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jokin

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Everything posted by jokin

  1. jokin
    Apples and Oranges versus top, universally accepted, elite prospects. Castellanos was the 44th pick, well down from the top-end talent pool in 2010. No one can say he was improperly rushed too quickly or that his career has been mishandled. To this point, with the $6M invested up front in Buxton, it behooves the club to move him along at a rate commensurate with his level of production and talent potential- recent precedent has been firmly established with Trout and Machado. Given the enormous up-front invesment, it would be "dumb" to waste such potential talent languishing needlessly downline in the organizational depth chart, should he continue his current rate of success.
  2. jokin
    I'm not following the logic of the supposition here. Here are the facts: Mike Trout drafted in '09 after HS graduation in the first round, pick #25. 207 PAs for 2 teams (RKL and A levels). Started year 2 in A ball. Manny Machado drafted in '10 after HS graduation in the first round, pick #3. 39 PAs for 2 teams (RKL and A- levels). Started year 2 in A ball. Byron Buxton drafted in '12 after HS graduation in the first round, pick #2. 189 PAs for 2 teams (RKL/RKL). Started year 2 in A ball. Trout and Machado had extended MLB call-ups in year 3 and became full-time players in year 4. That schedule would Buxton in the Twins starting lineup in CF on opening day in 2015.
  3. jokin
    I was going to say "and a better athlete" (at least by my eye test), but I thought it might end up in online dispute. I'll go with your assessment, but I'm not sure yet about how versatile he might end up being. Regardless, excellent point about opportunities for improvement- a 22% K rate for a power-hitting DH would be more than acceptable (Ortiz's career K rate is 18.1%)
  4. jokin
    So did David Ortiz. Walker is the same height and frame, I hope they give him every chance to rise through the minors, his RH bat might be a good fit at DH in Target Field.
  5. jokin
    Was he sober at the time? Are they ever sober during the games? Was he saying that the "universal standard" in baseball is essentially no standards of defensive accountability?
  6. jokin
    ...And Hicks, too?
  7. jokin
    I liked Carroll at 3rd today, professionally competent fielding and timely hitting is something I can watch- 3 times a week or so, spelling each of the other IF positions.
  8. jokin
    I get the feeling this is going to be good. Might this even go viral?
  9. jokin
    Actually, it was, until it wasn't. (See Jeremy's explanatory article).
  10. jokin
    Seth, any idea what the FSL record for most Home Runs in any single month and for most HRs in the the month of April? Sano must be knocking on the door, or already busted it down.
  11. jokin
    You're not already calling Mike Trout a "bust", are you? Again, to me, it's all about 2015.... And the precedent established of 2 other talented players moving up (to much better teams than the Twins) in the 3rd year of their professional career.... And the wide open path to the majors with the lack of depth in CF..... And the fact that the Twins had drafted possibly the best/most talented player in all the 2012 draft..... And that it will cost the Twins nothing to find out just what they have here.... Again, this is all predicated on Buxton maintaining a trajectory at or above what Trout, and to a lesser degree, Machado laid the blueprint for.
  12. jokin
    Baseball America had Sano as the #2 player in the MWL, behind Baez, who was only a part-time MWL player. Sano was 1st in Total Bases, 1st in HRs, 1st in BBs, 1st in RBI, 2nd in OBP and 3rd in SLG among full-time MWL players. Bottom line, Sano dominated the MWL
  13. jokin
    Don't forget the triple, as well. I'm also a Benson fan, if he can get past his internal struggles, I think he can still help the major league club this year. Fingers crossed that this is the start of the turn to the positive for Benson.
  14. jokin
    Trout was age 18 for both his years at Cedar Rapids and got moved all the way to Cedar Rapids in his first year at the end of the season. Buxton turned 19 in December. I was wondering out loud that IF he is now on the Trout trajectory, and that IF he maintains a commensurate level of production, why couldn't the Twins be comfortable in moving Buxton along?---- so that, when hit hits age 20 next year, he has his first taste of AA already under his belt, and can build on that in 2014 and be in better position for the call-up, when and if it should happen. Look at Manny Machado, who last year, just turning 20, got the callup to the Orioles in the midst of a pennant race. This happened in the middle of his 3rd year of professional ball, as did Trout, one month shy of his 20th birthday. The main priority for me is having as many of the next wave ready to make a legitimate run in 2015. For me, the best way to get there is to challenge these elite-level prospects early and often with the best appropriate level of competition that will prepare them for the major leagues.
