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tony&rodney

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Everything posted by tony&rodney

  1. tony&rodney
    If the regional broadcasts fall apart, I think mlb.com is also hurting because i believe they use the feed from the broadcast.
  2. tony&rodney
    Megill is a great example of a guy who benefits from the relatively recent practice of teams carrying large bullpens. MLB had to limit the size to 13 last year because teams were overloaded with pitchers. Thus, with more opportunities an unfinished raw pitcher who has good velocity can get chances that did not exist even a decade ago. With some minor refinements and a good spring, Megill will get his innings and he could be an important factor in the pen. Every year we see an arm emerge who can effectively pitch an inning in middle inning relief. Megill is a guy to watch early.
  3. tony&rodney
    Me too. I want to see him pitch 70 innings this year for the Twins and zero in the minors.
  4. tony&rodney
    Fulmer, Chafin, others are signing and Hand, Moore, Will Smith, and Zach Britton are still available. They seem like fair rolls of the die, but then one must slide a player off the 40 person roster and the guys named cannot be sent down. The Twins have some arms they want to see and the next month will tell if Falvey and the eyes on the pitching staff seek to add a player. A trade seems more likely.
  5. tony&rodney
    Mea culpa. I too liked Chase Petty and follow him. That was a steep cost. I was only thinking about the trades last July.
  6. tony&rodney
    You have been a huge fan of Arraez, as have many across Twins land. The missing bat of Luis will need to be picked up by a combination of other guys. The loss of Arraez will be overcome by much better health. All of the Twins returning position bats can be expected to have better years in 2023. 2022 saw a raft of injuries that severely depleted their lineup, especially later in the season. I wanted all of the players who stepped in to succeed but players like Cave, Contreras, Celestino, Garlick, Beckam, Leon, Sano, Palacios, and Sanchez on the position side were put in tough spots. The depth and talent are favorable to better baseball all around: runs scored, defense, running, and situational play. A lightning rod for many is Joey Gallo. I hate the three true outcomes style of baseball as much as anyone, but he just replaces Sano, and we can expect he will be better than the Miguel of last season.
  7. tony&rodney
    The Twins are not listening to any offers for any player with Emmanuel going the other way; don't worry. Also, the only player of any note that has been traded was Cade Povich, which was a fair deal. Steer, CES, and others may have major league careers but they were buried behind much better players in the Twins system. Falvey has been pretty cautious in trades thus far.
  8. tony&rodney
    The off the charts walk rate, a big improvement in his K rate, and his powerful quick swing put Emmanuel on the fast track. He, like all, must show those skills at the next levels now. The very best rise through the minor leagues quickly. E. Rodriguez will have everyone's attention this summer, especially opposing pitchers. I was curious whether the A, A+, and AA leagues had any plans to use the automated strike zone.
  9. tony&rodney
    Health is the key for this team and there is a better than even chance that the team will be much better this summer simply because their best players are available more often. A few of the younger players should display the skills that have made their names familiar. I'm expecting the Twins to be improved at eight lineup spots and the depth is also better. The starting rotation and the bullpen should be better this summer as well. Finally, the front office has shown a willingness to improve the roster through trades, which may also be a possibility in July. Even if it is 85 wins, the team will be more interesting this season.
  10. tony&rodney
    Thank you Seth.
  11. tony&rodney
    I agree, Steer and CES are nice players but where do they fit in this pile: Kirilloff, Julien, Polanco, Martin, Salas, Miranda, Lewis, Lee, Correa, Gordon? We know that Correa and Polanco are fixtures or not younger players at least. So Steer and CES, both talented, were reasonable guys to trade for a good pitcher. I'm wondering how the Twins package two position guys and two pitchers to pry Burnes away from Milwaukee. There is a fine balance between using your system to make the main squad better and stripping down the farm. Mahle was a fair addition and could be really good this year. I do not see him as a solid choice to be extended because he doesn't project as good gamble for 5/$100M and if he returns to full health and effectiveness he is not looking for 3/$40M. I'm hoping for 180 innings of 3.25 ERA pitching this summer from Mahle.
  12. tony&rodney
    At least the NHL plays extra time and the 4 on 4 is actually interesting. The shootout is kind of dumb but at least a team gets to use its best scorers. With Manfredball a team's best relief pitcher must be a strikeout guy. A pitcher with a WHIP of .90/ a ground ball artist is useless in extra innings. I would rather see a team play with two outfielders and three infielders than see the ghost runner. Granted Duran is good for Manfredball.
  13. tony&rodney
    Manfred is really good at representing the owners, but he is really bad at promoting baseball. Manfredball is here to stay ... or until a new guy who likes baseball like Giammatti comes along. It is an unfair take on my part, admittedly, but the ghost runner is forever an abomination for baseball. Gone are the days of a relief pitcher who is impossible to get a hit off of but simply does not strike out batters pitching in extra innings. Some of the best relief pitchers in baseball history could not be used in extra innings today. Imagine not being able to use your relief pitcher whose BA against is .080 because he doesn't strike out enough batters.
  14. tony&rodney
    Yah, I'm already quite older and usually the most relaxed person in any setting. Something about seeing Mauer play since he was a 10th grader .... blah, blah. I'm turning that leaf though.
