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Platoon

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Everything posted by Platoon

  1. Platoon
    I am not sure if the FO can be properly critiqued yet. Being forced to keep Molitor, and then after they started the "rebuild" at the deadline in 2017 the team for some reason started to hit the ball for a few months like the '27 Yankees, but got destroyed by the '17 Yankees. This forced their hand again over the winter. That they brought in all short term guys could mean that they didn't really buy into the contention issue at the time. Which btw, would make them correct. The injuries and suspension didn't help at all, but so far this group of players remains an unfulfilled fantasy. They are still borderline young enough to turn around, but the clock is ticking.
  2. Platoon
    This would not work for me. I don't think I know two hours worth of anything!
  3. Platoon
    Molitors habit of keeping three run deficits, three runs, even in the 7th or 8th inning would wear any BP down, regardless of the amount of talent. I imagine it's his competitiveness, which in a player is a wonderful trait. In a manager I far prefer pragmatism. But you saw this same philosophy with his infield in tactics in the 4th inning. There is a time and place for everything, Molitors problem was the time and place thing never registered.
  4. Platoon
    I can relate to this. I too once drove a Bentley. Once, being the operative word in that sentence. Likewise I had a troublesome woman. The problem is, I no longer have the Bentley, but I still have the troublesome woman!
  5. Platoon
    Below are Manny Machado's numbers, in an inconvenient format. These seem the numbers you could suffer subpar defense for. While I have always liked Polanco as a hitter, I have never liked him as a defensive player. It's not just th lack of range, and the insufficient arm for the position, it's a generally inability to handle the ball on throws and tags. Sadly I must admit that will follow him to second base. The Twins IF has the potential to be a mess next year. If you would put in place the current pieces you would end up with Sano, Polanco, Forstyhe and Austin. Every one a subpar defender. Toss in (fill in the blank) behind the plate and it will look like an A ball IF. I agree with the above poster: I don't want to see the game filled with 8 guys dragging their bat out to their field in position! If that's the case, I might as well head to the local park to watch slow pitch! SUMMARY 2018 Career WAR 5.7 33.8 AB 632 3720 R 84 522 H 188 1050 BA .297 .282 HR 37 175 RBI 107 513 SB 14 53 OBP .367 .335 SLG .538 .487 OPS .905 .822 OPS+ 146 121
  6. Platoon
    I used to think behind every good man was a woman. Now I find out it's a cop on a motorcycle!
  7. Platoon
    I used to go to work often at 3 am. Talk about colossally stupid. But, it was a good time to see the kids when they came wondering home.
  8. Platoon
    I didn't see it personally, but apparently the third base coach threw the last runner under the bus in the post game presser, "I never sent the last guy, he went on his own. When I put up the stop sign he was waving to his mom in the stands"
  9. Platoon
    As I write this, Sanos future is clouded by his late night driving escapades. But to address the original piece by Tom.? A backup plan to replace Sano and Buxton. That's in theory a sound idea, and in practice seemingly possible. But what exactly will we be replacing? You can replace last years Sano and Buxton easily, frankly the Twins did with Astudillo, Cave, LaMarre, Kepler, Grossman, Adrainza, et al. You can even upgrade that group a notch or two if you want. What you cannot do is replace what Sano and Buxton were to be. Generational power at third, and a Mike a Trout clone in CF, with better defense. There is no plan for that. Great teams are built on great young talents maturing and fulfilling their promise. Then you fill in around them. Someone to fill in FOR them is not available. If Jake Cave and EE replace Buxton and Sano, you will have competent MLB players standing at those positions. You will also have yet another, at best .500 baseball team. That's sadly an inescapable reality.
  10. Platoon
    The comment about "one look at Sano in spring" was spot on. A Sano at an actual 260 is a different player, whether at first or third. As will be a healthy Buxton in the OF. The team needs a defensive SS so it can move Polanco to second. You cannot win consistently with the middle IF defense they put out there last year. Without kicking Molitor when he is down, anyone interested in the long term health of the team would have stuck Polanco at second base for the last month, to see if he could play the postion better than he does SS. There is an old baseball axiom, if you can hit they will find you a place to play. The guy who came up with that likely never envisioned it would be SS. The Twins don't need as much as some think, they need the players they have to play to their potential. Assuming that Mauer leaves they need a third baseman, a SS, and a backup plan at catcher. Castro is coming off knee surgery, and Garver is simply another player who is playing a defensive position because he can hit. Baseball has changed a lot, but no matter how hard it tries, if you can't catch a baseball when you are in the middle of the diamond, you are not going to win.
  11. Platoon
    I don't know anything about any of these coaches, personally or professionally. But I do know that the orginization was not putting out very many quality players. The high level talented ones, Buxton, Sano, weren't producing. players at both the MLB and MiLB levels seemed to have no focus on fundamentals. By that I am not implying that they weren't taught them, I am sure they were. But there is a difference between showing them how to, for instance, hit a cutoff man, and impressing on them that playing time is relative to your hitting that cutoff man consistently. The bottom line, the Twins franchise has not been anywhere near a model of efficiency or productivity when it comes to evaluating talent and then nurturing it. I don't know if the new people the FO brings in will be an improvement, but the previous ones weren't getting it done. And if I am Falvine, if I am going to succeed or fail, I would want to do it my way.
  12. Platoon
    I would like to add: only against starting pitchers whose last name starts with a "Z", on Friday afternoon games!
  13. Platoon
    No! I hope the Twins get to the point where a Jake Cace is their 4th OF. The simple reason is that if they don't, then it's really going to make little difference whether RG or Oswaldo Arcia is in the OF. They will again be headed towards that coveted high draft choice!
