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mikelink45

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Everything posted by mikelink45

  1. mikelink45
    This is from the essay and all I have to go on. And this is from the Essay on Martin - It’s questionable at best as to whether Martin can remain at shortstop. He has played some second base and outfield however, and could morph into a guy that has utility all over the field. His speed plays well on the grass, and while his arm strength is nothing to write home about, it works at other positions. I need more than this to get excited.
  2. mikelink45
    Great post. For a person who dislikes Gallo this is more fuel for my frustration. I don't want either, but I hope Sano gets another shot with a team like the Reds or Marlins or Pittsburgh or Oakland. Lots of lousy teams that he could fit in with.
  3. mikelink45
    I tend to agree with all the comments that this is premature and too high. Let him prove himself before rating him above Wallner, Canterino, Varland or Martin. In fact he sounds like a Martin comp - good speed, but defensively challenged. His 250 BA for a speed guy is not impressive even at his young age. I have hope for him, but I need more justification than the fact he ranked #5 in the Marlins system. Despite all their bad years, the Marlins minor league system only ranks 16 by MLB.COM. But we rank #23 and I think the rankings so far for this year bare that out. So far our players have not jumped off the list to get me excited. Waiting for more names.
  4. mikelink45
    I find it hard to think of him as underrated by the Twins - I think he might be underrated by other teams or we should be trading him while he has value - I know that is counter to the article and comments, but trade a player when he has value if you have replacements ready and then you build the prospect list. I don't underrate him, but I think he is replaceable and I hope we do not keep him too long or like Kepler we will not find a good trade partner.
  5. mikelink45
    As I read the quotes I think about all the "junkball" pitchers who made big careers despite not having the blazing fastball. Stu Miller won 105 games and gained 27 WAR. He pitched 26 years. “He's got three speeds of pitches – slow, slower and reverse,” the sportswriter Jim Murray said Klye Hendricks has a fastball that does not reach 90 Rip Sewell was famous for his Eephus pitch. He won 143 games and had 26.9 WAR. Rich Hill is 42, I don't think he is dazzling with his fastball. Jack Quinn pitched at age 50, won 247 games and had a WAR of 58.7 I doubt he was blazing fast all those years. Jamie Moyer won 269 games, had WAR 49.8 and lasted 25 years. And we have had our share of slow pitch pitchers like the essay on Dave Goltz. Jeff Zahn was our best pitcher for four years, but not a Strikeout artist. Blackburn was our top pitcher for five years - I still don't know what he threw. And in his team mates - Slowey (great name) and Baker. There is pitching and there is throwing.
  6. mikelink45
    Can he be our next Dave Goltz? I hope so and I hope we start making room for these young players in the rotation.
  7. mikelink45
    Gallo is too high on most of these - number 7 is the place I put him. I do like the Gordon lead-off idea, but doubt it is a possibility. The problem is that we do not have a lead-off player like Arraez and Julien and Martin are not here . If Kiriloff got back to what he did in the minors I could see him up there at some point. Right now I would have Polanco Correa Buxton Miranda Larnach Kiriloff Gallo Vasquez Kepler But I hope I am wrong and there is a major change in the roster. When Gallo flames out Gordon takes over for him and moves everyone down a notch. At that point Martin might come up or Julien. If Kepler is gone it will depend on the trade, but at some point Martin, Lee, Lewis, Julien play into this mix.
  8. mikelink45
    I would bet on Julien first
  9. mikelink45
    I hope he meets all the high expectations, but at this point he is not above Wallner for me. I hope this is the year he proves me wrong.
  10. mikelink45
    I believe the take away is that the teams spend as much time bullshitting us to think they have their act together as they do actually attempting to get their acts together.
  11. mikelink45
    We know that is true. But there is a new group in charge of the thought police now
  12. mikelink45
    Good essay and I partially agree. Urshela should have been worth more, Gallo worth less, and the maneuvering had left us with an odd composition. I still hope for another trade or two as Spring Training progresses and as always I would prefer a young (larnach, Wallner) instead of a reclamation project.
  13. mikelink45
    Nice memories. A small town MN boy just did not belong in California, but happily we got to enjoy him with the Twins.
  14. mikelink45
    This won't make you feel better, but the Guardians have two pitchers on the mlb.com prospect list at numbers 16 and 65. Keith Law has their pitching prospects at 33, 36, and 42. ESPN has them at 18, 33, 53 and 93. No matter who your choice ranker is the Guardians do not look like their pipeline has dried up.
  15. mikelink45
    I like Wallner and Festa and hope Canterino gets his health back because he it the one I like best in this group of five. The other two are long shots for MLB as far as my limited reading provides. I do hope that if the Gallo experiment fizzles that Wallner will get some DH time. I know the trades reduced our overall quality and Balazovic took himself out of the top rankings or at least one of these would drop off.
  16. mikelink45
    This challenges me since I do not know the minor league arms for the other teams and read about our prospects regularly on TD. I will still put Cleveland first, KC and Chicago have potential. All I can say is this it the best rotation that this FO has ever had and I have hopes for health and production, but also want to see some young arms show well for when injury or free agency decimates the roster.
  17. mikelink45
    Glad you survived
  18. mikelink45
    If you like weather, it was -23 at my home this morning.
  19. mikelink45
    It is a funny thing - I think you are right, I get grumpy over Baseball - it is a game I love and I see it moving from its status as the national game to third place behind NFL and NBA and possibly dropping below Soccer. NHL soon to follow. Certainly behind the charade called wrestling. That is disturbing. The amazing thing is that outside of baseball grumpiness is the furthest from my attributes. Good call.
  20. mikelink45
    I just read Kiley McDaniels top 100 for ESPN. I enjoy these like I do TDs rankings. His has a lot of difference from Law. We have 4 players - Lee, Lewis, Rodriguez and Salas in his top 100, all in the bottom half, but what really jumped out was seeing Povich (now an Oriole) ranked higher than all four. How high did he get in TD ranks? He was #54. Rodriguez ranks much higher for Law - #48. So does Lee - #51. Povich, Lewis and Salas are not on the Law list.
  21. mikelink45
    That is okay - the key word in your statement is "opinion". That is what it is and I understand that many of you disagree. But disagreements don't change opinions. Sorry Joey - no one has won me over on your behalf.
  22. mikelink45
    How can you consider removing a German from the team - 38.6 % of Minnesotans are German - he is there for the state, if only we could add Irish, Swedish and Norwegians to the team. Of course in a chat the problem could be language - hard to get that accent to work with voice recognition. Most important we now have Gallo to coach Kepler on how to stay on the chat and the team roster as reputed great fielders who can't figure out that a base hit is positive. Mein Gott, was ist ein Chat?
  23. mikelink45
    Your essay had a secondary impact on my thinking. I question many of the RP additions to the HOF and this is why. A failed starter has one good pitch and a possible secondary compliment and he will succeed. RP is hard to judge. Cole Sands should not be above Canterino or Ober except those two cannot keep healthy enough for a season. From this list Henriquez is the one I favor. Could Winder be the one after being on the roster, but floundering and injured? We had great hopes as he went through the minors. Actually, who do we think will stay starters as they enter MLB? Balazovic if he finds himself again, SWR, Varland, Headrick?
  24. mikelink45
    I repeat myself - he has had a bad year every year since and including 2020. WAR is not my only measure of a good player. And he gains points for defense when he is really an offense first guy and if I ever questioned the dwar it would be for Gallo.
  25. mikelink45
    That's like wishing we had the Sano of 2017. Seldom do players revert to past peak performances.
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