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Platoon

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Everything posted by Platoon

  1. This topic made me think of the Twins as a three legged stool, missing one leg. The pitching leg. You can keep adding to the other two legs all off season. But it's still gonna be missing that third leg come spring!
  2. I would assume I am not the only one surprised by these numbers. And he gives Mauer a few days off. Sort of like the Robbie G. situation, but with some power. Hits somewhat, but the glove work makes one squeamish. EE provides temporary protection for Sano, but I imagine next summer will be the decision year on Sano. On field player? DH? Or trade for pitching? I think the Twins offense is sufficient enough to start the season somewhat as is. I like Carlos Santana, but he is not money well spent for this team, nor is Frazier.
  3. Excellent take! Of course since it agrees with my thoughts from the deadline I would say that. Whether you use foresight or hindsight there is no doubt that the trades made, or not made were correct. Clamorimg for more C-level pitching help had to have been based on emotion. There was only one predicator that the team would improve second half. Strength of schedule, or shall we say lack thereof. And that does not make you a legitimate contender. Unless, as in the past, reaching the second WC was the epitome of orginisational desire. Hopefully those days are behind us.
  4. Your point is well made, and sad. I understand the use of, and somewhat obvious benefits of analytics. But that does not make the game more interesting. To me it makes it almost sterile!
  5. Like Spock, the posters you copied in your response do not have the ability to allow human emotions to enter into any equation! They operate on a cold, analytical, soulless, and pragmatic platform! :) Live Long and Prosper!
  6. The voters used a totally different criteria when voting for these two specific candidates. In Buxtons case it seems apparent that they used the actual definition of "Gold Glove". In Doziers they used "Gold Batting Glove". They have awards like AllPro for combined talent, which would have been available. I see Dozier thusly: solid reliable glove, average range, poor but accurate arm, with optical points awarded for diving endlessly and dirty jerseys. Mauer was the one dissed here. His seemingly effortless glove work, and ability to turn any throw within wingspan into an out was completely under appreciated.
  7. Myth 1©. If one yearns for an uptick in payroll spending, using Bill Smith as an example will likely not encourage Falvine to follow that path to unemployment. .
  8. I did not see much of Garver behind the plate this year, but from what I saw in that SSS was not promising. If I had to ump behind him, I would consider wearing my own catchers mitt as a backup.
  9. So what your are saying is that there has been improvement over these last 5 years! (Albeit incremental) .
  10. There is no real reason to tinker with the OF. The only decision is Grossman. And I would only make that based on his ability to DH. You just cannot let him play OF. It's almost a dereliction of duty as a manager. I have no doubt that Polanco will turn into a very productive hitter. But unless it's a 2B it is a wash due to his limited defense. Mauer should get the GG simply for keeping him in the league. Neither Sano or EE will ever win a GG, but at least Sano's bat should carry his glove at a bat first position. Leave him there, IF he stays in shape for now. Dozier is in the same boat as Polanco. In a defensive position because of his bat. If it was me, I would move Dozier, insert Polanco there, and find a glove first SS. But it's not me. Since I assume the Twins won't re-up Dozier with a long term deal, and I hope they won't, he will be gone after next year. I would take the trade I could, and improve the whole middle of the infield. And use that money for pitching, pitching, and more pitching.
  11. This is silly! You don't need advanced metrics to see how ridiculous this is. Without Mauer the Twins IF becomes below mediocre, it seemed half the throws to 1B were in the dirt. Maybe they should change the award to the Gold Batting Gloves Award!
  12. I would not want to stake my playoff chances on a Kintzler level arm. Don't get me wrong, he has value. But if he is the top of the pecking order for our pen, then I can't see the talent level showing much improvement. The best hope is that some of the MiLB guys make the next step. The odds of that are greater than the team spending the kind of money experienced talent would receive.
  13. Mauer and Oliva share somewhat of a tragic connect. While all analysis are subjective, Oliva's pre injury numbers indicated he would have been one of the great hitters in MLB history. He really was that good. Mauer, sans injury, would have easily been considered the best catcher to have played. Besides his obvious ability with a bat, the biggest differentiating aspect of Mauer vs many other catchers is the fact that he was a phenomenal athlete playing catcher. He wasn't forced to the position by some limitation that prevented his playing other positions.
  14. Pretty much concur. I would not let the possibility of a Buxton injury impact my decision. And agree, Sano is a tough call. This could be a big year for him. He is either going to work hard and become one of the most feared hitters in baseball,.............................. Or he won't!
  15. Disappointed, but likely inevitable. The sac bunting and pulling the IF in early in games, and the odd BP moves are hard to watch. We can only hope that the reason it took 4 days is that Molitor had to write on the blackboard 1000 times "I WILL NOT SAC BUNT BEFORE THE 7TH INNING".
