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jokin

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Everything posted by jokin

  1. jokin
    So, you're saying Mauer's going to be coming up to the plate with the bases empty, a lot, this year?
  2. jokin
    Outstanding...
  3. jokin
    With a positive nod to the long-term, I strongly concur on Worley and Hendricks, especially because they still have great potential to be long-term solutions- while ably serving as short-to- medium-term bridges to 2015. And there's some reasonable hope that Diamond can evolve into a later-blooming, left-handed version of Brad Radke. But realistically, as far as 2013 goes, they all come with their own set of nagging question marks amidst the collective SP staff, seemingly assembled with duct tape, baling wire, spit and chewing gum and 6th SP-level reclamation projects. I was struck with a sense of dread by your metaphor, "Rotate the characters?" For 2013 it sounds like the Twins re-arranged the deck chairs on the General Belgrano.** **Some assembly required.[ATTACH=CONFIG]3409[/ATTACH]
  4. jokin
    Technically, this is not entirely correct, as there is one number where this is not true, and it fits the Twins to the Power of Zero Math perfectly. Because, 0^0=Undefined. Zero to the Zero Power -- Math Fun Facts
  5. jokin
    Methinks this might have been hastily written, or sloppily edited, or both: "Hicks is a gifted defensive center-fielder with above-average range and a strong arm. The Florida native has a chance to develop into a plus-fielding outfielder capable of hitting .270-.280 with 15 home runs and more than 30 steals at the big league level."
  6. jokin
    It's been made pretty clear in the last week that Harden has been pushed out, possibly to May at the earliest, and maybe later. Given the precautions being taken with Harden, he may never be more than relief help, but even if he does get some starts, that still leaves at least the first 2 months of the season with other medical question marks (Diamond, Pelfrey, Gibson) that gives DeVries a small window of chance for jumping in for at least some interim starts, or, if Hendriks staggers out of the gate (and I'm counting on Hendriks to make this a moot point and firmly grab the #5 spot).
  7. jokin
    This makes terrific sense if the Twins had a SP staff chock-full of 200+IP Iron Men. Unfortunately, the Twins have left themselves desperately short of "chock"- not only they are not full of those types, they have only one guy (Pelfrey) who has actually accomplished this feat, and we all know that he will begin the season as a big TJ question mark. Correia and Worley have a history of only being 5-6 inning guys, at best. Gibson is on restricted innings (and possibly a restricted pitch count?), Diamond is coming back from off-season surgery and is due for some sophomore regression. We all know that Hendriks and the rest are wild cards. The Twins also have 15 home games in April, including 9 of the first 15, increasing the chance for a make-up game backlog down the line. With the joined medical issues of the top 4 SPs even starting out the season in the rotation (Pelfrey, Worley, Diamond, Gibson) and experiential/talent question-marks of the other potential starters and depth men, what are the chances that they all make it through the season healthy and innings-eaters to avoid wearing out the Pen? Not good odds. Bottom line, the Twins in 2013 will more likely make a temporary roster move or two to 13 pitchers, as the staff collectively becomes taxed, way before Gardy would ever feel comfortable dropping to 11.
  8. jokin
    As I was saying in December, why pay for a slew of projected #4-#5 FA starters when they already had a cheap #5 under their control who looked acceptable for the spot in 2013. Could have put that #6 Pit-starter Correia money to better use on a pitcher who actually projected higher.
  9. jokin
    I think it's time to give Phil Miller his just recognition- A very welcome addition to the StarTribune Twins beat, well-written and interesting stories and he actually is doing some reporting. The Pioneer Press is also producing a fairly decent flurry of on-site reportage.
  10. jokin
    Aint that the truth! (2015 can't come soon enough)
  11. jokin
    Florimon will be starting at SS. Carroll will be the guy to plug the implosion at 2B or SS (or 3B?).
  12. jokin
    Actually, Carroll has a better chance at that.
  13. jokin
    I'd settle for a petit-boon on the part of the Dozier-pet. FWIW- I know 2B is easier than SS, but in 356 minor league games and 84 major league games (440 game total), Dozier has only played 47 at 2B- that's just North of 10%. He also has demonstrated hitting success only as high as AA, and his ABs at New Britain only totaled 311. Given the pressure that Gardy's under and the precedence of Dozier cracking under the weight of starting SS last year, isn't some of that likely going to redound accordingly, if/when things go badly at some poin
  14. jokin
    It appears that Tom Powers handed off his 2012 ST notes to Berardino or the Twins FO somehow thinks everything in the past goes down the memory hole: Tom Powers: Brian Dozier is going to be the next big thing for Twins - TwinCities.com I hope Dozier makes it, as he seems like a guy you want to pull for, but in this case, I'll believe it when I see it.
