mluebker
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Everything posted by mluebker
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They all sound interesting. Let’s see who’s still on the shelf in February.- 19 replies
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- luke weaver
- kyle finnegan
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So does that mean it’s time to move on to something more concrete, like how many left-handed hitting outfielders can dance on the head of a pin?
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I already know: synonyms.
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“Competitive balance is the heartbeat of CBA negotiations.” Never going to have that as long as there are big and small market teams. Maybe it’s time to split MLB into two divisions by team salary, the Haves and the Have Nots. Each just plays among themselves. Then at the end of the season, the six worst Haves teams are out of the playoff picture and the six best Have Nots take their places and the playoffs begin. It’s a terrible idea, but at least it would mean more small-market and low salary teams in the postseason. And it’s probably no more unfair than the current system.
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Now go to your thesaurus and plug in “criticize” and “deride.”
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Brilliant! Uncle Donny and I would get along just fine.
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Actually, the Merriam-Webster dictionary changed from being prescriptive to descriptive in 1962. For more than half a century it’s reflected how words evolve and are used, not what those determined to dictate definitions insist they should mean. Language lives in the mouths of people and the book you sarcastically long for recognizes that.
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Having the Pohlads stop talking about selling and actually don’t it would be pretty high up on my list, as well.
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Depends on who’s listening.
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I’m assuming that until the Pohlads can sell the team, they aren’t going to try to contend, nor will they fully commit to rebuilding. Any changes they make will be made to keep them competitive enough to be nominally profitable, and not a dime more. Kind of baseball purgatory, where all we can do is pray for something different.
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Not only that, it’s true in real life when you talk baseball, as well. Doesn’t matter whether you’re talking to your best friend or a guy two stools down the bar that you’ve never seen before. You say what you think and someone always will be ready to explain just how wrong you are, sometimes even why. And if we’re talking players, back in the early eighties you could get seats near the dugout on the first base line even after the game started. We loved that because we could watch Kent Hrbek in action. But it didn’t stop us from razzing him if he made a mistake (or even if we got bored). Nobody took it seriously. He’d give us an ironic cap-tip if he booted one and we’d stand up and cheer when he made a good play. It’s baseball. That’s part of what makes it fun.
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I'm not upset. I'd rather watch guys on the way up than a team of low-cost cast-offs. Even if the young guys stumble, there's room for optimism.
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Agree 100% and am cautiously optimistic it’ll happen.
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And let’s see what Shelton and his (mostly) new coaching staff can do in terms of helping him tap into that power more consistently. Maybe playing first regularly will give him a better opportunity to focus on his hitting. It sure looks to me like the Twins are planning to play the cards they have, so unless they’re willing to admit Royce Lewis is their first baseman of the future, Kody Clemens gets the nod.
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If we’re talking about converting starters, I’d love to see SWR and Matthews finishing games—in essentially the slots occupied by Jax and Duran last year—with Ryan, Lopez, and Ober starting, and the 4th TBD. Sort out the rest in spring training from among the young guys, last summer’s acquisitions, and the bargain free agents.
- 35 replies
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- zebby matthews
- david festa
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The beauty of a list like this is maybe they will and maybe they won’t. They’re all guys who worked their butts off last summer, so I’m hoping they do the same or better next summer.
- 43 replies
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- byron buxton
- joe ryan
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Falvey is going to need to start putting some of the Pohlads’ money where his mouth is if anyone is going to believe anything he says. A good start would be to build a “strong up the middle” defense capped with Buxton in center. I’m talking about guys with defensive skills behind the plate and to play SS and 2B every day, as well hit. But that would require the Pohlads to start thinking like owners of an MLB team, not financiers who happen to have one as part of their portfolio.
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Why Falvey Should Step Down- Continued
mluebker commented on Doctor Gast's blog entry in Doctor Gast's Blog
“What really helped [Billy Beane] was his ability & courage to think out of the (old school) box, using analytics to come out ahead in trades. IMO, now, the pendulum has swung far to the other side, where analytics drives the sport & "in the box" thinking is analytics.” There’s the problem explained in two sentences. Everyone wanted to be Billy Beane and embrace the numbers, while cutting back on scouting staffs. Looking at potential is great. But without guys who are proven judges of a players’ abilities (and weaknesses) on the field, well, we’re seeing the results. What we need now is someone who has the ability and courage to combine some of that old-school approach. But that’s going to also require more scouts scouring the countryside for talent that the numbers alone may not show. Great article. -
Glad to hear Shelton plans to be more hands-on and is looking to communicate more with his players. Delegating is something every good leader should be able to do, but he also needs to know when not to.
- 32 replies
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- derek shelton
- derek falvey
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The guy has a terrific range of experience going back to his playing days when coaches made decisions based on their gut, all the way up through developing young talent and using the latest analytics and statistics. As long as they don’t handcuff him to an iPad things should be fine.
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Focus any free agent money on bullpen and defense, so Ty France. Let the new kids figure out how to score some runs and hope for the best.
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Excellent choice. Let’s hope they let him actually do the job.
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Good to see the focus on pitching. If they aren’t getting hammered, maybe the kids scattered elsewhere can scratch out some runs and play some defense and we’ll actually have something like baseball to watch.
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So on the upside, they have the most experienced guy available to help them accomplish their goals. And on the downside, you’re right—those all but certainly are their goals.
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“Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss. >scream<“
