gunnarthor
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Everything posted by gunnarthor
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They might make a few moves - I suspect they'll sign a lefty like Cotts. During ST, they could also make a trade. But the big stuff is done.
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Pretty interesting op-ed in the Washington Post by Donald Yee, a professional agent and lawyer. https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2016/01/08/college-sports-exploits-unpaid-black-athletes-but-they-could-force-a-change/ He argued that the economics of college football and basketball are so large and so unfair that the players in tomorrows Alabama/Clemson game should simply boycott it. "Change, however, could come rapidly and fairly easily. If even a small group of players took a stand and refused to participate — imagine if they boycotted or delayed the start of Monday night’s championship game — administrators would have to back down. There’s too much money on the line, and no one could force the teams to play against their will. The schools and the NCAA would simply have to renegotiate the bargain with football and basketball players. Paying players would cost money, of course, but with billions in TV revenue coming in, it shouldn’t be impossible to find a way to spend some of it on labor instead of on exotic woods for new training facilities. Fans would get over the end of the NCAA’s “amateur” status, just as they have accepted pro basketball, hockey and soccer players competing in the Olympics." Earlier this year, football players managed to get the president of a University to step down for his (perceived) record on racial issues. Image what would happen if these kids boycotted tomorrow's game.
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I think you're being a bit paranoid. Sano isn't a delicate flower who is likely to be injured in the OF - he's a pretty good athlete. Sure, he hasn't played the position before but he's not the first player who's been moved to a different position in the majors and he won't be the last. I suspect he'll do well enough - esp if CF is manned by Buxton. As for the concern that he'll have a few down years and trade, I suppose it's possible but I think it's unlikely. And if he really struggles they have options on him. But he seems like he has a better idea of hitting than guys like Delmon Young or Andy Marte.
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sometimes it sucks to be a Vikings fan
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That's a pretty hot take right there - sizzling!
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If healthy, I think they are ok. The backend of Perkins, Jepsen and May are pretty good. I doubt they blow that many leads, which is the important part. I like Pressly more than most and I love Burdi, who I think ends up as a major piece in the end. I think the pen is better than Chicago, Detroit or Cleveland. Sure, I'd love to add Clippard or another arm but the main issue is getting more IP from the starters.
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Where Are They Now? 2011 Top-10 Prospects
gunnarthor replied to Cody Christie's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
David Bromberg - I remember him. I used to have high hopes for him. -
Looks like I did (it's been a long day) ... now to find the delete button ...
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This was a big argument of Bonds supporters - because the PEDs he was using were new drugs and mixtures they weren't on and FDA list of banned drugs so, by definition, he couldn't be using steroids. It was a weak argument.
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Some of that is straight wrong and I believe Posnanski later changed a bit of it. He hasn't (publicly) failed a test but a TX trainer named Kelly Blair bragged that he gave PED to Clemens, Pettitte and Bagwell. Bagwell was linked to Andro and publicly stated that steroids don't make you a better baseball player. He was also in arguably the most PED friendly locker room in MLB. Jeff Pearlman also pointed out the absurdity of some of the "Gee, he just got big, is that all you got?" crowd. Richard Justice, who did vote for Bagwell, has noted the massive size difference in him since he retired, liking him to retired football players (the implication being he was on the juice as a player). It's possible that Bagwell was clean but it's much more likely that he, along with many others on the Astros, was juicing. I like Posnanski but he, like Peter King, has a bit of hero-worship for players and I think his views on Bagwell are a bit naive.
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Everyone knows about Cobb's sins. They aren't relevant to this discussion.
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It's quite possible for people to enjoy baseball and the baseball HOF without supporting PED users.
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Not much out there right now. http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2016/01/twins-interest-will-smith-brewers-trade.html Apparently, both Will Smith and Drew Storen have fans in the Twins FO although there is some concern about Storen's salary, so the Twins might be pretty close to their payroll limit. Twins don't want to go 3/15-18m for Bastardo, so, yeah, probably payroll. Molitor has some hope in DH Park - "Molitor and the Twins feel that Park can make a similarly quick adjustment. “I think that our scouts understand bat speed, eye-to-hand coordination, pitch recognition abilities, even if velocities and breaking pitches are not Major League quality,” said Molitor in reference to Park’s impressive work in the KBO."
