Paul

Yuk, yuk and yuk!

I think your comp of Beltre is apt. I've always been a big fan of Kep. I still believe he's got a couple of all-star seasons in him. What most might fail to recognize about him is he grew up in Germany, where baseball was probably number 3 on his list of sports he played. His father was a pro tennis player, and Max had a future as a pro soccer goalie if he wanted. From what I have read he didn't get uber serious about baseball until he was drafted as a 16-year-old, and came to a foreign country. Most current baseball pros his age have been serious about the game for about 5 more years than Max. With those years being from about 5 to 11 when most people are like a sponge, being very impressionable. I believe it makes sense for the Twins to re-sign him. If they don't someone else will. And they will harvest the seeds planted by the Twins.

@&$:;/-()&$…and I thought I was finally over that JJ for Nishioka thing! And you guys have to remind me again! -/:;($)&@“(:)/-&$)!!!!

He was the player I most admired and tried to emulate. When I was a 14 yr old I saved up my money and went to A&B sporting goods in downtown Mpls to purchase the model glove he used. It turned out they 1 left which I bought. The salesman told me Zoilo bought his gloves there and had recently been in to buy 2 new ones. He said Zoilo threw his glove away whenever he made an error.

I think the strike zone will probably have to be refined somewhat before instituting technology to call balls and strikes. With the current 3-dimensional strike zone pitchers with excellent control of a big 12 to 6 curveball will be almost unhittable. They can clip front bottom of the zone and bounce it before it reaches the catcher. Or throw high and come down to clip the back edge of the top of the zone. This will probably need to be adjudicated before introducing the technology.

Technology called balls and strikes can’t come soon enough for me. Incorrect calls influence the outcome of games. Getting rid of incorrect calls will usher in a renaissance in the sport. To have a stopgap system where a “challenge” has to be issued to access the correct call seems ridiculous to me.

Wave big paychecks in front of David Ortiz and Lawrence Taylor to mentor him. There’s a couple of dudes who know how to party and still get the job done.

Reminds me of a Michael Jordan story. He was being interviewed at the height of Kobe’s career. The interviewer asked him how he thought he would do against Kobe one on one. Jordan answered he thought Kobe would be pretty tough to beat, and give him a real battle, but that ultimately he would triumph. The interviewer commented he really must be a fan of Kobe’s, because he had never heard him speak so highly of any other basketball player. Jordan said “We’ll, I am 50 now.”

If Kepler goes to the Yanks he’ll play in at least 2 all star games.

I believe him swinging at so many out of the zone pitches means he’s not recognizing the pitch type. Either his eyesight or the speed of his cognitive ability is not up to the challenge. Torri Hunter may be the best comp for him. But I’d love to have another Hunter on the Twins.

100% this. Staying off the barrel is the objective for pitchers learning the craft. The best ones become starters. Starters might face the same guys 3 or 4 times in a game. Their command of the strike zone is key. Their margin for error is reduced due to the hitters familiarity. The bullpen guys face hitters once during the game. They can be sporadically fantastic with velocity at the expense control. Everyone is looking for the guys that throw 100mph and paints the black. The Yankees buy all them guys.

One of my favorite Tony Larussa comments came after a Cardinal WS game pitched by Chris Carpenter vs Roy Halladay. I don’t even remember who won, but it was low scoring. I think both pitchers went the distance. After the game Larussa was asked for his take on the fantastic pitching performances witnessed. He commented (my memory fails me for the exact quote so this is paraphrased) “Just a couple of pitch to contact guys doing their thing.”

Sad that Simmons has fallen so far. I was a huge proponent of his. But now I agree he’s done. If Cruz would return as the hitting coach I’d have him in a heartbeat with a lifetime contract. But when his eyesight catches up with his age that precious clubhouse dynamic he brings will shift directions. As much as I love him I say no. But the club needs to find that cohesiveness he created somewhere. I’m sure, like the rest of the country, there’s division in that clubhouse. The teams that conquer that will have an edge. Pitching. Good pitching costs lots of money. Good pitchers have figured out how to be successful with life’s normal distractions and noise. Good pitchers on good teams have proven they’re not a significant negative on the clubhouse dynamic. Those are the ones I would target in free agency. I don’t know yet if Wes is the guy yet, but he has a proven record in college. He figured it out there. So odds are good he’ll figure it out here.

Kep’s best days are ahead of him.

Sano is a middle of the order bat for any baseball team on this planet.