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mluebker

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Everything posted by mluebker

  1. mluebker
    You’re right. Move Correa to third, Lewis to first, and find an affordable and reliable shortstop. They’re going to have to do that anyway, with Correa spending so much time on the IL, anyway. Unless they love paying him all that money for only playing half a season at short every year, maybe less as he gets older.
  2. mluebker
    So put Lewis and his bad knees at first. The Twins need reliable offense. So keeping Correa, Buxton, and Lewis in the lineup but out of the high-stress positions that keep putting them on the IL for half the games in a given season (with who-knows-who playing those positions the other half of the season) might be worth a look.
  3. mluebker
    Be nice to have both of them in the lineup more often. As I said elsewhere, why not move Correa to first or third where he’d have less lateral movement to cause or exacerbate injuries? And how about Buxton to one of the corners where he and his fragile hip and knee would have less ground to cover and fewer opportunities to injure himself? Yeah, that costs the team something on defense up the middle, but right now both of those guys are missing so many games the Twins already are paying that price for close to half a season for each of them.
  4. mluebker
    Well, Lewis came up as the Twins’ shortstop-of-the-future. But with Correa there (about half the time), they’ve tried to convert him to third or maybe second. So why not put him at short and move Correa to third, instead? That would give Lewis an opportunity to play his natural position, while Correa would face less lateral movement, fewer high-stress plays, and a lower risk of injury. Hopefully, that could prolong his playing career by reducing injuries and time on the IL. He’s under contract for how many more years? Seems like it would be worthwhile to give up some of his defense at short in return for keeping his bat in the lineup more regularly and his glove in the field for more than half the games in a given season.
  5. mluebker
    Correa at first with some good orthotics in his shoes to mitigate the effects of the plantar fasciitis. Maybe that keeps him and his bat in the lineup a little more regularly. Lewis goes to shortstop and either demonstrates he can play there or becomes future trade bait. And while we’re at it, Buxton to one of the corners where he won’t have to cover so much territory, maybe won’t continue to aggravate his fragile hip and knee, and also can be in the lineup for more than half a season. I hate to sacrifice strong defense up the middle, but that’s only the case when they’re actually on the field. So it’s a trade-off: keep their bats in the lineup by putting them in defensive positions less likely to cause or aggravate existing injuries.
  6. mluebker
    Well, no one else was willing to pay as much for Correa as the Twins when he was a free agent. So after multiple injury-shortened seasons here, it seems unlikely that anyone would be willing to pay that same high price now that he’s essentially become a part-time player. He’s not going anywhere. As for Buxton, it’s great that he wants to stay in the Twin Cities, but maybe he should ask himself (as Kirilloff did) whether in doing so he’s helping the team. It would be great to have him healthy and in centerfield every day, but his history tells us that’s not going to happen. So he’s not going anywhere, either. But trading away pitching? No, no, no! Leave something of value for a hypothetical new owner to build around!
  7. mluebker
    Jeez, I didn't realize ragging on players from the stands was cause for so much guilt! I remember one game at Met Stadium in the early seventies when Amos Otis was in centerfield for the Royals. We got down under the stands so we could see him straight through the outfield fence, then did running commentary on his play (which was better than we pretended) all afternoon. We got on his nerves, but he still was pretty cool about it. And in the mid-eighties, we'd often wander over to the Metrodome, buy seats near first base (the "crowds" could be sparse in those days), then holler at Kent Hrbek that his favorite post-game meal was a dozen doughnuts and a 12-pack of beer, or similar witticisms. He took it a lot better than some of his fans who were seated nearby. And of course, we were fans, as well--we cheered like crazy when he made a good play or got on base. We thought we were having fun. Now it sounds like I'm gonna have to go to confession!
  8. mluebker
    Well, here's hoping he managed to put away some of the $3.35 million he earned over the past four years and is able to figure out what he's going to do with the rest of his life. I haven't seen many guys make this kind of tough decision, but besides being a good one for him, it's also a good one for the team. He gets a lot of credit for that.
  9. mluebker
    My two favorite teams are the Twins and whoever is playing the Yankees.
  10. mluebker
    Agree 100%. There’s a whole lot more to building a successful bullpen (and team, for that matter) than numbers on a spreadsheet.
