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gunnarthor

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Everything posted by gunnarthor

  1. gunnarthor
    His "over the hill" bat was still better than a lot of other Twins last year.
  2. gunnarthor
    I have to say, I didn't think Rosario had much of a chance to make the team out of ST but I'm starting to think I'm wrong. It'll be interesting to watch Rosario/Schafer/Hicks fill in CF until Buxton is ready.
  3. gunnarthor
    I think Vargas gets first crack at DH but if he fails, than either Hunter or Arcia probably gets moved there.
  4. gunnarthor
    Not really surprising, most players want to stick around. We'll see how he does this year.
  5. gunnarthor
    Yeah, I was thinking the exact same thing. Molitor urged the FO to sign Hunter and benched a player for not hustling. Sounds a lot like Gardy.
  6. gunnarthor
    It's an interesting article and it was actually what Souhan argued for at the time. But I disagree. Mauer is probably going to the HOF so it's pretty hard to argue that the Twins made the wrong choice (one could also point out that David Wright was available too). I don't think it's likely that Prior would have stayed healthy and Baker's impact on him is overstated - even during the draft there were rumors that some scouts hated Prior's mechanics. (And isn't that what this article is actually suggesting - do everything you can to win in 02 and 03? Dusty rode his ace). The only way Prior comes up on top of Mauer is if both of these things happen - 1) he stays healthy (and the number of pitchers with a few great seasons and then hurt is very, very long) and 2) and he continued to pitch at a HOF level. I don't think it's fair to say that a WS ring in 03 would have made it worth it.
  7. gunnarthor
    I think there's a few reasons. 1) As I mentioned above, all three have had some struggles at AA and are all still working on their defense. Making a decision based on the small amount of ST at-bats would be a bad idea. 2) AAA is less a learning environment. The atmosphere there isn't always that great for young prospects. A couple of the prospect writers at BP have touched on this. 3) The Twins (and most teams) have started to use AA as the jump point to the majors and then use AAA as the place to refine.
  8. gunnarthor
    I think he makes the team out of ST but I'd rather he worked on things in AAA. It just seems that, at this point, expecting good things out of Hicks isn't a great idea. I understand that he's probably just a place folder for Buxton but I really had hoped he'd be a regular for us. Letting him get things straightened out in AAA with less pressure on him seems like a better idea. If one wants to be optimistic, he did hit well in the minors after his demotion and managed a .340 OBP last year, which isn't horrible (although everything else was). It does seem that he's this close to making things work but just can't get there. Maybe Molitor and Bruno and a different ML atmosphere help him. But it sure would be nice if got it all together.
  9. gunnarthor
    Good grief. Sano missed a full season, it's not unreasonable to start at AA. Rosario has a .260/.302/.403 line in 150 games at AA. He hasn't really shown an ability to hit pitching above A+ yet. And Polanco has a mere 37 games at AA and hasn't hit that well there either. And all three are still working on their defense as well. Additionally, all that ignores that fact that the Twins don't have any problem promoting players from AA to the majors without stopping at AAA.
  10. gunnarthor
    Levi Michael. (Technically is was .389)
  11. gunnarthor
    I love everything I read about him. This Chattanooga team is going to be pretty exciting for a month or two - Buxton, Sano, Rosario, Walker, Berrios, Burdi, Polanco etc. Cripes, the former 1st round pick, middle infielder who put up a .390 OBP last year is an afterthought there. Weee!
  12. gunnarthor
    My guess is that they have some big regression from Santana and maybe a little less from Dozier/Plouffe. I think the Twins have the depth on the hitting side to still be a top 5 offense again but you could see the offense go off the rails in a few ways - like it turns out Vargas is a AAAA hitter, Hunter falls of a cliff, Mauer continues his decline, Santana and Escobar have miserable years, Dozier loses his power, Arcia plateaus, Suzuki suffers major regression while Pinto fails to improve, etc. I don't think all those things happen but it could be another 2011 season - which would suck.
