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bighat

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Everything posted by bighat

  1. bighat
    I'd recommend watching "Ballplayer" (or "Pelotero"), which is a 2011 documentary which discusses the situation in the DR and the challenges young players there face. Sano specifically is a focus on the doc.
  2. bighat
    Sano came from a small town in the DR and signed with an MLB team in a foreign country. He finished 3rd in the Rookie of the Year vote. He was an All-Star and participated in the HR Derby. He hit 25 or more homers FOUR TIMES in his seven years with the team. He wasn't the best fielder but he did make some highlight-reel defensive plays at 3rd base, including a couple memorable triple plays. Speaking of memorable, his grand slam on the road in Cleveland was one of the biggest hits by any Twin in 2019. He learned a 2nd language and became bilingual. To see a headline that says "How Big of a Bust is Sano?" is frankly just low-brow clickbait in my opinion. If his career ended today, he'd still have an above-average career better than most guys who make The Show. Any Twins fan who thinks Sano's career has been a "bust" needs to have their head examined and start learning to adjust their expectations in life.
  3. bighat
    Nobody is asking for a "hitting machine". We want a guy who can bat .240 and hit 13 homers. Is that too much to ask?
  4. bighat
    Yeah I hear you. Right now if I guy can frame, he'll make the team even if he hits .190. It's ridiculous. Overall it's not just the catcher position, it's just all of MLB becoming way metrics-oriented and way too specialized. But honestly, the problem isn't the catching...it's the pitching. Guys out there throwing 104 MPH. With movement. It's ridiculous to expect players at any position to hit better. BAs are going down all over the league. Side note: Remember Brian Harper? The dude hit .320 while getting absolutely bulldozed on plays at home plate. Mauer was an absolute machine in the batter's box and just amazing to watch when he was in his prime.
  5. bighat
    C'mon. We all know the Twins are going to go out there and sign Mike Minor and Wade Miley. After the initial letdown, we're going to spend a couple months trying to convince ourselves that it was a "savvy" move. Alas, by May, after watching them give up 5 runs over 3+ innings in consecutive outings, we're going to start the "Should the Twins Release Mike Minor"? headlines here on Twins Daily and start arguing with each other about whether or not Balazovic is ready to be called up. Regretful things will be said, warning points will be given......but then Buxton will get hurt and thankfully distract everyone from the miserable pitching situation until the trade deadline rolls around.
  6. bighat
    I think that continuing to hope that either of these guys will be meaningful contributors is a mistake. It would be nice to see Enlow get a cup of coffee at least and see what he's got. Stashak's career numbers in 4 seasons include a 4.13 career ERA and he's never pitched more than 25 innings in a season. He'll be 29 next season. Take a step back and imagine Stashak was playing for Pittsburgh or something. You might take a peek at his stats and say "One of the reasons Pittsburgh is struggling is they continue to waste roster spots on guys like that". We need to take off our rose-colored fan goggles on a lot of these guys. Dead weight.
  7. bighat
    Jeffers hits .195 and can't throw anyone out. He's been in the big leagues for 3 years. Am I missing something? What crazy world are we living in that this is considered OK? He's not even putting up backup numbers. I realize we're in the offseason, but I can't believe it's October 17th and we're already getting this "All Hail King Jeffers" propaganda. It's insanity.
  8. bighat
    The Twins generated some enthusiasm last offseason for two reasons: 1. Their poor 2021 could be seen as a fluke - after all, they'd made the playoffs the two years prior and had played fun baseball. 2. They signed the biggest, most exciting free agent in the game. The results? An awful year, even when the team was winning most of us felt like the other shoe was about to drop. And that shoe did drop, and it dropped hard. Bad hitting, bad pitching, bad baserunning, bad fielding....just bad baseball. Twins fans will be much more skeptical of the team going into 2023. It's pretty scary that in Donaldson and Correa, the Twins have signed 2 of the biggest free agents in baseball over the past 3 seasons. Perhaps THE two biggest free agents available in the years they were signed, in fact. The results have been luke warm and the very best, and at worst it's been extremely disappointing.....and both are already gone! If you're a big name, and you look at what Donaldon & Correa did in MN, are you going to want to take a chance in Minneapolis? And if the Twins aren't going to land any big free agents in the near future, what chance does this team have?
