ewen21

I am criticizing Sano for something plain as day (his conditioning). This other thing about the usher sounds a like "baseless claim". Or is it? I have no idea.

Essentially, before Berrios last season, since 2010 ended we have not seen so much as a #2 starter come through our season except for a couple of seasons by Baker. We can't live with that. We have to put a premium on raising young starting pitching. If you can field just two young pitchers who can occupy the middle of the rotation and be lucky enough to have one like Berrios then you have something. Going out and signing a Grienke or a Darvish or a Mad Bum is a fool's errand. Any one of those are flash moves. We need to raise cost-controlled starting pitching that can get outs and not embarrass itself. Until we can do that I have trouble thinking we can get anywhere.

I would only hope that Gonsalves becomes at least a servicable major league starter. It is daunting to think about the paucity of in-house starting pitching produced since after Liriano and Garza. Scott Baker is retired and he won 66 games for his career and that is tops. After him is Kyle Gibson with 54; add Kevin Slowey (also retired) with 44 career wins. I would hope Gibson passes Baker, but I wouldn't bet on him winning more than 80 games. I am excited about Berrios (even if I am wary), but almost indifferent with Gonsalves. I just am conditioned not to think about it until he is called up. Anything before that means nothing to me. I heard all about talented young arms before. Come up and do it so I can believe. Anything else is an assumption. What isn't an assumption is that we really have not produced a pitcher worthy of being called an ace in since Johan Santana (bless his heart). It is quite literally hard to sell the others I listed as a #2, but that is a matter of opinion albeit a much smaller point. If someone wants to argue Baker could have been called a solid number 2 a couple of times. OK....sure. I am talking about the depth of his work not his tiny prime. The overriding fact is that we don't produce much starting pitching. If you can't raise your own pitching then you have to go out into the market and overpay for free agents. It would sure as heck be nice to have two pitchers under team control (pre arbitration) actually pitching well at once for a season. It's almost as if it has been ordained that this should not happen. It actually is making me nuts! Liriano and Pavano had a good thing going in 2010 and they were not high salary guys. Since then there just hasn't been much to be excited about and Gonsalves doesn't change that for me. Sorry about that. I keep hearing this and that about getting arms for the bullpen. How about raising young arms to start and give 6 innings of once a week? How about we have a season where maybe two or three of them come up, mature and give us quality innings?? When have we been excited about a starter coming through our system since Liriano? There was hype around Garza coming up but he is done and had an OK career. Not with us. Not sure what to say about Gonsalves. Low batting average against, high walks. How does this translate at the highest level? We saw a little last year. Obviously he needs to develop.

With regard to the Twins rushing Buxton back I would say read his article from last March by Beradino. It was all about how he took pride in playing through pain. How he was raised right. How there were no excuses, etc...etc.....etc https://www.twincities.com/2018/03/28/twins-star-byron-buxton-takes-pride-in-his-ability-to-play-through-pain/ This is HIS STANDARD and he was proud to talk all about it in March. Then April happened and he hit like garbage out of the gate again. Then the migraines kicked in. Then he got sent down and he hurt his toe. Not sure how the Twins are too blame for that. And with the toe it was not a full fracture and he wanted to get back on the field. He said so himself in another article: Once Buxton can tolerate the pain, he's expected to go on a rehab assignment because he's been out for so long. He remained in good spirits before Saturday's game against the Reds, and he's hopeful he could return sooner than later. "I'm gonna always try to play with it," Buxton said. "But probably gonna let it sit the next couple days. Let the symptoms go down a little bit and see what I can tolerate." https://www.mlb.com/news/byron-buxton-has-fracture-in-left-big-toe/c-274261230 Buxton has a lot to fix. I cannot see how or why extending would make any sense to either party, That is about all I want to say about it.

That is very easy to say, but it doesn't feel the same to me.. Clete Thomas and Jamey Carroll aren't Jonathan Schoop and CJ Cron. Terry Ryan seemed to never have a nose for these kinds of players. Still young guys who might cost a little, but have something to prove and some success under their belts. Ryan signed the absolute dregs

His skill, effort and ability combined has made him into only a mediocre major league hitter (at best). I do not see where the service time snafu needs to be harmful to his development. These are the games organizations play and this kind of thing isn't unique to him. The kid was signed to a $6 bonus (pretty generous if you ask me). Looks like the Twins showed him quite the commitment there. It is up to him where he goes from here and we are betting on crossed fingers (and little else) if we extend him this off season. Given his propensity for injuries, the migraines and long stretches of pathetic at bats how is it even considered at this juncture? This isn't a case of me being "negative". It is pretty non-controversial, factual stuff. Funny though......and this might be controversial: When you talk about his work ethic and effort is this not the kind of assumption we are trying to get away from? I am starting to wonder about the work ethic. Does he focus on the things he REALLY needs to work on? Do you know for sure? I wonder about the ability and effort together not being enough to make him into a serviceable offensive player.

