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KirbyDome89

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Everything posted by KirbyDome89

  1. KirbyDome89
    Another injury to add to the list though right? That's kind of the point, he hasn't exactly been reliable in terms of staying on the field in the last three years. I'm fine with him as a back end starter, but I wouldn't be counting on him to hold that role down for an entire season. I agree that their depth is more encouraging this season than in previous years, but a rotation of Berrios, Gibson, Odorizzi, and 2 of the above still doesn't inspire much confidence. Mejia or Romero could take a step forward. Maybe Gonsalves figures it out. I'm honestly not sure what to think of Stewart, his starts felt like watching somebody walk a tightrope. I'd rather not hang the hopes for the season on either of those outcomes. The rest of that group seems like AAAA/fringe MLB guys, at least at the moment, which again, is better than the obvious AAAA guys the Twins have run out in the past but IMO it's still not enough to hold up a playoff team, barring some massive collapse by the Indians.
  2. KirbyDome89
    Satisfying. Go get some much needed pitching now.
  3. KirbyDome89
    His normal self isn't really a healthy self at this point. That late season bullpen track was already derailed because he was injured during his rehab assignment. IMO any production from Pineda should be counted as a bonus, and if he puts up numbers mentioned in the median or good scenarios that's great. What I'm hoping doesn't happen is that the Twins start the season with him penciled in as the 4 spot with a rotating door behind him.
  4. KirbyDome89
    Have this FO made steps that you can point to as evidence that the Twins are on the right track, or any track at all for that matter? I'm playing devil's advocate a bit here. Yes, the Twins are unique (as is every franchise) and they ultimately control their own ability to succeed or fail, so by that token comparisons to other clubs aren't particularly useful. That said, holding them up against other organizations that have turned things around much more quickly is a way of measuring where MN stands as as organization, which IMO is relevant. It's difficult to watch competitors lap you and pay no attention to it. So far the last three years feels like a lot of what we've seen previously from the Twins. There have been some small improvements and other changes that haven't gone over as well. I think we all had high hopes when Falvey took over that we'd see more tangible change by this point. Maybe we still will, and hopefully this offseason is the launching point for that, but I think there's a growing contingent for whom the luster of "new," has worn away and what's left is unfortunately familiar.
  5. KirbyDome89
    FWIW the Twins were public about targeting Darvish before the market took a nosedive last offseason. He was projected to sign a deal upwards of $160M at that time. The Cubs ended up getting him for $126M.... I'm not sure why this organization is getting a pat on the back for attempting to spend money that had no chance of being accepted.
  6. KirbyDome89
    They'd have to make moves that have a direction beyond a single season for them to even have a chance to "box themselves in." So far it's been a lot of treading water.
  7. KirbyDome89
    So much so that he received the most special treatment of all, service time manipulation.....
  8. KirbyDome89
    Valid question. You'd have to think the Twins either really liked Schoop relative to what was out there, or they're more confident in Nick Gordon than some of us. It might be some combination of the two. I'm not sure I agree with either answer, but if it's neither of the two then yeah, it's a head scratcher, i.e. misreading the market a bit. As for luring FAs, it's simple; pay them. That's kind of tongue in cheek because we know the Twins don't spend $$ but I'm confident the whole "FA don't want to be in MN," narrative would disappear pretty quickly if the pocketbook actually opened up.
  9. KirbyDome89
    You don't think the Twins mishandled his injury early in the year and put themselves in a position to keep him down? Look, nobody is arguing that Buxton's time at the Major League level has been anything short of disappointing. I've voiced my own concerns over his production and health in other threads. He played 11 healthy games last season. That's the ultimate SSS. I have a hard time saying he did this to himself, especially after the way he finished in 17'. I can acknowledge that he's gone through stretches of poor play and at the same time not use that to justify what the team took from him.
  10. KirbyDome89
    Rest cures all I'm told.
