gunnarthor
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Everything posted by gunnarthor
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Article: Torii Hunter is Returning to the Twins
gunnarthor replied to Seth Stohs's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
None of those things are relevant to your proposal. Maybe those things Hunter does, while horrible in your eyes, are the things that the people running the team think the locker room needs. Maybe, with their experience around the sport, and your aversion to "the baseball codes," perhaps the people with the best knowledge of locker room dynamics and what is and isn't needed in them aren't posting on TD? -
Article: Early Offseason Rumors
gunnarthor replied to Nick Nelson's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
I've been a big supporter of Masterson - I think last year was an injury caused problem and his GB rate and K rates would make a good transition to TF. I like Hunter as a 4/5th OF type, but not as a starter. If he's willing to do that, I'm ok with it. Rios does nothing for me. As others have mentioned, Rasmus might be a more entertaining attempt. -
Article: Who's The Next Phil Hughes?
gunnarthor replied to Nick Nelson's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
I've been a big advocate for Masterson and hope they pursue him like they did Hughes. -
Article: Can St. Paul Save the Twins?
gunnarthor replied to Nick Nelson's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
Well, the reality is Mauer isn't going to be the best player on any Twins team going forward. Molitor's ability to get Arcia, Hicks, Gibson, May, Meyer etc to become good everyday MLers is going to be a lot more important than whatever we get out of Mauer at this point. -
Signing Torii Hunter Doesn't Make Sense
gunnarthor commented on Cody Christie's blog entry in North Dakota Twins Fan
Depends on his role. Shouldn't be brought in as a starter but I'd be ok with a 4th OFer role. -
I think the Twins job would be a great opening for nearly all managers and Maddon would be nuts to not want it. BUT he likely has better options/more money elsewhere. He'll get 5-6m or more a year and the Twins aren't going to spend that on a manager. (Heck, they won't spend that on a LFer next year). I still think it'll be Molitor but Lovullo could get it.
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Why do people think he's a good manager? I'm not saying he isn't but I'm wondering what they are basing it on. His teams actually under perform their pyth w/l records. He shifts a lot but most of that is supposed to come from the FO and he just implements it. His record in one run games changes a bunch year to year (like most managers). Success with a small payroll team? Good clubhouse atmosphere? Development of young players? Developing scrappy teams that fight? I think all of those things have their pros and cons.
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Article: How "Different" Is Paul Molitor?
gunnarthor replied to Nick Nelson's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
La Russa drank and drove and had it covered up. Cox beat up his wife. Weaver was an ****** of the highest order. Billy Martin was worse. Most managers have been unfaithful to their wives. Molitor's off the field stuff doesn't matter to me at all so long as it doesn't affect his on the field managing. -
Article: How "Different" Is Paul Molitor?
gunnarthor replied to Nick Nelson's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
A lot of very good managers have stayed at one place for over 10 years with great results - La Russa, Cox, Torre all just went into the HOF. Weaver. Sparky. Whitey. Both TK and Gardy had good runs. Sciocia in LA. Bochy is on his 8th year in SF and Baker had a good 10 year run prior to that. Longterm stability in the manager isn't a bad thing. That said, I think Molitor gets the job, hangs around for a few years and then it goes to Dougie Baseball. -
Article: An Open Letter to Terry Ryan
gunnarthor replied to Secondary User's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
Is this one of those moderator created threads to gather up all the trolls in one place?- 28 replies
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Article: ...and Then There Were Three
gunnarthor replied to Steven Buhr's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
I'm fine with any of the three. I hate the idea of disqualifying Molitor or Dougie Baseball just b/c they work for the Twins. That's a stupid idea. And Ryan had no problem picking Gardy despite being part of a coaching staff that had lost a lot prior to 2001. It is interesting that Lovullo has been a finalist for a lot of jobs but never hired.- 47 replies
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- paul molitor
- tory lovullo
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Article: Postseason Review: Joe Mauer
gunnarthor replied to stringer bell's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
I'm more pessimistic on this than I thought. At this point, I don't think the Twins should count on him to be any better than he was. If he improves, great. But don't expect much more. His babip was around normal for him, he didn't play catcher but couldn't stay healthy. He'll be 32 next year. Lots of guys are done at 32. I also don't think he has the ability to hit with power against the shifts baseball has used against him. The hard part will be what they do if he stays this way. His OBP was still pretty respectable and would fit in the #2 spot. But his bat really isn't better than that and the Twins might have better options in the next few years at the top of the order. He could be a #7 hitter in 2016. -
Article: Terry Ryan: Still Employed
gunnarthor replied to Twins Fan From Afar's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
A few things wrong with this. First, of the Twins best prospects only Sano and Polanco are Smith guys. I'm also sure it's fair to say that he's dong what any other GM would do with those picks. The Astros have absolutely torpedo their drafts (and they've drafted above us in everyone). -
Article: Terry Ryan: Still Employed
gunnarthor replied to Twins Fan From Afar's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
