Jump to content
Twins Daily
  • Create Account

mikelink45

Old-Timey Member
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    10,533

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    27

 Content Type 

Profiles

Minnesota Twins News, Rumors & Analysis

Minnesota Twins Videos

2026 Minnesota Twins Top Prospect Rankings

2022 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks & Signing Bonuses

Minnesota Twins Trade & Free Agent Rumors

Minnesota Twins Fan Guides & Resources

2023 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks & Signing Bonuses

The Minnesota Twins Players Project

2024 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks & Signing Bonuses

2025 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks & Signing Bonuses

2026 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks & Signing Bonuses

Forums

Blogs

Events

Store

Downloads

Gallery

Everything posted by mikelink45

  1. mikelink45
    Don't forget Aaron Hicks. He turned his career around and made value for a good trade.
  2. mikelink45
    I really appreciate this article and Seth's list. Stop chasing relievers and develop them.
  3. mikelink45
    We have Mauer now and will have him until the end of his contract. We can hope he gets better, but the timeline on that hope is getting mighty long and thin. He is a good player and we need to look past $23 as a fan and hope the Twins can do the same. He will be on the Twins, but should be a part time player - not judged by money but by performance. For a smart player his inability to switch to a different strike zone as quoted in various posts is baffling. It is stubbornness more than talent. However, as a first baseman, his power is not offset by average, his OBP is not so high that he gives us a leadoff and certainly not a middle of the order batter which means he should be 6 or below in the order, maybe even 9 which some believe is the second leadoff position after the first inning. He is not a Keith Hernandez fielder so he is not such an asset that we cannot adjust to others at the bag. If we consider him a part time starter - part time bench, we strengthen the bench and reduce the angst. Buxton has a history of a short struggle at each level before figuring it out. I think it is time for the Willie Mays treatment - put him out, stay with him, and bank on his ability fo pull him through. We desperately need his fielding. I would love Rosario, Buxton, and Kepler in the OF. But I think the Twins need to have one or two more trades before we really examine the roster because right now, the overall content makes no sense.
  4. mikelink45
    TR is famous for making his moves early. I expect December changes, but then a slow down. What makes most sense now is moving pitchers and clearing the logjam. We do not need another corner outfielder. Sano, Buxton, Kepler, Arcia, Rosario fill the spots unless Sano moves to 3B. Clear room for Berrios, move on from Fien, and get us another live arm in the pen, that is the biggest priority. I love the KC playing style. It is not easy to copy, but speed, defense and relief pitching are real priorities. With our pitchers we need the defense to be solid and moving Hicks was a good trade on one level, but if Buxton is between Arcia and Sano he should be wearing a track suit.
  5. mikelink45
    And the Twins decide to move the fences in? Work in centerfield could extend from the bar to the field. TR wants homers.
  6. mikelink45
    Quite a gamble - one of TR's trends has been to trade CFs. I believe the Twins could see how defense pushed the KC champs - are we really going to start Sano in the field? Please, Buxton and Rosario need to be there to cover the ground.
  7. mikelink45
    The Twins have gluts of players in SP (not that they are great - just too many) and now the Outfield and DH and 1B. This is what GMs are hired to fix and I am not sure that I have confidence that TR can do that. It is nice to have talent, but we lose trade value for a player to sits on the bench instead of playing. It is time to move Plouffe and Rosario. We should have done that with Arcia when he had his good year, now we have lost value. It is okay to package players for a player you want and to dump players (Nolasco) that you need to move on. At some point the Mauer decision falls on TR too. Perhaps he is the ideal bench player or maybe he should be moved to outfield. Mauer is the sore at which we will pick for the next two years, but a sit down talk, a move of the no trade, a move to the bench - the Twins obligation is to have the best lineup - it is not the obligation to start the highest paid players.
  8. mikelink45
    The most important aspect of the article is the reality that Plouffe is much better in the minds of Twins fans than he is in the field. He is a serviceable player, but I am not sure that we will even get what these trade scenarios suggest. If we can we need to move him and move on. My real interest is in a package that will get Nolasco to the NL where he might have value. With Plouffe and maybe one of the good minor leaguers that we cannot see an opening for we might win on two levels.
  9. mikelink45
    I still love Walker and the power and potential he has. Sometimes I feel like a negative momentum has developed among fans and then it just keeps going forward despite the growth of the player. I think he will replace Vargas by the end of the year.
  10. mikelink45
    The Mets developed their own talent. This is the only acceptable formula for us - and it includes rule 5. We have the talent right now - Berrios, Duffey, Gibson, May to have a young productive staff. We sign and trade for low end free agents and stifle their development. We could not straighten out Liriano, we gave up on Garza and Lohse. Spend some more money on people who teach the pitchers how to pitch. It is cheaper than free agency to invest in your product in the minors and get them up and pitching earlier - I will always consider it a baseball crime that Berrios was not up this year and I do not care how his career ultimately develops.
  11. mikelink45
    No - Jay cannot be #5 there is something about earning that rating and he has not. I am fine with top four and don't care about the order, but I want something more substantial in the #5.
  12. mikelink45
