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Platoon

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Everything posted by Platoon

  1. Platoon
    Just as it seems some players can't handle the mental aspect of batting lead off, some cannot deal with the pressure of the 3 and 4 hole. Being the man, is not as easy as hitting HR in non power spots. It's why whenever Plouffe, and Dozier were advocated for in those lineup spots, solely on their HR # I felt it a poor idea. Hopefully with Sano the days of that being an option are past. I don't know the value of Plouffe on the market. I would not give him away either. But when one considers a list of the feared middle of the order power hitters in the AL, I doubt you would find his name on anyone's list, routside of MN.
  2. Platoon
    I wonder if the Twins view Santana as the Buxton Backup! We may or may not agree, but it's quite possible. Buxtons history is slow starts at every level, and there is no doubt his MLB debut fit that profile. His case is complicated. The "Sano Experiment" will have a better chance of working with elite coverage from CF. he provides that. And he won't learn to hit ML pitching in Rochester. Those things beg for his inclusion going north. His lack of success at the plate in late summer, and the possibility of saving service time??, makes him a candidate for Rochester. Myself? I bring him up, let him learn this level. He needs to see ML pitching, he cuts Sanos coverage area by 15 ft, and if he can't handle the struggle of the learning curve, frankly he is not going to play at the level everyone projects. Self confidence is the 6th tool. Regardless of fan hope, and FO hype, the Twins are a work in progress. The auditioning of Park at DH, Sano in RF, and the apparent reliance on unproven prospects in the BP confirm that. They might yet contend, but it won't be because they are a solid proven entity when ST camp breaks!
  3. Platoon
    If this were a TD game thread, your capitalization of the word "patience" would concern me! But since it's an intellectual discussion on the decisions of the Twins FO regarding roster management, I will assume your finger just bumped the CAPS key!
  4. Platoon
    Since you have 12 pitchers, I assume the backup catcher on the bench refers to either Suzuki or Ryan? And 12 pitchers? Hopefully the day of the third catcher and 13th pitcher are gone. But as one poster noted, NOLASCO! No settling of the Twins staff can take place until his roster situation is resolved. If he is here, it means 2 or 3 other pitchers slide somewhere, including all the way to Rochester.
  5. Platoon
    UNLESS HES DELMON YOUNG! I appreciate someone who can see both sides of a discussion, there have to be two sides, or it ain't a discussion. You are correct sir! It will work itself out. Everything does. The other side of the discussion is the cost in wins during this period. Two points, the thought that EE would still be rummaging around LF without an injury to guide the Twins speaks of itself. Second, Plouffe would have to approach T-Ball level aptitude to get benched. The Twins seldom bench a veteran. Regardless, is there a defensive metric for "rummaging"?
  6. Platoon
    They would likely, and likely will. But when? And if they do, and don't trade Plouffe, where do they stash him? Signing Park, and not trading Plouffe paints them in a corner. This is a team that sent EE to rummage around in LF.
  7. Platoon
    And in my mind, an innovative team would take advantage of those artifificially inflated Dozier numbers, and sell as high as possible to someone who needs help at that position. To me that is one of the FO largest detriments. They don't/won't take advantage of an opportunity to move someone on the upside.
  8. Platoon
    I think I saw him just before Xmas at the Play it Again Sports in Bloomington. He was looking for a good deal on an OF'ers glove. He told the clerk he didn't want to spend too much, not until he knew whether they were really fricking serious about the idea!
  9. Platoon
    To address your last paragraph first, the Twins have little history of doing anything about a player in a Dozier like situation until something forces their hand. My take on Dozier is there are only going to be two versions available. The current Dozier, but which will be far less than first half Dozier but not as bad as second half Dozier. A few less SO, and a lot less HR's. The other version has him changing his approach, significantly lower his SO's, and hitting maybe .275? But his HR's become a thing of the past. Why? First off, he has no "natural" power. Second, he sat on high inside FB to pull them severely. If he changes his approach, those pitches will get by him. He can't do both. I don't think the Twins year is now. They have too many issues, especially on the mound, to be legitimate. It would be the perfect time to sell as high as you can with him. Or trade Polanco. Having both is a waste of a resource. BTW, I don't think it's fair to disregard Park in the race for the SO crown. I fear he will give Miguel all he can handle!
