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mikelink45

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Everything posted by mikelink45

  1. mikelink45
    I will be a take a different tack. I think Lee is going to surprise. I was really a Wallner backer, but his glow has worn off and I am not sure I expect him to be as good as we had hoped. Royce is an enigma - grand slam super star, a man who doesn't do slumps and a pouty brat - take your pick. I think he will be average. Now the real questions for me - was Keaschall's production sustainable or will he follow the Lewis path? He has shown an injury potential and he has given us great hopes and expectations. Will he meet them? Our Big Three questions are: Can Jeffers sustain his production - maybe even improve or will additional catching demands wear him down? Can Buxton have two years in a row of full season production? Can another rookie emerge and getting us excited again? (Rodriguez, Gonzales,, Walker) And a bonus question - will any of our accumulated 1B/DH signings make a difference?
  2. mikelink45
    Not sure why anyone thinks Royce is the most likely to succeed. He was a shooting star that seems to have burned out - even though he doesn't do slumps.
  3. mikelink45
    The real international signings already happened with the White Sox, Dodgers, Blue Jays and Houston and we missed out. As we saw this year our best international players come from other organizations who seem to have a much better track record than we do. When I look for international players now in the Majors most were signed as free agents. I am not sure how that works. Julio Rodriguez seems to be the best signing from the draft. I guess it is a nice event but I have very low expectations.
  4. mikelink45
    Yes - it is the Ground Hog Day movie every year. We will compete, but we have to adjust the budget - DOWN! We are committed! To what? You fans have to sympathize with us. Pohlad family $3.8B 2015 America's Richest Families Net Worth They paid $44 million for the Twins and could have sold them for 1.5 Billion. We are a small market team - oh woe is us List of the top 10 wealthiest owners in MLB. Steve Cohen (New York Mets): $16 Billion Rogers Communications (Toronto Blue Jays): $11.5 Billion John Malone (Atlanta Braves): $6.6 Billion Lawrence and Paul Dolan (Cleveland Guardians): $4.6 Billion Lerner Family (Washington Nationals): $4.5 Billion Charles Johnson (San Francisco Giants): $4.4 Billion William O. Dewitt Jr. (St. Louis Cardinals): $4 Billion Jim Pohlad (Minnesota Twins): $3.8 Billion Ilitch Family (Detroit Tigers): $3.8 Billion Hal Steinbrenner (New York Yankees): $3.8 Billion Did I read that right - we are richer than Steinbrenner? My tears are welling up, I have to stop. Poor Pohlads and their small market team!
  5. mikelink45
    This is always a difficult ranking for me. I really do not understand the parameters, but I like it more than the speculation about who we should trade for. Jeffers is tops for me and higher than this group. Have you seen how difficult it is to have a good catcher? I just read today that if Phillies can't get Realmuto signed they should go after Jeffers. So he is the top. Marek - who knows, it is a wish listing. Ober might be toast - I can not rank him until I see. My hope is that he does a Thielbar and far exceeds one down year. Prielipp reminds me of McCarthy for the Vikings - great arm, can't stay on the field so who knows - I wish this list was stronger in the last five of your 20. Lee? Another McCarthy? I don't know. I just remember all the glowing articles before he got here. You entertained me - thanks
  6. mikelink45
    And we cut Fitzgerald because? And then we have The moves this FO makes just keeps me popping the New Years Champagne!
  7. mikelink45
    I believe the Twins will take credit for letting their fans snooze and celebrate the holidays from Halloween to New Years without disturbing them with big news like the amazing trade they pulled off to start the year. Thank you Twins!
  8. mikelink45
    Another amazing addition. Poor defense - check, a position already filled - check, a DFA candidate - check, remove from the 40 man a player who can field an important position - check. Wow this fits our profile.
  9. mikelink45
    I can't see a player we haven't drafted and with no minor league experience as nunber one and I am not buying into Soto and Quick. Hill will be there as number one and Tait number two. I do like Houston and think he will be three. But then I think we will still have a carryover from our current five. And then we will know who gets drafted.
  10. mikelink45
    I think Larnach goes only if he is included in the trade. They seem to want to hang on to him, Kriedler and Julien will not be missed. What minor prospect will be the first to appear?
  11. mikelink45
    Me too! He has earned the position. I also hope Culpepper forces his way mid season and we bid good-bye to Julien. I am hoping Marek Houston does advance quickly and is a force for 2027. Kriedler, Clemens, Bell should be gone by then. Walker, Gonzales, Rodrigues cannot get here quick enough. Only Buxton is a fixture and Outman needs to be gone. Thanks for a thoughtful article. Let's hope this gets more complicated with a move that is more exciting than Outman, Kriedler, and Jackson.
  12. mikelink45
    Thank you. Continue to review the league. The competitors actions are as important as the Twins inaction. I have been wanting this kind of article.
  13. mikelink45
    As I read this I wonder who the next Brent Rooker is. Players get tags that stick with them too long. It is about opportunity.
  14. mikelink45
    I agree, this essay mixed FA and trades - it would be good to separate them - even do them by decades.
