Platoon

.....With that start in the minds of Duffey and the Twins organization, this upcoming start is his last chance to prove himself in the majors. His stats in Triple-A have been impressive throughout the season, but those stats need to transfer into the MLB. >>>>>>>. Ok, so I got a little carried away with my sarcasm. As you did with your prediction of pending doom! My comment was mostly driven by my frustration with the constant labeling of players as successful or as failures after a few games. And it seems this year it's exacerbated with the number of younger players. It's a tough game, it takes years to master. But, alas we live in the "instant gratification" age of unenlightnenment!

Wow! His last chance? Ever? To make the majors? At 24? WOW! If every pitcher in MLB who blew his first two starts never got another chance, there would be about 12 pitchers currently in the majors.

But if you want to stir up a nest, just mention getting rid of anyone but Nunez or Robinson on this roster, and the defenders will remind you of their value, statistical or emotional to the team.

Scored a rouge? Or in rouge?

First off, I don't recall mentioning Santana or Vargas in my comment. That said, I am not sure if your data represented minor league or MLB numbers or both. Either way, Sano does draw walks, and does strike out a lot. I don't need advance metrics to tell me that he is not the free swinger that Oswaldo is. As Nelson pointed out in his article, Arcia had 34 HR's in his part time seasons, third most for anyone under 24. That's not chump change. His numbers when he got injured were decent, and unlike everyone else when his medical issues cleared, he just got left in Rochester. Something is amiss there, as his hot streak numbers nor his cold streak numbers seem Immaterial to his return. Back to Sano. I love him. I went to Beloit just to see him play. My comments were meant to address that the fawning may be slightly premature. I am not sure he has even been to all the parks in the AL Central yet?

I doubt Terry Ryan would do a trade for Jose Reyes, he doesn't seem to fit the Twins mold or clubhouse choirboy that he likes so much.>>>>> It does certainly cut down on your list of available trade prospects, if they either have to be members of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, or at least appear to be!

If I have my dates right, Ryan took over in the fall of '94, then left in the fall of '07 and returned in the fall of 2011. The following is the teams record for those years and Bill Smiths. Of the 6 division titles, 2 were won during the Smith era. And with the exception of a 3-2 win in '01 over the Athletics, all the rest of the playoff series were basically wipeouts. There doesn't appear to be anything in these numbers that would warrant the job security he currently appears to hold. Only the Pope and that little short chubby guy in N. Korea exceed his. As for the current plethora of talent in the minors, if you keep drafting in the first 5 spots for several years, you should be able to find an acorn on occasion. Ask the Astros and Cubs. Or you could ask the Cardinals, who have been drafting far later than these three teams. It seems the only way anyone in this organization can lose their job is be the second coming of Norwood Teague, or of course, lose 90 games 4 years in a row. 1995 AL Central 5th 56 88 .389 Marty Cordova (ROY) 1996 AL Central 4th 78 84 .481 1997 AL Central 4th 68 94 .420 1998 AL Central 4th 70 92 .432 1999 AL Central 5th 63 97 .394 2000 AL Central 5th 69 93 .426 2001 AL Central 2nd 85 77 .525 2002 AL Central 1st 94 67 .584 Won ALDS (Athletics) 3–2 Lost ALCS (Angels) 4–1 2003 AL Central 1st 90 72 .556 Lost ALDS (Yankees) 3–1 2004 AL Central 1st 92 70 .568 Lost ALDS (Yankees) 3–1 Johan Santana (CYA) 2005 AL Central 3rd 83 79 .512 2006 AL Central 1st 96 66 .593 Lost ALDS (Athletics) 3–0 Justin Morneau (MVP) Johan Santana (CYA, TC) 2007 AL Central 3rd 79 83 .488 2008 AL Central 2nd 88 75 .540 2009 AL Central 1st 87 76 .534 Lost ALDS (Yankees) 3–0 Joe Mauer (MVP) 2010 AL Central 1st 94 68 .580 Lost ALDS (Yankees) 3–0 Ron Gardenhire (MOY) 2011 AL Central 5th 63 99 .389 2012 AL Central 5th 66 96 .407 2013 AL Central 4th 66 96 .407 2014 AL Central 5th 70 92 .432

Arcia was arguably as good a hitter in the minors, and is back there. And Dozier is finding out that if you only hit one pitch out of the park, it leaves an awful lot of plate to cover. I do agree Sano will be awfully good. But I think the annointment might be premature. Plus, since that epic day in July, I think the Twins are about 15-20.

[quote name="Minniman" post="387026" I wouldn't be so sure. Oswald was credited for hits on shots he likely did not take. JFC

The good news about the Santana meltdown is TR will finally learn that he has to quit giving long term contracts to 30+ year old pitchers! ROFLMAO

I guess the easiest way to get a lot of views/responses is to post a Mauer or Hunter post. That said, they are amusing.

You can mention it. It will go about as far as the catching again idea! The NBA and the NFL restructure contracts. NHL? Who cares? I don't recall anyone in MLB doing it. Not even Ricky Nolasco or Ervin Santana. Now there's a couple guys that are worth the money they are getting paid!

New drinking game! Every time someone suggests Mauer goes back to catching, you drink a beer. If they include trading him in the same post you have two beers! If they include both catching, trading, or cutting him, three beers. Any mention of him retiring, just turn off TD, and drink the whole damn case!