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According to nearly all polls, most fans don't want PED users in the HOF. Most players in the HOF don't want PED users in the HOF. And most BBWAA don't think PED users should be in the HOF. You can complain that they aren't treating all forms of cheating the same, but so what? There probably is a difference between physically altering your body (and making opponents play catch up) and a spitting on a baseball. I don't really care about this all that much anymore. If I had a vote, I'd always vote for 10 players. I'd probably vote for the guys I thought were clean first but I'd still vote for the PED guys if I had room. I think PED use should be a consideration in a vote but it probably shouldn't be the end-all be-all. Although it'll be interesting to see how voters will treat players like Manny and Arod who got caught after testing was implemented. As for the 100% gripe, who cares? My god, really? We're going to waste time complaining that 450 people weren't unanimous on a stupid baseball honor? That just seems unhealthy.
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No one thinks anyone is getting denied something because of an unsubstantiated rumor. Some of the guys are linked to PEDs and the links are a lot more than mere rumors. For some, it's confessions, others it's failed tests and others its third party admissions. And many of them have more than one. Additionally, many of these people probably received pretty big benefits from using PEDs (which is why they used them in the first place) while others didn't cheat.
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The Twins aren't using stop gaps. They might give one or two spots to a bullpen reclamation arm. So what? It's not like there's only 8 spots in a bullpen. The Twins, like most teams, will use a bunch of arms next season. Their principle bullpen arms aren't going to be scrap heap guys. Right now, we're arguing about the opening day LOOGY. They'll be fine.
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True, but some of these rumors aren't "unsubstantiated" and the players aren't being penalized - they simply aren't getting an honor that some think they do not deserve. Not quite the same as not being hired because someone alleged X beat up his wife.
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Yeah, that could be true. I'm not going to be upset b/c we didn't get to pay 18m for Tony Sipp's age 32-34 seasons but I would be happy if he made a play for Storen or Clippard, too.
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SI has a nice run down on the quick problems with a defamation lawsuit and what might happen. http://www.si.com/mlb/2016/01/06/ryan-zimmerman-ryan-howard-lawsuit-al-jazeera-peds-dark-side
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Well, sure, if we're only looking at the scrap heap - most of those other bullpen pieces were added from our own farm system and in trades, but that wasn't what this discussion was about. From 99-07 (Ryan's first run), his bullpen's were pretty much always awesome. He has the tools to create a pretty good bullpen again, even if he doesn't spend 18m on an arm.
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http://bbwaa.com/ Griffey was a near unanimous pick - 3 votes shy of 100%. Piazza got in as well. Bagwell, Raines and Hoffman were all around 70% and might get in next year - Raines has one year left on the ballot, I believe. Nomar and Jim Edmonds fell off - I'm not sure they are HOFers but they have some good arguments. Both, for example had more 5 WAR seasons than Tim Raines and in fewer seasons. But voters tend to vote for compiled totals as opposed to seasons, which hurts them.
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The Twins got some pretty good seasons (at least as effective as Sipp's other years) out of bargain bin guys like Fien, Burton, Guerrier, Reyes, Boyer.
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Sure, but Clippard isn't signing for 6m/yr (at least I don't think he is). If you're going to lock up a relief pitcher on a 3/18 deal, I think I'd want a better track record than Tony Sipp.
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Doesn't Sipp himself contradict your argument? He sucked for years, Houston got him last year on a 1y/2.5m deal. Now he signed his big contract. There are a few bullpen arms that are constantly good but most relief pitchers can have some pretty good years followed by a pretty bad year, and vice versa. I don't think any of these 6m guys are necessarily sure things.
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I think we're worrying a bit too much about the pen. Even if they don't grab anyone, they have some nice parts. May, Perkins and Jepsen are solid. Chargois, Meyer and Burdi (not on the 40 man) could be big arms. They have a bit of a clog in the rotation so someone from the Hughes, Gibson, Santana, Milone, Nolasco, Duffey group will probably be in the pen - and maybe two if Berrios makes the team. I actually like Pressly. Sure, they could use another lefty and a guy like Clippard or Storen would make the pen a lot better. But they have a good backend already. As to Span, I'd be ok with him. It would probably mean Buxton starts at AAA but if he's hitting .400 in six weeks, Span would be a good insurance against a Santana-like drop off for Rosario or replace a failed Sano experiment in right field. And if everything is working out, well, then we have the too much talent problem, which is a good problem to have. Plus, I always liked Span.
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