  15. jokin
    I'm pleased that you're amused. Now that we have that out of the way, could you now explain to me the Twins FO rationale, and the numbers they are looking at, for contemplating making Duesning a starter again? And if another left-handed starter was truly needed, why Duensing qualified over the other available FA candidates?
  16. jokin
    Gardy has also thrown Jeff Clement into the mix: With Morneau at Classic, Clement gets reps at first | twinsbaseball.com: News. I hadn't realized that he started out as a catcher in the minor leagues. It's not certain to me though, why he hasn't been behind the plate since 2008. Whether a position-changing-injury or simply inadequate performance behind the plate was the cause, a forced re-conversion back to catcher and a subsequent minor league version of Doumit Part 2 isn't exactly inspiring for additional bench strength. At this point, I'm inclined to go with a combination of Escobar and Colabello, that would be a story the Twins FO could market, if Cola simply proves he can produce around or slightly above median averages at DH/PH (and a needed RH bat). Is there any possibility what with all this discussion about converting or re-converting catchers and Mauer's possible increased role as C, that the Twins are actively thinking about the possibilities of moving Doumit between now and the trading deadline?
  17. jokin
    Strongly agree that the big part of the defensive numbers come from RF and CF, but accounting for just 2012, Casilla (most innngs at 2B in 2012) and the combination of innings from Carroll and Florimon @ SS/2B were a key component in the Twins strong defensive numbers, as well. Their numbers for both years, and even with a small contribution from Tolbert and Hughes, significantly offset the fielding disasters of N, P and D (and let's not forget Valencia @ 3B, as well!).
  18. jokin
    Pretty good evidence, I was disturbed by the offhand remark as well. I checked with Fangraphs and I noticed a small discrepancy with your finding on UZR. Fangraphs agreed with your overall UZR rating of 29.5, but placed the Twins at a fairly sterling 8th overall, not 12th, which further reinforces your point. Furthermore, the Twins RngR/Rank for the last 2 years is as follows: 41.0/7th
  19. jokin
    I noticed the OP title modification to "a step back". Good use of editing, and entirely more accurate. People have to adjust their expectations of signings like this and take the PR reports with a grain of salt, note the difference between Ryan's comments on the Harden signing and Antony's comments on the Perez signing: 1) 2)
  20. jokin
    It might be dependent on how Esco makes out in Gardy's ST "experiment" with him as the potential 3rd Catcher. Esco is ahead of the curve as he already has the Butera-Like-Bat part down pat. http://minnesota.twins.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20130303&content_id=42220728&notebook_id=42223052&vkey=notebook_min&c_id=min
  21. jokin
    Good questions. Anyone know if that is being tracked and where to find the info? DickNDan thought the outing was very encouraging with good movement on his pitches. He's the one pitcher of the new acquisitions who has finally had a good outing. Gotta keep our fingers crossed that this is going to work out, as it appears that the braintrust is aware that what Pelfrey is attempting to do here is unprecedented, plus Pelfrey gives a big hat tip to Andy for a mechanics fix: Latest outing shows Twins pitcher Mike Pelfrey ahead of schedule | twinsbaseball.com: News
  22. jokin
    ​***..........Play 2B, bat 2-Hole....... (Gardy KISS principles 101)
  23. jokin
    It's not so much the "people here" and their proposals that are bothersome, it's Twins management. That they still are proposing to possibly pull out this Duensing LHSP Chestnut, shows they don't understand sabre-reality and have failed in the offseason to secure a cheap rotational depth option at LHSP, while potentially leaving the Bullpen short a genuinely-proven valuable asset from the port-side. These guys were all very gettable with just a hint of urgency on the part of the Twins: Joe Saunders, John Lannan, Jeff Francis for $1.5M, (Paul Maholm last year- the Twins could have locked him up for 2 years cheaper than Correia).
  24. jokin
    Yeah, I've been advocating in improving the appalling lack of projected bench strength for a while now, too,... but I seem to recall certain guys told us we simply had to accept Butera on the bench because we were stuck paying him $1M (sic) already. Actually, what's the problem with a 6th DH on the team?, gotta be better than a 6th catcher...
  25. jokin
    Gomez immediately came to mind, but Glunn beat me to it. It could be argued that Dozier might have been pushed too fast, too soon, with the potential to permanently retard the nice upward developmental arc he was on previously. He clearly melted down after about a month in to his call up. And unlike Hendriks and Parmelee who went down to AAA and destroyed the competition, Dozier was pretty awful after the demotion. It could be argued that if the Twins decide in the choice of accelerating HIck and Gibson's service clock to 2013, and possibly Arcia's to 2013 or 14, it could be the club looking to balance out the collective team arb schedule after nearly complete roster re-construction kicks in around 2015-16.
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