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gunnarthor

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Everything posted by gunnarthor

  1. gunnarthor
    I think it depends on a case by case basis. If we traded Plouffe for X on the assumption that Escobar could play third until Sano was up (and that opens short for Santana), I think that would be ok. Arcia, on the other hand, doesn't have an obvious replacement in line. So unless the Twins were getting an incredible deal in return, I'd be opposed to trading him. And the Twins could also trade for ML ready talent, too. Plouffe for a young LFer, for instance.
  2. gunnarthor
    Arcia could be an interesting trade chip. His LH power would play up in both Arizona and Cincinnati. But I'd sure want a lot back if the Twins were going to move a guy with that much team control. Honestly, I'm not sure I'd trade him for Archie Bradley.
  3. gunnarthor
    As noted above, he works on the side.
  4. gunnarthor
    http://theconcourse.deadspin.com/****-it-tv-reporter-quits-on-air-to-fight-for-mariju-1637568743/+barryap I almost think this has to be fake but apparently it's real. Anyhow, news lady curses on live TV and quits her job, camera goes to anchor woman who is stunned. Great reaction.
  5. gunnarthor
    Looks like Atlanta is doing a Bill Smith/Terry Ryan switch. Wren, a longtime Assistant GM to John Schuerholz, was promoted in 07. Strong scouting background but his drafts were questioned by guys like Klaw and some top prospects failed to break through at the ML level, although some unknown prospects developed pretty well. Sounds like Schuerholz or former GM Jon Hart, who was recently hired by Atlanta as a special assistant, will be the new/old GM. http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2014/09/braves-could-make-baseball-operations-changes.html
  6. gunnarthor
    LEN recently wrote that he thought the Twins and Diamondbacks might pursue a trade in the offseason for a pitcher. MLB traderumors says the Reds are also probably going to move a pitcher or two. Reds are probably looking for a left fielder or shortstop so we might not be ideal fit for them. Arizona is pretty deep in pitching - their top 4 prospects are all pitchers and all in mlb.com's top 100 prospect list and they have, over the last few years, promoted a number of young arms. Some pretty good, some not so good. They are pretty weak offensively though. I'm not quite sure if they think they are a few moves away from competing or in whole rebuild though.
  7. gunnarthor
    I think there is no way Hicks starts next season on the ML roster. They'll send him back to AAA. I'm really starting to warm up to the idea of pursuing Colby Rasmus for CF.
  8. gunnarthor
    From the Boston Globe's Cafardo - http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2014/09/20/quicker-fixes-needed-some-rebuilding-mlb-teams/NRAeBvRgwe6OtFXMueBwQO/story.html Not really a surprise to read this but "It looks more and more like Gardenhire will return next season. A Twins executive said he would be “surprised” if Gardenhire didn’t come back based on his young team playing hard and having fun playing the spoiler role down the stretch. The Twins will need to continue to revamp their pitching staff, but they have young, talented players joining the team over the next two years." Of course, Anderson's contract is still up at the end of the year.
  9. gunnarthor
    But we'll create a ton of threads expressing absolute outrage over it. How long was the Joe Benson thread? At the end of the day, I don't get the anger on this but I think Suzuki is pretty clearly the better option and he's not blocking anyone as the team has made the commitment to him over Pinto.
  10. gunnarthor
    I'm honestly curious, what do people think Pinto can be? He was a somewhat divisive prospect - Jason Parks at baseball prospectus loved him and ranked him #56, but that was the only list he made. Other prospectors were less kind. Klaw called him a AAAA guy, who couldn't catch at the ML level and didn't have enough bat for 1b/DH. My view is that, at best, he could be a slightly above avg hitter - say something in the 105 OPS+ range and a minus behind the plate. But, over the course of a full season, something around a solid 2 WAR player. Suzuki, from 08-11 and again this year, has been a more or less reliable 3 WAR player. The concern, I imagine on him, is the 12-13 years where he wasn't very good. If this year is an illusion and he reverts to a .220/.280/.310 hitter, clearly Pinto is the way to go. I'm a bit more optimistic on Suzuki remaining in the 2-3 WAR level next year, partly b/c I think he's batting style plays better here than in Oakland. The Twins have apparently also made that bet since they are committed to him for two more years. So I don't think Gardy is doing anything wrong by keeping Suzuki as the main catcher these last few weeks.
  11. gunnarthor
    Probably not.
  12. gunnarthor
    I was responding to Mike's suggestion that they trade him in the offseason. If we started him every game in the final week, it wouldn't change things. Longterm, it's very likely that Suzuki is the better option. I'm not sure Pinto isn't showing us more or less who he is. He's a low avg guy with good pop who can take a walk. That's a solid player but not an all star. His OPS+ is about 100. His iso walk rate is about .100 and his iso power is about .200. Over the next two years, he may supplant Suzuki behind the plate. But I don't think Gardy is doing anything wrong playing Suzuki, who the team is committed to, over Pinto.
