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nicksaviking

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Everything posted by nicksaviking

  1. nicksaviking
    No but you can fire the guys who made the decisions to acquire those inadaquate players instead.
  2. nicksaviking
    You think Ryan would take the bullet for Gardy? I'm not so sure. I'm sure Ryan would rationalize it thusly: If I take the hit and spare Gardy, they'll replace me and my replacement will then want to get a new manager anyway. No reason for us both to go down with the ship.
  3. nicksaviking
    You would have to think that his early realization that his ceiling is a LOOGY will give him a huge advantage when it comes to acheiving his goals. He could move up the ranks quickly with that narrow of a focus and considering the Twins lack of a lefty specialist currently. I was happy that Tyler Robertson finally got his shot at the MLB last year, but he hasn't set the bar too high thus far. Though considering Duensing's splits, he could head into that role if things break wrong for him.
  4. nicksaviking
    Ha, I did a double take when I saw this article. O'Rourke is a lefty who made it to Ft. Myers last year but isn't exactly a well-known name even around this site. He aknowledges that his chance to make it to the majors revolves around his ability to be a LOOGY but he seems to be taking his approach pretty seriously. With all due respect to Ryan, the most interesting aspects of the article of course involved his first hand knowledge and assesments of teammates Miguel Sano and Eddie Rosario along with other top 20 prospects Oscar Tavares and Christian Yelich. http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/qa-ryan-orourke-twins-future-loogy/
  5. nicksaviking
    I agree the Twins way too often play the "Aw shucks, thanks for inviting us little guys" card, but I don't recall Gardy ever being anything more than dejected after the playoff loses.
  6. nicksaviking
    Time for Sano I guess.
  7. nicksaviking
    Off the top of my head, constantly getting pulled before pitching 5 innings might do it. However, be it the injury or ineffectivenss arguement, they are both fitting and relevant to the Twins normal offseason stratagies.
  8. nicksaviking
    I've been critical of Correia all offseason, but that article was terrible. As mentioned above, several facts were wrong and Murphy's resentment for the signing was not presented very well. Leave the subjectivity to clowns like us, make your point with (accurate) facts and (accurate) stats not with inflamatory words like banished and chased. Go ahead and say the Twins overpaid, but please explain to the average fan WHY it was considered an overpay, and perhaps cite an expert who agrees with the premise, all of them do. We need the local media to hold our teams accountable, but it needs to be done professionally and the derision probably needs to be aimed more toward the front office than it does toward the actual player who has little control over his physical limitations. That being said, it's hard not to do a hatchet job on a guy who says, "I hate pitch to contact, I'm not trying to have anybody hit anything I throw" but produces some of the worst strikeout numbers in the leauge. He left that meatball hanging there for anyone to crush. On the plus side, it does sound like Correia has a chip on his shoulder, probably due to nattering nabobs of negativity like us. It could serve him well.
  9. nicksaviking
    Consider that if Appel is the guy, the Twins will be largely pinning their hopes for future rotation stabbility on Appel and Alex Meyer, two Boras clients. If they succeed, it's likely 6 years and out unless they are traded earlier. They're not going to be getting any pre-arbitration contract extensions with either of them, Boras doesn't do that.
  10. nicksaviking
    There are going to be a lot of young hitters on the 2013 Twins, one man can't watch all the tape and give these youngsters all the attention they need. Multiple coaches will be needed for this. Edit: While Vavra is probably the leading candidate for the secondary hitting coach, I'm throwing Parker's hat into the ring too.
  11. nicksaviking
    For how large Pelfrey is and his decent velocity, I think many of us are disappointed with his poor K numbers. As unlikely as it would seem, perhaps those numbers take a jump his first year back. Sure he's moving into the dreaded AL, but he has always had pretty decent control. Perhaps he will be somewhat effectively wild this year. Not to the extent of Liriano who was ineffectively wild, but perhpas a bit of location instability will cause batters to not be able to dig in against this already imposing mountain of a man.
  12. nicksaviking
    I'd wedge all-time bust Adam Johnson towards the bottom. We always need a reminder how a top pick can still go bad. The list isn't overly impressive, maybe someday Travis Harrison will top it.
  13. nicksaviking
    Well as far as the Tigers go, all they have are guys with good strikeout numbers in the pen. Over the last couple of years it's getting harder to crack into that staff. As far as I'm concerned, the BP guys should be evaluated most heavily on the K numbers. These guys are often being called into the game to clean up the starters messes, their first priority should be getting the batters out without letting the guys on base advance, hence, not letting the batter put the ball in play should be considered the main objective.
  14. nicksaviking
    Or perhaps the Pelfrey is saying the same optimistic things every athlete coming off major surgery says, "ahead of schedule" "no setbacks" "feeling great" "ready for opening day" and the Twins plan on letting him put his money where his mouth is, seeing as he's only on a one year deal. Gibson you baby, 2008 Liriano you baby, but a rental player? Obviously the Twins are willing to throw caution to the wind, they wrote this season off long ago. What does it really cost them if he has arm issues or is ineffective due to an early return? Had they insisted on an option year perhaps things would be different, but they didn't and they aren't.
