Jump to content
Twins Daily
  • Create Account

Dman

Old-Timey Member
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    6,117

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    24

 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 Dman

  1. Dman
    I get Pucket he was a "good" personality and every time he got on 1st base always was chatting away. There is a reason he was liked and respected by his peers. I get more concerned about championing Sano with Home run trots etc. that I think are dangerous primarily for his future. Personality is fine but I don't see it trumping skill. I guess that is my biggest beef here. It seems like many people think personality is the missing piece on this team that will carry them somewhere. I think it is more about the skill the players bring than what personality they have. Who cares if Mauer isn't Puckett if he performs at the same level or beyond?
  2. Dman
    I guess I am lost and will likely always be lost on the cocky, passion players. I thought that when you were a true professional you were more Zen than a bundle of anger and emotion. Sure internally there is that inner drive to compete but that comes naturally to anyone who plays the game, but being cocky and rubbing it your opponents nose is the thing the Twins desperately need? I thought the idea in sports was to not let the other guys get in your head and make you show emotion and take you out of your game. I thought the idea was to remain calm and focused at all times so that you have the best chance to succeed. I always thought most everyone reviled the show boaters of the world and were only to happy when they were put back in their place. I don't know, I guess I am more into respecting your opponent, acting with good sportsmanship and being a decent human being. I guess I am more into that than someone punching somebody, or calling them out or what ever this great passion stuff is.
  3. Dman
    I hope you are right. I have never heard a player say anything negative about Gardy and it seems we hear every other day that the players that have played for the Twins want to stay with the Twins so he must be doing something right.
  4. Dman
    They have to be setting the "new" team up with a new manager after Gardy's last two years. They must not have wanted these two years on the new managers record. Because they are totally setting Gardy up to fail with what he has to work with. Even if the new guys perform pretty well in 2015 that is going to be an up and down year. After it becomes 5 losing seasons I think it might be the end of both Gardy and Terry, but hopefully the rebuild will be done and the Team on the rise for many seasons.
  5. Dman
    For Sano this sucks but for the Twins perhaps a blessing. Better for him to have this issue taken care of now instead of during one of the 6 years we have him for sure on our team. It is unfortunate but hopefully will work out well in the long run for everyone.
  6. Dman
    I've never been a huge Kubel fan. Personally I think they should be playing the younger guys. This sounds like a typical TR bounce back year to build value scenario. The problem is we have enough of those guys as it is right now. I hope Kubel is on a short leash but knowing Gardy and the Twins he probably gets most of the season to prove himself. Maybe things will work out and they can trade him for something around the deadline but he is not a long term answer for this team.
  7. Dman
    It is hard to say whether the tough schedule early is a good or bad thing. Sometimes the good teams take a while to get going and we might be able to steal a couple of games while they figure things out. Or we could get crushed out of the gate and have the fans lose interest right away. It is hard to know which way things will go. At some point though we will play teams that are closer to our own level and things will even out. Maybe losing a lot early will create a greater sense of urgency for the games we should win. Baseball is fickle so we will have to wait and see.
  8. Dman
    I am hoping the BPA is a pitcher at #5 and I also hope they take a pitcher with the #2 pick. I think we have enough position players coming up that we should be OK there with the exception of shortstop. I think we can handle one area on the field that is built more around defense than offense there. Better to focus on pitching and if they all turn out and you have excess excellent pitching then trade a pitcher for a shortstop. I really think they should keep pounding the pitching in the draft as we never compete to buy great pitchers in the FA market. We need to have as many guys who can be potential aces as possible as they fail at such a high rate. We need excellent pitching to compete in our division and beyond. Please oh, please, please find a good pitcher at #5.
  9. Dman
    Unfortunately I don't think they are going to very good again this year and after that they should start moving up if the prospects pan out.
  10. Dman
    Yep and with the new TV money in play that will only go up. You have to convince the FO on that value quotient though.
  11. Dman
