Badsmerf

Is it wrong that most of the articles I completely skip nowadays and just go straight into commenting like I read the whole thing? No? Whew, that was a load off my shoulders. It must be hard for the regular bloggers to think of stuff (correction... baseball related stuff) to blog about. Usually when I feel the need for a blog it has nothing to do about baseball, not really anyway. Its time for a revolution. We as members need to take over the blogs and articles section from current incumbents. Years of turmoil and oppression from the main page has beaten us down. We need to stand up. Blog about random dumb things as much as possible (please try to make sense though, I wont name names but somebody's blogs are pretty loony). Why can't we read a blog about the under-armor boxer-brief mania that has been sweeping the Twins clubhouse? Or the new Axe body spray Aaron Hicks is using? Come on guys. Lets think outside the diamond (hehe, yeah I did that).

Big fan of this move. Buy low for the Twins. Kubel will provide some depth at DH and a corner OF spot. He also allows Willingham or him to be trade bait at the deadline. Hopefully the concrete has cured enough to allow him to hit some HR's....

If that is the roster Terry Ryan will not be the GM of the Twins in 2015. That roster means he makes absolutely no moves at all. I'm very doubtful that happens.

The Twins should absolutely do it. I would do a one year deal with an option on it. There is too much money available in the budget to not do a low risk/high reward deal like this. 2014 might not be a playoff team... but 2015 could be a pretty good team. If Santana can find a little juice left it would be a huge move.

I have to wonder if they will give Dozier another shot at SS when Rosario is ready. Hopefully the recent play is for real... he hasn't really showed any signs of slowing down.

Let him stay in AA for the rest of the year. Allow adjustments to happen and try to finish the season strong. Depending on how Plouffe finishes the season, I could see him pushing (not actually making) for the 3b spot in 2014. If Plouffe fails he could be up as soon as May, if Plouffe performs the Twins will have a nice problem of a MLB star that is ready and a competent starter blocking him. He's still going to be getting to the MLB very quickly so allowing a nice adjustment period while advancing is perfectly acceptable.

Why are you assuming Worley would be a big part of the rotation? I don't get these types of assumptions.

What this data shows me, is that none of it is relevant to a winning team. The numbers are all over the board and shows no correlation with successful Twins teams vs. unsuccessful Twins teams. I get that the point of your blog is to highlight "Twins Way" stats, which I believe you did a good job doing. I'm a "Twins Way" hater though, I despise putting value and making big decisions on things are not pertinent to winning games. I think the "Twins Way" is something they just talk about now, which doesn't make me feel much better about it.

I like Plouffe and hope he can be apart of the Twins future. Even if Sano comes up at 3b, Plouffe has enough talent to move around to keep his bat in the line-up. It wouldn't be so bad to have a guy like Plouffe that can play multiple positions while put up about an 800 OPS. If the line-up is that good that the Twins can't find a full-time position for him I think it will be a good problem to have.

Next year? We don't even know if he can AA pitching yet mane.

Strangely, this is a normal post.... On a side note, totally had you pegged as a weird 30 year old college chick that is into drama and E-entertainment. My condolences.

This adjustment was expected. We've known the type of hitter Arcia is for a few years now. It was expected that pitchers would start to try and make him chase out of the zone. Good analysis Parker. I'd like to have the inside info about how they are trying to get Arcia to adjust.

