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mikelink45

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Everything posted by mikelink45

  1. mikelink45
    Call me confused. We have Polanco, Gordon, Vielma, Palacios, and Javier at SS. I know we can convert someone to second base, but this young group should give us some security for a good amount of time, so we use number one pick and add to this group? I am fine with the number two pick - Mauer is winding down and so is his contract. But no pitcher until number 3? The minors are not bristling with great ace prospects and we seem to need at least 8 pitchers per year (maybe 10) to complete the rotation demands of the season.
  2. mikelink45
    If leadership is demonstrating how to handle miserable results the Twins have gotten their money's worth. So that lesson learned - lets move on. I can tolerate young arms imploding more than old ones on this team.
  3. mikelink45
    I am wearing out on analytics. I like base hits, fast base runners, and putting the ball in play (not K's). I believe in speed, I like power that does not give away 1/3rd of the season, and I believe in fielding. Pitching is great when there are K's and when the fielders catch what is hit. We can analyze all we want but it is still throw, hit,and catch that creates the season results.
  4. mikelink45
    How great to have the article talking about the young Twins. It is the youth that will propel us to the upper echelon and I am delighted to hear about Berrios and Vargas and want us to continue to lean on the young players in the system.
  5. mikelink45
    The twins have an interesting record on pitcher injuries. I think it's a batted ball injury meaning that they're hurting the ball more than the pitcher. Of course when you see who we've just signed I guess it really doesn't matter. They aren't going to bring up the young arms and see what they can do
  6. mikelink45
    There is a terrible sinking feeling. After a boost from Berrios our pitching keeps getting worse and the best get over used. How does this stop?
  7. mikelink45
    He may be a short term filler but why? Give Gonsalves a look. Do something interesting.
  8. mikelink45
    I would hate to think that keeping Haley justifies not have our best arms in MLB.
  9. mikelink45
    None of the normal names that were part of rotation talk - except Jorge. Wheeled gone, Gonsalves coming back from injury, Jay relieving (and how is that going? 4.50 ERA in two games. SSS I know). So he is the next in line if the rotation calls? Actually it is already calling, but no one in answering yet.
  10. mikelink45
    Please explain to my why Curtiss has not been called up. With someone this hot why aren't we seeing him in our frustrating MLB bullpen?
  11. mikelink45
    We speculate about bringing up and losing the pitchers we should bring up and so we settle for Wimmers because, as one writer puts it - we can DFA him in the future. But the team is not going to get better by looking for Wimmers and Wheelers that we can shuffle up and DFA. The fact that we can continual DFA players and then resign them to the minors is not exactly a positive reflection on the club. Lets get over the risk aversion and put players in place that might have a real future and real potential. Where is Melotakis, Curtiss, Busenitz, Hildenberger? What are we saving them for?
  12. mikelink45
    Where does Goodrum fit in the Twins plans? He seems to have worked his way through the minors like he is supposed to and clearly shows talent, but I see no discussions on where he will fit, if ever, on the major league roster. Busenitz sure seems like a better call up than Wimmers. Why the hesitancy? In fact why is Melotakis not called up? Do we have such a great pen there is no room for these arms (yes that is sarcasm)?
  13. mikelink45
    This is the place where I see some real potential, but Kirilloff would not be in my top five. Old fashioned as I must be I have to see players play their way to the top of the list and until he gets back and puts things together again I would drop him from the top group. The starting pitchers look like they are ready and I do not think AAA should be a prerequisite for hitting MLB. Next is the nice problem - Gordon is close to being ready for the Twins, but the positions in the IF are filled. Where does he go, where is the shuffle? Dozier/Polanco/Gordon - what is the outlook?
  14. mikelink45
    Lets send more relievers down and out and put this list in the bigs! Make the moves and get some excitement back in the pen - excitement about the pitcher and not the home runs and rallies that they allow.
  15. mikelink45
    Two writers have jumped on my thoughts - the catcher. Last year I wrote about our pitching coach and he is still here and still not showing me anything, but I guess he and Paul are a team. Pressly is the latest of a long list of players not making the transition and prospering in the MLB. This winter we kept the pitching coach, but changed the overall system according to articles - I cannot judge and we brought in a pitch framing machine and his side kick to turn our pitchers into something they have not been. So what has happened? Berrios was the big disappointment last year - this year he has shown what we wanted in games one and two and slipped in games 3 and 4 - MLB tutelage? Pressly should be throwing what the catcher calls and that is why we have two Mendoza line hitters behind the plate, but wait his selection is poor - whose - Pressly or Castro? We have watched a sequence of relief meltdowns. One is expected, but not three in a row. What happened? Why has Belisle (who is said to be a good influence for the bullpen - was he hired as a counselor?) lost his ability? Where did pitch framing take Gibson? Has Santiago turned the corner (the wrong way on a one way) with his relief stint and recent starts? Sorry to see him fail, bring on the next guy for the Twins Gambit! Maybe they will be lucky like Wheeler - Hey good news, you are now on the 40 man roster and we are bringing you to the show. You know how you have started all your career, but now you will relieve. Great news. Oh, now we are going to DFA you and drop you from the 40 man. Hope you enjoyed your ride.
