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mikelink45

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Everything posted by mikelink45

  1. mikelink45
    Boshers has been a good story, but going forward we need better pitchers in these situations and Buddy is not the answer. Glad we won, but little things are important going forward.
  2. mikelink45
    We need someone to step up and light a fire like Buxton did recently. We have had Rosario and Escobar give the team a needed jolt this season. Kepler or Mauer need to take their turn and carry the team for a while. Sano would be perfect, but since he cannot play we need someone else to get that surge.
  3. mikelink45
    I think it is great that Mauer is having a really good resurgence. He has really helped this year and he has had some great years, as well as years where he deserved some of the criticism he got. But that is all in the past. His HOF credentials? Unless he continues this production and builds some numbers he is on the outside. Writers have left out some really good catchers and he would have made it in if the concussion had not changes his path. But the real puzzler for me is this - if he continues this trend and has a similar year next year he will become a free agent. The maximum cut allowed in baseball is 20% and it is hardly ever used - this would still be an $18,400,000 salary. So how would this FO value Mauer in 2019? Would there be another contract? Would they dare offer the minimum contract possible under the labor agreement? Would they let him go FA and offer to sign him for whatever he is offered by others? What would the market for him be? How many teams would want him as their 1B? Go Joe - your career has taken quite a path.
  4. mikelink45
    This was a surprise. I expect the pitchers who are highest on the prospect list to make this list, but what it does more than anything is show me why Gonsalves was not brought up to the Twins. Thanks for this good work.
  5. mikelink45
    We had a poor finish to our season two years ago too. It's hard to say why, but Twins fans start to get nervous when we get a streak like this in September and rightfully so - in 2015 we were 551 the first half and 466 the second. https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/MIN/2015-schedule-scores.shtml With the top two rotation pitchers now used we have to turn to Father Time Colon, Young Slegers, and Resurgent Gibson to right the ship. We also have to stop putting Boshers in with runners on base. Boshers has allowed 17 inherited runners to score in 32 innings. http://m.mlb.com/player/542953/buddy-boshers which is a very poor record. - half the runners on base when he comes in score! Why are we using him in these situations?
  6. mikelink45
    I have no opinion on this except to be happy that Joe is having a really good year and that is great. Of course he will be in the Twins HOF, but probably not Cooperstown and that is okay. If he has figured out how to work with what he can do and if he can rise above his concussions that is great. When we have a better 1B player he should be replaced. Right now we do not and it is good to have Joe in the lineup. Now if we just put him in the right place in the line up. I know people do not like the term Clutch, but he is seventh among the team batters in RBIs and he has been in 3/4 position for most of the year. Buxton in number 8, followed by Castro, and is moving up quickly towards Mauer's numbers. On the other side Mauer is number one in OBP which means he should be 1 or 2 in the lineup. while Dozier who is 4th can take the other place in the lineup. Let's hope for the best for Joe and watch for the replacement player that will be worthy of taking his place.
  7. mikelink45
    This is really disappointing. I like having as many writers and opinions as we can get and this is truly a defensive rant. Why, because he crossed that velvet rope and used racial and fat biases in his essay. He gave us nothing new, no true insider view, he just took a path that was easy and now he is trying to tell us that the path was strewn with difficulty and danger. Mr. Souhan, write about baseball. When you criticize use information not generalizations. There are many intelligent readers and there is this forum where many of us meet indirectly. Join us, but do not scold us. We only have your written word and when that fails - so do you.
  8. mikelink45
    Glad you see that. We have the same pitching coach and pitching is still our big issue. I will not fault the new FO but I will also not give them credit for this upsurge.
  9. mikelink45
    What a fun and frustrating game. I have faith that this team can rise above the controversy.
  10. mikelink45
    This is a team that is playing like our 1965 Twins - not just Killebrew in the lineup, but Hall, Allison, Oliva, Versailles, Mincher, Rollins, and Battey. Some hits and thunder throughout the line up. I am excited to see Sano return and I hope he has observed how important it is to make contact and get more than HRs. This has been a very fun run.
