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Jham

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Everything posted by Jham

  1. Jham
    I mean, I don't want to blame it all on the curse of the center field pines... but you can't spell spell "spruce" without "curse". No metric for black magic.
  2. Jham
    I think it's all about bat speed, which usually goes when players get older, and why you often see rapid declines in productivity. It is exacerbated for Joe because he lets the ball get in so deep. Once bat speed drops, you have to do one of 3 things to compensate: 1) guess; 2) start earlier; 3) switch to a lighter bat/ choke up. Most players do a combo of 1 and 2 which is likely why changing speeds was so effective against Joe. Poor pitch recognition is more often than not, poor bat speed which causes guessing or starting/committing too soon. (Think Nishioka). Thus, the players that look like they have a problem with breaking balls, actually have trouble catching up to fastballs. (Think Delmon Young). For the first time I can really remember, Joe looked totally fooled on many off-speed pitches, and simply couldn't catch up to heat. That's a decline in bat speed. My advice, swing a lighter stick. You're not a power hitter anyway.
  3. Jham
    Great analysis. Re: HS pitchers, it was speculated by some that it was not "risk" that kept us from drafting high upside 18-year-old arms, but rather an unwillingness to pay the large contracts associated with them. It would be interesting to see the draft efficiency ranking and actual WAR ranking framed against their "draft day expenditures" to see if we were indeed getting more bang for our buck.
  4. Jham
    To me, it's baffling how a team that has been so terrible over the last few years can even fathom putting Hicks or Schaeffer on the field over a hitter like Escobar. Plan D, PLEASE. Face the facts. Hicks has had his shots and fell on his face. We have Buxton arriving next year at the latest, and better (and younger) options in the corners for the following years. Even if Hicks comes out of nowhere and is better than he's shown at any point in his major or minor league career, he holds down CF for what, maybe a year? Ditto Santana. Santana was by most accounts raw defensively at SS. Is he a stop gap to Polanco or Gordon? Couldn't Escobar fill that role just as well? As a perennial 90 loss team, shouldn't we be putting our best lineup out as often as possible rather than crossing our fingers that Hicks or Schaeffer will develop into a stop gap at best?
  5. Jham
    I didn't even know we had Jose Abreu. As the reigning AL ROY, I would think we'd want to add him to the 40 man roster.
  6. Jham
    Everyone criticized the Royals and lauded the Rays at the beginning of the season. The Rays were one of the worst teams in baseball, the Royals one of the best. You'd have thought the criticism and adulation would be reversed. Sometimes we over think things. Baseball does not have the same salary cap restrictions that other sports have. Success is achieved by a continuously accumulating talent. Different teams have done this in different ways. The Yankees had a great run of accumulating talent based on buying veteran talent (ditto Detroit). The A's have put together a good run through money ball and smart trades and acquisitions. The Redsox combined those approaches and won a couple championships. The Twins have utterly failed by taking the conservative route of jealously guarding prospects AND refusing to bid on safer or smarter free agent options. Top of the rotation guys like Price, Lester, Shields, etc will always be tradeable. Guys like Nolasco and Pelfrey, not so much. Bottom line, there are a lot of different ways to do it, but you have to consistently add to your net talent. Consistently losing 90+ games and waiting for the high draft picks to pan out has to be the worst.
  7. Jham
    Gardy, thanks for bringing us out of the darkest years of Minnesota baseball and making us a model franchise for a decade. You guided us out of contraction and introduced a new generation of baseball fans to postseason ball. Your success paved the way to a new stadium and higher payrolls (which haven't panned out), but you set the groundwork for continued rebirth and success for.... hopefully... Doug Mientkiewicz. You never figured out the Yankees, but you were always a steady presence. Best of luck. Let the Doug Mientkiewicz era begin!!
  8. Jham
    I wonder if this is institutional since Cuddy and Morneau had the same problem. Players have this problem when they can't catch up to major league heat and have to cheat (step in the bucket or open up early). But it can also be a way to try to force the ball to the opposite field by keeping everything closed at the sacrifice of base and power. This certainly sounds like something the Twins would teach. Think about how many times you hear Twins officials talk about staying back rather than hitting off a stiff front leg. It's the difference between driving the ball to right and pushing it. Mauer and Colabello inside out pitches the other way and thus can still hit with a stiff front leg and generate power.
  9. Jham

    Deduno to Korea!

    Jham commented on huhguy's blog entry in Blog huhguy

    Oh, did Deduno not lead the team in quality starts last year? Who pitched into the 7th or 8th inning more than him? I forgot, the rest of the staff, throw in the new guys even, were consistently going 7 strong every time last year right? Deduno was better in the first and still better in the 7th than the other trash pitchers we have. Pelfry had one of the worst full seasons I've seen. He was rewarded with money and a spot in the rotation based on the hope that he'd improve. Deduno worked his butt off, improved on everything the Twins asked him to improve at, had the best season of anyone on the staff, comes in and pitches well in spring training after rehabbing his shoulder, and the Twins demote him to the pen based off the assumption that Pelfrey and Gibson will be better than their horrible showings last year and that Deduno will regress. The disturbing message this sends a young ball club is that doing what the club asks and working hard doesn't matter, and that management can't be trusted. Antony just called out players for not "stepping up". Why step up if the club is just going to play favorites anyway?
  10. Jham
    I am getting really sick of people handing the 5th spot in the rotation to Worley over Deduno. I think it sends an awful message to the rest of the team. 1) apparently you can lose your position to injury; 2) the best player doesn't always play, so why work hard, rehab hard, perform well? We're just going to play who we want to play. Deduno has been nothing but a pro's pro, and has really been great just going about his business and not giving in to distractions. After his great year last year, he watched Nolasco, Pelfrey, and Hughes get paid. Meanwhile, he gets placed BEHIND Diamond and Worley in the battle for 5th starter. Deduno can pitch for me any day of the week.
  11. Jham
    :angry:
  12. Jham
    Wasn't Kohl Stewart supposed to go tonight for the E-Twins?
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