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jokin

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Everything posted by jokin

  1. Yup. The injury made a huge difference, at the time he got hurt last July, his OPS was .855. And I need to offer a mea culpa, Plouffe's non-hot start to 2013 has yielded his current OPS of .791. Can't wait to see what he does when the weather heats up.
  2. Given the recent implosions of the best Twins pitching prospects, no one is mentioning that the Twins highest priority might be in protecting their prize asset by utilizing the go-slow approach, focusing on mechanics adjustments over stats and severely limiting his innings?
  3. If you are interested, go back in the TD archives. I made an extensive proposal on upgrading the team with one-year deals for SPs, retaining talent like Kubel, getting rid of guys like Liriano, all leading to either an approximately identical payroll to 2011, or a slight increase to $120M. It would have been a lot of work and things would have had to fall right, but look what Boston did to remake themselves and quickly return to relevancy. It was worth a shot for a team with all the flexibility inherent in starting out in a new ballpark.
  4. Give me Gray and I will be in clover! On Plouffe, I watch for those throws ala his SS debacle, and I'm still seeing too many high throws to First. And Parmelee is a smaller target than Morneau- magnifying the defect. I could live with Plouffe at SS as a Hardy-type, with possibly a better bat, but that SS debacle of a performance in 2011 gives me pause that he'll ever solve his erratic-ness, he's still erratic at an easier position, just less magnified, and having him anchor the IF with 2 defensively-shaky rookies along-side him gives me cause for concern. If he could ease my mind with a better defensive performance the rest of this year, I would be as pumped as you about that potential infield- they'd probably have a decent chance to end up having the best combined hitting numbers for the 3 spots in all of baseball at some point.
  5. Plouffe's .791 OPS in 2012 would be a team-3rd best in all of baseball at Second Base (the Yankees were first with .929 and the Diamondbacks were second with .882). Plouffe would be a team-2nd best at SS with his 2012 OPS compared to the Nats at .848. Assuming Plouffe continues to mature as a hitter and can consistently reach the low- to mid- 800s, it would have to be worth considering the tradeoff. His defense has never been good at any position, obviously SS is where he would do his team the most damage- and I shudder to think of a defensive IF with Sano, Plouffe and Rosario across the diamond, but if Sano cuts it at 3B, you have to consider Rosario, if he can't cut it at 2B and has to go to the OF, Plouffe and his potential big bat has to be considered as the most viable long-term option. This would leave room to assuage fears from the pitching staff, for a big glove/no bat SS to anchor the IF.
  6. I wasn't so much referring to the 2012 offseson. The Twins could have done a RESET after 2011, either pick themselves right back up with the strong core and go for it- OR- opt for "do not pass GO- go directly to rebuild". They chose to patch up the wreck and try to keep heads above water in 2012, delaying one more year for the rebuild to (unofficially) commence. Financially, they were in a position to do both, instead we will hit bottom on the "rebuild that shall not be named as such" on the payroll in 2015- followed, hopefully by, the rookie- and second year-laden lineup of that year plus Mauer that will be ready to seriously compete right away.
  7. Didn't Swarzy get some honorable mentions of his own?
  8. 2 levels up last year, 2 levels up this year puts him finishing the year in New Britain, ...and available for a September call-up if they're not concerned about his arm. Wouldn't hurt to find out how close he is to being ready. Gives you options going forward in 2014 and beyond- possibly trading Perkins or Burton during 2014 if we're not in it, perhaps easing Jones into either role to be ready for full-time duty in 2015, possibly even a Lefty/Righty closing tandem. Very exciting to think about the possibilities just ahead.
  9. If the only the "hear no evil", "speak no evil" crowd would actually read your words of wisdom.
  10. Nothing wrong with short-term, high dollar deals if you are getting top talent. The Twins clearly overpaid for mediocre talent, is that even up for debate? Even Terry Ryan got defensive about his role in the signing in his February interview about Correia, laying it off pretty much on the "evaluators".
