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nicksaviking

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Everything posted by nicksaviking

  1. nicksaviking
    I think Buxton can succeed, I just don't want the team to rely on his success for their success. But that's not Buxton exclusive. I don't want them to rely on Sano, or Berrios, or Rosario, or Gibson or Royce Lewis either. If a season falls apart because of a player or two not living up to expectations, then you didn't put together a good enough team.
  2. nicksaviking
    I’d take any of those guys on a short term deal, but none of them are long term answers. SS and 2B are no longer league-wide offensive black holes. If the Twins don’t have the long term answer in house (fingers crossed that they do) then they need to pry one away from another team. Outside of Machado, these free agents are either way too poor with the bat or way too poor with the glove to commit a leash or money for them to start beyond 2019.
  3. nicksaviking
    I mean, choosing an affordable housing project over a publicly funded baseball stadium? Yeah, Portland isn't ready for the soulless endeavor of being a MLB/NFL market. Aren't they aware that affordable housing is supposed to be razed to build a fancy new ballpark? Kudos Portland.
  4. nicksaviking
    Boras had been saving that joke for awhile, and it was a poor one. Not in bad taste, just really, really dumb. While the Twins may not have made smart moves last winter, they did make a lot of moves. I'd bet there were few teams that gave out more MLB contracts to free agents than the Twins last year. If anything, Boras is just stung that the Twins waited until after many of those guys were willing to take a discount. If that's the case, blame the other teams, at least the Twins did sign these vets instead of rolling with youngsters on league minimum contracts like 70% of the other clubs did. Also, we can't overcome the fact that Minnesota is geographically unattractive to a majority of players. Boras needs to stop pretending that he wants the Twins to spend more on free agents. What he really wants is the Twins to BID more on free agents to drive up their prices for the more attractive markets. That said, if Lewis and Kirilloff are studs and leave us for the big lights of NY and the beaches of LA, that's on them, not Boras. They choose their agent because they want what the agent can provide; the agent doesn't pick the players.
  5. nicksaviking
    Hmm, yeah that sounds familiar. Seems like that should fall in line with the other awards. Promoting that one to match the Cy Young award could help ease the MVP debates. So in light of that, I'm just fine with the MVP typically going to who most voters see as the most valuable, that being the player who's teams successful season rode most heavily on his shoulders.
  6. nicksaviking
    I don't mind if a pitcher wins the MVP, but I still think that it clearly goes to Yelich this year. If baseball wants to end this contentious debate they'd add a third award for best hitter. The MVP award in neither it's name nor it's description says that it is for the best player: “The rules of the voting remain the same as they were written on the first ballot in 1931: (1) actual value of a player to his team, that is, strength of offense and defense; (2) number of games played; (3) general character, disposition, loyalty and effort; (4) former winners are eligible; and (5) members of the committee may vote for more than one member of a team.” You'll never be able to get enough people to agree that a player on an noncompetitive team could possibly have enough value to earn the honor. Just make another award without all the subjectivity that's equal to the Cy Young award, but for hitters.
  7. nicksaviking
    Only if you look at it wrong. No one says no to having both Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter in the system.
  8. nicksaviking
    If Kirilloff goes from #5 to #2 this year then the only logical correlation is that next year Javier will go from #4 to #1.
  9. nicksaviking
    I like it, but I wouldn't trade for another reliever. There are two dozen quality arms available on the free agent market. If we're spending money might as well save the prospects. I'd shoot for higher than Blevins as well. Also, I asked this in a prior thread but I don't know if anyone has had an answer. Are we as a baseball society over the fear of slider over-use? Conventional wisdom used to be that pitchers who throw it too often are bound for surgery. Corbin threw it over 40% of the time last year, which sounds obscene for a starter. Don't get me wrong, the slider is my favorite pitch so if sports science has debunked the reasons to fear the slider I'm all aboard the Corbin train.
  10. nicksaviking
    They've given so little leash to most of the younger internal relievers and most have done nothing with the little leash given. I can't see them doing status quo with the bullpen. Maybe with the lineup and the rotation (but I hope not), but I think it more likely the pen is completely overhauled than I do that no one is added.
  11. nicksaviking
    I think you have my position all wrong. I want the Twins to get whatever the 2019 Justin Verlander comp is. I want them to throw a suitcase of cash at the dozens of quality free agent relievers. I want them to find the best bats they can and worry about which positions they'll play come spring. I want them to make the moves to be the Astros and the Red Sox. But I want them to do it in the offseason, not in July after they've already farted away any chance at a first round bye. But if they can't do that now, I don't want them to go and start blowing the equity they will need later to get to that point just so they can put together another mid-season dog and pony show that's clearly not up to snuff simply to placate the fans and keep TVs on an extra couple of weeks. I don't want any damn piranhas. Piranhas are for division champs, not World Series champs.
