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Penthang

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Everything posted by Penthang

  1. Penthang
    My take is that the front office likes a health Granite because of the elite defense and OBP skills, but he has an option remaining. He will not be the opening day 4th outfielder barring an injury. Cave showed us a lot last year and has the inside track for the job. Reed was an interesting guy on wavers who bats from the right side and my feeling is that they brought him in to get an up close look and to provide some competition for Cave. They will probably try to sneak him through waivers to stash him in AAA if Cave performs as expected in spring training, and if not it will go the other way around. Personally I’d really like to see Granite and Astudillo as bench players for their strong OBP skills that this roster is otherwise lacking, but I don’t believe that will actually happen.
  2. Penthang
    Mikelink45, I strongly agree…there are way too many pieces on this roster with really big question marks. If things break right this could be a really good team but if they break the other way they could end up as a 62 win team. This signing is discouraging to me. It’s possible that the research department has identified something with him that shows upside that’s not obvious, but in the moment I was really hoping for a better signing than this.
  3. Penthang
    Thanks! This was an immensely fun series to read and go through the commments for. I’m sort of hoping Kirilloff reaches the majors this year. With a health and productive Cruz, Buxton, Sano, and Kirilloff along with the good versions of Schoop and Cron and a moving the needle forward version of Kepler this could be a great lineup.
  4. Penthang
    This is the move I was waiting for from the Twins to show us that the plan to compete this year. Going in to the off season I was hoping they would sign either Donaldson or Cruz. Thanks Falvey and Levine … now get a couple of bullpen arms and I think the team is set to make a run at the division, then who knows. Catcher, however is still a question. If Castro and Garver are both ready to play it’ll be ok but if not I’m not sure Astudillo does a lot to help a pitching staff … although he is fun to watch.
  5. Penthang
    Id like to see Austin get a chance, but don’t feel good about that with a 13 man bullpen. The 13th guy is usually only a mop up guy that the manager doesn’t want to use in meaningful situations anyway. Astudillo could be the mop up guy and his bat could be in the lineup 3-4 days a week or more if he earns it as a high OBP guy.
  6. Penthang
    So Garver and Astudillo are the Twins remaining OBP potential…interesting
  7. Penthang
    The way I hope Pohlad meant when he answered the question about Joes salary coming off the books is that they were already upswing that money towards a productive player so it wasn’t more money available…it was the same amount of money that was being used that could now be used differently. That’s what I hope he ment and just said very badly.
  8. Penthang
    I don’t want to see the Twins sign any free agent reliever to more than a two year deal and really don’t expect or want them to dive in to the free agent market on a starter. If they traded for a starter with some team control years that would be good, you could do that with a reliever but what they need there should be available on the free agent market without needing to spend prospects. Going back to starters they have a lot there. While none of them seem to be elite beyond Graterol, Berrios, and possibly Romero they have a lot of potentially really good pitchers. The hope is that the new coaching staff can find something more in one or two of the others and get them to “elite.” I like what the front office has done to the farm system and hope to see some pay off in the next few years both though trades and graduating prospects to the majors to build a winner.
  9. Penthang
    Last season I felt like Pickler was the guy they had in mind to be “manager in waiting” Then the bench coach job opened up and they hired someone else for it making me wonder if that really was the case. Now we will find out who they really want as a manager. The fact that they haven’t started interviewing candidates from teams out of the playoffs suggest that either they feel strongly about internal people, that someone on a team still playing is of interest to them, or they are just takeing there time? While most of the open managerial positions are not super prime spots to start out (I believe they will hire someone with no prior major league managerial experience) there will be some competition for the top candidates and they better not take too much time.
  10. Penthang
    So, I think everyone will agree the front office needs to find an impact arm for the bullpen one way or another from outside the organization. If they want to have a successful several seasons ahead though, they really need to find some gold either from the Busenitz/Duffey group, from the minors, or from the recent starter promotions who don’t end up in the rotation. My personal belief is that Falve rose to the top when he was hired based on the belief that he could recreate what Cleveland was able to accomplish creating a strong pitching program within budgetary constraints, something he was publicly given a lot of credit for. He has had time to put people in place through out the minor league system, rebuilt the major league coaching staff, soon with a new manager, and has an unprecedented amount of sallery flexibility this offseason. It’s time for him to give the fans some payoff. Admittedly we did see a much improved rotation this year, but I want a whole pitching staff that’s good, and a manager that doesn’t burn out his favorite bullpen arms.