  9. bighat
    Like most here, I think keeping Pagan is ridiculous. Take even the worst MLB hitters and pitchers, you can cherry pick some random stats to make them look good. Case in point, TD even found a way to reference a career .193 hitting backstop as one of the best in the game. Maybe Pagan did develop a new pitch. Good for him, let him use it somewhere else. Maybe he'll even be successful - and if that happens, it's not a loss for the Twins. We have to stop fearing that Twins players will succeed elsewhere. If they do, that's OK! Getting rid of Pagan sends a message: you play poorly and you're out. Letting this guy step foot in the Target Field locker room again would be a disaster for Twins players and fans alike. Don't forget that this guy was one of the main contributors to sinking the season. Look at names to blame for the 2nd half dumpster fire and he's right at the top of the list. Get 'em out.
  10. bighat
    Twins don't need any more so-so players who are injury prone. We've got tons of guys like that on the roster that we can't get rid of - if there's an option to jettison Garlick, they should do so. Seems like a great guy and can really mash lefties, but he just can't stay on the field. And that's enough for me to think it's time to move on.
  11. bighat
    @Thiéres Rabelo - I want to thank you for the fantastic game coverage this season. You, along with several other contributors ( @Sherry Cerny@Nate Palmer@Theo Tollefson@Matt Braun@Jamie Cameron, and many more) have done us all a great service. You guys watched a lot of baseball for us - some good, some not-so-good - so that we didn't have to. One of the main reasons I like this site is because I can log on at 6am ET every morning and see how the Twins did last night. The reliability is a big part of why many of us continue to log in. Have a great off-season, and thank you again for everything!
  12. bighat
    Couldn't agree more. One of the lowest periods for me was the trade deadline. Watching a team that was clearly running on fumes mortgage their future for a washed up reliever and another injury-prone starter was just awful. At the same time, if they didn't make any moves the fan base would be equally outraged. Then Buxton goes down, Mahle breaks, and those series against Cleveland in September - just a bloodbath. Correa waiting until the team was out of contention to start playing like an All-Star was annoying, as was the general apathy on the offensive side of the ball. But the worst part was watching the team run Emilio Pagan out there week after week in the middle of the summer. Luis Arraez's .316 BA is the lowest league-winning batting average in 50 years. Might be an answer to a trivia question someday. Emergence of Duran, Gordon, Miranda were the high spots, and I feel pretty good about Joe Ryan being a solid piece of the rotation moving forward. Not much else stood out on the positive side.
  13. bighat
    Complete with not one but TWO finger-kiss / point-to-the-sky actions, and finished with a Sammy Sosa bunny-hop onto home plate. First ever MLB homer for the guy. Honestly, I have no problem with it but I can see how some people might roll their eyes.
  14. bighat
    He's had some very bad games after returning. Absolutely no reason for anyone to think he'll be a solid piece of this rotation next year - another huge question mark in a sea of question marks for the 2023 Twins.
  15. bighat
    Agreed. Jeffers is the worst catcher in the league in throwing out base stealers, and he's hitting .213 this year. He hit .199 the year before. When are articles like this: "Ryan Jeffers is a Top 10 catcher". going to stop? We need to stop pretending that Ryan Jeffers is a major league backstop. Enough already. And it's not just him: Jeffers, Larnach, Kirilloff - all of them aren't working out. Even when they're healthy they aren't putting up anything more than slightly below-average numbers. These guys are just more Bobby Kieltys and Chris Parmalees: Highly drafted prospects who just couldn't cut it at the major league level for various reasons (injury, talent, etc). They'll be nothing more than obscure answers to Twins Trivia contests in 20 years. This particular core of players are entering their age 25 and 26 seasons, and if things worked out they'd be anchoring this team's progress into the mid 2020s. But it's not happening. They didn't emerge. And I hope we're doing pretending otherwise. And when it comes down to it, this is why the Twins have struggled over the past couple years. These three guys were supposed to be carrying their fare share of the weight, and they're just unavailable or unable to play at the level the team needs to be competitive.
  16. bighat
    Good points. That said, the above is exactly how I feel about Dior. I'd never in a million years buy a $120 tee shirt, or a $1200 pair of shoes, a $20,000 purse or a $75,000 bracelet. Even if I won the lottery. He might as well have said "If you're serious about a quality particle colliders and tandem linac accelerator systems, you have to be willing to drop big money at the Cornell Electron-positron Storage Ring". I totally get the point, but it wasn't relatable. And I don't HATE him for muffing this one, I hope the Twins sign him and open up the checkbook!
