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Platoon

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Everything posted by Platoon

  1. Platoon
    Using his left arm to both pitch, and (likely) sign the arb agreement, is likely the reason that he will end up as the 5th starter. UGH! When people refer to the business side of baseball as the ugly side, they always refer to a player running out of time or talent. They never talk about a lesser talented player blocking someone just because the FO made a mistake. Trevor May had some interesting comments on the subject, about how contracts and salary levels enter into whom plays, when and where. As my 4 yr old granddaughter says, "it's not all about winning"
  2. Platoon
    Sadly I agree with you. To answer what's holding May back? Terry Ryan! May doesn't have to beat out Milone, Pelfrey, or Stauffer. They all have to fail miserably for him to get a chance. That seems to be the reality of life for a Twins rookie.
  3. Platoon
    Here's a question. If you deduct the extra commercial time,both between innings and pitching changes, and remove the 7th inning patriotic salute to America from the current length of games, what do we end up with? (Please don't tell me we should have time for the salute, I know that, this is only about the math). I am not sure when the inning breaks time was increased and to what level? For the record, I am an "old schooler" or at least old something. And I do find the games too lengthly. TIVO solves some of the problem at home, but complicates participating in the TD game threads.
  4. Platoon
    A lot of his problems started when he split up with Kemps. Maybe it was the cows after all?
  5. Platoon
    I truly think Dozier's power is questionable. I just don't see him as being any kind of a consistent power guy. But I guess this season will answer that. As for Mauer not getting the ball up towards right field, he never has. He is most comfortable hitting the ball deep in the zone, and when he try's to pull, or is forced to pull he seems to roll over on it. He might just be the reverse of most hitters. For him going the other way is natural, so pulling is just as difficult as another hitter going the other way.
  6. Platoon
    I have never considered Mauer a 3 hitter. That's kind of odd since your 3 spot usually goes to your best hitter. But you also want more pop in that spot. That said, if my best alternative is Dozier, even in a platoon I would stick with Mauer. As much as I agree he is a true 2 spot hitter, I also have not been able to identify someone to take his 3 hole. Hmm, maybe that's why the Twins have lost over 360 games in the last 4 years?
  7. Platoon
    Mauer is as close to a mechanical hitting machine as plays the game. In theory, and likely in practice this makes a shift in the OF towards left, and in the infield middle right even more effective. Basically you can count on him to hit the ball consistently as pitched. I can't believe the endless well hit balls down the LF line that were caught did not impact his production. As for pulling the ball he never has been God at getting air under anything to the right side. It's just not his strong suit.
  8. Platoon
    The article says he is under team control until 2019. And we don't have a real handle on which BD is the one we would sign? He is a competent ball player, but the Twins have some promising middle infield players in the pipeline. The only reason it seems to sign him at this time would be for ticket sales.
  9. Platoon
    Even tho I was/am one of those who think Arcia should have been left in right, I agree that LF is easier to play. (park abnormalities taken into consideration). But that fact then begs the question. Why wasn't he in LF to start with. Plus I still think he is destined for RF, possibly because of his arm? A point to be considered during all of this speculation. And it's a point the Twins internally must have considered: What is our goal for the season?? Not what is our stated goal to the unwashed masses who buy tickets, but what are we truly trying to accomplish. Get an honest answer to that question, and the discussion of who plays where will coalesce. It will also indicate the degree of rationality in the FO!
  10. Platoon
    The question should be, with the assumption Buxton is in the wings, "who is the best DEFENSIVE CF the Twins can put out there"? Using offensive as a criteria in that spot, at this time is not addressing the problems that this roster bring to the field.
  11. Platoon
    Hicksie is 25ish and Arcia is 23ish if I remember correctly. Ergo, Oswaldo could also be a mentoring candidate. The first rule of mentoring should be, if a guy is struggling in a position, don't take it away from him and force him across the diamond! If Arcia stays healthy and hits half of what it looks like he will, he is going to be the Twins right fielder. Defensively this is a lost year for him. Santana HAD to play CF. There was no one else at the time. Can anyone give me one reason why Hunter cannot play LF and leave Arcia in RF. It would seem to me that this move was a handshake agreement before he signed. There is no other rational reason for it.
  12. Platoon
    Random thoughts: Hicks did not seem to run very good routes to balls in CF. He seems very average defensively. And he would have to hit better to be a corner outfielder. Santana looked a lot like an infielder who was a good athlete playing in the OF. Shafer looks like a better defensive choice, which to start the season is where they should go. And I am not really a huge Shafer fan. And as for the mentoring abilities of Hunter, there seems to be no evidence anecdotally of that trait. In fact the few people who would comment or speculate publicly seemed to specifically question that premise. Obviously I dont know him personally, but while he seems to be a publically affable guy, Torrii seems to be all about Torii. There is a reason he is in right, and Oswaldo has made the ill advised shift to left. And it ain't because anyone on the Twins thought it was a great idea.
  13. Platoon
    Two phrases stand out>>>>. "A perceived lack of range at the corners". And >>>> Santana played an adequate CF! This is a team with offense as its strength. While I don't believe the offense will be as good as last year it's still the Twins current boasting point. As to CF, the only criteria at the beginning of the season is how fast you can get between the gaps, with a glove on your hand, and catch the ball while dodging the corner OF's.
