mikelink45
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Everything posted by mikelink45
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Slegers is a nice story, but he sure looked overmatched in MLB. Does he project to do anything in the bigs? Garver seems like he has the talent, but I am not sure that I see the Twins really giving him the chance in the bigs. Enlow is very interesting. What is his expected arrival? Finally for all you experts - what is a realistic expectation for the Arizona League players? For some reason I am not expecting any of them to make the majors.
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Article: Can Minnesota Follow Houston's Blueprint?
mikelink45 replied to Cody Christie's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
My point is that we cannot be sure that the sure thing overpaid FA pitchers are really dependable either.- 54 replies
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Article: Can Minnesota Follow Houston's Blueprint?
mikelink45 replied to Cody Christie's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
I can only go by the reports that Seth and others write. According to this site - https://www.twinkietown.com/2017/10/19/16301700/minnesota-twins-mlb-2017-year-end-prospect-review-minor-leagues Gonsalves and Romero are tied for third best prospects in the Twins minor leagues. That is pretty high praise. I can only rely on those who know more than I do for prospects, but this is good enough for me if we expect Berrios and Mejia to improve on 2017. MLB is now a bullpen game and that is where I would build. KC won the pennant and a WS without quality starting pitching and they changed the prospects for the league. The Yankees went BP heavy and it worked for them. The Cubs went heavier on SP rather than RF and it did not work.- 54 replies
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Article: Can Minnesota Follow Houston's Blueprint?
mikelink45 replied to Cody Christie's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
https://calltothepen.com/2017/09/26/mlb-the-10-worst-free-agent-signings-before-this-season/I am always nervous about the FA fix. Think about all the great FA signings - like Price for the Red Sox who come with a big ticket price and seldom do what is expected or wished. By the time the pitchers reach the free agent market and seem to be worth MILLIONS they are also old and arm weary. Read the 27 worst free agent signings - 13 are pitchers - considering that there are 8 other positions that is a really high number - https://www.cheatsheet.com/sports/27-worst-free-agent-signings-mlb-history.html/?a=viewall Or the 10 worst signings before this year - https://calltothepen.com/2017/09/26/mlb-the-10-worst-free-agent-signings-before-this-season/ We got one good pitching free agent - Santana after how many busts? No - get the new pitching coach and start developing our own talent both starters and relievers.- 54 replies
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- jose altuve
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Article: Do The Twins Need A Proven Closer?
mikelink45 replied to Nick Nelson's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
Underwhelming is the word that comes to mind. Go young - nothing else looks worth and investment. Test the young arms, but not Pressly, he has consistently proved that he is Tonkin like when the big bats are up.- 56 replies
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- trevor hildenberger
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Warming up: A look towards Hot Stove - Relief Pitching edition
mikelink45 commented on John Olson's blog entry in Four Six Three
In the past it would have been Kintzler, but I think that FO will move on and up. I am not sure that Belisle does not return. Trevor May is like the ghost of Christmas past. How many years have we speculated on his potential. I say he comes to Spring Training and we hope to be impressed, but do not plan on him. Pressly at Closer gives me ulcers. He and Tonkin are the HR specialists. They fit with many of today's hitters, HR or K. Not what I want in a closer. It will be good to see what the rookies look like next spring with their seasoning behind them. I look at the list of relilevers and I am not excited by any of them. In fact the I am fearful of signing relief pitchers and expecting them to match past performance. The pen is erratic. Check out this essay: https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/relief-pitching-metric-correlations-year-to-year/ -
Article: Sizing Up The 2017-18 Offseason
mikelink45 replied to Nick Nelson's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
I have been wondering about that. Since I am a victim of Keith Law, John Bonnes, and Seth Stohs and what they tell me I only know I hear about Romero and Gonsalves and wonder if they are not ready to step up as starters. I do not know - certain Slegers and the others they called this year did not impress. I also do not know if our minor leaguer relief is as good as we hope too after watching Tonkin and Pressly the last two years. Great arms, no consistency. -
Article: Sizing Up The 2017-18 Offseason
mikelink45 replied to Nick Nelson's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
Based on baseball today - the bullpen should have priority over the starting pitching. KC started this trend and the Yankees have adopted it. -
Article: Expansion Could Alter MLB's Landscape
mikelink45 replied to Cody Christie's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
No matter what they do, we and everyone else will route for their home team and baseball will continue to be the most popular regional sport while football is national. In football no one knows all the linemen - just the stars - in Baseball you have to know the entire starting lneup. In football just remember a few great QBs and they will start every game, in baseball we have five in the rotation and they only pitch half the game. It is a fascinating spectacle and the only reason to expand is to capture more regional markets. -
Article: Twins Daily Awards 2017: Best Pitcher
mikelink45 replied to Nick Nelson's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
This is a fascinating year. I agree with all three of the selections so far and have a hard time thinking that there was any controversy in any of them. Lots of good stories, but the choices seem obvious. MVP looks like the controversy only because no one can really define what an MVP is. -
Grading Out The 2017 Twins: Starting Pitching
mikelink45 commented on Ted Schwerzler 's blog entry in Off The Baggy
Too high - Santana A, yes, Berrios a B - remove the + he needs to hold it together longer and I think he will next year. Gibson had an F the first half and a C+ the second. That makes a C- for the year. Mejia was a C-, he never really shined. Colon gets a PR A, but I am hoping he is gone he was all over the map and after a fun short ride, until the last game when no one cared he was a D. -
It is fascinating to see all the coaches that Molitor hired get fired and Molitor gets rehired. I am fine with him as manager as long as they choose the coaches for him.
