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sandbun

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Everything posted by sandbun

  1. sandbun
    It's worth remembering that April games are usually poorly attended; their 2nd game last season was also their 2nd worse attended home game, only a make-up game against the Angels on Sept 9th kept it from being the low mark of the season. So it's not certain that this spells doom for the attendance the rest of the year. That said they're already down over 6,500 people after the first home series, and this one was later in April and had better weather then they got last year, although they also had a better draw in Detroit last year.
  2. sandbun
    It's possible I'm missing the tone/intent of what you're trying to say, but I'm confused by your comment. I agree completely about it would be revisionist history if they did that again with Gardy and a new coach; the new coach's success would be more about the players in the minors becoming ready than anything he did, but I don't see why the team would care. They need a story to sell to their customers, and that's as good as any. Doesn't matter if it's true or not. And yes, it would be very similar to the story they sell with Gardy, who I agree didn't do enough with the team he got from TK. But it worked from a business standpoint, so I don't see why they wouldn't go with it again. The other possibility though is that they love Gardy so much they'll make sure his last season is a winning one, or at least one that shows a lot of promise for the future. Then he rides out with that legacy, he was a good manager when the front office didn't blow it, and totally could've kept doing it, but wanted to spend more time with his family or some such nonsense. Which again would line up well with what they did last time they switched managers. And then him, and likely TR, ride off into the sunset.
  3. sandbun
    I don't think he survives another 90+ loss season, especially if attendance drops the way I think it will. I think the opposite of some here, with the next generation coming up it's the perfect time to bring in a new guy - he gets to be the guy who turned the franchise around and brought excitement to the park by better relating to the new players and embracing new thinking etc etc. Great way to sell a new manager to an increasingly depressed and apathetic fan base and get them to buy into hope again, or actually more importantly tickets again.
  4. sandbun
    It's going to be hard day for those of us fighting the Mauer overrated crowd after this game.
  5. sandbun
    When's the last time a team got two outs in the same inning on a tag at home?
  6. sandbun
    For those who went to spring training, did they have Mauer face live pitching against the shift that teams are doing to him, or did they just decide it was fine and not do that? I'm sure hits will start falling in for him, but I'd feel better if it was something they actively worked on.
  7. sandbun
    Looking again you're probably right. I don't follow Miller and just grabbed the quote from Wetmore's retweet which didn't include the previous tweet. So I missed the context. Sorry. I still don't like that he's working without a net though.
  8. sandbun
    Phil Miller ‏@MillerStrib 18h The idea, Gardy said, is to take as much pressure off Hicks as possible. He'll play every day.
  9. sandbun
    I'm hopeful and more optimistic than some that Hicks will start showing the promise we saw from him and will be a solid CF for us, but I have to say anytime a team talks about removing any competition for a player to make him feel better I start worrying a lot. He's supposed to play in the majors, but can't handle the pressure of a player coming for his job? Isn't this the logic the Vikings used with Ponder? No competition, and he'll feel so confident, it'll be great! How'd that work out?
  10. sandbun
    If nothing else this should serve as a reminder that whatever he may say to the contrary, Gardy gets quite a bit of say about the roster. He might not always get some young guys called up as soon as he might like, but they give him most of what he wants.
  11. sandbun
    Wetmore is speculating that they're close to a trade, which is the only way this makes sense to me. I mean who is our backup center fielder otherwise? Arcia? EDIT: I see other people are speculating it would be Bartlett. I guess that's a little better.... maybe.
  12. sandbun
    @jcrasnick #Astros announce they've claimed OF Alex Presley off waivers from #twins. Designated P Raul Valdes for assignment. Kinda surprising, I thought they'd keep Presley as the 4th outfielder.
  13. sandbun
    Swing to contact?
  14. sandbun
    It's certainly true from the Polhad's point of view, paying tomorrow is better than paying today. I completely get that logic. But I don't care if the Polhads are getting the best deal they can get. I care about the Twins being the best team they can be, and from what they've said in the past about the 52% rule, the best thing for the Twins is to pay the money up front when they have it so they can use the revenue from next year on signing more guys. And Perkins would probably actually agree to less overall money if the deal was frontloaded. If there was any indication that they were putting aside money like you suggest, then I'd be all for that. But I'm with JB_Iowa, I have no faith they're doing that, in fact I believe they've said the opposite, that each year's revenue is treated as if it was in a vacuum (if I'm wrong someone please correct me, it would make me exceedingly happy to hear that I am wrong). So I wish TR would take that into account. But he doesn't. In a related note, the Polhad's will let TR run the team for however long he wants to. He has absolute job security.
