SeanS7921

You do know that the only loss for Span or Plouffe was the absence of another player to replace them right? The DL is retroactive so if say Span needed another 5 days off they could have then put him on the DL but only for a few days. Its not like they were like okay know he has to spend 15 days on the DL after waiting 13 days... So what's the big deal? Seriously? Did the Twins really need that 4th bench guy when they are 20 games+ under 500? If it turned out that Span could come back in 10 days then they saved 5 days from putting him on the DL! Glad we brought up Nishioka to replace Plouffe there for a bit! Oh wait, I guess healthy bodies isn't all it's cracked up to be. Let's waste an option or mess up the 40 man roster because we need Span on that DL right now! The Twins should just know how injured somebody is within a day or two despite what the players says. We need that extra guy! We need to throw pitchers under the knife at the first sign of an elbow injury! Do you hear! The first sign. If we try to let Alex Wimmers heal himself and save 12 months of rehab that's dumb. We need to have guys just say - Tommy John even if it's a foot injury. Granted I'm not a Doctor per say. But, I know that the Twins aren't handling their injuries correctly and they need to change it. I don't like when players say they will be better in 4-5 days and it takes 10-11 days instead!

All Joe C wanted was to rip on Mauer as that gets the Mob going. I totally dislike him because of that, but that's what he did. A large group of Twins fans loath Mauer because of the money he makes. He got hurt last year so now is soft. Now in 2012 he is not clutch. A lot think he isn't playing that great this year either. If you did a poll you would see a large percentage say Plouffe is having a better year that Joe Mauer. 19HR is a lot better than a 317AVE, 412OBP and 3.8WAR.

Carroll just missed a great play early in the game and had a crazy hop that was hardly his fault. If you look at advanced stats he has been exceptional at SS, great at 3B and awesome at 2B. The guy can flat out field.

His defense at short wasn't that bad, errors aren't a great stat to go by. His UZR was right around 0 with over 700+ innings. I don't get why he never took pitches or seemed to take coaching direction though. If he could have taken 15 more walks and worked the count he would have had on OBP of 315 or so. That would be adequate with his defense. He made a lot of dumb plays in the field but I think you could chalk that up to being a rookie. But yeah in reality he didn't seem to care to not be Delmon Young at the plate and he is pretty old to suck that bad.

J J Hardy WAR was 4.8 including outstanding defense in 2011. To say he would have been better as a Twin is highly doubtfull based on him saying he got his swing fixed by the Twins. I doubt Hardy would have hit 30+ Home Runs in 2011 at Target Field considering his pull power didn't get it done there in 2010. As for Nishioka he HARDLY played in 2011 for the Twins so he didn't have real impact on the team. That's the whole point! He hasn't cost the Twins anything on the field and you can only make the assumption that Hardy was traded due to Nishioka. The guys who replaced Hardy and played most of the time for Nishioka were only below Hardy's performance. The Twins still would have had the worst record in the AL with Hardy. Alexi Casilla before his injury was played slightly below average at short and slightly above average at 2B with an overal WAR of 1.4. Trevor Plouffe also filled in and was below average all of the field but did hit for some power. (1.1 offensive WAR). NOW Hardy got a 3 year deal through 2014 for 7 million a year as much as Josh Willinham. His WAR 1.1 is worse than Jamey Carroll 1.8 and has two more years to go. If the Twins had signed Hardy to the three year deal we would get the post - Twins must erase memory of JJ Hardy Deal. The Twins problem in 2011 was no Joe Mauer, Injuries and no Starting Pitching. The Twins problem in 2012 is No Starting Pitching. On a side note Jamey Carroll gets no love as he can't hit a home run (OPS BS again) but he should actually win the gold glove at 3B, 2B and SS. His fielding has been oustanding with a large amount of innings at each position.

