Comments on: Ty-onara

By: sirsean

sirsean — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 22:18:47 +0000

What reason is there, besides "hope," to expect BOTH Guerrier and Crain to stop sucking?

Guerrier looked so bad at the end of the year that it couldn't have been a fluke. He looked done for.

Crain wasn't recovered from his shoulder surgery, or so they say, but he sucked in the season before his surgery.

I wouldn't be surprised if one or both of them are gone after this season. We don't need to overpay for mediocre veterans, even if they came up through our system.

If there's anything we learned from the Rincon saga, it's that we need to be a little quicker to cut our ties with dead weight once it dies. Especially now that AAA and AA are both filled to the brim with arms.

By: Erica

Erica — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 19:33:42 +0000

FunBobby: the good news is, I expect both Guerrier and Crain to bounce back. So your Opening Day scenario doesn’t fill me with dread (I suspect it doesn’t bother you too much, either- possibly because Juan Rincon no longer pitches for the Twins).

By: FunBobby

FunBobby — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 19:10:49 +0000

The Twins have proven they like to have a more “veteran” team in the early part of the season. Not sure why. This time around, instead of crappy “vets” from the outside (Hernandez, Batista, etc), they plan on sticking with “proven” people who play “the Twins way” (Guerrier, Crain, thankfully not Guardado). While I have nothing against Guerrier or Crain, I think it is clear their best days are behind them, and they deserve a shot, but if they don’t produce we CANNOT hesitate in kicking them to the curb. This will open up a door for the new wave of promising Twins players like Breslow and Mijares.

By: sirsean

sirsean — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 18:56:59 +0000

The Twins are always more interested in making sure they have their June 1 upgrades than they are in putting the best team on the field on April 1.

By: Erica

Erica — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 16:59:29 +0000

If the Twins start the season with Breslow in AAA (barring a bad Spring Training showing, of course) to save money or keep Boof/Humber or whoever, I will be convinced that they are not serious about contending or winning the World Series. Luckily, I don’t see that happening.

By: sirsean

sirsean — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 16:47:39 +0000

Very true. Gardy definitely disagrees with me about owing players. And it's not just him -- every year under Terry Ryan when it was time to put together the 40 man roster, he'd keep lesser players who had "put in their dues" in order to "reward them," rather than protecting the players who were actually good. (Invariably, the good unprotected players would be taken away, and the crappy protected players would soon wash out or be hit by a car or something. Has anyone else noticed how many of our minor leaguers seem to be rehabbing from shoulder injuries suffered in car accidents? Why isn't this being investigated?)

Punto and Rincon are just the most recent examples. Tyner, Luis Rodriguez, Lew Ford. It may have been why Randy Ruiz got no respect -- he was new to the organization and hadn't paid dues. Delmon probably suffers the same fate.

Pridie is the next guy the Twins are going to like more than they should -- we've tried to acquire him a few times in the past, and we finally just went and overpaid for him just so we could have him, despite the fact that he'd demonstrated that he wasn't going to live up to whatever potential he may or may not have had. Also Tolbert.

Ugh.

By: FunBobby

FunBobby — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 16:24:24 +0000

I also don’t believe the Twins should “owe” anbody anything. But using Gardy logic, he tends to keep guys around too long because they did things well in the past. Punto and Juan Rincon the best examples. I think this is a terrible way to do things, but it does seem to be how the Twins operate. At least a little bit.

By: sirsean

sirsean — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 16:11:20 +0000

I don't think the Twins "owe" any of the players anything, least of all playing time. That's something the players earn via the most cold-hearted and amnesiac "What have you done for me lately?" process possible.

And while Breslow and Mijares were both great last year, and are lefties who can get righties out and go a full inning (or more), and if anyone starts the season in the minors it'll be one or both of them.

The problem with trying to send Boof or Humber down is that they both have value high enough that someone will definitely take them off waivers, but not necessarily high enough that someone would offer something we want in trade. They've put us in a tough spot -- and the only way they can fix it is by pitching well. For once.

By: FunBobby

FunBobby — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 15:59:55 +0000

I agree that Breslow was great last year. However, they didn't use him nearly enough, the same goes for Bobby Korecky who languished in AAA. Meanwhile a clearly broken down Crain and Guerrier were still getting regular work. Nothing against those two as they have been great in the past, and I think at least one of them will rebound in 2009. Its that logic that got Nick Punto regular at bats for the entire 2007 season. He is an upstanding member of the team, but if he is struggling sit him down. Don't keep handing him his regular workload.

I believe that everyone should have to battle for their spot every year. From all-star to Nick Punto. Rincon was kept on the team way too long, and they used him in important situations long after he stopped being effective.

By: Erica

Erica — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 15:51:44 +0000

Breslow was very consistent and surprisingly effective last season. If the Twins "owe" any reliever a roster spot, Breslow's at the top of the list.

I agree that the bullpen grossly underperformed, and I have faith that Boof will eventually (hopefully sooner rather than later) find his groove as a relief pitcher- Anderson can fix him, if anyone can.

It'll be interesting to see how much Ty Wigginton eventually signs for. Maybe he won't find any takers at his preferred price.