  17. bighat
    I have no problem with Correa seeking top dollar. And he made a great point - you want the best, you gotta pay for it. I think we all agree that's true in baseball. So yeah, like you I agree with Correa's point, but I think he struck out on the terminology. If he'd have said "Sometimes you gotta go get your groceries at Whole Foods" - we'd all identify with that. Sure not everyone shops at Whole Foods, but we've all been inside one before and at least understand the metaphor. But "Dior"? Are you serious? That's just an abstract concept for 99.99% of baseball fans. Who shops there? Leonardo DiCaprio? Rhianna? The judges from the Cannes Film Festival? When I think of a Dior store, I think if you walked in there dressed like you were from White Bear Lake, you'd get kicked out faster than a Trevor Larnach strike out on 3 straight breaking balls. I'm not saying he doesn't deserve the money, and frankly I'd love it if the Twins paid up for his services. What I AM saying is that anyone who's so much as taken a PR class in college can see that it was a terrible choice of words. Honestly it was just about the worst terminology possible used to make his point.
  18. bighat
    Well put and hit the nail on the head, said much better than my original comment. Like you I don't begrudge players for seeking top dollar, nor do I have any ill-will towards them for making millions in the game of baseball. I also don't think Correa owes Minneapolis a "home town discount" of any kind. But his comment was at the very least obtuse if not seriously distasteful. Yuck.
  19. bighat
    I think the analogy is probably what draws the vitriol. I've never been into a Dior store, and neither have most people reading this story. A lot of Twins fans sitting at their breakfast tables in Brainerd or Roseau or Minneapolis may not even know what Dior is. Correa reciting a metaphor that involves paying thousands for a t-shirt or hundreds of thousands for a bracelet or whatever just comes across in poor taste. So I disagree with you and think - for Correa's image - it was a terrible analogy. When a player who is walking away from your team talks about going shopping at the Dior store, it doesn't do him any favors. Personally I like Correa and hope the Twins find a way to bring him back. Don't think they will, and it's a big loss for the organization. Big hole to fill.
  20. bighat
    Winder goes 4.6 innings and gives up 3 runs, gives up 6 hits and his ERA now stands at 4.31. Sonny Gray is ending the year hurt, Maeda hasn't pitched in a year, and Paddack is likely going to miss the entire 2023 season. Yet going into next year, Twins blogs everywhere will write about how solid this rotation is. Boggles the mind.
  21. bighat
    Absolute embarrassment the way they are finishing this season. Shoved into a locker by Cleveland and then they refuse to even try the rest of the way. It's truly evident the Twins don't care whether they win or lose a game at this point. No pride, no competitiveness, just going through the motions until they can all get the hell out of the clubhouse. Not saying I wouldn't do the same, but as a fan it's really disappointing to watch your favorite team become so disinterested in playing baseball.
  22. bighat
    Nice. Gotta go 7-3 over the next 10 games to finish .500, which seems highly unlikely. Six of the next 10 are against the White Sox, who have lost 5 in a row. It's looking that Cleveland will be the only team in the division who will win more than 50% of their games. Little housekeeping @Seth Stohsthe box score up top says that Ryan went 7 2/3 innings.
  23. bighat
    Disagree. Duran might be the only guy on the list that's getting better with age. The rest of the guys will be older, and in Alcala's case he'll be even further removed from playing at the MLB level. The math tells me that the combo of Jax, Alcala, Theilbar, Fullmer, & Lopez will be worse in 2023 - collectively - than they were in 2022. IMO the Twins need to part ways with as many arms not named "Duran" as they possibly can.
  24. bighat
    So far he's been hitting since being called up. Small sample size, obviously. He's already ahead of both Kirilloff and Larnach on the depth chart in my book. And yes, that says more about how I feel about the latter names.
  25. bighat
    The Twins went into this year basically hoping everyone would perform at career-highs, and if doing so they'd reasonably expect to compete. They banked on both Polanco and Correa hitting 28 HRs each and driving in 80. They banked on Larnach and Kirilloff taking the next step, hitting 20 HRs a piece and solidifying themselves in the 4-5-6 holes. They banked on Jeffers hitting .250, and they banked on Kepler hitting .280. They thought Duffey would rebound, they thought Pagan would be effective as the team's closer. And while they didn't bank on Buxton hitting .275 and hitting 35 HRs and stealing 30 bases, they probably thought it was a realistic possibility. They missed on every single one of those. Badly. Polanco didn't deliver, Correa was invisible until September, Larnach and Kirilloff regressed and got hurt, so did Jeffers and Kepler. Duffey was released, Pagan is in the midst of a mind-bogglingly horrific season. Buxton barely hit above .200 and while he certainly was a sparkplug at times he didn't deliver what the Twins FO hoped for. The only gamble they got right was Dylan Bundy - I bet they got exactly what they'd hoped from him. He's 8-7 with a 4.68 ERA and has been reliably taking the ball every 5th day. One of the worst seasons to watch in recent memory. Worse than 2021.
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