Twodogs

I didn't see anyone mention Papelbon, he sure doesn't want to be in Philly any longer. I'd say he'd be a good add if the price was right?

Seems like moving him further away from the plate would do the opposite of what they wanted?? If he was driving the pitch on the corner of the plate for doubles down the line, moving him away would move that corner pitch further towards the middle of the plate, wouldn't it? Then the ball that he should hit up the middle would also move further inside and the pitch that he should pull would end up somewhere out of the strikezone towards the inside of the plate. Seems like if he moved closer the the plate, that pitch on the outside corner would be the one he can hit around the middle of the field and he could start pulling pitches middle in. It just seems weird to me to move him away from the plate if you are trying to not hit the ball down the left field line?? Maybe I'm wrong.

I was responding to the guy above me who said he was 1st in WAR. I wasn't at all trying to diminish what Dozier has accomplished.

2nd basemen who all ended the year 3rd in WAR for the season. Omar Vizquel is probably an All-Star due to his ability to be this consistent for so many years. I hope Dozier gets into that category but I don't think he is there yet. Brian Roberts 3rd in WAR in 2008 Mark Ellis 3rd in WAR in 2007 Brandon Inge 3rd WAR in 2006 Rafael Furcal 3rd in WAR in 2005 Omar Vizquel 3rd in WAR in 2004 Rafael Furcal 3rd in WAR in 2003 David Eckstein 3rd in WAR in 2002 How many of these guys are Elite "now" in your minds?

Dozier isn't even1st in WAR in the American League Central??

No its actually pretty comparable, because it is position specific. Position wise Dozier is a leader, so is Norris. This year he is 4th in WAR at a 2.1, 6th OPS, 6th OBP, 8th BA which by the way is at .265, 1st in doubles, 8th in Homeruns, and 3rd in RBI's and 2nd in runs scored. But Norris is probably relatively unknown by the average person out there. But he is really good, (right now), at his postion. So when you compare Dozier to the real Elite players such as Cabrera or Goldschmidt then everyone says but as a second baseman he is elite, then my arguement with Norris will hold water, but if you say Norris is a good player at his postion, but not elite, then that is what I am trying to say about Dozier.

If you are comparing Brian Dozier to Ernie Banks then last year he would have hit .295 with 44 homeruns and 117 RBI's And the fact of the matter is that Dozier had 707 plate appearances last year and Banks only had 646 PA's in his 2nd real year of baseball. Do you really think Dozier will end up with 512 Hr's and 1600 RBI's?? Dang, I sure hope so. But again the article was really about whether or not the contract was a good one or not, and I think it was a great signing. But Dozier is no Ernie Banks, yet at least.

Well it just depends on your opinion of Elite? Derek Norris is ranked 4th in all of baseball in WAR, he has the most at bats of any catcher in all of baseball and has a .250 career batting average which by the way is 5 points higher than Dozier's career batting average. Does this guy fit into the Elite category? I mean when I consider Elite players, I think of the guys that people will remember, will anyone remember who Derek Norris is, say like 15 years from now?

Yeah, I get that the batting average isn't everything, and I said that he is great and probably should be an All-Star. But how many "ELITE" players do we talk about in real life that hit .265, as a career high nonetheless. I mean Elite players in my mind are guys like Tony Gwynn, Kirby Puckett, Rod Carew, George Brett, Barry Bonds, Miguel Cabrera, Paul Goldschmidt, etc........ If any of those guys hit .265 you'd say they are having below average years or some would come on here and say "They're done!" Just like we hear about Mauer and stuff like that. Is he one of the best Twins players, yes, is he one of the better 2nd basemen in baseball right now, yes. To me however, that doesn't make him Elite. Just because he is one of the better at his position doesn't mean much to me when considering what is and what isn't elite. Elite to me means that he is going to get to Superstar status, such as Kirby was. Even when the Twins were crummy, everyone who followed baseball across the country knew who Kirby was and even many people who could care less about baseball knew who Kirby was and it wasn't because he hit .265 Again, Dozier is doing really well and he seems to continue to improve so maybe one day he will in my opinion become Elite, but I don't think he is there yet. He is however, near and dear to Twins fans, including myself, and they will always see things through rose colored glasses just a little bit when considering one of their best players. But go to some random stadium anywhere in the U.S and ask some random fans who they think are the top 5 "Elite" players in the game and I'd bet dollars to donuts that not many of them will name Brian Dozier, that is unless you were sitting in left at Target Field. Again don't get me wrong, as a Twins fan I hope he hits 20 - 25 homeruns and continues to lead the league in scoring runs and continues to play solid D. I hope he helps to continue to lead the Twins to one of their first seasons above .500 in a long time. I just don't think he is considered ELITE yet.