  14. Platoon
    I totally agree. I have nothing against him whatsoever. I would taken every penny and a little more. To me he would be a great back up, even on a contender. Maybe more so on a contender. My position relates to his being extended and hindering the evaluation of a Pinto. To me it is symptomatic of many other Twins decisions. When you are where they are, a bird in the hand is not necessarily as good as two in the bush.
  15. Platoon
    I agree with Jokin on this. It was a time to cash in on Suzuki's aberration of a half season and sell high. Then use the last half of yet another lost year to evaluate and educate Pinto. If it works, great, if not what's the worst that can happen. The Twins were in a relatively unique place in their baseball existence. And I have never been sure, or understood who exactly they thought they were fooling by pretending that some of the moves they made were important to their future. The only person with a defensible argument for these moves was Gardy. He needed to squeeze out every win he could in 2014 to keep his job. He can hardly be blamed for making some short term decisions. But for the FO to do so is a troubling sign.
  16. Platoon
    But one of the problems is that it's not all about the money. Once you sign a guy like Suzuki to an extension, his playing time becomes a gauge on commentary on your decision making. I would not only have never extended him last year, I would have sold high. I don't know if the manager change will alleviate the problem/perception that I and I think some others have. And that is the Twins put an inordinate amount of weight to the character and likability of a player, in relation to other teams.
  17. Platoon
    I don't know about other years, or other pitchers, but pitch framing statistics when catching Samuel Deduno might be one of the most overrated metrics of all time. It's just another mystifying case of Gardy's mentality. You put your "worst" catcher in to catch your hardest to catch pitcher. And you put your "best" catcher in to sit in a rocking chair, catching the guy who has the lowest walk rate in MLB history. Perhaps that's why my driver training school for NASCAR drivers is off to such a slow start?
  18. Platoon
    Ryan stil seems to me to be structuring the roster like the Twins won 84 games last year and need a tweak here and there. And I could live with some of this off season maneuvering if he had shown any history of experimenting with veteran additions and then moved them if it did not work out, or even better if they over achieve and he sells high. . That is not the way he works. These guys are probably here for the year, maybe more. The hot stove season is supposed to be of hope, instead I am beginning to dread what each mornings Twins news would bring.
  19. Platoon
    Let’s just hope Ryan doesn't fail to trade Hughes or Santana when they're most valuable. And therein lies the problem! TR has very little if any history of selling high. It seems his theory is to try and win the most amount of games possible. On its face value, that looks like a great idea. But in reality if you are not in the picture for a playoff spot, its little more than a number. It will be interesting to see what happens this year with the pitching. He has kind of painted himself in a corner. If the three high buck pitchers don't perform, he can't trade them. And unless something has drastically changed he won't eat salary. Many might not agree with me, but I see TR structuring a roster as if he has an almost contender, instead of what he really has! A team to be completely rebuilt in 2015!
  20. Platoon
    One poster mentioned trading Nolasco in the event of a repeat of last year, and the Twins eating some salary! Historically they have not done this. My concern is the Twins still have no "ace"! but they do have a minimum of 60% of their starts allocated to 3 pitchers with no flexibility to move those starts. Short of an injury, they don't drop FA pitchers from the rotation. I wish they had went with a plan using our prospects to move forward. Instead I still fear we are stuck in no mans land, not good enough to win with the addition of a few pieces of second tier talent, but too cluttered up with second tier talent to see if we could build a winner in house? I once put lipstick on a pig! It was a waste of good lipstick!
  21. Platoon
    My point was not to define Terry Ryan's personality. I don't have an issue with him, I have a question about his philosophy. Signing a Hunter like player for this outfield, and dabbling in #4 type starters seems less a plan, than a form of fan appeasement. If we do not have several pitchers in the minors that are not capable of being 4's or 5's, and no one better than a soon to be 40 yr old in the OF, then we will be in the same place for a long time. There is not a lack of major league players on this team, most are. The problem is the level of their ability. Almost all are of the same ability, there is no one to carry the load! Tinkering and tweaking the roster will not do.
  22. Platoon
    So why do the Twins operate this way? We don't want to pay top dollar, lose a draft pick, trade a top prospect, trade a over valued FA (Suzuki), or aggressively bring in young talent! The only option left is to have a GM who is positive he is the smartest guy in the room.
  23. Platoon
    I am perplexed that someone who uses a number in his name would pay such little attention to the proper usage of to, too, two! (Kind of sounds like a toy train). What if he was erroneously called LEN ll, more commonly referred to as Jr.!
  24. Platoon
    There is still one thing, or should I say one answer missing in this off season puzzle. Is our vaunted minor league system not really that vaunted? Are the Twins as an orginasation philosophically opposed to taking an "unforced" chance on young talent? Or is TR completely misconstructing the roster? Every move made is of the bland vannilla variety!
  25. Platoon
    You have actually touched on the core issue with almost the entire Twins 25 man roster. A lot of soft, easy to manage, middling talent. Almost all are of major league caliber! But it is not possible to win with them all in the same clubhouse! That's not a knock on the players, it's a commentary on the FO philosophy!
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