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bird

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Everything posted by bird

  1. bird
    And if it's a waste of time to play Suzuki, would it not also be a waste of time to play Mauer, Perkins, and Nolasco?
  2. bird
    With over three weeks of spring training left, don't you think those concerns are premature?
  3. bird
    I don't have any basis for this other than wishful thinking, but I'm wondering if the Twins aren't talking about Suzuki as the starter in part to keep the pressure off Pinto this spring. I cannot imagine any motivation the Twins would have to give Pinto anything less than a fair shake. Why would they do that?
  4. bird
    Baseball Prospectus is the only one to rank either Pinto (#56) or Thorpe (#101), although Sickles hasn't published his list and he's been high on both. BP listed 8 Twins prospects. They gave Sano the lowest ranking I've yet seen (#14), Meyer the highest (#32). Overall, BP gave favorable rankings to seven of eight, and they think Pinto is the fifth best prospect in the system, high praise for sure.
  5. bird
    Yeah, I'm really hoping they select a vagina guy.
  6. bird
    Picking 5 off the top of my head: Max Kepler, Amaurys Minier, Luke Bard, Stuart Turner, and Alex Wimmers.
  7. bird
    I seem to recall that a couple of drafts back, nearly half of ALL the draftees were LH pitchers.
  8. bird
    Yes, looks like it's going to be a fine choice regardless. If Rodon, Hoffman, Beede, and Kolek did go #1-4, the Twins would perhaps be selecting the very best position player in the entire draft.
  9. bird
    Once again, it was not Gladden who spoke of Santana and Vielma. He simply shared a casual conversation he had woth Steil, and expressed his thought that, with Buxton around, calling someone other than Buxton the "best athlete" makes this a conversation worth sharing. It's not something that deserves the drama and scrutiny you're creating about it, jokin.
  10. bird
    I don't share your cynicism. Why is it so hard to believe that a broadcaster and a field guy are standing around during spring training and start a conversation when Santana is on the field in front of them that leads to what Gladden said? Are you sure you're not grasping for things to criticise?
  11. bird
    Gladen only mentioned the names of Buxton Daniel Santana, and Engelb Vielma being part of their discussion, but yeah, it's hard to believe anyone culd be more athletic, so it's a good indication that we're maybe in for a treat with these guys eventually.
  12. bird
    On today's radio broadcast, Gladden spoke about his conversation with Brad Steil in which Steil described Santana as the most athletic prospect in the system, more athletic than even Buxton apparently, but then suggested that Engelb Vielma wasn't far behind either of them.
  13. bird
    Haha. Good one.
  14. bird
    That's a completely irrelevant question is a vacuum, mike. You know that most people would say he's currently (emphasis here) superior, although Souhan and others are not convinced the Twins view Santana as very far off from being ready. We don't know what the Twins think about Drew. We don't know what the Twins think of Drew compared to their other current or potential near future (emphasis here) options. You can assume they are balking at signing him because they don't want to spend any more money, and you would probably be wrong. You might also assume they haven't signed him because they don't think the potential benefit is worth the current price, and you would probably be right. If I thought signing Drew was a good idea, I'd just have to accept the likelihood that the Twins, for reasons they are not going to share with me, disagree, and I'm not going to find fault with that given how little I know and how much they know. You don't fit these categories, mike, but some of our friends actually believe the only reason he hasn't been signed is because the Twins are running some kind of spreadsheet that helps them never ever put wins and losses ahead of profits. And some actually believe they have some insight that would suggest the Twins are making a poor judgment call about Drew, since it doesn't match theirs
  15. bird
    I agree 100% about the phone line, but let's not credit Smith too much. Smith was part of the front office's lobbying effort to get ownership to allow them to expand the budget for improving their international scouting capabilities and assets. Smith played a key role, maybe even a crucial role, over many years, in the building of that capacity. After that, the dozens of employees in that department went to work. None reported directly to Smith, and Smith, by his own admission, never weighed in on a single prospect, because he has very limited aptitude as a talent evaluator. Even at the signing hour, it was not Smith in the role of the primary negotiator, I don't believe. So we should give him some credit for the terrific success internationally, but we shouldn't overstate it.
