mikelink45
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Everything posted by mikelink45
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Buxton is too fragile, They picked up Billy Hamilton, but his effectiveness was blunted by the fact that whenever he went in he was supposed to steal - no surprise he was 1 and 1 according to BR. I am curious about the team speed. Kepler looks like he should have speed (if he ever gets a basehit), Polanco, Gordon, Buxton all look fast and I don't know about Miranda. Bleacher Reports says Tampa Bay has the most speed and they were number 11 in SB in all of baseball. Cleveland was number three which fits in their profile of doing all the little things to win! Love Francona. Being number 30 is ridiculous. I just know that Rickey Henderson taught the league how valuable speed and daring can be. Julio Rodriguez of the Mariners is showing he can do all the things needed with 25 SB and 28 HR. His speed on the bases really made a difference to the team success. How do our prospects look? What is their speed potential?
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3 Top Twins Prospects with Something to Prove in 2023
mikelink45 replied to Cody Christie's topic in Twins Minor League Talk
Nobody has more to prove than Balazovic - he was expected to be a rotation piece. Then there is Matt Cantarino who has to show us that he can stay healthy and can break the Rice jinx. If one can be in the rotation and the other in the BP it would really help. And then there is Blayne Enlow who has to prove he is still a prospect. His stock is really falling fast.- 12 replies
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- austin martin
- connor prielipp
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3 Twins Players Who Need to Step Up in 2023
mikelink45 replied to Cody Christie's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
Step up - Lewis, Larnach, Kiriloff - those are the players we projected three years ago and their continuing absence cannot be tolerated anymore. Miranda has stepped up and will continue to improve. Lopez is not someone I would count on - I rate him with Pagan. And Jeffers does need to step up, but the urgency was reduced by Vasquez. Now beyond them I was so disappointed by Balazovic last year - even in the minors he needs to step up.- 29 replies
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- jorge lopez
- jose miranda
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Looking Toward the Bullpen Market
mikelink45 replied to Cody Pirkl's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
Since I do not see us winning next year I would like to see us take the prospects and challenge them in the BP so we can build a future instead of investing in retreads. Kimbrel is now signed, but I did not want him. Lets start using our own talent and forget the Lopez, Pagan, Robles, Colome failures. (I know we still have the first two and some of you believe in them - I don't).- 26 replies
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- craig kimbrel
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No - his injury really harmed his career - He will eventually get in, but there is a weird psychology about getting elected in the first year that will stop him. I do think he has a better reputation outside of MN, but I think he has a longer wait than we would like. BR has these ratings for his HOF case: Black Ink Batting - 15 (198th), Average HOFer ≈ 27 Gray Ink Batting - 43 (746th), Average HOFer ≈ 144 Hall of Fame Monitor Batting - 92 (203rd), Likely HOFer ≈ 100 Hall of Fame Standards Batting - 41 (157th), Average HOFer ≈ 50 JAWS Catcher (7th): 55.2 career WAR | 39.0 7yr-peak WAR | 47.1 JAWS | 4.8 WAR/162 Average HOF C (out of 16): 53.6 career WAR | 34.7 7yr-peak WAR | 44.2 JAWS | 4.7 WAR/162 Lack of power hurts him. In BR similar batters you have to go to the bottom of the list to find HOF comps. Mauer's WAR gets him in if he was just a catcher, but as a 1B He does not make the list. Going to numerous sites the arguments for him are good, but the odds continue to be low. It will be an intriguing situation and a lot depends on the rest of the ballot..
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- joe mauer
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Not sure on this, I will wait. Since we did not sign them I can't speculate on whether we were wise or not, but time will make it clear. In the meantime if we had signed this five we would all be ecstatic.
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Mets Also Have Medical Concerns about Carlos Correa
mikelink45 replied to John Bonnes's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
2020 - 32 players 2363 games missed 2021 - 28 players 1713 games missed 2020 - short season 14 players 389 games missed 2019 - 19 players - 629 games 2018 - 18 players - 1052 games This is the summary of games missed - I concede that we are not the worst, but... -
Mets Also Have Medical Concerns about Carlos Correa
mikelink45 replied to John Bonnes's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
Okay - I will conceded we are just really bad at the health issue, not the worst! -
Mets Also Have Medical Concerns about Carlos Correa
mikelink45 replied to John Bonnes's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
All those numbers continually put us in the bottom half of the teams. The Reds and Pirates and Cubs were terrible teams in 2022 we do not want to be ranked with them. The average for those five years is 20th. I will stay with my comment. -
Mets Also Have Medical Concerns about Carlos Correa
mikelink45 replied to John Bonnes's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
TEAMS WITH MOST INJURED PLAYERS -
Mets Also Have Medical Concerns about Carlos Correa
mikelink45 replied to John Bonnes's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
Have you noticed our injured players versus other teams? And not just this year. -
Good grief - first we get another Correa article and then we propose trades for players who are either not as good as Urshela or one that is going to require a SS level signing. No thanks. Keep Miranda there, let him prove that he can handle both the bat and the bag.