  11. mikelink45
    I suspect you are right. Thanks for the correction, although it does not change my premise - I do not credit the new FO with this team, this year.
  12. mikelink45
    Can we really credit this to them? What did they do? The players Ryan signed are the stars. The players the FO brought in have questionable results. I love what this team has done, but I give no credit to the new regime. Lucky them, they were here when the prospects matured and then they almost blew it with their own choices.
  13. mikelink45
    It has been my gripe with the FO - they favor the players that they can find over the players already in the system. Slegers and Gonsalves should both be in the rotation.
  14. mikelink45
    Yup - I could have put Garcia's stats in instead, but the fact remains that we are just as well off using our own minor leaguers unless we are willing to go for true talent.
  15. mikelink45
    Has anyone calculated the collective stats for all the dumpster pitchers we have put on the team this year instead of using our minor leaguers? Pitcher innings H BB R Heston 1 1 0 0 Gee 25.1 26 6 13 Breslow 31 38 12 19 Tepesch 1.2 5 2 7 Haley 18 22 6 12 Enns 4 7 1 4 Wilk 10.1 16 9 9 Melville 3.1 4 3 5 93.5 119 39 69 A whip of 1.70 and .74 runs per inning (I am not looking at ER) Does anyone believe our minor league pitchers could not have matched this sterling set of stats?
  16. mikelink45
    Was he the target of the trade or was it Boof Bonser? Was he a throw in and we got lucky?
  17. mikelink45
    I loved having Nathan and wish we could have capitalized on Liriano's talent for more good seasons, but I also feel like we did give up a lot. A.J. loses support because of his prickly personality, but he was a really consistent and determined player. I would call the trade even and, on our side, a little lucky too.
  18. mikelink45
    Entertaining, but do not sign him for an extension.
  19. mikelink45
    When teams are doing the right things and playing well they get the proverbial "breaks" that we all talk about, In the long run the breaks should go to the better team most of the time. This was one of those games where the gift was well deserved. I think my biggest concern going forward is Belisle - can he keep up the good streak? I know this is just one game, so I will not clamor for his demotion, but I hope they are ready to bail him out as the season goes on.
  20. mikelink45
    The more young players we call up the better. Now for some pitchers who have not been on the major league turn table. Boshers and Turley mean nothing. Goodrum is a good new call.
  21. mikelink45
    Thanks for that update. It seems like every decision has multiple layers and it is hard to find them all.
  22. mikelink45
    The size of this contract exceeds Mauer's and we keep getting told how that prevents us from doing things. We have Hughes, Mauer, Santana ($49.7M) all going through next year and an option on Perkins. http://www.baseballprospectus.com/compensation/cots/american-league/minnesota-twins/ If the Twins are willing to ride with all of this and add Verlander I do not object, but if signing Verlander prevents a better bullpen or causes other areas not to be addressed I am not sure I can see that as a good deal. Verlander is on the downside of his career so what do we expect - I know his downside is better than many of the current Twins upsides, but my problem is that I have watched this team since the first game in 1961 and money does count so I am waiting to see the changes in attitude before losing my cautions. We are still paying off Park and I believe we are still sending $4M to the Angels for Nolasco's contract next year. I understand your question, I just need to know more about the trade, Verlander's future, and the finances before I can be supportive.
  23. mikelink45
    Not excited by this unless he is replacing Santana. One Vet and a group of young arms is more appealing to me and the large salary would come back to haunt us if he under performs.
  24. mikelink45
    I am anxious to hear about September call ups. There has been some nice things in the minors - only the newest top two draftees look like fast rising - potential stars. I am still looking for the pitchers we drafted. I see Enlow is 3 - 0 with a great ERA, lets hope he is also a fast track signee.
  25. mikelink45
    The loss of Buxton would be terrible. With Sano out we need bats and with our pitching we need defense.
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