We are in the middle of an 8-game losing streak which has seen the Twins outscored 51-22 and completely inept at times. The starting rotation is in shambles and managed to make it through just 29.1 innings in these games with only 2 starts getting past the 5th inning. Needless to say, the offense hasn't been much better. A bad starting rotation and an anemic offense amount to losing games in bunches. How do we fix it? Luckily for the 3 people that read this,I know all the right answers. Paying for a legit starting pitcher 6 months ago would have helped. Fortunately, there is a little light in the tunnel for the Twins. I'm not sure if now is the right time to make big moves like the ones I'll be advocating, but at some point it might be necessary. I'm just going to talk about 3 guys that could come up and provide quality starts. One of them, Gibson, is likely to be on his way to Minnesota already with Worley being sent down. Mostly, the rotation needs help and Terry Ryan should be under a lot of heat for not properly addressing it in the offseason. First, I'm baffled by the Twins expectations and inconsistencies in their player handling. Hendriks (not one of the 3 since he is hurt) started the year a few "meh" starts, the second seemingly better than the first. Yet was sent down after 2 average starts while Worley was allowed to be the worst starting pitcher in the MLB for 10 starts. Currently, he has a 1.004 OPS against, that is combined, not just against Miguel Cabrera. Anyway, the 3 I'm talking about are Gibson, Albers and Meyer. Deduno, however, is not part of my list, and will most likely show why in his brief (my prediction) time with the Twins this year. Gibson is most likely to make his appearance soon. I wanted consistency from him before going to the MLB, but he is going to be up for good at some point and his complete game shutout in his last start is enough evidence to me he is ready. Need I say more? The next choice is Albers. Albers hasn't had a look in the MLB yet, but is putting together a nice season. A TJ surgery victim in 2009, he has missed some of his prime development time. While I don't think Albers is a saving grace, I do think he could put together respectable starts. This season's statistics might be a little skewed by sample size though, since he is striking out batters much better than ever before. Mainly, he doesn't walk people (averages 1.8 BB/9 through the minors) and has been great at not giving up HR's (averages .4 HR/9). Combined with being a lefty on a staff dominated by righties and he might have some success. Next is Meyer. He should be up after super-2 status is past. Reasoning? Because he has ****ing talent you dimwaud. He would instantly be the best pitcher in the rotation, and most likely to get the best results. Going forward if the Twins take their time with their best prospects they are going to lose fans. Nobody wants to go see a scrub rotation give up 8 or 9 runs and not get through the 5th inning. Keep this up and the bullpen is going to break down and the Twins would be in a world of hurt if Perkins or Burton get hurt. Meyer will be competing for a spot in the 2014 rotation, and if he doesn't make it out of spring it wont be long until he forces his way in. Again, because he has ****ing talent, the thing that Terry Ryan and co. have neglected to draft or trade for in almost 10 years (slight exaggeration). This opinion might be premature on Meyer since his results haven't been sparkling, but I think he will start building a case quickly. How do you get these 3 in the rotation? Worley is already down and Gibson up, so one down. When Deduno fails (which he will), Albers is then primed for a call-up. He has to be added to the 40-man so pass Butera through waivers. A no-hit catcher that is on the DL shouldn't have much problem passing. Around the deadline when it is obvious this team is going nowhere and someone is traded you can then add Meyer and put him in the rotation. This rotation wont magically make a run in August, but it will be much more interesting and easier to watch than the current version.

