Jump to content
Twins Daily
  • Create Account

jokin

Old-Timey Member
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    11,852

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    8

 Content Type 

Profiles

Minnesota Twins News, Rumors & Analysis

Minnesota Twins Videos

2026 Minnesota Twins Top Prospect Rankings

2022 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks & Signing Bonuses

Minnesota Twins Trade & Free Agent Rumors

Minnesota Twins Fan Guides & Resources

2023 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks & Signing Bonuses

The Minnesota Twins Players Project

2024 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks & Signing Bonuses

2025 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks & Signing Bonuses

2026 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks & Signing Bonuses

Forums

Blogs

Events

Store

Downloads

Gallery

Everything posted by jokin

  1. jokin
    I don't know how anyone can make a guarantee on something like this. There are loads of other in-season moves the Twins could make- Esco to 3rd w/ Vielma called up Polanco Santana Nunez And Polanco and Santana could both platoon w/ Nunez. A lot depends on how the Twins value their IF and OF defense of each player at the time of a potential Plouffe trade or injury.
  2. jokin
    Not true. The Twins won't "have" to do any such thing. Walker was just added to the 40-man roster. This is just the first of 3 option years for the Twins to decide when/if Walker is ready for a call-up.
  3. jokin
    Great summary. One minor exception, Sano was HBP in his third PA. Questions, so many questions. 1) If Buxton proves not to be ready, is Santana automatically the opening day CF? 2) How bad did Park look at the plate on his 3 Ks.... Nishioka bad? 3) Does Park look like he has a "major league" body and swagger at the plate? 4) What is the percentage chance that Park starts out the season in AAA, with Arcia and or Vargas going north instead? 5) Other than Murphy's bonehead mask miscue (a little disconcerting, but only the first game, to be sure), what do you think of Murphy's presence behind the plate? The Ks weren't exactly piling up for Twins pitchers today. 6) Assuming that the Twins look to move Plouffe at some point during the season, should they receive an attractive offer, is there any chance that the Twins are considering Polanco as his replacement at 3rd rather than Sano? 7) I thought Hughes looked a little stiff and slow in the preseason media workouts that I've viewed, any signs that he's still nursing the same nagging injury stuff that hampered him in 2015? Those first two innings sound efficient and encouraging, I know it's just his first appearance, but does he look on pace, "so-far-so-good", for the "good every-other-year" type of year in 2016?
  4. jokin
    Excellent post, nice drill-down on so many aspects of this terrible decision. What is so wrong about finding out for a month or so to start out the season if Sano can hack it at 3rd at the major league level before putting all this "finality" on such an important decision? And remember, Plouffe has spent time on the DL in each of his big league season's except for 2015. It's bound to happen- Nunez or even Santana might be able to plug the gap for a week or two, but any longer than that in a pennant race would probably cost them a valuable win or two... or three... losing a few winnable games in late June and into July proved disastrous come late September in 2015.
  5. jokin
    Your statement completely disregards the stale and insulated "culture" of the past 20+ years that fosters the ever-so-repetitive path to such obviously predictable "terrible decisions." The negative feedback loop in conjuring up the justification of all-too-many of the roster decisions is so thoroughly entrenched, they aren't even aware of the folly in their all-too-often illogical rationales for doing some of the things they do.
  6. jokin
    Wrong on every supposition. Their process and thinking was previously and should have been now: "We have a budding superstar- our only player ranked in MLBTV's Top 100- who we have been grooming and planning to play 3B for nearly 7 years, we're so sure about this, we didn't even have him play another position in 2015 in AAA while waiting for his callup- meanwhile,he's come in and taken MLB by storm in 2015, even amidst overcoming a year layoff to disastrous injury. He's earned the right to get the shot at 3rd to start the season. Meanwhile, we've known what we have in Plouffe for a long time now- let's give him a shot to best help the team in a Super-Utlity role. If Sano struggles at the position, Plouffe is waiting in the wings to reclaim the spot. And Bartlett's saga is very similar to Sano's- the Twins making up a story to fit the situation they've buried themselves into.