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Article: Decision On Paul Molitor Looming
mikelink45 replied to Seth Stohs's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
Yes - hire him again. I am not anxious for a new genius when the team has come together under his leadership. I like some continuity for a young team.- 129 replies
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- paul molitor
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Fun game - but I did not realize how far the Tigers have fallen. Ausmus must be happy to be out after this year. Their future does not look very promising.
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- ervin santana
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I would give him the Twins MVP. When Sano went down we all thought this was something that could doom the team, but Eduardo stepped in and stepped up. In tight situations I feel confidence when he comes to the plate. I feel confident when the ball is hit towards him. What more can someone do. Yes Rosario, Polanco, Buxton and now Kepler have had some great hot streaks, but Escobar has been a steady force before, through and after those hot streaks.
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Article: Where Are We Now? (152 Down, 10 To Go)
mikelink45 replied to Seth Stohs's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
The Tigers just seem too easy to be true. Lousy teams are relaxed and having fun - this is dangerous if our team is pressing. Being a MN fan is always a nervous condition.- 37 replies
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Is there some surprise - Colon has been bad in 21 of 28 starts this year. Those who want to resign him are on a different planet than I live on. The Yankees are patient and they know there will be a big fat one in the selection Colon should not be starting for a contender (I think we are). http://www.espn.com/mlb/player/gamelog/_/id/3602/bartolo-colon I wish I was as confident of beating the Tigers and of Mejia doing well as the rest of the fans, but I am not.
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Article: Those Damn Yankees
mikelink45 replied to Nick Nelson's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
How does one explain such dominance. It is not based on player comparisons, home field, or the alignment of the stars. This is a case for Freud or Jung - a psychological case that must be diagnosed before the Wild Card Game. I am too old and too jaded to think we can beat the Yankees of legend (I assume that is who we are playing) and even those most of these players are too young to remember a time when playing the Yankees was no big deal, they are not too young to be star struck by the NY mistique. Not even Big Sexy who should be old enough to know better can make the Yankees swing at his off the plate junk or miss his middle of the plate balloons. -
Article: Searching For Relief
mikelink45 replied to John Bonnes's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
This is a frustrating list. Hildenberger has been too extended. I know we have to, but there is always a downside for young pitchers getting too much use, whether an implosion in the season or a carry over to the next. Rogers is a case in point. Pressley is my biggest frustration. Like Alex Meyer and Tonkin, he has the speed, but cannot sustain success and I have no confidence in him. I like Busenitz and I wonder if Curtiss can overcome his initial poor performance and turn things around yet this year. Then there is the question for September open rosters - why Turley and not another reliever? Sorry to say it is not just the young guys, I still do not like Belisle as a closer. -
On a night when the bunt could have been a real weapon why did we not have Buxton bunting? Just wondering. With the team speed we could have executed at least a bunt an inning. Good initial strategy that was soon ignored despite its success. Pressley is such a puzzle. It reminds me of the starting pitcher (Alex Meyer) we traded for because he had so much stuff and then we traded him to the Angels. What is the missing ingredient? Of all the teams we play, the patience that is part of the Yankee mystique would seem to be devastating to Colon. I hope I am wrong.
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- jose berrios
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Article: 2017 Twins Minor League All Star Team
mikelink45 replied to Seth Stohs's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
I continue to wonder how minor league pitcher of the year - Gonsalves - did not get called up to a rotation that could have used a boost in its pursuit of the WC. This is an interesting list of players. As I looked at the ETAs I wondered about the otherside of the ETA - who goes? I can see Booker pushing our Vargas and the pitchers should not be a problem with Colon and Santiago leaving, but 3B and OF for 2018 are interesting. I can see Granite with Rosario, Kepler, and Buxton so where does Wade fit in? If we have Vargas gone for Rooker there is no hole to fill. I think Mauer solidified his position - at least for next year and maybe beyond. Our tiny bench does not leave much space - if we have Ehire, Escobar, Granite, Garver on the bench there is not much room for anything else. Love the projections and it just makes me speculate.- 28 replies
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- mitch garver
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Article: Twins Playoff Push A Truly Cohesive Effort
mikelink45 replied to Nick Nelson's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
For August he hit 213 and for September 189.- 73 replies
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- brian dozier
- byron buxton
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Our best pitcher versus their worst starter and we loss. Those bats better be ready to step up the next two games - the Angels are drooling. After all these years I feel like there is some kind of curse that the Yankees have put on the Twins. I normally do not engage in bunt discussion, but the way that Betances was throwing it did not seem like good strategy and as it turned out the bunt - which Granite did a good job on - did nothing for us and just gave them a worthless out. The pitcher throwing and the pitcher in the pen need to be considered with bunts unless it is a bunt for a hit.
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- ervin santana
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