We are in the middle of an 8-game losing streak which has seen the Twins outscored 51-22 and completely inept at times. The starting rotation is in shambles and managed to make it through just 29.1 innings in these games with only 2 starts getting past the 5th inning. Needless to say, the offense hasn't been much better. A bad starting rotation and an anemic offense amount to losing games in bunches. How do we fix it? Luckily for the 3 people that read this,I know all the right answers. Paying for a legit starting pitcher 6 months ago would have helped. Fortunately, there is a little light in the tunnel for the Twins. I'm not sure if now is the right time to make big moves like the ones I'll be advocating, but at some point it might be necessary. I'm just going to talk about 3 guys that could come up and provide quality starts. One of them, Gibson, is likely to be on his way to Minnesota already with Worley being sent down. Mostly, the rotation needs help and Terry Ryan should be under a lot of heat for not properly addressing it in the offseason. First, I'm baffled by the Twins expectations and inconsistencies in their player handling. Hendriks (not one of the 3 since he is hurt) started the year a few "meh" starts, the second seemingly better than the first. Yet was sent down after 2 average starts while Worley was allowed to be the worst starting pitcher in the MLB for 10 starts. Currently, he has a 1.004 OPS against, that is combined, not just against Miguel Cabrera. Anyway, the 3 I'm talking about are Gibson, Albers and Meyer. Deduno, however, is not part of my list, and will most likely show why in his brief (my prediction) time with the Twins this year. Gibson is most likely to make his appearance soon. I wanted consistency from him before going to the MLB, but he is going to be up for good at some point and his complete game shutout in his last start is enough evidence to me he is ready. Need I say more? The next choice is Albers. Albers hasn't had a look in the MLB yet, but is putting together a nice season. A TJ surgery victim in 2009, he has missed some of his prime development time. While I don't think Albers is a saving grace, I do think he could put together respectable starts. This season's statistics might be a little skewed by sample size though, since he is striking out batters much better than ever before. Mainly, he doesn't walk people (averages 1.8 BB/9 through the minors) and has been great at not giving up HR's (averages .4 HR/9). Combined with being a lefty on a staff dominated by righties and he might have some success. Next is Meyer. He should be up after super-2 status is past. Reasoning? Because he has ****ing talent you dimwaud. He would instantly be the best pitcher in the rotation, and most likely to get the best results. Going forward if the Twins take their time with their best prospects they are going to lose fans. Nobody wants to go see a scrub rotation give up 8 or 9 runs and not get through the 5th inning. Keep this up and the bullpen is going to break down and the Twins would be in a world of hurt if Perkins or Burton get hurt. Meyer will be competing for a spot in the 2014 rotation, and if he doesn't make it out of spring it wont be long until he forces his way in. Again, because he has ****ing talent, the thing that Terry Ryan and co. have neglected to draft or trade for in almost 10 years (slight exaggeration). This opinion might be premature on Meyer since his results haven't been sparkling, but I think he will start building a case quickly. How do you get these 3 in the rotation? Worley is already down and Gibson up, so one down. When Deduno fails (which he will), Albers is then primed for a call-up. He has to be added to the 40-man so pass Butera through waivers. A no-hit catcher that is on the DL shouldn't have much problem passing. Around the deadline when it is obvious this team is going nowhere and someone is traded you can then add Meyer and put him in the rotation. This rotation wont magically make a run in August, but it will be much more interesting and easier to watch than the current version.

Arcia will not struggle like Hicks. Completely different players, with Arcia's bat being much much better. He might not hit .300 this season as a rookie, but I don't think .280 would be out of reach. I'm very bullish on Arcia and had him as my #1 prospect to start the year.

If I was the Twins I'd let him stay until May. If he hasn't shown any signs of putting it together by then he needs to be demoted. By then he should have 100 AB's, and we should have a better idea. For now, it could just be a bad slump while adjusting to MLB pitching. I don't like making knee jerk reactions (like starting him with the MLB club in the first place), so patience is important.

There is a problem with this argument. The first is the assumption that Mauer will have 50 extra baserunners on in front of him, the next that they would be RISP, and the next is that Mauer would drive them in. Plus, if you have a #2 hitting getting on-base at one of the lowest levels of any player in the entire MLB, you are giving essentially giving the 2nd most AB's in a season to one of the worst hitters in the MLB on purpose. This is completely illogical. Many would be fine with Mauer hitting 3rd if there was a legit option on the roster. OBP doesn't make this argument. The benefit of Mauer batting second is the immediate pressure he puts on pitchers. Almost 60% of the time a runner will be on base with 1 out when Willingham hits in the 1st inning now (assuming Mauer 40% Hicks 33% and the odds that neither reach base is about 40%). So, now you have your best chance to get an XBH in the next 2 AB's and a runner that can score from first. With an incompetent 2 hitter and since Mauer doesn't hit many XBH, the odds of scoring are less. Anyway, just a little statistics to consider.

If yesterday's game is any indication for the season, I believe he will be fine. All I ask is for a competent line-up, solid situation decisions and correctly handling young players. I have doubts he can win in the postseason as evidence by his horrific record. I think moving on from him would send the wrong message IMO. He should have been let go after the last ugly playoff series where the players looked beat from the first pitch. Funny, he was AL Manager of the year that season. Now, you would be moving on from a guy that was given a terrible roster for 2 season and paid the price.