They had to sign Nishoka to a multi year deal or else they wouldn't have got him. Obviously that would be ideal now but at the time Nishioka was considered a lot better prospect then he turned out to be. At the very least his defense was thought to be better. If they are going to pay 5 million for the chance to sign him they weren't giving him a one year deal. He could have easily said no and walked back to Japan again if they were prepared to pay 5 million they were going to give him multi-year deal.

Nishioka has been a disaster in that in his limited play he has been horrible. Overall, it's just Internet, and Radio blabber for fans and people who like to rip on the Twins. Last year signing Nishioka and if true that being the reason the Twins traded Hardy cost the Twins 2 wins or so. 65-97 instead yeah! If some great play by Ryan is needed so that WE forget about Nishioka needs to occur then the should just fold the organization. The Twins are out 14 million. End of story.

No Trevor Plouffe hasn't even been close to the level of Mauer's performance. Below average defense at 3rd base and a 330 OBP with a 259 Average doesn't translate into a better season than a player who leads the league in OBP and is in the top 5 in average with a war 3+ as opposed to Plouffe who has one around 2. Plouffe has struck out 57 times. That is 2 less than Mauer while having a 100 less at bats. It's not even close.

OPS isn't a very good stat as it totally undervalues players who get on base as opposed to players that do not but hit home runs. Slugging % is a way more important piece in the calculation thatn OBP. Ben Revere is mentioned as crud except he plays well on the Defensive side. The guy has an OBP % over 350 and may win the batting title while stealing 40+ bases. Right there that shows you how weak OPS is. It impacts Mauer as well when is OPS relates him to the same category as Trevor Plouffe despite a 70 pt difference in Average and 90 point difference in OBP. WAR is a MUCH better stat which is briefly mentioned for Revere. The lineup is perfect minus one addition to SS or 2B. Most likely get rid of Dozier who sucks and get a utility guy like Carroll that can give you defense and a 1-1.5 WAR which would be sufficent.

Morneau is so good again. He is finally hitting like an average first baseban. YEEEA! Lets hope he doesn't fall down, get hit by a pitch or punch a wall the rest of the season or else next year is a wash. What do average first basemen with a huge salary go for in the trade market? Nothing that's what. If they could dump his contract it would be great but I doubt any team would do that even for nothing in return.

Lot of love from the Boogers I mean bloggers for Morneau. Lot of love. Lot of critique of Mauer and his 23 mil. Morneau and his 14 mil? He has a brain injury (ahem mild concussion)! His UZR -2.0 this year at 1B - Pathetic. WAR .6 - Pathetic. 260 ave 322 OBP. Chris Parmelee could do all of that for 13.5 million less. Brian Dozier of all people is worth more to the Twins. BUT, Morneau will play well next year. Do you know why? It's a contract year. His 4 year vacation is over and he will want some new bank roll.

Buxton is the top prospect the Twins have. He actually has two talents that would rate as an 80 on the 20-80 scale no other Twins prospect has an 80 rating. Sano might have a 70 in Power. Buxton has an 80 in speed and an 80 arm. He has the most potential. I assume you don't rate Chris Parmelee and Liam Hendriks as propsects anymore even though if they were traded they would be prospects. Both in the Top 12 in the Twins system. Guys like Wheeler and BJ Hermesen have fun numbers in the minors but are 5 starters at best. Look at the K rates look at the competition. Not top 15 at all. Berrios is maybe top 15 but certainly not top 10 yet or even close to 5. That must have been a - Look what I did throw in. Alex Wimmers is to low. He has 3rd starter stuff and that still counts for something compared to guys like Wheeler and BJ.

As for Dozier I know he is a Seth guy and a Gardy guy but his numbers are atrocious even for a Rookie. The one thing I'd say his his fielding errors have been pronounced but overall he hasn't been terrible at the position. But a 272 OBP .2 WAR with average Defense creates no optimism. His minor league numbers don't back up that this is just an adjustment to the majors either. He's 25 as well, at that age if you were actually a prospect you would expect way better numbers. If this team had two quality starters to go with Diamond (Guys who could pitch 200 innings 2-4 WAR and K rates at 6 or above) along with a SS or 2B (Carroll outstanding Utility guy) who could give them 1-2 WAR they probably would be close to a playoff team. They never would have started so bad and would probably be around 500 if not better.

