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USAFChief

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Everything posted by USAFChief

  1. USAFChief
    Yes. To the discussion underway, yes. A poster declared that top teams never added big names through free agency or trade until they were already good. That is clearly not true. One example off the top of my head was the Cubs, who signed Lester before they were good. They added talent when available, hoping that talent would help the talent they already had on hand in the near future. And to repeat, the Twins might as well operate under the assumption their current crop of players, highlighted by Buxton and Sano, are going to work out. If they don't, there is no real damage done by adding to what will be a long drought anyway.
  2. USAFChief
    Sano and Buxton were at the same level of prospect status as the Cubs prospects. Buxton was a consensus top prospect in all of baseball. Where Sano and Buxton are currently, is irrelevant to the discussion of what the Cubs did in December of 2014.
  3. USAFChief
    So they had faith in their future, despite their current record? Whereas the Twins, who have by all means at least the same level of prospects currently in the big leagues or on the cusp, should bet against their future? They're not "ready to compete?" I'd be willing to bet I could find multiple examples of your post (not necessarily by you) from 2015, advocating to wait until Sano, Buxton et al were in the big leagues, and then "go for it." It doesn't work that way. Add talent when you can.
  4. USAFChief
    Off the top of my head, I believe the Cubs signed Jon Lester to a $150 deal in December of 2014, coming off a 71-91 season. I bet I can find more examples if I spend 5 minutes looking them up. Perhaps they felt they already had the pieces needed to compete, and were simply adding to it. Sort of like the Twins, with Sano, Buxton, Berrios, Kepler, Rosario, Polanco, etc. The exact guys they've been building this "window" around for half a decade. I just have never agreed with the philosophy of waiting until you're really good, before you try to get really really good. IMO, that's how you spend decades waiting to get really good. Tha's not how the Yankees and Red Sox got where they are. They assess their needs, and then fill them, by whatever means necessary. Or at least try.
  5. USAFChief
    I think the gamble is assuming they are NOT real.
  6. USAFChief
    If Buxton and Sano, with the current MLB youngsters and high minors help, are not the answer, there is no window. If they are real, the window is now. The perfect storm of misfortune that is 2018 shouldn't cloud the picture of whether or not the Twins should plan on 2019-2020 as being the time to go for it. It's a no-lose situation. Either you added to a good team needing a catcher, or you added a good, tradeable catcher to a team that wasn't going to contend anyway for the foreseeable future and can be dumped at next year's deadline for a similar haul.
  7. USAFChief
    Not to pick on you or make this personal, but I feel like I could have read this exact post five years ago, speaking about 2016-2018 as "the window." When all that young talent reaches the majors and is dominating. And four years ago about 2017-2019 as "the window." etc etc etc I think the better option is to build your own window, rather than waiting for a window to build itself. Not to mention there's no guarantee you'll have trade opportunites available in 2020, or the assets to acquire such trade opportunities if they do exist.
  8. USAFChief
    I think recency bias has everyone looking at Eduardo Escobar as a vastly better player than Brian Dozier. I doubt MLB GMs view it that way, particularly if they're looking for a 2nd baseman. Dozier is less than 2 years older, is most likely a better defensive 2nd baseman, and is almost certainly a better hitter. He's been a better hitter for the last four years. Contracts aren't much of a factor, neither are signed past this year. My guess would be Dozier is a better hitter for the remainder of 2018 than Escobar.
  9. USAFChief
    Oh he'll return. But let's not pretend we can guarantee there will be no effect on a guy who makes his living squatting on that knee for 4 hours a day.
  10. USAFChief
    A catcher with knee surgury serious enough to miss almost an entire season, and health isn't a factor in 2019??
  11. USAFChief
    Prospects. We didn't need to add bullpen help for the last umpteen years, either, because we had all that can't-miss reliever talent in the minor leagues just waiting to be harvested. An overabundance, actually. There wouldn't even be room on the 25 man roster for all that talent.
  12. USAFChief
    Realmuto is the kind of deal that teams make if they're serious about winning. He's going to be traded. Might as well be to the Twins.
  13. USAFChief
    I believe it's an inability to catch up to fastballs that dooms most players, not breaking balls.You can learn to hit off speed stuff. When you have to cheat cause they're consistently throwing fastballs by you, you're done.
  14. USAFChief
    Time to buy low!!!
  15. USAFChief
    The big rumor at MLBBLOGTradeRumors is that Dave was quietly dealt to YankeesDaily for a blogger prospect currently posting about the Florida State League. The kid is putting up 50-60 posts per day. VERY high level prospect. Of course, YankeesDaily prospects tend to be somewhat overrated, so who knows if he'll make his way here and produce at that level.
  16. USAFChief
    This doesn't seem like a huge problem to me. Lose an infielder? Garver goes in to catch, Astudillo takes off his catcher gear and replaces the infielder. It's the exact same situation as if the starting catcher gets hurt or pinch hit for. If that truly IS the reason, that's incredibly unimaginative, if you ask me. I think it's far more likely Molitor doesn't like his catching skills. Same reason Wilson plays as much as he does.
  17. USAFChief
    And yet Hicks had his best season in a Twins uniform that year. And is currently posting an .880 OPS for the Yankees. Perhaps there's no reason to subtly call out Hunter's leadership, either.
  18. USAFChief
    Concur. Could someone, somewhere, please ask Falvine "Belisle...WHAT is going on here??"
  19. USAFChief
    heat exhaustion from so many trips to the mound?
  20. USAFChief
    Well of course there's not much evidence if you literally ignore all of it. Few are pointing solely at Wins and losses in isolation, for example. But by all means, set up more strawmen to destroy. Molitor can't turn water into wine, we get that. Neither could Tom Kelly. But he could and did get the water to flow properly.
  21. USAFChief
    Re: intro. TL;DR.
  22. USAFChief
    l cant wrap my head around this. Why? Unless...they're trolling us!
  23. USAFChief
    However, as Twins fans we all know it's possible to pitch yourself OUT of a save situation.
  24. USAFChief
    Mauer plays 450 games in three years? Does this include winter mixed league bowling or something?
  25. USAFChief
    Usually, even if I disagree with something the FO does, I can see what the reason might be. Belisle? I can’t see one. What was the thought process?
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