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jokin

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Everything posted by jokin

  1. jokin
    Is he experimenting with a new pitch? or refining an existing one? No help from the broadcast team.
  2. jokin
    Scotty did get 6 Ks. At least it wasn't just Fryer he was fooling.
  3. jokin
    And Presley listed as the DH makes it bizarre.
  4. jokin
    Yup. I sure hope the Twins see what you and I see. Their offseason pitching pursuits suggest that they're just waiting for just such a phone call to pull the trigger. Get-er-done.
  5. jokin
    At this point, I think there is still room to be just a little more optimistic than a net 1 career WAR guy in May- but this year in AAA he has to step it up, no doubt. You mentioned his ERA ranking, but that stat is a little skewed by May being victimized by a big jump in BABIP to .330 and a huge spike in stolen bases given up by Rock Cats' catchers. And despite that 45th ranking in ERA, his FIP was actually a very good-to near-dominant 9th in the Eastern League and 3/4 of a run below his ERA at 3.79, confirmed by an also-excellent SIERA of 3.67, indicating that there might be an improved year coming up. Also of note, besides his upticks in improvement in K/9 and BB/9, May was a definitely dominant 3rd overall in the Eastern League in K% at 24.1%, which is excellent. Finally, year-over-year, with the above-noted improvements and no regressions of note, May also significantly cut his LD% from 21.4% in 2012 to 12.9%. I think there's back-end starter stuff somewhere inside of May, I think there's a case to made that it's all a matter of his mental approach, hopefully the Twins coaching staff can help bring it out to the point that he becomes a legitimate depth option by the end of 2014. In conclusion, I don't think it's unreasonable to say he's no more than 50-50 at ever being a major league starter.
  6. jokin
    Dan Gladden mentioned that the Twins braintrust was concerned with Cola's ability to turn on a pitch, and requested that he focus in the offseason on pulling the ball a little more. I don't know if there's such a thing as a ST hitting spray chart, but in the times I've seen him this spring, his power still seems to be mainly in the RF/CF gap.
  7. jokin
    Thrylos, I have to ask you. Given that you've made some big news here, not only with Florimon, but with Sulbaran, also, did you happen to notice any media types in attendance at this BP session? What you're reporting is the exact opposite of the Twins "nothing to see here" party line, I'm interested if anyone else will be willing to buck that lne with these develoments. Obviously, it would be a huge story if Santana were made the opening day SS.
  8. jokin
    But then Gardy quashed the means by which to maximize Pinto's value and make the most sense in bringing him North:
  9. jokin
    When in doubt, as long as Gardy is manager (with the final say), go with the veteran.
  10. jokin
    FWIW, BR has Deduno's average strength of batter rating for Spring Training at 8.4, with 8.0 being AAA and 10.0 being MLB: http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/d/dedunsa01.shtml I agree with you though, as a set-up guy or middle innings eater, he profiles to be very good.
  11. jokin
    According to BR, Cola's average ST PA has been against AAA pitching: http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/colabch01.shtml
  12. jokin
    Sounds like May 2013, redux.
  13. jokin
    I guess that makes sense if opening day, 2014, is the greater priority. Getting your real future players to the 25 man permanently and sending a message to the rest of the team tha a new day is coming is a greater priority to me. And according to Pat Reusse's article, the Twins have never demoted their top prospects so early in the Spring Training process previously. Watching Alex Presley butcher play after play isn't helping this team long-term, Mastro looks like he will never recover to his previous level of mediocrity. Hicks was withheld until mid-game yesterday. Meyer is more problematic, as you make a good point about getting stretched out, but there are ways around that, and hanging around until March 15 and picking up a few more major league innings won't hurt his stretching out process. My point is, if he is going to get his call-up in late June or July, he needs as much exposure to the major league environment as possible. All of these are building blocks at getting these guys ready to claim their major league spots for good in 2015. (We obvioiusly disagree on Buxton, assuming he has another year like 2013, he certainly better be the top candidate to start in CF on April 1, 2015).
  14. jokin
    The 2 guys who represent the main hope for the future send a message by their presence to everyone else that they need to step up their game if they want to stick around. And in turn, those same 2 guys should seemingly benefit from having precious daily access to the MLB environment, with MLB coaches and current MLB players, while taking more major league reps, at least hanging around the ML camp for another week or so. Meyer getting two or three more appearances of an inning or two hardly hurts other guys we're all pretty sure either don't need it, or who don't deserve them. Re: Gibson. I didn't say he's been eliminated from the conversation on eventually getting his chance, it's just that, based on how the Twins are talking, his chance has been moved farther back in the line of known mediocrity ahead of him. If he was 24, like Meyer, that would be one thing, but he turns 27 in October, not exactly a baby spring chick, needing to wait his turn in the pool until his tail feathers get oiled up.
