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nicksaviking

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Everything posted by nicksaviking

  1. nicksaviking
    There is some defensive hope here, but long term, heck short term ideally, I don't think any of us actually want Plouffe, Nunez, Escobar or Schafer in the starting lineup, and we don't want Santana in CF. The guys we hope will replace them seem to all be worse defenders with the exception of CF.
  2. nicksaviking
    I agree they won't be able to, I'm not arguing that they can or should get these pitchers this offseason, I'm just arguing that they won't be relevant until they do. Hopefully enough of the young arms come up, can average 8.0 K/9 and keep runners off the bases. But if they can't they will need to get those players through free agency or trade and as unlikely as this front office is to target those types of arms, it's still a more reasonable way to build a winning team than it is to get contact heavy pitchers with steller defenders who also happen to be able to hit.
  3. nicksaviking
    What about finding good OF, a good 3B, SS, 2B, 1B and C? Because if we're going for plus defense to accomodate the pitch-to-contact arms, I'm not willing to sacrafice the offense. It would see to me that getting 8 solid defenders that also can hit would be quite difficult.
  4. nicksaviking
    Very true, but logistically speaking, it should be easier to replace the five players that make up the rotation than it is to replace the 8 players behind them. It seems to me it's like the difference between treating a disease versus actually curing it.
  5. nicksaviking
    The solution is clear and you touched on it at the end. A strikeout takes all chance and randomness off the table and leaves no question as to the outcome of the at bat, unlike a ball put in play. The inexcusable disregard for strikeout pitchers at the MLB level and all the problems that become entangled in the archaic pitching philosophy they prefer is the biggest reason this team isn't winning.
  6. nicksaviking
    It's not that they aren't good candidates, it's that they still are just branches from the same tree. This organization needs new stratagy and that's unlikely by promoting from within. They've done a lot right, but it's not working now. I want guys in here who believe that strikeouts are the best option for getting outs, that walks are NOT as bad or worse than giving up a hit, that Bill James is largely correct and that platoons can come in handy. Let's try those philosophies for a change.
  7. nicksaviking
    I didn't want him fired for it, but I didn't like the double standard. This was the same organization that was at the same time benching and publicly chastising Miguel Sano for show boating a HR. Mientkiewicz got suspended, but there didn't seem to be any kind of front office frustration to what amounted to be a simliar display of immaturity. I do kind of like the fire he displays, but I'm getting tired of the old boys club. I think Mientkiewicz, Molitor and Glynn could all be fine managers, but I think a fresh perspective is in order once every 25 years or so. New blood in the front office and new blood on the field please. Not pointing any fingers, just saying it's time to start again.
  8. nicksaviking
    It's very possible, however by not calling him up now, it almost certainly will not be possible that he will start the season in the rotation even if he happened to be one of the top five starters. This time last year most Twins scribes assumed he would be up this past June. Now we're looking at a year delay and he did nothing to warrant one. We're talking about a guy who people worry is an injury risk and we're wasting his age 24 and a possibly a good chunk of his age 25 season in the minors. It makes no sense, and it does the game of baseball a disservice keeping a promising player like him in the minors.
  9. nicksaviking
    That's not a particularly exciting list. Unless Meyer gets called up, I don't think there's any non 40-man players that project to be around more than a year or so. If the Twins don't call up Meyer now, they are going to put themselves in the position to be tempted to not call him up until late June 2015 regardless of performance. If we're hoping he will be effective next year, he needs to be up now even if it's two months too late. Nothing is certain, but if we use Gibson and May as templates, our young pitching hopefulls need some time to get their feet wet and kill the butterflies.
  10. nicksaviking
    The core prospects are most important but we can't pretend the Twins would have still won the WS in 1991 had they not signed the top free agent pitcher in the offseason, a pitcher who happened to be 36. I'm not saying it's the right move now, but the move was essential last time they won it all.
  11. nicksaviking
    And JJ Hardy and Torii Hunter. Who knows how much of it is true, maybe none of it. However there's a lot of cooks in the kitchen at Target Field, so the chances are good that where there's smoke there's fire, even if it's small and contained to one or two voices.
  12. nicksaviking
    I assume that is you mean they hit to no fields? I agree that something did seem to change once Hardy left. The Twins let Willingham grip it and rip it to LF and Plouffe did the same two years ago. Plouffe isn't using that approach any longer, but without more info, we probably won't be able to say if it's because of his perogative or the team's. Still, I'd like someone in the organization to remain vigiliant against cookie cutter hitting regardless of how many instructors, front office personell or coaches prefer that idea. It may be one, or it may be most, but no matter, someone's got to speak up for common sense even if common sense is in the majority these days.
  13. nicksaviking
    Do we know if these guys have cleared waivers already?
