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jokin

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Everything posted by jokin

  1. jokin
    And it also shows that people can change their behavior, and that fans can change their previous negative perceptions about that player.
  2. jokin
    To me, this is the money quote from the column: "And Sano ... well, if this team is more concerned about creating excitement than guarding against service time, there's a chance he will open as the third baseman in 2014. It's not out of the question that the Opening Day batting order could start like this: 1-Aaron Hicks. 2-Rosario. 3-Joe Mauer. 4-Sano. 5-Arcia. Which means, this team is in greater need for a coach with a Latin American background on its big-league staff than ever before." The information about the recent past issues with Lanigan (and the importance in the Latin culture for "respect"), plus the one-side-only Anglo-American recounted version of events, both illuminated upon in this article, tells me that the club needs to expand its cultural awareness concerning these young, high-talent-and-ego, foreign players. (Look at the Zimmerman-Martin trial as an example of how 2 different sides see the exact same set of circumstances with diametrically-opposed viewpoints----AND, how differently the Dominican players play the game in the DR and at the WBC).
  3. jokin
    Amen, brother.
  4. jokin
    Thankyou. Your softening stance and additional qualifying information makes your original quote sound less extreme- additional context always helps clear the air! The current situation with the Twins and Sano seems very resolvable with a little agent intervention and with the Twins hiring more coaches in the system with Dominican or at worst Latin American backgrounds. (Also, thanks for all the work and information you provide to the community regarding the Midwest League.)
  5. jokin
    "Hard-headed future star" vs. "Hard-headed journeyman manager". On most clubs, it's obvious who wins that battle. In the MN Twins organization?, not so much. I was calling for the Twins to have hired Ivan Rodriguez for the last 2 years. I think he'd set Sano and some of the other Latin ballplayers straight right quick, indeed. What's Omar Vizquel doing these days?
  6. jokin
    Precisely. And it goes deeper than that, RE: rather than the prolonged and eternal angst about trading Santana and Liriano and having little to show for their efforts, look at how the Rays deal with their top SPs. Matt Garza is a perfect example, instead of getting hosed, like the Twins did when they sent Garza to the Rays, the Rays got Chris Archer, Sam Fuld and Hak-Ju Lee. They also were unafraid to shop Shields and get maximum value in return. What the heck, they are even shamelessly shopping David Price as we speak.
  7. jokin
    At least he wrote a fresh piece on Kohl Stewart!
  8. jokin
    And we could say it at the time of the signing, as well. I really like Pelfrey personally. He's a guy who's clearly a leader and asset in the clubhouse. I predicted early on that the Twins would make a decent effort at re-signing him with an extended, incentive-laden contract. But the terms of the original signing, given the rest of the implemented "plan" was clearly a mistake from Day 1. On that very day, many of us were wondering how someone thought it was smart not to have a TO for the second year as part of the deal for letting him rehab for 2 months on the major league level.
  9. jokin
    My point was every team has fans who have favorites, beloveds, pariahs and mehs. You seem to be saying that you have decided that, at age 20, Sano is destined, no....pre-determined to fall into the pariah category that you will be forced to put up with as long as he's producing. That, to me, is an extreme position in terms of personal characterization to take. Manny being Manny can be distracting to downright annoying, even to his own team's fans. His tenure's at Cleveland and Boston both lasted 8 years apiece- so I guess that shows how long before a welcome is worn out. Of course, a .937 career post-season OPS with 29 HRs helps keep the Welcome Mat out a little longer. All I'm saying is, let's not presumptively conclude that Miguel is destined to be Manny behaviorally. I, for one, am willing to put up with some level of annoyance and maturation issues to reignite a positive buzz about this currently moribund franchise's on-field return to relevancy rather than laughing-stock.
  10. jokin
    I think based on all the evidence presented, we can now both agree that the "struggling" supposition as a reason for his behavior has no merit. This behavior is evidently part of who he is throughout his professional career. I would be most interested in evidence being presented in how other teams have dealt with up-and-coming phenoms in similar situations. Especially one at his age and impoverished background. As many others have stated, Harmon and many others have been guilty of the long, self-admiring pause at the plate after going yard. Some are beloved and model teammates and citizens, others, like Barry Bonds are outright pariahs. Again, he's 20, with almost singularly unique talent, most Twins fans are willing to put up with some attitude and a wait for more maturation if it means having spectacularly good talent on the field and being a significant cog in winning championships. I would hope that Twins management assumes the role of Father-Figure concerning disciplinary issues and continue to let it be known to Miguel, that like a Father, the Twins will continue to "love" and care for Sano's continued developmental well-being unconditionally, knowing that, like a Father, no matter how many, or bad the mistakes might be, they still have his "back", at all times.
  11. jokin
    Based on your "like", you've evidently cast your lot with one of those "extreme" sides. Rather than inflame the debate with needless trolling ("how refreshing!"), please state where you stand on the issue to add to the debate. One thing both sides agree on is that Sano is being counted on as one of the Centerpieces in returning the franchise to relevancy. This naturally means that passion and interest level would run high.
  12. jokin
    There's an extended thread for that.
