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Taildragger8791

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Everything posted by Taildragger8791

  1. Taildragger8791
    Really impressive especially considering Cruz was on the bench. Sano is going to have to really earn his playing time when he comes back, and an extra-motivated Sano is hopefully a very good thing.
  2. Taildragger8791
    First at-bat was ugly, with a first pitch pop out to the catcher on a slider in the zone with a runner on first and no outs. His second at-bat was good, stayed away from balls off the plate and stung a line drive 400 ft to center for an out. He did foul another slider in the zone though, so he probably needs to learn to spit on that pitch in hitter's counts. I didn't see the final at-bat but the play-by-play report looks decent.
  3. Taildragger8791
    Not to mention, in Latin countries a little bit of bat flipping and fun on a big play isn't considered an insult to the game and every fan's grandpappy like it is in America.
  4. Taildragger8791
    With Phil Cuzzi’a strikezone today I don’t know how you can evaluate the catcher framing with any seriousness. Both sides were fooled multiple times by unexpected ball/strike calls.
  5. Taildragger8791
    I think the Twins were game-planning to be aggressive against Kluber and avoid getting into pitcher's counts early yesterday. Everyone was swinging the first 4-5 innings. As Kluber reacted to that they started getting more patient. The offense will have some on/off to it with the K-prone hitting, especially when Sano returns. But a lot of that is just the direction baseball is going these days.
  6. Taildragger8791
    Funny, but I wouldn't even compare those two. Wiggins has amazing natural athleticism that is perfectly tuned for basketball, but he doesn't actually have NBA-level basketball talent at essential things like shooting or dribbling. The only thing being wasted there is Glen's money and KAT's prime.
  7. Taildragger8791
    I don't think I've heard anyone concerned at all about the fate of the Twins' performance due to Sano missing time. That speaks a lot to how everyone already sort of knew he hasn't been a contributor to winning the last couple of years. I'm more concerned that now he's going to be rusty and ineffectual for a month or two upon return, while soaking up middle-of-the-order at-bats. A rusty Sano is usually a very ugly thing to watch. Sounds to me like the conversation is a lot more about frustration that: It's always something with Sano, whether it's his fault or not. Every year. The details around how the injury occurred are murky. We just want to know what a healthy and engaged full-year Sano looks like. Can he flip the narrative and perform as a solid middle-of-the-order bat that stays on the field and plays passable D? If he performs great all year then this concern mostly goes away. If he flounders until August and then turns it on for 6 weeks then we've punted at least another year on that evaluation and we still don't know what we have in a critical piece of the roster.
  8. Taildragger8791
    Yeah I could see this being a larger setback than stated simply because he now has to be able to adequately field a position in order to play. It's conceivable that early May rolls around and he's struggling to look MLB game-ready, thus extending his Rochester stay. I don't want to see a rusty Sano striking out at 50% and booting balls in Minnesota when we have serviceable replacements on-hand.
  9. Taildragger8791
    Even if the Twins trusted Sano's doctors to take care of it, why take the risk of letting it be handled by someone outside the organization? And why compound that risk by waiting until spring training to look at the healing progress? There's way too much on the line to take a wait-and-see approach to player injuries. Every week a player misses has a ripple effect throughout the rest of the season.
  10. Taildragger8791
    It seems like it would be more productive to add talent in the offseason and subtract it at the deadline in exchange for future assets if it doesn't work out, rather than sit idle in the offseason and try to add at the deadline when teams have you over a barrel and you've put yourself a few games behind where you could otherwise be.
  11. Taildragger8791
    The tradeoff is Buxton serves as a second lead-off hitter when the lineup turns over. His potential for causing chaos on the basepaths serves as a distraction to the pitcher, giving the hitters behind him a better opportunity at the plate. If he can get on base, that is.
  12. Taildragger8791
    I don't think anyone is saying it's a mistake from the standpoint that he didn't turn out. It was a mistake to take any relief pitcher in that spot because it is not a good value for a #6 pick. The most realistic ceiling from that is a decent MLB reliever for 4-5 years (starting was a pipe dream). If he doesn't make it then he's out of the league and you completely lost the investment, whereas a position player or starter may salvage some value by falling back to a reduced role.
