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Vanimal46

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Everything posted by Vanimal46

  1. Vanimal46
    I'm getting a little prospect fatigued with the awesome RP names in the minors.... They had injuries or ineffectiveness, but they aren't spring chickens anymore. Most everyone is in the 24-27 age range. So yes, let's get all of these guys up this coming year, so we can figure out if they were worth waiting for or not.
  2. Vanimal46
    Somebody give this guy a username for TD... We have better ideas than Twitter!
  3. Vanimal46
    Also, relying on players such as Matt LeCroy, Jose Offerman, Michael Restovich, Jason Tyner... Not enough depth and too many replacement players paired up with the studs.
  4. Vanimal46
    Diana Moskovitz of Deadspin wrote a fantastic article about this yesterday. Highly recommend reading her point of view on the subject of Zero Tolerance DV in sports.
  5. Vanimal46
    Great post and concur with the direction you took with this topic. You're correct that it's a PR thing for all sports leagues. It's very easy for media members and fans to grandstand by saying "Aroldis Chapman should never pitch in the MLB again!" or "The MLB needs to crack down on all DV abusers. This can not be tolerated!" As you said, their employer is potentially taking their family's income away from them, and putting them in a tough position. That could make it less likely for victims to come forward if the abuser threatens that money will no longer be coming in, and they would be on their own. There's a lot of gray area with this issue, and I don't believe there's a singular way how to go about solving this. One place to start, like you mentioned, is using resources to create a counseling program to get the abusers and their family the help they need.
  6. Vanimal46
    Thanks for writing the article, Seth. It's a difficult subject in our society, and I hope we as humans take this subject as seriously as we do with sports. When it comes to these athletes and DV, I'm not sure if it's the right thing to put the responsibility on their employer (Mets, MLB, NFL, etc.) to enforce the punishment. It's relatively new for all sports leagues, and they're wildly inconsistent with their suspensions... Almost relying on public opinion while they consider next steps. Simply suspending someone from their profession without working on changing their behavior will not work in the long run... Aroldis Chapman for example was interviewed twice by a psychologist, as mandated by MLB, and attended one counseling session. Was that enough to make Chapman a changed man? Who knows. But I would prefer more counseling and behavior change than simply burying the issue.
  7. Vanimal46
    Didn't watch a second of the game on Saturday, but it sounds like a disappointment, even though it was a win. Rutgers came into this game being outscored 174-14 in 4 Big 10 games, and they score 32 against the Gophers? Yikes. On a positive note, RB Rodney Smith is a stud. He should be the next Gophers high draft pick in the NFL.
  8. Vanimal46
    Yeah it's tough to maintain parity and a consistent winner when other teams are on a different revenue level. MLB I believe is different than the other big sports in which they can negotiate their own TV deals, and rake in as much cash as possible. Compared to the other sports where they're on a league wide plan and share the revenues evenly. The mid market Midwestern teams will always be at a disadvantage in that sense when a team like the Dodgers can negotiate a gazillion dollar TV deal and use it to buy whoever they want.
  9. Vanimal46
    No on Gordon and Kennedy... Maybe for Vargas.
  10. Vanimal46
    IMO... Kansas City takes a shot for one more year while they have Cain, Moustakas, Hosmer, etc. under contract. If they're out of it by July, I could see a big fire sale from them. Detroit's owner has been consistent on saying he wants a title before he passes away... Until that happens, whether it's right or wrong, they'll always be in win-now mode. Cleveland's window starts now, and should last another 1-2 years. It will be difficult, maybe impossible, to maintain this sort of excellence with a limited budget. As soon as their rock star pitching staff needs to get paid, along with Lindor needing mega money, they're out of it.
  11. Vanimal46
    Letting Sano sink or swim at 3B is an option. Time will tell if he's dedicating this winter to honing his craft at the position. OR... Sign 3B Justin Turner, a very good defensive and offensive player at the position, and let Sano to 1B happen earlier than anticipated. In this hypothetical situation, I'd lean towards this option. Rotation of Sano/Mauer/Vargas at 1B/DH.