  10. Platoon
    I don't think this is a popular opinion here, but I would sell high, or as high as I could on Dozier in a heartbeat. His plus as a hitter is the HR. Even if, and at least from last year it looks doubtful, he learns to hit the away stuff, he ends up as a very average stick. But since there is less than zero chance this will happen, we move on to Berrios and Buxton. Berrios will have to pitch lights out in Rochester. Just decent won't do it. The Twins have too many contractual problems in the SP staff. I would bet a years subscription to TD that they will LOOK for reasons to leave him in Rochester. Buxton? He better make it, or the OF will be somewhere between a disaster and the Titanic!
  11. Platoon
    If that's the path they take, I was, I am, and I will be all for it. But if they use April and May to audition 32 year old journey men, while games are given away, I intend to write a firmly worded post on TD protesting in the strongest language possible!
  12. Platoon
    No doubt this is used by most FO's to describe a below average hitter, in a positive light. But IMHO a prime defensive player in CF, SS, and behind the plate will prevent more runs, than an offense first one can produce. Needless to say, everyone wants both offense and defense, but there aren't enough of them to go around.
  13. Platoon
    Nice summary. Thank you for making it clear that catching is a defense first position. My biggest "aggravation" about Suzuki was his defense, primarily his throwing, not his offense. We got spoiled by Mauer. His offensive stats set our bar a little higher than it might have to be.
  14. Platoon
    Without being critical, or trying to start a bleep storm, is Arcia "working with Brunansky" going to help. And what exactly do the Twins want. There offense was overall last year, anemic. Opportunistic but anemic. The SO rate was high, guys like Sano, Dozier, and even Rosario were as likely to strikeout get a hit, in some cases more so. Even Mauer was way up. And then they signed what could well be the new SO king of the AL, Park. So far all they have done is talk about plate discipline. But their selective enforcement of it does not make them seem serious. It makes it seem more like an excuse when demoting players. I realize Arcia needs to clean up his strike zone, but that list is really much longer than just him!
  15. Platoon
    I am not quite as high on Park as others here. If he does adjust, a big if, then to hit 28 HR's he will have to hit them at an amazing pace in the second half. Kind of the anti Dozier! Expecting him to compete because Kang was passable is similar to saying the Nishy signing was going to work based on Ichiro! As for Berrios, I really hope they bring him up in May. But for both that to happen, and for four pitchers to win in double digits, something unTwin like will have to happen. They would likely have to move a starter pitching well, or eat a salary. The Twins move very slowly in the first months of a season, very slowly.
  16. Platoon
    Like the setup of the Twins offense will completely depend on what they do with Buxton, the pitching staffs big question is Nolasco. He is the elephant in the dugout. Since nothing historically says they will go to the lengths necessary to get rid of him, his presence disrupts the entire pitching roster. The same history says he will not be forced into the pen, but barring injury will be a SP. Failure will result in another convenient ailment, and off to the DL. Success will result in a conundrum. You couldn't trade him when he had no value, and now you can't trade a "valuable" member of the rotation. Inevitably the Twins will resort to there SOP fallback position! They will send Tonkin back to Rochester!
  17. Platoon
    You would think the Twins would have at least let it leak through one of their trusted media sources, that they of course had an interest in Chapman, but felt they need to do their due diligence regarding the recent allegations of abuse. When someone, in this case the Yankees, inevetibally made the trade, the requisite "we considered the asking price to be too high, considering the unresolved character issues" statement could follow. Such a maneuver would have salved both camps. As for me, I would not sign him. I don't think athletes need to be role models, but this incident, and some preceding it, are beyond what most reasonable people consider acceptable. Let someone else deal with him when he inevitabally commits his next offense.
  18. Platoon
    I think Dozier is a decent second baseman. I know decent isn't a saber metric term, but it's close. I think his diving for everything except pop ups, makes his range appear greater than it is. His arm is average. He is aggressive, and never takes a play off. I do think he struggled coming up with poor throws on steals last year. There were definitely a few that got away. Hitting? Either he will have to change his approach, or he will have to square up an extremely high percentage of the very few FB up in the zone he sees. If neither happens, you will see far more of post ASG Dozier than you would like to. There was another post about HR's which seemed to indicate that he would replicate his last two years of high 20's HR's. I just can't see that happening.
