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Mike h

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Everything posted by Mike h

  1. Mike h
    Idk, but maybe 1/8 of 1 mm is about the size of the stitching on a baseball? Maybe they should make a rule that the LEATHER must cross the strike zone, not just the stitching?
  2. Mike h
    When I read the headline I tried to guess what the 4 reasons could be. Optimism comes from improvements which comes from changes. Whether you placed blame for last years record on the manager, the front office, or ownership, you got your wish - all three have been changed. Ok, the Pohlads still own the team but they changed their representative. They also brought in some new coaches. On the field, they said goodbye to half a dozen players who had had good resumes and potential but couldn’t produce, guys like Gasper, Bride, Julien, Miranda, and Keirsey. New players, hopefully better players, will get their AB’s. We can be optimistic that the new guys will be better. I will add that losing Correa’s contract, not the man, was good for the team due to the financial flexibility it provides. We can be optimistic that the FO will reinvest that money wisely for upgrades where needed. As for his presence on the field his leadership will be missed but at the same time his leaving brings Culpepper and Houston a little closer and if we can believe the hype they may be even better. Another reason for optimism is the alleged speed they now have. Is it possible they might have 3 players with 30+SB? Maybe 4? That’s exciting to watch and should lead to more runs. Finally, I like how Lee came to camp a little lighter and having worked hard all winter on his defense. Hopefully that will payoff and he will be improved. Wallner has had a great spring; we can hope it will carry over to the season.. I have lots of reasons NOT to be optimistic this year but that’s for a different article. I’ll just say……in balance, ….they are still a few years away. But I still love baseball!
  3. Mike h
    Jeff K, I don’t either
  4. Mike h
    NIf the Twins want Paredes for 1B then yes. If they want him for 3B then no. It looks to me that Parades and Lewis are almost the same player. They both hit about 1 HR/20AB. Parades had a up year in 2025, hitting .255, but his career BA is .237. Lewis had a down year in 2025, hitting .237, but his career BA is .255. Lewis is slightly taller, thinner, (more athletic?) and can steal bases better. (Paredes had 0 SB last year.) I don’t think there is enough added benefit, if any, to swap out Lewis for Paredes at 3B. Besides, Lewis has been hurt so much but has flashed so much potential when healthy that I think it would be premature to move him out just when he looks fully ready to go. amAs for trading Jeffers, I think it would be foolish to do so until they have an adequate replacement ready to take his place. Jackson is not that person.
  5. Mike h
    Absolutely get him back.
  6. Mike h
    If by worst move you mean the one that I would most like to undo, it would be the Taylor Rogers/Brett Rooker trade for Emilio Pagan and Chris Paddock. Of course this is hindsight, but even at the time Paddock was only competing for their 5th starting pitcher and Pagan was not popular with their fans. I say that based on some good riddance comments on their fan page. Halves should have known that neither player would be an upgrade. Imagine having Rooker in our outfield along side Buxton, and Taylor pitching instead of Pagan. On the good side I’d say signing Nelson Cruz was a better move than drafting Ryan Jeffers. I know Jeffers is very popular among posters here, but count me as one who doesn’t quite see it. And I’ll let it go at that,
  7. Mike h
    I had Lawyerson pegged as a sleeper who could be a difference maker next year. Hate to see him go. i only saw him pitch in person once last season; it was an away game against Louisville so most of you probably didn’t see it. Kendry Rojas started - what a contrast between the two! Just one game, I know, but I can’t believe Rojas is rated the 8th best prospect while Lawyerson was let go. In that game Rojas had a deer-in-the-headlights look as he walked to the dugout,; he lasted only 3 innings giving up 3 hits and 6 walks . Laweryson came in and took charge, getting 4 outs on 12 pitches, 11 for strikes. What really got my attention though was the very loud pop when the catcher caught the ball. Supposedly he and Rojas throw about the same speed but idk, do radar guns lie? Again, just one game. Good luck to Cody.
  8. Mike h
    LI have a couple thoughts. The first is that Shelton’s strength is as a hitting coach, and he has been very successful at that. I would have been very excited if he had been brought in to coach hitters rather than manage, but if he dedicates a lot of his time working with hitters anyway, I will be hopeful. My second thought is that because this is a team in turmoil, they were never going to get the A+ manager that they are looking for. Shelton may be sort of an interim manager whose job is to steer the ship through the storm, which may take a couple years, and when the chaos becomes stabilized they’ll be ready to go full steam ahead and then they can look for their manager of the future. I wish it could have happened now, but this is reality as I see it due to the hole Falvey dug for this team.