  12. Vanimal46
    I would add Vargas to the bubble list, and don't feel he's a given. Plouffe has to go. I'd be a very happy fan never seeing Centeno, Grossman, and D Santana in a Twins uniform again. Add Garver, Palka, and Granite to the 40 man.
  13. Vanimal46
    Horatio was one of my "brilliant" Halloween costume ideas in college... Anytime I won or lost in beer pong, or needed a new beer, the sunglasses had to come on.
  14. Vanimal46
    Appreciate all of the research you did to make that post... Just seems like a lot of nitpicking to be honest. Every GM makes mistakes, even immortal genius-god Theo Epstein. What excites me about him is the Andrew Miller trade this season. They saw a window where they could legitimately compete in the playoffs. They went out and acquired a dominant reliever who helped them clinch the division, and be their safety blanket throughout the playoffs. He also has 2 more years of control, so if they don't win it all this year, they're set up with a dominant bullpen next year. When a team has a chance to win it all, I want a guy who's not afraid to push the chips in and go for it.
  15. Vanimal46
    The 11 names on the given list work for me. From the bubble list, if they let all 6 go I wouldn't care all that much. If they want to keep a couple I'd flip a coin between Buddy and O'Rourke, and keep Wimmers. Add Romero and Jorge. If another team selects the others, good luck to them with their new team.
  16. Vanimal46
    I do not want Centeno back on this team. The defensive stats you mentioned in the blog confirms that thought. This team needs an elite defensive C to get the pitching staff back on track. If it turns out to be Castro, great! Get him signed. Murphy realistically is a backup C at best. He can play 15-20% of the time in the majors, while Garver gets FT work in Rochester. Barring any setbacks from Garver, he'll be up as the backup C in Minnesota by the end of the year.
  17. Vanimal46
    On this day in 1987, Black Monday struck the US Stock Market. The Dow Jones fell 508 points, or 22 percent... Hopefully on that particular day you all hid your money underneath your mattress!
  18. Vanimal46
    I hope what Cleveland is doing with Miller becomes the new trend in the MLB. Stick your best pitcher in the situations where it matters most in a game. Could happen in the 6th to get out of a jam and kill the momentum... Could happen in the 7th when the opposing team's 3-4-5 hitters are due up, etc. I'd like to see a time where rigid bullpen roles are a thing of the past.
  19. Vanimal46
    At the end of the season, it certainly felt like the team gave up on the future, and wanted to find players who wouldn't embarrass themselves on the mound, field, or batter's box. Who knows why that was the case. We could speculate that the MLB clubhouse was so toxic they didn't want to expose more young players to it. Perhaps they got so tired of young players failing that they didn't want to keep doing it. All of this is speculation, with no substance to back it up.
  20. Vanimal46
    I'd be curious to know if Holland, Storen, or Feliz would demand to be the closer in their FA negotiations. Or if they'd be open to pitching in any high leverage inning, whether that be the 6th, 7th, or 8th inning. If they do turn out to pitch in the 9th and get the save, great! Like Mike and others on the thread, I'm believing more and more that etched in stone roles in the bullpen should be a thing of the past. Maybe the turning point in the game happens in the 7th inning. Maybe it's the 8th inning the next day. I'd like to have the best pitcher out there when the game is on the line, no matter the inning. Hopefully Cleveland is proving that traditional bullpen roles are a thing of the past with how they're using Andrew Miller this postseason.
  21. Vanimal46
    Quoted you to say I love your user name!
  22. Vanimal46
    Maryland was ranked 49th? I guess I just assumed Maryland was a bad team if the Gophers beat them...
  23. Vanimal46
    It worked out pretty well for Kansas City to acquire Wade Davis and James Shields in 2013... Helped them clinch a winning record in over 10 years. It wasn't just the starting staff that lost 103 games. The bullpen blew plenty of leads last year.
  24. Vanimal46
    Oh boy! The Gophers beat up on a very bad team again! Should be able to do that again next week against Rutgers, who have been outscored 174-14 in 4 Big 10 games.
  25. Vanimal46
    How exactly can this team improve a historically bad pitching staff without spending some money? Considering the SP market is very bad, they could at the very least build up a very bad bullpen....
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