  15. mikelink45
    Sorry to post so much on this thread, but it inspired me. So I have to say that trading for Dean Chance would add to this list just like Mike Marshall and the bottom two drop off. In 1967 he won 20 games and pitched 283 innings. The hard part of this exercise is that we did not have the wild card and all the ways to get in post season. The Twins won 90 but that was not getting them to the top two spots. Vic Power was one of my favorites sixties acquisitions but he would not be on this list. But they did finish second that year. In 1963 we acquired Jim Perry in a trade that led us to the 1965 WS. In this era we did not have FA. So trades were the only means of acquisition. In 1964 they traded for Tovar - he would begin to pay dividends in 1966. Finally, in 1969 the Twins were in first place and they had acquired John Roseboro and Ron Perranoski (RP) That is my report on the decade of the sixties. Some good names and good players. We would next acquire Luis Tiant for the 1970 season.
  16. mikelink45
    I agree that Marshall should be there. In 1979 he threw 142 innings and appeared in 90 games - we have a hard time getting our starting pitching that far. He was fifth in innings pitched that year. This year it is more innings that Lopez, Matthews, and Festa, Paddack and Woods RIchardson. He was only 4 behind Ober and Ryan set the standard with 171!
  17. mikelink45
    I have no arguments with the top five but the quoted statement makes me argue again that Shannon Stewart is number six. While this is a very good list, the fact that Shannon Stewart went back to a nice but not spectacular player does not diminish how he fits with this statement in the essay I know Stewart was a trade, But his year was magical like Morris' one year. I enjoyed this two part series. Thanks.
  18. mikelink45
    With nothing else to write about, I look forward to the next list and then the list of the worst signings and trades. And the best Minnesotans to play in MLB. Keep us interested.
  19. mikelink45
    True - I only look at the one year - on his baseball reference page you will see that he accumulated more WAR 3.1 counting his time in Toronto, that year than any other during his Minnesota career, but what a year it was. Twinkie town in this posting claimed to be The best in season trade
  20. mikelink45
    Shannon Stewart should be at the top - what he brought to the Twins was amazing at a time when they really needed him. He carried us to first place!
  21. mikelink45
    Whitey333 nailed it. Wow we have Royce and Lee, don't worry we have Festa and Matthews, Kiriloff is going to be a star. Julien has proven his AAA success is not fluke. Wallner will be driving in lots of runs. Jose Miranda is going to anchor the middle of our lineup... Farm system ranks and major league success are not guarantees. And analytics don't seem to be able to make this prediction successfully. But I will say it is better to have a highly ranked minor league than a bad one.
  22. mikelink45
    Did I say exciting or are you projecting. I just said we have not had any action and many of the others have.
  23. mikelink45
    Whether they are big names or not, it is hard to sit back and watch other teams make signings. We have signed the following since the season - correct me if there are more: Josh Bell - Free Agent Miquel Caraballo - a very young minor league catcher in a trade Sam Ryan - Rule V Garret Spain - Rule V Grant Hartwig to minor league contract Yehizon Sanchez to minor league contract Alan Jackson on a trade Eric Orze on a trade Not a lot of recognizable names Meanwhile the Tigers have signed the following: Kyle Finnegan FA Kenley Jansen FA Sean Guenther to a minor league contract. Jack Little to a minor league contract. Cole Waites to a minor league contract. Drew Anderson. - FA Enmanuel De Jesus to a minor league contract. Inohan Paniagua to a minor league contract. Carlos Peña to a minor league contract. Johan Simon. in a trade Luke Taggart in the Rule 5 Draft RJ Petit in the Rule 5 Draft. This through 18 are AAA rule V Jan Caraballo in the Rule 5 Draft John Stankiewicz in the Rule 5 Draft Yendy Gomez in the Rule 5 Draft, Travis Kuhn in the Rule 5 Draft Austin Murr in the Rule 5 Draft Archer Brookman in the Rule 5 Draft Tanner Rainey to a minor league contract Gleyber Torres. FA Dugan Darnell off waivers A few recognizable names and lots of action hoping to hit it lucky Kansas City Matt Strahm in trade Lane Thomas. FA Kevin Newman to a minor league contract. LF Isaac Collins and RHP Nick Mears in a trade Andy Sanchez to a minor league contract. Adrian Rumardo to a minor league contract. Jose Cuas to a minor league contract. Alex Lange. FA Alberto Rodriguez to a minor league contract. Chase Jessee to a minor league contract Mason Black in a trade Connor Kaiser to a minor league contract. Kameron Misner trade A few trades and signings. No big news on this list, but they are trying various options Cleveland Guardians Codi Heuer to a minor league contract Shawn Armstrong. FA Stuart Fairchild to a minor league contract Justin Bruihl in a trade Colin Holderman. FA Jack Carey in the Rule 5 Draft, AAA Phase. Peyton Pallette in the Rule 5 Deiker Rojas to a minor league contract. Connor Brogdon. FA The Guardians join the Twins in the not very exciting category I am always interested in the other division clubs and wish we did more to follow our competitors.
  24. mikelink45
    Rotation depth? Pitching Pipeline? We had 11 pitchers with ERAs from 5 - 10, six with ERAs in the 4s and 5 arms in double figures. We have DFA's some of the bad numbers but not all and we eliminated the 10 with the best eras. See baseball reference. So we have two good starters and we want to trade from our depth. Move on.
  25. mikelink45
    Just wait - Falvey is a man of good will. After all the free agent signing he will swoop in and gather the unwanted for our roster. Just so they don't feel rejected.
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