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mikelink45

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Everything posted by mikelink45

  1. mikelink45
    Looks like an MLB filler, I hope he develops more, but right now as Number 9 he is not as exciting as I would like to see.
  2. mikelink45
    Very optimistic. I would find fault with your number one because a lot of players look great before they begin their careers and I prefer to see them establish a track record before being listed as a number 1 or does this mean that the rest of the potential players aren't good enough to be a number 1? From your description I question Diaz too. Another 1B/DH and you liken him to Vargas. Once again my debate is on potential. I have seen too many potentials go down the tube and for the top five I prefer to see players who have worked their way up. I would love to see the two pitchers really blossom and then see the Twins cut the chaff and get rid of Hughes, Santana, Santiago, Gibson and start working on the real rotation of the future with these two in the mix. Thanks for the work. My criticism is not for your listing, but just my personal preferences.
  3. mikelink45
    No surprises in your headlines, also nothing to get excited about. I still believe in Berrios and think it better to stick with him and work out tipping his pitches, getting to excited or whatever and let him learn at MLB. Nothing, no one else on this list has his potential.
  4. mikelink45
    I know, but remember that most baseball rule conversations start with tradition and in 1968 we blew things up for the pitchers because they were so much better than the hitters. We have gone from 3 ball walks, asking for a pitch, and pitchers who won 40+ games and used their arms up in a year to what we have now. Tradition is only what you remember. To me 1968 is still well remembered, not ancient. Tweak around the edges, but leave the pitching and hitting for the players to adjust to. Waving and intentional walk is just fine, the other two changes are not acceptable to me.
  5. mikelink45
    Hard to see him as #10. There is not enough track record yet, but I hope you are right and he is going to move fast.
  6. mikelink45
    It is spring training time and everyone is undefeated. I just wish I had the optimism that this projection presents, but I do not care how much better the young batters are and I am not excited by the ten additional strikes that Castro will bedazzle the umpires with - this team cannot pitch and thus we will only lose 93 because it is hard to lose 100 two years in a row.
  7. mikelink45
    Nick and Seth and Thrylos I do not know where else to post a question to all three of you. As I read these lists and try to read between the lines since I rely on your judgments to replace my lack of opportunity to see and judge myself; which brings up a question for each of you. If you made a roster from just the minor leagues or from your list of prospects who would fill the lineup and rotation - regardless of age or anticipated time of arrival or level of competition. I realize that the AAA guys should whip the rookie league, but if we just look at potential the lower minors look better to me than the upper. Give me a starting 9 and a rotation - more if you like, but put together the all potential team as it is now - no Buxton, Sano, Rosario, Kepler... Thanks.
  8. mikelink45
    No to most, but I find the Intentional walk to be so boring that its absence will not be missed by me or 99% of fans. The only thing it affects is how we choose to get refreshments or use the toilets. The strike zone change is one I find ludicrous. Maybe hitters can learn to hit the pitch instead. We have lowered the mound, changed the strike zone and still have players striking out more than ever (and despite rankings of great pitchers, it is not because the quality of pitching in relationship to the batters has changed, just the approach). If we want to speed the game, limit the number of relief pitchers to 2 or 3 per game - to be designated like the line up - not when they come in, but who is available and then allow one per inning in extra innings. But don't put a runner on 2B - this is as bad as shoot outs to determine who wins a hockey game. I would rather have ties and end after nine than create an artificial ending where teams load up with sprinters who can be pinch runners in extra innings.
  9. mikelink45
    I want Vargas to play. I see the remainders on the DH/1B bargain shelf and want to run far away from any temptation. If Vargas fails at least we know we have to move on, if we bring in someone for the scrap heap it is probably just a one year signing and we would still need to move on. Palka hit a lot of home runs, but his K's are too frequent, we do not need to give away more AB's to a wild swinger unless Vargas fails.
  10. mikelink45
    My last thought on this is that when we draft college players - especially in their senior year they are supposed to be on a quicker path to the majors. The fact that he was 22 was a factor of 4 years playing at New Mexico.