  11. mluebker
    “Grow your own.” I like the idea, particularly since they seem to know how to do it. On the other hand, whatever analytics they’re looking at when they shop elsewhere don’t seem to be working so well.
  12. mluebker
    Great article, even if the hard realities are difficult to face before a second cup of coffee. The idea I like best here is switching Lewis to first. I used to think getting Correa to waive his no-trade clause and putting Lewis there would be a possibility, but an otherwise team-with-question-marks needs to at least be strong up the middle on defense.
  13. mluebker
    Luck.
  14. mluebker
    A new White Sox stadium near the intersections of major highways west of the city and close to a Metra line could draw from the city, the western and southern suburbs, and even southern Wisconsin. And that’s still considered the Chicago media market and metro area, so the potential revenue still would be there. A similar case probably could be made for northern Indiana.
  15. mluebker
    Good analysis. Seems like everyone is in broad agreement on how the Twins ended up where they are. So what next? Is there any realistic chance that the Pohlads will open up the pocketbook to fill some holes for 2025? Are the Twins attractive enough to sell quickly and we can plausibly hope new owners will arrive in time try to build a solid playoff team? Should we expect the front office to ask Buxton and Correa to waive their no-trade clauses, and go full-on rebuilding? Or will ownership just dump salary and further weaken the team, then try to pick up a handful of Rule 5 picks, reclamation projects, and veterans in decline and hope for the best? Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst?
  16. mluebker
    So what can be done to correct that? Is the inch-and-a-half difference something a pitcher actually can feel? And what causes it? Fatigue? Age? Changes in muscles as a result of throwing so hard and so often? It's amazing the things that can be seen and evaluated with the technology available these days, things that probably would have gone unseen in years past and dismissed with, "He's losing his stuff."
  17. mluebker
    Maybe it’s time to do that: keep Buxton and Correa because of their no-trade clauses, then clear out the rest and move the Saints to Target Field.
  18. mluebker
    Whether fair or not, it’s true that the view from outside of Minnesota is that Minneapolis is a city with a lot of problems that are getting worse, not better. So despite the Target Field lease having 15 years to run, I can picture someone wanting to acquire a team for another city trying to renegotiate or break that lease. I have no idea what’s in it, but contracts generally include language that allow them to be voided under certain conditions.
  19. mluebker
    I was only six in 1961, but with a grandfather who loved baseball, so we watched a lot of games on TV. To me, Jim Lemon seemed like one of the “old guys” already. Hard to believe he was only 32!
  20. mluebker
    I was discussing “the Twins way,” which goes all the way back to Calvin Griffith to some of us old guys.
  21. mluebker
    While it was a different era, the only two World Championships the Twins have came under the ownership of Smilin' Carl. The Pohlads get my thanks for that. And they got the team out of that Teflon™ TV studio into an actual ballpark, so that's something. But it would be nice to have owners who actually care about baseball enough to invest a little more into putting a winning team into that ballpark, as they promised to do when they advocated for it. I know the Twins won't ever match the Yankees' payroll unless MLB comes up with a more effective way to share revenue among the big media markets and the smaller ones, but it would be nice to see a season like 2023 rewarded with something other than a deep salary cut.
  22. mluebker
    They’ve been trading away talented players (or letting them go via free agency) in exchange for dubious “potential” and reclamation projects for decades. Sure, it works out once in a while. But a few successes now and then doesn’t change the overall tendency. The Twins (always) need pitching, so maybe hang onto Griffin Jax. Make him a starter and see how that works out. And if you want some big trades, how about offering up injury-prone Buxton and/or Correa. Offer them to teams that need elite talent to win now, and can afford the risk, in exchange for proven (or emerging) young talent that might produce at a lower level, but actually would play every day. There’s a lot to be said for consistency.
  23. mluebker
    My post didn't imply that. Maybe you inferred it.
  24. mluebker
    I don't recall saying anything about ownership or claiming this happens every time the Twins trade away a good ballplayer for a less-than helpful return, which they've done a little too frequently over their history than this fan would like. When it accidentally works out, I'm as happy as anyone. If you're satisfied with that success rate, great. I'm not.
  25. mluebker
    Even a blind pig finds a truffle sometimes, or so they say.
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