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jokin

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Everything posted by jokin

  1. jokin
    Nitpicking details... even Terry Ryan has acknowledged what a huge mistake was made in the case of the real Ortiz.
  2. jokin
    As previously noted, the Twins K% improved nicely year-over-year in 2014 and more significantly, the BB%,, plus the OBP%, improved dramatically. My suspicion is that the Bruno-Molitor collaborative effort reached a very effective level of synchrony, making it a on-the-same-page no-brainer for Molitor's first hire. Kudos and congratulations, but I'm thinking (and hoping) that this is the first and last retention. Here's the money quote from the Wetmore article about Molly and Bruno's working relationship:
  3. jokin
    Great... take the chance of trading a "David Ortiz" twice in the same century?
  4. jokin
    Heh.. it IS sportswriters we're talking about here... Is there a wider gulf in any other profession between the few excellent analysts and the herd of hacks?
  5. jokin
    Yep- very true, but how could the Twins move the guy back to AAA that led them in fWAR over the 2nd half of the season? I think Santana should get the chance to start the season at SS and prove that he's either ready or not ready to handle the position, you always have Escobar to jump back into the position if Santana needs remedial reps in Rochester.
  6. jokin
    I don't think they've forgotten Rosario, or he wouldn't be playing in the AFL (and leading the League in BA). I do think he has to wipe away the doubt about his maturity, besides the off-field misadventures, he's also been disciplined in the clubhouse numerous times over the past few years, that the Twins have stuck with him throughout his travails tells me they still see him in their long-term plans. Assuming he starts strong in AA, I think he will be the first position player called up for a need in the OF.
  7. jokin
    *** #1 post for the thread ***
  8. jokin
    Great post, and add in the fact that there is a continued undercurrent of reporting from some sources that Pohlad was pushing Molitor to be hired a year ago (as the heir-apparent-at-some--future-point?), and then again in August, forcing Ryan to retract his public vote of confidence for Gardy.
  9. jokin
    "Make excuses." Who and what are you talking about here? I think I stated a pretty reasonable case for what likely happened- and a big part of a GMs headhunting job in getting the best- is getting the sit-down interview. You take the Twins ex post facto spin as gospel, check my initial post from Nick's article the day Maddon went on the market.... I pointed out in advance, that the Twins would never even get to the interview stage, as this type of hire was completely out of Terry's league for pulling off- even as multiple stories were coming out that Maddon wasn't necessarily seeking a manager's job. This was exactly the type of hire- in some managerial capacity- that this club desperately needs- a talented, experienced, advanced-analytical set of eyes from outside the organization. When this level of talent suddenly comes on the market, it was Ryan's job to sell this vision to Pohlad. (In some respects, the D-Backs current situation might serve as the model here).
  10. jokin
    I don't think there was any "ongoing stroke" over this at all. To the contrary, it played out exactly as most of us suspected when the announcement that Maddon was on the market was first made. 1) Ryan lacked the moxie or wherewithal to even score a sit-down interview with Maddon. 2) The organization lacked the imagination to consider dangling an even more enticing job to Maddon to up the ante over the Cubs and other potential suitors.
  11. jokin
    Hard to see Rosario moved up to Rochester based on the club's usual history of promoting only after mastery of a level- plus his off-field issues have to still be a consideration. And to be perfectly honest, the move to Chattanooga gives the guys more accustomed to playing in warm weather a great chance to get it going at the plate a lot sooner. For example, on this date, last April, the high temperature in Chattanooga was 79 and the low was 63, by contrast, in New Britain, the high temp was below the low temp in Chattanooga, at only 59 degrees, with a frigid low temp of 30. Sooo... more warm-weather games in the Southern League, a lot less postponed games, Chattanooga is the way to go to get the best prospects cranked up sooner for a possible major league call-up.
  12. jokin
    I really hope he's on the short list, but usually to qualify for a Twins spot, you need some connection to the club, I don't see one there on his resume'.
  13. jokin
    Good stuff, JC. Sounds like more of TKs passionate and cerebral approach to training for the finer points of the game- and perhaps Molitor has impressed himself positively upon the prospect. And as far as Rosario working on his base-stealing? I'd say, Mission Accomplished!. He's currently on a pace for at least 80 SBs in a full season- and at a 79% clip- he's obviously a good study! As I stated, starting him out next April in Chattanooga- in that park- with that lineup- there are strong reasons to think he could have a break-out early season and quickly insinuate himself in the OF somewhere with the Twins.
  14. jokin
    To be clear, I don't have a beef with Molitor on this. It's my concern with the perception that the front office has merely just checked a box off and have merely bought more time to amble along, especially because they have already indicated that they aren't very eager to expand the payroll, etc.
  15. jokin
    I would like to see that. As I said, they were teammates in Toronto, have the St Paul connection. Does anyone know if he and Molly are close off the field?
