huhguy

HitinaPinch....there was no question, JP volunteered this info...

watching the Orioles feed (on my computer) Hall of Famer Jim Palmer was quite complimentary of Jose Berrios, among other things he said this, "This kid can pitch," "Berrios has three plus pitches, curve ball, change up and located fastball," he said some other nice things as well, but these are the comments that struck me

You would say? More than likely....you would say, they don't have a chance...The Twins young stars...tempted us...made us think....wow here we go...but were we Santanaized? Meaning...they looked great...for a short while..I have been concerned about Sano...since he fell off....hoping...it was the injury....but now not so sure... I also know Rosario isnt technically a rookie...and I also think Park will be ok..but really the Twins are playing about where they should be.... I was so disappointed in Kepler...he comes to the plate..with the bases loaded..but he was frozen in the headlights ..and looked absolutely over matched ....I know, small sample..but wow...dramatic difference between 2a and MLB? On the ohter side, who is this Phil Hughes? We will take it!

Im finally going to say it.....Twins Daily Coverage of Spring Training Sucks! The story on Max Kepler today illustrates my point exactly. Ok Kepler optioned....why? How did he hit? Did he play good defense? For those of us who follow the Twins, Kepler had to be one of the most intriguing stories. We barely heard a word. Same is true of our new catcher, yes lately there was some info, but are you like me, and want to look at and examine his stats, maybe even a running total? For the second straight spring, I am very disappointed in the coverage. I keep hoping it will change but it has been pathetic. To TD admns, please try to improve your coverage for next year, we have already wasted this year. Ok, shoot the flames, remove the post, I expect the Ostrich effect or Trump effect, attack away!

yes, I would have taken a broken bat and a box of doughnuts for Hermann

Who would trade a player that Hicks was this past season for a catcher that might not even be your starter? I would think its one of two things 1- This catcher is better than what his stats show or 2- Ryan wanted to move Hicks for a non playing reason What do you think?

severe risk given the entire scenario

How can a guy that knows baseball so well, be so ignorant? Brings Perkins in to face Zobrist a right handed hitter who owns Perkins, result? Base hit of course, Perkins then surrenders another hit..3-1 Royals, Molitor did this same thing against Detroit, brought Perkins in to face Martinez, forcing Martinez to hit from the right side where he was hitting over 500, result hit off the wall, how could you be so ignorant?

Twins need to shop for a closer. Perkins mind is blown, you saw it in full color after giving up the hr, he kneeled in defeat, he has been great for the twins but the run is over. We can not afford to use him in anything like a high leverage situation. The most valuable Twin? Two possibilities, Eddie Rosario is in the running, but my pick is Eduardo Escobar, what a player He gets so many key hits, plays a great shortstop and now evidently has the approval to swing for the fences. Do you realize Escobar would have 15 hr if he had been starting all year? Molitor made a mistake with him but i dont think he will repeat it. Great Year, Go Twins!

Why is Molitor so intent on playing other people at SS. Many of you have made the point way back that Escobar is the best SS we have. Recently Escobar walk off double Nunez plays the next day (I was shocked) First game against Orioles - Escobar doubles and homers Nunez plays the next day WTF? Now Molitor is even making excuses for his inexcusable decisions...Pre-Game Last night, we are going righty heavy lineup against this lefthander...THIS JUST IN..Escobar is a SWITCH HITTER! The righty of course was Nunez, otherwise the lineup was normal... Please if you have any idea why the Head Psycho is doing this, PLEASE tel me!

Wow...we can not afford to keep trotting Perkins out to close...Move Jepsen there now. I do believe this is mental on Perkins part, slide him back until he is the old Perkins, but to have any chance of a post season spot we have to change. The other major thing we need to do is bring Buxton up now, his feet are elite and will win us three games...might not be enough but when you are this close you need to go for it...bring him up immediately. There are a million Shane Robinsons, so Buxton can slide right into his place. Thank You Tori, but now you have to yield some time...for the hope of attaining post season

Did you play baseball? I dont mean that as an insult, if you did, you understand that that righthanders see lefthanded pitching much better, thats why I said, May against Arod....and in retrospect, I am very surprised to see you question that? How is lefty against one of the greatest sluggers in the game, who was having a great game already work for you? And thats not to mention the aforementioned stat, history vs Perkins.

I did something I rarely do. I shut the game off. I watch on my computer so I have to take whatever feed I get. I was watching the Yankees broadcast, their play by play guy reported the following. Mauer moved to first base because of knee problems, (said it twice) Sorry Yank fans, you show respect for one of the greatest players of our time, a three time batting champion, that was disgraceful! Then said about three times this was Perkins first blown save of the season...but thats not what made me mad.(he did eventually correct that) Arod had already connected twice, true facing Milone is different from facing Perkins....Arod was 5-9 against Perkins with a homerun, Arod was hot....WHY COULDNT THE FRICKIN COACHING STAFF AT LEAST USED MAY AGAINST AROD? Thats what made me mad, when the guy hit the three run hr, I turned it off in disgust. I think this was Molitors call, well Paul, you blew it. Did anyone not think Perkins was going to groove it, my chutzpah vs yours? BOOM! The Twins deserved this loss, and Molitor deserves the credit.

You would think there would be a market for a young slugger who has hit 20 Hr's in the major leagues, lets trade him for a great catching prospect and send Hermann packing...