  9. Mike h
    Any manager who is employed long enough will accumulate a lot of wins, even if he does so at a slow rate. But I think that using longevity as a weighty criteria for judging managers is not that accurate. Billy Martin had a very short tenure with the Twins but I think he was better than Tom Kelly and Ron Gardenhire. Do you think Rod Carew steals home 7 times in one year under any other manager? Martin played exciting baseball and he won. I think winning percentage would be a better indicator than number of wins. That, and the eye test. As for Baldelli, I wish you had reviewed all the Twins managers, including Quilici, Rigney, Gardner, and Mauch so I could put Baldelli beneath them all. Worst manager ever. I realize I am contradicting myself because his winning percentage is not the worst, but in his case, I lean heavily on the eye test. His team is just no fun to watch.
  10. Mike h
    I’ve noticed that Wallner perspires excessively, or at least more than an average hitter. It seems like after every pitch he removes his helmet and wipes his brow. Who else does that? Anyway, it could be due to heat or due to nerves. After reading how his numbers decrease in clutch situations I am inclined to think it’s nerves. The more critical the situation the more nervous he gets. So how do you fix that? Regardless, give him a sweatband to wear around his forehead. It’s hard to see the ball with sweat in your eyes.
  11. Mike h
    I remember Eric Soderholm as one of the most eagerly anticipated call ups from my younger days. His power was hyped (22hr and 28 2b at AAA in 1971) but a stat I can't seem to verify was how many grand slams he hit. It must have been some ridiculous number for that to stick in my head. Meanwhile, Steve Braun, who was one of my favorite Twins at the time, was playing 3rd and hit only 5 HR. Braun was decent; there was no urgent need to replace him, but the team would go on to finish in 5th place in the AL West. I remember screaming for Soderholm to get a chance. Unfortunately, he was horrible in his September call-up. But he made the roster the next year and seemed to be doing better, then he stepped in a sewer. Torri Hunter was similarly hyped as a prospect, so was Alex Kirilloff. Eric Soderholm was just like that.
  12. Mike h
    I'm glad Johan Santana got the chance to start. Hope history repeats
  13. Mike h
    Todays prospects are tomorrows starters. (sometimes) Obviously the elite prospects have the best chance, almost guaranteed I'd say. Those starters-in-waiting are so much more valuable than their fellow minor leaguers. I would put them on an equal status to players already on the 26 man roster. So when considering a trade proposal, would you give up someone on the 26 man roster, even a starter, if necessary, instead? If not, then I wouldn't trade the elite prospect either. So no, I would not trade Julien or Lee. Maybe I overvalue the minor leaguers, but I can't help thinking how horrible it would have been if the Twins had traded some of the players who came up in their system and were undoubtedly coveted by other teams. It could have happened, after all they were all unproven at the time, and all still had work to do before they were ML ready, Thank goodness they kept Joe Mayer, Kent Hrbek, Hunter, Puckett, and, well, I could go on. They may have gotten back a pitcher for one or two years; I don't care who that would been, it wouldn't have been worth it. So that's how I feel about our top prospects today.
  14. Mike h
    That had to be quite a kick in the gut to be traded just three months after signing a three year contract to stay with the team of your choice. At least he didn't say he hated coming to Minnesota; he just hated leaving New York. Tommy Herr was another reluctant Twin. But as I recall he didn't play very well after he got here. The psychological part of baseball should not be underestimated.
  15. Mike h
    I agree with your conclusion. Success for Buxton should be measured the same as every other player, not by some level of personal improvement over last year. Any player is a success when he contributes to team wins. Some are just more successful than others.
  16. Mike h
    Really good story, really good writing I thoroughly enjoyed it.
  17. Mike h
    How quickly we forget that Madea was a Cy Young candidate a few years ago. Then he needed TJ surgery. He is just now coming back fully and I don't know why he can't dominate again. Paddack was slotted as San Diego's number 4 starter when we acquired him, and then he needed TJ surgery. When he is fully back, he may reach number 4 status again. Not dominant stuff. I'm not looking for anything more from him.
