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mikelink45

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Everything posted by mikelink45

  1. mikelink45
    I enjoy this reflections but have to admit I have no basis for judgment except for the promotion to the majors so my angst over starting pitching is because we now have Berrios up and no one else seems to be ready to fill the rotation that disparately needs a fifth starter. I read the current projections and profiles and remember when the Yankees drafted Brien Taylor and everyone thought they had the next Sandy Koufax http://www.pinstripealley.com/yankees-draft-picks-mlb-draft-prospects/2016/6/6/11861684/yankees-worst-draft-picks-all-time-brien-taylor-henson-brackman-duncan-lyttle. Baseball drafting is so much less precise than football and basketball (where they still fail). I am most interested in the development, more than the draft.
  2. mikelink45
    Nice profile I like the MiLB managers that I have learned about through TD. Thank you.
  3. mikelink45
    An Ace stops losing streaks, holds his own against the number 1 pitcher on the other team and sets the standard for the rotation. So far this year Santana has been our ace and it does not matter what others are doing on their teams - he is our pitching leader. He took Berrios under his wing, he has given us consistent performances and is the only pitcher that I currently expect to win or come close in every start. But on your list I think Arrieta has fallen far from that rating, but was one the last two years, Madison Bumgarner is injured but a true Ace among Aces, Zack Greinke is a number 2 and last year was not even that, Felix Hernandez has to figure something out or his Ace days are over, Clayton Kershaw ranks Ace of Aces with Bumgarner, Corey Kluber ace, David Price used to be an ace, Chris Sale is an Ace, Max Scherzer the third Ace among Aces, Justin Verlander is a shadow of his old Ace days. So we have three HOF type aces, some number one starter aces, and a lot of downward spirals. Few Aces sustain that rating so celebrate Santana's rise and enjoy it as long as it lasts.
  4. mikelink45
    Nice recap. I am all in on Berrios and hope he thrives, but you are right we now have Santana, Santiago, Berrios - we need more and Santiago is not high on my list, just doing better than Hughes. Mejia is not doing all that well in the minors. Do we have anyone else in the minors that we could try? Sleger? Joe is just Joe, not good on quotes and not too spectacular in the field any more either. We can live with him, but I thought we were going to give him more days off. I do not seem him making adjustments - he says he just has to keep doing what he is doing to which I would say, you have been doing this for the last three years and it is not working - make some adjustments. I am more happy with Sano's BA than his HRs. I expect the bombs, but controlling the plate and hitting bombs too is really great.
  5. mikelink45
    The way that they treated Berrios would seem to indicate that Gibson is going to have to pitch a few games and prove himself. Mejia has a 4.08 era in AAA which is not a glowing stat. I think it will be Wilks. But I would like something more creative like Sleger.
  6. mikelink45
    There are fillers here, but otherwise it justifies our ranking as a middle of the pack minor league with minimal star potential.
  7. mikelink45
    This site continues to show me great relief pitchers, but it does not seem that the Twins have any belief in them or we would see some of these arms coming to the bigs instead of recycling Boshers and picking up scraps from other teams. Are we overrating our relief pitcher prospects? I know Tonkin had great reviews in the past, but no team would even take him off the wires when we DFA's him - http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/players/playerpage/2027421/michael-tonkin I keep waiting for Burdi and others from these reports to replace Pressly and Breslow. Please explain to me why the Twins are not using these arms while they are still young.
  8. mikelink45
    This is great news - now J O - run with it.
  9. mikelink45
    You justify my continuing criticism of our new think FO. Scrap heap vets do not improve our situation. The Minor league arms need to be used, get over your need to show that you can find the hidden gems - that was what TR was fired for doing. Move on. Get young, get the arms in the MLB. Berrios is the starter and the relievers have a long list. Move on.
  10. mikelink45
    I give him a vote of no confidence. 28 years old, at his peak, he is not showing us the skills that we should expect from a key reliever.
  11. mikelink45
    I believe Charlie Brown said it best - Good Grief. Buxton can learn in the bigs, Berrios has to convince some camera in the sky that the opponents are not just trying to make him look good. How do you learn more control and do better than he is doing? Call me a skeptic I think he is being made to crawl out of a doghouse.
  12. mikelink45
    Then I have to wonder about the reports on TD which is my only source for our MiLB players. Based on what I have been reading Burdi, Melotakis and others are the wave of the future and are ready now.
  13. mikelink45
    There is one more element in this discussion - Grossman should not be if OF. I want defense to compliment offense and Grossman cannot field with Kepler, Buxton, Rosario and hopefully soon Granite. The 1B/DH share is where Grossman/Vargas and occasionally Mauer should be. I am not mad at Mauer, but I find is sad that his career went down the tube so fast after the concussion.
