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ejoh24
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Blog Entries posted by ejoh24
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It's been awhile since I've written about the Twins. I have one Twins Daily blog post, and a few months of inconsistent blogging, under my belt, so The Random Prospect Review seemed like an apt title for this post. It gives me the option of posting again, or disappearing into the abyss. Both very real possibilities.
If there is one infield prospect that we've been over-saturated with the last couple of seasons, it's Brian Dozier. From his minor league hot streak in 2011, to his misguided rave reviews last Spring Training, to his questionable but inevitable call up in 2012, we've all become pretty familiar with Brian Dozier.
The question is, why?
What portion of the prospect test does Dozier pass? Not the saber test. Not the old-school two-eye test. Not the baseball IQ test. Certainly not the hair test. The guy simply doesn't look like a Major League infielder.
The question becomes, who is at fault for pretending that Dozier is a legitimately hot infield prospect? It's partially our fault for wanting so badly to latch onto a Twins prospect during a time when the upper Minor Leagues are so devoid of legitimate talent. It's partially the Twins fault for forcing him down our throats for the same reason. And it's partially the media's fault because they needed a token "prospect who could break with the big club this spring" guy.
Whatever the reason, Dozier is a mediocre prospect at best, who rode an incredible hot streak for a few months in 2011 to an unfortunately prominent position in the Twins infield pecking order.
The one thing I will say is that Dozier reminds me a little of Chuck Knoblauch. A slower, less-savy, untalented version of Knoblauch, and one who has never hit Keith Olberman's mom in the face with an errant throw (yes, Knoblauch actually did that) but a Knoblauch nonetheless.
(Ok, so he's no Knoblauch, I just thought Target Field could use a good hot dog tossin'.)
The problem with Dozier is that he just hasn't been worthy of the accolades he receives. The numbers don't lie, and the numbers ain't great. His age 25 season looks like this:
AAA: .232/.286/.337
MLB: .234/.271/.332
Those, might I add, are both career lines in AAA and MLB.
If you ain't into that fancy book-learnin and prefer to trust your peepers, lets keep in mind how slow Dozier is to the ball. How unsure of himself he looks. And how poor his decision making skills are. He's a defensive liability on his worst day, average on his best day and somewhere in between most days.
All Dozier has proven is that he can be a solid, albeit unspectacular, AA middle infielder. I don't know what's really next for Dozier, but I know I'm not comfortable with him manning the middle infield.
Maybe it would help if he got a haircut...
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Hello, Twins fans. Some of you may remember me from my old blog, Undomed. Some of you may know me from my Twitter account, @ejoh24. Or, more likely, most of you have no idea who the hell I am. Regardless, allow me to state two things:
1. I love this Twins Daily page. Most importantly, it allows Twins fans to congregate in one place. Less importantly, it allows wayward bloggers like myself to write occasionally without people wondering why we disappeared from our blog for six months.
2. I need to start this post with a preface, and let me be perfectly clear about this: I DO NOT THINK JOE MAUER DOES STEROIDS. Got that? We good? Because if so much as one person tries to call me out as a “Baby Jesus” blasphemer, I will beat you to death with a copy of Seth’s Prospect Handbook and run you over with the Territory Train. I know how the internet works, so let’s all just agree to not put words in my mouth and avoid that whole mess. Capiche?
Having said that, allow me to transport you to a mystical fantasy-land for a moment: A Candyland of needles and pills. A pretend world where Joe Mauer does steroids.
How would you react if the Twins’ superstar was in Ryan Braun’s shoes?
It’s pretty safe to say that public opinion of Braun is that of vitriol and accusations. He weaseled his way out of his suspension on a technicality, and seems to have lucked his way to innocence. He even had gall to make a Clinton-esque, “I did not have sexual relations with that woman” defense. The only difference being that Braun was allegedly injecting himself with a needle and Clinton was allegedly injec—er…moving on…
Braun’s “acquittal” is irrelevant to me. I, for my part, don’t care if a player does steroids. In fact, there is a part of me that wishes Joe Mauer would do steroids if it gives him a competitive edge and he can get away with it. If he isn’t caught and the Twins win a World Series, for my part, Mauer has done his job. Is that cheating? Sure. But it’s also winning. And as a fan, what do we want more than a World Series?
The ultimate example of steroids is the home run chase of 1998. Now that we are afforded the luxury of hindsight, we scoff at memories and mock Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa. But try, momentarily, to do the impossible and jump in a time machine. Remember how much fun 1998 was? Nobody can change that. Yes, in looking back, you can convince yourself that the home run chase wasn’t magical. But it was. 1998 is one of the most memorable baseball seasons of all time, and no level of hindsight can take that distinction away. You can’t undo a feeling, no matter how hard you try.
Maybe it’s because I’m cynical, but I want my players to do everything they can to win. If Joe Mauer takes steroids and wins the Twins a World Series, I’ll be the first person to say it was worth it, because you can’t take the feeling of victory away, dammit.
Let me leave you with a question: What’s more important, perception or reality? Particularly in the world of sports. Is reality truly reality without perception?
Who would you rather have on your team: A clean player who everyone assumes is dirty, or a dirty player who never gets caught?
I’ll take the latter, especially if it means a World Series.
So ‘roid up, Joe, especially if can you get away with it.
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