  16. jokin
    The problem is there is yawning room in the payroll to add talent and fill holes- I don't like the trap of the default position of "The Twins just aren't good enough"- no one should feel comfortable with that assumption. (Tomas in LF, One or two #1 or # 2 potential SPs FAs and you're quickly on the fast-track to a potential winner). Those key additions and some big production from a few of the uber-talented call-ups, continues improvements from now-established guys... and now you're suddenly talking about a contender, not just a winner, especially if Detroit continues to slide and KC is moving on from Shields and Butler, plus at least one or more of those live arms is bound to turn into a pumpkin next year. The Twins beat both the Tigers and the White Sox in the season series this year, and were very competitive with the Royals (8-11, with 4 losses decided by one run). Starting out in 2015, the first 15 games... and then, 22 of the first 25 games, are against the AL Central. There is a huge opportunity for the Twins to hit the ground running and put themselves into the conversation with a hot start. It will be maddening if the Twins FO continues their 2015 Puntage-code words and settles for a year or two of "settling-in." with the new skipper.
  17. jokin
    I wonder if that was the first question Molly was asked? He is a former teammate of Jack Morris at Toronto... and a year behind Morris growing up in St Paul.
  18. jokin
    Thanks for the eyeball update, JC. I asked these questions earilier, I'll now repeat them. Did you see him in person in Class A ball? With the measured and precipitous drop-off in ISO, is he working with a different coach or consciously employing a vastly different approach at the plate? And what about this new found speed on the basepaths? Nothing in his prior minor league career to indicate that this interesting development was going to take place.
  19. jokin
    FWIW, most folks hold LEN3's reporting in much lower regard than the other guys on the daily beat- he's definitely not the go-to guy for breaking Twins news- and as a matter of fact, the harder working reporters reported opposite information, earlier in the process. Further, the two "unnamed multiple sources" were leading from well behind on the issue- ie, after the public backlash against the Maddon snub, smacking of CYA PR. Regarding Molly's contract, I honestly don't know how many years first-time managers generally get- I guess three years seems reasonable, but I hope you can agree with me, that this isn't the time in Twins history to have an extended honeymoon period-
  20. jokin
    Bouncing back from a disappointing AA record, a .405 OBP, 130 OPS+ and 11 SBs in 14 attempts (counting the All Star game) is nothing to so easily dismiss as "not much." Given all #s are SSS, his AFL ISO of .044 is so out of line with his AA ISO of .158,, plus his minor league career ISO number of .197, I have to think the precipitous drop in power was a conscious decision on Rosario's part to change his approach for the league, and is not likely to reflect his power numbers too much going forward. The two sets of eyeballs on record on TD have said his defense has been good, and he's been a very good OFer coming up through the system. Back to his offensive prospects for 2015, with all of the plate protection in the batting order he will have at Chattanooga, plus the very hitter-friendly "Launching Pad" ballpark there , I think there's an excellent chance that he can build on this AFL experience, and be a candidate for call-up no later than next June.
  21. jokin
    Three years? I suppose that's the going number for a new manager... but that sounds like a built-in grace period for a "team rebuild" contract. The honeymoon period now commences, I guess. I would sure like to see Molitor come out very aggressively in the offseason, hit the ground running, both being directly involved in personnel moves, as well as visiting and presenting each player with a set of objectives, goals and areas for improvement in the offseason.
  22. jokin
    I think you nailed it in regards to the fact that this team definitely doesn't exactly profile as a team full of "burners". Like many, I intuitively knew that the Twins had improved in their run production- and I had been tracking the much-improved OBP number- but I had to look up the stats to confirm, and then illustrate, how much overall improvement in supporting numbers, especially base-running elements and wRAA, had actually occurred in 2014. Incidentally, the K%, although still problematic, dropped quite a bit from 2013 as well: Twins K% 2014- 21.3% (8th worst) Twins K% 2013- 23.0% (2nd worst) Given the dramatic improvements in both BB% and K%, it appears that Molitor must deserve some of the credit for impressive gains, to name one for certain, Brian Dozier swears by Molly- his success in all of these areas is the proof in the pudding.
  23. jokin
    Welllll-played, Sir!
  24. jokin
    Ehh, unfortunately first comes the one or <shudder> two year Molly "honeymoon", I'd prefer to see the sense of urgency out of the front office heightened, not tempered- please no more of the now all-too-familiar TR-patch-workTM roster construction- with the wave of youth soon ready for significantly more production impact, for starters, sign some quality FAs who are proven leaders and restructure the role-player corps to include more guys with a lot more flexibility, option-wise.
  25. jokin
    One thing that stands out is his 11 SBs (counting the All Star game). I didn't realize what a threat he is on the basepaths. Of course the power has dropped off significantly... have you noticed a significant change in his approach at the plate (perhaps working with a different coach down there?). Can it really be that this kid has put all of the bad stuff behind him? I'm skeptical that he has put it all together just yet, but I've no doubt that the talent is there, but when?
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