  14. mikelink45
    I have seen the big signings of pitchers and question how many of them work out for the price paid in prospects and dollars before they regress, have an injury or just stop doing well. Bring up the young players and coach them to succeed.
  15. mikelink45
    Its good to see the moves, this is the kind of action I was hoping for except that the replacements have all been fringe players and I want to see the prospects.
  16. mikelink45
    A prospect needs to be in the majors between 25 - 26. If we use the accepted idea that 27 - 31 are peak years we can have an older player jump to the majors and have 2 - 3 good years, but I do not see that as a prospect. For me a prospect is someone who potentially has 6 - 10 years to contribute and that means getting in the majors in those critical mid twenties. We can celebrate the exceptions, but those are just fun stories. For me the pitchers are even more crucial as we see that their arms and shoulders break down with wear and tear and therefore the sooner we get them to the majors the better return on investment for the team. Of course for knuckleball pitchers we can add ten years!
  17. mikelink45
    I would certainly like to see him instead of Rucinski. Get the young arms in their.
  18. mikelink45
    We have now called up two pitchers who are not part of the long term answer to our staff and I do not know why. Is this FO falling in the old vet routine of TR? I posted elsewhere that I am not yet impressed with the FO and moves like this are one reason. Adrianza for Santana is fine, but the pitching moves leave me puzzled and wanting a different strategy. Tepesch, Breslow, Belisle, Rucinski????????????
  19. mikelink45
    You make good points. No I do not want to see them make poor trades or poor signings, but patience with them also implies patience with the team and that has worn out. I have hopes for them, but I also have no reason to say they are or will be good. It is a wish, not a fact, and if they move on in two years and are replaced I will not be patient with the team then either. I give them no marks, good or bad yet. I will determine if patience is warranted when I see what they start to show the plan for the future. Belisle, Breslow, Giminez, and Castro are the changes to date. The rest is inherited. So I am not implying that they have failed, but I am still in an impatient mode and will be until more things happen to give me either comfort or frustration.
  20. mikelink45
    I am not sure why we are expected to give the new FO any extra patience. This is a team and it is a team that has given the fan who pays for the stadium through taxes and the games through attendance and therefore has accrued a level of frustration that is justified. Maybe we will find Falvey and Lavine to be geniuses, but what do we have to hang on to? What have they demonstrated - Castro and Giminez???? Like so many I am impatient for some new results, for some demonstration that they have a plan, an idea, a path for us to follow, but they have not given us anything to grab onto. I hope for their success, but I have no loyalty to them. The majority of the front office is the same, the coaching staff is mostly the same, the minor league system is the same. Of course we clamor for Berrios. He is hope and we all want hope. Sano has given it to us, Santana has shined. But is that enough? If we expect Berrios and others to prove themselves then Falvey and Lavine have to prove themselves and so far they are struggling rookies like the rest.
  21. mikelink45
    I think the Buxton comp is a good one. Bring him up, give him time, let him settle in. The long run is what is important now, but to get there Berrios has to get past and issues in MLB>
  22. mikelink45
    I have nothing to add, no wit or wisdom. I just want to follow a long Sano career and enjoy homer after homer.
  23. mikelink45
    I am a firm believer in quick promotions. Why blow out the arms in the minors? With our current bullpen he could replace all but Kinzler and be at minimum an easy replacement. Young live arms need to be throwing from the MLB mound when they have the record that Mason has. Give him something new to stare at.
  24. mikelink45
    Maybe TD has a spot for Jason Stark and Mark SImon and Jim Bowden? Just kidding, but I will miss them for their writing. ESPN with no Baseball tonight has forsaken our sport. Your article missed the key to the series - because of bereavement for Santiago we have Bosher back in the pen for three days! One miscellaneous thought - I do not know why, but I am rooting for KC in the match up with Gibson. I know none of the players so I should not want to see someone fail. I just do not have faith in Gibson and with the Twins a player, once established, has to really bomb before change comes and I want to see the rotation get some new faces behind Santana and Santiago
  25. mikelink45
    Joe Mauer has a great swing - he always has, but the difference is that hitting a ball hard at a fielder is not as successful as Wee Willie Keeler's dictum - "“Keep your eye on the ball and hit ‘em where they ain’t,” http://baseballhall.org/hof/keeler-willie That is why Mauer hits in to so many DPs. Hard to an infielder makes their job easier. Sano hits them long and hard and it there "ain't no fielder that counts on the otherside of the fence".
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