WHY WHY WHY do we commit six years to this guy now? It sets a very odd precedent. You don't have to play well. All you need to be is a highly touted prospect and we will give you 10 years to mature in a judgment free environment. It sends the wrong message to every player coming through the Twins system, in my opinion.

I can't even think about extending Kepler, Buxton or Sano. All three were terribly disappointing last year and they better shape up.

The notion that we have been looking for "leadership" for so long really is troubling. We cannot seem to raise enough players who are self-aware and have discipline.

I will absolutely comment on the positive gains if such gains are made. I am not on an anti-Sano crusade nor do I think were the others who ripped him. I, personally, have been a fan of his ever since I saw the documentary Pelotero Ballplayer. It gave an in-depth look at how hard it is for Dominican players to chase their dream. I cannot define him as LAZY after seeing that and gaining an understanding of what he went through. I have no problem, however, saying he BECAME lazy. I know I have at various stages of my life. It happens. EVERYONE needs to acknowledge their shortcomings if they want to succeed. Not sure how anyone can say his conditioning was at an acceptable standard last spring. The good news is this isn't something that has to always be this way. He CAN fix it and the critics can move on from it.

This is what I mean. Why would you have to duck for making a soft tongue-in-cheek dig like that?

I first want to say Nick is probably my favorite writer here I must point something out, as it addresses an ongoing theme here. While Nick (and many others) feel bothered when a player's "character is questioned" and found Souhan and Ruesse's comments to be "irksome" he did add: no one can deny that the grievances aired through Reusse and Souhan appear valid in retrospect. ​​In other words, observations about players weaknesses and problems should not be pounded on so hard here. So many times I felt people (and some mods) came down on posters way too hard for their observations about a player's weakness. In the case of Sano his weight was a big area of concern right off the bat last year. The blowback against those who said he was too lazy was far too much. A 20something year old doesn't get fat without engaging in gluttonous behavior. We are not talking about a software designer or a CPA here. This is a pro-athlete and he needs to be held to a higher standard. For him to get to where he was he was too lazy. Period. Whether it was lazy in his thought process, lazy in attention to details with regard to diet, lazy on the offseason training or all of it......he was LAZY. It's not a nice thing to say, but it is a fact. He needs to wake the heck up and pay attention. I would also suggest that people not come down so hard on player criticisms here. A lot of the criticism I read about Sano last winter/early spring was spot on and yet it was getting ripped very hard by a vocal minority who couldn't have people "questioning a player's character" It became utterly absurd and it drowned out some very valid concerns posted by people who made a lot of sense.

There is a definite lack of maturity on the part of both. I was actually stunned by Buxton's mini tantrum in the children's hospital. He is supposed to be Mr. Humble, but I fail to see where he is any longer. I am also beginning to question his work ethic--as in, is he actually doing what he needs to do to improve? Not sure how much he addresses that both physically and mentally. I would not be shocked if he were doing wind sprints down in Georgia as I type this. Seems as though he really likes doing that stuff. Not so sure he likes hitting so much and that is about 75% of what a position player brings to the table. I have heard people speak rather confidently about his work ethic and athletic ability. If those two things are firmly in place then why doesn't he learn? Buxton is starting to look more like Herb Washington and Renaldo Neiamiah these days. Both guys had speed and other "athletic gifts" (whatever that is) but could not play the sport they suited up to play. Buxton can run down fly balls. There is not a question about it. The problem is he doesn't get to make spectacular plays all that often. The opportunities just are not there. If he is in the lineup daily he gets four opportunities in the batter's box and that overshadows his defense. I don't want to hear about his glove anymore. Sano is even more frustrating because he came up as a 22 year old and made quite an impact in a short period of time. Since then, he has had all sorts of problems finding himself, staying in shape and staying out of trouble He doesn't seem capable of learning (even moreso than Buxton). I honestly think they are now what Justin and Joe were in 2011 where we just pretended neither of them were going to do anything (or even play) and anything they give us is gravy. We CANNOT operate like this. What the heck went wrong with these two? And, no.....it isn't too early to say that. By now, both were expected to major forces in the lineup. It is most certainly time to start questioning WHY they aren't better and they must inherit a large portion of the blame for where they are now. If it means questioning things about them then so be it.

