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gunnarthor

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Everything posted by gunnarthor

  1. gunnarthor
    I'm not sure how much of it is "mentoring", i.e. the teaching of young guys how the majors work, as opposed to filling a need and having a calming presence in the locker room. I think a plan of platooning Vargas with (for example) Alvarez isn't horrible. Vargas can't hit righties but might kill lefties and Alvarez can still crush RH pitching (.848 OPS against RH pitching last year, although he played in Camden). The Twins are pretty set at most positions but not really at DH. Park is AAA bound, Palka needs at least more time there. The two main DH options right now are Vargas and Grossman. For some reason, many of us seem to think Grossman should be DFA'd but want Vargas to be the fulltime DH, despite Grossman being the better player. So I don't think we should overly worry if the FO gets someone like Alvarez to make DH stronger.
  2. gunnarthor
    I think the problem with Palka / Kiriloff comparisons is that Palka's weak spots - plate discipline - is a real issue that Kiriloff hasn't shown. Everyone knew Palka (and ABW) could hit the ball a mile. Frankly, the minors are full of hitters with plus or even plus plus power that never made it because they couldn't hit ML caliber pitching. I like Palka a lot and I think it was one of Ryan's sneaky trades. I'm actually optimistic on him and think he'll be a solid ML for a few seasons. But Kiriloff has the much higher ceiling, even if he's farther away. I think he's the better prospect.
  3. gunnarthor
    It's not that crazy. They have a lot of young talent and a few vets that shouldn't be better. I think 75 is about right but they could easily steal a few extra games.
  4. gunnarthor
    Trump's ripping off the ACLU 'see you in court' slogan. Of course, the ACLU wins in court.
  5. gunnarthor
    Yeah, you're right. They just built that stadium for the 2012 year.
  6. gunnarthor
    Dems were in the minority in the Senate when Scalia died. They did nuke the filibuster to get in some of Obama's lower court judicial nominees when they had a small majority but the rule change excluded USSC nominees. You'll read a lot about that if the republicans nuke the filibuster now.
  7. gunnarthor
    Isn't part of the Marlins appeal that the new owner can con someone into giving him a sweet new stadium/tv deal? Which is why the asking price is so high?
  8. gunnarthor
    The young kids don't watch baseball might be oversold a bit, too. When I was a younger guy, baseball was my least favorite sport. In college, it was Vikings, T-Wolves, Gophers ..... Twins. But as I got older, baseball grew on me and now it's the sport I follow the most. And I have a lot more earning power than 20 year old me had. :-)
  9. gunnarthor
    I think the problem is the Twins don't think they have a DH right now. Vargas was crap in AAA last year - he put up a .233/.361/.424 line. At the ML level, he was worse on both avg and obp but slugged a bunch of HR to have a strong slg percentage. He's most likely not a .270 iso guy, in which case he's a low avg, low on-base, moderate power guy who really hits LH pitching and not much else. So getting a LH bat to platoon with him at DH might make sense.
  10. gunnarthor
    I'm not sure how I feel about less games. I like 162 games. I don't want less baseball. And I doubt the owners want to lose out on that revenue so it's probably DOA anyway. I think it was Jayson Stark who suggested bringing back more planned double headers and making Mondays a no-baseball day so players had a set rest day (and a rainout day). That way, they'd have just as many games but fewer playing days and more off days. I'm not sure if it was completely thought out though. Stark's fun but he can be a little nutty.
  11. gunnarthor
    Yeah but pace of play should be dealt with by enforcing the pitching clock, not letting batters step out, etc. These changes don't really move the margins, as others have noted.
  12. gunnarthor
    My few thoughts on this. First, starting the runner at second in extra innings is the dumbest idea ever. Anyone think Game 7 of the 1991 World Series would have been better if Atlanta got a guy on second to start the inning? The guys thinking about this are only thinking about 14 inning slogs in August between non-contending teams. Baseball's biggest problem isn't pace of play, it's that it's become incredibly regional. Twins fans don't care about the game much past the Twins. Most of us probably can't name five starters the Reds used last year. Part of that has been caused by the unbalanced schedule where we only play Baltimore 6 times at most and play Detroit 18 or 19 times. But part of it is also the crack down on things that bring attention to games/teams - showing an opponent up, baseball justice, legit rivalries outside your division. None of the suggested solutions really deal with those issues.
