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nicksaviking

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Everything posted by nicksaviking

  1. nicksaviking
    I agree with this part. I'm all on board the HR train, but they have to cut down on the strikeouts; guys who regularly put the ball in play are needed.
  2. nicksaviking
    I think the bullpen will be really good, but I'm confused by all the national plaudits. The relief corp is made up of a bunch of 30+ year olds who are somehow still arbitration eligible. Which is very handy obviously, but it also means there's very little track record for most of these guys. It's like the Twins said, "You know who's been under-the-radar good for us? Caleb Thielbar. Let's get more late bloomers like him." Which I'm completely on board with, but there's only one reliever that the rest of the league actually knows by name, so the accolades seem kind of odd.
  3. nicksaviking
    I really couldn't care less as the OF defense doesn't bother me. I'm just suggesting if folks think Wallner has a plus arm but less range, RF would seem to be the natural spot for him. I wouldn't be surprised if that's where he is next year when Kepler is gone.
  4. nicksaviking
    Why not swap them, other than the reason that Kepler is a vet and has sway over where he plays? LF is much bigger and Kepler has more range. And Torii Hunter went from the worst RF in the league in Detroit to passable in Minnesota the next year. RF in Minnesota might be the least demanding position in the entire sport outside of playing first baseman.
  5. nicksaviking
    The Twins signed a Cuban player?!?!?!?! They seemed to show no interest in those players since the Oliva days.
  6. nicksaviking
    I wanted nothing to do with Burnes, I want one more top end starter for the foreseeable future, than infill the rotation with players in house in the coming years. I hoped, and still do, that the Twins are talking to the Marlins though. If they can get the top of the rotation settled, it seems to me this team would just be that one awkward prospect trade away from not having to so again for awhile.
  7. nicksaviking
    I mean it really doesn't matter to me. The 3rd CF can be treated like the emergency starters for all I care. Use Buxton and Castro as needed in CF, and if one goes down, call up Martin or perhaps even more likely Keirsey. They'll probably still get another defensive guy like Taylor to stick in St. Paul too. This team needs offense, I don't think they should be wasting more roster space on glove only players until they need to.
  8. nicksaviking
    The projection systems rate a player with their overall numbers. The Twins need to be concerned with specific numbers based on how the rest of the roster shapes up, most importantly strikeouts and OBP; Taylor will hurt the team there.
  9. nicksaviking
    And comically imploded after getting traded to the Phillies. I'm not handing a rotation spot to a 32-year-old based on 18 starts. And he can't strike anyone out, and with this club that means they'll put the defensive specialist squad in every time he starts, meaning he'll get reduced offensive help. There is zero upside to signing him or anyone like him to a major league deal. You can get a guy like this to stash in AAA all year on a MiLB deal in case of emergency if you wait a few weeks.
  10. nicksaviking
    They don't need arms that can pitch innings, they need arms that can pitch good innings. Every season they sign these guys, the internal options show that they were just as (in)capable of pitching unproductive innings as these after thought veterans. And Lorenzen is awful, he can't strike anyone out; he was, and should still be a reliever like the Phillies eventually forced him to revert back to at the end of last year.
  11. nicksaviking
    There's only one nebulous spot for a bat on the 26-man roster, and if they give it to a guy with a MLB contract, that means the Twins are going to have to demote Lewis, Julien, Wallner, Jeffers or Kirilloff should they get into a bind. And Taylor had a dreadful OBP of .278 and struck out in 33% of his plate appearances last year, I don't see how that's a fit for this strikeout challenged team.
  12. nicksaviking
    I'm more than happy to give Kirilloff more chances, but he doesn't have much in the way of power, and his OBP even last year was just good, not great. If he's only going to contribute with his bat, his bat needs to get a whole lot better in one of those areas, OBP likely being the more reasonable path.
  13. nicksaviking
    If they sign another 4-5 on a MLB deal, I might lose my mind. It would show they learned nothing from the Happ/Shoemaker/Archer/Bundy signings. Absolutely nothing.
  14. nicksaviking
    I know there's a legacy player over there now, but shouldn't Wallner, with his plus arm but lack of range be in right field? Right field in Target Field has made similar players, like Michael Cuddyer and even the ancient Torii Hunter look passable.
  15. nicksaviking
    It's not about the number of innings, it's about the quality of them. Who's pitching game 2 of the playoffs? The team did everything they could to keep Ryan and Ober out of the games last year. Hoping for improvement from the starting pitchers doesn't really seem like a plan. There are nine offensive starters and oodles of young guys who have room to grow, expecting improvement from enough of those options to win games seems reasonable. But there's only one starting pitcher each game and a playoff game almost always hinge on him. I'm not hanging my hat on expecting the same improvement from 28-year-old pitchers.
  16. nicksaviking
    Maybe it's just wish-fulfillment on the fans side. I don't want anyone to be injured, but I also don't want either of these guys on the team.
  17. nicksaviking
    Right, so if you have some of those guys in the pen who under no circumstances should be optioned, you probably need to consider someone who can be optioned and/or someone who can pitch multiple innings in the last spot. The consideration has to be more than just who pitched best in 6 spring training innings.
  18. nicksaviking
    That is the only thing the Twins should be looking for at this point.
  19. nicksaviking
    I think if you have to play a shell game with your defensive positioning to fit everyone in, and you still have plenty of young guys behind them in AA and AAA, it's probably prudent to turn some of that offensive equity into help for the pitching staff.
  20. nicksaviking
    Pretty much all of my favorite players already are.
  21. nicksaviking
    I mean, it's got to be partially based on what you need from the spot. No matter how well he's playing, it's not like the team would roster Jose Miranda if they need his spot for another middle infielder.
  22. nicksaviking
    The Twins did a great job of using 1 inning starters last year and shuttling several from St. Paul to Minneapolis as needed. But with the current rotation (please don't let it be the opening day rotation) including two of Paddock, DeSclafani and Varland, I agree that they may need to eat more innings with the pen this year. However, with them 'beefing' up the bullpen with fewer guys with options, that's going to be much, much harder. Wow, yeah, looking at this from this perspective after typing the above two paragraphs, if Duran, Jax and reliever #7 are the only optionable guys in the pen, they absolutely have to go get another top of the rotation arm to make sure there's only one innings-limited starter. If the pen gets used up, like it does from time to time, are they really going to option Duran or Jax? Or DFA Okert or Jackson even if they're pitching well?
  23. nicksaviking
    Keirsey doesn't have the offensive upside of most of the other hitters, but with him playing CF, I'd say he has the best shot at making the team. Even it's a long shot. If Kirilloff and/or Miranda struggle with injuries again, I could see Camargo, Williams or Isola get an early look as they play 1B and would be a bonus emergency C which would provide the team the option of pinch hitting for Vazquez or occasionally DHing Jeffers with less stress. With Gordon already gone, if anyone else is traded Martin or Prato could get an unexpected shot as they can play all over the diamond.
  24. nicksaviking
    I don't think this is new. While 'long relief' has been a term I typically see on THIS site, I've heard both used for years. Probably at least since the Matt Guerrier days. Also 'swing man' for the guys who get spot starts.
  25. nicksaviking
    I'm fine moving Julien if the Twins get the top arm I want, but presuming Lee will ever be better than what Julien was last year is setting Lee up for disappointment. No prospect in the history of the game has promised to cement his spot in the starting lineup. He should be good, but Julien already has proven he is really, really good.
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