mikelink45
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Everything posted by mikelink45
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The Flip Side of Thursday's Injury Scare
mikelink45 replied to Nick Nelson's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
Nick, I usually like your essays, but this is a reach. Let's not try to overlook an injury to a key player by saying three other players made it through one game.- 16 replies
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- carlos correa
- byron buxton
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St Paul Saints Announce 2024 Roster
mikelink45 replied to Ted Schwerzler 's topic in Twins Minor League Talk
Not as exciting as past Saints teams. The OF looks really weak. And the SP is enough to make us all wish no one in Minneapolis goes down.- 37 replies
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- brooks lee
- austin martin
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Let us wait and see - isn't it great that the season is started and the season of speculation is coming to an end?
- 6 replies
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- tarik skubal
- javier baez
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AL Central Division Previews: Minnesota Twins
mikelink45 replied to Ted Schwerzler 's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
I am not sure that I see the Twins as good as the projections and articles have painted them for 2024. They will win the AL Central, but that is not the question. As Karbo points out - it is injuries. With three down in the BP I cannot accept our continual bragging about the best BP. Maybe we will be when all are healthy, but not yet. The top three in the rotation look solid. Is Ober or Ryan a real number 2? Can Paddock put in the innings we need? And is Varland a good starting pitcher or a great RP? Can he stop giving up HRs? And I do not need to remind anyone of the injuries of the past and what a repeat would mean. There is just a lot to sort out and I will wait until May before making my personal decisions on where we rank in a lot of categories.- 3 replies
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- rocco baldelli
- pablo lopez
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Good luck to them. Pitching progress is a fascinating thing to watch. We can talk about their injuries and coming back, but we can also talk about Pineda, DeSclafani, Mahle, Paddock and the Twins hopes that we will see a high return from injury. It does not always work.
- 13 replies
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- luis gil
- nick burdi
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You beat me to this post. We too are stuck with a big contract if Correa does not come back the way we expect. Baez has stunk for Detroit, but his other 8 years he was a stud - can he come back. If so Detroit jumps up a level. https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/baezja01.shtml#:~:text=5-,CHC (8 yrs),1,-NL (8 yrs Baseball Reference has him with a decent upcoming year. Projections Year Tm Age PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS TB GDP HBP SH SF IBB Rel 2024 Proj. 31 533 492 63 118 21 3 17 66 13 2 28 137 .240 .290 .398 .688 196 12 8 0 3 1 85% Beyond Diaz I hope we are not underestimating the other players. As I was reading I wondered how non-Twins fans would react to some of the names we list - Wallner, Kiriloff, Kepler...
- 6 replies
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- tarik skubal
- javier baez
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Looking at second basemen in Twins history I would love to see Rod Carew, but Chuck Knoblauch put together the kind of season I could see Lee giving us. Brian Dozier would be another good comp. I am hoping for more than Polanco. Other than Arraez, those are the only 2B I would want Lee to match. Wilfong, Randall, Casilla, Allen, Lombardozzi, Castillo, and Teufel are good for trivia, but let's hope for a lot more from Lee.
- 28 replies
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- brooks lee
- jorge polanco
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The Big Question: Rocco Baldelli’s Management
mikelink45 replied to Ted Schwerzler 's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
The article needs adjustments with Duran, Thielbar, DeScaflani, and Topa all injured. The SP comments work, but the use of the BP no matter how many arms are out there will depend on the quality that those arms achieve. I am not ready to crown Staumont, Okert, and Jackson as high leverage until we see them perform. The three we lost will create a real challenge for Rocco. -
"Earlier this week, Angels third baseman Anthony Rendon made some comments that were eye-opening. Rendon bluntly stated that baseball has “never been a top priority for me.” https://www.pinstripealley.com/2024/2/25/24082005/mlb-reaction-anthony-rendon-comments-angels-job-work-life-balance#:~:text=Earlier this week%2C Angels third,a firestorm in the media.
- 22 replies
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- josh staumont
- daniel duarte
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Correct - Rendon has been so forgettable that I cannot even keep his name straight. In four years his peak is 58 games. His HR high is 9. His RBI high is 34. He was supposed to be Trout;s partner in the lineup, but became one more bad contract in the Angel's corral.
