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Old Twins Cap

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Everything posted by Old Twins Cap

  1. Old Twins Cap
    Like the Brass of Twins FO. They got right to work once Otani jumped. Find a problem in Jelfrey's vision, void $3M contract, get on the Otani runway, don't get selected for the swimsuit portion, but have what Mike Sciosia in lingerie needs: International cash. Every team on the coast is showing us their cards. "Who knows what Otani really wants? Fffft. Never go to a fist-fight with flowers and pixie-dust. The Friars should jam a lot more in that long dark robe. They ain't got a prayer. The Giants hoping to win with a pocket full of Posey. Maybe Otani has eyes for Buster? No one knows what Otani wants, but Twins know what teams pursuing Otani want.
  2. Old Twins Cap
    I'm glad the standard for Twins' rotation seems to be moving from "opening the season" to "competing for the division" toward "winning in the playoffs". Those are really different measures and really important to gauge correctly.
  3. Old Twins Cap
    Well what's this? Strib article, what you call burying the lede: Twins add trainer The Twins have hired a new assistant trainer. Masa Abe joins the club after spending seven seasons with Arizona, the past two as the trainer for Class AAA Reno. Abe also was Team Japan’s trainer during the 2017 World Baseball Classic. Good hire, I'd say.
  4. Old Twins Cap
    I'm following this, I know the Yankees. I think we have a real shot. Here's why: 1. Ohtani is a young man who does not subscribe to conventional thinking: not in the way he plays -- wanting to swing both ways (arf), and in leaving Japan before it was financially advantageous. Like, he's different. 2. New York has very high expectations, huge, with media overkill and constant buzz, if not CRAZY pressure to perform. So, here's this 23-year-old kid trying to do something that hasn't been done in the modern era. Is New York really the right place for this? The pressure, the need for success -- not just on him, but the new manager, Cashman, the Steinbrenners. Bad scene, it really is for Ohtani. 3. And, who is the new manager in New York? Really? Going to negotiate and sign a world-class Japanese two-way player and you don't have a manager right now? It is what it is, but, that does not impress. 4. Minnesota, for all its little warts, needs a DH and an Ace pitcher, just so happens. If I am that kid, I say: "They're young, they're rising, they need me, I have opportunity to establish myself in two-way credentials." Bad English, comme ci, comme ca, but, I think Ohtani wants the right fit, in a myriad of ways. 5. Price is not a factor. This kid wants success, he wants to play baseball. He understands that at 23, that's what matters. Make your fate in the world's great game, and you will eclipse the sun and live happily ever after. Play it safe and be a decent pitcher for the Yankees and you will live forever wondering, "what if"... Twins got a chance here. I consider them the favorites, after Mariners.
  5. Old Twins Cap
    So, we lose a low leverage reliever to a bad team and maybe a long reliever to a bad team. Sounds like good moves if you are a good team that needs to upgrade in order to win at the playoff level. In other words, let them have our burnable materials and let's focus on actually beating the Yanks for once.
  6. Old Twins Cap
    But, that's the point, right. If contending teams don't want those guys, why do Twins? We are contenders, aren't we? At some point, our yardstick has got to be winning a playoff series, and the ones who don't measure up have to be shipped out, for their good as well as the Twins.
  7. Old Twins Cap
    Yeah, it's the same every year. "Our guys are great-- protect them, every last one of them" -- even though no one beyond this website believes that. Look, other organizations have a lot to juggle as well. Realize, any of these guys selected has to be on the 25 man roster ALL YEAR. We may think Lewin Diaz or Burdi or Bard or even a Cheeseburger can be left on the bench of a team competing for wins, but the reality is, they are just prospects, the odds are stacked against them ever making a difference at a Major League level, not to mention, actually helping a team win in a playoff context. Nope. Our guys ain't that good. Their guys ain't that good either--witness Pressley-- so let's get on to the real off-season.
  8. Old Twins Cap
    Well deserved for sure, but anyone looking at this would have to acknowledge that he won this award principally because the team collapsed totally in 2016. Without that abysmal record, 103 losses and completely unexpected in 2016, the Twins winning 85 games would be a yawner. So he's a great manager because his team was most recently very poor performing. Not sure how you get to be the best of baseball managers with that precise combination, but we'll take it because no one wants to go back to 2016. Ever. Ever.
  9. Old Twins Cap
    Interesting question as to how accurate defensive metrics were in the "early" years of 2002. I think now with Statcast, comparisons from early years will come with the qualifier that such and such a defensive stat was compiled prior to the Statcast era. That's my bet. They are able to triangulate launch angle, exit velocity and overall route and speed of the defender, that will give them a likliehood that a catch gets made, and from that, they aggregate how many catchers of that likliehood percentage were made -- you've got your defender of the year. All that said, infielders should be judged somewhat differently given the vagaries of a bouncing ball, transfer time, arm speed and thrown velocity -- different for sure, but still cast-statable.
