gunnarthor
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Everything posted by gunnarthor
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http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2015/04/mike-redmond-could-be-on-hot-seat.html Not really sure it's fair but Redmond is rumored to be on the hot seat. Miami, a fashionable wildcard pick, is 3-10. They have a few young stars (Stanton, Yelich, Fernandez) but not a lot of talent, really. I'm not sure it's really fair to blame the manager but he could be gone.
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If you could only but the A's and Royals logos on their helmets ....
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I think Klaw mentioned that Cameron was a top 10 guy. If the Twins were going to go with HS bat he or Tucker would fit the bill. The problem with this draft is that a number of the RH pitchers seem too short - the Berrios problem - and the MIers seem more likely to be second basemen than shortstops. I was hoping Kyle Cody would pitch himself into a top 10 guy but it doesn't look like he will. If it was only TJ surgery, I'd be pushing for Matuella but he has a bunch of injuries already. I like everything I've read about Nikorak, the HS pitcher from PA. Big time athlete who hits 97. Could be a Kohl Stewart type.
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That was a pretty interesting* 3 game series. Brett Lawrie took out the Royal's shortstop, Alcedis Escobar, with a slide dirtier than the one that broke Nishi's leg a few years back. Escobar will miss a few games b/c of the injury. The irony was had Lawrie tried for the bag, he would have been safe. But instead he went for Escobar's knee. From deadspin: "Things got really weird after the game, when Lawrie claims he texted a long and heartfelt apology to Escobar only to get an angry reply from the still-fuming shortstop. But the next day, Escobar told reporters that he didn’t hear dick from Lawrie, which would mean that Lawrie not only texted the wrong person, but also got a reply from someone pretending to be Alcides Escobar. That would be very weird!" Then the Royals hit him in game 2, which he took in stride but in game 3, after the A's hit Cain, Lawrie got thrown at by Herrera who threw behind him (it went behind his back although some inaccurately said it was near his head) and later pointed to his head, either meaning "next time I'll hit you in the head" or "think about how stupid you've been" depending on weather you are an A's fan or a Royal's fan. A's and Royal's fans have been going at it on their SBnation accounts, too. One article is called Brett Lawrie is a disgrace to baseball and the other is called Kelvin Herrera is a disgrace to baseball. Guess which fanbase wrote which article. It's actually great troll-work by the Royal's writer in his piece. * And by interesting I mean "so much fun."
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http://www.minorleagueball.com/2015/4/20/8444217/early-thoughts-on-the-2015-mlb-draft Sickels post on the draft. Thinks it's a mediocre one. I read another prospect guy (Klaw?) say it's the worst draft since 2000. Yay. Anyhow, he mentions a bit of the concern toward Aiken's elbow surgery. Some fear it could be career killing. Twins probably don't take that kind of risk at #6 but they'll see the medicals before the draft. Swanson, Bergman and Happ could be some of the first college bats taken and all are middle infielders. Klaw said Happ could be a good power/avg guy at second base and Sickels thinks Bergman slips to second base but Swanson will stay at short. Obviously, we still have some time before the draft comes and some things could change but it doesn't look like a Buxton or Bryant will be in this draft. Of course, the 2000 draft saw Chase Utley fall to the middle of the first round so there will be talent in this draft. But it might not be obvious at first glance.
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Souhan: Buxton Deserves A Look in CF
gunnarthor replied to Seth Stohs's topic in Twins Minor League Talk
I think it's fair to Buxton to let him get going in AA first. He's already had something like 3 rain outs. Hard to get a rhythm going. Let him play well for a month and then talk about bringing him up. -
Yeah, I'm not nearly the draft expert like Jeremy is but I was trying to sort through what McDaniel, Callis and Klaw were putting out there. Obviously, a lot will change over the next 10 weeks but it does look like the Twins will have some choices, moreso than the last few years. In 2012, they were hoping Buxton would fall, in 2013, they would take Stewart unless someone fell, in 2014 they were locked in on Gordon. But this year it seems like there will be a top teir of maybe two or three guys (Tate, Rogers maybe one or two others) and then 6 or 7 guys in the next teir and the Twins can pick between them. At least that's how it looks to me from a million miles away.
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http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/louisvilles-kyle-funkhouser-states-case-for-top-five-selection/ Nice article. Looks like Funkhouser probably won't get to #6 but at least we're seeing some good performances. The article also mentions Zack Burdi, Nick's brother. From the few things out there it looks like the emerging top of the draft is Rogers, Tate, Funkhouser, Swanson.
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40 isn't so bad. I generally feel pretty good but, damn, I can't drop five pounds to save my life anymore.
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Easy Mike, we don't know their plans yet so it's not worth going over the wall. Frankly, I'd be ok if they brought him up to DH and let Vargas figure things out in AAA. He's not ready.
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Could be Daz Cameron.
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It's early but I don't think there is much of a chance of either of them making it to us. Looks like Rodgers is #1 right now but Funkhowser, Kirby should both go in the 2-5 range. If those three are gone, than two of Cameron, Swanson, Happ or Buehler would probably also be gone. (I think Matuella is injured, otherwise he'd be a top 5 pick). And, as someone noted, Klaw says Newman is moving up the charts. The two big questions in the draft are 1) how far does Aiken (and Allard) fall? and 2) The Astros. Did they burn bridges with Close so much that they won't draft players he represents? Do they draft a guy underslot and hoard money for later picks, letting a more talented player drop?
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Is he hurt? He finished the season with another shoulder issue, didn't he? So has he changed his mechanics so to not hurt his arm? If not, Trevor May said Anderson did a good job fixing his control. Make him our new Knapp and send him to look at Meyer.