  13. gunnarthor
    We own a bit of Disney. It's a good safe stock - I think my grandkids will be watching Disney cartoons 30 years from now. It has a nice dividend as well. We bought at 108 and 93, IIRC. I probably wouldn't jump in at 109 today if I overly cared about timing market (which I usually don't).
  14. gunnarthor
    I hate all three but the rookie league thing is horrific.
  15. gunnarthor
    I hope Morneau is the MVP of the tourney and gets a nice big league contract. Also, really exciting that Rodriquez made the PR team. Perhaps there's something there after all.
  16. gunnarthor
    This is a good link to the Twins payroll over the upcoming seasons. I agree the Twins could sign a big FA - not Machado big - but I think the Twins brought in Falvey and Levine because those two came from orgs that created some pretty good teams by building from within. Here's a list of the FA after this season - http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2016/08/2017-18-mlb-free-agent-list.html and the following season http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2016/12/2018-19-mlb-free-agents.html. Obviously, some may sign extensions before that.
  17. gunnarthor
    80 wins seems high but it's not impossible if the pitching rotation stabilizes. After last years disaster it's easy to forget how much young talent the Twins have. I think 75 wins is more likely but they should be a fun team to watch this year.
  18. gunnarthor
    Remember a few years ago when Tyler Kolek was extremely hyped HS RH pitching prospect? A lot of rumors that he'd go #1 overall but Houston took Aiken. Miami took Kolek, who is no longer on top 100 lists, and the White Sox took Rodon who is going to be a pain in the ass for Twins fans for a decade. Take the college arm.
  19. gunnarthor
    Nice. Still hoping for Faedo to have a big season but Greene is a pretty exciting prospect. Really hope we can get someone to fall at 35 and 37.
  20. gunnarthor
    Keep in mind before the draft pool was put into effect in 2012 Twins ownership was a bit frugal with their money. For example, both Revere and Span were considered reaches to be drafted where they were and the Twins often signed players who they knew would sign for a reasonable amount. Which meant they didn't get a lot of lottery tickets in late rounds. Now, not spending money didn't kill the Twins but it did change how they could approach the draft. Soft tossing, control artist college SP were a pretty good deal for the Twins but had limited upside.
  21. gunnarthor
    That's probably why most of this is in the minor league forum.
  22. gunnarthor
    I think someone else posted the fangraphs guys take on Kendall as well. He was pretty high on him, too. If the Twins take him, I won't complain.
  23. gunnarthor
    Sure, but we're a long way from using any ML experience to grade these drafts. The real problem was the 08-11 drafts with only the 09 draft giving us anything.
  24. gunnarthor
    Well, I'd like them to be top 5 as well but Klaw had them #3 last year. Graduating out the 2012 class which had the #2 pick and 4 more picks in the top 72 and comparing to the 2015 draft which had one pick total in the the top 75 would naturally result in a drop. These rankings are snapshots in time. BA rankings over the last few years (which is done before that years draft) since the 2012 draft has the Twins ranked 10, 3, 2, and 10. Only one team (Boston) was ranked top 5 three years in a row. BA hasn't released their org rankings yet but assuming the Twins fall another step they'd still likely jump back up with 3 picks in the top 37. So, while I want it to be better, I'm not sure there's a lot of reason to expect that. http://www.baseballamerica.com/minors/organization-talent-rankings-list/#5ptpKmkWu1TjMo5L.97
  25. gunnarthor
    Grossman has a legit skill - he can take a walk and he can hit LH pitchers. He defense is bad but in a platoon, which is how apparently he'll be used, he's ok. Santana, I don't get. I'll just blame it on Molitor and move on.
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