I am deeply impressed with Miguel Sano. Yes I saw the game. Yes I saw him strikeout, but I also saw his eye, his swing his confidence. I did not see the deer in the headlights like Buxton showed. Sano believes he can play in this league and hit these pitchers, and you know what, he can! It might take a little but look for him to start hitting.....and this will help the Twins mightily. He is this years Santana, that could be Rosario as well. Any way, I picked Vargas as over rated and Pelfrey to have his best year ever waaayyyy before it became obvious. One other note: How good was Kyle Giblson tonight? Phenomenal was he not? Sano...will be a star in the Twin Cities, you'll be able to look it up!

nice article!

Twins really had no choice, home town hero, great player coming off a phenomenal season, if you havent read AG anaylysis of Mauer, do its terrific

Joe Mauer WAS a great baseball player Because of his contract you can't cut him or can you? ITs painfully obvious that he is filling a position that he is ill suited for. If Mauer was still catching we could live with his batting and lack of power, but now he is clogging the one position you can have an average defender but with some bop. I really like Joe Mauer but playing him at first base is a complete waste. Twins know it but what can they do? My solution is call up Kepler or Sano If its Sano play him at 3b unless he can play first and play Plouffe at 1b. Molitor said Vargas was a threat, (NOT) Sano on the other hand would be, Call him up and bench Mauer. If you call up Kepler he can play 1b or the outfield, but whatever, lets face the new Reality, Joe Mauer is not helping the Twins

His confidence is shot. Just the opposite of last year. Send him down now, so he can work it out, regain confidence and be ready to help the twiins in 2nd half. You can see he is playing under a tremendous amount of self imposed pressure. I am believer in Santana although was never a fan of taking ss away from Escobar. Happy Paul plays Escobar in outfield. For those who talked of trading Escobar I said then and now that would be lunacy just for the reason you are witnessing now. The other thing I would do is keep Rosario, I dont have a clue with what to do with Arcia, Trade maybe?

When you look into the eyes of Aaron Hicks you see a different man, a different player than he has been in the past. His approach and confidence look to me to be stellar. If he can have a little sucess, it might just be the charm as in third time. In my mind he won the first game against the Rays when he singled sharply to get on....then scored on Santana's triple. He has so impressed me and I was ready to give up on him. He might re-define how we think of Byron Buxton and he at present is at least allowing the twins to nurture Buxton.

SInce I have been following the twins, this is the best pitching I have ever seen. I am wondering why. At this point I beieve its Neil Allen, is there another answer? Hughes is not pitching that badly but not like last year sill his performance has been acceptable. Gibson whoa....is he on a roll or what? Outstanding! Pelfrey - Do we really need to talk about him? Interestingly enough on a recent Gleeman and the Geek Episode...Gleeman and Bonnes pointed to what he believed to be signs that Pelfrey would regress...well sure he can' t keep up this pace but I still expect him to be competitive. Few seem to remember that before Tommy John surgery he was very good at times , although to read this board you wouldn't believe it. Adding the split finger has helped him mightily and I am predicting his continued success there will be bumps but look for his best year ever Trevor May - a rough outing in his last start, but by and large good and good enough to stay in the rotation. Nolasco is the weak link - They can't cut him, I say move him to the bullpen in the long relief role. Give Meyer his chance finally before he is ruined mentally, he has to be close. In summary the pitching has been awesome and at this moment, hat is off to Neil Allen!

You guys should thank me for calling the Twins the worst team in baseball history..notice the trip they have been on ever since? How fun is it to watch these guys? Plouffe is playing a Gold Glove 3b, Robinson doesnt realize who he really is..Joe has come through with some clutch extra base hits...wow.. But you know what...we are winning and winning a lot...because..drum roll..our pitching..now how phenomenal is it to be able to say that? Time for me to work my magic again..here goes.. Nolasco is terrible...I want to see him traded yesterday...yes we will pay half his salary and take just about anybody in return...When I watch Nolasco pitch I think...his pitches are flat...they dont have velocity.whats not to love about him if you are an opposing batter? Ok..you can thank me later if Nolasco is going to rebound it will be now...

Talk about Irony... Rosario hits a slam for the Red Wings....they lose 6-4 Sano slams for the Lookouts..they lose 6-4 Thank Goodness FT Meyers didn't hit a slam allowing them to win with a dominant pitching performance by Chin Wei Hu...7-0 The big team wins on a walk off hr by Plouffe and my man Escobar shines..he first throws a runner out at the plate Then adroitly swings at a horrible inside pitch that he knew the catcher would have trouble with scoring a run from third.. In his last at bat...knowing he needed to be replaced defensively...he feigns injury, so twins pr for him...my dude is a GENIUS Dont tell me we can win without him in the lineup! .

its honestly time to call in question the competency of one Terry Ryan

What in the heck happened? The Franchise that used to be the model that everybody wanted to emulate is now the franchise that nobody wants to copy. Is Terry Ryan just terrible? Or, has he had uncommon circumstances that have led to this? One thing that comes through to me, is that there seems to be a terrible evaluation system of prospects. While other teams seem to produce young stars seemingly every year the Twins seem to be in perennial evaluation mode (Plouffe, Arcia.Hicks..etc) They finally went free agent for pitching, and Nolasco who looked so good, has yet to earn any of his salary. Who could have predicted Santana? They are going to have to open the wallet..and sign free agents as position players because the Twins are so bad thats the only way for them to field a representative team. I like most of you have waited and watched the minor league system hoping that the normal names are coming to Minneapolis in the very near future....but honestly I dont think there are going to be wholesale improvements do you? Joe Mauer one of the best players in the game is a hindrance for the team, he occupies a position that is traditionally occupied by a power hitter, sorry Joe 270 and no power makes you a liability not an asset. When we read the minor league reports we see the Twins farm system is competitive with the other teams, the big mystery is, why doesn't it translate to the major league level?