  16. bird
    I have no clue as to whether he'll bounce back, but there are three things I want to see a whole lot less of by 2015: crappy lumbering outfielders, sloppy station-to-station baserunning, and most importantly, those godawful strikeouts for the wrong team.
  17. bird
    Not to belabor it, but that's an innaccurate interpretation of MLR's post Chief. Nowhere in his post does he claim the Twins are saying 2014 is a lost cause or that FA signings are a bad idea. He isn't claiming this either, nor am I, anymore than you.
  18. bird
    Two pieces of unwacky logic: 1. They didn't sign Hughes for the fairly unimportant two extra wins in 2014. 2. I don't recall any argument from the Twins that it's not a good idea to sign free agents because 2014 is a lost cause. The arguments tend to be about an analysis of benefits versus costs and about the time horizon being considered. And also about one's view of the player's likely impact. The impediments to reaching a common view about a FA signing decision are two-fold: one being your perspective regarding the value of a few extra wins in 2014, the other being your perspective regarding the value of the Twin's shareholder's money.
  19. bird
    Not sure I get your logic, Chief. Let's try speculating that Jim and Terry hold the same longer-term view of things. That would maybe explain the multi-year committments to those FA pitchers. They are improving in 2014 and beyond. And let's speculate that perhaps one of the reasons Ryan hasn't pulled the trigger on, say, Drew, is because the extra two wins in 2014 don't mean squat in the longer term, at least not enough to make a bad decision.
  20. bird
    Perfectly said. This group of prospects, all the way to a look at our 50 best prospects, is so vastly superior to what we were looking at just a few years ago. Take the catching position for example. Matt Koch is highlighted in today's Strib. He was an All-Star at A+ ball, and yet he doesn't even make any of 20 different ranking lists as a top 50 prospect except for one. (If he turns into something, thrylos gets a gold star for ranking him as his #22 prospect). A few years ago, aside from Wilson Ramos as our consensus third best prospect, we were looking at terribly flawed prospects at the position: Danny Rams, Jose Morales were the cream of the crop. In 2014, even Dan Rohlfing and Kyle Knudson, who are on no one's list, are probably as talented as those guys. And we have some really legitimate catching prospects in the system, guys like Pinto, Stewart, maybe Koch, and Navaretto. If you look at the comparison position by position, it's a truly awesome and deep improvement, especially the pitching talent. So pessimism and skepticism are warranted in regards to an individual prospect, but the system is just far too laden with high-level talent and so deep at every level to suppress optimism. I've been following the team since inception and the minor league system fairly closely for a couple of decades, and I've never seen them amass talent like this. The optimism is definately warranted.
  21. bird
    I would speculate that this is pretty much the conversation Terry Ryan had with Jim Pohlad awhile back.
  22. bird
    Exactly what does the timing of the Garza offer prove to you?
  23. bird
    Easy as pie, oldguy. I speculate that Jim Pohlad told us he's in favor of spending more to improve the team. I'm speculating that, just like he said he did, he's encouraged his front office to spend money if that's what it takes. And I'm speculating that Ryan has cautioned him to remain patient, that he'll spend Jimmy's money when he has the right opportunities and not before, and to just simmer down a bit and let things play out. I mean, how else can one label it?
  24. bird
    mike, you're such a damn Pollyanna.
  25. bird
    As Parks points out, we shouldn't expect to be ranked #1 for more than one year. In our division KC isn't far behind (#7) and Cleveland (#20) and Chicago (#21) are both improving. Detroit (#27) is in rough shape. What caught my attention is the rankings of a few teams that were thought to be so exceptional at drafting and developing talent: Tampa (#26), Oakland (#28), Atlanta (#24) and Washington (#28). I'm convinced that the international market will continue to be more and more important compared to stateside talent.
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