gunnarthor
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Everything posted by gunnarthor
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Bit of both. We have an investment account with one of the big banks so we can get free reports on all sorts of stocks and have a guy there to talk about possible investments but he never initiates anything. It's usually us saying "is X good" and him usually giving us paperwork to decide for ourselves. Generally, we like dividend stocks but we're not that diverse. We tend to invest in 'safe' stocks - big banks, John Deere, index funds - but will occasionally make a 10% bet on a lesser stock. Mike's advice is pretty solid. My wife and I both max our 401k/pension accounts and put a crap load of our paychecks into two different savings accounts - a short term one for vacations/new car etc and the longterm investment account. I also think it makes sense to put some money in a 529 for your child's college if you can afford it but others disagree. In the investment account, a solid portion should be an index fund - ours is a vanguard fund that tracks the S&P 500. The general rule is your age should be X percent in index funds so if you are 30 and have 100k hidden away, 30K should be in index funds. But we have about 7 or 8 stocks we've held for years. When we buy stocks, we tend to hold them longterm. Generally that works but it did mean we got killed in 08 with the bank stocks. We had a lot of citi and wachovia. -sigh-
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Wow, so basically the entire A+ rotation is now in AA? Pretty good season for those young men. I assume Jay will put in the pen on an innings thing? Also, very good news on Palka. Hope he turns into something.
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Article: J2: Come Here, International Free Agents
gunnarthor replied to Jeremy Nygaard's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
Well, BA's tracker has the Twins with five guys - Wander Valdez, 3b, Dominican Republic, $495,000. Jesus Feliz, ss, Dominican Republic. $260,000. Stamy Gabriel Urena, ss, Dominican Republic. $130,000. Francisco Martinez, of, Dominican Republic Prelander Berroa, rhp, Dominican Republic Read more at http://www.baseballamerica.com/international/team-team-international-signing-tracker/#5jBQbeSk53HZuKcd.99 If the last two got around the same amount as Urena, they've probably already spent about a 1.15m. Looks like it might be a quantity year. Grab a bunch of guys and hope some develop type thing. I know so little about the group that I'll be happy so long as they spend all their money. -
Yeah, I agree. I think the Twins only have a handful of guys who have true FOR potential and Jorge isn't one of them. If they can include him in a package deal, that's fine.
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Very nice news on Balazovic signing. I really liked this draft class although it'll be a long time before we know how it shakes out. Sounds like Park is doing well against AAA pitching, which is good. Hopefully, he fixes his timing quickly and is back in the majors soon.
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Have to think Berrios is up after the break. Also really nice to see Stewart adjust to AA hitters.
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I thought they had a month.
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Nice start by Berrios. Good to see. I would imagine he'll be up after the all-star break or about two weeks.
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Great start by Berrios. Hope he comes up soon. Nice to see Blankenhorn hit that HR - I'm a huge Cabbage fan but Blankenhorn was a real nice pick, too. Should be fun watching these younger bats develop. As for Harrison, I've always been a fan and he's still young but his ceiling still seems limited behind the guys that are ahead of him. If he could put it together, he seems like the kind of guy you kick in on a trade but he has to get it together first.
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Article: Alex Kirilloff Ready To Shine For Twins
gunnarthor replied to Seth Stohs's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
Nice interview. Hopefully, he's a great pick. -
Article: Draft News and Notes
gunnarthor replied to Jeremy Nygaard's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
It'd be pretty strange for a team to wiff on an unprotected pick. He'll sign.- 80 replies
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Article: Draft News and Notes
gunnarthor replied to Jeremy Nygaard's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
True, but it looks like next year is going to be a pretty loaded class - more like 2011 or 2012 than this year. Hopefully, the Twins get lucky in the supp draft lottery and/or trade for a few extra picks for next year. The draft is supposed to be pretty deep with good college pitchers as well.- 80 replies
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Article: Draft News and Notes
gunnarthor replied to Jeremy Nygaard's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
Sounds like the Twins and Kiriloff are in agreement - http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2016/06/twins-to-sign-first-rounder-alex-kirilloff.html He'll sign for slot. Looks like they'll still need to save a few bucks with their college picks but I expect they'll be able to get the Canadian pitcher too.- 80 replies
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I'm not sure there were any at 15. Certainly no catcher or second baseman. The next SS and 3B off the board were Gavin Lux and Will Craig. Neither seem like better players than Kirilloff. A few of the HS arms might have higher ceilings on draft day but might not, as well. And they have much bigger bust potential. I think generally the Twins did ok in this draft. A bunch of their early picks are very young with high upside. A couple are still 17. It was a solid pick.