  7. jokin
    Thanks for posting so I didn't have to. (And I don't think it is coincidence that we always end up being upset with both the "process" and the "timing."?-- And really, their "process" and "timing" in coming to the conclusion that Sano belongs in RF isn't that far removed from Gardy and Ryan putting Barlett out there a couple years ago.)
  8. jokin
    IMO, Ryan was going to move Hicks no matter what- he'd completely worn out his welcome to Ryan's patience level. Meanwhile, the Twins have always given Plouffe wide sway (he "tried out" for 4 positions before settling in at 3rd). So now they have the one true player on the roster recognized as a "Top 100 Right Now" superstar, and they're willingly putting him in an entirely unfamiliar position- and in the process, the Twin's 2016 OF defensive prospects in jeopardy- (and this after steadfastly force-feeding Sano exclusively at 3rd over his entire minor league career)- Strange long-term planning by the braintrust.
  9. jokin
    I'll be (pleasantly) surprised if Murphy plays 33% of the time. (Not holding my breath on it happening).
  10. jokin
    And don't forget Nunez, there's always Nunez...
  11. jokin
    http://i1.wp.com/www.twincities.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Mauer-workout-001A.jpg?fit=1860%2C1046px
  12. jokin
    http://i2.wp.com/www.twincities.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Mauer-workout-006A.jpg?fit=1860%2C1046px
  13. jokin
    Photographic Strawman Argument duly noted.
  14. jokin
    Marco Rubio, Yasiel Puig, Tony Oliva, Desi Arnaz, Steven Bauer, William Levy are all of Cuban nationality and/or descent- but are of wildly different racial backgrounds. Calling someone an "(insert pejorative) Cuban" is equivalent to someone calling a citizen of the US a "(insert pejorative) American." Nothing to do with making an automatic assumption of "racist overtones", more like another demonstration of Delmon's ignorance. Cuban-ex-pats and those of Cuban descent make up more than one-third of all Miami residents- and they are comprised of multiple racial and ethnic backgrounds. Given his demonstrated past transgressions against certain ethnicities, perhaps Delmon's slur was directed against a relative of William Levy?
  15. jokin
    Actually, $1.7 M is peanuts in a 21st Century MLB payroll. I would have thought that it was obvious to everyone that something was very wrong physically with Stauffer from the first time I saw him throw in ST. Not only did the velo never show even fleeting signs of recovery, but Stauffer looked utterly unable to fully utilize arm, shoulder and upper body movements and full extension in delivering MLB-level pitching. Pressly OTOH, actually increased his velocity by 1-1.5 MPH over his previous 2 seasons (as a 26-year old should do). His strike-to-ball count ratio was 2:1 ( by contrast, Timmy's S-B count was 1:1.5). Only the Twins initial reluctance to roster him out of Spring Training, plus a bad BABIP and finally injury held Pressly back from having a very solid season. I think the Twins should have known what they had in him, and been unafraid to DL Stauffer and promote Pressly to the roster last April 1. (Even Molitor now admits what could have been, and what still might be for Press (from Rotowire)- And I'm not even Ryan Pressly's biggest fan, but that was an easy call last spring.
  16. jokin
    This seems to contradict your attack of me. It just so happens, that I also heartily support the notion that the Twins get much younger in the pitching staff.* Going for a Torres-like pitcher is Ryan's typical move- trying to coax a year of semi-quality (ala Boyer) from the RP scrap-heap. Spend more for a proven vet via FA, or via a trade, for a younger, up-and-coming quality arm. *(as noted previously, 14 of 25 Twins pitchers are age 27 or greater)
  17. jokin
    Is "#citypages" supposed to be a sarc-off sign? If not, which fact that I presented is "one-sided hyperbole"? Miami has now qualitatively improved (when 100% healthy) a very good, and very young staff, with some solid veteran arms (and apparently unlike the Twins- the Fish may even not be done yet). I believe the facts I presented more than proved my point without use of hyperbole. Further, developmentally and within the evolutionary phase of a team in the contending continuum, the Marlins are similarly positioned with their field players relative to the Twins. And yet, while Miami finished 28th in MLB attendance, appear undaunted in spending money in order to make a full run in 2016.
  18. jokin
