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Blackjack

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Everything posted by Blackjack

  1. Blackjack
    Thanks for the informative write-up John!!!
  2. Blackjack
    If Hicks is that good, why did Seattle waive him??!
  3. Blackjack
    I just hope Buxton can stay healthy for a full season!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  4. Blackjack
    The fans have spoken with their declining attendance at Target Field, which translates into less $8 beers and $10 hot dogs sold. Spend some money to have a competitive team, make more money because the fans attend more games, and have more fun because your team is contending -- or lose a bunch of games. Pick your poison.
  5. Blackjack
    Good review Seth!!! Thanks!!! Roster seems pretty set but still a lot of question marks - Park, Danny Santana, Arcia, Nolasco, Buxton. Will be interesting to see how it finally shakes out. Most of the question marks will probably make it out of spring training but will be on a short leash, come May there will be a lot of shuffling. Good depth!!! They can absorb and injury or two without too much angst.
  6. Blackjack
    Is the glass half full or is the glass half empty?? I'm going with the half full. Every team would like to have a couple #1 starters but they're pretty tough to find, how many teams in MLB can say they even have one?? By having competitive starters that keep you in the game every night you move a long ways down the road to fighting for a championship.
  7. Blackjack
    The older I get the more I realize that slow and steady will win a lot of races. The last couple of years the Twins have upgraded their starters to the point where there is some actual competition for the final spots and a good pitcher will get sent down. Thats a heck of lot better than trotting out the Dedunos and Hendricks of the world!! Now they're in a position to see what happens with this competition and still be competitive. The Twins are slowly moving forward to be a better team and their starting pitching is competitive enough to keep them in most games and give them a chance to win. Slow and steady will win a lot of races.
  8. Blackjack
    Barring injuries I also predict it will be Santana, Hughes, Gibson, Milone, and Nolasco. I'd like to see what Milone can do in a full, injury free season. And having a left-hander in the rotation helps everybody. Then the fight is down to Nolasco, Duffy, and Berrios with Nolasco winning because of his contract. Right or wrong thats just the way the ball bounces. It won't hurt Berrios or Duffy to go down to the minors for a few months. Half the game is mental, show some mental toughness, pull a 'Milone' and go down and be lights out, put yourself in line to be the first one called up when the inevitable injury happens. If we hit July and all seven are still pitching good, the Twins are in a good position to make a trade that will strengthen the team farther. Other teams have injuries or are suddenly in contention, starting pitching is always in demand. Its a win, win, win situation all the way around.
  9. Blackjack
    Back to the original title of this post, I think Suzuki will turn things around in 2016, just because of the competition from Murphy. You can bet that Suzuki will show up to camp in the best shape of his life, with the determination to keep his job. Unless Murphy is truly very good I predict that Suzuki will catch 100+ games.
  10. Blackjack
    Thanks for the first hand update!!! Keep them coming!!!
  11. Blackjack
    I agree!!
  12. Blackjack
    Terry Ryan REALLY likes Kepler!!! Every time I hear TR talk and Kepler is mentioned, he gushes with praise. If he isn't on the roster out of spring training he'll be up by June 1st.
  13. Blackjack
    What is Meyer's status as far as options and being a free agent?? How long is he under Twins control?
  14. Blackjack
    Good article!!! Hopefully several of the other young relievers step up to fill in after Perkins, Jepson, Fien, and May. If so, the relief core could be pretty darn good!!! When I read La Velle's article about Perkins whining I was thinking 'the big baby'. He's getting paid a lot of money to be the closer, wasn't getting it done, Molitor was doing what was best for the team, trying to win games. Perkins should have understood that.
  15. Blackjack
    I hope you are correct!!! Great defense and an acceptable bat for the next 10 years would be great!!! Lets also hope he has learned that he doesn't have to be superman and stays healthy... Only time will tell.
  16. Blackjack
    My prediction is that Kepler gets called up in mid-May to replace Buxton, who gets sent back to AAA because of his .198 batting average. Plouffe doesn't get traded mid-season unless the Twins are 10+ games out and they get a heck of an offer, a couple of prime prospects, from a playoff contender. Rosario, Buxton, Sano out of spring training. Rosario, Kepler, Sano by June 1st. Rosario, Kepler, Sano, Buxton splitting time by Sept 1. Sano starting to get more starts at third. Arcia hangs on all year with an occasional start, doing more DH duties when Park gets sent to AAA in May. The outfield/third base jam gets settled next off-season by trader Terry. Thats my prediction and I'm sticking to it. Of course injuries can and will happen but that just means someone gets called up a little sooner from AAA.
