Jump to content
Twins Daily
  • Create Account

bird

Verified Member
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    1,413

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Profiles

Minnesota Twins News, Rumors & Analysis

Minnesota Twins Videos

2026 Minnesota Twins Top Prospect Rankings

2022 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks & Signing Bonuses

Minnesota Twins Trade & Free Agent Rumors

Minnesota Twins Fan Guides & Resources

2023 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks & Signing Bonuses

The Minnesota Twins Players Project

2024 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks & Signing Bonuses

2025 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks & Signing Bonuses

2026 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks & Signing Bonuses

Forums

Blogs

Events

Store

Downloads

Gallery

Everything posted by bird

  1. bird
    Your last sentence is harsh, but I generally agree that St. Peter is a weak link for the organization, and has the PR instincts of a fart during mass. The guy needs to be pulled aside and told to shut his pie hole. At the least.
  2. bird
    I don't know how many times I've responded to this. But I do know that none of you has ever responded back with a rebuttal, so here goes: Jim Pohlad NEVER SAID that payroll would be around 52% each and every year. In fact it originally surfaced in a discussion about guidelines. While poorly articulated, there has never been a promise. Find me something along the lines of " hey, if you build me a stadium, I'll spend 52% of revenues on payroll every year". You don't have to believe me, but I can share with you that, from two personal conversations I've had with more than one person who can make a decision like this, the intention was and is 1) to pay attention to and adhere to industry standards regarding payroll expenditures, and 2) to spend, ON AVERAGE, around 52% of revenues on payroll. So, no, Winston, I don't think you've been misled.
  3. bird
    Absolutely, Chief.
  4. bird
    I couldn't agree more with your last two sentences. The timing is finally right, the cash is in the bank account, there are at least SOME trade chips, and even incremental moves ( a two-way corner OF, a #2-3 starter a la Hughes, maybe a young MLB-ready catcher) could make the difference between winning and losing. And no mortgaging of the future is required. I wouldn't even label these as "aggressive" moves. I won't fault him for passing on the bidding wars for Shields and Lester, but if Ryan doesn't at least deliver on his stated priority regarding "rotation depth" in an immediately impactful way, I'm coming over to the dark side.
  5. bird
    Well, let's not tar and feather anyone just yet...especially on the basis of a comment like this.
  6. bird
    Another look-back for the fun of it. Tell me, would you trade: 11. Lewis Thorpe for Tyler Robertson? 12. Eddie Rosario for Luke Hughes? 13. ABWIII for Joe Benson? 14. Gonsalves for Rob Delaney 15. Duffey for Michael McCardell 16. Kepler for Parmelee 17. Hu for Manship 18. Harrison for Dustin Martin 19. Jones for Slama 20. Minier for Plouffe Maybe that last one, right?
  7. bird
    We were afforded a social media reminder that Ricky is a professional athlete, not a Rhodes Scholar.
  8. bird
    Tactical blunders by managers in important games will always be vividly recalled by a team's most rapid fans. Those decisions get dumber by the year in the retelling of them, in my opinion. Even smart decisions that backfire in important games will often later become dumb moves as memories fog up. A manager's better tactical decisions will be forgotten. The consensus view of Gardy's weakness as a manager is as a tactician. Gardy may always be under-appreciated compared to the Billy Martins and Gene Mauchs in my view, because they were thought of as strong tacticians, although I personally question whether either of them managed a bullpen staff as well as Gardy. Both were perhaps weaker when it came to maintaining harmony in the clubhouse. Having seen every Twins manager in action since 1961, I'll remember Gardy as being up there with the Mauchs, Martins, and Kellys rather than down there with the Irmers, Gardners, and Lavagettos.
  9. bird
    The decision may have been somewhat surprising, but what isn't surprising is the graciousness and class shown by Gardy, Ryan, and the organization.
  10. bird
    I don't know doc. You can make up for a lot of unfairness if you can come across as hateful and mean spirited.
  11. bird
    Olbermann's a cat person anyway. Because loyalty.
  12. bird
    Keith Olbermann just reaffirmed who Keith Olbermann is.
  13. bird
    Does anyone have a good sense about how many and which teams may be in the mood to dump salary? I know some of you will be incredulous, but indulge the thought for a moment, OK? Jim Pohlad has hinted rather strongly that Ryan has his permission to part with more cash if that's what it takes to improve the team. So maybe acquisitions like Kemp are more realistic this winter.