  16. There are so few plain to see, easy to discuss looks inside a managers mindset. The bunting is one. I am not against sac bunting. But there are a lot of caveats, most of them related to the inning, who's AB, who's next, score, location, and opponent of that day's contest. I cannot fathom one that would include a sac bunt in the first 7 innings, let alone early on, or by my 3 hitter. This indicates someone who plays for one run, while owning a pretty poor pitching staff. Odd! Pulling the IF in early seems to give the same impression. Lastly, IF Molitor had say, 3 stellar RP? What's to make anyone think he won't turn them into toast before the trade deadline? Sometimes in a 162 game season, you have to walk away from a game, and let pitchers have that day off. He talks about it, but his game time actions dispute his talk. The team had a nice year, but bringing him back because of the W/L record ignores the fact that this was a weak division, and that when we stuck our heads above the .500 level opponents, we didn't exactly strike fear in anyone's heart.
  17. So many memories! And all bad..... You are so right about the Blair Walsh miss. I turned to my wife, and told her he would miss it. It was like it was pre-ordained!
  18. If that's why Perk goes out, to be with family instead of hangin around for a couple more poor years, good for him. And good for Radke. Neither will ever live long enough to spend all the money they made, but they will now get to enjoy their family. While the money is great, the lifestyle of a MLB player has to be that of a well paid long haul trucker! Good for Perk. As for the Tigers Romine pitching to Sano? I really doubt that Detroit, even if they had considered it, viewed their visit to Mpls as a chance to prepare the Monnesota Twins for the playoffs.
  19. Another blogger who I read regularly and is a metrics disciple says that you now place your best hitter in the two hole. That the temporary theory of him in the one spot and hitting the pitcher 8th in the NL has fallen out of vogue. I would imagine that Mauer is the Twins best hitter this year. Someone else may do more damage with one swing of the bat, but that bat will be easier to miss than Mauers. The offense does not surprise me. The precious regime put offense over defense almost exclusively. EE is still here because he could hit a little better than a lot of other utility guys. He certainly is not a defensive whiz. Dozier and Polanco are bat first players. As was Rosario through MiLB. This teams hitting will only improve. It will eventually be an awesome offense. But the real reason it has surged since Aug 19th? It's most likely the tour made through the dregs of the AL.
  20. Let's ask these questions. If the Twins had not made this deadline trades, or giveaways to some, would they have finished higher? Caught NY? Caught Cleveland? We ended up further than anyone thought. We will play NY in NY. And while it's going to be very difficult not to have Garcia pitch for us, the main issue will be if we get ahead and don't have Kintzler to close. Or Perkins? Or Joe Nathan? Garcia was almost a reclamation project traded to a team more desperate and well heeled than us. Kintzler was a ground ball pitch to contact closer. The truth is while he had a nice run, and seemed to have the psyche to close, if Brandon Kintzler is the best your bullpen has to offer, you have pitching issues. I don't want us to just hang around every year hoping for the ducks to line up for a second WC chance. I want us to be at the top, looking down at the peons hoping for someone else to lose 6 games in a row so they can call themselves a playoff team. I hope that's what Falvine are looking for. Otherwise, even if they keep adding "playoff" spots, crappy baseball is still crappy baseball.
  21. I had no problem with trading Garcia or Kintztler. Garcia has been barely serviceable. And as stated Kintzler was never at a higher value. But he did have a trade value. He was a seventh inning guy in a closers role. Sooner or later that was going to catch up with him. Add that to the free agency, and the teams status at the time of the trade, and I cannot see the angst over the trade. The chance for the return was too good to pass up. For years this team refused to move marginal players during a career year. Sell high was not in their lexicon. I for one welcome the change in philosophy.
  22. I won't try and look it up, but I will admit I did not know you could completely rebuild your roster between the WC game and the next series. If so, this is quite the idea. I do like the Vargas Duffey switch for this reason. While you may get into a spot where a long ball is your only hope, you will never get into a spot where Duffey is your only hope. I loved your outside the box thinking.
  23. After Santana there seems to be convincing arguments for any one of 4 other starters. Not many teams can boast having four #2 level SP on the same roster. . Meaning, anyone you pick is a crapshoot. My roll of the dice would be Gibson then Berrios. Gibsons mental approach seems better, but will the new mentality stand up to the bright lights? If he can get off to a good start he has a better chance than Berrios to get into the 6th inning. The fact that Colon is even considered an outside option, sets the level of the staff at a fairly low point.
  24. I was not in the group who thought they were that bad. And I had lots of issues with Gardy, a few less with TK. Baseball is really in the eyes of the beholder, maybe more than most sports. But I always thought these guys had two things. A formula for pen usage, and the desire and fortitude to not abuse their best arms. They looked long term, Molitor has looked short term for all three years. Even last year, he was trying to win single games at the end of the year, when in actuality his template with those players and that record should have been as a MiLB manager developing talent.
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