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Kwak

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Everything posted by Kwak

  1. Kwak
    I having great difficulty shedding a tear for Pelfrey. Considering....
  2. Kwak
    Santana wasn't "all that" as a CF. He was fast (so was Revere), his routes weren't special (anybody have memories of a Torii Hunter 10 years ago?), his throws were too often off target. We weren't seeing (defensively speaking) Griffey Jr., Devon White, or even Torii Hunter. In short, Santana wasn't and still isn't "the answer" at CF. What he did was hit and generate offense. Santana's offense was such a breath of fresh air we sort of overlooked his "warts". There is no reason to believe that those hitting results were exclusive to Santana as a CF as opposed to being a SS. Santana's Spring 2015 has been all that could be hoped (so far). We should applaud him and welcome him as the SS of today and hopefully the future.
  3. Kwak
    The Twins painted themselves into a corner. The October 2014 proclamation of an $85MM budget "...is about enough..." signaled the Front Office's plan. An immediate howl of disdain came from the "paying peanut gallery". An additional $21MM was found (please tell me where I can find such largesse for me!) and Hunter and Santana were signed to free agent contracts. Bluntly, these guys were signed to immediately "turn the ship around" and WIN NOW. Implications: Hunter and Santana are "regulars" and the entire team must commit to put "the best 9" (as of right now) on the field in order to WIN NOW. The "up-and-comers" will simply have to wait (unless of course a guy is deemed to be in the "best 9" group).
  4. Kwak
    That's why teams have "options" on players. If a turn at the majors doesn't work--back he goes to the minors "to work on things". Added bonus, the player has some real experience at the majors and knows "what needs to be fixed". A more important bonus--when they succeed the team has actually been improved.
  5. Kwak
    Exactly! The game is decided by runs not walks. MLB succeeded for many years without getting freaked-out by pitch count. Despite yielding the fewest walks per season (frequently), theTwins staff have generally been at or near the bottom in rankings. I think the Twins need to adopt "conventional" thinking about pitching. The use of free-agents to build a staff is a start, but they need to continue to "go mainstream" and forget trying to "outsmart" the rest of baseball.
  6. Kwak
    Burdi is a guy who should b fast-tracked to the majors.
  7. Kwak
    The LOOGY is the position to eliminate. LHP have to be able to pitch a full inning including RH batters. Granted that inning might be initially against a LHB, but not just one batter. Duensing has pitched against RHBs. If the Twins can't find LHPs they need to find RHP who consistently get the outs. Seek quality pitchers not "one-trick-ponies".
  8. Kwak
    Wait! $21MM was added to the budget this year to "build for the future"--these guys are supposed to "win now". The active roster will skew "old" by design. Milhone, Pelfrey, Stauffer and whatever veterans will be the pitching staff. Position players will also skew old. I believe the real challenge will be this Summer: If the team (somehow) is winning, is more money spent to truly "win now", or is it the same old soft shoe we saw before?; If the team is losing (as expected) do they promote the minor leaguers en masse (like this decade) and charge major league prices for minor league talent and hope the experience the new players get truly develop them?; Or, stick with the status quo for the rest of the season, thus wasting another year? Considering my calendar said "Spring" arrived just yesterday, I guess I will have to wait until my calendar says "Summer".
  9. Kwak
    They traded Denard Span for this?
  10. Kwak
    Considering Perkins has stated that he wants to stay in Minnesota and segue into a front office career, I hardly think he would ever publicly disagree with company policy.
  11. Kwak
    When I read the article I thought, "About Time!". Baseball should not attempt to be a chess match betwen managers. I cringe every time I read "...baseball should expand rosters to 27...". MLB has a staed policy of speeding-up the game--Great! One excellent way is to reduce the number of piching changes. o! I don't mean by rule, but by typical practice. Relief pitchers should pitch longer (when effective). Specialists slow the game down. A "closer" is a specialist--and having one of them is OK. But more is gagging. An 8th inning guy, a 7th inning guy, a LOOGY, a long-guy, plus "mop-up guy". Yikes! Too Much! Thirteen position players and 12 pitchers is too constraining. 14 and 11 is OK, 15 and 10 is even better. Reading the refereced article clearly illustrates that replacing Gardenhire and his baseball crutches was the right decision.
  12. Kwak
    Some time ago I posted that if neither May or Meyer were in the rotation, what does that say about Ryan's "trades"? The OF was gutted of CFers for minor league pitchers. If these two can't make the rotation because "value-priced" veterans exist, why make the trades? It wasn't like Span and Revere were some overpriced, over-the-hill OFers (like Hunter)?
  13. Kwak
    Under those terms, it would be better for PHL to keep him--that would virtually guarantee that they get the best draft position for 2016. The Twins? Even if they paid $70MM of his $60MM contract it would be a mistake to take Howard.