  12. nicksaviking
    That doesn't interest me. I want the Twins to go get their guy who can match up with Kershaw, Sale, Verlander, Kluber, Severino before the season even starts. If none are available, then they better figure out how to get Berrios or Gibson to the next level. This team has been crossing their fingers and doing 'MIGHT win' all this century and it has yet to pay off. They need to start doing 'SHOULD win'. And the pitching angle is only one path, if they're able to get the bats to be an onslaught of destruction that can overcome awesome pitching, fine, I really don't care how they do it, just be an elite team. I'm just so tired of being the cute underdogs and the team and the fans eating it up. Step 1: Kick *** all year long and avoid the play in game Step 2: Vegas odds make you one of the favorites giving you zero excuses for failure Step 3: Just win the WS already
  13. nicksaviking
    I"d agree with Jones, I think McCutchen might still be pretty useful though. Players with good on base skills seem to age better than guys without them; they tend to have a high floor even if there's a limited ceiling. The Twins could really use a couple .360+ OBP guys at the top of the lineup. I think McCutchen could easily be a Shanon Stewer-esque non-flashy but effective veteran spark for this team.
  14. nicksaviking
    There were only four playoff teams in 1987 though. The 2006 Cardinals which had future HOFers Albert Pujols and Scott Rolen in their primes never had to win a play-in game. Today's game is asking the Twins to win FOUR different series against superior teams to take the crown. I'd rather the team stop settling for the chip-chair-and-a-chance odds and start making their own odds by drafting, developing, signing and trading for an actual elite team so as they don't have to play the part of the scrappy little underdog all the time. In today's game I don't know that a team can do the chip-chair-and-a-chance method while they build for the elite team. And I'm not even saying the team can't make the right moves to become elite this year. I just don't want them to take half measures and sacrifice a legit chance at winning it all in the coming years so we can cross our fingers for a .500 season and a measly AL Central crown this year.
  15. nicksaviking
    Every one of those players listed were drafted, signed as an international free agent or traded for. Those all are alleys the Twins have equal access to. Add Betts, Bogaerts, McCullers, Osuna, Torres and Judge, sort them with the Twins young players and the Twins young players will nearly all be at the bottom of the list. I don't know if any of the Twins young players would even crack the top 10 of such a list. I think things are pointing up, but this team is a long way back talent-wise from competing for a title. I'd think the quickest way to the front would be for the new coaches, instructors and strength and conditioning people to propel the guys we already have to their fullest potential. If that's possible. There's still a considerable gap between them and their peers at the moment though.
  16. nicksaviking
    OK, but compare the Twins Under 25 players to the Astros, Red Sox and Yankees Under 25 players. They're still way behind the talent needed to win a championship.
  17. nicksaviking
    I'd like to think they can trade and sign for players to compete next year, in which case I'd still trade guys like Kepler and Odorizzi; not for a handful of prospects but along with prospects for real MLB talent. But if the front office is convinced that the organization's foundation was so irreparably damaged that they still have more work to do before they can compete, I guess this is the way they have to go. I absolutely agree that this team cannot continue treading in mediocrity, intentionally aiming for a .500 season is how you get stuck in MLB purgatory.
  18. nicksaviking
    Yeah, those reliever heavy drafts are starting to come home to roost now. I once was very excited about many of those names. Now, while I still see some talent in several, most of them I'd only want back if they clear waivers and don't have to be rostered.
  19. nicksaviking
    I count 27 guys on the current 40-man and Rule 5 eligible that I want on the roster next year, and five or six of those wouldn't disappoint me if they were gone. The good news is this off season should hold very little angst as far as roster decisions go. The bad news is there's a lot of work to do to because if you don't sweat losing good players, it means you don't have enough good players.
  20. nicksaviking
    I don't think Reed gets added, they've already shown their hand with him. I wouldn't worry about Jay and so far I haven't seen the new front office overly attached to the previous front office's big ticket draft picks. I could see Nick Anderson added but he's a bit long in the tooth. I might actually predict that Cody Stashak is the most likely reliever to be added. It looks like they've started grooming him to be a multi inning reliever and he's starting to build some good momentum.
  21. nicksaviking
    Well Rosario would have a difficult time missing the cut off man when he is the cut off man. I joke, but I'd have no problem seeing if Rosario can play another position. I think far more players are capable of playing new positions, these are typically world class athletes after all. Hitting a 92 MPH slider should be much more difficult than backhanding a grounder. In most cases I'd think it would just take commitment to improve and expand their skill sets. I'd think the biggest obstacle is getting the players to want to learn a new position; it would have to be the trendy and profitable thing to do. I think as a sport we are at that point though, I think most players would buy into it. I was thinking about this the other day, wondering if there are a certain type of players who'd be offended by asking them to move positions. I kind of had a mental bet with myself that it would be the same stubborn players who continue to hit into the shift and won't alter their approach at the plate that would be hardest to convince to pick up a 2nd glove.
  22. nicksaviking
    So if I'm reading this correctly, Rosario may still be able to play 2B just like Sano may still be able to steal home?
  23. nicksaviking
    I don't think that's true, and if it is, that's the problem, not Buxton's lack of production. If the team is built with a lynchpin player and if that player struggles or gets injured the team falls apart, then I don't think your team is very good. I'd love for Buxton to get on track and I don't care who's responsible for doing it, but he nor Sano, nor Berrios, nor Rosario nor Lewis nor anyone should be viewed as some kind of must-have player who's the fulcrum between success and failure. There are thousands of ways to win a baseball game.
  24. nicksaviking
    I don’t know, I’d think saying you want the local hero to stay, regardless how you really feel, when you know he’s going to retire is probably on page one of the PR handbook. Forget the front office, it was probably the first thing everyone told Baldelli to say when they prepped for his press conference.
  25. nicksaviking
    Well he's been working full time for the Rays since he retired. I don't know why it wouldn't have been an issue then but it is now.
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