  14. bird
    Geez, these sound kinda like Torii Hunter's rookie numbers. You can't predict player performance year to year, but a front office has no choice but to assume a projection with a given prospect. Using Hunter as an example, let's first agree that Will Meyer was much more highly thought of than Hunter was at the same stage. So, think of the James Shield comp from that time frame, and ask yourself whether trading Hunter for that pitcher would have been a good risk-reward scenario. Remember, Hunter wasn't projected to be a perennial All Star like Wil Meyers. I thought Dayton Moore was taking a huge risk because projections on every-day players are so much more reliable, and Meyer may end up being a Hunter type guy. The reason I didn't see it as crazy was because I didn't see that the trade backfiring would set the Royals back another ten years. After all, they've been picking at the top of the heap each year for three decades (not 3 years like the Twins). KC still has a VERY formidable pipeline with fewer MLB spots to fill than the Twins. Bottom line for me is the Twins still aren't in a position to take that type of risk.
  15. bird
    I think this is a bit of a fallacy. An organization can make long-term decisions and still have success in the short term. Good teams always have an eye to the future with a goal of sustainable success, and it doesn't have to compromise the present. The Cards are the model for this.
  16. bird
    The thread is about stats that allow a truer means to measure improvement. I for one find run differential to be a superior measure of improvement to random perceptions about loser cultures, or anecdotes about self-congratulatory statements from players, or platitudes about the importance of looking at the big picture and seeing the team as a whole.
  17. bird
    I'd venture to guess that most of us are encouraged by the fact that we weren't getting blown out all the time this year, as the run differential verifies. I'm personally encouraged by the fact that so many of my friends on TD are finding reasons to be at least cautiously optimistic. We still get the occasional obtuse rants along the line of "same record means no improvement", but they're much less frequent now that they were in July.
  18. bird
    I find the concept of "wasting" Santana perplexing. You and I don't know if he can be a long term solution at SS, but the Twins already have a very good idea. Playing both Escobar and Santana, and in the process getting strong defensive and offensive results at two positions, has been very smart. It may be that this arrangement is the best alternative until Buxton makes his entrance. Why is anyone so sure that this significantly inhibits Santana's development? His incredible improvement in CF suggests he's very quick to adapt. Until Buxton is ready, or Escobar slumps big time, I'm all for seeing Santana in CF. Let Hicks and Shaefer fight it out for 4th OF (hopefully).
  19. bird
    OK. You named five guys that you apparently feel were justfiably selected ahead of nick's six. So that means only 21 teams were not justified when they faile to select Biddle at #26? My point is twofold. First, when people criticize the Twins for not selecting player x instead of player y, as nick did, it's unfairly presented because it lacks a fair context. Second, players who are passed up emerge. And players who were consensus sure things turn out to be stinkers.
  20. bird
    I expected them to be 3-4 wins better, record-wise. The four primary reasons they came up short are Mauer, Nolasco, Buxton, and Sano.
  21. bird
    Because I'm also petty, I like to point out that at least 26 teams passed up on every single one of these six guys. Oh, and over a third of the teams passed on Taijuan Walker twice. The Twins were not one of them.
  22. bird
    Now, THIS is a fair look back. Thanks for the breath of fresh air.
  23. bird
    For (my pathetic version of) fun, I revisited an old list of yours to see what happened with your #21-30 prospects from then. Two are still hanging on by a thread: Deolis Guerra and Deibinson Romero. None made it big, but a few got at least the proverbial cup of coffee: DeVries, Tolleson (still in MLB today), Jose Morales, and the Dinkelman. The others flamed out: Bigley, Hunt, Robbins, and Winfree. Not sure what conclusions might be drawn. I'd love to see a comparison of say, Sickle's grades on both sets. I'm quite sure that the current group would be much more highly regarded, don't you think?
  24. bird
    Huh?!?!? Quite honestly, jokin, you appear to be characterizing Gardenhire as a racist here, and that's not advisable territory. And please help us out: exactly WHO wanted to make sure that Pinto's set up to fail? I hope you can elaborate, but I'd have no problem if instead you decided to retract your comments.
  25. bird
    bingo
×
×
  • Create New...