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nicksaviking

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Everything posted by nicksaviking

  1. nicksaviking
    I don't want Ozzie Guillen, but I do want his opinion. I have no doubt that if he gets asked by a reporter that he will honestly say if the Twins gave him a fair shot. I'd at least like to get a reading of the authenticity of the "outside" search.
  2. nicksaviking
    I agree with Mike, DM seems much more likely to continue "old school" baseball tactics. With Molitor, we at least know that he was the driving force behind the Twins reluctant usage of defensive shifts. I do think DM likely would bring some energy to the club and likely be a motivator for the young guys. Still that will fade over time. These better not be the only two candidates. Ryan said he'd look outside the organization and implied that Latin managers would be considered. I don't care if the search goes into December, keep looking. These two likely both would be nice managers, but this needs to be done right, and as there are 29 other teams with countless employees who may be managerial candidates, the odds are pretty slim that the option that would be most successful here is actually in house.
  3. nicksaviking
    Good research. Not surprised about Rochester with May and Meyer. Even the soft tossing AAAA types seem to do well with strikeouts. I'm not surprised Ft. Myers is low. NB surprises me though. As far as ERA and WHIP go they are average and I would have guessed they were above average yet the strikeouts are above average and I'd have guessed the opposite. CR also surprises me as those starters dodn't seem to miss many bats, I'm guessing the releivers are significantly helping that rating, only Thorpe could manage a respectable K rate in that rotation.
  4. nicksaviking
    No, the first two slots. I don't need more Pelfreys, Correias or Marquis. Go big or stay home.
  5. nicksaviking
    I guess I'm late too late to the comment board to question the Rogers placement, so instead I suggest perhaps it's possible his increased velocity will have a delayed impact on increased strikeout numbers. Still, does anyone have a take on why so many Twins prospects have good velocity but can't miss bats? Rogers, Stewart, Brett Lee, Tyler Duffey, Ryan Eades, Brian Gilbert, Fernando Romero and Aaron Slegers come to mind. What are we missing? Minor league hitters tend to strike out a ton, even if there isn't a lot of movement on the pitches. What's causing the failure here? Philosophy? Mechanics?
  6. nicksaviking
    Guillen did anger anti-Castro Cubans in Miami, I'm not sure if recent defectors have the same animosity toward Castro or not; probably. He is from Venezuala, but reportedly he was a big draw for the influx of Hispanic talent into the White Sox organization including Alexia Rameriz and the reason guys like Orlando Hernandez and Jose Contreras wanted to go to Chicago. Miguel Cabrera also credited Guillen as a big influence on him when Guillen was a bench coach for the Marlins. Perhaps I shouldn't have singled out Cubans, my point was to ask if signing Guillen meant more top level Latin players wanted to sign here, would it be worth it? Particularly if it finally signaled the Twins painfully slow entrance into the Cuban market. Also, as to Oliva, I love him as a Twins ambassador, and certainly the people of Cuba love him, but assuming 20-year-old Cubans are caught up in Oliva's accoplishments is probably akin to assuming 20-year-old Americans are caught up in Rolling Stones lore.
  7. nicksaviking
    I've made my feelings about Ozzie Guillen clear but I'm curious how people would feel about this HYPOTHETICAL (I cannot stress this word enough) situation: The Twins hire Ozzie Guillen to facilitate a new Minnesota-Cuba pipleline with the intention of using the manager to successfully entice Yasmani Tomas to sign with the Twins. Worth it or not?
  8. nicksaviking
    Dan Barreiro it seems falls under the "Ozzie Guillen is the Only Latin Coach I can Think of" spell. He says he doesn't think the Twins are brave enough to bring in that kind of controversy. I don't give the Twins a ton of credit these days, but if dodging Guillen is cowardly, then I'm fine with them being yellow. There are more level headed mangerial candidates, Hispanic, African American, Asian and boring old Caucasian, that won't demand the spotlight from his players.
  9. nicksaviking
    Gardy is being a pretty big man about this. Thanking everyone including the media. He dropped a line about Berardino calling his wife THIS MORNING to get a quote about the firing and Gardy jokingly gave him a hard time. I would not have been as amused. Ryan said he has offered Gardy a position elsewhere in the organization. Gardy has yet to decide. Gardy says he agrees with the decision as the team needs a new face and he wants them to win. I kind of want to cry. Most clubs wouldn't have the fired manager at the presser, let alone leading the damn thing. Mark Rosen to Ryan: Do you think your health puts you in position to lead the club and find a manager to get this team back to winning. Ouch. To sum it up, Ryan says yes. Listening on the radio, but Ryan has seemed on the verge of breaking down a couple of times. As a listener, I can tell you it's contageous. Gardy says he isn't done managing yet, he thinks. Ryan says it will take some time to hire a new manager. He said it will take time to fly guys in or fly out to meet guys. Says they can't just consider internal candidates. Ryan was asked if a Latin voice would be something they would be looking for considering the make up of the young talent. Ryan said diversity would be strongly considered for either a manager or a coach.
  10. nicksaviking
    It's got to be do or die time for Ryan. I believed that TR's and Gardy's fates should have been tied together so there couldn't be any second guessing about which part of the equation was most at fault, but I don't think there's any question that if the replacement can't get the job done, Ryan will need to take the fall.
