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Post by levine on Jul 22, 2021 17:21:53 GMT -6
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Post by Nick K on Jul 24, 2021 16:58:29 GMT -6
I haven't liked a player since Killebrew or Puckett as much until Nelson Cruz came here. He is a total stud and he's 40! I hope we try to sign him again this offseason.
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Post by levine on Jul 25, 2021 10:06:21 GMT -6
I hope we do too, but I worry that out lowballing him this past offseason will come back to bite us.
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Post by Nick K on Jul 25, 2021 18:14:19 GMT -6
I hope we do too, but I worry that out lowballing him this past offseason will come back to bite us. I remember what you said about financial constraints from above on Levine and Falvey. I had high hopes for them but their pitching decisions were horrible this year. It's tough when players like Sano, and Kepler have off years.
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Post by levine on Jul 25, 2021 18:45:19 GMT -6
I’m getting more and more underwhelmed by them.
So far it looks like they got lucky by having a ton of power hitters in a juiced ball year. But their handling of the pitching staff has been atrocious. Both starters and relievers. This whole idea of buying cheap and hoping they can coax more out of guys is a recipe for failure.
And they drafted a bunch more of the usual. Guys with subpar fastballs and potentially good secondary pitches.
I’m also not sold on Rocco being a particularly bright manager.
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Post by Nick K on Jul 25, 2021 22:24:25 GMT -6
I’m getting more and more underwhelmed by them. So far it looks like they got lucky by having a ton of power hitters in a juiced ball year. But their handling of the pitching staff has been atrocious. Both starters and relievers. This whole idea of buying cheap and hoping they can coax more out of guys is a recipe for failure. And they drafted a bunch more of the usual. Guys with subpar fastballs and potentially good secondary pitches. I’m also not sold on Rocco being a particularly bright manager. I agree with all. They changed hitting coach Rowson for some other guy. Didn't work too well eh? I think the pitching coach was changed too.
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Post by levine on Jul 28, 2021 10:03:26 GMT -6
6 grand slams allowed by the bullpen.
36 blown saves. 9 more than anyone else.
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Post by Nick K on Jul 28, 2021 19:51:40 GMT -6
6 grand slams allowed by the bullpen.
36 blown saves. 9 more than anyone else. That kind of pitching takes the soul out of a team.
Falvey and Levine should have to make a loud public apology. Pohlad owes the fans for next season. Open up your wallet you cheap bastard. It won't happen.
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Post by levine on Jul 28, 2021 20:10:49 GMT -6
It doesn’t help that Rocco’s in game handling of the pen has ranged from head scratching to atrocious.
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Post by levine on Jul 30, 2021 13:43:52 GMT -6
Blue Jays Acquire Jose Berrios12:02pm: The Blue Jays have announced the trade. 11:31am: The Blue Jays and Twins have a deal in place sending right-hander Jose Berrios to Toronto, reports Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (Twitter link). MLB.com’s Jon Morosi reports that top pitching prospect Simeon Woods Richardson is part of the return. Infielder Austin Martin, the No. 5 overall pick from last summer’s draft, is also going to Minnesota, reports Dan Hayes of The Athletic. Martin, last year’s No. 5 overall pick, was viewed by many in the industry as the best all-around player in the draft class. It was a legitimate surprise when he slipped beyond the No. 2 overall pick and fell to the Jays with the fifth selection. He’s currently ranked as the No. 16 prospect in the game at MLB.com, No. 21 at Baseball America and No. 23 at FanGraphs. Martin starred at Vanderbilt in college, hitting .368/.474/.532 in his college career. The Jays dropped him right into Double-A to begin 2021, his first professional season, and it hasn’t looked like he’s missed a beat. In 250 plate appearances, Martin has posted a .281/.424/.383 with a pair of homers, ten doubles, two triples and nine stolen bases. He’s walked at a hearty 14.8 percent clip against a 21.2 percent strikeout rate. That batting line is 32 percent better than league average in an immensely pitcher-friendly Double-A environment, by measure of wRC+. The main question on Martin is simply one of where he’ll play. He’s split his time evenly between shortstop and center field in Double-A this season. At the time of the draft, some scouts questioned whether he could stick at shortstop in pro ball, but the Jays have been giving him that chance. Even if shortstop isn’t his ultimate home on the diamond, however, most scouting reports on the 22-year-old Martin agree that his athleticism will translate to third base, center field or second base. The general expectation surrounding Martin is that he’ll be an above-average regular regardless of where he settles in on the diamond. Woods Richardson has had a rougher season as Martin’s teammate in Double-A, but he’s only 20 years old — nearly five years younger than the average age of his competitors at that level. He entered the season widely regarded as a top 100 prospect, and while he’s since dropped off Baseball America’s list following the draft, he still ranks 49th at FanGraphs and 68th at MLB.com. The Jays initially acquired Woods Richardson from the Mets in the trade that send Marcus Stroman to Queens. He’s made 11 starts in New Hampshire this season and posted a grisly 5.76 ERA, although that number is inflated by a .359 average on balls in play and an abnormally low 58 percent strand rate. Woods-Richardson has walked too many hitters (12.8 percent) but also fanned a third of his opponents so far on the year. Woods Richardson is away from the club right now, pitching for Team USA in the Olympics (as is fellow newly acquired Twins pitching prospect Joe Ryan). FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen writes that Woods Richardson works with both a four-seamer and a two-seamer, also praising the righty’s changeup and the shape of his curveball. MLB.com’s report praised Woods Richardson’s changeup as the best in Toronto’s system, and the general consensus on the right-hander is that if he can add a little velocity as he continues to fill out, he has the makings of a No. 2 or No. 3 starter. www.mlbtraderumors.com/2021/07/twins-trade-jose-berrios-blue-jays.html
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Post by levine on Jul 30, 2021 13:48:24 GMT -6
According to Baseball Prospects, all 4 players the Twins have gotten for Cruz and Berrios are now ranked top 15 in Twins top 30.