  11. I find it a shame that the Twins have the lowest payroll in the Central Division and 23rd out of 30 teams. This, even though they were 13th in attendance in 2012, only trailing Detroit by 250,000 and way, way ahead of the Sox, Indians and Royals, who finished between 24th and 29th place.
  12. The Twins took the safest closest thing to a "sure thing" at their position in the Rule 5 draft. Although I wish the Twins would have gambled on a bigger risk, I have even higher hopes for Pressly than Matt Guerrier, he appears to have better stuff than Jesse Crain, if we can get 6 years before free agency of vintage Crain and an ERA+ of 140, he could comfortably slide into the Burton role eventually.
  13. Well, it did take Gardy's descendance to Lame Duck/Out on a Limb status for him to finally buy in to the concept.
  14. Good take, kab! I too find NBR's positional roster pretty uninspiring, but each day we keep hearing about more great pitching performances up and down the organization- guys we expect it from like Meyer and Jones, but also from guys we don't necessarily expect it from- like Albers, Lee, O'Rourke. And Berrios and Baxendale will soon be in the mix, too.
  15. Financially, there was no reason why they couldn't have kept the payroll at the 2011 level. The disaster after that year is a mini-version of the Red Sox implosion of 2012. Unbelievable stretch of injuries and underperformers. Given their newfound status as one of the haves (light) versus the have-nots, would it have been too much to ask that they fulfill the promises surrounding the new stadium and try to do a MINI-overhaul/reload in the 2011 offseason as the Red Sox did in the 2012 offseason?
  16. We are in general agreement on how to turn a team around. But there are some differences that have to be part of the equation. The Twins chose to keep 2 high-priced former MVPs in their prime- while supposedly rebuilding- in the meantime they have aggressively cut payroll, betraying the public trust for the publicly financed stadium- and the very argument they made that giving them the new stadium would make them compete more like the Yankees.
  17. Yes. And that's why, as I stated, he projects as a nice potential #4-5 starter/Innings-Eating specialist, well worth the $2.5M salary.
  18. The conclusion was faulty. Lannan had two outstanding starts, was receiving substantial praise in the local and national press for being a good signing and then he sustained a knee injury during his third start and was removed in the 2nd inning. I presented the evidence that his stat line was actually excellent through 2 starts, the poster admitted he had reached a conclusion that turned out was based on a faulty look at the stats he quoted. If there are dangers in SSS, ( I think we all agree on that!) why quote his stats? In answer to your last question, my response to factually inaccurate conclusions or debatable points does not qualify as trolling, these are called disagreements.
  19. And you find "realistic" (in effect, fatalistic) or "resigned" as acceptably purveying attitudes when marketing your team to players and fans?
  20. Care to respond to the previous quotes? The Twins FO was falling all over themselves to the fanbase, begging for more time, however much is needed, to "fix this the right way"; and in direct response as to why FA were not signing, playing the pity potty game, publicly.
  21. I agree. My issue was publicly whining that you can't throw money at people. Exude confidence, not the need for pity.
  22. What was this then, if not a conclusion, using extremely faulty evidence about Lannan as your lead and only evidentiary source to help in making your point?: The guy is the definition of a #4-5 SP innings eater (182+ IP to 204 IP every year since 2008). Signed for $2.5M.
  23. ??? So during the negotiations, anything the Twins ever say is a waste of time: that the team is 100% committed to winning; about how this thing is going to be turned around with: the quality assets at hand- the amazing assets soon coming up- and the key assets still to be acquired; how the Twin Cities is a great place to live, raise a family, gather outside endorsements; how Target Field is a showcase venue to play; how the player's role is going to be maximally utilized as a key component to completing this turnaround; and how with the Twins self-admitted wide latitude concerning payroll flexibility, the player in question will be justly rewarded, as will other acquisitions to make this plan a reality. Nope, you're right, the Player and Agent would never believe any of this.
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