  11. nicksaviking
    So we've talked about internal candidates. Who are the external ones? Even if they never get highly considered, there will be some to give the restructure some legitimacy. I'm guessing Mike Maddox if the Rangers don't sign him. Clearly the pitching is the biggest issue and is there a bigger name manager possibility with pitching background than Maddox? People keep bringing up the lack of Latin pressence, so perhaps Sandy Alomar Jr and Omar Vizquel? Vizquel in particular would move the needle.
  12. nicksaviking
    It sounds silly to say, but by keeping Gardenhire through the last four seasons, Ryan may have inhbited the managers future job possibilities. In 2010, after another post season flop, many people were asking for a new manager, had Gardy been fired then, he likely would have found a new gig with ease. Now four years later when progressive statistics, infield shifts and platoons are 10x more popular, Gardenhire looks that much more like a dinosaur. I hope he gets another job, but I think he and Kirk Gibson are going to be looked at as too old school.
  13. nicksaviking
    I say we wait to see if Tony La Russa interviews any of these guys for gigs in AZ, and if he does and offers them a position, than the Twins swoop in and retain the guy. I'm OK with using La Russa's expertise to do our dirty work. I do want wholesale change though, so I would be torn if La Russa saw something in one of our guys.
  14. nicksaviking
    I feel sick and remorseful even though this is half of what I was asking for. It's been a good run Gardy, thanks.
  15. nicksaviking
    Shields has been important to their uptick in wins, but it could be argued he's not even their best starter. Ventura has a better ERA+ and Duffy has a better WAR. Shields K numbers are continuing to drop while the number of hits he gives up is increasing. There's a great chance KC got Shields at the very end of his peak seasons and the bottom falls out starting next year. And we can't forget that Shields wasn't the only player the Royals got back. Wade Davis has been fantastic. Surely TB wishes he was closing games for them now. If KC decides they don't need both Davis and Holland, they will have a pretty outstanding trade piece to recoup some more prospects.
  16. nicksaviking
    I must have missed the part about Nolasco being the piece that brings over Matt Kemp. That would interest me a little, however surely the first Tweet that Kemp gets from a fan saying, "I want you back with LA!" Kemp will respond, "Me too!!!!!!!!!"
  17. nicksaviking
    I'd rather the Twins emulate the team from the other side of Missouri. Hire scourts who can identify young pitchers who have the potential to throw hard AND hit the strikezone and hire minor league pitching coaches who know what to do to get them to the majors. Use your free agency cash on mid to top tier offensive players to suppliment the talented young position players you already have. And do not waste your budget or roster spots on replacement level free agents. Give those spots to guys in AAA, they will not be significantly worse.
  18. nicksaviking
    I don't want Kemp moping around the clubhouse. He will mope if he's not playing CF and not getting on ESPN. He will not play CF regularly as he cannot handle the positoin any more and he won't get on ESPN playing in Minnesota. That being said, concern for Adam Walker who can't get on base in A ball should have zero considerations in off season moves.
  19. nicksaviking
    Of those pitchers, only Lee was demanding and got a large bonus. Winners got more than the rest of the HS arms.
  20. nicksaviking
  21. nicksaviking
    I like having him around, but really only because every time his name gets brought up I get to point out that the Twins passed up on high upside HS arms Jesse Biddle, Zach Lee, Cam Bedrosian, Aaron Sanchez, Noah Syndergaard and Tijuan Walker to draft the safe college arm Alex Wimmers. I do this because I'm petty and like to call attention to the few times I was right.
  22. nicksaviking
    Especially after the team moved him to 3B where some power is generally expected. Hopefully he'll get SS to himself if Polanco stays at a different level, but even after Polanco moved up this year, he still split time at SS with Mejia. I can't see Goodrum sticking on a 25-man, though neither would have Kepler and he got a roster spot last year.
  23. nicksaviking
    Ha, I guess we're the opposite. I had written him off, mostly because I never wanted the Twins to draft him to begin with. However I was a bit encouraged that he seemed to get better as the year went on. He pitched better in AA than he did early in the year at Ft. Myers. He still makes me yawn but his increasing K% and substantially decreasing BB% and H% are pointing in the right direction. Not sue he'll ever get a chance to start again, so double yawn, but still, the NB peripheral stats look pretty good.
  24. nicksaviking
    I'm guessing if Dozier was asked to bunt instead of getting an extra RBI/HR/SB that was going to cost him $500K in a meaningless game, we'd be having this discussion. Not saying that both are the same or that both situations have the same merit. But Hughes was 5th in the league in fewest pitches per innings, yet he was only 40th in total pitches thrown despite being healthy all season. Hughes had 30 more innings in him had his total pitch count lined up with his position in pitches per innings. That's basically an extra inning every game that he got pulled early. There can be debate whether 240 innings is too much for a pitcher these days, but I don't think there is much debate that Gardenhire prefers his bullpen to the starters in the late innings. In fairness to Gardenhire, the bullpen has been better than his starters for the last half decade, still, he should recognize when he finally has a starter that is worth giving the opportunity to pitch into the 8th regularly and into the 9th once in a while.
  25. nicksaviking
    Good points. The thing that makes me hesitate however, is the belief that the Twins offered him a contract that included clauses and bonuses that due to the field managers questionable decision making, made it nearly impossible to reach. Surely neither agent or GM would have thought that a guy who was healthy all year and threw one of the best season's in Twins history wouldn't be able to meet what would be a totally obtainable goal for a similar pitcher for most other clubs. Failure to reach 210 innings lied more on Gardenhire than on Hughes.
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