  16. mikelink45
    Blankenhorn would be my biggest question on this list. All the reports through TD have done nothing to get me excited about him so far. There are interesting names, but if Jay is not going to make it until 2018 and then as a reliever I am consider that the list demonstrates the low status of the current minor league system.
  17. mikelink45
    This is a list of role players unless Palacios can pass up Vielma and Gordon at SS. I see more value in Granite than in Palka - I am not a fan of the big K rate and I do like defense. Granite would have been a nice fill in when Buxton came out with the cut hand. We have Grossman, Vargas as bats for DH and what we need is a good right hand/left hand combination for that position and the bench. I would like to see Adrianza as a good fielding infielder (until they bring up Vielma) and Granite as a good fielding OF on the bench. I am not sure how Garver is going to get in to the mix. He is not a starter and right now the team seems to really like Giminez (maybe because he can pitch). Hopefully Jorge will continue to rise - we need to see so more starters coming up.
  18. mikelink45
    It is interesting that Rosario does not get a mention because in his initial full year he looked terrific, but I find less superlatives being used to describe him in the field now. Is there a reason for that? The importance of defense is really obvious and another reason I questioned our short bench not having an adequate fourth outfielder when Buxton had to come out. Adrianza is good in the infield, he does not belong in the OF. If Grossman is going to be the DH lets put Granite or some other good fielder on the bench. Our bench management might seem a minor issue, but to me it has become an important issue over the last week. Since we had Jim Kaat acting like a fifth infielder for years and watching Greg Maddux dominate from the mound I am wondering who would be our best mound gloves? You will find them one and two in this fun Youtube fielding list (no data to support list, but interesting names) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l24mknymfys I like this discussion about the best defensive teams of all time - the 1984 Twins team is in the discussion which means it must be our best or closes to our best defensive time - how will this group rate with them? http://www.espn.com/blog/sweetspot/post/_/id/67824/the-best-defensive-teams-of-all-time Keep up this discussion and the defensive prowess of the team. ESPN has us second by standard defensive rating for 2017 http://www.espn.com/mlb/stats/team/_/stat/fielding
  19. mikelink45
    This is a discussion that is more about our fan frustration than anything else. We see what seems to be obvious and cannot do anything about it. This FO supposed addressed the bullpen - what are their collective actions so far - Belisle, Breslow, Wilk, Justin Haley, Nick Tepesch, and Ryan Vogelsong - all pitchers were added. How did they work out? We have a boatload of injured pitchers in the minors and do not seem willing to bring up those who aren't unless they are named Buddy Boshers. Wheeler is brought up but not used - please start him instead of Gibson. Gibson is retained and Vargas is sent down despite the fact that at a minimum Gibson would not pitch or contribute for four games. I am looking for a Clue, but so far can only find Mr. Mustard with a hot dog in the bullpen. And, by the way, I read about the bullpen overuse and it reminded me of a forgotten old Twin - Mike Marshall who three times pitched more than 90 games in a year. http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/marshmi01.shtml Or Al Worthington who averaged 50 games a year for us http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/w/worthal01.shtml
  20. mikelink45
    This list is really disappointing. Ranking 16 - 20 and three arms that are not even throwing pitches, one so young we really have no idea what he will be and one highly drafted pitcher in Stewart that looks like a #5 rotation talent at best. I would slide all of these to the end of your 40. I am looking forward to the next five and hope that they are not in hospital beds or recovery units.
  21. mikelink45
    Is Wheeler taking Gibson's place in the rotation and if so why wasn"t Gibson instead of Vargas sent down? Is this what you would have done? I watched the blowout loss to Houston - actually the Bullpen loss and in that small sample did not see anything special about what Rucinski offers, from your reports I would think we have better minor league options - what are your suggestions?
  22. mikelink45
    Nice to see Jorge get a good start. As such a highly rated prospect we need him moving upward - Kyle Gibson is anxious to give him a slot in the rotation!
  23. mikelink45
    Not sure where to post this so I am just grabbing an opportunity. This was in the New York Times today: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/27/sports/baseball/minnesota-twins-are-weighing-their-early-success.html?emc=edit_th_20170528&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=27551192 I guess the team is holding its winning ways long enough to get some attention away from the Coasts!
  24. mikelink45
    To create a perspective for this we would have to go through all the teams and remove their top hitter and top pitchers and see what the results would be. Take out a Bumgarter or Kershaw or a Mike Trout and what happens to their teams? In other words; this article does point out the importance of an ACE and a Quality hitter, but what would the standings be if everyteam had their top two removed? That would be the judgment of the supporting casts.
  25. mikelink45
    Very sad news about Burdi. He has had terrible injury luck. I had been hoping to see that he was in MLB and not the hospital this year. It reminds me of the fact that arms have only so many pitches in them and that is why I would like to see our quality relievers called up sooner rather than working their way through the levels of the minors like starters and we have a few pitchers like Belisle that should be replaced by Melotakis and others in the system.
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