2: Martin 3: Richardson 8: Ryan 15: Strotman
Not sure if that says more about the players we got or about our minor league system...
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Post by Nick K on Jul 31, 2021 6:18:43 GMT -6
According to Baseball Prospects, all 4 players the Twins have gotten for Cruz and Berrios are now ranked top 15 in Twins top 30. 2: Martin 3: Richardson 8: Ryan 15: Strotman Not sure if that says more about the players we got or about our minor league system...Good point. The odds say we'll get only 1 or 2 at an outside of those guys that will make it as strong players.
The bottom line is it was money that Berrios demanded that the Twins wouldn't meet that made the trade happen.
What are they going to do with Buxton? They have spent years developing this guy. He's now a fabulous player and wants to get paid huge. The problem is he's made of glass and plays only 40% of the games...if that. I don't see a happy ending.
Another team on a perennial rebuild. Sounds familiar?
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Post by levine on Jul 31, 2021 10:56:08 GMT -6
According to Baseball Prospects, all 4 players the Twins have gotten for Cruz and Berrios are now ranked top 15 in Twins top 30. 2: Martin 3: Richardson 8: Ryan 15: Strotman Not sure if that says more about the players we got or about our minor league system...Good point. The odds say we'll get only 1 or 2 at an outside of those guys that will make it as strong players.
The bottom line is it was money that Berrios demanded that the Twins wouldn't meet that made the trade happen.
What are they going to do with Buxton? They have spent years developing this guy. He's now a fabulous player and wants to get paid huge. The problem is he's made of glass and plays only 40% of the games...if that. I don't see a happy ending.
Another team on a perennial rebuild. Sounds familiar?
I fear the Twins are like the Timberwolves. As long as Pohlad owns the team, it doesn't matter who runs it. This franchise lost its heart in 2003 when Eloise passed.
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Post by levine on Aug 27, 2021 9:15:47 GMT -6
Frankie V lit into the franchise after last night's loss:
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Post by Nick K on Aug 31, 2021 21:46:55 GMT -6
Frankie V lit into the franchise after last night's loss: WOW! Tell it like it is Frankie. That's on the manager as far as I'm concerned. It seems like tough defense, manufacturing runs and mostly mistake free baseball ended with Tom Kelly. We make way to many mental mistakes weather it's base running or hitting the cut off man etc. Once again that's all on the manager.
And then there is the pitching....
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Post by Nick K on Mar 13, 2022 6:36:34 GMT -6
The bleeding continues. The Twins ust traded a 30 HR a year starting catcher Mitch Garver for a solid fielding, mediore hitting shortstop Kiner-Falefa. Texas threw in a pitching prospet that might be a middle bull-pen thrower.
Granted we needed a shortstop but a solid fielding mediocre hitting shortstop are a dime a dozen. I'm just not crazy about the deal.
I had high hopes for Falvey and Levine but I lost a ton of confidence last year and now what's left is going fast.
Profs to our own David Levine who warned me about these guys and the financial constraints they'd have to deal with.
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Post by Nick K on Mar 19, 2022 1:21:01 GMT -6
Well!, I was far too hasty in my earlier post. There have been multiple deals since and all good!
The best deal is this one.....
Twins, Carlos Correa agree to 3-year, $105.3 million deal According to Source
How great is that??!!! Monster home run by Falvey/Levine. Never saw that one coming boys. Truly a great move. Need one more. Pitcher?
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Post by levine on Mar 19, 2022 14:16:51 GMT -6
It’s a solid move. It’ll make games more exciting while our pitching staff gets shelled.
But it’s basically a 1 year contract.
I’m not crowning the Google Boys yet.
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Post by levine on Mar 19, 2022 14:20:36 GMT -6
If they can pull off a deal for Frankie Montas, we may be onto something.
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Post by levine on Mar 19, 2022 21:38:08 GMT -6
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Post by Nick K on Mar 19, 2022 22:09:59 GMT -6
I was hoping you'd chime in on the Twins here. I was going to say now we need to pick up a quality starting pitcher. If so maybe we could win 81 games tops. So much for that. Gleeman is a pretty sharp baseball guy and he's astonished.
They did pick up Sonny Gray from the Reds who is a decent pitcher for our 2021 1st rd pick. Montas would be a great get and he's still on the table as far as I can tell. My guess is they go back and pickup Michael Pineda who has been mediocre here in the past.
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Post by levine on Mar 19, 2022 22:20:58 GMT -6
I’m kind of astounded that this is already their 6th season.
But they fit the franchise well, as we’ve yet to win a single playoff game under their leadership.
It’s almost mind boggling that we haven’t won a Playoff game since 2004 - and haven’t won a single playoff series since 1991…
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Post by Nick K on Mar 19, 2022 22:45:07 GMT -6
I’m kind of astounded that this is already their 6th season. But they fit the franchise well, as we’ve yet to win a single playoff game under their leadership. It’s almost mind boggling that we haven’t won a Playoff game since 2004 - and haven’t won a single playoff series since 1991…I was so sold on Falvey/Levine when they arrived but they have missed on one guy after another. Nelson Cruz was the one guy they added that I loved. This might be the last year for Miguel Sano too especially with his buddy Cruz gone.
They still haven't been able to find a great hitting coach or pitching coach either. Those guys can really make a difference. Rocco isn't doing much for me either.
It's too bad because Twins baseball was my first love as a kid.
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