  15. jokin
    And it shouldn't look good for them, how many teams out there would still have them under consideration for a spot based on last year's performances and what has transpired thus far in ST? (Edit- OK, maybe at least one- the Phillies are actually considering Jeff Manhip). These proposed cuts would be both a cleansing breath and a wake-up call to the rest of the roster all at once. Instead, they moved Meyer and Buxton out of the country club many days before their guest passes had expired. If the Twins have made an internal change in their philosophy, this probably should have happened already, either in the offseason or after the first evidence was in. That Gibson hasn't moved to the forefront of this discussion rather than still as an afterthought- for the last starting spot is inexplicable- for every team that isn't the Twins.
  16. jokin
    I am in favor of this sentiment. But the Twins can still rationalize that they can wring more value out of the "OOO Three" and find creative ways to retain all of them- and they can make a somewhat reasonable case for why they would wish to keep each of them. And then there's the LHSP option that Johnson presents- and we all know how overly-enamored the Twins get with recently acquired players. I'm not in agreement that this is what they should do, it's just that it's what they have done in the recent past. This is a great case for when we'd all love to see that the prospect forces the MLB barrier doors open with pitching dynamite.
  17. jokin
    The 3 guys out of options plus Johnson.
  18. jokin
    Sorry to step on your post, Spycake, I was typing while your were posting. I hope you're right about Gibson being the first up, but unless Correia is traded or there is an injury, I could see them cycling through about 4 guys before they turn to Gibson in the #5 spot or as a replacement for a faltering, "short-leash" SP, even Kris Johnson (in pursuit of having a LHSP in the rotation). I hope I'm wrong, but there are no indications from management about Gibson, and leaving no spare tire unkicked before turning to the High Performance Summer Radial is just how the Twins roll.
  19. jokin
    Given the Twins aggressive pursuit of Garza, even after signing Pelfrey, it likely means that's exactly what the Twins had in mind, as well. People seem to be forgetting that the Twins have been earnestly looking to set up their rotation by inking 3 long-term deals for veteran starting pitchers this entire offseason, not 2. It is logical to conclude that in their scenario of 3 long-term SP deals getting done + Pelfrey @ 2 years, that KC was/is going to be gone by either the end of ST or by the Deadline. This thinking seems to illustrate that they weren't counting on much of anything from the 6 remaining SP candidates, just assuming that one would rise above the rest to claim the #5 spot. Gibson obviously has a lot to prove to the Twins braintrust that he's a clear cut above the rest, there are no public indications from the braintrust that that is the case at this point; they'll likely repeat the familiar cycle from 2013 through the assorted veteran options until they all fail, get traded, or get hurt.
  20. jokin
    Gibson's first MLB game was June 29, 2013.
  21. jokin
    We agree, that the Twins have the money to sign Santana, Drew and Morales. Why they aren't doing so is what's up for debate- there's nothing "literal" about it. The club made it publicly known that they intended to commit financially to putting a quality product on the field, year-in, year-out, they've obviously failed in that effort. Pinto has been given very short-shrift since October- they brought in a journeyman guy who, for all intents and purposes, has been annointed by the interim boss for the starting job, and the boss has fallen all over himself in the wonders of what Fryer brings to the table. Gibson has been in the "afterthought" range of discussion for the #5 spot, at best, the Twins seem pretty intent on not having to give away any of their out-of-option, fringy SP arms, if they can help it. TR previously mentioned how much he likes Presley, Hicks didn't win any friends in managment by choosing not to play winter ball, his fate is in great doubt to start the season. And I sure hope Arcia wins his spot, he's the one guy in this mix that I think has the best shot to open the season.
  22. jokin
    Yeah, well....for some Twins fans, maybe even Dave and I, 2013 sure seemed like a lifetime.
  23. jokin
    Sorry, but this 52% meme was the line drawn in the sand by ownership and management to get their playpen palace built, not by the fans. And this is a stadium that enriched the value of their team several-fold over. It's clearly not a "stupid and tired meme", it's the critical cudgel that fans can use to hoist ownership on the petard of their own making. And it's not "dumbfounding" to bring up, it's past time to hold management responsible for actually getting the deals done that have to get done to return this team to respectability, (rather than publicize, post-haste, all of their oh-so-close, sure-to-be-declined, 2nd place finishes for elite talent). The vast holes still evident on this roster clearly indicate that they still feel comfortable charging major league prices for too much minor league talent. It would also be nice if they can actually get a few of their prospects from the vaunted farm system established as bona fide major leaguers before their 6-year minor league clock stops ticking- at this point anyway, it appears that they are pulling back all, or almost all of the young guns in favor of place-holders.
  24. jokin
    Actually, there was flexibility, especially if they believed their own PR about being a different club philosophically and financially, in Target Field. I wrote about it at the time, the Twins had enough players coming off the payroll, that they could have retained most of the key players and upgraded the roster at the same time, all with about the same payroll as 2011, a little less or little more, depending on if they retained Joe Nathan or not. They just had the wrong guy running the team and an owner who paniced when it all fell apart.
  25. jokin
    Do you have to rub it in, Ben? Gotta give your Bravos credit, once Medlen went down they immediately recognized the perfect fit Santana is for their rotation, and acted quickly and decisively to get it done- payroll and potential lost draft pick be damned.
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