I agree. There is a noticeable mental component to it, but I am not sure the Twins can create a zero gravity environment where pressure doesn't exist. Pressure is part of the equation and it is entirely on him to learn how to play major league baseball. There are different things over the years that have left me more and more concerned about his mindset. When he was sent down in 2016 he acted relieved and said,: "I struggled with pretty much everything," he said. "It wasn't one thing that stood out and it showed. I just had to come back down here and get the pressure off my shoulder, relax and get my confidence back." and from the same article when discussing his teammates in Rochester: "It's very fun," he said. "We all know each other and we help each other out. We have great team chemistry. We don't even call us a team, we call us a family because of how close we are. We battle every day and we play for each other. That brings us more and more together." ​​I remember reading that quote and scratching my head. IT's been a whole lot of overthinking and tinkering for four years now. Not sure how the Twins are supposed shield him from the world. Especially now since he spoke out against management and said he 'won't sugarcoat" :Precisely. The Twins should no longer sugarcoat things for him. Play poorly and you lose your job. This is the business you chose. Be a man and own it

Ryan did not like Sano. He hated him enough to sign Byung Ho Park (which was absolutely ridiculous) and hand the third base job to Plouffe (also ridiculous) to "keep his bat in the lineup". With those two moves he effectively got rid of Vargas (who as every bit as good as Park and cheaper) and he put Sano back on his heels Terry Ryan was terrible with Latin players

The fact that Polanco is over at short bugs me. We were so in love with Dozier that we had to do that.

Giving a guy like this a multi year deal is suicide for us. Never pitched a day in the majors. How do we even begin to understand what he can do in this arena? I know zilch about this guy yet there are people who know slightly more suddenly excited to sign him. I don't get it other than it puts a little attention on us for making a mid-level international signing. It's almost like some want the Twins to make news. Pitching in Japan doesn't really translate here. There is a reason why very few Japanese pitchers make it here. The ball is different, the hitters are different, the rotations are arranged differently, travel isn't as much of a factor, the language and cultural barrier is big, etc... It's a big jump for a Japanese pitcher to make and I know nothing of this guy but his numbers and a few write ups. Brilliant job by the poster earlier in this thread who's seen him play. He admitted he had an interest in him coming to the Twins (mostly so he can see more Twins baseball in Japan). i just want the Twins to be better. I can't realistically say this guy accomplishes that. I know nothing about him. I have to do a whole lot of research to even begin to understand if he's an exception. I won't assume he is

Gordon, for whatever reason, was horrible in a couple of months in AAA last year. He isn't noted as a good fielder and has compiled an OPS barely north of .700 through his minor league career. He is rather thin and gives the impression (with that thin frame) that he wears down. He's young and a couple of years off, maybe more. His rating is totally just

As far as Gordon's rap career goes he needs to focus on either baseball or rap music. This idea that people can't have an opinion about his rap music there's a bunch of baloney. He puts it out there for opinions to be had end it works both ways. I think he needs to focus on getting a little bit stronger. He is so thin It doesn't look like he's worthy of a full season of major-league baseball.

Players should be viewed as assets by the organization, with some exceptions. With regards to Cron being valued higher than Gordon... Only a Twins fan could possibly think Gordon has more value at this stage. The important thing to remember here is value as seen through the eyes of other organizations. This ignores what we are hopeful for as fans. After last season Gordon has little value. That can change, but he took a step backward and as a guy who hasn't ever plate appearance. He isn't noted as a good fielder and his minor league OPS is barely over .700

Ok did that last post on my phone in the airport. Sorry for the typos

The notion that the Twins are supposed to shepard Buxton through his fifth season in the majors is instructive. It is just another indicator that he still doesn't have the mental aspect of the game down. If he starts off like a train wreck again then what? He has been given the job, but let's not ignore the fact he has starred off rack of the last three seasons horribly. What would be the cause of that? Everyone talks about his work ethic and amazing athletic ability. When then could it be? He's admitted to being nervous several times. I'm wondering when or if he's going get past this. He also seems to have a mental block about playing in Yankee Stadium. One hit in like 25 at bats and tons of Ks. Just another coincidence? Not sure how we can brag about his athleticism and work ethic without wondering about what's going on between the ears. He strikes as a guy who is easily rattled. That interview at the children's hospital didn't make me feel differently. Dude needs to put on the big boy pants. He said HE won't sugarcoat things so why sugarcoat for him any longer? He needs to be accountable for his terrible bat. It's on him now.

Baldelli is an Italian pony WTF???

I base this on Hunter being a very vocal supporter (you may have missed 5hose artcles)

That this guy just said