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Old Twins Cap

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  1. Old Twins Cap
    I watched him with the Yanks. The commentators would measure his hustle by when the helmet came off. It's dangerous for sure if the ball hits him, but likely, there is nothing that can be done about it. Equipment managers and sport equipment designers take their jobs very seriously.
  2. Old Twins Cap
    Deal Pelfrey. Get what you can for him. He's been WAY better than anticipated and somebody will be willing to overpay. Sad to say, but Twins are going nowhere this year. Bring in the kids, play them, let them know they can be winners, and find out who can play.
  3. Old Twins Cap
    Biggest surprise: The Twins have a winning record, without anyone compiling a career year, though Dozier is having a strong campaign and should/would be the first half MVP. Starting pitching has been pretty good, likely above average in AL, and they have had just enough to keep Twins in games. No one, again, really stands out, but Gibson has been solid and Pelfrey borderline excellent given how awful he was as recent as last couple years. On the bad side: Arcia, Suzuki, Herman, Santana, Mauer. Gotta say it: Arcia's body language, even when doing well, is terrible. Leads with his ego, and when he fails, just caves like a beaten man. Can't have that in MLB. Trade him, once he wins some value back, Twins running a surplus in the OF. Suzuki, not up to par offensively for a regular MLB catcher, and only average defensively, at best. Herman, not up to par for a backup. No signs he will improve. Santana (SS) not looking great on defense and has a loopy swing and chases balls out of zone. Could be a player though and has value. Mauer, well, the decline is on. How far does he slide this year? No where to put him once others surpass his performance. Will be an Achilles hill until Twins own up to a mistake in signing him for such a deal. Never had less fun following a team on such an uptick. Still, Rosario, Buxton, Gibson, May, Vargas -- there's real potential playing every day and contributing. Took four full years, but the rebuild is finally on.
  4. Old Twins Cap
    If I just read the line, "Mauer was pretty vocal" about his team's lack of offense, I would have to do a double-take. And I did. This is not your Twins kind of Mauer. A vocal Mauer is one I can live with. And will someone dig in on Wimmers and get the story? Wasn't he psychologically damaged at some point, then physically hurt, and after all these years somehow he is putting it together? Methinks there's something there worth discovering.
  5. Old Twins Cap
    Imagine you are a National League fan. You know the All-Star Game gives your team home-field advantage in the World Series. Why wouldn't you vote 35 times for the worst players in the American League? Not that the Royals aren't a quality bunch, actually, in terms of defense. I believe they have top players at 6 positions. But still, the point is: if the All-Star Game matters, and it does, why would you allow it to be subject to mischief by openly allowing anyone with a terminal and a username to vote up to 35 times? I have twelve devices, and many accounts. I could possibly, if I worked at it every day, single-handedly elect a whole all-star team. Maybe I will.
  6. Old Twins Cap
    Be a problem for the Twins though, if a pitcher got on base in front of Buxton. That's clogging the bases.
  7. Old Twins Cap
    The point is: The Twins are thin. Somehow they tricked and treated their way to First Place and now we get the heart of the season and it turns out, they are not a First Place team in their lineup. Too many easy outs, too many guys giving away at-bats, not enough power threats to keep pressure on other teams. And, in reality, the Twins don't have many options. I like the idea of giving Polanco a shot at shortstop, but he's making errors at AA, and I'm not clear if he has the arm, range and demeanor to be SS at MLB level. Sure, they can and should (over time) bring back Vargas and Arcia. What they really lack is LH power, even if just extra bases. Not clear that either one can do that consistently. As we saw today, young hitters strike out with runners in scoring position and it deflates the team. The Twins are destined to fade at this point: not enough offense, not enough defense and not enough relief pitching. A smart GM would make a trade to bring in a little offense or bullpen, help keep them in the race for the experience of the young players. Don't trade the future, but clear some 40-men out and add a piece or two that make sense for a year from now. And, at some point, decide on SS. With Santana, Escobar, Polanco and Gordon, there is depth and quality that can serve the future. But, we don't need them all.
  8. Old Twins Cap
    What does CHS stand for?
  9. Old Twins Cap
    A little failure builds character. Better they get a taste and perfect the ability to play again the next day. It's just how baseball, and life, goes.
  10. Old Twins Cap
    Gardy had gone stale, dating back to 2010. There is such a thing as letting some light and air into a clubhouse, not to mention a new voice. And the Twins have that now. The interesting speculation is about how and why the Twins are turning things around in 2015, and, if they had elected to replace Gardy earlier, what last year might have been like. We will never know, and thus, we will never know what Molitor has meant to this resurgence. But, the facts are the facts and the Twins are looking as good now as they have at any time since pre-September of 2010.
  11. Old Twins Cap
    Trade Pelfrey before Milone, or put Pelfrey in the pen. Milone's stuff will play against certain teams, aggressive free-swinging, power teams. Plus, if you bring in Milone later in the year, the teams we play frequently in the Division, it will take some time for them to adjust to Milone. No reason they don't bring up Oiveros, except their own stubborn sunk-cost belief in guys like Stauffer, Duensing and Graham. They have to get a decent bull-pen put together in the next month. And, they need a quality back-up catcher, someone who can throw and hit. They can compete this year and have meaningful games in September which would be excellent experience for their young guys. But, they need to fill in the gaps in the bulllpen and behind the plate.