  15. sandbun
    Teams don't do x until suddenly one does, gains a competitive advantage, and then the rest of the teams play catch up. Besides, I'm not sure that one home town guy wanting to make sure he plays his entire career for his favorite team and willing to take less money than he'd probably get if he was to play out his contract to make sure it happens sets a huge precedent.
  16. sandbun
    Awesome news. Should make sure he's a Twin for life. Love that he initiated the talks. I am a little frustrated with the FO though. Is this not a perfect chance to do exactly what some of us have been calling for them to do and frontload the deal? Give him the 12.5 million this year, and then you've only got to pay 3 mil per year the rest of the way. Oh well, maybe that makes him harder to trade so it means they'll keep him the entire contract.
  17. sandbun
    And if the Twins were a really good and cheap team, that would be relevant. But they're not, they're a team that could easily lose 90 games again this year and shock no one. So when that's the case and people don't see you taking advantage of a way to improve that is open to you, then people are going to rip you for that. And as Oxtung pointed out, there are a ton of ways you could use the gap between what the Twins' payroll is allowed to be and what it actually is that TR could take advantage of that don't even involve signing more FAs.
  18. sandbun
    I suspect they're wasting Mauer's athleticism putting him at 1st, but they'll probably keep him there unless someone else that they need in the lineup (Sano?) proves absolutely unable to play any position other than 1st base. This is the Twins and Gardy after all - they love putting guys into little boxes and pretending they fit there. 1st base is where you move guys who can't play their old position (unless RF is open but we've got plenty of outfielders) so that's where he'll go.
  19. sandbun
    While I agree in this specific case it seems like they handled this reasonably and in the end we were just unlucky, being wrong over and over again does open you up to criticism, even if the people criticizing aren't doctors.
  20. sandbun
    But he wasn't just a part of the core, he was the vanguard of the new core. If the vanguard is delayed, the plan is delayed. I suppose that's a possibility, but my guess is they do the same thing they did this year, let some people walk - Willingham, Correia, Suzuki would be over 15 mil right there plus Kubel and some other guys who are probably on their last chance to stick - and then sign a B or C free agent with that money and claim they've opened the checkbook. Maybe add a few more Suzuki type contracts, get up to maybe 90 mil. Then talk about how much they've changed and how aggressive they were, plus leak some reports of guys that they almost signed.
  21. sandbun
    Does anyone not believe that the Twins will use this as an excuse to not increase spending levels next year? They'll get the apologists in the media to say the plan is for Sano and Buxton to be called up in the middle of next season, so there's really no point spending money for a team that isn't going to compete and is just waiting for those two to be ready sometime. Just get them some reps late in the year, and then start setting up to complete in '16 or '17, depending on how quickly they get up to speed. So now we get to wait through at least 2, maybe 3 more seasons before they start putting a team on the field that is actually meant to compete.
  22. sandbun
    It kinda worries me that the Twins/Gardy are talking him up. I thought he was fine to bring in for a look, but certainly had no expectations that he would actually make the team. If he did it was a bonus, otherwise it was a chance to show we appreciated him before he goes off into the sunset. "Last year, the D-Backs and Indians did their best to shield him, limiting him to 40 plate appearances (out of 291) against southpaws." Wow, they platooned him, and he still put up that poor of a line? Ouch. Also, as always occurs to me when discussing how Gardy refuses to platoon players, how many teams have managers where the team can sign a guy who might be helpful if used right, but the fans have to worry about the manager screwing it up, therefore making it better if the team doesn't sign that guy even though he could improve the team?
  23. sandbun
    Twins are bringing in an estimated extra $25 million of revenue because of the new mlb TV contract, and have bumped up payroll about $1 million from last year, which was already way low compared to what they said they'd spend. They are far from shedding the "cheap" label.
  24. sandbun
    If Walkins is there and they aren't in love with a QB (unlikely one worth it will drop) or a defensive player (Barr, Nix) they'd be wise to trade down. There will be plenty of teams willing to give a decent bounty for him. My personal thought is they should trade down for a second 1st round pick next year rather than anything this year, and then they'll have the ammunition to move up next year for a QB they really like.
  25. sandbun
    I know this would be highly unusual, but I thought for a long time that they should put in the 2002 team as a unit. Given the offseason where it was looking like the team would be contracted, what they did together made for a magical season that re-invigorated the franchise. It was the stars of that team that set the foundation for the success the franchise had for the rest of the decade, and is not a small part of why there is still a team in Minnesota, not to mention them playing in a fantastic ballpark. I always thought that the team deserved to be honored in a special way. You can still add individual members of that team to the Twins HOF (like Radke already has been and Hunter someday will be) but that way you also don't have to feel pressure to put in guys that were highly popular and helped turned the franchise around, but also clearly weren't HOF material. They get in as a part of that team. Like I said, weird idea I know, but I would love to see them do it.
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