  13. gunnarthor
    I think Meyer gets the 5th starter spot and Milone goes to the pen. So either we give back Graham (or work out a trade) or move Pelfrey. But, of course, injuries will impact all these decisions before April, anyway. But I don't see Meyer starting in AAA. He has nothing left to show there, Molitor says he doesn't want him in the pen, Ryan knows he has the most upside of any pitcher on the 40 man roster. Even though he has options, I think he stays up - just like Gibson last year.
  14. gunnarthor
    Yeah, I think there's a solid chance that this team is similar enough to the 2001 team that went from 69 wins to 85. This team has a few more veterans than that team but has more high-end prospects to rely on as well. We'll see. Should be a fun year, I hope.
  15. gunnarthor
    I think Hunter's best "intangible" facotrs would be making players comfortable so that they can succeed. He's not going to teach them to hit a slider in the dirt (although maybe he says "if it has a red dot, don't swing") but he might help them learn to deal with failure/life on the road/pressure of ml lifestyle that isn't directly related to coaching. Look at the yahoo.com article on Rasmus - he has all the talent in the world but something isn't kicking and the author suggested an inability to make adjustments and tuning out his coaches. Maybe a guy like Hicks needs a guy like Hunter around to just show him how to keep a bad at-bat out of his head or how to prepare for Verlander.
  16. gunnarthor
    Yeah, in the long run, I think this ends up being "Sano's team" from all I've read about him. He's loud (in a good way), popular with teammates, cocky (again, in a good way) and competitive both team-wise and individually (meaning, I think he'd be upset if the team had a 6-game losing streak). Hopefully, he gets healthy and starts crushing balls into TF soon.
  17. gunnarthor
    Yeah, my biggest worry with Hunter is his age. At a certain point, players just drop off the cliff. I'm hoping that doesn't happen to Torii this season but it could. I think the shift to TF and the shifting that Molitor will do will make his defense liveable if his bat is working. I also agree with kab - Hunter on a one year deal is blocking anyone and no other FA was really exciting alternative.
  18. gunnarthor
    I voted for Buxton. Sell the future.
  19. gunnarthor
    I like Graham a lot, actually (as my quixotic voting at TwinkieTown shows). Unless he looks broken, I think he makes the team. He and Pelfrey being the last two bullpen arms. (Unless injuries/trades change that).
  20. gunnarthor
    Good article. I think Harrison is a good bet to be a big riser on prospect lists a year from now. I think the hardest thing for prospects is to control the strike zone and Harrison showed huge improvement in that area. Hopefully, he carries that plate discipline up to AA this year.
  21. gunnarthor
    Baseball America has a small little video review of Gordon http://www.baseballamerica.com/videos/scouts-video-view-nick-gordon/
  22. gunnarthor
    Well, if nothing else, this reminded me of how much I loved Puckett.
  23. gunnarthor
    No, he's be eligible. I think he made the top 10 in a few team lists but no top 100 anywhere. He's not really the type of guy to get on a list at this point (although he was ranked before). Sickels ranked him #7 on our list and called him a darkhorse ROY candidate.
  24. gunnarthor
    I really like May and think he ends up leading the Twins in strike outs this year. I think he gets the #5 spot out of ST and makes 32 starts for us. I remember reading a few years ago a Reusse column where he asked someone in the FO if the Twins had any guys in the system that could just be an innings eating anchor - not another Johan, but a guy who constantly takes the ball and throws 200+ innings, year after year. He was told May was going to be that guy.
  25. gunnarthor
    I think the walk rates were one concern but IIRC he was dinged up a little in the second half - a skipped start or two? And the Twins were trying to give starts to Milone and May as well and they had a healthy Nolasco back so it was a bit of a crowded rotation. If he was healthy, I think they would have brought him up but his last start was pretty ugly and they just shut him down. That said, I still think he makes the team out of ST.
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