    We have already done the adding - Hughes, Nolasco, Santana, one year of Torii Hunter, and of course Boyer, Jepsen, Cotts, and a few more in the bullpen, plus our two center fielders who began the season with us. Its time to concentrate the other direction now.
  13. mikelink45
    Unlike other readers, I do not see this as a strong group. I would imagine the majority of teams could match out 6 - 20 rankings. We have a SS who can't catch, a slugger who strikes out more than the Royal's team, a young live arm pitcher who cannot miss bats, a superstud fast reliever who should rank around 15 with the up and down year he had last year, Gonsalves who looks really legit.
  14. mikelink45
    How about letting Sano develop into what Chris Davis is and not sell the farm for a player who has a short and erratic history. Develop players don't go crazy on the market place where everyone looks like a Hall of Famer. Look at the big contracts and big signings! The history is not good - the A's followed a good formula and suddenly got impatient. It not only did not work, but they set their entire program back.
  15. mikelink45
    Buxton - yes he will be better, he has shown that at each level, with Rosario and Hicks and get Kepler up soon. Arcia is bench here too. KC has shown what speed and fielding can do. And don't waste time or talent on a fill in outfielder. Patience and persistence - the Twins have all the fielders that they need. Sano? Where did that come from? It is the opposite of the KC model. Put him at third where he has always played and mix in DH. Our issue is and will continue to be the refusal to bench Mauer if he is not carrying his share. Lets make the splurge and fill the roster with our best potential talent and let them grow up together. The last time we did it was with guys named Hrbek, Puckett, Gaetti...and that worked out pretty well.
  16. mikelink45
    I think that a team like the Twins that need their prospects to succeed need to make a new investment - they need some coach psychologists to work with players like Meyers and Arcia who have the talent, but just can't put it together. Maybe Torii can work with Arcia - take that back his statement about black latinos makes that a bad idea - but we can find someone who can help. It is not about the talent, it is more about the head and I hate to waste two potentially good players. Other than Meyer I feel like my reading of Twins Daily minor league reports must be slipping because this group, like the previous has me really scratching my head. Too many players who have not played, not succeeded, are here in the 11 - 20 list. The minor league ranking must be really dipping as the majors mines the minors. But to have Wandy on the list when he has not played is not a prospect listing, but an indictment of the farm system. Looking forward to the top ten and a little more excitement (personally).
  17. mikelink45
    It is alright and necessary to separate the athlete and the person - it happens all the time. When public figures make public statements they should be accountable and a home run does not take the statement away. I really dislike Torii's personal beliefs, but I do not dislike Torii and I was really pleased with his locker room presence and for 1/2 the year his at bats. However, what if he did have a gay team mate of a black latino teammate? It's time for Torii to grow up with his racist and homophobic positions. I am pleased he is retiring, not because of his remarks, but because the Twins really do need to move on and this is a good transition for them. Please Terry do not think about AJ as the next Torii. Flip is another issue. Having no relationship at all with him, I still grew to really like him and his radio comments seem to bring the personal and the professional together as a really loveable and genuine human being. He will be missed and I am sorry his is not around for our young nucleus.
  18. mikelink45
    Great timing - he is helping the Twins two years in a row.
  19. mikelink45
    Are we over rating him? These are not overwhelming statistics the way that the discussion seems to imply. These are from Baseball Reference: Year Age Tm G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+ TB 6 Yrs 710 2761 2500 298 705 140 16 66 337 24 9 217 391 .282 .340 .430 .770 109 1075 26% caught stealing rate WAR - 0.7, 1.5, 3.5, 3.4, 6.1, 1.1 - is 6.1 attainable again? I doubt it. We have seen catchers go down quickly and we have also seen concussions take down stars - Mauer, Morneau and they have not come back. I would trade for him, but the ideas that have been written here are too high!
  20. mikelink45
    No - I would boo Terry Ryan for another Twins bum of the year signing. Move on, do we have to let every former Twin end his career here? Someone younger with an arm would be my choice and I do not hate AJ, but of course I also do not see him as the new club house Torii.
  21. mikelink45
    I was expected to see more in the top 20, none of these players excitement. We have journeymen and bench players, but maybe my perspective is wrong - maybe that is what 16 - 20 should be expected to be, but I know that there are players below this list that would have lit up my prospect light more than these. The stats that are quoted are pretty dismal, but then I have to reflect that we called up a handful of really good players and that is bound to weaken the minor league overall strength. I am anxious to get to the next ratings.
  22. mikelink45
    You are right - they wiffed on the big one. Ryan is supposed to be the scout in the GM office, but his scouting of pitchers stinks
  23. mikelink45
    All but one of these players was unknown to me and I wonder how they rank where they do over some I have heard about. I especially wonder how Fernando Romero can make #25 when he did not even pitch last year.
  24. mikelink45
    Please - the Twins will not step up to the true aces on the market and lets not encourage Terry Ryan to go out and sign another lower cost vet - we have Nolasco, Hughes, Santana clogging the system now. Bring up Berrios, work with Duffey, Gibson, Berrios and make a trade with the others. Get young, not mediocre.
  25. mikelink45
    Sad discussion. The concussions to Mauer and Morneau devastated them and the team and it is truly sad to see us have to debate whether the highest paid player should be a PH. On the other hand, we need to play the best each night and if it is not Joe he has a few million reasons to feel okay.
×
×
  • Create New...