  13. jokin
    I certainly hope Rosario doesn't go back to the OF. And I hope the Twins don't ever come to the conclusion that Dozier has earned himself a long-term spot in the lineup. You are trying to compare a potential mini-Robbie Cano-ceiling player with a Nick Punto-ceiling player. Right now, Dozier has (deservedly) won the battle of future UTIL IF that I hypothesized was what the Twins were doing with all the MI on the roster in 2013, nothing more.
  14. jokin
    Seth, it seems all us inquiring minds need to know. You have Mejia at #35 on your mid-season prospect list- which definitely makes him more of a suspect. The whole story about his professional career is curious, a 2-year GCL player, who the Twins opted to not sending to E-Town or Cedar Rapids, but straight to Ft Myers on an emergency loan-out? He's hardly missed a beat in the FSL "pitchers' league". A good, but not great, June sandwiched in-between outstanding numbers in May and July. He walks more than he strikes out. So, how far does he move up your rankings? And are the Twins believers in his major league potential enough to let him play outside of Florida any time soon?
  15. jokin
    And what's so wrong with that? It seems like once-in-a-generation talent is already being written off by a certain segment of Twins fandom. Gee whiz, he's 20 with an enormous set of talent, who has worked hard to get his fielding to the point that the Twins are now saying that fielding is one of his strong points, not a hindrance to promotion. His ego to this point is not what's holding him back, it's a basic element essential in how he got to this point in the first place. I'm guessing 29 other teams have already heard from his agent....and gladly took the call. Like other great talents (but lesser than Sano...Ortiz, Garza, Lohse, etc.), look for the exasperated Twins to be moving Sano during his arb years for less than full realized value. Ouch!
  16. jokin
    See my post for the quote from Twins management on his "official" status.
  17. jokin
    The thing about his time at AA is, the "struggles" are actually luck-related more than his troubles adjusting to the Eastern League. His BB rate is actually 2% higher than at Ft Myers (13.9% vs. 11.9%), representing a 17% increase in his walk rate at New Britain. Meanwhile, his K rate is only slightly higher than with the Miracle (about 5%). He's slugging at a very, very, torrid clip- a .562 SLG -- if he qualified, that mark would rank him second overall in the EL! His .895 OPS is just a blip behind teammate Josmil Pinto, who at .899 is 3rd in the EL in that category. Furthermore, his isolated power rate of .331 is actually six points higher than with Ft Myers (.325). Putting that in perspective, the qualifying leader in Isolated Power in the Eastern League is Allan Dykstra. His ISO is a full 55 points behind Sano, at .276! The only big discrepancy that stands out is his BABIP of .237 (vs a .397 BABIP with the Miracle). So, he really hasn't been struggling, physically. Mentally, maybe, more a victim of his bad luck at the plate and being in the glare of the spotlight from the Futures Game hype and all the expectations of recently moving up to #3 in the BA rankings. The article you linked to provides the bulk of the concern over Sano on this issue, JB: "There is no time frame for Sano's return, Twins farm director Brad Steil said Thursday. "Just a normal player-development decision," Steil said, declining to characterize the misdeed. "We have discipline for all sorts of things that we do. This is one of them. He's not going to play for a few games."
  18. jokin
    ???????Are you being ironically sarcastic? He better be debuting in September or sometime in 2014!
  19. jokin
    5 seconds and 5 steps to first base by my stopwatch and limited view of the video before he began his homerun trot. I'm surprised at the utter lack of an exuberant response from his teammates, especially in comparison to the reaction we've seen from big hits at the lower A level games and by the major league club. Is there a chemistry issue going on at New Britain? By the eye test, this specific behavior by Sano might deserve an in-game benching and MAYBE? one more game, but not several. There must be more to the story that happened behind the scenes in the manager's office to merit the additional discipline meted out.
  20. jokin
    The "bigger hole" was all the unproductive contracts that had to be shed. They still are trying to unload Alfonso Soriano, it might be happening with the Yankees as we speak.
  21. jokin
    Good point, although it becomes a potential wash since everyone else benefits similarly. Will anyone question what was done with that $25M if/when the funds aren't demonstrably put directly back into making the team better?
  22. jokin
    Here, here! Except I would amend that to (at least) 2 more FA in the offseason. Major money coming off the books. Last night, Mackey said that next year's payroll is estimated to coming in at $57M- that's a lot of wiggle and negotiating room to go after quality, not quantity.
  23. jokin
    It's very simple, really. The Cubs are maximizing and deploying every possible option at getting better. And they are digging out of a far deeper hole than the Twins. Furthermore, unlike the Twins, they've admitted that they are in a full-rebuild. In the process, they are taking on very acceptable risks, with potential higher rewards, that don't jeopardize the chances of making successive moves as the rebuilding process proceeds. They also have a man at the helm with a turn-around track record.
  24. jokin
    And I think someone's going to be eating his second statement words sooner, rather than later.
  25. jokin
    It's very arguable that Pelfrey should have been DLd at any time in April..... His ERA for the month in 5 starts was 7.22, a WHIP around 2.00 and giving up an OPS of .933. Both he and Diamond could justifiably have been DLd. Where was Worley being lauded? Coming off an enigmatic season, a good riddance from Phillie and arm surgery. Correia was a good pick-up if he was slated as a back-ender, not a front-liner, and he still has no trade value, so kind-of defeats the overall purpose of the signing.
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