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bird

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Everything posted by bird

  1. bird
    He's talking exclusively about Delmon Young. That damn Billy Smith.
  2. bird
    Pinto has got nine friggin years under his belt. The Twins, being the Twins, have probably given Pinto about the best chance a prospect can get to become a MLB-caliber two-way player. Fault Gardy all you want, but maybe the reality is you just disagree with the judgment call on him. I don't have a lick of evaluation skill, but I'd venture a good guess that Pinto will never be adequate behind the plate. Personally, I can't stand watching him flounder around back there, and he comes in third at best as far as DH's go, behind Arcia and Vargas. His bat is nice, not great. Is it perhaps ironic that the criticism about not playing Pinto is coming from someone who's generally all about wins and losses? Could it simply be that throwing Pinto behind the plate is counter-productive in the opinion of the decision-makers there? And that winning a few of these final games while still playing the young guys with the most promise is the balancing act that's going on here?
  3. bird
    And it plays quite nicely for a 4th OF
  4. bird
    I think that's exactly what Gardy's implying. I think he's trying to express his delight in the attitudes some of the new guys are bringing to the locker room and more importantly out on the field. Sort of incriminating perhaps of guys like Mauer and Morneau and Willingham? The lack of fiery types in the clubhouse has been a recurring complaint around these parts for some time. While I personally attribute some of this to Gardy's limitations as a leader, you can bet that a lot of our pals on TD, yourself included I'd guess, might place a lion's share of the blame on Gardy and let the guys cashing the big checks (cough Mauer cough) off the hook. I miss Kirby.
  5. bird
    My point is you don't need wins and losses as your proof that things are tangibly better. We've subtracted Willingham and Florimon. Vargas and Santana are tangibly more productive. Of course we all agree that the improvements need to eventually show up in the standings, no one would argue that. In September of 2014, I submit that, placed within the context of the positive changes we're witnessing, we're going through a string of fairly meaningless game outcomes, that's all. But if we insist on wins and losses as the only acceptable evidence of improvement, yes, we've seen no improvement.
  6. bird
    I'm having a disconnect on your point. Are we bad at it? Or do we need to get even better in your view? Thinking first of who the Twins have scouted and acquired recently: Hughes, Mays, Fien, Thielbar, Pressly, Olives, Meyer, Burton, Deduno, Nolasco...not a terrible track record. Of the top 40 prospects in all of baseball, all prospects from all 30 teams, the Twins have 3 PITCHERS among them (and 2 position players too). No one's confidence should be so shaken, unless you're a Tigers fan or something. SO while the pitchers you fantasize about are nice, Berrios, Meyer, Stewart, Thorpe, and May are hardly chopped liver.
  7. bird
    Oldgoat, your life raft here is what Ryan accomplishes in the off-season. I think many of us were pleasantly surprised with the off-season additions of Hughes and Nolasco last winter. Ryan went on record recently as saying one of his ongoing priorities will be "rotation depth". He's got cash, he's got an owner showing some impatience, he's got at least a few trade chips for once, and more of the competitors for the available talent are tapped out. Don't dismiss the possibility that Ryan acquires a front-line starter from somewhere.
  8. bird
    This is what I love about you, mike. The position player roster is already markedly different now than it was at the start of the year, right? Most of us think replacing Willingham and Florimon with Vargas and Santana, to name the two of most notable personnel changes since April, has already improved the team. Things are better, and things are getting better. I know you're not ignorant of this. And I know you're not stupid. So that leaves only one explanation. You are choosing to ignore the improvements in personnel, because you want to obtusely harp about these practically irrelevant wins and losses. Let's turn the tables: So, mike, they've made a few great personnel improvements, led by Santana and Vargas....and you say things aren't getting better?
  9. bird
    So, Gardy's on to something here then.
  10. bird
    Bob Sacamento, it was such a joy to read your posts last year! So glad to know you plan to do the same again this fall. Please double your schedule.
  11. bird
    Every one of these guys is a strong candidate to perform better in 2015. But for my money, I want the most important rebounds to come from Alex Meyer, Byron Buxton, Miguel Sano, Eddie Rosario, and Fernando Romero.
  12. bird
    Funny to think that a year or so ago you would have been laughed off the site for saying such things. Most people would have traded Dozier and Escobar in a package to acquire Stephen Drew, just another of the many examples of how strange and fickle it all is.