No, I'm just giving you the two options to keep things simple.

I'm not very convinced by this. A lot of optimism thinking this team could even come close to 80 wins. The starting pitching just isn't good enough. Diamond is going to regress, Worley will pitch have a dip in number while changing leagues, Harden might not be a starting pitcher anymore, Correia is going to struggle with the league change, Pelfrey might not make it through the season, and Hendriks is still unproven. I hope your optimism because reality, but future looks bleak.

So I was curious the other about my believed ineptitude of the Twins at the DH position. So I looked up basically the last 10 years of position specific hitting. Surprisingly, the Twins have utilized the DH pretty well. Obviously, they are not Boston with David Ortiz, but it hasn't been Rondel White numbers either. In the recent history, they had Thome which clearly boosted their numbers. For a few years they were right at the top of the league! I stopped a second, made sure I was looking up the right position (not catcher/1b) and said "good play Twins, we'll see how long that lasts." Despite their lack of a true DH, they have usually been middle of the pack. However, the one that hurts is in 2006 when the DH posted a .676 OPS only slightly above Seattle. While I can accept the Twins haven't been completely inept at the position, it still bothers me the way they handle it. Obviously using Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau, Micheal Cuddyer, Jason Kubel at DH have boosted the numbers since 2006. Needless to say, they are all position players, and using them as a DH inserts a back-up into the line-up..... and most likely, a futility infielder or no-hit catcher. That, is the part the bugs me. So while the DH numbers have looked ok, it is covering up the fact that position in the line-up is actually being occupied by someone that has no business getting 400 MLB AB's in a year. Things are starting to come together a little now, right? I'm advocating for a legitimate full-time DH. One that can post an .800+ OPS for the position without help from other players, one that can hit for power, and one that MN fans like. I'm advocating for Josh Willingham to move to DH for the next 3 years. His contract is only through next year? If he is healthy all off-season you extend him 2 years at about the same money he is at now an move him to DH where he can stay healthy. This does a few things. First, and best of all, it takes AB's away from futility INF like Florimon, Escobar, Carroll (wait, that is like all our MI INF... whaaaat). Next, when guys like Mauer, Plouffe, ect. need a day off, they can actually take a day off and not just DH. That is one of the things that bugs me about Gardy. If you want a guy to take a rest (Mauer) give him an actual rest! I get the keeping the bat in the line-up thing, but the Twins have a pretty decent bat in Doumit now, and have an ok option in AAA once Doumit leaves in Herrmann. He could still do this on day Willingham gets off, but I'd accept more games without Mauer in the line-up at all if we had a DH like Willingham where the drop-off in the line-up is only one position. I think it would also allow Mauer to catch more games, which would be another added bonus. The Twins have a glut of OF coming in the near future (Hicks is already here). Arcia coming up could push Willingham to DH instead of Parmelee to 1b like many are speculating. This would allow the Twins to bring Arcia up as soon as this year. I'm in favor of a real DH. An asset to the line-up. A RH power bat to drive in runs. I want this team to win, regardless of my distaste for ineptitude of the front office. I hope they consider it, because moves like this are what teams that want to compete do.

