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mikelink45

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Everything posted by mikelink45

  1. mikelink45
    There have been some terrific posts in this conversation and I wish I could be the one who comes up with the really smart answer, but the fact is - no one knows the managers' duties any more. It has not been defined. The most constant reply is leadership - yet, how do we define a leader - it is very different from manager to teammate. I think what we are looking for is a psychologist. Someone to balance the personalities. Then we have to figure out what all these other coaches are for and what their powers and responsibilities should be. Yup, the more I think about it, the happier I am that I withdrew my application before they threw it out.
  2. mikelink45
    Not trolling I read the entire article like I do all the articles and as usual I enjoy reading them. Sometimes I enjoy seeing what reactions a comment gets. I am interested in how many homeruns and in what situations they are hit, but you are right, the distance does not interest me any more.
  3. mikelink45
    Do you get more runs for longer home runs? If not, who cares.
  4. mikelink45
    No doubt about it. Gibson was a fun story, but there is only one Twin Pitcher you would want on the mound when you really needed a win.
  5. mikelink45
    I envision Kepler improving as he moves forward. He is nearing the age of peak performances and I hope he shows a learning curve to go along with it. If he is a difference maker in a trade that really improves us, I would be fine, but for now Rosario/Cave/Kepler are our outfielders until Buxton proves he can be a MLB batter as well as fielder. Grossman is still currently number 4 and I wonder how much the FO likes Wade since they gave him no time in September.
  6. mikelink45
    Maybe we need to look at why he had so many scoops and correct that.
  7. mikelink45
    As the article says - they can probably get anyone to play 1B. I like Cave's bat better than Austin.
  8. mikelink45
    The decision on Mauer should not be with Mauer at this point. The FO is supposed to take charge of the team. If they want him back he will be back, if they do not want him back the decision should be out of Mauer's hands. At this point I would put Cave and Austin on 1B with Cave also as the fourth OF and if needed he moves in to regular OF rotation. Then as the season progresses it is up to Rooker to make the move, but I do worry that Austin and Rooker create another strikeout hole in the lineup.
  9. mikelink45
    Yes - at this point Garver is on a projection upward while Sano is floating in limbo. I will rely on Garver next year and hope Sano gets straightened out. But Sano has not achieved enough in the last seasor or two to be a core player for me.
  10. mikelink45
    Math is now corrected! Thanks for the note.
  11. mikelink45
    In an era when bullpen has higher profile that starters it is surprising to see a team that prides itself on analytic decisions trade away the pitcher with the most potential and raw stuff to the American League's best team. Yes we got two prospects, but they are still raw and a gamble while Pressly is 29 and in his prime. Of course all our pitching gurus must answer for the disparity between his 3.40 Twins ERA (not bad) and his 0.77 Astro ERA (amazing). Or his whip - 1.364 Twins and 0.60 Astros. To quote the NYT - "Pressly rarely betrays any signs of emotional turmoil, whether it emanates from a poignant moment or from the stakes of a game heating up. He is a major component in a revamped Astros bullpen for the defending world champions, who had so many fraught moments last October that they had to turn to starting pitchers to close games." https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/15/sports/baseball/astros-red-sox-alcs-ryan-pressly.html?emc=edit_th_181016&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=275511921016 He generated twice as much WAR in 1/2 as many games with the Astros. "Only three pitchers who threw at least 60 innings this season have had a swing-and-miss rate higher than Pressly: Craig Kimbrel of the Red Sox, Edwin Diaz of Seattle and Josh Hader of Milwaukee, three of baseball’s elite relievers." "Pressly is the latest pitcher to experience a renaissance in Houston, which has been at the forefront of baseball’s analytics revolution. Charlie Morton has posted the two best years of his career, Gerrit Cole allowed fewer hits and struck out more than he ever has — leading baseball with 12.4 strikeouts per nine innings — and Justin Verlander has rediscovered his Cy Young form at 35. All three were All-Stars this season." Yes our FO is gaining an unearned reputation as analytics leaders, but the proof is in the way the roster is constructed and the players develop. So far not so good Now we will seek to build a weak bullpen by hitting the FA market and hoping we find a guy who can make the pen better - a guy like Ryan Pressly.
  12. mikelink45
    Since Romero is not up yet I want to include him but have a hard time. I meant to say six, but my internal hesitation must have auto-corrected.
