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Rod Carews Birthday

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Everything posted by Rod Carews Birthday

  1. Rod Carews Birthday
    First of all, I’m a very big Royce Lewis fan. I think that he’s going to be one of the Twins’ best players going forward. However, since all of the other “sophomore” players have had some struggles this year, it would at least seem possible that he will as well. I hope he comes back and hits like he did in the first game of the season (Wow! What an OPS!), but he could also come back and struggle. Right now, there are too many people just assuming that he will be back and acting like an MVP candidate. I really hope that happens, but I think it is foolish to just assume that it will all work out perfectly.
  2. Rod Carews Birthday
    Can we just be satisfied with a player who is playing at a high level, instead of the mediocrity that he showed at the beginning of last year, and the year before? If the only measure of success is if a player is hitting home runs, then Rod Carew wouldn't be a useful player to have around, particularly because he wasn't also as strong a defensive player as Kepler? If Kepler can maintain his current OPS+, I don't care if he never hits another home run. It means he's doing a LOT of other things very well. Let's find more important things to worry about.
  3. Rod Carews Birthday
    There was a lot of luck involved in this trade for the Yankees. Gil wasn't highly touted at the time, and has since had TJ surgery. I'm certain that no one, not even the Yankees predicted he was likely to become a major league starter. Also, caution. . . there are plenty of pitchers who have come up as rookies and been good, but who never really develop well enough to have a good career. That said, I would gladly take him off of their hands now. To answer the original question, Gil was the bigger loss, because starting pitching is always the most valuable thing out there. Wade would have been a nice (and better) alternative than Cave at the time when Wade was traded away, but based on the hindsight of the time, it was quite a bit less than obvious who should go between Cave and Wade.
  4. Rod Carews Birthday
    Can't we wait until closer to the trade deadline to enter silly season? Love those articles and comments about acquiring a really good player for nothing but the guys we want to jettison anyway or have no real investment in. The Twins are not going to trade for a big hitter this season nor anytime soon. Maybe, another relief arm, but nothing more than that.
  5. Rod Carews Birthday
    Indeed! If only those terrible incompetent coaches would step aside so those MVP level hitters can all go back to being amazing! it would also probably help if those opposing teams would stop trying to win games as well.
  6. Rod Carews Birthday
    Agreed. Love Apple TV+, just not for baseball games. The announcers were painful and chasing the perfect game (VERY early IMHO) led to pretty spotty coverage of the Twins-Guardians game. Watching the game with no announcers on a half size (or smaller) screen doesn't lead to a good experience.
  7. Rod Carews Birthday
    I would agree that there have been some sloppy plays this past week or so. How do we know that Rocco isn't holding players accountable? Would that mean mid-inning substitutions? Public airing of grievances? Several games of benching? I'm not thinking that is a good method for the team or for the player. I'm reasonably certain that those plays don't get forgotten and that some bit of constructive criticism happens after the fact. We just don't get to see it, and that's how it should be. The players still have to execute and right now they're not doing that.
  8. Rod Carews Birthday
    I agree. None of these guys went into this with their eyes closed. None of them were misled into thinking "I'm sure this is OK and no one will have a problem with it." If they really were misled somehow, then they are too stupid to be in the HOF - especially the ones from the modern era. Why after a few years have passed should we decide to just throw out the rules and give them their privilege anyway? I think your analogy of your own children says it best.
  9. Rod Carews Birthday
    That is a great question. Given the ridiculous number of variables, I'm not exactly sure how you come up with the data to figure it out. It's hard to know if the Twins are better off for having done it, meaning their injury history would be even worse, or if it doesn't really matter anyway. I happen to think the former, but I'm not sure how to test it.
  10. Rod Carews Birthday
    You are right. Three guys from the Dodgers who will be in the discussion for MVP play almost every day. We don't have a single player as good as Ohtani, Betts, or Freeman and we haven't since the days of Mauer and Morneau. I don't happen to think that load management is the be all and end all. However, I also don't think it is as simple as "pencil your guys in every day and they will be fine". There are absolutely players who can go out there every day no matter what, but there are a lot more who need the mental and physical break in order to keep fresh for the end of the season. I don't think it's magic, but I don't think it's detrimental to the team.
  11. Rod Carews Birthday
    Last year we definitely didn't. So far this year, I think Julien and Castro have played in every game, albeit not always in a starting role. I would be surprised if they weren't at the top of the Twins' list at the end of the season as well.
  12. Rod Carews Birthday
    YES! Absolutely. It's not like he was tearing it up before the injury. He was "OK", but that's about it. Maybe he can find his hitting stroke a little bit in St. Paul while rehabbing.
  13. Rod Carews Birthday
    The Braves might be the exception, as they have an absolute monster of a lineup, but for the most part, the Yankees, Orioles, and Dodgers aren’t that much different than the other teams where load management is concerned. For the most part, outside of a couple of “iron men” on each team, you have “every day” types who play around 130-140 games, plus some players who will be in the 100-110 game range. Some of that is surely due to injuries (which is part of what you are trying to avoid by resting them), but in many cases, the workloads are being controlled so that the player has something left in the tank in September. Whether that is the magic bullet or not is certainly open to debate, but it’s not an uncommon practice throughout the league.