    I kind of agree with the mandate on pitching as I think ownership wants the team to at least be in the game after the first inning and it has to be quite embarrassing to have the ERA this staff had last year. That ERA is an indictment of the front office and TR had to do something to fix it even if it meant bending his principles which I think he did on the Hughes deal as it seemed like an overpay from the normal Twins perspective. Even after all they did in FA the staff is only marginally better with a lot of question marks yet again. There wasn't a lot to choose from for position players this year and the Twins have quite a bit of young talent on the way up so i guess I understand there reticence to go after guys until things settle in more for this team. They can only afford one more bad or marginally bad year though and they are going to start losing there fan base. It was hard to watch them at the end last year. Hopefully the young talent next year brings everybody back and they start filling the holes.
  12. Dman
    There is no question offensively he is way better than Florimon but here is the deal as I see it. When players are commanding big money the Twins\TR do look for value. They appear to value players that haven't been hurt a lot, are consistent performers and good club house guys. To them that appears to equal good value. Drew does not meet all of those requirements so I do not see the Twin\TR being interested. When big money is involved TR likes to make safe bets and I don't see Drew as a safe bet. Now if Drew were coming off a bad season and recently injured and looking to sign for 2 years at 4 million per year that sounds like a TR calculated risk at a bounce back year kind of thing that he loves to do every year. To me that seems to be the two ways they operate in FA and Drew doesn't fit. Plus add in the fact he costs them a draft pick and I really don't see it happening. As the Twins are all about player development and building from within. Yes they have the money and if they signed him to a two or three year deal it would not impact what they can do the next few years. He would be an upgrade but the value the Twins seek isn't there and really quite frankly most of the other teams in baseball appear to agree as he remains unsigned.
  13. Dman
    If no one is willing to give up a 2nd rounder for Drew right now I don't see us getting much in return if we decide to trade him later. I agree that SS is a major need but the draft pick is a better deal IMO. Maybe Santana will be ready for a try out the the end of this season and if he fails miserably we can get more desperate. Until then I am fine with trades and tryouts this year. The talent is coming and when things come together and we still have no short stop then I will be on the upgrade bandwagon. I am just not a believer in Drew like others on this board.
  14. Dman
    I was for Appel but would have been happy with any of the top pitchers. I just felt the Twins were so starved for pitching that it was was worth reaching for a pitcher. At the time I just couldn't see grabbing another outfielder. Although I understood what scouts saw in him I wasn't confident it would translate. I fell for the lack of competition question some analysts had about him. I really, really thought pitching was the way to go and I can't tell you how disappointed I was when the Twins chose Buxton. I just couldn't fathom them not going with a pitcher. I felt the pressure had to be immense for them to pick a pitcher but they still went outfield. I have been waiting to blast them for that mistake and it looks like I might never get that chance as I will be eating crow for quite a while.
  15. Dman
    I understand how the rules are setup but what is the true intent of those rules? Is the intent to have the teams with higher revenue's willfully take the penalty and corner the market? Or is the intent to give teams with worse records a chance to become better despite there lower revenue? To me their is no question of the ethical high ground here. The teams that skirt the intention of fair play are way out of bounds ethically. Are they breaking the rules as currently written, No, but they are ruthlessly pillaging talent from the teams that this was designed to help, thus the system as it stands isn't really working in my opinion.
  16. Dman
    Count me in the camp that wanted Appel as well and didn't think we needed Buxton. I guess that is why I am not a scout or GM, but I sure like to second guess those guys.
  17. Dman
    I agree that the Twins have been good about keeping the players they really want or feel they need on the team despite the money. I just think he is likely going to make silly money in 6 years. I think he could be in the 35 to 40 million a year range if he is the game changer everyone thinks he might be. That would likely be a a quarter or third of our payroll to keep him. I realize they can make it work but if he goes to free agency I am concerned about the bidding war that could result and I am not aware of us winning many of those. With Mauer the Twins didn't have to bid against the major money teams hopefully Buxton will sign a hometown deal but I wouldn't bet on it. If I were the Twins I would plan on having him for 6 years, hope for 8 and beyond but plan on utilizing his talent as judiciously as possible for those 6 years. Unless he really, really likes Minnesota he is going to want to listen to those crazy offers for his services. Like maybe 5 years for 250Mil or 6 for 350 maybe even 10 for 500M? What would you pay for a once in a lifetime talent who maybe comes out in FA at 27 or 28 years old if you have the money to burn (ie NY, LA, Seattle)?
