Jump to content
Twins Daily
  • Create Account

spinowner

Provisional Member
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    3,904

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    6

 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 spinowner

  1. spinowner
    How likely is it that he can turn things around? How often do 32 year old journeyman catchers with so-so careers suddenly become good? Not very often, I'm afraid. He'll be a backup and mentor this season, which will be the last in his playing career.
  2. spinowner
    You can't put a finer point on it than this. Herb had the knowledge and the voice and the delivery.
  3. spinowner
    I agree and I'll take it a step further. It's good for Sano and for the Twins if he can play outfield if needed, and they probably should have had him play there some in the minors. However, he's going to be an infielder/DH in the long term and the Twins need to see that he gets enough time at 3B to at least prevent his skills at that position from regressing. In the coming years he should also start learning to play 1B.
  4. spinowner
    Plate discipline is huge. Barry Bonds was juicing big time (even though it's never been officially acknowleged) but it's also pitch recognition that enabled him to hit so many home runs. He knew when to let it rip and he almost never needed to check his swing.
  5. spinowner
    We already have the rule allowing teams to activate a 26th player for the second game of a doubleheader.
  6. spinowner
    Well, you're close. There's no Kasota County but there is a small town named Kasota near where the limestone was first quarried. Calling the gold on the unis Kasota Gold is just the brainchild of some marketing guru. Or maybe it was one of the Target Field janitors who thought of it for all I know.
  7. spinowner
    Just to give my brain something to do I assigned 100 points to the #1 prospect, 99 to #2 and so on with #100 getting 1 point. The Twins finished sixth with 293 points behind Texas (353), Colorado (325), Dodgers (319), Boston (316) and Atlanta (302). Angels and Miami each had 0.
  8. spinowner
    I deal with foreign language speakers fairly regularly. My company's policy is to have an interpreter present rather than relying on a friend or family member. Much lower risk of mistakes in translation.
  9. spinowner
    I'm in favor of one home uniform and one road uniform. The only thing I like about the Yankees is that they have never ever messed with their uniforms. I would like the '60's cream color for home but with updated trim. The current lettering is much better than the ugly script from the '60's. I like an all-gray road uni as long as it looks different from Atlanta and Cleveland. I know it's done to try to get fans to buy more licensed product but I'm just tired of the perceived need throughout sports for multiple looks.
  10. spinowner
    Strongly agree with the first sentence. Strongly disagree with the second. The baby blues are so '70's, and not in a good way.
  11. spinowner
    I think I'll probably be there.
  12. spinowner
    This is a good point that actually has to do with the topic of the thread. Google "map of favorite baseball teams" to see some cool maps and you'll see how limited the Twins are in terms of populated areas. A similar way to evaluate this is to find the Twins' radio affiliates. (It was on the Twins web site last year.) It's not hard to see why their TV and radio contract is on the small side.
  13. spinowner
    The thing to remember is that the value of a team is based on its ability to make money for a prospective buyer. A team can be a consistent winner but if the owner isn't able to break even while doing so the franchise will not appreciate in value.
  14. spinowner
    From Phil Miller of the StarTribune: The Twins' streak of avoiding arbitration with their players reached 10 years on Monday, when third baseman Trevor Plouffe agreed to a $7.25 million contract for 2016. Plouffe's contract means the Twins have now reached agreement with all six arbitration-eligible players. Minnesota hasn't required an arbitration hearing to settle a contract dispute since Kyle Lohse took them to a hearing in 2006. Plouffe had asked for $7.95 million, while the Twins offered $7 million when proposals were exchanged on Jan. 15. He took somewhat less than the $7.45 million midpoint, but still receives a 51 percent raise over last year's $4.8 million salary. That makes Plouffe the fifth-highest paid Twin for 2016, and second-highest-paid position player, after Joe Mauer. The Twins wrapped up their six arbitration contracts for $22,962,500, a 61 percent increase over their half-dozen cases in 2015 but still $2-3 million less in total than some estimates had projected. The Twins now have 14 players under contract for 2016, a group set to earn roughly $98.5 million. With nothing but minimum-salary contracts remaining (worth $507,500 each, though the Twins generally dole out modest increases over that figure), unless they choose to sign someone to a multi-year deal, the Twins’ opening day roster projects to total about $104.5 million, a decline of roughly $3.5 million (or 2.6 percent) from 2015’s $108 million payroll.