Dozier is doing great, but elite status?? I mean he is hitting like .265, Mauer the guy everyone talks about is washed up and done is hitting about 5 points lower is all. I mean could you imagine if Mauer upped his average to .275 and people started talking about him approaching elite status? I think he is All-Star Caliber. I think he could potentially continue to improve over the next 3 - 4 years and even be better, but I don't think he is elite as of yet. He has nice pop, he plays solid defense, and he is one of the best sticks on the Twins right now, but that doesn't equate to elite in my books.

I could get used to this winning stuff.

I think the Twins really need to consider using Santana in CF against Lefties, and putting Escobar in at SS. At least then the Twins can get Escobar's bat into the game which I think is a plus over Schaffer??

Most valuable when you have an awful bullpen and need to go directly to the set up and closer to get wins. 8 innings a game didn't mean much for the Royals last year with that stud bullpen.

Boone?

Yep, exactly. And the pitcher needs to have confidence in his fastball that he can get the hitter out with it and the hitter needs to know that also, when that happens the hitter has to approach the situation where he needs to be thinking that the fastball is coming.

The change up is Milone's favorite pitch??? I think it's like his only pitch. Ha ha just joking. I think the change is awesome and Frank Viola mastered it. Likewise however, the most important thing is locating the fastball, pitching it where you want to. Even Viola admits that when he became more confident that his fastball could get people out then his circle change became even more dangerous. I think he said that one of his catchers, maybe it was Laudner or Harper, not sure which one, but they told Viola that he was only going to use his fastball one game. That catcher called every pitch a fastball all game long and I don't completely remember the outcome but paraphrasing Viola won like a 3 - 1 game or something like that. Basically the catcher, whoever it was, was trying to tell Viola that he can get outs with his fastball and when he became even more confident in that pitch his change up became even more dominating. I'm pretty sure Viola didn't care who he threw his change up to. So I like the idea, changing speeds will win the Twins a lot of games. There have been a lot of pitchers out there who have been very successful without having a super dominant fastball, but location and changing speeds keep hitters off balance. I am looking forward to this year with a new pitching approach, because changing speeds is definitely not the same as pitching to contact which drove me nuts with the old Twins methods.

Chillin in the FLA aint a bad thing if they are payin ya??

Yeah I don't think it was all even just Hicks hitting that got him. I think he didn't field particularly well either.

May got rocked in his last start, and yeah he has great strikeout totals but guys are hitting him, hard. So it is probably better to have him, like you said work out his issues now in AAA. I don't necessarily think that getting rocked in April and being sent down in June is the best thing for a young player, a la Hicks.

I wonder how many games Santana will start in CF with Escobar at SS??

I would expect him as a Twin to Battle his Tail off too,!!!! for that 5th spot in the rotation.

What will it take for the Twins to contend? It will take winning more than they lose

Well Maybe Shaffer found some undetectable HGH for this season and they can start him in Center and use Hicks as the 4th OF'er. Giving Shaffer a couple of nights off in Center and Hunter a few nights off in Right and Arcia a night or two in Left. Then if Hicks proves he can hit then maybe slowly but surely he steps in and takes over in Center more full time. Putting HIcks back down in the minors is a waste of time as those spots need to be used by the guys who have potential still. Hicks would be just blocking someone else's progression. I don't think Buxton is ready yet. I think Buxton will need a full season at AA or AAA and then be the Twins successor for 2016. I think they should use Shaffer as the primary about 65 - 70 percent of the starts in April and use Hicks all over the place to get some at bats. Then if Hicks performs decently start to dwindle Shaffers at bats down and start increasing Hicks. If both hit .180 up till June then put Santana back out there for the rest of the season Until Buxton is ready in 2016, hopefully

Closer by committee that worked out very well that I can remember was the Nasty Boys in Cinncinati.

Late inning gas is coming, get ready. I know, I started bringing Tums with me to the games about 10 years ago. I don't know if it was the hot dogs or the beer or Joe Mays but I wasn't able to stop the late inning gas anymore. So I started eating Tums and some Kaopectate, and it got better. Ha ha