  15. nicksaviking
    If Hicks and Benson don't make the team and the CF's are Mastroianni and Boggs/Thomas/Surprise, then I would think it likely that Herrmann makes the team as 3rd catcher over Butera as he would be able to function as the 4th outfielder, leaving Boggs/Thomas/Surprise simply as emergency CF defensive replacement.
  16. nicksaviking
    I think half of us assume Butera will get the job because we love to complain about the coaching staff and the front office ignoring the "no scholarship" clause they said was implemented last year (full disclosure: me included). The other half of us probably think Butera will get the job because Herrmann would rarely play and he needs reps at AAA. Looking at the camp situation now, I think we are making this situation out to be much more simplistic than it really is. For one, jobs are clearly on the line this year; if Herrmann has a great spring and Butera does not, there will be pressure to bring north the best players. Secondly, Herrmann has position flexibility. If neither Hicks or Benson impress enough to break camp on the 25-man and they go with another option, say Boggs, Thomas or an outsider like Posednik, they could chose Herrmann as the 3rd catcher as he may be the preferred choice to be the 4th/5th OF and save Doumit from doing so.
  17. nicksaviking
    Nice update. I guess another GA high school outfielder it is. Kidding of course. This will be a fun race to track and at this point I'd still be happy with Appel, but I can't say I wouldn't be smiling on the inside if he falters big time this year and his stock plummets. Finding himself and Boras in a position where he would actually have to prove himself at the MLB level before he gets a big payday would be fitting after stink they put up last year.
  18. nicksaviking
    Generally, when players say they don't want to talk extension during the season, it's usually a ploy to try to engage the club to work out an extension before the season starts. For Morneau's part, for every week he stays healthy he is counting on gaining a larger payday after the season. I actually think any contract talks have minimal effect on a clubhouse, these guys are professional and deal with larger distractions every day. If anything, extension talks with a veteran would probably have a positve effect on the team assuming the player in question is a leader and appreciated by others.
  19. nicksaviking
    True and those were exciting times, but we can't pretend that the salary gulf between young players and veterans hasn't exponentially increased over the last 30 years. Young Twins of this era would likely skip a few levels if the Twins weren't most concerned about furture arbitration and losing players to free agency before they hit their prime.
  20. nicksaviking
    Aside from Okie Blackburn, Okie Gardy seems to hold the starters accountable though at times he may lay the excuse on a lingering physical ailment. Last year, I'm pretty sure during every news conference after games that weren't started by Diamond, Gardy used the phrase, "left a few pitches up in the zone" at minimum two times.
  21. nicksaviking
    The Indians and Royals made significant upgrades to their MLB talent this off season. The White Sox stood still, but so did the Twins. All three clubs were more talented and more competitve than the Twins last year, how could the Twins possibly have pulled even with them? It's a game made largely of chance so anything could happen, but there is no doubt that the Twins are the least talented team in the AL Central. Least talented pitching staff, least talented OF, least talented infield. They win at catcher, and we can be generous and say they are only the second worst on defense, but as you have conceded that Detroit is more talented than the Twins, then yes, they are the least talented defense of the remaing four teams too.
  22. nicksaviking
    Being objective and realistic about our favorite team doesn't make you any less of a fan.
  23. nicksaviking
    The Twins history of being wishy-washy about injuries caused the them to wait quite a while before they sent him for TJ surgery. He had arm issues in the spring but they did not decide on surgery until early August. I haven't heard any updates but he could start throwing again mid summer. He was not however the same caliber prospect as Gibson. He's not overpowering and doesn't have any kind of electric movement. He's your typical control pitcher. Despite the Twins drafting 21st that year and despite everyone thinking that Wimmers was the the most MLB ready pitcher, every draft guru and every fan knew he would end up with the Twins because the Twins so predictably prefered safe picks when it comes to pitchers while other teams nearly always go for picks with upside. I purposfully made prefered past tense as I believe and hope that philosophy is finally behind them.
  24. nicksaviking
    Um, LE3 kind of missed the big point. Rob Anthony says they are looking to give him a chance to start. Strange. Rhett Bollinger: His last 180 MLB innings he has seen a 5.8 K/9 out of the pen. That should translate really nicely as a starter.
  25. nicksaviking
    I'd go with Worley seeing as it is such a toss up. He's under team control until 2018, might as well go with the guy you have a chance to build some loyalty with as opposed to the short term guys. That being said, if Harden somehow manages to make the rotation, it's probably going to be him. He actually has the pedigree and I'd have to think he would need to look really good to make the opening day roster, and if he's looking really good, he will be the one generating all the spring traing buzz.
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