  11. mikelink45
    This is a shame because Perk had really become a spokesperson for the team and was great for a few years, but the torque on a pitching arm is so severe I think we need to think of moving on if this persists to Spring Training. Given the team level I would suggest that if we think he will pitch in the future we should take half a year to really get him ready. In the meantime - no Breslow or other washed out vets - get the younger relievers who are no longer the really young players we tend to think of since we first saw them come around Spring Training.
  12. mikelink45
    This is an interesting list because I would like to see four of them spend a majority of the year with the Twins. Gimenez is not going to do anything and Garver at 26 is entering his peak seasons if we wait until Castro ends his contract he will be 29-30 and for most players that is the beginning of the downward trend that is in the chart here - see http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/catcher-aging-is-a-curve-not-a-cliff/ That is why my personal desire is to see players in the bigs in their age 25 - 26 years if not before if we think that they are really going to be major leaguers.
  13. mikelink45
    There is a point where that develop has to be in the bigs. No catcher should be behind the plate seven days a week and Garver is now of an age where we should be hitting his peak performance.
  14. mikelink45
    I have this unwarranted feeling that really good players hit the majors by the time they are 25 so when I look at the upper levels and see ages that are closer to the time when MLB peak (30) has passed - 1B - Ben Paulsen (29), Reynaldo Rodriguez (31), Byungho Park (30) 3B - Matt Hague (31), Dan Gamache (26), Leonardo Reginnato (26) it is disappointing. Even Chattanooga has old players from my development perspective. Given that they would probably move to AAA for a year you would have to add another year to their potential MLB age and now we are getting to the veteran MLB stage - 1B - Dalton Hicks (26), Trey Vavra (25) 3B - Niko Goodrum (24), TJ White (25), Tom Belza (27) All of which emphasizes what has been said before, our future, at least on the corners, is in the low levels.
  15. mikelink45
    This is a good list and just frustrates me when I see our high powered FO grabbing Gimenez, a one year 36 year old bullpen pitcher, and trying to go for the left over sluggers. Let's develop these players.
  16. mikelink45
    How about signing a veteran Front Office person to settle down the excitement about this on the field vet. This line of reasoning is driving me crazy. DH/1B lets sign 25 and have a full roster - especially if they are vets, that way they can talk to each other at the bar each night. Is this all about Mauer? or are we just fixated - Park, Vargas, Mauer. Isn't Mauer a veteran? Isn't Dozier a Vet? Isn't Escobar a vet? Isn't Castro a Vet?
  17. mikelink45
    I look at the top ten list and I think there is limited star power if I am reading the reports correctly. A lot of potential bench players here. Blankenhorn surprises me as #2. I guess I have not read enough about him to have any opinion, but his name just has not been in many discussions. Of course the lower levels are exciting and we can hope that out of this group one of them will really emerge!
  18. mikelink45
    A nice range in talents in this list. Lets hope they really work on Ben to be there when Castro's contract is done. Burdi has been a tease and I know it must drive him crazy too, but let's hope it is a quick return to brilliance. Vielma makes sense as the defensive replacement that Adrianza is suppose to be. I just wish Haley was higher on this list and really looked good. I am wondering where they hope he will slot with the new signings and the long list of potential starters.
  19. mikelink45
    After being a disaster for the Twins with a 6.28 ERA he went on to have a really good career for seven years ending up in Boston. Then his last three years he reverted to Twins style http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/breslcr01.shtml with high 4 and 5 ERAs. Did we sign him because he was once one of us?