  10. Old Twins Cap
    Dozier deserves it, sure hands, gets to the balls he can reach, got that slide stop and toss, and, hit 70-plus homers the last two years. Ain't no 2B going to get to the balls that Dozier hits out of the park. Or something.
  11. Old Twins Cap
    We aren't going to be on their plane regardless, we have to elevate over them in a series. In terms of wasting assets, this is a Twins thread, right?
  12. Old Twins Cap
    Twins have about a 4 or 5 year window to win it all. They need a proven anchor for the rotation. I know there will be more available after next season, but for me, for this historic opportunity, I think you bet the house. And you bet it on Jake Arrieta, a work-out freak, a pretty good pitcher, and a guy who is not afraid of putting on big-boy pants, one leg at a time. The rest will help the Twins get to the playoffs, but not win them.
  13. Old Twins Cap
    Twins need to think BIG, if they want to win a World Series. A RH 3B who can really pick it, and hit, that would be an improvement. At his best, Sano is a 1B. A slick fielding SS would also be an improvement on defense. But, if Polanco can hit and with power from both sides of the plate, I don't know how we can get better there without trading from a position of strength.
  14. Old Twins Cap
    No one has mentioned, but maybe it's just me or I don't understand, but if this is generated by coaches across the league, is Mauer liked as a player by other teams? Not exactly someone who impresses at a cocktail party.
  15. Old Twins Cap
    What you call a "below the radar" hire. What will be interesting is, what has this guy been doing, emphasizing, studying, that put him on the map? That story hasn't been told yet, but, it will be very interesting to learn of his area of emphasis, and particularly, what data, bio-mechanics, saber-metrics he uses everyday to help him calibrate his advice to hurlers who have advanced where he could not. I'm bullish.
  16. Old Twins Cap
    The other issue with Sano: the low outside slider and curve, aka, sucker pitch. At the beginning of the year, he could lay off, or hit it hard to right. By year's end, even when everyone, including Sano, knew it was coming, he K'ed. Over and over, he K'ed. Sure, Aaron Judge, HR's, can't teach strength -- I get it. But, put him on easy street with 50 million bucks, you may or may not get results. Apparently he's got quite an entourage and not talking about body weight.
  17. Old Twins Cap
    Nope. I go year to year with this guy. Make him work, make him prove it. He does not respond well to being on easy street.
  18. Old Twins Cap
    Is this a serious thing? Wow, read the link and I guess it is. Then again, having two 15-team leagues is problematic, and we all know what a magic number 32 is. There's definitely a way to do this. Wild card games are exciting, but somewhat unsatisfying in that, with baseball, one game is essentially meaningless over the course of a season. Keep AL and NL as much as possible. Give teams a chance to get into the playoffs. The current system of playing Chicago and Detroit 19 games each, Blech!
  19. Old Twins Cap
    He's a wiry guy, with long legs and a lean frame. And he plays with abandon. That's not a great combination in MLB. It might be helpful to look at comps for Buxton, Willie McGee comes to wind, maybe even Willie Wilson. If he doesn't pull a lot of muscles running and swinging and throwing, then it may come down to how often he crashes full speed into walls, and how often he leaves his hands out front on high inside fastballs. It's luck and pluck and conditioning, avoiding injuries. Good luck Buck.
  20. Old Twins Cap
    He comes across as plenty smart and articulate in my book. That's not the same thing as embracing data, video and metrics as the decisive fulcrum over which personnel decisions are weighed. There is a lot of data in baseball these days, some of it generated by video analysis, all of it predicated on percentages/likelihoods/odds. Pretty easy to look at all that and say: "It's a sport I have known all my life and I done all right with looking at it the way I do."
  21. Old Twins Cap
    Falvey and Levine are trying to run a new operation, using metrics, sabermetrics and the whole data-driven baseball thing. Molitor is smart, but I don't think he's able to fully embrace the young thinking on what makes a baseball organization competitive year after year. I hope they let him go and continue their drive to reshape the Twins culture, which has been left to turn in the wind slowly over decades. Remember, we need to win playoff games, not just qualify to play in them.
  22. Old Twins Cap
    Definitely time to clean house in the coaching staff, except for Rowson, though, I don't know how you do that to a new Manager: "Here is your hitting coach."? Twins had a great year, and like under Gardy, that means they are just good enough to feed to the Yankees. Don't want that life any more.
  23. Old Twins Cap
    Not mentioned, but the FB from Santana is key to getting results on the slider. If he can spot the fastball in and out, up and down, now the Yankees have to think: is this pitch coming at me a FB or a slider? That's what makes the slider credible. Otherwise, you just wait a pitcher like Santana out, knowing everything is going to slide one way. And he does have a decent FB, when he controls it.
  24. Old Twins Cap
    Sanchez, their catcher, he has some real issues blocking balls down low, or even just catching them. But, we need runners on base. Lots of them.
  25. Old Twins Cap
    There is no way to check the enthusiasm on this board for Sano, however unwarranted. He's a shell of what he was. "Save us Miggy. We are about to play the Yahnkees!" They scream. I hope he enjoys the game from the bench and comes back slowly in the ALDS.
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