  11. KirbyDome89
    I'm not as down on Buck but yeah I agree, there are definitely mixed signals being sent regarding what's said and what's done. The Twins stated that Buxton had things he needed to work on, hence him being optioned to AAA in July. Then they cut his season short by a month and deprived him of a month's worth of MLB ABs..... Buxton is such an asset that the Twins were willing to potentially wreck a relationship with him to gain one more year of team control. They couldn't find developmental innings for him in September between Grossman, Cave, and Field getting OF starts....
  12. KirbyDome89
    At the end of the day Buxton consented to coming back early. Neither he nor the Twins were completely wrong; Buxton, even at 80%, still made the defense considerably better, but it was evident early on that he was affected at the plate. The team continued to trot him out there. I don't have a huge issue with bringing him back too soon, so much as I do with how his subsequent performance was assessed and what the early call up allowed the team to do down the line. Rushing him up was no doubt a mistake, albeit an innocent one, but leveraging that into essentially stealing a FA year from Buxton is where things went off the rails.
  13. KirbyDome89
    No doubt he didn't perform well. As far as making a pure business decision I understand why the Twins made the move. You're also right that if he would've hit following his DL stint service time never would've been an issue. That said, the team rushed him back from the toe injury because his defense was "too important." Obviously Buxton agreed with that decision, but he clearly wasn't healthy and his performance continued to dip while the Twins, as they're wont to do, waited until the last possible minute to put him back on the DL. Then they cut his rehab assignment short and optioned him. If he just does two full rehab stints he accrues enough service time for 18' to count. The Twins used their mistake in May to manipulate his service time in July, and then kept him down despite his August numbers.
  14. KirbyDome89
    Service time manipulation did "happen," to him. His poor performance in limited time last season doesn't somehow justify the decision. There weren't, and still aren't, 40 players in the organization who are better than Byron Buxton.
  15. KirbyDome89
    Do we believe that Buxton was unaware of his struggles? I really doubt the Twins needed to damage that relationship for him to realize his play has to improve, or to jump start a work ethic that by all accounts is fantastic. The "he didn't earn/deserve," a call up bit went out the window when Field made the expanded roster. The "rest for his health," bit was crossed out after he played for weeks at AAA while healthy. They f***** him. Full stop. He's pissed, as he should be. The decision the Twins made had absolutely nothing to do with anything other than gaining an extra year of control.
  16. KirbyDome89
    I don't think the two are really comparable. If Mauer wasn't physically injured he was producing at a high level. He won the MVP following the kidney issue. I'm not sure what qualifies as "significant weight training," but there are certainly other ways to strengthen your body without doing traditional free weight exercises. Lower body injuries aren't uncommon for catchers, and if Mauer felt like the flexibility, agility, and strength he needed were better achieved using non traditional workouts, I'm not sure why his judgement is suddenly suspect. He was one of the best players in baseball for a good stretch of time utilizing that routine. Concussions robbed him of what most likely would've been at least a few more seasons of similar production. Sano received a similar pass last offseason (rightfully so) when he was dealing with his shin injury. I've been as soft on him as anybody when it comes to conditioning and the perception of him in the media, but even I have a hard time imagining that he's being singled out, or that he was prepared in the same way his teammates were. It's already been mentioned but Sano himself has admitted that he needed to improve. I think where people go with the lack of preparation on Sano's part, and the accusations/assumptions that follow, border on ridiculous at times, but that's an entirely different topic, and one unrelated to Mauer.
