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cmathewson

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Everything posted by cmathewson

  1. cmathewson
    This. But I wouldn't put too much stock in the correlation between Antony's motivational speech and Hicks 4-4 night. Hicks missed the first week of Spring Training and was playing catch up in the second week, but still putting good at bats together while getting about a hit a game with a few walks mixed in. When Antony made those comments, he was in the middle of a 6 for 7 streak, which should continue for a while, if his past streaks are any indication. On the greater issues, Hicks is a better left-handed hitter than Presley. He's a much better right-handed hitter, especially in the power dimension. And a much better fielder. It's really no competition.
  2. cmathewson
    I could see it. He could hit 20 homers this year. The stolen bases will be the harder stat.
  3. cmathewson
    Nick's notebook from today confirms this.
  4. cmathewson
    Hughes has a FB that touches 95. He has a curve that hits 78. That' the kind of differential I'm talking about.
  5. cmathewson
    The Worley part of this trade looks pretty bad. We sure could have used Revere last year, giving Hicks an extra year to develop. Also, acquiring Worley gave us a false sense of security, taking us out of the market for better options on the FA market (e.g. Scott Feldman). All that is in hindsight. Most people here looked at his shiny numbers from 2011 as evidence that Revere for Worley straight up was a good deal, and May was just gravy. We were wrong, and we should have known better. 2011 was an aberration in his career. Irrational exuberance took hold, and I will be the first to take my share of the blame for that. Now it all hinges on May. And that is by no means a sure thing. I continue to believe that a Revere for May trade is a good one. I think May is underrated by people like KLaw. But he needs to progress if he is to be a quality starter. In particular, he needs to improve his strike to ball ratio. Worst case, he'll be a decent reliever. Ben revere for a decent reliever is a bad trade. Ben Revere for a good starter is a good trade.
  6. cmathewson
    In Nick's notebook today, he quotes Gardy on Worley. The gist: Not enough differential between the velocity of his pitches. On Tuesday, I watched him throw everything between 81 and 91. Most of his pitches were between 86 and 91. And none of his pitches have enough movement to pull that off. I hope he goes down there and works on a split or a change or a slower curveball. He needs to do like Mike Trombley did in the mid-90s. He was outrighted off the 40-man, went down and learned the split finger, and returned as a decent reliever.
  7. cmathewson
    Berardino says he's cleared, outrighted to Rochester. Might work out of the pen there.
  8. cmathewson
    I hoped all along that they would do this, in part, because I always hope they would do what is best for the team, now and in the future. When it was clear that they would keep Deduno in the pen, Gibson was the clear choice. Diamond has has trade value. I'm sure they're trying to make a deal. I wouldn't be surprised to see Deduno setting up all year. He really adds a new dimension to the bullpen.
  9. cmathewson
    According to Bernardino, Bartlett handled two chances in RF flawlessly, one was "tricky." In his lone at bat, he worked the count full, fouled off three tough pitches, and then lined and RBI single.
  10. cmathewson
    I think the key to everything with him is ditching the slider and resurrecting the curve, as Parker hinted. With two strikes, you have to go to the out pitch. That was not the slider. It could be the curve, if he drops it on the back corner of home plate, to paraphrase Bert. Lots of people have compared him to Baker. I think their fastballs are similar, though Hughes throws a little harder. When Baker had his best years, he threw that spiked curve as an out pitch off of the four seem fastball. When he struggled, it was in trying to be a sinker/slider pitcher, per Rick Anderson. It's interesting that it was Anderson who suggested ditching the slider in favor of the curve and sticking with the four seemer.
  11. cmathewson
    Correct that. Presley will come north, just not as the starter.
  12. cmathewson
    The Twins have said they will bring the best players north. Diamond has done less than nothing to earn the job. Ditto Presley. Taking them north makes a farce of spring training competition.
  13. cmathewson
    One other thought. This guy started in PR. Apparently, he's lost the ability to tell good stories about his prime assets. Instead of praising Hicks for all his hard work in the offseason, they publicly criticize him. This doesn't happen in other markets. Guys like Hicks have their own PR interns in NY. Instead of generating some buzz about a talented former first-round draft pick, they say stuff like this. It won't help ticket sales, that's for sure.
