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jokin

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Everything posted by jokin

  1. jokin
    Forget the multiple failures to even once go all-in during Mauer's prime years when the team had some of the best players in the game around him......I'm still waiting for them to implement their contingency Plan B, when the bulk of "Plan A"- less the securing the the "Face of the Franchise" for 8 years and a new outdoor stadium- crashed and burned almost the second it was put in place in 2011.
  2. jokin
    Although not the definitive jab at Mauer, many use the argument about his lack of durability, and the disturbing trend to even less and less of that trait and less and less value derived from a part-time catcher- to being positionally misplaced to derive full value as a full-time 1st Baseman. Since 2004- 54.5% of all possible games started at Catcher. Since 2005- 58.7% of all possible games started at Catcher. Since 2007- 52.1% of all possible games started at Catcher. Since 2009- 49.4% of all possible games started at Catcher. (FWIW, I advocated the "Carlos Santana plan" in the wake of his first injury in 2004- we might be talking about a guy already well-past 2000 hits and much healthier as he heads into his 30s).
  3. jokin
    Sulbaran's diminutive stature, non-correlative SIERA, huge upgrade in better and more projectable arms in the organization, and him showing up in poor physical condition made this move a no-brainer. The odds are the Twins sold high (for once) and even higher odds that they end up winning this trade.
  4. jokin
    We all had a laugh on the game thread when Pedro Florimon got a rare hit shortly after the Nunez trade was announced...but look at the upgrade in production tonight from virtually all of the Middle Infielders throughout the organization: Escobar 2-2 against the A's. On the farm: Santana, Beresford, Mejia, Polanco, Goodrum and Michael all had 2 or more hits this evening- many of the extra base variety. Mostly coincidental? Sure...but competition is a healthy thing.
  5. jokin
    Nah, you were just showing "True Grit". And Jeff Bridges didn't have a better exit line than yours, either.
  6. jokin
    That was for 2013. Here's 2014, Sulbaran no longer made the cut on the updated version: http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/prospects/watch/y2014/
  7. jokin
    On the bright side, both Trevor May and Kris Johnson are on the same appearance schedule as Hughes, and both pitched spectacularly last night. If it turns out that Hughes misses New York after all, Rochester still counts, doesn't it?
  8. jokin
    What? MLB has 10 pitchers in the Twins top 20 and don't include Tonkin, the Jones's or Kris Johnson, all of whom were more likely to contribute more to the major league club than Sulbaran would have. I never saw Sulbaran ever listed on the mlb.com list, if that's the one you're referring to. He was never on the Dodger list, it seems unlikely that he would have been that high on the better-prospect-Twins-list. I agree with your conclusion on the SS situation. It's been a blind spot with the club in terms of building depth, recognizing value and talent and developing MLB-caliber quality for the entire 21st Century, I still remember asking a friend about the details after the announcement of the Delmon for Garza trade..... Me- "What else did we get?"..... Friend- "Brendan Harris and Jason Pridie".... Me- "What?!? All we got was MI depth? We got robbed!"...... Friend- "You don't want to know the rest of the trade....." Regarding the defense vs. offense debate, Gardy had publicly admitted that the hitting from every position is now the new priority. Regarding Santana, if they do put Nunez at SS in Roc., there's no reason that Santana can't get his reps in NB. Both players can use all the reps they can get.
  9. jokin
    A few thoughts and facts: Nunez is already on the 40 man roster. Procedurally, he has to go to Rochester based on maintaining his options. He will be starting at SS there sooner rather than later. The organization has said they brought him in as an alternative at SS. If he isn't clicking, they will ship him out for whatever they can get before just keeping him around as depth.
  10. jokin
    I agree with the general thrust of your post, but a couple thoughts: It has been widely reported that the Twins scouts have been following Nunez and acquiring about his availability for years running. I think you're overrating Sulbaran as the Twins 5th or 6th best pitching prospect. I can rattle off 5-7 pitchers just in AAA and AA that have a much better chance at being effective front end/back end starters and/or relievers than Sulbaran. And then there's another handful below that level, Berrios, Stewart, Gonsalves, Thorpe and more, that project better than MS. He's very tiny in stature, which doesn't portend starting is in his future and to compound this, he really hurt his chances by showing up to camp overweight. The Twins got this one right in selling him at his likely highest speculative value, in exchange for a 4 year major league SS. Given the opportunity, Nunez can resuscitate his career, giving the Twins yet another chance to trade up from the originial Butera trade.
  11. jokin
    Highly unlikely that he would do that. I'm guessing he's kicking himself for not making the exact same deal with KC for Emilio Bonifacio, though
  12. jokin
    I didn't ignore this fact. Florimon has options remaining, he likely would be sent down to either somehow fix his swing to meet minimal ML standards or begin the process of learning to become a UTIL player, which is what his current ability at the plate qualfies him for as a ML player.