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Article: Draft News and Notes
gunnarthor replied to Jeremy Nygaard's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
I'm not sure if this is the proper place to put this but .... looks like the Angels second round pick is not going to sign with them and is instead going to go to college. http://www.halosheaven.com/2016/6/15/11943856/MLB-draft-2nd-round-pick-brandon-marsh-opts-not-to-sign-with-angels Marsh was obviously a big time HS player and is committed to Kennisaw State. Presumably, if he goes to college, his family would get some sort of insurance on him if he's not drafted again. He's a multi-sport star so maybe he thinks if he concentrates on baseball for a few years, he'll be a top 10 talent? In any event, the Angels system is among the worst in baseball and not getting to add talent to it now (even though they get a protected pick next year) isn't helping them.- 80 replies
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Article: Draft News and Notes
gunnarthor replied to Jeremy Nygaard's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
Cool. So, even with Schiek signing over slot, the Twins have saved about 225k so far.- 80 replies
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Article: Draft News and Notes
gunnarthor replied to Jeremy Nygaard's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
Where were the bonus' reported?- 80 replies
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Article: Draft News and Notes
gunnarthor replied to Jeremy Nygaard's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
My guess is that the team had a pre-draft agreement with him. Going into the draft, he and his adviser probably knew that there were a handful of players that could be taken in the 50-90 range. The Twins probably showed a lot of interest to him and a few other players in that range and discussed signing bonus with all of them. After Rortvedt was taken, the next catcher off the board went at 71 - which was 900k or so bonus slot. So he probably agreed to sign for 900k if the Twins promised to take him. Maybe the Twins talked to other players and they wanted more so they went with the catcher.- 80 replies
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Article: Draft News and Notes
gunnarthor replied to Jeremy Nygaard's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
Googling around a bit and it seems Tyler Benninghoff might be the guy they save money to sign. He was hurt so missed his senior year but coming into the season, BA had him ranked as #46 on their draft list - one spot in front of Rortvedt.- 80 replies
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Article: Draft News and Notes
gunnarthor replied to Jeremy Nygaard's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
BA write up on Twins draft: Theme of their draft: Twins gonna Twin … Minnesota might be struggling mightily at the major league level but it attacked this draft with a long-term vision, going for four high school bats with its first four picks as it attempts to restock its farm system’s lower levels. Athleticism and lofty grades for their hit tools link outfielders Alex Kirilloff (1) and Akil Baddoo (2s), while catcher Ben Rortvedt (2) and shortstop Jose Miranda (2s) both have a chance to stay up the middle of the diamond. Upside Guy: The Twins’ constant search for homegrown power arms pointed them toward righthander Griffin Jax (3), who will have to work out his Air Force commitment, as well as righthander Alex Schick (6), who missed most of the season for Cal with a knee injury. But righthander Tyler Benninghoff (11) is the real wild card, a projectable Kansas City-area prep who has shown three average pitches when healthy. A nerve injury to his throwing arm may have pushed him out of the top 10 rounds, but his bonus ask remains robust. Read more at http://www.baseballamerica.com/draft/reds-bank-senzel-impact/#2f3TOgm2M4Yjd0VD.99- 80 replies
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Article: Draft News and Notes
gunnarthor replied to Jeremy Nygaard's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
Of the guys selected after the tenth round, are any that are likely overslot signings? A big upside guy perhaps?- 80 replies
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Since 2002, the Twins have had 27 first round picks. 6 HS OF 5 HS IF 5 HS Pitchers 0 College OF 1 College IF 10 College pitchers I think it's a bit of a stretch to say the Twins only draft HS OFers. They generally don't draft college bats (to Mike's chagrin) but mix it up pretty well with the other spots (and that's not looking at other rounds). As everyone else has said, drafting for need is a bad idea. Get the BPA.
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Sure. That development staff looks like they are doing good things to Duffey, Thorpe, Gonsalves, Jay, etc. Not every pitcher is going to make it (Meyer, so sad) but I do think Steil's done a very nice job as farm director. Obviously, we need a few more years to see but I think the Twins can coach him up. I'm not a scout so I have no idea if a pick is good. I can modify my opinion a bit by what is publicly available (say, BA reports) and by reports from someone like Jeremy. A hour ago, I had never heard of Jax but the reports seem to suggest he was a fine pick at this point in the draft. His stats don't alter that b/c we shouldn't scout stat lines at this point.