- 22 replies
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- josh staumont
- daniel duarte
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I keep reading we have the best BP - we lose Duran, Thielbar, Topa and still I see this written. It makes no sense to me. Yes we have acquired a lot of arms - were other teams trying to bid for them? Jax looked great the last two years although he had a period where he seemed lost. Can he be the closer, can Brock Stewart sustain his newly found prominence or will he break down? Then who? Is Alcala finally going to find his success? Is Funderburk going to make us forget Thielbar? Who will be this years surprise - we really don't know. Once we thought Pagan and Lopez would be our BP studs. My mantra is still, let's wait and see what happens, although that does not make for the most entices columns.
- 9 replies
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- jhoan duran
- caleb thielbar
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Boring - Cleveland is the land of disappointment. No they will not spend money, no they will not hit, no they will not keep their stud pitchers. Thank you Cleveland, at least you have the rock and roll hall of fame.
- 13 replies
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- stephen vogt
- jose ramirez
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The season has not started so every bullpen is tied for first
- 22 replies
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- josh staumont
- daniel duarte
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This is the Angels - They could not win with Trout, Ohtani and Rodon. So who cares who makes their roster?
- 22 replies
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- josh staumont
- daniel duarte
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Let's hope that for once we can rely on ST stats and that he will give us the security we need at the end of games. If he does his story will continue to grow as we look at this Air Force arm!
- 14 replies
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- griffin jax
- jhoan duran
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I was really looking for something more inspiring than this. The basic question is are these three being overlooked and judging by all the article the answer is no. So, who is being overlooked? Everyone with any potential has a TD essay or more, but I will take Castro. He has so much to contribute. Then there is Kiriloff who has had so many injuries that most of us no longer look at him as the stud that he was expected to be. And then to find a third overlook I have to go to the BP. Is it Jackson? His ST stats look really good. So does Okert. Then there are names like Boyle and I never heard of him.
- 19 replies
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- griffin jax
- edouard julien
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Unlike many, I have been an Astros fan - hard to unseat them, but the Mariners are trying and I like their loo. The Angels are a perennial middle of the pack team because their own never lets a real strategy get developed. The Rangers should be great again, but they also seemed to lose sight of their goals. And the A's are at best embarrassments to MLB.
- 5 replies
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- jorge polanco
- mitch garver
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I love it. Working on the small cruise boat we go to Toronto, Montreal, Quebec City, Baie Comeau, and out to the Maritimes. I love Canada and have so many good memories. When my wife and I walked around Lake Superior in 2010, 2 month of our walk was in Ontario and we felt so at home with the people and the land. My only complaint is that the mounties don't wear that wonderful costume that I saw when I went to Canada in the 50s. Thanks for the note.
- 19 replies
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- jose berrios
- toronto blue jays
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I am in Toronto regularly with the cruise line and the guides we hire in the city regularly call it the New York of Canada - sorry if it is something you don't like. I am just repeating what I was told by the tourism guides. And I still like the comparison and the city.
- 19 replies
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- jose berrios
- toronto blue jays
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Thought provoking essay. Thanks. I have been a Blue Jay fan - not like the Twins - and have been frustrated by their issues over the past few years. They certainly have performed well, but they have lacked the shut down pitchers they need. I would love to have Berrios back, but he has never been Ace quality. I give them credit for trying - signing Gausman and Chapman, promoting good young talent and trying to sign big name free agents. I love Toronto and will be there this summer too. Toronto is the "New York" of Canada, an ethnically rich city with a lot of options. But it is still a foreign city and I think that impacts their ability to sign players. And maybe there is a parallel there too as Minnesota tries to compete agains Chicago, LA, NY, Atlanta. There is a challenge for every franchise and how the team works with that challenge is something that is worth observing too.
- 19 replies
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- jose berrios
- toronto blue jays
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I'm not sure where your optimism for Sands comes from. I would see Simeon woods Richardson getting a shot at this roll
- 40 replies
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- jhoan duran
- caleb thielbar
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