  12. Old Twins Cap
    This is a large sample size: Hicks looks like a professional baseball player and runs, throws and swings like one. We can quarrel with the results, but he is playing premium defense and will contribute in multiple ways over time. Like Escobar and Arcia, he needs to cut down on his swing and focus on solid contact, especially with two strikes. But, point is: I feel a lot better watching a guy with a major league body and skills playing center field than a marionette with no upside.
  13. Old Twins Cap
    If I am the Nationals GM, I'm feeling really good about my relationship with the Twins. First they get Wilson Ramos for Matt Capps. Plus defense, plus hitter behind the dish for a below average reliever. Absolute robbery. Then they get Span for three strong seasons while Meyer whittles away in MiLB. Ramos and Span would look awfully good right now in Twins jerseys.
  14. Old Twins Cap
    Not going to add up if Meyer becomes a bullpen piece, trading Denard Span, who has already posted some great seasons with the Nationals, and continues to tear it up. Unless Meyer becomes the next Dellin Betances. No guarantees in baseball when it comes to prospects.
  15. Old Twins Cap
    Not really sure how they've been winning. A little of everything: timely hitting, a good play here or there, relievers squeaking by, decent starting pitching, veteran moxie from Hunter, Plouffe and Mauer, a steady hand from Molitor, plus, duct tape, smoke and mirrors. Baseball is a mysterious game, made up of 3-run singles, fortuitous bounces, playing teams at the right time, injuries -- things that just happen. From 5 under to 6 over .500 in little more than a month. Gotta take that. But, you are never as good as you think when things go well; never as bad when they go poorly. Probably, the Twins are a .500 team. Or, just a hair under. In the best division in baseball that's pretty fun baseball overall.
  16. Old Twins Cap
    Arcia, for a kid his age, is incredibly muscle-bound. He looks like he is moving against incredible resistance at all times. The odds that he ends up being a regular on the DL are extremely high. And, IMHO, his body language on the field is terrible. It's always about him and his performance, good or bad, and not about the team. He's fiery, which is good, but he also is given to sulking after a strike out or a particularly bad plate appearance. I like him, in general, but too often he goes off in his own direction. I'll take a kid like Santana, who keeps his chin up and works, day in, day out. Not too high, not too low.
  17. Old Twins Cap
    Couple more good outings and his trade stock really soars. Could end up with a decent AA prospect at this rate.
  18. Old Twins Cap
    If this were any other team, and the situation was the same, do you honestly think another GM would not call up a better Triple AAA option to play CF? Truly ridiculous at this point. Magnified by the fact that the Twins are actually in contention and could legitimately benefit from a better center fielder.
  19. Old Twins Cap
    National rituals like the Star Spangled Banner or raising the flag are meant to unify people and give them pride in what they stand for together. Anyone or any organization that uses those rituals to suggest a person or group is "less than" because they are not doing the rituals correctly is violating the most basic tenets of freedom and the very reason we have rituals in the first place -- to unify, not divide. The anthem and the flag do not belong to any group, and there should be no litmus test about patriotism based on how you do or do not participate. This is a form of patriotic pandering and leads directly to the type of social purity and status sorting witnessed in fascist Germany in the the 1930s. Judge players not by the quality of their salute but by the content of their character, and in this case, by their OPS or ERA.
  20. Old Twins Cap
    What about errors? Haven't seen or heard much about their defense. Prolly a good thing, right?
  21. Old Twins Cap
    Will be a great year for the casual, disinterested fan to get out on a sunny day and enjoy the atmosphere of a baseball park and watch some of the league's great players--on other teams. Wow, are they bad. And they look poorly coached.
  22. Old Twins Cap
    Well, look at it this way: If the Twins win on Friday, by a run or two, they will be massively overperforming their Pythagorean prediction, and, will be only two games under .500. That's pretty good really. If they win. Which, doesn't seem likely at all any time soon.
  23. Old Twins Cap
    It's good to have facts, and I think some things are out in the public on the Santana situation. But some things are not. Like, why, for a seemingly pretty successful MLB hurler, did he jump to four teams in four years? Was the word out on Santana, generally, across MLB? Is that why the Twins were able to sign him? In other words, is the MLB drug testing regimen a little bit, not sure of the word, flexible... or loose when it comes to catching violators? Such that, it could be several years before someone with a taste for PEDs gets caught? I tell you what. This drug-testing process, with free-agents and signings, and all the economic incentives to cheat and for teams to spend dearly for high--performers, this is ripe for a lot of abuse and political decisions and second-chances and for teams and commissioners to negotiate and re-negotiate. I don't think MLB is quite clear of PED use and the integrity of baseball quite yet.
  24. Old Twins Cap
    Holy ... Well, there's always next year.
  25. Old Twins Cap
    Gotta respect the decisions. The Twins coaches are working with these guys every day. If they don't perform, then we bring up the kids. Nothing wrong with that. And, Boyer looked like he has some good stuff tonight against the Sox. Brighten up people. The regular season is about to begin. Could it be any worse than the last four years?
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