Jump to content
Our top free agent ranking is up to 75 names; click here to check it out! ×
Twins Daily
  • Create Account

jimbo92107

Old-Timey Member
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    5,715

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    1

 Content Type 

Profiles

Minnesota Twins News, Rumors & Analysis

Minnesota Twins Videos

2026 Minnesota Twins Top Prospect Rankings

2022 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks & Signing Bonuses

Minnesota Twins Trade & Free Agent Rumors

Minnesota Twins Fan Guides & Resources

2023 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks & Signing Bonuses

The Minnesota Twins Players Project

2024 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks & Signing Bonuses

2025 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks & Signing Bonuses

2026 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks & Signing Bonuses

Forums

Blogs

Events

Store

Downloads

Gallery

Everything posted by jimbo92107

  1. jimbo92107
    This is a great psychological move for Rosario. See if he likes the coffee in the major league clubhouse. After his pot blunder, the kid may have needed something like this to verify in his mind that he's still highly regarded by the team. I bet he's smiling right now like it's the first time he's seen a sunny day for a couple years. Let's hope he mashes some taters and plays great outfield. Welcome to the big leagues, Eddie Rosario!
  2. jimbo92107
    Thing about Johnathan Lucroy is, aside from the rest of the package, he's also one of the best "pitch framers" in the league. He gets more marginal pitches called strikes than anybody on the Twins. Also, he's fantastic at blocking pitches in the dirt, which makes him a hero for Gibson and other sinkerballers. You give every pitcher on the staff a couple extra called strikes per outing, block a couple extra wild pitches, and suddenly it looks like your whole pitching staff has improved. Who would I trade for that? Not as much as Mike, but at least one of those guys. I wouldn't want to lose Hicks or Polanco, and I'd rather keep Gonsalves. The rest are tradeable. I'd add Arcia to that mix, too. He can be somebody else's DH. The Twins have plenty of candidates for that - AB Walker, Dalton Hicks, Trey Vavra...
  3. jimbo92107
    "...any manager would be crazy not to want to pencil Trout's name in the line-up card everyday." Actually, the Angels lineup card is printed with Trout's name in CF. If anybody else wants the position, they'll have to break the printer. ;-)
  4. jimbo92107
    Joe Mauer is done catching. He's six foot five, over 230 pounds, and over 30. He's got a history of knee troubles, back trouble, and now concussion trouble. With all that, he's still a great athlete and may get back to being a great hitter, so the least-bad fit for him today is at first base. Even if he were willing to return to catching, he's well past his gold glove days as a catcher. Suzuki is now better, and the backups are fine behind the plate. Remember also that Mauer's ailments from catching were seriously affecting his hitting. If there's a reason the Twins defense doesn't look that great these days, look at the pitching mound. Right now the Twins starters are Hughes, Milone, and Gibson, with May a solid #4. The fifth starter is whoever hasn't wrecked his arm lately, at the moment Pelfrey. Except for Milone, these guys have been struggling. The order was supposed to be Hughes, Santana, Nolasco, Milone, and Gibson at five. That might have been a pretty good staff, if not for the fact that the Twins have had below average luck with free agents lately. Assuming that Ricky Nolasco won't be any good when he returns, the Twins should call up Meyer, and let the 25-year old phenom cut his teeth against the world's best hitters. They should also send down Schaefer and Robinson, bringing up Aaron Hicks and AB Walker. Platoon Walker with Arcia in LF, let Hicks start every day in center. That improves your offense, defense and pitching.
  5. jimbo92107
    BTW, has anybody else notice that Trevor Plouffe so far this season is doing a good imitation of an All-Star third baseman? His fielding seems much better, and he really looks like he's "figured some things out" at the plate. Right now Plouffe and Torii Hunter look like the best field position players on the team, along with Escobar, who has no permanent position, but maybe should be the SS rather than Santana...
  6. jimbo92107
    Exactly. Arcia has been dogging it in LF ever since they shifted him over there to make room for Torii Hunter. On this play, he very casually jogged to catch an easy rainbow fly, then took his eye off the ball to look out into center field for some reason. Bonk. I see kids do that, but pros are supposed to be smart enough to follow the ball all the way to the glove, because...it keeps on curving. You NEVER hold your glove in one place and assume the ball will land in it. You have to keep adjusting, all the way in. Sometimes a guy will hotdog it, just to show how easy it is for him. That's when nature makes him look like a chump. Trouble is, Arcia later botched a ball that caromed off the fence, allowing yet another runner to advance. He cost the team at least one run, maybe two, and prevented Gibson from continuing a good performance. It's hard enough surviving as a pitcher without one of your fielders going on an ego holiday. Though I think Arcia's got lots of talent, I'd sit him down, then send him down. The team doesn't need a Latino Delmon Young. Instead, bring up somebody that's willing to bust his tail and learn. Bring up Adam Brett Walker.
