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BigTrane

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Everything posted by BigTrane

  1. BigTrane
    Good question... Just based on ST games, seems like (more or less) an across the board improvement in the pitching. Deduno looked good vs. Bosox; Tonkin (love to know more about him) etc. are standing out. We have a logjam going on for #5, and if desperate times call for desperate measures, then maybe the Bravos might want to grab some insurance depth. Worth a shot. Weeding out Correia could simplify things w/out of option guys, and with the war chest full. eating all/part of his salary is totally doable. Question is: who do you want from the Braves in return for a Correia trade?
  2. BigTrane
    Fortunately little time for Antony to talk with all these "quality" at-bats Twins batters are having...
  3. BigTrane
    Ha, ha~ Burton in a jam, top 3rd and Mauer can't resist going to the mound... wonder how many times we'll see that this season?
  4. BigTrane
    ...and now your 2014 forecast: fair to very Plouffey.
  5. BigTrane
    Two words: Tsuyishi Nishioka. Pretty sure that's that's the textbook definition for 'epic fail'.
  6. BigTrane
    "...the Twins are going to be looking at a massive offensive drop-off from the position's previous tenant." A little context is called for here, I think. 1) Who, on this year's FA market for C was going to be an upgrade over Mauer? 2) If we're hoping for an improved offensive production starting at this position, we're looking at the wrong position- there are plenty of other, better suspects. 3) Gotta figure when the Twins actually do sign an FA, they're going to get their money's worth and play him, not sit him. Even if it is only a couple of mil. Best way to look at this deal is to remember it's only 1 year, and that Suzuki won't be a defensive liability. Anything he adds in terms of mentoring Pinto is a huge long-term plus. Put it this way: Suzuki can see the door already, no matter how much Gardy loves his bunting abilities. Suzuki is insurance against a repeat of the Hicks experience.
  7. BigTrane
    Just to do a little Devil's Advocate here... 1) cmatthewson makes a good point about future depth... maybe we just have to ride it out a bit? What if Florimon does something with the bat in 14? 2) With the Arroyo gripes about no offers fresh in mind, what IF the go-nowhere market for Drew gets in his head and his price drops to bargain-basement levels? Sure, there's still the pick, but- Devil's Advocate- at what price level/years do you get seriously tempted to the point that you can justify giving up that pick? Seems like this kind of math is where things are headed.
  8. BigTrane
    Just ran across this @ the Guardian. Predictably, for a British paper, long on Hollywood and short on baseball. Also screams "legacy project", but still... http://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/jan/30/kurt-russell-battered-bastards-of-baseball-documentary-sundance Has anyone seen "The Battered Bastards of Baseball? Is it any good? Also, I have little knowledge of the Portland Mavericks- was age 4-8 during their run. If anyone can fill me in on their story beyond what Wikipedia has to offer, I'd love to hear it!
  9. BigTrane
    Call me skeptical, but intrigued... First, on the context side of things, don't forget Arencebia. At the time, it was a Buck vs. Arencebia vs. Suzuki vs. Doumit debate; in that pool, I'd still take Suzuki. Second, I like your overall argument as you have a good sample size and it's centered on K/BB ratio, not on pitch framing- though you do toss that in there. Of all the advanced stats out there, pitch framing has to be one of the most debatable/ questionable, and personally don't find it all that persuasive. However, finding such a large disparities between Suzuki and 'the other 12' is hard to accept at face value, so I'd like to encourage you to keep digging. Seems like you're on to something, but it sure feels like there must be more to the story that these stats aren't capturing or revealing. Finally, my take on the Suzuki signing is that Pinto has promise behind the plate, but needs mentoring. Suzuki is noted for his game calling (do we have a good stat for that yet?) so that's where I see his value. I'd speculate that the door will be open to Pinto to prove whatever he can, but we're likely to see more Suziki starts in the first half of the season, and more Pinto starts in the second half- timetable determined by how he does at AAA. That's just my speculation, but it does seem to fit the facts as we know them, and certainly seems like a reasonable approach.
  10. BigTrane
    Homer Bailey- love it for that alone!
  11. BigTrane
    Maybe that's it- Jo is already into to program with the Twins org. and so chooses this one. Not a bad sign. Didn't want to derail the thread into a movie discussion, but since I've already made my comments, and this thread seems to have quieted down... 1) Any Major League installment without Charlie Sheen is not worth watching (they all have Uecker); 2) Precisely because we want Jo to succeed, becoming acquainted with Charlie Sheen and his er, lifestyle, Twitter, & er (again), lifestyle habits, etc. early on might not be a bad thing. 3) I'm overseas now, but if I was in MN, I would totally set him up with a bag of great BB movie DVDs- to "show the love".
  12. BigTrane
    That was the gist of the MLBTR story, and the angle I find most interesting here, as I have been a critic of TR's historic complacency/reluctance w/regard to FAs. So given the close debate as to Nolasco & Garza's respective risks & upsides, I have to give credit where it is due and say good job, TR. By being proactive, the Twins got a comparable arm at comparable terms before the whole Tanaka logjam kicked in- without having to give extra years (beyond what they felt comfortable offering) to Garza. Smart read of the market. Whether or not there really was a Catch-22, we may never know. But if there was that perception in the Twins org., then a call to pull the trigger on Nolasco ASAP seems uncharacteristically decisive, and represents a major change. Personally, I like that.
