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bighat

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Everything posted by bighat

  1. bighat
    Nope, it's WAR, OPS+, wOBA, wRC+, and BABIP. You can hit .276 with 32 HR and 109 RBI while batting cleanup on a 100+ win team - doesn't matter. You'll be considered a by many on this thread to be a below-average player who needs to be replaced by a guy who's never taken a MLB at bat. As for your thoughts on Arraez, I couldn't agree more. Let's be happy with what we have. He's got plenty of room to grow, and having a high-average slap-hitting singles/doubles guy at the top of this lineup isn't a bad thing.
  2. bighat
    If you want to compare Arraez to a former Twin, how about Chuck Knoblauch - a fellow second-baseman? In Knobby's seven years with the Twins, he won Rookie of the Year, led the league in doubles and triples once each, went to the All-Star game 4 times and scored over 100 runs 4 times as well. He finished his great 1996 season by batting .341. He also never hit more than 13 HR as a Twin. Everyone was fine with that.
  3. bighat
    I'd try and extend Buxton to a similar deal, the Twins have continued to gamble on this guy for his entire career and you'd think at this point they might as well see if they can buy low on his potential. I know all about the "sunk cost" fallacy and the Twins might find themselves in that area with Bux - but at this point he's shown he does have the skills, if he can stay on the field.
  4. bighat
    Offense-wise, Cruz and Gonzalez might be gone next year. Twins could also move/trade/demote guys like Wade, Astudillo, and Cave by the time the season's over. Injuries are an unknown, but Bux has a history. God forbid Donaldson, Sano, Polanco, Rosario, or Kepler go down for a significant period of time but it's always a possibility. I'd also be hesitant to assume any or all of these top prospects are going to play at an All-Star level as soon as they get a chance in the bigs. Be careful what you wish for.
  5. bighat
    Dobnak is really dueling for that final spot - he knows it, he's not afraid to talk about it, and he's pitching like he wants that job. I saw him a couple weeks ago in ST, after he walked off the mound a few fans said "Good job Randy!" and he just looked back and said "thanks" in this refreshingly humble way. Rooting for the guy, I like this kid!
  6. bighat
    I totally understand the hype - on paper, this does look like the best Twins team....ever? And I cringe when I say that, because I do feel like that only adds more coal to the Jinx Train engine room. But hey, you gotta call it like you see it.
  7. bighat
    Yeah I know what you mean. Remember San Diego and Philly last year - two huge signings of Machado and Harper, plenty of hype surrounding both teams (especially Philly). Let's not forget how the Indians were also an across-the-board AL Central winner in just about every prediction model out there before 2019. I've ran through the scenario in my mind. The Twins stumble, start 3-8 or something, and it turns out Cruz needs surgery and Donaldson's in an 0-24 slump. Guys start pushing. Sano and Buxton go into one of their infamous black holes at the plate. The league figures out how to pitch to Arraez, and Kepler's regressing. All of a sudden Astudillo and Adrianza are starting every game and LaMont Wade's playing in the OF every day for some reason. The White Sox are hot, a year ahead of schedule. The Indians are back. Here come the headlines: "Donaldson Unhappy in Minnesota", "Pineda needs surgery", "Twins baseball player arrested for playing Scrabble in a Cub Foods Parking Lot" and the house of cards just falls into shambles.... Then I wake up and realize it was all a bad dream....at least for now. I think this team will be good, but I also think it's very important to get off to a very good start and not play catch-up for too long in April.
  8. bighat
    I think Kiermeir and Bradley often get to the wall more quickly, so they can time their jump and/or prepare for impact. Or, it's possible that Kiermeir and Bradley aren't as fast as Buxton, and thus aren't in a position to even make an attempt on those balls. Who knows! I think we're all scratching our heads!
  9. bighat
    "He's still young" - well, by baseball standards I don't think that's true any longer. I think Twins fans are the only people that still think of Bux this way, and frankly it seems a bit naive, kinda like how little kids notice a limp on the aging family dog and say "Buster's still young, he's got plenty of good years in him, right Dad?" Francisco Lindor. Correa. Bellinger, Acuna, Bregman, Soto, Shane Beiber, Jack Flaherty, Gleybar Torres, Shohei Ohtani....Jose Berrios....these are just a handful of players younger than Buxton, but one could keep going all day. You get the idea. Can Buxton still become a force in MLB? Absolutely. Can he finally have that breakout season we've been waiting for since 2012? Definitely. Do I want him to succeed more than anything? YES! Will I be drafting him as a "sleeper pick" way too early in my fantasy baseball draft? Obviously! Let's agree to stop pretending he's just a kid. He's got a decent amount of MLB experience under his belt, and believe it or not I think he's going to end up providing good veteran leadership for guys like Lewis before it's all said and done.
  10. bighat
    Berrios: 14-8 with a 3.60 ERA and 200 strikeouts. All-Star. Odorizzi: 15-7 with a 3.51 ERA and 180 strikeouts. All-Star. Both of those lines would be clear frontline ace numbers for at least 70% of the teams in the league. Remember Zack Wheeler, that pitcher we talked about all winter? The "ace" we needed to add? His stats: 11-8, 3.96 ERA, 200 strikeouts. Berrios won more games, pitched more innings, and had a better ERA than him. Remember when the Twins used to go into the year with guys like Kevin Correia as their #1 starter? Gee whiz. I know it doesn't hurt to hope for improvement, but let's give Berrios and Odo a little credit here.