  13. mikelink45
    It is no longer a core seven - just an interesting, intriguing, puzzling seven. Rosario and Berrios are the only ones who deserve to be core players, others need to earn it. Polanco needs to field as well as hit, we have big ?s at the other three infield positions. Rosario anchors the outfield with Jake Cave the only other player who looks good right now. Kepler has settled in at a below par level and can only rejoin the core two if he makes some strides with his bat. How does he do that? Add to the core two Mitch Garver who showed enough this past year to make him a dependable defender and a good bat. Moving to the mound, only Romero, at this point has demonstrated that he has the arm to be core in the rotation. In the BP we have May and Rogers who seem to have figured it out with Hildenberger fried by the end of the season again and the others just mediocre fillers. My core six - Rosario, Berrios, Garver, May, Rogers, Romero. The others have potential, but have not shown enough.
  14. mikelink45
    I am rooting for the Brewers, but I have some reservations about the success formula as I see the last relievers blowing up the first two games. A few more innings by the starters is a better formula and if you think Molitor overused his pen - think about how many innings the Brewers relievers have pitched this year. Or more important how many games each of them has pitched in. Jeffress 73 games, Jennings 72, Knebel 57, Williams 56, Hader 55, Barnes 49. I am still in favor of starting pitchers. Imagine how good they would be if their opening game starter had gone 5 -6 -7 innings instead of 2. The Dodgers top six relievers pitched in Alexander 73. Jansen 69, Baez 55, Fields 45, Hudson 40, Chargois 39.
  15. mikelink45
    Nice list of contributors. Twins Daily has been a wonderful addition to my baseball enjoyment. Thank you. As a non contributor I will add my look at next year - In 2018 the Twins stunk. They need relief pitchers (big surprise) They need to have their minor league arms fill out the rotation. But more important they need to have hitters - they need to have a shortstop that is dependent. So the FO will overpay for some relief pitchers who had career years and some roster cuts by some good teams, but the fact is, we will eventually succumb to the talent of Lewis and Kiriloff and we will start to improve. By the end of the year Gratol can no longer be ignored. And in the end of the next year the promise for the future will come from within. And the boy geniuses from Cleveland will be lucky that there are so many good players already in the Twins System and we will realize that pursuing the Indians is pursuing the next level of frustration - the ability to win the Central, but not the post season.
  16. mikelink45
    I love it! Yes he did. When I do the voice post - just returned from a trip - there are these ridiculous errors, but your response makes it worth it.
  17. mikelink45
    So many relievers have a big ear followed by a bad that I am always fearful of the signing the big believer. Watching the playoffs I keep hearing how a picture turn there career around by changing their pitch mix or emphasize in a different pitch which means that it isn't so much the pitcher as the coaching they can take a good arm (and they are all good arms) and make them better in their performance. I like the idea of getting young live arms and not the established and already old relievers that have amassed a long resume.
  18. mikelink45
    Defense. Even at this elevated and ridiculous rate of strikeouts we still have 70% of the balls put in play and defense makes a tremendous difference for pitching and team confidence. When you watch Chapman at third base for Oakland you can already begin to see how the other players look to him and loved his plays in the field.and one of the playoff games there was actually a discussion about how the team came together as the defense improved. I do not want to see 8 Sluggers standing around in the Outfield and infield watching pop-ups hit the ground. And I want to see a better defensive shortstop. I still believe that the shortstop is the captain of the infield and sets the tone for all the others.
  19. mikelink45
    I really don't know if any of them are any good I do know they don't excite me.
  20. mikelink45
    Those are good additions to our memory bank. Now of course we should consider trading Gibson and figure out how to make those high-ranked prospects turn out to be high-ranked professionals in the major leagues.
  21. mikelink45
    Those are good additions to our memory bank. Now of course we should consider trading Gibson and figure out how to make those high-ranked prospects turn out to be high-ranked professionals in the major leagues.
  22. mikelink45
    Nope. What did any of them contribute this year. Did they help or inform Molitor? Did they impact any players?
  23. mikelink45
    Watching the Indians annual success does not build my confidence in the FO. I am also a FA sceptic how often do they really produce
  24. mikelink45
    Note that the Cleveland Indians are the team that gave our front office their reputation. Take away Andrew Miller in the Indians have one of the worst bullpens in the playoffs. I'm not sure why we expect this leadership to do any better with ours. In a recent article in the athletic they showed a number of charts related to bullpens and you can guess where we are.
  25. mikelink45
    I hope we have more to talk about then these isolated games and a terrible season. I wish I could celebrate him, but it really does not help to put this season behind us where it belongs.
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