So I was curious the other about my believed ineptitude of the Twins at the DH position. So I looked up basically the last 10 years of position specific hitting. Surprisingly, the Twins have utilized the DH pretty well. Obviously, they are not Boston with David Ortiz, but it hasn't been Rondel White numbers either. In the recent history, they had Thome which clearly boosted their numbers. For a few years they were right at the top of the league! I stopped a second, made sure I was looking up the right position (not catcher/1b) and said "good play Twins, we'll see how long that lasts." Despite their lack of a true DH, they have usually been middle of the pack. However, the one that hurts is in 2006 when the DH posted a .676 OPS only slightly above Seattle. While I can accept the Twins haven't been completely inept at the position, it still bothers me the way they handle it. Obviously using Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau, Micheal Cuddyer, Jason Kubel at DH have boosted the numbers since 2006. Needless to say, they are all position players, and using them as a DH inserts a back-up into the line-up..... and most likely, a futility infielder or no-hit catcher. That, is the part the bugs me. So while the DH numbers have looked ok, it is covering up the fact that position in the line-up is actually being occupied by someone that has no business getting 400 MLB AB's in a year. Things are starting to come together a little now, right? I'm advocating for a legitimate full-time DH. One that can post an .800+ OPS for the position without help from other players, one that can hit for power, and one that MN fans like. I'm advocating for Josh Willingham to move to DH for the next 3 years. His contract is only through next year? If he is healthy all off-season you extend him 2 years at about the same money he is at now an move him to DH where he can stay healthy. This does a few things. First, and best of all, it takes AB's away from futility INF like Florimon, Escobar, Carroll (wait, that is like all our MI INF... whaaaat). Next, when guys like Mauer, Plouffe, ect. need a day off, they can actually take a day off and not just DH. That is one of the things that bugs me about Gardy. If you want a guy to take a rest (Mauer) give him an actual rest! I get the keeping the bat in the line-up thing, but the Twins have a pretty decent bat in Doumit now, and have an ok option in AAA once Doumit leaves in Herrmann. He could still do this on day Willingham gets off, but I'd accept more games without Mauer in the line-up at all if we had a DH like Willingham where the drop-off in the line-up is only one position. I think it would also allow Mauer to catch more games, which would be another added bonus. The Twins have a glut of OF coming in the near future (Hicks is already here). Arcia coming up could push Willingham to DH instead of Parmelee to 1b like many are speculating. This would allow the Twins to bring Arcia up as soon as this year. I'm in favor of a real DH. An asset to the line-up. A RH power bat to drive in runs. I want this team to win, regardless of my distaste for ineptitude of the front office. I hope they consider it, because moves like this are what teams that want to compete do.

bluesky, a long running joke on the old message board quite a few frequent poster came from was that of elitism. There comes a point in following/watching baseball where you achieve a deeper understanding. Like Seth pointed out, if you wanted you can over-analyze every decision in this game. I love that part of the game and also wish I had my innocence back again.

You are either on to something, or you're on something.

The first step in realizing you have a problem is admitting to it right? Well, apparently the next step either doesn't exist or is locked away in Gringott's to never see the light of day. Thing is, I'm an elitist. Whew. That was more difficult than it seems... actually, na not really. I have a problem reading nonsense and tolerating irrational or outrageous (deemed by me of course) thoughts. Its not that you don't have a right to post about anything you want, its just that you are probably wrong if you feel like: 1) a particular trade makes sense for both teams 2) you've stumbled upon some diamond in the rough no MLB team has yet 3) you disagree with anything I post 4) you don't use stats for arguments (no saber is not from star wars). I don't want to automatically dismiss your posts (unless you meet said criteria), but feel we would all be better off there was a concentrated effort to correct it. That said, lets go over proper baseball discussion etiquette. Stats are king, as are direct quotes, video examples, and the occasional infatuation with young adult boys/men. I understand you think he's great, simma down naw... no need to ruin a good pair of shorts. Lets introduce thinking objectively and critically. Put yourself on the other side of the argument/discussion, what evidence could be used to persuade you? Does talking in circles and using straw-men work? No, lets try real evidence then. If the evidence does not support you then maybe you are wrong. Its ok, I find myself wrong often; I just do it before putting things out on a message board and defending false stance for 5 pages. Again, not everybody is me and appreciate individuality... to a point. Back on track. If you ever feel the need to use "clutch" "scrappy" "does the little things" or any of the other stupid cliches just do us all a favor and punch yourself in the face afterwards. You can post what you want, I would just appreciate you doing to yourself what I can't do when I read it. That is a little dose of elitism for everyone. I'm sure there will be more to come once the regular season starts and I start hearing how Plouffe is no good because he only hits HR's when nobody is on base, or how Correia is pitching well by only giving up 4 runs in 6 IP. Thinking about it already makes me want to punch somebody in the face.