  13. gunnarthor
    Actually, I believe that is a violation of the CBA. And even if it isn't, it would set a horrible precedent that the other owners and commissioner would certainly not allow.
  14. gunnarthor
    Pinto should be the backup catcher, which is what he's been since the call up. I don't think he has much trade value.
  15. gunnarthor
    Yep, that's why it's good to have a GM and owner who don't listen to the Monday morning quarter backing.
  16. gunnarthor
    Good luck to him.
  17. gunnarthor
    I was looking at the last Twins team to have a big jump - 2000 to 2001. The position players in 2000 amassed about 6 WAR total, the next year they amassed 26. Three big gains: 1) Corey Koskie had a 6+ WAR season 2) Two former top 100 prospects had breakout years - Hunter and Guzman 3) No one else really sucked. Only 3 position players generated any negative WAR and TK only gave them 70 at bats. In 2000, 10 players generated -5.0 WAR. How this fits to the current Twins: Koskie was an unheralded prospect who turned into a pretty solid MLer. While 2001 was his peak year, he had a few more 4 WAR seasons. Dozier could be like him. He'll be 28 next year. The Twins have a handful of former top 100 prospects on the ML roster now and some of them could certainly bust out. (Hicks, Schaffer, Gibson, Arcia, Pinto and May have all been top 100 at some point and haven't yet solidified their ML careers). I actually think #3 is the hardest. I pointed out above that Kubel, Colabello, Morales etc gave the Twins a lot of negative value. A lot of those at-bats are going to go to Vargas (as DH) and our new LFer. If those two guys can hold down the fort, the team could surprise. However, if Vargas turns into a pumpkin and we have another crappy LFer (to go with bad CF defense) .... Oh, one other thing. The 2001 Twins were pretty healthy. 5 players played in 148 games or more.
  18. gunnarthor
    Adding to this, I really enjoyed The Baseball Codes. Really fun insight into the rules the players adhere too and a lot of good stories to go with them.
  19. gunnarthor
    I think his implication was that they were working together more and he thought good results were likely to follow that. It's sorta the opposite of the fun bunch that was just happy to be here. That said, at this point Gardy is such a divisive figure that anyone who wants to is going to be able to nitpick anything to death.
  20. gunnarthor
    Well the solution is obvious, we just need you to suit up.
  21. gunnarthor
    None of those trades are remotely fair to the Nats or Astros.
  22. gunnarthor
    Here's the actual quote: ""These guys are a pretty special group here. We haven't won a lot, but god-dang, they're in the dugout standing up, rooting for each other," the manager said after Tuesday's ninth-inning rally. "We've got a little something working here, and you hope you can keep it, because it's going to get better. It's going to get a lot better around here. It's going to get better in a hurry because of that. And they're holding each other accountable, too. They're going to each other, they talk to each other. That's where you start making headway."" I don't think he's sugar coating it. He admits they aren't winning. But he likes how they are starting to play and I believe the team has improved its offense significantly in the second half.
  23. gunnarthor
    Don't take this thread too seriously, it should be mostly for fun. Neyer posted a few years back that a .500 team should have about 35-37 WAR - (and WAR has a lot of problems and I don't really like it but it's simple back of the napkin calculations make these kind of threads simple). This years team has amassed about 23 WAR - 16 from position players and 7 from pitchers. The team, then, needs to get about another 12 WAR, either from improvements or getting rid of some bad players. Position players: 5 guys who shouldn't be part of the future (Parm, Colabello, Morales, Herrmann and Kubel) managed -4.4 WAR. Just giving those 875 PA to (hopefully) Mauer and Vargas should improve the team. Assuming that everyone else stays the same (a bad assumption), the Twins would still need another 7.5 WAR improvement - a lot of that can come from a bounce back Mauer season (say 2 more WAR) and improved rotation. Pino and Correa combined for about 34 starts and 0 WAR. Nolasco had another 25 starts at 0 WAR. So a lot of room to improve there. Assuming that Gibson and Hughes can again combine to be worth about 5.5 WAR or more in 60 starts, they could expect some realistic improvements. Nolasco goes from 0 to 1 WAR in 25 starts May goes from -1.0 WAR to 1 WAR in 20 starts Milone goes from -1.0 to 1 WAR in 20 starts That's a 5 WAR improvement and, with a better Mauer, pretty close to 35 WAR. They'd need 37 starts to be covered by Meyer, Swarzak, Duensing, Pino, etc. to be better than 0 WAR, of course.
  24. gunnarthor
    Sure. All the "I"'s in his comment meant he was talking about a team. But I suppose we can move this thread down the "If only the Twins cared" road ...
  25. gunnarthor
    Maybe he was talking about the celebrations. Can't party much if you win in game 163 and have to go to the playoffs the next day. Washington is doing it right! Anyhow, I liked Span, liked the trade and am glad he's healthy in Washington.
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