  15. spinowner
    At the major league level the least important defensive position is left field. Right field requires a stronger arm and the decision about which base to throw to is a bigger factor because of the longer distance to third base. As others have mentioned, right field at Target Field is smaller than left field but playing the wall in right field requires more skill than in left, especially for someone with no outfield experience. If you have a corner outfielder with limited range you can always slightly shift the other two outfielders. I'll also ask the corollary question: Is it better to have Sano at third and Plouffe in the outfield instead? (Probably not, but it should still be considered.) If Sano truly needs to play outfield I'd be inclined to go with left field but I'll certainly defer to the judgement of real baseball people like Ryan and Molitor. Edited to add: I'm aware that many rank first base as less important defensively than left field but I happen to disagree. To wit, picture Josh Willingham or Delmon Young trying to play first base.
  16. spinowner
    I found this rule: Rule 5.10(d) Comment (Rule 3.03 Comment): A pitcher may change to another position only once during the same inning; e.g. the pitcher will not be allowed to assume a position other than a pitcher more than once in the same inning. This puts the kibosh on the strategy discussed above. Oh well.
  17. spinowner
    I think the idea of inactivating players is a bit nonsensical. Baseball is not like other sports. Currently four players are already essentially inactive--the members of the starting rotation who are not starting that day. Only rarely would the next day's starter see action, for example in the case of an 18-inning game or something. Back in the '60's Jim Kaat was sometimes used as a pinch runner on his days off but that's not going to happen these days. So when it comes time to designate three inactive players it would always be the three starters who have most recently pitched. So if you're going to expand the roster just expand it and leave out the inactive player idea.
  18. spinowner
    I think something along these lines is reasonable in terms of speeding up the game, but remember the broadcast needs enough time to show a commercial while it's happening. Eliminate the commercial and you eliminate revenue. Probably wouldn't happen.
  19. spinowner
    This is a really interesting idea, but probably not for ace pitchers because they tend to do fairly well against everyone. Where this would be more useful is in the case of two pitchers who have markedly disparate stats between righty and lefty batters. Opposing managers wouldn't be able to pinch hit based on handedness. The fly in the ointment would be switch hitters, but at least you could force the batter to hit from his weaker side. This makes me think of a question: Would the rules allow for 8 warm-up pitches every time a switch was made?
  20. spinowner
    I think this strategy is underused.
  21. spinowner
    26 players in this era is roughly the same as 25 players 40 years ago. I think it's time to accept the fact that the game evolves, and pitching staffs simply need to be larger to accommodate modern pitching philosophy. Go ahead and whine about 100-pitch-count limits, 5-man rotations and more frequent situational pitching changes if you must, but the fact that every major league team has adopted these strategies tells me that it's the probably best way to play the game. A 26th player would give the manager an extra option in the late innings or if a player needed a day off.
  22. spinowner
    First point: The rosters were decreased from 25 to 24 before the 1986 season then increased back to 25 before the 1990 season. Second point: I am against changing the fundamental rules of the game for the sake of faster play. Limiting catcher visits, acceptable. Limiting pitching changes, unacceptable.
  23. spinowner
    I don't value HOF membership as a good indicator of the quality of a player's career. The criterion for membership, being voted in by writers or a committee, is very arbitrary and has resulted in the dividing line between members and non-members being very inconsistent. I'd rather see a much more objective formula in place. Exhibit A is Blyleven. While he did finally achieve membership there's no satisfactory explanation for him not being voted in on the first ballot. When he retired he was third all-time in strikeouts. Third! That would be similar to Ken Griffey Junior not being elected after retiring in sixth place on the all-time home run list.
  24. spinowner
    He would be the manager-in-waiting if Andy Green winds up not working out.
  25. spinowner
    Agree with sb, disagree with the first part of Thrylos, agree with the second part of Thrylos. Buxton is a future cornerstone of this franchise. What he needs for his development comes first. What the team needs in 2016 should of course be considered but Buxton's development trumps that. This will probably be the biggest story in ST, followed by seeing how Park looks against major league pitching.
×
×
  • Create New...