  18. Mike h
    The financial part of baseball is tough. It's hard to lose a good player, a good teammate, and a fan favorite just because of money. The Twins must think he's going to regress. They know better than me. I've written before about the 8 year old fan who lives inside me and doesn't understand or care about profits. He has a 3 step approach for making a better team: 1. Figure out the biggest need for your team. 2. Find the best available player for that position 3. Pay the man. Yeah, well, the old man that I am tells him to grow up. It doesn't work that way. Wait a minute... Are the Yankees run by an 8 year old? I heard the Twins team is worth $1.4 billion. And it was purchased for about $87 million back in the 80's. So it looks like there is some equity there, even if the cash flow is questionable. They could borrow against their equity if they had to. Putting a winning team on the field is the surest way of generating fan interest and revenue. Fielding a losing team is the surest way of losing fan interest and revenue. Oops, there's that 8 year old again. Letting a very good pitcher like Maeda leave, especially to your closest division rival, for a mere $12MM, looks like they value profits over winning
  19. Mike h
    Sano, Gallo, Sabato. Big power, but all or nothing. I think Rooker was the same. But I bring him up as an example of a late bloomer who ultimately found success. Until last year he couldn't do anything at ML level. But then, in his age 28 season, he hit .246 with 30 HR. Unfortunately, it was with Oakland. (OK, I know his numbers were Jacked up by a crazy hot early start, and he swooned mid season, but the final stats are still good.) But also, he led his team in strikeouts. So what. That happens with power hitters. So now we are trying to project whether a 20 year old prospect with power and strikeouts will develop into a Killebrew or a Sano (or a Rooker.) It's way, way too early to know. The road ahead is very long with many unforeseeable bends and forks. But the question being asked now is what do they do with him? It's a fact of baseball life that teams will sometimes quit on a player who goes on to prove their worth with another team. (Ortiz, Hendricks.) I see way too much potential, as do some others as he was named MVP of his league, to give up on him. Maybe it will take 8 more years, like it did for Rooker, but he has a chance. Keep him.
  20. Mike h
    Ah, Mel Jass. HE had a good job! (Those of you over 70 might remember that one)
  21. Mike h
    I wonder if Duran still wants to be a starter again. If he does, and the Twins aren't open to that, then he won't want to sign a long term contract. (And I wouldn't blame the Twins because throwing 80+ pitches at 100+ mph seems like a sure way to blow out an elbow or something.) On the other hand, Johan Santana came out of the bullpen to start, and guys like Nolan Ryan and Randy Johnson had pretty long careers even though they threw hard. Who knows? Make an offer. Let him reject it. Make another offer. Negotiate. There's probably a number that both sides can live with, and to me, really, it doesn't matter what it is. It's not my money. Baseball owners are billionaires. They can choose to pinch their pennies. I just want to see them field a winner.
  22. Mike h
    I agree with Karbo. Catcher is a defense first position. It's the main thing you look for when shopping for a catcher. So we already have that, why would we let it go? As far as Vasquez' value to another team, everyone wants a great defensive catcher on their team. And everyone is looking for depth. So I think he would be attractive to more teams than many of us think. This article mentioned blocking and framing. But that's all. In order to discuss whether a catch is worth keeping we need to look at much more than that. How is he at calling a game? Is he a good field general? Can he hold a runner at first due to his arm? Does he do his homework, studying opponents ' weaknesses before each game? Does he know when to visit the mound? Etc etc Now in discussing the balance between a good defense and a good enough offense,, I'd like to point out how poorly the hitters were as a whole, and that included Vasquez. It also included Buxton, and Correa; Polanco was down, Kepler was so bad in the first half that fans wanted him gone; Larnack, a former #1 draft pick could never get his footing this year, Miranda, a former Twins minor league hitter of the year who was pretty good last year, fell flat on his face this spring. Farmer hit below his career average. And do on. There were exceptions - Castro and Taylor did very well, but generally this club had a collective swoon hitting wise. So you can't really single out Vasquez for not hitting and holding that against him or use it as an excuse to move him off the team. The team hitting philosophy and/or coaching has to change, and then maybe we'll see the real talent.
  23. Mike h
    Sorry for the underlining. I didn't realize it was on.
  24. Mike h
    A recent thread discussed why the pitching staff was so darn good this year, but it didn't mention Vasquez. So it made me wonder, do the pitchers like throwing to him? Do they give him any credit for their success? I wonder if they pitched well because of him or in spite of him. I know there are pitchers around the league who love their catcher so much that they won't throw to anyone else. Any Twins pitchers feel that way about Vasquez? I may not have paid close enough attention, but I don't recall any pitchers' comments about him, good or bad. In any case, I believe the adage that a teamust be strong defensively up the middle, starting with the catcher. A good BA is a bonus. So, to keep him or trade him? I couldn't decide until I know the answers to the above questions.
  25. Mike h
    I can't say for sure, and I don't exactly know why I feel this way, but I suspect that Farmer's presence on the team helped make the other players better. Something about his leadership, professionalism, character, and the way he went about his business of preparing for games, makes me wonder if his absence might result in some regression next year. Hate to mess with good chemistry. I'd keep him, just in case AK 's shoulder is not ready, or someone inexplicably fails like Miranda did this year. He is proven, dependable, flexible, and likable. To me, that's low risk, and that's hard to find. If next June or July someone at AAA can't be ignored, then make the inevitable decision.
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