mikelink45
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Everything posted by mikelink45
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Contemplating Gio Urshela’s Final Arbitration Year
mikelink45 replied to Cody Christie's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
This is a good puzzle. I had to go to his B-R page and see that he hit 267 last year and 266 so far this year. His 301 and 307 OBP are nothing to brag about and his power is low for 3B. He has been a good average player - much better than Sanchez, but with the young players coming up he is expendable if they are trying to save dollars. If they had not traded Steer and Encarnacion-Strand I was sure he was gone, now I am not sure. I would think that Sanchez would be going, but with the catcher situation in flux he too is a question mark. In many ways both are dependent on how the FO sees the injured players and their tracks to get back to Minneapolis. -
Nice game all around - thank you Giants - you took our role tonight and let the home team enjoy playing baseball again. The real take away is that Garlick is now in the running for team MVP - if his return makes that much difference I am sorry for all the doubt I expressed in the past.
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- joe ryan
- carlos correa
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Twins Minor League Report (8/26): Way to Go, Willie Joe!
mikelink45 replied to Seth Stohs's topic in Twins Minor League Talk
Moran has really disappointed this year. Not as much as Balazovic, but we need these quality arms to come around and help the team - soon. Both would be in Minneapolis if they had performed as we expected. I too love the SB. Excitement! Manufacture runs. We have seen it happen in the past. Maybe Rocco needs a Whitey Herzog biography to read.- 7 replies
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- brock stewart
- willie joe garry
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We also lost Petty who would have been a ranked prospect. And the two hitters would have looked good - I was really rooting for Steer.
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- louis varland
- josh winder
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Another prospect rating - Jim Bowden on the Athletic has his new top 50 Brooks Lee is number 27. The Guardians have 3 in the top 50 - numbers 12,38,40. The only other Central team with a player listed are the Tigers with number 44. I hope we have more rise - because as a 500 team we are in that middle grounds where we need a constant influx of new players either by trade or promotion.
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- louis varland
- josh winder
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Our minor league teams really are weakened by the trades (let's hope the trades lead us to first place). I just looked at mlb.com's new prospect rankings for the team. What interested me the most was the fact that we have Austin Martin and Balazovic dropping - 12 and 15. Wallner has left Sabato in the dust (still do not understand that pick). Noah Miller dropped to 16. The second observation is that I do not know many of these prospects.
- 20 replies
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- louis varland
- josh winder
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Astros 6, Twins 3: Like a Broken Record
mikelink45 replied to David Youngs's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
Maybe even stretch them with 2 innings each?- 41 replies
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- chris archer
- luis arraez
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Buxton Diagnosed with Evel Knievelism
mikelink45 replied to RandBalls Stu's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
Bad luck? Makes me think of this character from Little Abner - Joe Btfsplk. At least we can pronounce Byron's name. -
I hope not - Gallo is a terrible comp for anyone in my opinion. I do not like the all or nothing batters. I like Miranda and Arraez who between HRs get on base, drive in runs, and score. I have been hopeful that Wallner could make the transitions, but I am surprised by his age. I thought he was still a young prospect. At 25 it is time for the next move.
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Astros 6, Twins 3: Like a Broken Record
mikelink45 replied to David Youngs's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
Our record against playoff teams continues to be outstanding. Varland did well again in the minors. Maybe? I know Correa is a good player but is he worth that salary? No way he opts out. Noone will match that money after this season. I wonder how many of the teams with big salary SS are getting their value.- 41 replies
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- chris archer
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No - it is desperation as our season sinks. Years ago Tom Kelly thought it was fine to jump from AA to MLB. I do too. Things may have changed, but AAA is a repository for players like Beckham and Cave and others who are just hanging on for one more chance.
- 30 replies
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- edouard julien
- cody laweryson
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Julien and Wallner sure seem better than Beckham and Cave. Go for it. We are seeing more young players so take the chance.
- 30 replies
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- edouard julien
- cody laweryson
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I don't care if Rocco was manager of the year, I don't care if the front office loves him and I don't even care if he is actually a good manager. In the history of baseball managers get changed to infuse energy into the team and change the pathway that the players are on. No matter whether you like Rocco or not, we need something to change. And we also need our front office to wake up and provide us with a better set of players to work with. I would rather have a struggling young player than see Beckham and cave struggling and taking up roster's space.
- 38 replies
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- dylan bundy
- michael fulmer
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It's Time to Give Jovani Moran an Extended Look
mikelink45 replied to Cody Christie's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
Yes. Young arms. Time to end the Pagan experiment. He has shown what kind of pitcher he is. -
Another disappointment. Scoring at the end of a game and falling short is getting boring. Tomorrow Houston gives us a chance. Can we take it? Thanks to Smeltzer for giving us some innings.