  7. jimbo92107
    If you're going to send anybody down, make it Oswaldo Arcia. That guy is such a klutz in LF that he's costing the team games. If you want to keep Hicks on hold, then bring up Adam Brett Walker. Compared to Arcia, Walker's at least as good a hitter, can't be a worse fielder, doubtless a better base runner. Arcia needs to learn how to field a fly ball. Let him make his mistakes in the minors.
  8. jimbo92107
    Too early to send Santana down. Let the kid get his game settled down for another month. If by then he's still flailing at the plate, bring up Jorge Polanco again. Polanco looks good at SS, and his bat looks more promising than Santana's. Either that, or just stick Escobar at SS and see how that works for a while. One thing I would NOT do is stick Santana back in the outfield. That didn't do him any good, and it cost other outfield candidates some playing time last year. BTW, has anybody else noticed that Santana's bat doesn't seem quite a quick as last season? Maybe he's swinging the stick too much like a garden rake.
  9. jimbo92107
    Way too early to tell if Santana will become an excellent SS at the mlb level. He's got all the physical tools. I'd like to see him there for another month, see if he doesn't stabilize his defense. It's his hitting that concerns me more. Almost like he forgot what he was doing last year. Are pitchers doing something different? Have the fielders adjusted? Doesn't seem like the same guy a the plate.
  10. jimbo92107
    At least a few times already this season I have seen balls hit to center drop in front of Shaefer, and thought to myself, "Buxton would have caught that." I also noticed that Shaefer's arm is nothing special, either. I fully acknowledge my new-kid bias, but it's not just a matter of speed. Shaefer appears to lack confidence in himself going after balls hit in front of him. As a result he doesn't get as quick a jump on those balls as would a slightly faster, more confident Byron Buxton. On the other hand, if Buxton's not hitting in AA, then there's no reason to rush him up. We already know that Aaron Hicks is a better CF than Shaefer, and he won't look any worse at the plate. Hicks is at least as fast, has a slightly better glove, more confidence going after balls in front of him, and a much better arm. If the Twins want to shore up their CF defense, then bring up Hicks, not Buxton.
  11. jimbo92107
    When I watched Adam Brett Walker's home run at the end of spring training, his stance and swing reminded me of Chili Davis. Now if he can just learn to switch hit! ;-)
  12. jimbo92107
    I just hope the hitting coaches are telling all the minor league guys what Molitor told Vargas during batting practice: It's fine to hit homeruns during BP, but make them line drive homers, not mortar shots. If these guys learn to drive the ball mostly flat, they'll have better batting averages. Lifting the ball too much just gets you a lot of pop ups in games. With guys like Buxton and Sano, I just hope they learn to play the count and the situation with the same level of savvy that Brian Dozier has developed. Dozier became a home run hitter after Bruno got him to understand the strategy of hitting, then actually use that strategy during his at-bats. Dozier has learned to read the situation so that he can guess when that high inside heater is probably coming. He's ready to turn on that pitch before the pitcher lets it go.
  13. jimbo92107
    Question: If you took the best players today from Rochester, Chattanooga and Cedar Rapids, how would they fare against the MLB club in twenty games? My guess is the minor league team would go 15 - 5 against the Twins. Sano, Buxton and Rosario would tear the Twins pitching apart, while Meyer, May and Berrios would mow down the punchless Twins hitters. I'd go with this hitting lineup: 1. Polanco, SS 2. Buxton, CF 3. Rosario, RF 4. Sano, 3B 5. AB Walker II, DH (RF) 6. Pinto, C 7. Levi Michael, 2B 8. Brock Peterson, 1B 9. Hicks, LF Starters: Meyer, Berrios, May, Achter, Darnell. Releivers: Theilbar, Tonkin, Pressly, Melotakis, and Burdi to slam the door. Manager: Doug Mientkiewicz
  14. jimbo92107
    God, I hope Sano isn't hooked on chewing tobacco. What a disgusting, unhealthy habit. Maybe the athletic trainer can talk some sense into the kid before he ruins his health with that crap.
  15. jimbo92107
    It's possible that there's an ethical gray area here, at least from Ervin Santana's perspective. He might have bought some "stuff" from a buddy that told him it would help him recover from arm soreness, but then decided not to ask his buddy what was in it. Sure 'nuff, it worked. Also sure 'nuff, it was steroids. I do agree with one commenter that baseball may be too harsh on players that are using PEDs to recover from injuries. It's a shame that a fine pitcher like Santana reaches a point where it hurts more and more to do what they love, which is making a baseball duck and dance past major league hitters. If Santana suddenly was hurling it at 96 or 98mph, then it would seem more unfair, but he was just zipping it in at his usual velocity. On the other hand, baseball has always been a young man's game. By taking steroids, Santana beat out guys like May and Meyer, who now spend more of their careers in AAA. Also, this might explain why the Twins were able to sign Santana, when we all know that the Twins usually are last in line for top pitchers. Why did the big boys back off from Santana? Maybe this explains it.
  16. jimbo92107