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Mets Also Have Medical Concerns about Carlos Correa
mikelink45 replied to John Bonnes's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
If the Twins sign him for their original offer they are being stupid. Two teams that can afford him have medical issues. The Twins have had the worst medical history of any team. To ignore this is ridiculous. Five years max, but I like the two year options of other posters. -
Projecting the 2026 Twins Line-Up
mikelink45 replied to Cody Christie's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
I like Wallner instead of Gallo and Kepler for the future although he needs to learn to field. Where is Julien? I wonder if Lewis and Lee might trade positions. I see Polanco is gone and Larnach has been replaced by Rodriguez. That is an exciting player, but maybe Larnach replaces Wallner in the OF. Who is a better fielder? Can Kiriloff stay injury free? If not does Arraez or Miranda go to first? With Julien for 2B I would see Arraez. This was fun. Good for conversation.- 13 replies
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- jose miranda
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You assume that the FO which in another article professed their love for Gallo is only thinking one year.
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All the quotes about the money - his annual salary is the same as we gave Joey Gallo
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Why Did the Twins Sign Joey Gallo?
mikelink45 replied to Ted Schwerzler 's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
I believe that the Correa columns have finally run their course, now the Gallo justifications are flowing. I remember articles justifying Sano until it was just impossible to write anything positive. So here we are with an $11M strikeout artists - for a pitcher that would be good, for a hitter - not so much. But he walked! Wait - no he didn't last year his OBP was 280 = which would have been a good BA. And his SP was 357 which would have been a decent OBP. Maybe these are misprints - a column shifted to the right. But of course we can fix any player - look at Archer, Bundy, Shoemaker, Happ, Robles, Vargas, Bailey, Colome, Pagan, Lopez - yes, send us your injured, your underperforming masses, let us make them all better. Joey is next in line for Frankenstein's lab.- 41 replies
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- joey gallo
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I believe owning sports teams is a hobby for the ultra rich - it is the bauble they carry around to their exclusive meetings and everyone has been happy to polish their "I own buttons" for each power lunch. But someone forgot to tell Cohen that it is not about winning. They did not tell him that sharing the wealth was a bad idea. Just think if those rich guys would say I have enough, how about if I give all my employees a real raise that will cut my annual millions (billions) down a little? But the money goes to the employees that give them bragging rights. Until now it was just the "I own Mike Trout" syndrome - now someone has caught the Steinbrenner bug and Cohen is actually laughing at the pittance he is paying. Don't look at the total package - look at the annual salaries, by the time Correa gets $300,000 Cohen will have a few more billions. And the poor Pohlads will be spinning their small marker LP as long as they can.
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What Would a Twins Rebuild Look Like?
mikelink45 replied to Nash Walker's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
I'm in. I like the looks and it is time to test the future. If Larnach and Kiriloff can't make it this year we need to move on. I do want Julien up. I cannot help my negative Joey Gallo take - he does nothing for rebuild or whatever we are calling the current situation. The pitching is thin as always, but lets see if there is hope in the prospects and trade the vets you list to get more and better prospects. -
5 Former Twins on the Trade Block
mikelink45 replied to Cody Christie's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
Remember the past Twins reunions? In 2014 Kare 11 reported "The Minnesota Twins have agreed to minor league contracts with former outfielders Joe Benson and Darin Mastroianni" Torii Hunter gave us a nice return, You might remember other ex-twins that were on the spring training roster and thankfully did not make the regular season rosters. Very seldom does a returning player bring back what they had when they left. http://Former Twins return playing for other teams - I know you want some players back, but when they come back it is not at their peak value. Mostly they are a reminder that sometimes it is better to keep rather than bring back.- 26 replies
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- liam hendriks
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5 Former Twins on the Trade Block
mikelink45 replied to Cody Christie's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
Never go backward. If bringing the old gang back again is the best thing you can think of to get fan interest you have already lost.- 26 replies
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- liam hendriks
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The Twins Know They Need Pitching, Right?
mikelink45 replied to Ted Schwerzler 's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
I liked everything in the essay except the Gallo note. I am just not seeing the strategy although I suspect we will make the last minute addition that this FO likes. Our only real hope is that the prospects and the players who have just come up really make a stride forward and stay healthy - it is our only real hope right now.- 70 replies
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- nathan eovaldi
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Again? The Twins Lose Carlos Correa to the Mets.
mikelink45 replied to John Bonnes's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
What this really shows is that when it comes to Boras and negotiations he needs teams like the Twins to push the bids up for the teams that can really afford the contracts. We were played, we have all these almosts from Yu Darvish on through Correa. What is the lesson? I am not sure I know. But if we are serious, stay out until the last minute, then swoop in or just avoid the Boras game altogether.