  14. nicksaviking
    While Arcia's is probably not the mouth to gain advice from at the moment, it is refreshing to see someone not towing the the old company line. Recognizing a pitch will be outside and waiting on it to slap it the other way is much harder than many people seem to think. If one of the greatest pure hitters in Twins history, Joe Mauer, has to sacrifice nearly all his power in his 6'5" 230 lb frame to use all fields, we should probably expect even worse results for guys without his level of hitting talent. I'd love to see all these guys being able to go the other way while putting balls into any and every seat between the foul poles, but using all fields is just not an ability every baseball player can or should embrace. Not every player can bunt, not every player can steal a base, not every player can make a throw to home from right field. If Oswaldo Arcia is the only member of the team that's willing to stand up to the idea this particular skill is also not universal, well I guess I'm glad it's him rather than no one. I've heard enough from these voices once they LEAVE the Twins.
  15. nicksaviking
    While the class did seem to suck, I don't think we can give Ryan too much credit for identifying it as such. He did after all go on MLB Network and exhasperatingly say that he was trying to give away money but none of the free agents would take it. Seems to me this would imply he wanted those free agents but he wasn't offering enough money, years or coupons to The Seville.
  16. nicksaviking
    Nice work Seth. Hopefully shortly MLBTR will have an update to the original May item with a Seth Stohs and/or Twins Daily plug.
  17. nicksaviking
    I think the only question is if he can survive a month of roster crunches long enough to make it to September when rosters expand and he can sit on the bench unnoticed for the rest of the year. My money's on "no" as the Rochester/Minneapolis AAAA pitcher rotation will inevitably hit a snag at some point and the team will have to go to a 3 man bench, even if for only a day or two. I have no problem with Parmelee as the backup CF. Like the old saying goes, if your backup CF lacks range, does he really miss more balls if no one is around to see it?
  18. nicksaviking
    Looking at the roster the last half decade, there appears to be ample evidence to indicate that they are indeed OK with that kind of production.
  19. nicksaviking
    OK, lets put the whole team on waivers now and see who slips through. You'd think now would be the time that any questionable players would make it.
  20. nicksaviking
    Ha, who's going to bat leadoff for the Tigers now? Is a team that has Rajai Davis as an every day CF and leadoff hitter going to win the World Series?
  21. nicksaviking
    Ha, MLBTR keeps crashing. Can't wait to see what's going on here. No way is Smyly and Franklin the best Tampa could do.
  22. nicksaviking
    Let the Tigers have Price, he's a free agent after 2015 and Scherzer's a free agent next year. The Twins won't be competitve during that time, meanwhile the Tigers will have to decide which pitcher they want to give another albatros contract to for their decline years. Maybe we'll get lucky and they'll give them both 7 year $200 million contracts.
  23. nicksaviking
    Which wrist did Buxton get hit on this time? I know this next suggestion sounds impatient, but it isn't. Perhaps Buxton should get promoted to Rochester and not New Britain. I know a double jump in the minors is pretty unheard of around here except in emergency situations, but as mentioned, New Britain is circling the drain while Rochester is in a playoff push. Let's get Buxton in that kind of atmosphere. Jumping Hicks might be the final nail in what appears to be a fragile physical and mental development stage, but who knows, maybe it would motivate Hicks instead of crush him. Either way, Hicks is no longer the priority and while the "seniority" principle still appears to be in place for pitchers, it clearly isn't for the bats. Also, while many of us are frustrated with how the Twins are handling their top pitching prospects, there does not seem to be the same hesitancy with the batters. Buxton was supposed to be a possibility in the later half of 2014, even if slim. The CF situation is still bleak at the MLB level. I know many would disagree, but I'll bet the Twins would actually welcome the possibility of Buxton winning the CF job in spring training next year (or maybe a month later when they won't lose a year of his services) and the best way for that to happer would be to have him knocking at the door in AAA.
  24. nicksaviking
    I have to say that I'm getting tired of people who want to see the steroid users inducted calling those that won't vote for them "The Morality Police." That's BS. I could buy an arguement around not basing a vote on what a player does off the field, but if you are actively cheating on the field and manipulating the record books for a huge payday voters should have every right to take that into consideration. They cheated, they knew they were cheating and they knew omission from the HOF would almost surely be one of the consequences of getting caught. They made the choice to risk their HOF induction when they took the PEDs. They didn't give a damn about the game then, why should voters be required to give them a pass now? It's not morality, it's enforcing the expected (even if unwritten) consequences of the actions taken by these individuals.
  25. nicksaviking
    I don't think the 5th starter candidates get packaged together. I think one of them gets packaged with a reliever like Duensing/Swarzak/Burton or Fein. Perhaps another starter gets packaged with Plouffe. His days at 3B are numbered and the Twins have been talking about Mark Reynolds.
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