I think the Twins should move Morneau if someone will eat the 14 million due to him next year and the Twins eat this year. With that I'm be giddy with a B prospect but a Player to be named would work to. If the Twins lose that 14 million they will have salary flexbility going forward and Morneau has brought no value to the Twins for that money. .5 WAR, lost his defensive value and he can't hit lefties. The Twins probably won't complete in 2013 and at that point Morneau is free agent. The lineup has been solid with Span, Revere, Mauer, Willingham, Plouffe & Doumit. They don't need Morneau and Parmelee could probably do what Morneau has done (AAA numbers exciting) for 13.5 million less.

I think the Twins would be looking for A LOT more than what is mentioned for Josh Willingham. One name would be mandatory - Gary Brown top 30 prospect in baseball. After that the Giants don't have jack for prospects. Chris Stratton RHP and Joe Panik being the best. They wouldn't rate top 100 in baseball though. I'd expect all three for Willingham and consider it a ripoff. Span for Joe Panik and Stratton would work and Liriano for Panik and a throw in might work. Lot of better prospects in a lot other organizations.

Why is Joe Mauer's health still in question? He hasn't been on DL this year. He is playing catcher, DH and 1B well and has monster stats (minus HRs). But no, his health is in question...

I like Revere and I hope Parmelee gets more playing time to see if he can be a 1B/DH platoon guy for the Twins in the Future. Plouffe is hitting amazingly well but he can't play 3rd base despite announcers and blogger hope. He sucks bad, whcih causes a traffic jam in the Outfield because Plouffe should be a RF or DH. Trading Span for pitching makes a lot of sense. Revere should be playing CF he is a top-5 outfielder in the game due to his range. Span is playing well so it's a good time to deal. Willingham and Mauer have been great. I don't seem to understand why people think Morneau has been affective. At 15 million a year his has a 300 OBP, a horrific average and hasn't hit a home run in sometime plus apparently he is a platoon player now as he can't hit lefties. If they could trade him just to dump his 15 million next year that would be outstanding. Then yes, agreed with all the rest the Twins could contend next year with some starting pitching and they would have money freed up to get a couple of guys in FA along with possible guys like Hendriks, Gibson and Diamond.

This doesn't help readers. Garrett Jones is a medicore player at best. A great player!? 1st OPS is a highly overrated state that doesn't taken into account fielding and grossly overestimates slugging percentage while barely taking into account OBP. Besides that his guys OPS isn't that great anyway. Now let's really look at his stats - 1. Garrett Jones is a platoon player. In his full season in 2010 he was horrible against Left Handed pitching. Since then he doesn't play against lefties hence why he doesn't play all the time. He can't hit left handed pitching at all. Right there he isn't a full time player. 2. Garrett Jones can't field 1st base or any position. In 2011 at 1st base his UZR was -13.2. He cost over 13 runs at a position that is considered one of the easiest in the game. This year he is at -14.1. Truly end of the World type stats. In 2010 his UZR was -8.4. Garrett Jones can't field. 3. Garrett Jones can't really hit. Garrett Jones has 5 BB this year. Garrett Jones WAR in 2011 was .9. In 2010 it was .2 In 2009 it was 2.8 (OK that's decent)! This year it's basically zero. Basically Garrett Jones can't hit. He has on OBP in 2012 of 273 and in 2011 it was 321 and iin 2010 it was 306. In his one good year it was 372 in limited time in 2009. His decent WAR year. Garrett Jones occasional hits a home run but that's what guys that play 1B are supposed to do. His overall numbers are pathetic and he is limited as a situational player that really needs to play DH. Maybe he will get a minimum deal next year to DH off the bench for an AL team. As for the Twins losing him, you can find a guy like him on most AAA ballclubs. If a club wants him he would be marginally effect against right handed hitters if he didn't have to field. A good bench bat.