See the big smile everyday on Torii's face. Why not? 10m, having a great time doing what he enjoys. Current face of the franchise, quoted everyday. You think he's giving that up this year. Or next? The only difference next year, is you can add Kepler to the list of names he is blocking. And he will be the reason they end up trading Arcia!

I would be also, why would you want Hunter at DH.

There were two of each except catchers (3) and bull pen (9)!

Are you trying to say this could in effect, affect his posts explanation?

I am no "grammer police either"! I am the "grammar" spell check vice squad! I quit liking English class when I found out I could not use the F word as an action verb!

And the term "personal effects" effectively means your future has been affected permanently!

I found the following an interesting part of Bernadinos talk with Suzuki on pitch framing. I think his observations are mostly spot on. His views on how strikes should or should not be called, and on who to call them on are interesting. While in theory calling a strike zone using these parameters is unfair, it always was done that way. Having umpired myself for some years, there is no doubt the human element is in place. And I guess while it's great to get all the calls right, I do miss the part of the game that instant replay has in essence replaced. But like it or not, it begs the following question. Since instant replay is so in vogue in all sports, ie, a desire to make no mistakes officiating, why is the robot strike zone not being implemented? The technology apparently exists. I am not an advocate of such a move, but if a catch, tag, or foul ball is important enough for a replay, why not a missed third strike? What follows is the part of the interview pertaining to Suzukis take on the strike zone. Then again, accurately measuring a catcher's defensive contributions with analytics? Suzuki isn't ready to admit that is even possible. "You can't do it," the nine-year veteran said. "It's pretty cool they're trying to come up with those numbers, but at the same time it's the toughest thing to do. It's becoming a part of the game. It gets more people involved on the creative siFfde of the game. It's good for baseball and it's not good." The former Johnny Bench Award winner as college baseball's top catcher at Cal State Fullerton misses the days after he first came to the majors in 2007 and was groomed by old-school catcher Jason Kendall with the Oakland A's. Back then, even with the QuesTec electronic evaluation system, umpires seemed to have more latitude to factor in the so-called human element. The reputation of a given hitter or pitcher could be layered into the ball-strike decision in a way that rapidly seems to be disappearing in the PITCHf/x era, when umpires' ratings and ultimately their employment are tied to their performance against the eye in the sky. "I think you earn your stripes," Suzuki said. "I think as a rookie, you shouldn't get the same calls as a Torii Hunter or a Joe Mauer. Guys like Torii and Joe, they shouldn't have that borderline pitch called on them. It's that respect factor. That's just how it should be." In recent years, the strike zone isn't just skewing significantly lower. It's also becoming identity-blind. "It really puts the umpires in a tough position," Suzuki said. "They have that box they have to (adhere to), and I know a lot of them don't like that box. They're getting graded on it, so they've got to do what they have to do. For the most part, I have a really good relationship with all of them. They tell me and they talk to me about it." What's more, it wasn't that long ago that pitches that hit a catcher's target without requiring even the slightest twitch would bring automatic strike calls. Those that forced a catcher to reach across his body almost without fail were called balls. That dynamic has changed as well, and Suzuki doesn't like it. "Now it's just becoming more of, 'Shoot, if they think it's in the box, they're calling it a strike,' no matter what," Suzuki said. "That's good for catching but bad for hitting. When I first came up, you never saw that happen." He took note of the July 28 independent league game in California in which former Oakland A's outfielder-turned-broadcaster Eric Byrnes called balls and strikes from the stands with a laptop hooked up to the PITCHf/x system. That same system, by Sportvision, is installed in all 30 big-league stadiums. The concept of a robot umpire calling balls and strikes might not be so far-fetched anymore. "It's getting a little ridiculous now," Suzuki said. "It's getting a little out of control." What about the human element that baseball had always worked so hard to protect in the century before replay review and pace-of-game clocks? "It's gone," Suzuki said, shaking his head. "It's gone." Follow Mike Berardino at Twitter.com/MikeBerardino.

. Duensing! Ok, now you are just getting a little bit too crazy. I don't care if you give away the farm, but not Duensing!

[quote name="jimbo92107" post="386009" timestamp="1439398861 A better short term move would be to bring up Stewart Turner in September. Even though Turner is hitting just .269 in AA, he's still reportedly a real stud defensive catcher, and calls a good game. Twins could then decide next spring whether to keep Turner around or send him to AAA to keep working on his hitting. Then I'd promote all the catcher prospects a level for the remainder of the season, especially Garver and Navaretto. A question I have asked numerous times. We currently have a catcher who can't hit, or catch. Why don't we at least get a catcher who can catch?

That's not only an update, it's a day to day occurrence!

Texas was the epitome of the Wild Wild West, yet some our best gunslingers, murders and train robbers came from the great Midwest! Jesse James, Wild Bill, Billy da Kid, and Cole Younger and his brothers. After Northfield some of the Younger brothers not only did not get any younger, they didn't get any older! I don't even think the Earp boys and Doc Holliday were Texans! Name me one decent criminal that came from Texas?

I have been all over Texas, and frankly have no idea why Davey Crockett put up such a big fight for it?