  13. jokin
    I was the first to point out the platoon split way back on Page 1, but the problem is he'd have to have a partner to make it work. And not only doesn't it make sense to have another UTIL infielder when the crying need is a 4th OF who can play CF, the Twins have publicly stated they are looking for an upgrade at SS. And the Twins didn't make up their minds on Santana from his 12 AAA ABs, I'm sure the mis-adventures in both ST and AAA in the field have convinced the Twins to put Santana in go-slow mode until he changes their perceptions of him in that regard- if that was not the case, they certainly could/would have placed Florimon on the DL to start out the season and given Danny a cup of coffee with the big club.
  14. jokin
    Plenty of depth guys at Rochester already- UTIL guys, too. IMO, Nunez will be up or out of the organization no later than May.
  15. jokin
    Not hard. The Twins now have a guy who has 4 years of ML experience playing SS. There's obviously no "guarantee", but the Twins have publicly said that Nunez will be challenging for the starting SS job in the wake of Florimon's situation. If Santana was indeed "ready", there was no reason to make this deal- and they already have a perfectly capable UTIL infielder in Escobar.
  16. jokin
    "Yet" is the operative word here. And you can "scout" his historical month by month stats. Happily, Nolasco is historically a very slow starter, with bad April's and May's, but he gets progressively better, peripherally, all the way through September- his lowest wOBA, FIP and xFIP and 2nd highest K% are in September, so it's probably more a refine and adjust thing over a weather thing. Let's give this until June before we jump off the ledge.
  17. jokin
    Here, here. I concur with your view, which is increasingly becoming the preferred route among a growing number of GMs. It's easy to see why, the really good prospects now require a huge upfront cost in bonus money- it's always nice to see a quicker return on your investment. And more importantly, although I haven't seen an official study to confirm it, there have to be a huge number of guys, likely a majority, who hit their career-year peak while still under initial team control and there are only a few teams that can absorb and remain competitive with multiple 9-figure, multi-year, busts embedded within their roster like parasites. The math is simple, if guys are hitting their peaks at age 27 or 28 in their 5th or 6th year of control, there's a fighting chance that you can get an extra 2 or 3 years of peak performance at pre-FA prices by promoting faster and either flipping him before the last minute to maximize return or buying out a few FA years early on at a discount with an extension. This methodology also forces a team to make the decision to be competitive more often, and not go into extended hibernation like the Twins and other clubs have been wont to do- good for the fans and great for the bottom line if the risks are managed well and play out to expectations. Thankfully, I trust the Twins have learned their lesson on slow-playing their top picks and are soon finally in a position to have to make these kinds of decisions.
  18. jokin
    Double ouch!! An already-imploding 1st Round draft bust and a AAAA "Legacy" LOOGY.
  19. jokin
    The Orioles drub the Yankees today (Delmon had 3 hits, including a HR batting in the 2 hole?), but no matter, Solarte goes 2-4, including his ML-leading 6th double. Solarte again was 1-1 w/RISP, while the rest of the team combined was 0-9 w/RISP. Besides his own current BA of .456 and Ellsbury's BA of .418, all but one of the rest of the team is struggling around or below the Mendoza line.
  20. jokin
    Wow Shane. That's some pretty contemporaneously damning evidence and juxtaposes 2 organizations' philosophical approach for filler depth- the Twins finding him entirely outright expendable, and the Rangers, even with Profar at the same developmental level, promoted Solarte to AAA and hung onto him for 2 years, just in case. Is it possible that there was another issue? ie, do you recall who all was added to the 40-man around and after the time of his release in December of 2011? They didn't need to add Dozier until he made the team officially.
  21. jokin
    Absolutely right, Chief.... and the acquisition must by implication mean that the Twins have come to the conclusion that Santana is not ready this year to make the jump. This move was an admission that Gardy's early announcement of Florimon as his starter was premature, ill-conceived with his surgery, and has been scrapped and now the competition for the spot is now officially reopened. And Spycake, did you read the full quote? I thought Hughes' comments on Nunez were far meatier contextually than just a rah-rah new teammate attaboy.
  22. jokin
    AZ has 5 that I'd take over what the Twins have now (with the possible exception of Polanco if he turns out to in fact, be a SS). Yeah, that's true, but in the Twins' case, that's more of a vice than a virtue.
  23. jokin
    The D-Backs. What a concept. They started the season with 3 major league ready SS, two of whom were/are BA Top 100 prospects. Meanwhile, the Twins love them their passel of OF guys.
  24. jokin
    And somehow, none are major league ready, which is probably the level of player that the D-Backs would be asking for: Pinto + a potential immediate #5 starter? We wouldn't want to give up Pinto and we don't have an expendable starter that qualified. They might find Gibson attractive, but it would cost much more than just him to get Didi- Vargas?
  25. jokin
    Be wary of dWAR stats, especially small sample sizes. While his defense is hugely questionable, read what Phil Hughes had to say about him- there's a talented player underneath those scary numbers. There's a fighting chance for Nunez that, getting a fresh start, playing one position only, out of the shadow of Yankee Stadium, Derek Jeter, and escaping from a very all-encompassing skeptical media overkill spotlight environment...and most importantly, going into an atmosphere with polar opposite comparisons to Jeter and extremely low expectations to beat by comparison, and with the fiery Nunez playing with a chip on his shoulder....that he can defy his recent past. He certainly has more going for him than anyone else on the Twins pick-to-click SS list.
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