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mikelink45

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Everything posted by mikelink45

  1. mikelink45
    Let's see - who handles every ground out? Who covers for pulled balls down the line? Who has to handle pick off plays? Don't try to sell me on the idea that a first baseman's glove is not important. I love an article in Umpire Bible - "Adding up all of the putouts made at first base (1,754,733), we see that these account for 27.5% of all putouts, nearly a third, outpacing the next most frequent, strikeouts, and the third most frequent, catches in center fielder." https://www.umpirebible.com/ubBlog/archives/101
  2. mikelink45
    Both statements can be true and this can still be a poor signing and not an improvement.
  3. mikelink45
    This is from my previous posting - How much did we improve? Cody Clemens 213/281/434 Josh Bell 237/325/417 are you whelmed or underwhelmed? Clemens 19 HR in 348 AB - Bell 22 in 468 Clemens 1 WAR Bell 0.4 WAR Royce Lewis had one really good season and we continue to believe in him. I am not big on Clemens, but I am not big on Bell either!
  4. mikelink45
    Is this about hope or desperation? I can only wait and see - I think the quote covers it. Wait until spring - right now every player we bring in could be better, could surprise - but they also could fail, could stink.
  5. mikelink45
    Is he really better than Clemens - I posted their stats on another TD essay - I am not convinced we improved.
  6. mikelink45
    That is an understatement. Does this really make us better or are we back to the Gallo mode? I am not buying the statement that his bat speed is increasing. Let's see. And a good clubhouse guy is your bench coach not your 1B How much did we improve? Cody Clemens 213/281/434 Josh Bell 237/325/417 are you whelmed or underwhelmed? Clemens 19 HR in 348 AB - Bell 22 in 468 Clemens 1 WAR Bell 0.4 WAR Like I asked - does this make us better?
  7. mikelink45
    I needed another option in the thumbs up, laughing, crying, heart, thumbs down list - fingers crossed was the only thing that seemed appropriate.
  8. mikelink45
    Has anyone noticed the Tigers signed Jansen, traded for a Relief prospect from the Jays, and brought back RP Finnegan? They seem to be building around their core and filling their BP. BP pitchers have been seen in a lot of transactions - the Twins might like their core, but the BP was decimated and requires some reliable veteran arms that we do not have. For instance Cleveland sign RP Holderman and signed a Rule V RP. KC signed Lane Thomas and acquired Isaac Collins for their OF - not big news, but they too are building around their core - Bobbie Witt, Maikel, Perez. And they got RP Nick Mears in one trade and signed Kevin Newman and Jose Cuas for their BP. Building around their core is a AL Central strategy - not bringing in any help for that core is obviously only a MN Twins strategy.
  9. mikelink45
    It is really hard to judge the trades at this point. Yes, we got good value from Lopez, but with his injuries would we have been better off with Arraez getting on base? Prospects are no value until they rise to the majors and succeed. I think Harrison Bader was a terrific player and should do well as a FA. Duran is now considered the top RP in the NL. How do you replace him? Outman was not just bad for us, he was bad the previous year and looks like a one-hit wonder. Out BP looks terrible - would Varland be better than Roden who has not blossomed and plays OF where we have Rodriguez, Jenkins, and Gonzales ready to move up. In modern Baseball the BP is at least as valuable as the rotation and we demolished ours. I need to see some strategy in our trades and so far, it is not visible to me.
  10. mikelink45
    So we are in the position to trade for rejects? The Orioles did not think they were that good, but we do? We should do better.
  11. mikelink45
    Thanks but I am just a commenter
  12. mikelink45
    What is DiamondCentric and why is that on TD?
  13. mikelink45
    I am always confused by changeup specialists. If there fastball is no good why is the changeup good? If that is his only good pitch - sit on it and have a nice slow ball to slug.
  14. mikelink45
    What I see is that this essay got me to make a post, my post has been quoted and commented on by quite a few which is fun for me, but also represents the dearth of materials to work with at this stage in the post season doldrums. Although I would enjoy articles that look at the signings and works of other teams and how that impacts the league and us. Even the speculation on Tarik Skubal is something to explore - how would it change our rival? How does that compare to the possible trade of Lopez or Ryan? Does the rule V choice of the White Sox matter - can they strike gold like last year? What does the gambling charges against Clase mean for Cleveland? How does the Twins manage gambling? KC lost Yastrzemski - does that weaken them? How does the signing of Finnegan impact the Tigers? Should we have signed him? Cleveland signed Colin Holderman for their BP, Does that make an impact? Those are the kind of stories I would like to see and read.
  15. mikelink45
    Then we need deeper dives into these players. It is a new topic at least even if it is not very exciting.
  16. mikelink45
    Yes - whether it is the imminent promotion of a prospect, the rule V player we traded for, a FA, a trade, the qualities in our 40 man or changes in FO - I would like some new material. Not the fault of TD writers, they work with what they have, but I do not read the articles about who we should trade for, who we would sign, because the team shows no inclination to take any of these actions.
  17. mikelink45
    And an excellent article - I just want the Twins to give us some new hope and new names for you to write about.
  18. mikelink45
    I love McCusker and wish he had had a better chance with the Twins, but he is gone, his story now belongs to someone else. By the way have you noticed that some teams are actually adding, trading, signing players with names we do recognize? It isn't that this was a badly written story, but my point is that the Twins have given us no new names to work with so we explore the past instead of the future.
  19. mikelink45
    Has anyone noticed that there are teams making trades and signing free agents while we have to have articles about a DFA player who happens to be very tall?
  20. mikelink45
    I hope he is picked up by someone and becomes the next Rooker. I think they treated him really bad - he had no chance to prove himself.
  21. mikelink45
    Another off season hope! So does everyone that makes it to the majors. We do not know the real potential - we guess - the team guesses. We all want to see him succeed, but at this point it is just off season wishing.
  22. mikelink45
    I hope they are all taken and given a chance to succeed. I always enjoy seeing the players we lose go on to have good careers.
  23. mikelink45
    What a team - the big news (or rather the soap opera) is will they or won't they sell the team, who and who isn't buying in to the team ownership, and will they or won't they use the new investment to make the team better of just repair the Pohlad bottom line? I thought I was signed up to read about baseball, but instead it is the disfunction of Billionaires!
  24. mikelink45
    These projections are as accurate as if I sat with a die and rolled it over and over and kept track of how many times the numbers were odd or even. This is just something to fill the offseason especially for teams like the twins that seem content to watch the other teams trade and sign. For me as I try to grasp modern baseballs soul I see the bullpen having become the key to success. With our Ryan and Lopez starts we can win the five inning game but unfortunately games go nine. We have young players with potential, but potential doesn't win games. Royce had great potential and started out amazing but now we all question whether he'll regain that form and production at any point so I look at those projections and basically ignore them. If you hadn't written this essay I would have just passed on fan graphs and ESPN and all the other projectors. 2/3 of the way through spring training projection start to have more validity as we see rookies free agents trades shape the team and what it will be during the season. But at least you gave me something to read today
  25. mikelink45
    This is no surprise. The team FO and owners have not only left fans feeling frustration - that same message is apparent to players too. Everyone wants to be on a winner (maybe Mike Trout doesn't care but everyone else does) and the unraveling of the team, the delays in ownership sales, the lack of a budget for next year has to have created great uncertainty. I would hate to lose Buxton, but I understand if he wants to go and if Ryan or Lopez goes I think it shoves him out the door.
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