  19. Platoon
    Plouffe. What was his ranking for causing his team mates to start looking for their gloves and caps, getting ready to return to the field on defense? AKA GIDP. While I doubt their is an accurate statistic for it, if Plouffe is the second scariest bat you have to face in a lineup, then your lineup has problems offensively! Don't get my take wrong here, Plouffe is an acceptable MLB player. But if he is apparently one of your "immovable" players, your talent level is not that high. If on the other hand the orginisation viewed him as a valuable piece, but tradeable for value, especially considering the glut at a position, then your orginisation would be considered, IMHO, to have a realistic view of their talent. As of this writing, I think that view has been expressed loudly and clearly!
  20. Platoon
    There is only a slight difference between these numbers. Twins ….. 0.503 Tigers …. 0.482 CWS …... 0.509 Nats …… 0.472 Jays …… 0.499 Mariners.. 0.492 Orioles ... 0.459 Astros .… 0.473 Dbacks … 0.490 Reds …… 0.481 Padres ….0.476 Brewers .. 0.471 Rockies... 0.462 Slight enough that management and luck can also be considered in their analysis. Which brings me to this point. Since the financial template is set, that leaves only management as a practical tool to improve the winning %. And since teams with more money will always have the advantage, they will always have an overall higher winning %. All pro sports teams go through cycles, the cycles are determined by more than the spending of available revenue. The Yankees and Boston are proof that regardless of your spending, you are going to lose. To me the importance lies in what you do to shorten the losing cycle. Do you maximize your talent resources? Is your orginisation innovative? Are your minor league teams well funded, and well managed? Do you make your own luck? But to me the biggest factor is this. Do you try to out the best team on the field your financial resources and current talent structure allow? Making decisions that have a reward. Or do you go with an approach that in reality simple a sporting version of "CYA"? Nothing ventured, nothing gained, is nothing won.
  21. Platoon
    A laudable goal indeed, but not always a good one. Sometimes, you have to bite the bullet and start over. Maybe if you have unlimited resources you can avoid it, but even then it's not easy. Sports teams in general go in cycles. Refusing to acknowledge that leaves you in between. For a long time. As far as whether Ryan said it or not, he only says things publicly he thinks we want to hear, and things the ticket dept can sell.
  22. Platoon
    Is Achmahd LH? Can he hit the high 80's, a little slider? A LOOGY? Is there a posting fee? I bet we could pick him up for 2 yrs/3.75M. Throw in Duensing and an invite to the ML ST camp.
  23. Platoon
    I have always been of the opinion that personality and the ability to "get along" with the field staff had far too much weight in roster decisions. Someone pointed out Morneau as proof that this theory is implausible. Morneau could be an arguement were it not for his injuries and performance. Maybe other teams are the same, lord knows I don't follow them closely. But the Twins history is littered with the Liriannos, Hardys, Gomezs, Garzzas and Ortizs of baseball. Was Hicks what the Yankees wanted/needed. Or did his past frustrations to the orginisation make him more available than another option? Players have a responsibility to comport themselves in an acceptable manner, they don't have to attempt to conform to a one size fits all system. Good management accepts a wide variety of characters, it doesn't exclude them out of hand.
  24. Platoon
    The Twins didn't gain insight into their processes of scouting, player development, player evaluation, or player valuation. They didn't change their philosophy about risk-taking, or about how to time the developmeant........ I can't personally say if they made all or any changes in these areas! But there is a difference between changing scouting, development, evaluation etc, and actually putting a different "style" of player on the field. You can draft and sign all the 5 tools players and hi velocity pitchers you want. They make the owners of the Chatanooga franchise very happy. But until you start bring them in to replace guys who haven't won a thing, replace players signed or extended into contracts based on that old philosophy of "comfortable vets", and traded from excess to balance the roster, all those purported changes are simple PR chaff!
  25. Platoon
    This is TD, logic is not allowed! If you wish to pursue such a futile course, I would suggest a more appropriate site. Perhaps Politico? :)
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