  13. bird
    It's also interesting that you describe the Twins as having very little clue on optimizing talent and then sing the praises at the same time. Did the Twins just get lucky with Polanco? A huge coincidence, seeing as how they also got lucky with Vargas, Santana, Arcia.....oh, and Dozier.
  14. bird
    And you're not necessarily wrong about Polanco. I hope you're right, and think you might be. But it won't be true during the first half of 2015, so what's the harm in letting the two of them get in each other's way for a half-season in 2015 and trading Dozier during the winter of 2015-16?
  15. bird
    Ideally, it would be nice to move the lead runner(s) along more than one base at a time just a little more often, I guess.
  16. bird
    We do NOT have a surplus of above-average middle infielders. Yet. None of the players mentioned- Santana, Escobar, Polanco, Michael, Gordon, and throw in Rosario too- are capable of matching Dozier's overall production at 2B right now. We're at the stage of the rebuild where no trades should be made which create rather than immediately fill a hole.
  17. bird
    Could be worse. Could be Nathan.
  18. bird
    Yeah, I agree with this. We have to keep expectations in check. Remember, May was labeled by most evaluators as at best an innings-eating 3/4 starter and at worst a low-leverage reliever with control issues. Gibson was viewed at best as a 3/4 starter post Tommy John. If we end up with anything more than that from those two, we'll probably have to send apology notes to Rick Anderson. Doc, I still contend Ryan should pursue, via trade or FA, a 2/3 starter that I describe as meeting or exceeding the Hughes Standard (career #'s). Meyer isn't going to be a 1/2 starter out of the blocks, if ever. If Ryan give me a 2/3 starter for Christmas, I'll be OK with Hughes as my other 2/3 starter, Gibson as a 3/4, Meyer as a 3/4 in 2015 perhaps, Nolasco as a 4/5, and May as a 5/6.
  19. bird
    Of course it's more than one player. That's why the roster will be about 80% turned over by this time next year. And that's a pillar of my argument that an improved Mauer isn't solving a top five problem. It's going to take a corner OF from elsewhere, and probably a young two-way catcher from outside, to supplement Santana, Dozier, Mauer, Vargas, Sano, Arcia, Buxton, and role players like Plouffe, Escobar, Polanco, and Rosario. But what I'm saying is that one or more of these guys has to step up and give us the kind of performance and leadership that every championship club gets from its best player.
  20. bird
    I don't see Mauer as a top five problem per se, but I do wonder how many players making $20M in a season fail to ever carry their team on their back for at least some short stretch during a season. We need our best hitter to be someone who looks to hammer a pitch when runners are on base, not look to coax a damn walk. I'd re-phrase the problem as a situation where we don't have that player- yet. Maybe Arcia can grow into that, as he seems to have a fire in his belly that's been missing from all outward appearances. Or maybe we have to wait for someone like Sano or Buxton.
  21. bird
    This is getting embarrassing.
  22. bird
    As much as he entertained this young boy when he managed, I distinctly remember my mother shaking her head with disdain and explaining to me that she was quite sure the man was running on empty when it came to "the virtues".
  23. bird
    While I don't get worked up over baseball brawls, I'm of the general opinion that we all could do a lot more to promote a world of greater respect, greater tolerance, greater empathy, greater love. One of the ways to do this is to take on personal risk. Stand up to hateful acts of disrespect and intolerance and call out against personal injustice. These social issues are playing out more prolifically outside of sports and with a much more devastating effect. Acts of hate, violence and abuse are being tolerated or minimized, especially terribly harmful acts against women. I'm aware that the cowardly Ray Rice is in the news, yes. Trouble is, there are even worse sickos going unpunished. Society glamorizes the bad actor stuff and idolizes men as aggressors. Sports are a great venue for feeding this nonsense. I know it might seem like a tenuous connection, but calling Mientkiewicz a desirable candidate because he did the whole tough guy thing is just plain stupid in my opinion. It just plays into the problem we need to fix in our culture. He's a worse choice because of his childish bravado, not a better one. Give me the manager that stepped in to break it up, because that's the real man for you.
  24. bird
    I can find a lot of things about which to criticize Gardy, but deciding Suzuki was his best alternative at catcher, and deciding that Santana was his best alternative in CF this year might in fact be two of his better decisions.
  25. bird
    I just got a warning from glunn for plagiarism, mike.
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