  18. Dman
    With the playing field leveling in baseball I think the Yankee's plan of just buying the cream of the crop players isn't working as well as it used to. In regards to the draft they can't just sign a talent who slipped to round 20 and give him a multi-million dollar deal to get him to sign as there is a cap in place now. With teams controlling their players for 6 years you can't buy young talent from other teams via free agency as they are usually 30 years old before they hit now. With the new cap on payroll you can't just buy your team and not pay for it once you are over the cap. So what is a team that can usually take advantage of other teams supposed to do. Well I guess you go and spend places where the rules are more bendable. With a farm club that is not that great and an aging team and the international market structured the way it is you hit it hard for this year and hope you can infuse some talent until they take that away as well. Playing by the spirit of the rules is for suckers or losers, right?
  19. Dman
    While it is awesome to have one of the most talented prospects in baseball in our organization it is sobering to realize that we likely will only have him for 6 years after he comes up. If he is as good as advertised and as rare as this article portrays he will likely get the next Alex Rodriguez type deal. So in my mind service time for him is going to be very important. I just hope we can get our team in shape to compete while he is playing for us and not waste the time we have him on our team.
  20. Dman
    Personally I just think this is payback for the Cubs claiming Hendricks earlier as I think they were hoping he might slip through. Otherwise this move makes no sense to me as they don't need anymore pitchers clogging up AAA. I don't see anything in this guy they can't get out of one of there own prospects.
  21. Dman
    I think it would be worth it for the Twins to get this guy but they won't. We never outbid the Yankee's or LA for FA players. The Twins are more likely to hope that Florimon improves his hitting and that Santana improves his fielding than risking big money on an international player. The team is in development mode for this year anyway so I don't think they feel a sense of urgency to take a risk like that. They also might end up drafting their shortstop of future in this years draft. The Twins way is to develop and build from within unless absolute disaster strikes. They always love the guys they have on the farm. Can you ever have enough good players? No. Do they have the money? Yes. Will they do it? I don't think so.
  22. Dman
    Any chance at near future success for the Twins appears to rest on Meyer's shoulders. He is the only near ready ace type the Twins have until the 18 and 19 year old prospects make their way up the ladder. The Twins don't buy ace's in free agency and you don't win the world series without an ace on your staff. If Meyer turns out to be a bust then we are looking at 2017 or 2018 before we can truly compete.
  23. Dman
    Hick's seemed to have a hole in his swing last year as i remember saying to myself I hope he just makes contact when he was up to bat. Just making contact would be an improvement. I was surprised by his power last year and if he is bulking up that should only help that even more. Is the bulk up an admission that he likely will need to play a corner position and need to hit for more power? I really like his athleticism and if he makes it I believe he will be good for a long time and a big part of maybe the best outfield the Twins have ever had. This truly is a big year for him.
  24. Dman
    I felt Nolasco and Hughes were both overpays but the way the contracts we have are structured I don't see it hampering what they can do in the future so I don't think it really matters. Personally I like the fact they went out and got the guys they liked early rather than waiting for the scraps at the end. I liked the aggressive approach this year and I don't think it hurt them. I really think teams value the deep talent in this years draft and don't want to lose a pick for the high priced pitchers that are left. It is a very odd year for FA especially considering the extra money coming in for teams. I really thought the prices would go through the roof this year. I hope the Twins make some good selections in the draft and remain aggressive in FA.
  25. Dman
    Unless he see's defensive shifts affecting Mauer or an odd injury that forces him to bat right handed, I can't see one of the best batters in baseball doing worse while at 1st base. Maybe with his new twins keeping him up at night he will be too tired to play baseball? The guy has been a rock when healthy since he came into the league. That OPS is a bold prediction and one I would never bet on.
×
×
  • Create New...