  20. mikelink45
    We have not addressed any meaningful change, we just get names to talk about as we hope for the next season, but Stubbs and Shuck and Adrianza represent mediocre players for last place teams. I hope all three are beat out. Give Polanco a full year. Give Sano a full year. Let these players learn and develop. I went to Stubbs baseball record and it is easy to see why he was available. http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/stubbdr01.shtml He has been with numerous teams the last two years and his days are over. Rosario, Buxton, Kepler, Grossman are the outfield. Adrianza had one decent year in four http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/a/adriaeh01.shtml and SF did not want to keep him. In four seasons he accumulated a 0.4 defensive war. J. B. Shuck has an accumulated Defensive WAR of -1.3 over five seasons and an offensive WAR of 0.1 for the same five years. Where is there upgrade?
  21. mikelink45
    2015 ALB PCL AAA 38 137 22 36 52 4 3 2 20 24 0 39 6 3 .263 .376 .380 .755 0.97 2015 RR PCL AAA 7 27 6 6 7 1 0 0 0 3 0 7 4 0 .222 .300 .259 .559 0.56 2015 [-] 2 teams - Minors 45 164 28 42 59 5 3 2 20 27 0 46 10 3 .256 .364 .360 .724 0.88 2015 COL NL MLB 51 102 14 22 44 3 2 5 10 9 1 50 2 1 .216 .286 .431 .717 0.74 2015 TEX AL MLB 27 21 6 2 3 1 0 0 0 5 0 10 3 0 .095 .269 .143 .412 0.80 2015 [-] 2 teams - MLB 78 123 20 24 47 4 2 5 10 14 1 60 5 1 .195 .283 .382 .665 0.75 2016 RR PCL AAA 12 39 10 9 19 4 0 2 10 10 0 8 2 1 .231 .373 .487 .860 1.00 2016 RAN AZL ROK 3 9 0 2 2 0 0 0 1 1 0 3 0 0 .222 .300 .222 .522 0.33 2016 [-] 2 teams - Minors 15 48 10 11 21 4 0 2 11 11 0 11 2 1 .229 .361 .438 .798 0.88 2016 ATL NL MLB 20 38 6 9 12 0 0 1 3 4 0 20 4 0 .237 .310 .316 .625 2.33 2016 TEX AL MLB 19 20 6 6 12 0 0 2 3 4 0 7 4 0 .300 .400 .600 1.000 1.00 2016 BAL AL MLB 20 22 1 3 3 0 0 0 1 4 0 11 1 1 .136 .296 .136 .433 0.60 http://www.milb.com/player/index.jsp?player_id=453211#/career/R/hitting/2016/ALL Danny Santana has no worries and we have no need for a signing like this.
  22. mikelink45
    Looking at the AAA outfield projection I was struck by the ages. This group has an average age that is older than the MLB outfielders. By next year when they should project up they will be at their prime, but where will we put them if the MLB trio is really set? I suspect Rosario is in the most precarious position. The Chattanooga team is even older. This is not right. If the future is good we should be getting younger at each level (I am not talking the 4th/5th OF). I did not realize that Grossman was as young as he is. If there is any change at the top I would expect that Palka would replace Grossman and Granite might replace Rosario if we decide that we need a glove and a bat this combo would provide it. Beyond that I think the OF is quite set and we might be waiting for Kirilloff.
  23. mikelink45
    Very confusing. I guess I will continue to avoid tweeting, with the white house going crazy and the rest of the world rushing to tweet I think I will wait a day and see what is true after the dust settles.
  24. mikelink45
    Okay - help me understand. We sign a pitcher and DFA a hitter. We sign a fielder and DFA a pitcher. Pat Light throws 100 and he's got potential - good bye. Park hits a hundred home runs and fills the DH slot - good bye. Belisle is 36 and is a one year filler. This guy can't hit, cannot make it with the Brewers who are only slightly better than us. What am I suppose to understand?
  25. mikelink45
    Interesting, but not encouraging. I can see why KLAW ranked us low. Melotakis and Stewart in your write up have too many flaws and not a great track record when they should be at the age of emergence and Minier without a position and jumping in to the proverbial DH/1B slot is disappointing. I was really hoping for better. Rortvedt is the only one on this list that seems to have the potential to make some jumps and this will be a key year for him to succeed.
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