  15. tony&rodney
    Think Kyle Schwarber with less power but better K rates and more speed that hits for a higher average. Julien is a wild card. It is a big jump from AA to MLB, yet special bats have proven to make that jump many times. Whenever I have watched Julien, he seems to control most at bats. He drives the ball with authority to all fields which is why he has a high BABIP. Julien was called out on strikes on numerous occasions, that I saw, where the pitch was clearly outside of the strike zone. The umpires are better at the MLB level, which I see as a distinct advantage for Julien. There is a concern with his splits, but his left handed bat hammers right handed pitching. By the end of March the Twins should have had ample opportunity to evaluate how Julien would fare versus MLB pitchers or whether he needs to further prove himself at AAA. If Julien shows a bat that plays I want him in Kansas City leading off to open the season.
  16. tony&rodney
    I think you are absolutely correct. I don't know. Maybe it is something about the tone of conversations that consistently denigrate the playing career of Mauer and reek of jealousy and are ignorant of the skills needed to perform as a catcher at the MLB level. It doesn't affect me so much, but I have responded. I'm going to follow your cue and ignore this going forward. Thanks.
  17. tony&rodney
    Welcome to Twins Daily. Can you give us the name of all of the Hall of Fame catchers with 3,000 hits. RBI's are a function of runners in scoring position in front of you. Joe Mauer was the best batter with RISP the Twins had. Mauer was actually underpaid. For some reason Mauer has received more criticism from Twins fans. Baseball fans across the country have never understood this phenomena. I have been asked about this many times. The writer who is larger considered the closest thing to an expert on who belongs or not in the Hall of Fame, Jay Jaffe, has repeatedly stated that Mauer will be elected and should go in on the first ballot .... and it isn't really very close. Baseball players, managers, and executives are all pretty much completely aligned with Jaffe. Joe Mauer was an amazing catcher and we are not likely to see his equal in a Twin uniform. I don't want to tell you are wrong about Mauer because I don't know if you have passed the exam on concussions yet.
  18. tony&rodney
    This was a well researched article with some solid information, which I applaud. Nevertheless, having played, coached, managed, and watched thousands of games over too many decades I do not believe the current metrics for defense are as useful as those for pitching and hitting. Polanco was never a superior defender but always has been fair and steady. Correa is as dependable as one can be from shortstop. Miranda is raw, but he won't impact as many plays at third as he did at first. Kirilloff will be a major upgrade at first base. While I do think the Twins have a great defensive infield, the eyes say they are adequate. I'm always in favor of athletic defensive players, but for this season we should worry more about our outfielders when they bat than the infield gloves.
  19. tony&rodney
    Makes one wonder if Kyle Garlick might get a chance.
  20. tony&rodney
    There are not that many left handed starting pitchers. Taylor can get some starts early, in addition to spelling Buxton in other cases. The last position player looks like Trevor Larnach. I would suggest that the Twins ignore salary or veteran status for Kepler or Gallo and go with whomever is swinging a better bat. A Taylor-Buxton-Kepler outfield versus lefties is fine. Perhaps Gordon, Larnach, or Gallo get some starts too. Maybe even Farmer in left field. It might be that Royce Lewis or Austin Martin fill an outfield spot by June. The outfield lineup will be in flux when the Twins face a left handed starter.
  21. tony&rodney
    Law watches a ton of baseball. He has been a good read for awhile, although i still miss John Sickels and his work. When a scout or a writer who evaluates prospects, like Law, watch a guy play they see a snippet of who that player is. The bat speed, getting fooled, crushing balls, etc. all plays into each person's evaluation. Emmanuel Rodriguez has been getting a pile of love but all have been saying he will need to show himself this summer as the real deal. Law accurately points out that Lee does not possess the superior athleticism of many high draft choices while stating that his feel for the game should make him really good, just not a super star. Wallner has shown his faults to all who have seen him and Law is miffed about how the big guy can overcome those weaknesses, yet he still rates him high enough to be believable. I look for Law's work regularly and compare his analysis of players on other teams. I would say he has a pretty decent approval for the top eight guys even if they each have something left to prove. Then again, all prospects and rookies have plenty to prove.
  22. tony&rodney
    You are correct that teams mostly follow a similar pattern. MLB changed the rules on shuttling pitchers back and forth between the majors and minors, raised the roster size, and teams went to bigger bullpens which meant more usage of relievers. I'm not sure why some of these changes were done but when teams can use more pitchers it is tougher for the batters. Additionally, the larger bullpen reduced the number of pinch hitters and platoon situations, leaving guys with horrible splits batting in the last innings because the bench is empty. If teams had 13 pitchers and 17 batters, there would be guys who could be pinch hit specialist who would devour many of the current relief pitchers. I'm opposed to larger rosters and think we should have 13 position and 12 pitchers on a roster. I also believe it would be appropriate to reduce the number of times players can be sent down in any given year (twice). Lastly, it is hard to see where Manfredball has improved the product of MLB.
  23. tony&rodney
    Great idea which I agree with wholeheartedly and mentioned in the post about Polanco last week. The Twins have infield depth that makes quality contact and they need to use it.
  24. tony&rodney
    No doubt, the Twins are counting on Alex Kirilloff to step into a starting role at first base and hit. I don't think Arraez is traded if AK was not going to be ready this season. Like many, I am looking for a big season from Kirilloff. He is a key answer for both first base and the middle of the lineup.
  25. tony&rodney
    The comments largely suggest that Woods Richardson can be a good MLB starting pitcher, but he faces the challenge of competing with command and control as opposed to stuff. Seems fair. He will need to keep the ball off the barrel. When I watched SWR pitch with St. Paul he looked like he controlled the at bat, which is a difficult advantage to quantify. The reality is that savvy and composure does still work at the highest level. I was surprised by how easily Woods Richardson carved his way through a lineup without wowing with his pitches. We will be watching him this year to see his continued progress.
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