  13. BigTrane
    Personally can't stand the NFL & NBA & how the attitude/arrogance is fed directly into their marketing of the games. Also hate how coverage of NFL training camp eats into MLB coverage as early as August... The only Richard Sherman I care about is the one who wrote "Let's Get Together" for The Parent Trap, later covered by Redd Kross, played on their Third Eye tour @ First Avenue, and directly leading to permanent partial hearing loss due to banging my head in Stephen McDonald's bass bin in appreciation. Fair trade off, no regrets.
  14. BigTrane
    Is this the Coomer replacement? (Sorry to ask- overseas right now, a bit out of the loop...)
  15. BigTrane
    The mention of "a bat" is what caught my ears... guessing it's Drew. If they actually platooned him with Floirmon/Plouffe, could be a good pick-up, depending on the terms, of course. Yanquis are way past the limit, so the speculation there seems like an afterthought- not necessarily a bidding war w/them. Twins could prevail, but then, they're made of money. TR's newfound agressivenes is the big puzzle, and very hard not to psychoanalyze. Only when the offseason is done can we really read the tea leaves...
  16. BigTrane
    Great post~ thanks for keeping all of us who can't be there up to date! As for Gardy's comment, maybe he's just responding to the ongoing Dozier "Hollywood Hair" meme. If so, at least he's got his ears to the ground. Loosen up already.
  17. BigTrane
    Point taken, but the FAs I mentioned were PRE Target Field. Did I say any or all? Do you like the retention rate of proven players? Is there a link between FA signings and and soon-to-be-FAs signings, or not?
  18. BigTrane
    Point taken, but the FAs I mentioned were PRE Target Field. Did I say any or all? Do you like the retention rate of proven players? Is there a link between FA signings and and soon-to-be-FAs signings, or not?
  19. BigTrane
    Excellent point, absolutely agree. As far as I can tell, that's what happened to Gilmartin, so dumping Doumit for him + (likely/hopefully) a year at AAA = shrewd trade and a good chance for a rebound & future success in the Bigs. That's a potentially great move. On the other hand, the impatience among the faithful is absolutely understandable. My takeaway from Tanakagate is twofold: 1) Yanquis see, Yanquis buy. Thank god we're not them. Let them eat cake. 2) My big concern is that the traditional Twins skittishness with FAs has penetrated to the core and brought about an instinctive reluctance to lock up guys who have worked their way through the system and stand to cash in as they approach FA, a la Hunter and Santana. People are STILL complaining about locking up Mauer... I don't get it. We are all pinning our hopes on Sano, Buxton, Meyer, etc. The clubs' future depends on how they pan out, and if they do pan out the way we hope- do you want to see them walk? Sometimes it seems the Twins are the 'gift that keeps on giving' to MLB because we do all the hard work of drafting & developing talent just to kiss 'em goodbye when they prove themselves at that level. I'm more sick about that than our ritual hiding by the Yanqs. There ARE times when you have to pull the trigger and commit big.
  20. BigTrane
    1) Excellent stuff, Seth~ this is what keeps me coming back (multiple times) each day. Please keep it coming and thanks for the hard work and effort! 2) As Jo sez, he is "learning every day"... maybe someone going to Twins Fest could set him up with a schwag bag of the good movies? Love his attitude though, look forward to seeing his stuff.
  21. BigTrane
    FWIW, I'm not a 'spend it just to spend' type. While the rotation is improved, is anyone 100% happy with where the rotation stands now? Is this rotation going to get us what we want; if not, what do we still need to do? Wait for Meyer to come up? Tanaka totally distorted & blocked up an already thin market- but we'll now see how much real interest the Twins still have in Arroyo, Garza, etc now. That will be the interesting ripple effect here. As for the Cards, I too take them as a model org- heck, they invented the farm system and all you have to do is look at how many rookies stepped up last year. Enviable. Still, they do open up the checkbook when they see a need (Peralta, Bourjous) and close it when they don't- NOT bringing Beltran back may have been their best move/non-move this OS. Smart club. Let the Yanquis speng/gamble big- it's what they do. Tanaka is a big risk, but who sees Nolasco as a #1 starter? If there are better pitching options out there, then I want the Twins in the room, in that conversation, period. Our rotation woes will not fix themselves.
  22. BigTrane
    Personally, I don't give a rip about Yanquis' historic spending habits, or Tanakas' '14 projections. That's why I liked the 8 mil jibe- too true to Twins form. The funny thing is, we have 83m on the books, so to give him 25/yr = 108. How far does that exceed the 2010 'cap"? The kicker: he gets an opt-out at year four (!), and dollars to donuts, he takes it. Bargaining-wise, I'd guess Twins went short on years and failed to call his bluff.
  23. BigTrane
    As noted, it's their money, and this is how the Yanquis roll, so whatever. Finally unblocking the FA logjam seems more interesting by far. We face them in May, June & July, so let's hope for an "interesting" & extended transition. Not to be negative, but I'm sick of being their whipping boys.
  24. BigTrane
    Who saw this coming? How many lefties do we have now- 1? Great balance- way to go. Are you referring to Kris Johnson? Why does he get the benefit of the doubt?
  25. BigTrane
    Just curious to see a head-to-head comparison of the 2 clubs' TV deals. Actually, I'd love to see an overall comparison of all TV deals. Aren't the Phillies a big-market club with a bad deal, and the Astros basically SOL more because of the cable cos. than their competitiveness? Couple of things might be worth factoring in: - Vancouver (600k pop) must add to the fanbase, but I don't know if they get games on TV there- would love to know. Stands to add to ticket revenue, at the least. - Ms are owned by Nintendo- that's how you spell 'truly deep pockets'.
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