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tobi0040

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Everything posted by tobi0040

  1. I thought all along that Hicks would be handed CF one last time. The signing of Torii makes that a virtual lock in my opinion. When they talk about the culture, attitude, being a professional I see the broader locker room, but also I think they are talking specifically about Aaron Hicks. I think one of the main reasons Torii is here is to play along side Hicks and get on him and hopefully salvage the former first round picks career. I am guessing the thinking is that if Torii can't motivate Hicks he is a lost cause. And if he does get motivated and prepares better and his numbers don't improve, then he should be cut anyway (or told to go to E-Town and pitch out of the pen).
  2. In hindsight that it easy. But in the thick of it, most on these boards were suggesting he had no interest in returning to the Twins, but was using the coming home angle as a ploy to get more money out of a contender. He very well may have been having dinner with folks in Seattle, Baltimore, Texas, or other areas. I guess I am just not sure what the story TD missed should have said? It was common knowledge we were pushing for him and we were allegedly on his list. Should they have broken a story that he was coming here when it was still not clear he was? I don't see anyone that broke a story saying that. The only newsworthy item beyond rumors with multiple teams linked was the fact that he signed, about 36 hours ago. The fact that the story was broken by USA today is probably not worth noting either. I am guessing they have slightly more resources at their disposal than the typical TD writer, who best I can tell all have other full time jobs. Personally, I like the fact that TD writers always give props to the actual person that breaks the story. It is very classy. I see them go out of their way to do so on the message boards and within their columns. Another approach would be the one CBS did on their story "our own Jon Heyman has confirmed that Torii Hunter has signed with Minnesota on a one year contract". It gives the appearance that they are breaking something when they didn't, with no mention of who did break it.
  3. I guess I don't know what was missed. Seems like the site has stories about things that happened and things that we would like to see happen. That would have been gossip and rumors.
  4. Don't feed the greed, Up until 24 hours ago, hunter was linked to at least four teams and some reports suggested the twins are not in his top three. What type of story should they have ran a week ago?
  5. The story was broken about 24 hours ago.
  6. Dumb question or not, the veteran guy should be used to them and have acted more professionally.
  7. Well. Our role model and professional is on a roll.
  8. Like calling Mike Beradino a prick at his press conference....a few minutes ago.
  9. I would not compare the career stats of a guy that is 40 years old with any sort of expectation that he will achieve them. History has not been kind to 40 year olds. I will be very generous here and take Torii's age 35-38 numbers, OPS of .765, .817, .800, and .765. That is not much better offensively than the career numbers Rasmus has put up (.751) and Rasmus has done so ages 22-27. Even if you think Torii Hunter will put up better offensive numbers this year than Rasmus ( I don't think that is anywhere near a given).....but certainly a few other things draw fans towards Rasmus. Defense, he had a positive dWAR at CF last year. I am guessing that means he would play any of the 3 OF positions better than the guy rated as the worst RF in baseball. That flexibility could mean he spells Hicks if he continues to struggle. And of course Rasmus offers the potential for a long term solution and/or gets us something when he leaves. Torii does not. I have no clue if Rasmus would come here or not, if we reached out, etc. But I can see why fans would rather have him than Hunter.
  10. How about this for a thought..... "It's year to year, but I plan on being there the rest of my career," Hunter said. "If I go hit .280 with 17 (homers) and 83 (runs batted in) again, I'm playing again. If I do that, I'm pretty sure the Twins will have me back." http://www.twincities.com/twins/ci_27054560/minnesota-twins-sign-torii-hunter-one-year-deal Can anyone rule this out, 100%?
  11. No more of that Ole BS. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ccUDrB_8jQ
  12. I was using the same logic, but taking a step further (runs lead to wins). I think Josh in LF and Arcia in RF is about on par with Arcia in LF and Hunter in RF. Defensive metrics had Arcia better than Hunter last year. But Arcia scares me in LF. I think this is probably a wash or close to it. Willingham had an OPS of .747 in 70 games. Hunter had an OPS of .765. So it is hard to make a meaningful dent in the run differential here
  13. I guess I have three main issues with it. 1) Our needs our OF defense and pitching. This does nothing to address either. 2) Our #1 target was a 40 year old guy who played here 8 seasons ago. A guy I think Keith Law accurately described as "barely better than replacement level". When you aim low and hit your target, you still lose. 3) I had this optimism built up that the franchise was moving into the direction of better utilyzing statistics to improve the club. Targeting Torii goes counter to that and deflates most of that optimism. Especially if reports are true that it was Molitor pushing for Torii.
  14. Vargas had a .772 OPS for the Twins. He does not have any defense to work on. Not sure why he would be at AAA
  15. The issue is we were 5th in runs last year and still lost 90 whatever games. So is Hunter over Willingham defensively and one solid starter (who I doubt we will sign) going to add the 12 wins needed to get to .500, or more to actually contend? The motivation, best I can tell is to hold Hicks hand and appease a new manager who was fed up with the culture. How that will move the needle next year is up for debate, at best.
  16. For a pretty good pitcher with 3-4 additional years of control. $$$ was a huge factor there.
  17. Parker, You do fantastic work. Can you please submit your resume to the Twins? Seriously. Are you able to isolate Hunter's defensive metrics at home and on the road the last two years? There is a suggestion on another thread that Comerica is the sole issue, not Hunters defense.
  18. It is hard for me to list the problems and have effort or losing culure in the top five. I certainly don't have it anywhere near as high on my list as OF defense.
  19. I just posted this on Thrylos's blog post about Torii and the topic of the losing culture. Thought I would post here as well: I think this team has had a talent issue and we are kidding ourselves to think that Torii Hunter punching somebody is going to change any of the following: Starting pitching - Bottom three in starter ERA for 4 years running. OF defense - we were terrible last year. Swapping Willingham-Arcia in LF-RF for Arcia-Hunter is not going to markedly change that. Aaron Hicks has hit right handed pitching at a clip of a .512 OPS Oswaldo Arcia has hit lefties at a clip of a .574 OPS Joe Mauer - Has not been Joe Mauer.
  20. I think this team has had a talent issue and we are kidding ourselves to think that Torii Hunter punching somebody is going to change any of the following: Starting pitching - Bottom three in starter ERA for 4 years running. OF defense - we were terrible last year. Swapping Willingham-Arcia in LF-RF for Arcia-Hunter is not going to markedly change that. Aaron Hicks has hit right handed pitching at a clip of a .512 OPS Oswaldo Arcia has hit lefties at a clip of a .574 OPS Joe Mauer - Has not been Joe Mauer.
  21. I agree. My personal read is that Torii had interest in us to drive his price up and get more out of a contending team. The fact that he signed here speaks to the fact that the level of interest was not high.
  22. I think this brings up a broader point. If we have 25 guys that are OK with losing and constantly need a kick in the tail.....maybe we are not drafting and signing the right kinds of guys.
  23. Great names, but I think both have had Tommy John twice. The track record is terrible for 2x TJ types.
  24. To be fair, if you are a 24 year old Denard Span and a reporter says "how much has Torrii Hunter helped your development?" or "what is it like watching Torii Hunter go about his business every day"? You are going to respond in a very positive manner every time.
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