers. The bad news is that this appears to be more than just a little wild streak, he may need a major overhaul in his approach.
  11. jokin
    I agree, but with this rejoinder- There is still the question of where the best place is for him to be fixed, right now- Status quo- AAA Down- AA Into purgatory- EST Up?- Though it would set a bad precedent if perceived as a reward, would working directly with Neal Allen offer the best chance for a cure?
  12. jokin
    Yup. Pretty clearly, Meyer is his own worst enemy at the moment. I would think a Parker Hageman intervention video breakdown might reveal exactly what is not happening in 2015 that was working so well a year ago.
  13. jokin
    But he did dominate AA and AAA hitters in recent years past, albeit interspersed with some wild stints and brief shutdowns that were attributed to shoulder soreness/stiffness. I don't think anyone is "freaking out." But.... Clearly, he has taken a disturbing step backward this year, and the front office and coaching staff need to take any and all necessary steps to right the ship.
  14. jokin
    Meyer in another disturbing AM performance this morning in his second start of the season for Rochester. The horrific pitching lne- 3.2 IP 88 pitches, 49 strikes, 7 hits, 5BB, 6 K, 1 WP, 5 ER, 1 HR. I would suspect that something has completely broken down with his mechanics, and possibly a trip to EST is in the offing. There's been no disclosure yet of a physical malady and it's highly unlikely that they would have Meyer throwing if he was feeling shoulder or elbow tenderness. Regardless, this is coming perilously close to DEFCON Level One if the showcase trade at the core of the master rebuilding plan is reverting to salvage mode- and yet another lost year from a prime Top 25 prospect- who should already have been prepped for prime time.
  15. jokin
    I don't think anyone disagrees with this or made any conclusions about a date-certain for his promotion. But if he's still lights out heading towards the end of May with say, some 10 more mostly dominating starts though, a move to AAA seems warranted. This kid has built his career on setting lofty goals and then going out and meeting and exceeding most of them. If he keeps this up down south in the Southern League, and just as the weather is heating up up north, it would be the perfect time for Berrios to recalibrate his goals at the next level in the International League and putting in 3 warm-weather months in Rochester. Reward the kid (like they did for him last year) and set a strong example for the rest of the prospects. If he falls back from this day forward- to a performance-level similar to his time at AA in 2014- no harm done in putting in more time in Chattanooga. But I think this kid is going to be in that elite prospect group you referred to, and make his case for a September call-up by going through two levels this summer. This would also work in the sense of incrementally increasing his workload. He pitched 35% more innings in 2014 vs 2013. Another 35% increase would put him right around 190 innings pitched in 2015.
  16. jokin
    Very insightful report. Bravo to finding some positivity within the organization.
  17. jokin
    "Better pitcher"? Webb would have been the Twins RHP bullpen ace- and playing for the minimum.
  18. jokin
    Why not? It worked for Vance Worley.
  19. jokin
    Exception that proves the rule (I like that he's using the whole OF now, but the .292 SLG from the #3 hitter is still problematic). And he has had multiple gaffes defensively, even though he plays the easiest position.
  20. jokin
    Hey.... I resemble that remark. My prediction of 15 out of 1st place by May 15 seems like a solid bet at this point. * *If only I had put my money where my mouth was... stupid me. (Admittedly, my interest in seeing this scenario come about was partially wishful thinking in the hopes that such a horrendous start would finally force the franchise and its ownership to bite the bullet and effect the changes that this franchise so desperately needs to undertake- but man, that last week of ST,and all that went down was very foreboding, indeed).
  21. jokin
    Who on this squad hasn't been awful so far? Did you happen to notice who hit the "occasional home run" yesterday and has 50% of this year's home run output? Did you happen to notice Escobar's first foray at 3rd on Sunday?- two (very) inadequate, inexplicable plays
  22. jokin
    Only "Pretty Darn Good?" After watching that amazing video of Buxton, I think you might want to create a special category above "STUD" for Buck.
  23. jokin
    Or just above it? This is kind-of an Executive Summary for the "Readers Twins Digest " crowd.
  24. jokin
    Lots of good slump-busting stats breaking out all over. But the best one is ZERO, as in zero errors for four teams *** *** (Pinto was charged with an error, but it was of the Catchers Interference variety)
  25. jokin
    Precisely, where's Jim Crikket when we need him most? If Jorge can return to Top 20 prospect form, it shakes up the whole potential SP call-up timetable. 2015 May/Meyer 2016 Berrios/Stewart 2017 Thorpe/Gonsalves/Hu/Slegers/Jorge That could be FIVE guys in one year that might be ready to start for the Twins and SIX if they hold Stewart back? 2018 Romero
×
×
  • Create New...