Eh. First, the GM has a huge say in the first round pick, esp at the top of the board. Second, when Ryan came back, he publicly stated that he and Radcliff would have input on the draft. He didn't mention Johnson (and Johnson has had some bad results prior in the draft). Third, there was no way the Twins could pass on college ready pitchers to get a HS kid that everyone thought would take many years to develop without specific approval from the GM. Fourth, when Ryan wasn't the GM, his generalized area to cover was the SE and PR. Twins drafted heavily from those areas once he came back to the GM chair. Lastly, ever report indicated that Ryan (like all GMs) would see the players. Secondly, a lot of the Ryan talk is code for the FO. A lot of anti-Ryan guys use thoughts about the Twins being stuck in their ways etc. It's an attack on the whole FO not just Ryan. So it's fair to use Ryan both ways. -
Article: 2014 Post-Mortem: Oswaldo Arcia
gunnarthor replied to stringer bell's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
I was never very high on him as a prospect but I was wrong. He'll be a stud. He clearly cares about hitting and smart enough to figure it out. I think next year could be a really big year for him. -
Article: Terry Ryan: Still Employed
gunnarthor replied to Twins Fan From Afar's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
I was using the 07 list - the 08 list is made up of guys that Smith, the new GM, added. Smith (for many reasons) never was able to get the farm system back to where Ryan left it. The 07 list had 4 guys, the 06 list had 5, etc. But the idea that Ryan left the cupboard bare isn't true. We had a well stocked system his last year with us and a lot of recently well regarded graduates. -
Article: Terry Ryan: Still Employed
gunnarthor replied to Twins Fan From Afar's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
The idea that Ryan left the cupboard bare isn't completely true. When he left, the Twins had a pretty young nucleus of talent in the majors and 4 guys in BA top 100. The idea that the Twins had bad pitching under Ryan is also demonstratively false. In fact, the knock on Ryan used to be that he couldn't draft hitters. From 2000-2007, the Twins were 3rd in all of baseball in pitching WAR with only the Red Sox and Yankees above them. Lastly, we played out this game last year when we constantly updated the pitching FA targets during the season. Correia was among the best. The reality that fans don't want to hear is that rebuilds take time, rebuilding through FA is a bad idea, all teams go through these cycles and Ryan has demonstrated the ability to rebuild and keep those windows open longer than most GMs. -
Stewart and Castillo. I think the Twins could/should listen on a few guys. Jose Berrios or Alex Meyer both have question marks but could bring back something in return, if the Twins were so inclined. I'll be honest and say that there's no realistic scenario where I'd be ok with Sano or Buxton being moved. But they do have some depth and if the return is a someone under a few years of control - either due to age or his contract, it's a solid idea. But it would be hard to find a solid trade that fits both teams. For example, arguably the best 10 LFers this year are Brantley, Gordon, Yelich, Marte, Upton, Cruz, Holliday, Cespedes, Gardner and Smith. Gordon, Brantley and Marte aren't going anywhere - they are key guys on playoff teams. Yelich is 22 and shouldn't be movable, even for Miami. Upton, Holliday, Smith and Gardner are all on the wrong side of 30. Cruz is a FA. Cespedes? Maybe Boston would listen.
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I gotta admit, that group doesn't look all that exciting. (Minier and maybe Thorpe might be the exceptions). Most of the guys are in low A or lower, are too old for the level they are at or had disappointing seasons in low levels. Last year, I think we had guys like May, Polanco, Santana and Vargas in our 11-20 range. Much better depth last year. And clearly, that's part of the ebb and flow of prospect lists but outside of our top 6, I'm not really excited about anyone in the minors like I was about May or Polanco.
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- lewis thorpe
- adam walker
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Article: Who Will Be The Next Twins Manager?
gunnarthor replied to Seth Stohs's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
I hadn't really thought about this before yesterday, and I don't really have a view on who should be our next manager (although Souhan's Pro-Molitor article intrigued me). But this is what sorta surprised me as I thought about it - this is a big time plum job. A lot of guys would love to be the next Twins manager. They have an incredible amount of minor league talent coming up, a GM and FO with a reputation for loyalty. Would you rather manage the Twins or Astros right now? The Twins are (as ML teams go) pretty stable. The next manager will have to develop young players but that's true in most rebuilds. Ryan has an incredibly good reputation in baseball circles. I bet guys like Dave Martinez are really hoping to get interviewed for this job.- 116 replies
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Article: Who Will Be The Next Twins Manager?
gunnarthor replied to Seth Stohs's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
I want Ozzie or Dougie Baseball.- 116 replies
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- ron gardenhire
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Article: Ron Gardenhire Out As Twins Manager
gunnarthor replied to Parker Hageman's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
Wow, I was pretty sure he'd be back. Well, best of luck to him in the future and best of luck to Ryan in replacing him. -
Article: Twins Trade Targets
gunnarthor replied to RealTwinsFan357's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
Assuming Buxton and Sano are off limits, Hamels would probably require something like two of Meyer/Stewart/Berrios + Polanco and one more prospsect or MLer. And that might not be enough.- 164 replies
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- cole hamelsmookie betts
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I don't think any team would claim Goodrum and stash him on their ML roster. I wouldn't give up a 40 man space for him.
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- jake reed
- niko goodrum
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