    I watched Walker bang his homer in the eighth against Boston, and his swing reminded me a lot of Chili Davis, the great switch hitter. Same kind of wrist action, same kind of explosion off the bat. This Walker kid could be dynamite. How's his defense?
  17. jimbo92107
    Maybe the Twins should pay Santana with performance-enhanced money. Great big Monopoly bills. Sorry Ervin, but I don't buy the "I don't know what I was taking" excuse. This is 2015, not the 1990's. Players have to know, it's their job to know what's in the pills they're taking. If you bought dubious pills from a dubious source, it's your fault if they're full of yummy steroids. Meanwhile, the Twins should have called up May, not promoted Pelfry from the pen. May has already pitched in the bigs, so he's no longer a bundle of nerves. He should be able to settle down and be a horse. They should let May prove himself.
  18. jimbo92107
    Yes, it's a bummer for May, but keep in mind that while May's control has improved, he still is prone to spells of inconsistency, where Milone has a record of being a mature control pitcher. If May continues to improve his command of the strike zone and to iron out his inconsistency, then soon he will be back in the starting rotation. I think Trevor May is going to be a workhorse starter for the Twins for several years, possibly on the same level as Kyle Gibson. It's just a matter of time, and probably not that much time. As for Pelfrey taking over from Milone (should he falter), I get the feeling Pelfrey is done as a starter for the Twins. He wasn't that good even when he was healthy, and now he's older, and post TJ. I think the Twins are going to see what they can get out of him as a middle releiver, where he can cut loose more with his heater, not having to budget his energy like a starter. Of course I don't know if the Twins promised Pelfrey that he'd get the first shot at a rotation spot if somebody goes south, but they already know his history, and there's no reason to expect him to suddenly develop better stuff. Pelfrey may do a spot start now and then if a somebody has a sore arm, but I think the fifth spot is destined to go to Trevor May.
  19. jimbo92107
    Trevor May should keep a bag packed. If any of the starting five falters or gets hurt, May will get the call in about a minute.
  20. jimbo92107
    "He may not be as stunningly beautiful as my lovely wife, but he’s dependable." Well played, sir.
  21. jimbo92107
    Exactly. Schafer is a low-risk temp defensively in the OF. Excellent pinch runner, base stealer. And if Bruno can find the magic words to make him a .250 hitter, he could become a semi-regular player. Otherwise, he's gone next season after Hicks learns to have a plan at the plate, or if some other OF in AA or AAA can hit well enough to promote. Meanwhile, Schafer clearly does NOT have a plan at the plate. Not a good one, anyway. I saw him stand there and get struck out on 3 pitches from Hahn. That was not a plan, that was a guy that had no idea what to do, so he just stood there. Heck, I could do that, except I'd be leaping backwards and crapping my pants with every pitch... Those guys throw hard!
  22. jimbo92107
    Seth's call sounds about right. May and Milone up, Pino down. Colabello can't stick in this lineup; Parms plays better OF and K-Var is a switch hitting 1B with massive power. 6'5", 275, and he'll probably add muscle. Yikes. Pretty good glove at 1st, too. I remember when David Ortiz first came up... His swing looked a lot like Dave Parker from the Pirates, even more powerful than Hrbek's. But Ortiz didn't have much of a glove at 1B, not as a rookie. Vargas looks more advanced as a fielder than Ortiz did. In a couple years, the power in this Twins lineup could be staggering. Sano, Vargas, Arcia, Rosario, Buxton... A. Walker in LF? if they can find places in the field for all these guys. They will.
  23. jimbo92107
    Joe Mauer is a great guy, and he used to be a great catcher. However, even if he comes back and gets his average back up to .350, he's still going to be a singles hitter at a power position. Best scenario for all concerned would be to trade Mauer to the Red Sox, where he could play right field like Cuddyer and bang 80 doubles per year off the Green Monster. His bat doesn't fit the way the Twins want to build a team here, but in Boston he would have well over 100 RBI per year until he can't wave a stick anymore.
  24. jimbo92107
    Love that Santana kid. His short, quick swing and surprising power reminds me a little of Paul Molitor. Speed, too. With his versatility, he could be a super utility guy, or settle in at CF or SS. As for Hicks, I'm with Gardenhire - let him prove he can hit better pitching in AAA. Hicks was horribly overmatched at the mlb level. Needs to learn situational hitting, pitch recognition. He's going to be a long-term project that might not get back to Minneapolis before late next season. Better that then more unprepared embarrassment. Meanwhile, it's time to bring up more of the kids like K-Var. There's at least five pitchers in Rochester that I'd rather see than Burton, who has really been looking mediocre. I'd like to see S-Gil, D-Gue, A-Mey, T-May, and maybe MarBurg.
  25. jimbo92107
    What I'd like to know about Jordan Schafer is how he's getting himself out at the plate. What's he doing wrong - trying to pull everything, over-swinging, a big hole in his swing, etc. There might be something about him that Bruno can work on. Maybe he can borrow Danny Santana's bat and approach. Or Suzuki's.
×
×
  • Create New...