  14. Kwak
    Exactly! Push the successful pitchers through the organization--until they stall. Utilize the options on pitchers moving them up and down from the major league, not waste them on aguy who will spend the entire season in the minors. If a pitcher burns-through his options, and doesn't "make it'--so be it! Promote the next candidate or rent a free agent.
  15. Kwak
    The title of the thread: Torii might not retire after 2015 leads the discussion. "Blocking" someone in 2015 isn't the issue here (another thread? maybe?) it's about 2016. Whatever "mentorship" value Hunter brings will have been imparted in 2015. The issue is 2016. This season is [supposed to be] a "bridge year", where the 90+ loss seasons end and are replaced by 80+ losses (89 isn't much of an improvement!). Hunter isn't here to reach the playoffs, his signing is to mollify fans and improve attitudes. Therefore, after 2015--irrespective of Hunter's hitting statistics--it is time to sing Happy Trails to You to Torii. 2016 is the time to play "the future's team", preparing them to become a consistent winner. There is a reason why people don't schedule reunions every year!
  16. Kwak
    The Twins have demonstrated a huge bias for "veterans" instead of rookies. Given the people, the contracts, the past four years, and "rumblings" there is little reason to believe the #5 starter won't be either Milone or Pelfrey. I have yet to ever hear/read any regret by Twins' management about acquiring a "value vet", beginning the season with him as a regular, and then watching him disappoint. I certainly don't think I'll read any regret in 2015 either. They will just insert the "replacement" and bite-their-toungue.
  17. Kwak
    It's not hate. Torii isn't the guy I paid to see 8+ years ago, he is simply an over-the-hill ballplayer. Hunter isn't "the solution" and he isn't "the future"--he's "the past".
  18. Kwak
    Hunter can play as long as he wants--so long as it isn't with the Twins!
  19. Kwak
    The twins don't need "hole-pluggers"--they need top talent. Signing free-agents at that level isn't "in the cards" right now, so they must trade for it. Trades of multiple players for one player, is the most likely way to acquire said talent.
  20. Kwak
    There is basically two philosophies: 1) Promote to challenge/verify worthiness and use the "options" to demote a guy if he doesn't succeed; 2) Promote slowly, using the options while the player is in the minors so you have an older player with more minor league experience to rationalize why a player succeeded or failed. Option 1 requires a willinness to "cut bait" with failures even though the guy is young enough he might turn things around. Option 2 clogs-up a system if a team ever gets to the point of actually having multiple real prospects at every position. I think the Twins should be more aggressive in promoting because they actually have depth through the minors and are demonstrating a willingness to spend more to acquire better (and more of those!) prospects. Option 1 is for revenue challenged teams--and I think the Twins are beyond that level.
  21. Kwak
    The Twins didn't lead the league in striking-out because they took the first pitch--they struck-out because they couldn't hit the last pitch. There were way too many HR swings with two-strike counts especially on questionable "pitches". Perhaps more repititions will help? Or, cutting-down the stroke when beind in the count? One can't fault a player for practicing discipline in hitting when the pitching philosophy is PtoC. The philosophy does have it's drawbacks to be sure--but the whole philosophy has to change in order to be consistent. Swinging at the first pitch pretty much requires a hitter (Dozier or Plouffe) who can realistically "punish the cripple pitch" for a home run, rather than the Mauer Approach of inside-outting the ball.
  22. Kwak
    Better than Arcia? Defensively? If he isn't better than Arcia, he should not have got out of Class A. Offense? The Bavg and OBP bars set by Arcia are certainly attainable, SLG would be a problem. However, if the OPS of Rosario were to be close, defense would see him through. Arcia fans, don't despair. Hunter isn't long for the Twins.
  23. Kwak
    "I hope (Nolasco, Santana, any name here) [do] well, so we can [trade] him." WHAT?! Teams don't sign free agents with the hopes of trading them if they play well, they sign them in expectation that they will win! This rebuild was [done] half-[heartedly] because: 1) the FO initially refused to believe they were in rebuild mode; 2) was more interested in cutting payroll than in putting a winning team on the field; 3) saw their fan base become irate because season tickets become nearly worthless as the losing builds; and 4) mollified management (field and front office) with "veterans" in order to win a (very) few more games immediately.
  24. Kwak
    "... old in the minors..." One could add that to several others, especially those that are projected to be RPs. Given their available options they could yo-yothese guys for three years to challenge them and see who suceeds and who fails.
  25. Kwak
    Article had detailed analysis and improving the bullpen is a must. The extension of this goal is to stop relying on castoffs from other teams (paying-up for proven quality is different) has to stop. Develop your own RPs, so there is an abundance of young, fresh, and strong arms rather than hoping for "...an extra 3-5 mph because so-and-so moves to the bullpen, thus permitting him to [succeed]...". The youth movement, with sufficient quality (and yes those very useful options) would permit a reduction to 12 and even 11 total pitchers on the active roster freeing-up a spot for an extra position player. Matchups? They work both ways (pitching vs hitting) except the hitting team gets the final move.
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