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Squirrel

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Everything posted by Squirrel

  1. Squirrel
    Yes, we need him to ... doesn't mean he should or is able without further injury. So, it's fact we need him to, but it's opinion that he should or could.
  2. Squirrel
    No, the biggest one was putting together the roster of pitchers we have, especially the BP
  3. Squirrel
    So, you're saying ... better the devil you know than the devil you don't
  4. Squirrel
    I'd bet that this is not a minority.
  5. Squirrel
    This is in a nutshell for me, too. Especially roster construction. And even more specific, BP construction. Yeah, the injuries sucked, and it's anyone's guess where we'd be if they weren't the issue. But when you construct a roster and know your starting rotation is not going to be able to go deep into games, you have to have a very durable and capable BP. We didn't have that from day 1. Did that philosophy weigh at all in some of the pitcher injuries? No way to know for certain, at least not from my perspective of one who is not an insider with insider information. So, I do put fault with the FO for that. I mean, not completely, but, it needs to be looked at, seriously. Two, the injuries ... we traded for two players, and signed a couple more, who were injury risks to begin with. So, maybe the FO has some work to do on how they evaluate these risks and these players. It can't just be 'give them enough rest' as a solution. I think there is something amiss in how they go about identifying these types of players. So, @Nick Nelson, while I do think the injuries played a big part in our season, I do think the FO bears maybe a 50/50 responsibility in that. But I'm also in alignment with what @wsnydes said in their post above ... I never expected this team to be at all competitive. I predicted they'd be middle of the division, at or near (plus or minus) .500. The fact that we were competitive ... with that record? Well, that shows the weakness of the division. However, I did see some good baseball. And so what if the division was weak, it still made it competitive relative to that.
  6. Squirrel
    Right … perspective is everything!
  7. Squirrel
    Not to mention, everyone had the same ball. It’s not like we were the only ones playing with a juiced ball.
  8. Squirrel
    You misunderstood my post. I meant that comment as a moderator warning to just stop with personification of posters or players/managers as haters or heartless.. There are many here every night who say Rocco and the team have given up, that Rocco doesn’t know baseball, is brainless, etc. And there are many here who complain that everyone is being too negative or whiny or Rocco haters. I’m not telling anyone to not criticize play on the field, but to do so without making it personal by qualifying anyone as heartless, brainless and/or a hater.
  9. Squirrel
    That simply isn’t the case. There were a lot of posters then, many have left the site for various reasons. To everyone, please let’s get off this habit of characterizing posters and manager/players
  10. Squirrel
    And let’s stop referring to Rocco as ‘giving up’ or ‘has no brain’. All around this is just not good, on both sides
  11. Squirrel
    Yes. Heads I win, tails you lose. I actually think we won, in spite of ourselves.
  12. Squirrel
    I think he settles in as good 3. There was a poll in the Twins Talk forum a few weeks ago asking where we thought Ryan would be, and that’s how I answered. It’s his rookie year. He started well and then I think players adjusted to him. I also think his illness took a little out of him, too. It’s probably too soon to ask if he’s who I thought he would be but so far I think he is. He’s had some bad starts but that happens. I expect him to be solid going forward.
  13. Squirrel
    I’m sure he agrees in part, or he wouldn’t have a job here, but he still has to make in game decisions with the roster he’s given and I don’t think he has been given an adequate roster. And if not Baldelli, we’d still have the same kind of manager, imo. I just don’t think he matters as great deal. Granted, who knows where we’d be without all the injuries, but then that leads us back to the FO and injury risk assessment. Yes, Baldelli could be less ‘rigid’, but I don’t think that ‘rigidity’ has cost us nearly as much as an inadequately staffed BP.