  14. Platoon
    In what may be the only defense of Molitor that I will ever type, the Belisle thing was Joe's choosing. He wanted Belisle to throw that pitch. I just dropped a way too long post in the article, I will spare you the reprisal. But for the same reasons many have posted already, it was time for him to make way for someone the FO had an investment in.
  15. Platoon
    The handwriting for this was on the wall from the beginning of the Falvine era. It's highly likely that without Pohlads edict Molitor would have been part of the Falvine regime, ever. That said, I am not unhappy to see him gone. I realize the general consensus is that managers don't win games. But I do believe they lose them. His "it's always the 7th game of the WS" style of managing is not compatible with a 162 game schedule, not is his reliance on approximately half of a bullpen. I know the bottom half of the pen isn't always top flight MLB pitchers, but the managers job is to use those in low leverage, and lost cause situations. His bunting, early in games with a mediocre pitching staff that won't hold up to one run was infuriating. There can be some argument made that he mellowed and modified as to analytics and shifts, so in the eyes of the FO he should have gotten some cred there. But I think the bottom line is he wasn't their guy, he was forced on them, and the MOY award simply extended his tenure a year, and his bank account by two more. Falvine can and will now sink or swim with their own guy. I hope they swim, I am sorely tired of sinking!
  16. Platoon
    Thanks for a well done piece clarifying some long held misconceptions. While I have mentioned this before, I feel it bears repeating. He suffered from Rod Carew disease. I feel one of the reasons so many people fail to appreciate what a rare talent he was, was Mauers rare talent. Playing baseball for him, or for that matter virtually any sport, was so easy that the effects of his abilities were hidden in plain sight. Things other players struggled to do, he simply did. You seldom saw him stumble around under foul pop ups, he simply caught them. Blocking balls, throwing to bases, fielding bunts, picking low throws at 1B were all second nature. There never seemed to be a "Mitch Garver" day behind the plate in his career. I could go on, but I think the best examples of his ease of athleticism was some of the odd plays. The catch behind the screen, the easy way he would backhand ricochets off the limestone, seemingly without looking. All while giving that "Aw Shucks" look. I would think that watching the Twins attempt to replace him for the last 5 years would have cemented his spot on the list of all time catching greats. But maybe the rarity of his talent will take a little longer to sink in. Better late than never.
  17. Platoon
    Thanks Tom for the daily recap. While the Twins made it somewhat difficult to enjoy local baseball for the year, I and many others I am sure, never missed the recaps. Thanks for the season, it was much appreciated. And, if this was the last game for Mauer, well done Joe. There are those who would say that your career was understated. While I am not sure if that is entirely true, there is no doubt that if this was indeed his last game, the retirement celebration was the epitome of understatement. A great fit for a great player. Thanks Joe!
  18. Platoon
    I will preface this by saying that any IF move the Twins make that does not move Polanco to second base is pretty much a waste of time. I like EE, but would prefer him as a true utility guy. Dozier? One of the very few things Molitor did that I agree with was allow Dozier to sit in the leadoff hole for so long. Whether by true genius?, or an inability to stand up to Doziers insistence on that spot, Dozier belongs either there, or 7,8, or 9. He has never produced in the clutch, his tenure in LA is simply a continuation of that issue. Its gonna be a crazy winter. It's entirely possible that not one IF postion will be filled with the same player next year that mans it now, assuming (hoping) they move Polanco to second.
  19. Platoon
    The weather and the Twins season are similar: Dreary!
  20. Platoon
    Mauer likely could have continued to catch, but the threat of another foul ball concussion made that idea unacceptable. Plus he was one of the better athletes to have played the position, making his move to another position much simpler. I would include any corner spot in that statement, he was that good an athlete. A Sano he was not.
  21. Platoon
    https://www.si.com/mlb/2018/09/25/joe-mauer-minnesota-twins I lifted this link from a Michael Rand column. I haven't saw it posted here yet so I thought I would toss it out there. Some guy named Gleeman is quoted extensively, as well as others who can't seem to see past Mauers contract. My personal opinion is that Mauers contract is so far down the list of things that have caused the Twins their dismal decade, it doesn't even make the top ten. Nor have I ever tossed and turned at 3 am wondering whether the Pohlads would be able to scrape by until Joe retired and his contract was off their P&L.
  22. Platoon
    This is exactly why baseball fundamentals have deteriorated over the years. That should have been the pitchers ball to handle, and the catcher with the bases loaded should have stayed at the plate. Then once he retrieved tha ball it's obvious he blocked the runners access to the plate. Why wasn't there a replay? As for the hitter, it's obvious there is no future in baseball for him. Very poor hip rotation, and obviously has no desire to implement launch angle and exit velocity into his training regimen. Sadly in about 13 years he will still be the Twins 2nd round draft choice.
  23. Platoon
    I would like to add one thing. If one thinks that the Twins IF defense has some question marks now, see Polanco, Jorge, think what it will look like next year if MOY persists in his belief that Polanco is an MLB SS, and Mauer isn't their to retrieve 99% of those half hops he tosses over to first?
  24. Platoon
    I hope he retires and enjoys life. It's doubtful he needs the money, and he certainly doesn't need to land hard diving for a ball and end up with more concussion symptoms. Whether he announces it now or later is, I am sure, a deeply personal matter. As for his contract? He earned every penny of it. The Twins competitive issues were never related to Joe Mauers contract. They were the result of an ownership, and a FO, that was more interested in bottom line success than with the teams position in the standings.
  25. Platoon
    I could see the possibility of having Cave as a starting outfielder and Grossman on the roster next year. To see it all I need to do is look at this year. Ugh! Regardless whether Buxton is considered in the equation, Cave needs to be a 4th OF, and RG needs to be playing somewhere else. Or we will remain what we are, indefinitely.
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