  14. cmathewson
    He spent the winter working out, including putting on a bunch of muscle and spending three days a week in the cage with Rod Carew. They knew where he was. They're just being dickish. It's not endearing from the manager who hasn't managed to win 70 games in any of the last three years, or from the assistant GM who presided over the building of those teams.
  15. cmathewson
    Rereading the article in the sober light of the morning: He talks about how not to get too caries away with stats, which is good to hear. But then why is he getting carried away with stats relative to the center field battle? Havering watched both players this spring, it's clear to these amateur scouting eyes that Hicks is playing better. His outs are hard hit, after seeing five pitches. Presley's outs are pop ups and dribblers on the second or third pitch. Defensively, there's really no comparison. So why would he say what he said? 1. He's building a case to send Hicks down to buy service time. This possibility seems far fetched since Hicks spent last August and September in Rochester. 2. He's trying to motivate them. This seems the most likely, but it doesn't reflect well on him. Somebody said praise publicly, criticize privately. I agree. It's never good to make your employees think your a dick.
  16. cmathewson
    I don't think it's that bad of a roster If they take the best players regardless of Spring Training results. Antony whines about how no one has made the decision easy for him, but the decisions should be easy. The following players are clearly the best players for the open positions: Hicks, Deduno, Gibson, Pinto. Nothing that has happened in Spring Training has invalidated that. In fact, Spring Training has validated it. What Does Antony want? 4- homer games? No hitters? Is he even watching the action?
  17. cmathewson
    He has no upside. The Twins are just hoping he captures the magic from 2011. That was 3 years ago. Not worth thinking about. He's done, at least until he can learn another pitxh.
  18. cmathewson
    Yeah. Also, everything was hit hard. My buddy called it the parade of doubles. There was no luck here. It was pure, unadulterated crappy pitching. In a regular season game, he wouldn't have lasted through the second inning.
  19. cmathewson
    I nave watched him. Watched him last night. He was worse than batting practice. I've slso watched Diamond. He couldn't hit his spots to save his life. If you want to take some one besides Deduno, take Gibson. No one else is worth consideration. I can see Deduno in the bullpen to start the year, with Gibson as the fifth starter. But it's only a matter of time before Deduno is a mainstay.
  20. cmathewson
    As long as he is healthy, he should be in the rotation. If he gets hurt again, give someone else a chance. If he stays healthy and Gibson or someone else is dominating in AAA, make room for him by trading someone else. Looking at you, Correia.
  21. cmathewson
    I was at the game last night. I cannot imagine a scout looking at that and saying he's worth an MLB roster spot. I saw more outs during batting practice. And there were no bloopers or dribblers. Everything was hit on the screws, with several good defensive plays behind him. It's not like this is the first bad outing, either. We saw similar performance in his time with the Twins last year and earlier in the spring. You'd have to be pretty desperate to take a flier on him.
  22. cmathewson
    Watched Suziki work tonight. He looked good, but he can't execute pitches for the pitcher. And Worley can't execute pitches for himself.... So, there's the rub with pitch calling and Game management. You need arms to implement the catcher's recommendations. He did look good gunning down a runner. But I sure hope he gets offensive help. Herman would be oK offensively, but he is not in Pinto'class. And Hermann looked bad on blocking pitches and framing tonight. Pinto is the much needed defensive backup.
  23. cmathewson
    Harris and Nishioka were two of the worst shortstops in decades, not just for the Twins, but on any team. What I meant by "below average" is comparable to the league, where you have a lot of guys like the other Escobar (Alcides). I think Eduardo is comparable to Stephen Drew, to pick a name we're all familiar with. He's not going to hurt you over there. But he's not going to win you many games with his glove by getting to balls few else can get to. Florimon is closer to the other Escobar. That said, it is my own opinion based on my amateur scouting eye. Eduardo did win the gold glove in the VWL. If his bat really does progress like some are predicting, he is worth giving a bigger chance to, especially from the right side of the plate.
  24. cmathewson
    Escobar is a slightly better hitter with a bit more offensive upside. Florimon is a much better fielder with a bit more upside (more consistent). If you think those things are equally valuable, you take the guy with a clear advantage at one of them. That would be Florimon.
  25. cmathewson
    Sulbaren had better numbers than Berrios last year, at the same level and at the same age. And he's bigger and left handed. I've seen him in some top 20 lists. I personally have him ranked 14th. Unfortunately, he came into camp overweight, so that's a concern. But he was a good get for Butera. I wouldn't think we'd get that much for Correia.
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