  15. jokin
    Actually, he's 19. And I'm thinking if he keeps at, or above, the Trout production line, he gets moved up sooner, not later. There is a crying need for depth in CF in the organization or they wouldn't have a 29 year old journeyman starting there in New Britain- or two strikeout Kings and a journeyman sharing CF time in Rochester.
  16. jokin
    Yet another player putting a lie to that "Target Field is unfair to left handed hitters" meme.
  17. jokin
    Methinks that's a "reach" too far. Thomas would probably get the nod, if only to provide more of his swinging "air conditioning" for the fans, as the weather finally begins to heat up.
  18. jokin
    Except you both are ignoring the fact that the broadcast media guys, starting in the first week of the season, went to great lengths, and in detail, about how debilitating and painful the injury to Mastro actually was. And you ignore that this repeated the familiar Twins pattern over the last few years of "wait and see".
  19. jokin
    The previous poster is presenting evidence that it could easily justify why it could/should go faster- if Buxton is on a Trout Trajectory, he should/could move up the fastest of the 3 given he doesn't have the defensive learning-curve limitations of Sano and Rosario. If these 3 guys continue their dominance, there really is no reason not to move them along. Starting out with their first experience at New Britain being held off until next year strikes me as foolish. They need to be major-league ready by 2015, holding back players who have mastered a level won't help attain that goal.
  20. jokin
    Fine, the Pohlad's have done their civic duty and act of charity and then tried to profit from taking it all away. And this state doesn't have any Mark Cuban-types to come in and perform a much-needed round of civic duty and acts of charity- this market would wildly support a change in the staid, old, ridiculous, cry-poor philosophy of current management and ownership. BTW, Mark Cuban is still around, and he has made 3 attempts at buying a MLB team. The community would go positively ga-ga should Cuban take over controlling interest of the team. We already have 2 less-flashy, relatively new owners that have made a serious commitment to winning in Minnesota in Wilff and Leopold, why not a change for the Twins?
  21. jokin
    There are no legitimate MLB starting-level prospects blocking them at their positions in New Britain (Beresford maybe a ML UTIL IF? Maybe.) It sure seems like things are setting up nicely for just this scenario if the Twins are willing to pull the trigger(s). This could mean potential call-ups beginning as early as September, and definitely some time on the MLB active roster in 2014 for at least one or more of them.
  22. jokin
    Byron Buxton is making a mockery of Midwest League stat-keeping over his first 17 games played: BA: .419 (First) OBP: .526 (First) SLG: .694 (First) OPS: .1220 (First, obviously) Putting things into "Trout-spective", Mike Trout played 86 games for, coincidentally enough, Cedar Rapids, over parts of 2 seasons, all before he turned 19. Here is his slash line for Low-Single A ball: .358/.452/.514/.966 Buxton turns 19 and a Half on June 18, the same day as the Midwest League All Star Game. If he continues his ridiculous batting numbers above the "Trout Line", is it really worth it to keep him in Cedar Rapids, or maybe move him up to A+ after 50 games or so (end of May), or even sooner? If he continues what he's doing with the bat, what more can be gained by holding him back? Could he very well be capable of advancing all the way to AA before the end of the year? (BTW- There's a 29 year old journeyman "blocking" him in CF in New Britain right now!!!)
  23. jokin
    So in other words, "they got nuthin"?
  24. jokin
    This. I posted on this on first reads of them when both new beat writers began covering the Twins in the offseason. Twins written coverage had clearly reached a dead-end, along with the teams' performance, the last couple of years. Their writing reflects refreshing points of view and new sources of information. Overall, it's like sitting down to prime rib and a Idaho baked potato versus the White Castle and french fry coverage we've recently become accustomed to. And they actually appear to proofread their copy before publishing!
  25. jokin
    It's refreshing to come together in literal full agreement on issues without being coerced to do so. I still think it's at best 50-50 that May ends up being a career SP, but this most recent performance coupled with May's post-game quotes give me encouragement that the change of teams was a good shot in the arm for Trevor, his comments indicate a developing "major-league" maturity level, and that Twins management and NB to this point are taking the right approach to resuming the trajectory aimed at May reaching his ceiling-level potential. If May ends up becoming an effective starter for the Twins over his prime years, it will end up being one of Ryan's best deals ever, even if it has hurt in the short-term in leaving the CF depth chart so barren. I liked Pelfrey at New York and I like his candor in the media and "Big Horse" leadership role that he willingly embraces. How his season has played out thus far reflects my biggest criticism of the deal- the vast uncertainty in signing him to a one-year deal and going in with the expectation that he would do what no other pitcher coming back from TJ has done- namely, somehow be immediately and consistently effective only some 11 months after the surgery. I have a feeling he will be a lot better next season, but will he still be a Twin in 2014?
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