  11. bighat
    I went to the game. It was cold, and while some were under-dressed, many people were well aware of the "chilly weather" and wore appropriate attire. The gophers were extremely overmatched. What I thought was most interesting was that many Twins players were the same age as the Gopher players....the gap between AA baseball and college baseball is very, very large. I think all the fans in attendance loved it. Goldie Gopher was there, tons of maroon and gold, and it must have been really fun for the Gopher players to get that kind of experience. Can you imagine telling your grandkids that you pitched to Hall of Famer Royce Lewis? The only real problem with this game was that it was a night game. Without question it should have been planned for the daytime, just in case of cold weather.
  12. bighat
    Weil looked good in the game vs. U of M that I saw him play, and he hit a HR today against the Jays. Nice start for Zander!
  13. bighat
    No.
  14. bighat
    Love these little tidbits, thanks for the article!
  15. bighat
    I can't imagine batting our All-Star shortstop 8th? And our 32 HR, 108 RBI guy 7th? Then again....looking at the alternatives, it might just happen. Rocco's going to have a tough decision here, but it should be fun for him.
  16. bighat
    Buenas! Soy gringo originalmente de Minnesota pero estoy viviendo en Guatemala - por casi 6 anyos, fijate! Bienvenido a la familia Twins.
  17. bighat
    Ballplayers that play full speed 100% of the time are often called "gritty", and they "hustle" and the "play the game the right way". Buxton plays full speed 100% of the time and he's seen in a much different light - by some Twins fans, no less. Troubling. I think we all know what we have in Buxton at this point. An elite defender in the outfield and a streaky hitter who might hit .258, 20 HR, and steal 30-40 bases if he played a full season. I'd argue that as Buxton gets older and slower, he might become a more effective player. Once his speed starts to dip he'll start playing those balls off the wall, thus saving himself injuries he's have suffered in the past. We can't change Byron Buxton. He's "Johnny Hustle" out there and he's always going to be that way. Sit back and just enjoy watching the guy do what he does while he's in a Twins uniform.
  18. bighat
    I lived in Minneapolis my first 18 years of life. Many more years have passed living outside of MSP since then. Never once questioned handing in my Twins Fan card. Living in Guatemala, we're on Mountain Time during baseball season. Love the early starts, it's perfect to watch a game between 6-9pm! Keep doing your thing, thanks for sharing!
  19. bighat
    I dunno. Cruz and his reckless afternoon naps could bring on a mutiny in the locker room!
  20. bighat
    The Twins are stretching out their 21 year-old Canadian right hander in AA this season....bold move indeed. Meanwhile, the Braves were letting their 21 year-old Canadian right hander pitch in the majors for the 2nd straight year in 2019. He went 13-4 with a 2.68 ERA and made the All-Star team. I love the team the Twins have on the field in 2020. But someone needs to tell this team that nobody cares about Pensacola winning a league title. When you find an elite player like Balazovic, have the cajones to get the guy up to the bigs and stop wasting his arm down on the farm.
  21. bighat
    Trevor May has honestly had ONE nice season in Minnesota. Just one! And I, along with every other Twins fan, is thrilled at his new found success. That said, before last year his career ERA was over 5.00. I know he's good now, I like him in our bullpen, and he's also a cool guy who plays video games....still, I've never understood why he's been treated like the next coming of Roger Clemens with Twins fans. Again, I like the kid too and I hope the Twins can keep him, but I think there will be other middle relievers to sign if the Twins lose him. I'd be much more concerned about losing Cruz and the 35+ HR he'll be good for in 2021. Homers like that don't grow on trees. Would like to see the Twins extend the guy in Spring Training for an extra year.
  22. bighat
    Smart move by Marwin to just get out there and apologize and now he can move on and focus on 2020. Which is what we all want him to do....right? I for one am all for punishing the Astros organization and stripping their World Series banner from the rafters. But, as others have said, there's no way you can just suspend 20+ major leaguers without hurting their CURRENT teams (aka the Twins) who had nothing to do with these shenanigans.
  23. bighat
    I'm willing to take his first year's stats with a grain of salt. The numbers were ugly, but if MLB teams gave up on every 18 year-old who hit below .200 in the rookie league we'd have missed out on some good players in this league. This year I think fans (and more importantly the Twins brass) will be keeping a keen eye on this kid. I am guessing the Twins were just letting him do whatever came natural the first year, so they could see what they needed to change/re-work. No need to panic, not just yet.
  24. bighat
    Interesting to see this subject float back up to the top after a few comments. My two cents: Homer Baily is definitely an upgrade over Perez. Martin has not enjoyed a successful career in the big leagues, he came to the Twins in 2019 after posting an ERA north of 6 (SIX!) with the Rangers in 2018. In my opinion, he made some adjustments that fooled some teams early in 2019, but the league caught on and by June he was a Mike Pelfrey clone. Bailey, on the other hand, has a proven track record of at least being an average pitcher in the bigs. And that's just what the Twins need right now as the season starts off. We can grab that ace in July.
  25. bighat
    Happy for Brusdar, the guy's gone from thinking he was going to be playing at Target Field, Fenway, Target Field again, and now he'll be wearing Dodger blue. He's gotta be pumped. Maeda is a good get for sure, very excited for this 2020 team. Interested to see who else the Twins have thrown into the deal.
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