    1) Dumpster diving at its finest So, didn't nearly 20 teams pass on this guy? And this was his second exposure in the offseason to the waiver wire? What does that say? (Ans.- the Brewers and Marlins received ZERO trade interest for Strong) 2) A tale of two franchises....... Miami's and Minnesota's pitching results for 2015 were fairly comparable. As of today, Miami has 7 of 25 pitchers on its 40-man that are 27 years of age or older. With Strong joining the Twins staff (apparently not even close to worth considering in making the Miami 40-man by the Fish), by contrast the Twins now have 14 of 25 pitchers age 27 and up. 3) Isn't the idea that by adding veterans and spending money, that you're supposed to get a big upgrade from a proven commodity? Miami actually did get older this week in the pitching department- removing Rienzo from the 40-man in favor of Edwin Jackson. And Strong was waived in favor of Wei Yin Chen. And it has been reported that the Marlins aren't done yet in their pitching upgrades, with the names Fister and Alfredo Simon being bandied about as potential signees. Meanwhile the sum total of the Twins offseason "upgrades" in the relief pitching staff consists of: AA level, 27-year old Mike Strong. But hey, he is from Afton, so there's that. 4) Now, which club qualitatively improved their staff and actually appears to want to compete?
  19. jokin
    Since you apparently are willing to bet with such lofty stakes in the offing, please elaborate on how this offseason Master Plan of the GM has helped enhance the Twins' contender status in 2016. (The "Parade" you not so long ago insisted had begun in 2015 is getting antsy to start up the marching band and claim that 2016 AL pennant, already... I don't see one "sure thing" Terry move that increased the Twins potential 2016 win total over 82)
  20. jokin
    No downside to this? What? It's more of the long slow slouch towards Gomorrah for this bullpen. Silly waste of time. Why didn't Ryan bypass all this silly sturm and drang and simply just protect Gilmartin from Rule 5 one year ago- and this offseason sign or trade for one of the available young hard throwers from the Twins vast minor league depth? *** ***(Instead... they stockpiled one more (MLB-blocked) swing and miss, over-the-hill, minor league power hitter, along with Abad RP....)
  21. jokin
    Yep, E-Town isn't exactly a great place to properly evaluate a college player. Still, I like that he obviously has/had a solid support group between both parents and his past and present coaches. Kudos to the Twins for finding a true sleeper in the 9th round (still scratching my head that Wade played 1B his first two years with the Terps, all reports say he can play a good CF- He was a good HS pitcher so he has an arm). Hopefully he can make the double move in the two A classes in 2016 and debuts in AA by mid-season in 2017. Looks like his brother is a sophomore at Maryland and might be a sleeper prospect, as well.
  22. jokin
    Nunez can also back up @ SS.
  23. jokin
    It really is the plan- Mark This One Down- Sano will be in the starting lineup in the OF on opening day.* And the lack of MiLB OF reps for Sano does look a lot like the Twins were/are just making it up as they go along.* Pretty amateurish "plan". *(waiting and hoping for the phone to ring on Plouffe...).
  24. jokin
    You've cherry-picked some numbers here- his not just solid, but dominating numbers deserve equal mention in order to make the full evaluation of Meyer's potential. Let's not forget, that he was on everybody's Top 10-Top 30+ prospect lists, going into 2015. IE- Meyer led AAA baseball SPs in 2014 in K/9 (10.54), K% (27.15%) and K%-BB% (15.8%).... by wide margins.... to the second place SP finisher in each category. He ranked 4th overall in OBA @ .236... whereas, even with that low batting average, his BABIP was 7th highest overall @ .321- that's a lot of bad luck and bad fielding, and further indication that he wasn't just "solid", but a dominating International League SP. And forget about assuming that Meyer must have been subject to the gopher ball to inflate the ERA... His HR/9 ratio was a paltry 0.69... ranked 13th best among IL SPs. And also obviously, the aforementioned WHIP and ERA, while certainly being inflated by the higher BB% were offset by the ridiculously high K/9, along with the lowest LD% (15.9%) in the IL and 6th best GB% (45.3%). Let's face it, the kid has (had?) some pretty unhittable stuff. Kind of the epitome of the term, "effectively wild". The previous poster was right, Meyer's 2014 performance contained the numbers of an absolute blooming, yet wild, SP stud. Something(s) went severely off the rails since then- only assigning the percentages of blame for what has transpired since then remain to still be meted out.
  25. jokin
    Follow the $$$$, tobi. Think how much Ryan saves when May first goes to arbitration in 2018 if he stays in the pen for the next two seasons.
×
×
  • Create New...