  11. Penthang
    Please correct me if I am mistaken on this, but to the best of my recollection the Twins have not had anyone at any level require Tommy John surgery this season? Is this due to something that the training people are doing, or just dumb luck? Either way I’ll take it. Hopefully they are on to something though.
  12. Penthang
    I grew up in Minnesota and moved to Texas 20 years ago. When my son was in Boy Scouts I went to camp with those kids every summer. It took some getting used to but once acclimated you can deal with it. Heat like that is no laughing matter, but if your prepared it can be handled. I feel like the Twins strength and conditioning staff didn’t do what needed to get done. There job is to keep players health and on the field. Not a great day for them, not a great year.
  13. Penthang
    It seems like everyone is so ready to bail on Hughes and put Lynn in his bullpen spot. Lynn’s ERA is almos a whole run worse than Hughes, and his WHIP is 2.04 to Hughes at 1.45 … so which one do you dump first. I’m not saying that right now either of them have a spot on a competitive team but please don’t replace bad with worse. Santana to the rotation, May to the bullpen if a rotation spot doesn’t present itself, 4 inning starts for Romero every other time out piggy backed with May and dump the dreck. Rogers may also be a replacement candidate and Gonsalves is looking good and could also spot start if Romero needs to skip a start or two along the way.
  14. Penthang
    Does anyone know what the progress is on Granite making a return from his shoulder injury? I for one really missed his defense as an option while Buxton has been out. I’m guessing the pitching staff did as well. Of course having the genuine article back in center can’t come soon enough, I just hope he can stay on the field more than off of it.
  15. Penthang
    So far the twins are on a 92 win pace…that’s fun
  16. Penthang
    Always enjoy these, thanks.
  17. Penthang
    I thought it was interesting that several people chose buxton as there offensive player of the year. If that actually comes to pass with the other players on this roster that would probably mean he is baseballs WAR leader beating out Trout.
  18. Penthang
    I’m curious how that open 40 man spot will be used…I’m guessing Falvey has a couple names he has an eye on to be waived as team come out of camp?
  19. Penthang
    I have really enjoyed what you have brought to the sight and congratulate you on this step. I hope you enjoy it as much as we have enjoyed your contributions to the site.
  20. Penthang
    So just wondering from a flexiblity standpoint, does Granit have any infield experience or taken any spring reps picking up ground balls?
  21. Penthang
    Buxton is the most fun to watch player in baseball … I want them to keep him in a Twins uniform as long as they can and keep Granit in the back pocket for his off days and for when he is down with injury.
  22. Penthang
    I, for one, would love for Mauer to win a World Series with the Twins. I think a player with the defense and production that Joe had in the second half last year easily fits on a contending team. Whether his production continues at that level we will have to wait and see. I personally am bullish on this, but do not see it as a forgone conclusion. My hope is that he overcame aspects of his brain injury and relearned seeing and hitting a baseball near the elite level he was at prior to being injured. If that is the case the Twins should resign him for a year or two on a low paying deal maybe with some performance related incentives. As to players communicating health issues with the team the Twins have a horrible history of players not communicating these issues. It seems that this is part of the team culture and it needs to change.
  23. Penthang
    I love that there are actually pitchers who I WANT to see on the opening day roster that there won’t be room for and not because they are being blocked by reclamation projects!!! I have no doubt that we will see Busenitz, Curtis, Moya, and Reed all at some point this season as long as they stay healthy. The 4th outfielder I’d love to swing Granit’s way. I really hate the defensive fall off when Grossman is out there, but I’m pretty sure that having those options will let Grossman keep the job for the time being. As for the infield and Aybar, I’d rather see someone else land that roster spot and call up Gordon if there is a need to fill a hole, I’m not a fan of three utility guys on the 25 man roster even if one of them is playing third base every day for a little while, especially since I don’t believe Aybar is on the 40 man, although Vargas’s 40 man spot is probably soon to be open since I doubt he’ll clear waivers and will not make the Twins opening day roster without an injury.
  24. Penthang
    I really like Hughes and watching him deal a couple seasons ago was fun to watch. I’d love to see him be able to be competitive again from any roll. That said, if the Twins get anything competitive from him this year that is a huge win for both Hughes and the Twins. 91 on his first out in with first pitch strikes sounds good, let’s hope he can ramp things up. A competitive Hugh’s in the rotation would make things interesting since I don’t think anyone was counting on him for anything this year. You can never have too much pitching, I’d love for him to grab that rotation spot.
  25. Penthang
    If I were in Minnesota I’d get early season Cedar Rapids tickets because the drive yo Fort Myers is a lot longer. Late May/early June anyone?
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