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From BP chat: Boo Radley (Alabama): Are there any draft-eligible players that you like right now? Sahadev Sharma: Kyle Funkhouser from Louisville. I'm an Illini guy, so I'm curious as to what Tyler Jay can be. Aiken being hurt makes the Cubs at 9 very interesting... Brendan Rodgers seems to be the consensus one at the moment. These things changes so quickly, though, so I'll just keep looking on from afar and watching how it all goes down. LucasDad (MPLS): I think that Sano outperforms Bryant from July on, and that Gallo will be right with them- possibly. Obviously, the Twins will be even slower to promote, hence July on. I know the Gallo prediction is a stretch, but I feel like Sano could be even better than Bryant. Is this crazy to believe? Sahadev Sharma: Crazy? Nah, almost nothing's crazy when it comes to predictions in baseball. I think Sano has a lot to work on and a lot to prove (re-prove, maybe?), and I'm unreasonably high on Bryant. I'm the first to admit that. I love Gallo though. That BP show he put on prior to the Futures Game last summer will forever be etched in my memory, so fun.
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Seth would know better but I believe Ryan and Steil have done a lot of house cleaning of coaches in the minor league systems since Ryan came back. I remember the AA manager in the late 00's had some friction with the FO.
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Yeah, give him time but I haven't been impressed by his decisions yet either. He pinch hit Scafer for Nunez a few days ago when Chicago didn't have a lefty warming up, and then pinch hit Arcia for Robinson a batter later but Chicago had their lefty ready in time so Arcia faced him. He benched Arcia in game 3 against a righty. His bullpen is a mess. I'm not sure how much of that is his fault and how much is the FO's fault but I don't think Gardy would have had these results. He's sticking with Santana at short. Give Gardy credit, he at least tried to get some offense out of CF. Santana in center and Escobar at short makes the team better. I could understand giving Hicks another shot in center (however unlikely) but Molitor didn't even give Santana an inning in center in ST. Kind of closed a door that didn't need to be closed yet. It's early but he doesn't seem to be defending his players. Obviously, Hunter on opening day is an example but both Mauer and Plouffe have been frustrated by umpire strike zones. I think Gardy would have been a bit vocal about it, if nothing else. As Jesse at TT joked, he played his "get away" team in game 2 of the White Sox series. I understand letting Nunez, Robinson and Herrmann get at-bats early in the season but I think he should let his starters get a rhythm first or at least not bench 4 starters in a game right away.
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He and McDaniel both commented in chats last week that they expect Aiken to fall. McDaniel suggested somewhere after pick 16 and Klaw said he could fall out of the first round, IIRC. The worry is apparently how different his injury is to "normal" TJ recipients. Obviously, I don't know enough but I really liked the idea of us grabbing him ala Giolito. But doesn't sound like it's in the cards.
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Jokin summed it up pretty well but it worth pointing out that, once he got some reps at a level and consistent playing time, he was pretty good. That's why most prospect evaluators still have him as the #1 or #2 prospect in baseball. Give him time to adapt to AA, we always hear it's the biggest jump. He'll be fine.
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That comp has been made a lot, including by Keith Law.
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I think he'll be a better on-base guy than Crawford was.
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I think everyone needs to calm down a bit. He'll be fine. Does anyone remember fretting over him hitting .216 in the Gulf Coast league in 2012? Or his slow start in A+ a year later? He hit .245/.295/.337 in his first 23 games. He hit .392/.503/.583 in his next 34 games to finish the year. He never really got going last year and he's making the jump to AA. Give him time. The talent will win out.
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I'm not going to make a new thread for Rubio, Santorum, Jindal, Graham, Christie etc individually when they enter but I'll note that Rubio has entered the race. In some ways, Rubio isn't that bad (in my eyes) as a GOP could be. He's one of the few republicans who understands immigration reform that's more nuanced than "deport everyone" and he isn't as draconian as others (talk about damning with faint praise). Still, I don't really see how he has a shot here. The big ticket and the mainstream republicans (i.e. chamber of commerce) - Jeb Bush - is also from Fl so he probably loses tons of local support. Rubio doesn't have the love of the tea party. He hasn't been around that long to say he stands for something - give Santorum credit on that, at least, voters know what Santorum stands for. Rubio doesn't have any institutional heft like Graham does or any executive successes like Jindal and Christie. He's young. I think he should have sat this one out, thrown grenades at Clinton and campaigned hard for the GOP candidate and then be the front-runner in four years. But now that's gone, I think. It's also good news for the dems b/c, under FL law (if I understand it correctly), he can't run for Pres and senator so it opens up a senate seat that is now in play.
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Yeah, they are looking a lot worse than I thought they would but it's a bit early to draw lasting conclusions. Some of the guys are just chairs on the titanic anyway until better players come up. I think Billy Beane said it took two months to know what kind of club you've got. So, even if we want to halve that, let's wait until May before we get too nuts.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/13/us/politics/hillary-clinton-2016-presidential-campaign.html?_r=0 And Clinton has officially jumped in. On paper, I'm a pretty reliable Dem vote - I'm a lawyer and work at non-profit agencies and helped a lot of people on the margins. But, cripes, I really don't want a Clinton v. Bush general election. I don't really see anyone on the Dem side upsetting her although O'Malley is a pretty strong politician with some successful races under his belt. He could land some hits on her, especially in debates.
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I'm pretty sure if someone threw a wad of gum at you, you'd whine or act "butt-hurt." I'm honestly baffled by your anger on this stuff. It's ridiculous. For the fans of the Padres and Giants, it added a little more to a growing rivalry.