- 38 replies
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- dylan bundy
- michael fulmer
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Twins Minor League Report (8/23): Tough Sledding Tuesday
mikelink45 replied to Steve Lein's topic in Twins Minor League Talk
Are they bringing up Hamilton so that we can end the Leon and Sanchez experiment? Hamilton is 27 so let's make it or break it this year for him. I know it doesn't do anything for the Buxton situation, but we are just running out of outfielders. I would have sent down Cave and Beckham and just tried anybody. The two of them have flopped terribly in there audition. I'm of the belief that promoted from double a is fine we don't need to wait for AAA breakout. At this point just bring up the best athletes we've got- 11 replies
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- dalton shuffield
- miguel olivares
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Verlander demonstrated what a great pitcher does. Put Celestino in center give the team it's best defense. What has happened to Sanchez. He began the season with promise and now he's showing why the Yankees were ready to dump him. Note to Rocco. There are better ways to fire up your team.
- 45 replies
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- aaron sanchez
- carlos correa
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It's Time to Shut Down Byron Buxton
mikelink45 replied to Cody Pirkl's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
I have had many injuries from my life of outdoor activities and guiding and sometimes an injury can be dealt with and other times it requires actions that no one wants to contemplate. It is time for a real assessment for the future. What is best for both Byron and the team going forward. Not our emotional fan takes, but somewhere there must be a doctor who knows what is right.- 68 replies
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- byron buxton
- jorge polanco
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Are Reinforcements Close Enough for the Twins?
mikelink45 replied to Ted Schwerzler 's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
They got him in a trade with the Yankees. "Montgomery departed from the Yankees clubhouse on August 2 with a 3.69 ERA on the year (over 21 starts in pinstripes). He now has a 3.29 ERA in 2022."- 41 replies
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- trevor larnach
- kenta maeda
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Ranking the Twins' Toughest Remaining Opponents
mikelink45 replied to Cody Christie's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
I just went to the combined standings and we are 15th - which matches our 500 play. We are just ahead of the White Sox, Giants and Red Sox and we play two of those teams in this articles rankings. Can we stay ahead of them? And stay out of the bottom half of the combined standings?- 15 replies
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- rafael devers
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It is sad to read the comments and know that these are all people who really care about the team. Yesterday we talked about the lack of fire in the team, but they have now taken the fire out of the fans and Rocco and the FO just don't seem to get that. Beckham and Cave were miserable call ups for the team. If he were doing rehab, I would be happy to see Sano come in and do his big whiff routine. I am hoping something happens to give us at least a 500 finish, but I am not sure what it would be.
- 56 replies
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- byron buxton
- sonny gray
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Ranking the Twins' Toughest Remaining Opponents
mikelink45 replied to Cody Christie's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
Their toughest opponent is themselves. As another article pointed out, they do not show the fire that is needed to make victories happen when things are tough or tight.- 15 replies
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- rafael devers
- justin verlander
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Are Reinforcements Close Enough for the Twins?
mikelink45 replied to Ted Schwerzler 's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
It is hard to see those recovering players making the difference we need. Sanchez and Leon are a terrible pair of catchers (217 and 160) and that hurts the lineup. Kepler has one big game in the month and bats in the key 4/5/6 slots - this is where we need Garlick and Larnarch. Buxton's big HR total has been stagnant and his RBIs are poor. Polanco has not been the player we have seen in the past and Cave and Beckham have earned a vacation in St Paul for the rest of the season. The player you did not mention for September is Varland. Right now he is one arm that is producing.- 41 replies
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- trevor larnach
- kenta maeda
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Leadership Seems Lacking as Twins Look Lifeless
mikelink45 replied to Ted Schwerzler 's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
This is a challenge because the team should have the talent to be more than a 500 team and we are playing as if we're going to end the season at that meaningless neutral place. I'm trying to see where fire comes from and it's a difficult thing to define we have no stats we have no analytics that define this. But how a team is run means a lot. I know that we no longer want the fiery managers like Leo Derocher or Billy Martin. But I believe an aggressive manager creates an aggressive team and that means things like stolen bases and bunts and all of the things that we have talked about over the year that Rocco won't do. When we get to a culture where our stars have to rest every fifth day it creates a sense of no urgency. When starters are not pushed to work a little harder than five, six and seven it gives a message that we can do well for a little while and somebody else can take over. None of those things create a team of really hard-nosed - I'm not coming out - players I like Jack Morris was. The player who plays really hard is Miranda, but you can't ask a rookie to be the leader for the team. We need an attitude adjustment and we need it throughout the team.- 47 replies
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- byron buxton
- carlos correa
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Yes, I am concerned. We gave away a lot in trades and those players we acquired need to give us real value in the short term since they are replacing long term assets. Balazovic has regressed in a way that has me puzzled. The minor league pitching has a long way to go to being the asset we need and with Kiriloff and Larnach out our OF replacements are slim. The call up of Cave and Beckham did not harm the minors, but have done nothing to help the majors either. I would love to see an article on who is next - which minor leaguers are most prepared to be the next call ups. If I am reading things right - it should be Varland pitching and Helman instead of Cave for right handed OF, and Contrares instead of Beckham (or Palacio). I look forward to your thoughts.
- 45 replies
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- royce lewis
- emmanuel rodriguez
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