  14. Rod Carews Birthday
    In an ideal world, “positional flexibility” leads to everyone being able to play anywhere, but alas, the world is not ideal. A few guys can have that utility, but as you mentioned, some of them seem more lost at the MLB level than they probably should be. It surprises me that those determinations aren’t made at the A or A+ level and not left for AAA and the majors.
  15. Rod Carews Birthday
    Putin definitely strikes me as more of a Yankee fan. 😂
  16. Rod Carews Birthday
    I’m not sure this is a huge issue that needs to be solved right now. Almost every club has so-so arms at the back of the pen, so that’s not a unique situation. Given some additional time, I think that some of this will sort itself out. The answer may indeed be Alcala, Winder, et al. Part of the issue at this point is that the roles haven’t really solidified and time will change that. Until then, I expect they will keep running through arms to better gauge what they have, so that the end of the season bullpen will be much better than the current one. Plus, come playoff time, there will be some converted starters in the bullpen, and that worked out very nicely last year.
  17. Rod Carews Birthday
    I think bringing up Martin and putting him in the lineup, both offensively and defensively, are have been very positive things. He hasn't lit the world on fire offensively, but he has shown the ability to take decent at bats and his speed will play on the bases. That will likely improve after he has some time to play/reflect/work on things in Saint Paul. Defensively, he doesn't look overmatched as much as inexperienced. He's not taking great routes and certainly is struggling with throwing the ball. Playing lots of outfield in Saint Paul should be very beneficial. Sending Martin back to AAA is definitely the right thing to do, but I'm also not down on the player or his potential at all. He's not going to be an all-star, but I think he's a useful future (and emergency) piece. We often forget that many players (IDK maybe most?) are sent back down after their first taste of the majors, and the smart ones use the experience to adjust and improve their game. Current Twins Buxton, Kiriloff, Larnach, Wallner, etc. all had to re-visit AAA and were able to take some appropriate steps. I'm hoping that Martin can follow suit.
  18. Rod Carews Birthday
    It was a pretty weird way to get there, but the Twins are looking a lot like we had hoped they would. Certainly Jeffers is playing well above expectations, but there are many players playing about like we thought they would or even not quite there. And yet, we’re sitting with a solid record and probably room to grow. It’s a pretty good reality check for fans that this team is really pretty solid. The bullpen is a little worrisome in that there have been so many injuries to key people there. I still feel like if we could get people healthy, it could be lights out. But alas, that may not be possible. I’m not panicked about it yet, but the eyes should be open for some potential help. It probably too early for this, but if the rotation keeps on functioning as they are, Varland is a potential pen arm as could be Canterino. Later on, help could be on the way from the minors.
  19. Rod Carews Birthday
    I remember Randy Bush as a walk drawing machine. I don't know if that's entirely accurate, but he seemed to walk as much as he struck out, which would be pretty amazing in this day and age. In his best seasons, he seemed like a guy who should have gotten more at bats, but maybe the limited sample size played to his strengths. Bush is one of those guys that doesn't get the credit, but fills an important role better than others could have. It's pretty hard to play 12 years with a team and not be pretty helpful.
  20. Rod Carews Birthday
    Again, the real issue here is whether the Twins are comfortable removing the veteran completely from the equation at this early point in the season. Undoubtedly, Margo has been disappointing all the way around. However, cutting bait now means he is just gone and Martin and/or Keirsey have to be good or we're in trouble, and that's doubly true if Buxton is out for an extended amount of time this season. Personally, I think Martin has the tools to be a pretty good MLB player. He's doing "OK" in his first taste of the show and seems to be a guy that learns from the experience. I give him about a 60-70% chance of being who we need him to be. I think Keirsey could possibly have the tools to be a pretty good MLB player. Outside of defense, none of his skills stick out to me and I think he probably only has a 30-40% chance to be who we need him to be. So. . . . in theory, between the two of them, we should be ok, but it is pretty hard to feel really secure about the situation. Certainly, there is at least as much chance (30-40%) that Margot recovers and becomes a useful player again. After all, he did it once and isn't chronologically over the hill. So, do you roll the dice with the new guys or hang onto some hope with the veteran? I'm glad I'm not making the decision, because last season I cut Kepler about May 15. Apparently I was quite wrong. The Twins luckily didn't follow my advice and kept him. Apparently they have more information than me. Who knew?
  21. Rod Carews Birthday
    Tune in midseason. I'm pretty thrilled with the SWR performance so far, but pitchers have highs and lows of a few games all the time and SWR has certainly experienced plenty of lows. If his current performance is here to stay, then absolutely, he is moving up the list, but it's too early to make that declaration. Let's enjoy it and hope it lasts.
  22. Rod Carews Birthday
    Great article! These are the offensive statistics that I have been curious about but have been too lazy to investigate. It would be less anxiety inducing if they could be a little more consistent. The high to low roller coaster is enough to make me drink (more)! They have certainly been a lot of fun to watch the past couple of weeks though. Go Twins!
  23. Rod Carews Birthday
    I believe you may have hit the most important criteria of all. We have much to be happy about.
  24. Rod Carews Birthday
    And in reference to this post, PLEASE let's shut down the use of the rather loaded and undefined word "pipeline"! Even when things are going well, it just gives people something to complain about.
  25. Rod Carews Birthday
    That's a crapshoot for pretty much every team. The Twins are in a better position than most. Years ago (and often) we were wondering who starters number four and five were going to be. That's where some of the really awful veteran signings came in. Enjoy what we have now, because it won't always be that way.
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