  17. KirbyDome89
    I don't know if anything about their job is "easy," but we're in year 3 now of essentially "standing pat." That's the "aim low and hope it works out," approach again. Like I said, if the goal is to maybe sneak into the playoffs and have no real chance to advance then sure, cross your fingers that Cleveland slips up and the Twins catch a few breaks. This team has holes all over the place. I wasn't screaming for them to find a legit front end starter, 2-3 elite bullpen arms, a reliable 4th OFer, a true SS (Polanco moves to 2B) and a solid 1B all in the same offseason. That would've been incredible albeit unlikely, but there continues to be nothing stopping them from checking off at least a couple of those boxes. We agree that it's incredibly hard to fill all those holes in one offseason. That's precisely why they should be looking to plug some of them each year. When the cycle repeats next offseason it'll once again be "too hard," to fill every hole. I can't sympathize with a self inflicted problem like that. Maybe your patience level exceeds mine. Maybe over the next few months the FO brings in the pitching help this team desperately needs, but as of right now, "standing pat," is the opposite of smart.
  18. KirbyDome89
    My point was that the bar needs to be higher than "shoot the middle and hope things break right," if they're serious about winning. A 10 game improvement in one season isn't realistic but it's not unreasonable to expect a continued push towards a 90 game win total. Somebody in the Central is going to win 90+ games. They can still "wait," on the current group while adding long term talent and taking advantage of an incredibly bad division. If things break right for them in that scenario maybe we'll get to enjoy more than 1 game in the playoffs.
  19. KirbyDome89
    I'd characterize the information that's come out during the offseason as "letting fans down easy." I get the need to spin the decision and/or lack of moves in a positive light, but I'll give the writers here more credit and say some of the articles & comments are written with teeth clenched. We're in year 3 of this FO. "Wait and see," was year 1. "Dip your toes into FA because we're not entirely sure what we have with the young players," was year 2. Now we're back to "wait and see," for year 3 and that's a smart decision?" Pick a lane. Seriously, it's been 3 years now, and if the FO is unsure of which direction to go at this point why should we believe the light bulb suddenly turns on down the road? Also, the notion that the Twins sink or swim with Buxton & Sano (I agree) but they can't add talent because they don't know what they have in either player is laughable. If both burn out and FA signings were once again a bust who cares? The team would be tacking on another 3+ years of rebuilding at that point anyway. If Buxton and Sano flop and the Twins hit on FA signings then at worst they could move those assets to aid the continued rebuild. If Buxton and Sano bounce back what's this team's ceiling as it's currently constructed? Chasing a 2nd WC spot and getting bounced early? The cost of "standing pat," is greater than some are making it out to be.
  20. KirbyDome89
    How many times have we seen three teams this bad in the AL Central? The Twins have the lowest win total, (87) by a division champ in the last two decades. It's pretty well established that a team is going to need to be in the 90s to win the division. 80-85 wins puts you "in the conversation," for the play in WC game, and even then it's likely short. If the idea is to feign interest in building a competitive team and be just good enough to put fans in the seats then shooting for that 80-85 win mark is a good goal.
  21. KirbyDome89
    That rotation sounds like a disaster waiting to happen.
  22. KirbyDome89
    Having that 74th pick sure would certainly help with the $$$ issues...
  23. KirbyDome89
    They could've gone after Iglesias and improved both MI spots defensively by shifting Polanco to 2B. That would free up Gordon (not that he was off the table without Jorge at 2B) to be moved in a trade for some pitching. That's the most disappointing thing about the Schoop signing for me. They had a chance to make improvement across the infield with one signing.
  24. KirbyDome89
    We agree that the constraints are bogus and that there's anger bubbling beneath the surface but most of what I've seen is restraint until the offseason shakes out. Twins fans have been conditioned to not expect signings like Machado, Harper, or even Corbin, but missing out on Donaldson for 1 year was a bummer. If the FO fails to bring in significant help (i.e. clear upgrades) for the MI & bullpen, and swing some moves to bolster the starting rotation while simultaneously slashing payroll by $30M outrage is more than justified.
  25. KirbyDome89
    They desperately need MI help, but I'd put the need for another starting pitcher right there with it. I'm definitely not comfortable relying on Pineda to carry any sort of load. He's struggled to stay healthy over his career, and even when he was able to take the field he wasn't performing all that well. The fact that he was injured during his rehab assignment late last season is telling.
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