  13. Taildragger8791
    Not a chance he takes that. If he keeps it up then this is the only shot at a good FA deal he'll ever get, so I doubt he settles for a team-friendly contract. Top free agents never get team options anyways, especially on short deals. He'll get 3-4 years guaranteed, easily. Too bad for him he missed out on the really big FA deals from 5+ years ago, so I doubt he gets more than that.
  14. Taildragger8791
    I could see Gordon progressing similarly to Denard Span. Their minor league numbers aren't that different for the ages and levels. Span didn't really break out until he was 24 (7th year, but didn't play in his draft year). Strikeout/walk rates fluctuate from "barely acceptable" to "good, not great". But if he ends up an average MLB starter then that is certainly an acceptable outcome. You need those kinds of guys too, especially when they're on rookie-scale deals. That said, I understand the (misdirected) angst because at some point you do need an actual star or two to turn out from all of these high draft picks and key IFAs. A lineup of average Joes is going to struggle to win anything more than the occasional weak division.
  15. Taildragger8791
    I suppose. The overall workload doesn't change much either way. I guess I just place extra value keeping the routine and practicing the same way you play (assuming playoffs are out of the question this year).
  16. Taildragger8791
    1B/DH is supposedly one of the easiest positions to fill. Assuming Sano gets back on track I'd like him to take one of those spots and let Escobar take over 3B (assuming Dozier/Polanco/Gordon/other have middle infield covered). That means DH is wide open for streaming players through or going out and getting a free agent, or trying out Rooker. For a team that has the potential to compete, that kind of opportunity seems too valuable to give up for a farewell tour. It might work if Mauer is OK with his playing time being limited and de-prioritized, but I don't know that he'd accept that.
  17. Taildragger8791
    His demotion was because he was struggling a little and they wanted to get him sorted out. Maybe they saw a couple things they wanted him to focus on in a lower pressure environment before they got worse. I don't see the problem with that. As far as innings go, does it make much of a difference if he throws 60-70 pitches per game through the end of the year vs 95 and is shut down in mid-August? Either way I think it sets him up with the same potential for a full season next year. The latter at least keeps his rhythm and routine consistent.
  18. Taildragger8791
    ...you want the guy who's 8 RBI outburst puts him on pace for 40 RBI? Granted, he's not going to kill you and is a fair bet to load the bases, but I can think of some more productive bats for a critical run-scoring situation.
  19. Taildragger8791
    At this point there isn't any value in stretching him to the end of the season. Just let him keep throwing per usual to build him up for next year. Wind him down once he starts wearing down or hits his innings cap. If he's still going strong in mid-July that should bode well for pitching a full season next year.
  20. Taildragger8791
    I don't think it's bad luck in this case. A lineup of low average, low speed, mediocre power hitters isn't going to string enough hits together to score. We've turned into this station to station offense but don't have reliable power to drive anyone in. It's basically fluke homers, Eddie drives in Eddie, or nothing at all.
  21. Taildragger8791
    The weird thing is we don't even really miss Santana as much as you'd expect. Our starting pitching has been more than adequate to compete. Jason Castro isn't really a wizard with the bat either, so I don't see how losing his .231/.311/.386 affects the offense that negatively. Sano/Buxton/Kepler/Polanco/Dozier/Mauer/Morrison/Rosario/Escobar are where the bread gets buttered around here, and only 2 are performing consistently.
  22. Taildragger8791
    What’s the story with Stewart going on the temporary inactive list?
  23. Taildragger8791
    Buxton doesn't have to be a clubhouse leader, but this offense does need him to lead by being a dynamic force at the plate and on the bases. There is way too much swing-and-miss station-to-station hitting in the lineup without him. Nobody else has the ability to pressure the other team like he can when he's going right.
  24. Taildragger8791
    McKay's numbers look surprisingly great so far this year, both on the mound and in the batter's box (although no power to speak of yet). Is there a reason he's only averaging about 4 innings per start? I can't find game logs for him that include pitching numbers.
  25. Taildragger8791
    Reality is those 30 aren't very likely to actually get drafted by a professional team or approved for the world class athlete program, though. Just knowing they have the option if they're eventually good enough helps avoid losing quality recruits who otherwise don't want to give up on their athletic potential at the age of 18. It's a net benefit to the academies and it's a drop in the bucket for overall spending.
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