  14. Squirrel
    It doesn’t matter if he believes it or not. The FO didn’t put together a BP that fits with their philosophy. That’s my point. We don’t have ace pitching and a rotation like the Yankees or the Dodger, nor can we likely afford it. Okay, so go with with a bunch of 3s, 4s and 5s, track what they are doing and pull them when their numbers start looking iffy. They won’t go as deep, which is fine, but then we must have a BP. I’m not necessarily in favor or opposed to the strategy, HOWEVER, to accomplish this you have to have a shut down, durable BP. That’s what’s egregious, that we don’t knowing that we would need it. And that comes to play before the season begins. Before Baldelli steps into the dugout to manage the first game. The FO went into the season with this philosophy, then didn’t staff it accordingly. The number of times Baldelli could have let the pitchers go a little deeper does not equal, not even close, the number of times the pitchers couldn’t or shouldn’t go deeper and we don’t have a BP to close it out. If Baldelli pushes back and says ‘No, I’m not doing that’ is the moment they part ways, and then we get the manager in who will follow that philosophy. That’s why I don’t think the manager makes a huge difference. While Baldelli isn’t completely blameless, this philosophy and the lack of a durable, shut the door BP, lies squarely at the feet of the FO.
  15. Squirrel
    The topic of this thread is pitchers and pitcher usage not spending. I get the related side discussion, but please stick to the topic and start your own thread on spending if that’s the path you want to go down.
  16. Squirrel
    If short starts are how it’s going to be, and that was/is their plan, then you absolutely need a BP to withstand that. The FO is egregious in their philosophy one way or the other. If you are going to defend the FO for limiting their starters by saying everyone’s doing it, then they need to be blasted for the construction of their BP. They built a BP on the cheap. You cannot do one without the other. If you are going to limit your starters you need a BP filled with pitchers who can not only withstand the workload, but who can shut down your opponents and actually get the job done. That’s been my complaint all year. Many posters are calling for Rocco to be fired because of pitcher usage. That isn’t going to change a thing when the FO has put this system into place and then has given the manager the BP they have. Of course it’s a disaster.
  17. Squirrel
    Pathetic and embarrassing on so many fronts
  18. Squirrel
    I hear this a lot ... 'so and so just doesn't have much of a baseball IQ' ... what exactly does that mean? That they lack knowledge of the game, or are just poor executers or are prone to mistakes? I think it fair to ask 'What was he thinking?' and being disappointed at decisions made in a split second and think you'd have done it differently for a better outcome, but I'm very doubtful that it's because a lack of knowledge of the game and how to play, i.e. IQ, but rather issues of inexperience.
  19. Squirrel
    Well, that wasn’t that difficult, obviously. ? But I do agree that the Archer situation needs to be addressed. Either find someone who can consistently give as many innings each game and stack them, or move Archer to the pen. Depending on what happens in all the rehab starts that Winder, Ober and Dobnak are making, something will need to be done.
  20. Squirrel
    And the next day … lol …
  21. Squirrel
    We had a lengthy discussion in the Twins Talk forum on this exact same question within the past week ... Rocco's future; in fact the title of that thread was just that. If anyone wants to catch up with the comments made in that thread, here is the link. https://twinsdaily.com/forums/topic/58604-rocco-baldellis-future/?_rid=7
  22. Squirrel
    But someone might give him $20-25million AAV for 6 years or more. Guaranteed money. And that is way better than $35million for 2 years.
  23. Squirrel
    With this team, I just can't assume anything. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst ... and if the best happens, yippee, and if the worst happens, okay, you're prepared
  24. Squirrel
    I recall when he was a player, his 'after playing' goal was analyst/announcer. He even attributed some of his 'antics' toward that goal ... not sure exactly how, but, he's following his goal. And I agree, he's a good announcer
  25. Squirrel
    I'm not sure I agree completely to using either when we are behind, even in a close game; but I do question using Megill for two innings, late in the game in a close game. Then again, who else do we have? (Yeah, okay, Lopez and Duran; I'd have maybe brought Jax out to at least start the next inning, maybe.). But if we had gone past 10, given our BP depth (as in there is none), I'm glad we still had both, and, Lopez is still available today. And, I don't think we stole it so much as it was given to us, but I'll take it either way and am happy for the win. And this all goes back to my and your off-season complaints about our BP construction. In the end, we got it done.
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