  17. Blackjack
    I hope you're right!!! At this point its 'show me the money' or in his case its show me that you are smart enough to avoid dumb injuries. The Twins are better off with 150 games of a very good Buxton vs 1 game of hi-lite reel Buxton -- and then 50 games on the disabled list. I also cringe at the thought of Buxton colliding with a 250 pound Sano!!
  18. Blackjack
    I wouldn't call them 'fluke' injuries, I'd call them 'over enthusiastic' injuries. He needs to learn how to play smarter and stay on the field or all his 'potential' will go down the drain.
  19. Blackjack
    When do you trade a prospect vs. waiting too long to where he has almost no trade value?? I'm thinking Arcia here but I'm sure you could go back over Twins history and find lots of names (Joe Benson) that just washed out and got released. At some point, if you have multiple prospects at a position you should pick one and trade the other before they are worthless. Or trade the veteran blocking them. Along those lines I'd like to see some of the outfield depth - Walker or Rosario - traded, along with Dozier. Or if Park is the real deal and hits 20 home runs, trade him to make some room.
  20. Blackjack
    The Twins have six young outfielders to fill three positions - Rosario, Buxton, Sano, Arcia, Kepler, and Benson. The three that perform the best will be the starters out of spring training. Each and every one them should have the motivation and incentive to be somewhere training right now, having a 100 balls a day hit to them in the outfield, practicing their hitting under a good coach. The three starters are going to make a lot of money some day, if that doesn't give them incentive, then nothing will. You read it all the time here on TD about 'too many old guys (Hunter, Nolasco, Burton, etc) blocking the young guys'. Now we'll get to see the results of having only young guys competing in the outfield.
  21. Blackjack
    Nice summary Nick!!! Thanks!! It will be interesting to see how the extra outfielder and left-handed relievers spots shake out. The extra outfielder should be fairly easy, but they're going to have to shell out some top dollar or trade some good assets to get a decent reliever.
  22. Blackjack
    $12 million dollars is still a lot of money!!! I think I could feed my family with that. If he was unhappy with the money he could have shot for a shorter 2-3 years deal. He didn't have much leverage. $12 million dollars is a lot of money!!!!!!!!!!!
  23. Blackjack
    Good list. I think Pinto is gone. Perkins, with the motivation of Jepson closing a few games, will be alright, he'll work harder in the off season and the Twins actually have a nice backend of the bullpen combo. I think Meyer, settling down into the married routine, will be alright, maybe not that top starter option that people want, but maybe he could be that third bullpen piece the Twins need. And over time he could develop that third pitch and become a good to great starter. Patience, it takes tall pitchers longer. Arcia is a headcase with lots of talent. He'll be on a very short leash this spring, if he isn't producing by May he's gone. Bad part is that he knows another team will pick him up, wheres his incentive?? Mauer is what he is at this point, declining fast, I think most people didn't realize how good he was until he had the concussions and started his decline. Until the Twins get more hitters that are better than he is, he'll still be at the top of the order. #1 on my list would be the Ervin Santana suspension. At times he pitched pretty good but you have to wonder how much PEDS helped his career and with the Twins having him under contract for three more years -- yikes. Unbelievable that MLB can't put a clause into contracts that automatically nullifies the contract if the player is caught abusing PEDS.
  24. Blackjack
    You are probably right in the long run but in the short term we know that May can be effective in the pen and Twins have a big need in the pen. Can any of the others - Nolasco, Hughes, Gibson, Santana - make the transition?? We don't know. Leave them where they are comfortable, if they fail, you still have Berrios. Duffey has jumped ahead of May in my opinion. May will get his chance, eventually, probably when some contracts expire.
  25. Blackjack
    The Twins have a lot of starters, I'd like to see them keep May in the pen another year. He'd go a looooong ways in solving their bullpen problems. Once some of the big contracts expire, he can get another shot at starting. Right now the Twins need him in the pen.
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