JDBrocks Posted January 24 Share Posted January 24 I wonder if the Twins are hanging on to Kepler to drive up value with the new shift rules. He hit against the shift more than any player in MLB last year, and hit ground balls 46% of the time. Seems like they are building a really flexible lineup. It really just depends on health, IMO. Healthy Buxton, Maeda, Larnach, and Kirilloff, with Royce Lewis coming back should let them run away with the division. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wcblack34 Posted January 24 Share Posted January 24 3 hours ago, JDBrocks said: I wonder if the Twins are hanging on to Kepler to drive up value with the new shift rules. He hit against the shift more than any player in MLB last year, and hit ground balls 46% of the time. Seems like they are building a really flexible lineup. It really just depends on health, IMO. Healthy Buxton, Maeda, Larnach, and Kirilloff, with Royce Lewis coming back should let them run away with the division. And get swept in the first round of the playoffs. Again. I know it's cynical. But this team looks like every other years' Twins team. Potent offense and defense (when healthy), but a rotation filled with guys who would be #3 starters, at best, on any contender - and a bullpen that looks more like a liability than a plus. The team needs to focus on drafting arms and trading log-jammed prospects for pitching prospects. Also, the first time Rocco decides to have Buxton bat leadoff, he should be dragged out of the stadim. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Worm Guts Posted January 24 Share Posted January 24 (edited) 2 hours ago, wcblack34 said: And get swept in the first round of the playoffs. Again. I know it's cynical. But this team looks like every other years' Twins team. Potent offense and defense (when healthy), but a rotation filled with guys who would be #3 starters, at best, on any contender - and a bullpen that looks more like a liability than a plus. The team needs to focus on drafting arms and trading log-jammed prospects for pitching prospects. Also, the first time Rocco decides to have Buxton bat leadoff, he should be dragged out of the stadim. To be fair, this team was getting swept when it had Johan Santana. Edited January 24 by Worm Guts 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDBrocks Posted January 24 Share Posted January 24 2 minutes ago, wcblack34 said: And get swept in the first round of the playoffs. Again. I know it's cynical. But this team looks like every other years' Twins team. Potent offense and defense (when healthy), but a rotation filled with guys who would be #3 starters, at best, on any contender - and a bullpen that looks more like a liability than a plus. The team needs to focus on drafting arms and trading log-jammed prospects for pitching prospects. Also, the first time Rocco decides to have Buxton bat leadoff, he should be dragged out of the stadim. Disagree on the rotation. Mahle, Lopez, and Gray could all be #2 starters on contenders. I agree that they need an ace, but the staff when healthy could win a series. I agree that they need to look at the prospect pool and deal from positions of strength. Lots of positional depth that doesn't have a clear path to contributing. I think they need to focus more on building a deep bullpen based on their philosophy with starters. If you are only going to get 2 shots at the lineup, you need to have some horses that can take you through the 6th and 7th for Alcala, Lopez, and Duran. Wasting a bunch of prospects to get one guy that will only be allowed to pitch ~140 innings isn't a great use of assets. I'd prefer to see a series of smaller moves to bolster the back end of games, where the Twins blew 39 leads last year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikesfan89 Posted January 24 Share Posted January 24 I'd be happy if they could find a way to win a playoff game this year 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swede700 Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VikeManDan Posted February 9 Share Posted February 9 I'm not a big NBA guy, at all, but how do Wolves fans feel about the DLo trade? Wolves get: Mike Conley, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, and picks (a couple of 2nds I believe?) Jazz get: Russell Westbrook, Juan Toscano-Anderson, Damian Jones, and 2027 Lakers 1st (top 4 protected) Lakers get: D'Angelo Russell, Malik Beasley, and Jarred Vanderbilt https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/35618590/lakers-finalizing-3-team-trade-dangelo-russell Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swede700 Posted February 9 Share Posted February 9 (edited) I'm certainly not an expert either (as Jordan sort of ruined the sport for me for a long time), but I read a lot, and it sounds like Conley would be a far better fit for where the Wolves need to go than what DLo provided, and with him being under contract next year (and DLo not), it's something they had to do to maintain competitiveness. Based on everything I read as well, I do believe that the Wolves, once he's healthy, should move on from KAT. He seems to say he wants to be a great player, but he doesn't seem to actually try and be a great player. It's as if he thinks what he does is fine and doesn't need to improve on his weaknesses. I could be way off base, because that's just a perception. Edited February 9 by swede700 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wcblack34 Posted February 9 Share Posted February 9 1 hour ago, swede700 said: I'm certainly not an expert either (as Jordan sort of ruined the sport for me for a long time), but I read a lot, and it sounds like Conley would be a far better fit for where the Wolves need to go than what DLo provided, and with him being under contract next year (and DLo not), it's something they had to do to maintain competitiveness. Based on everything I read as well, I do believe that the Wolves, once he's healthy, should move on from KAT. He seems to say he wants to be a great player, but he doesn't seem to actually try and be a great player. It's as if he thinks what he does is fine and doesn't need to improve on his weaknesses. I could be way off base, because that's just a perception. If KAT stopped whining at the refs and hustled up and down the court instead, he’d be a hell of a lot better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SemperFeist Posted February 9 Share Posted February 9 (edited) The Wolves absolutely should move on from KAT. He’s an energy black hole. It’s Ant’s team. As for the DLo trade, it was obviously something that needed to happen. But it feels like the Wolves got rid of him to just get rid of him. They should have gotten more, or shouldn’t have had to give up two additional players. Edited February 9 by SemperFeist Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swede700 Posted February 9 Share Posted February 9 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meixdaddy_10 Posted February 10 Share Posted February 10 7 hours ago, SemperFeist said: The Wolves absolutely should move on from KAT. He’s an energy black hole. It’s Ant’s team. As for the DLo trade, it was obviously something that needed to happen. But it feels like the Wolves got rid of him to just get rid of him. They should have gotten more, or shouldn’t have had to give up two additional players. They only gave up D-Lo in the trade and got the 2 players and 3 2nd RD picks (worthless really). Beasley and Vanderbilt were traded to the Jazz in the Gobert trade along with like 4 1st Rd picks or something like that. The Jazz sent them players to LA to get Westbrook, the throw ins, and the 1st rd pick (top 4 protected i believe). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sad People Posted February 10 Share Posted February 10 (edited) The Wolves are such a pathetic excuse of a franchise. Other posters posted these so its not me but the way they put it proves how inept they are. "They traded away D'Angelo Russell, Patrick Beverly, Leandro Bolmaro, Jarred Vanderbilt, Walker Kessler, Malik Beasley, 4 FRPs, 2 FRP swaps for Rudy Gobert, Mike Conley, NAW, 3 future 2RPs" "They had KAT, year 2 Ant, Dlo, good role players around them like Beasley, Vanderbilt, Beverly, McDaniels, soon to be Kessler, etc and every single one of their FRPs to KAT, Ant, Gobert, Conley, less than half of those good role players, and no assets. If they were gonna trade all their assets they would've been so much better off getting Dejounte Murray and a solid wing piece. Brutal" Edited February 10 by mattyice0401 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swede700 Posted February 10 Share Posted February 10 (edited) Most draft picks in the NBA are worthless to begin with, unless you're in the top 5, so I'm not sure why people are upset about giving up picks. Every now and then, you might get lucky and hit on an all-time great, like a Giannis or Kobe, but that's typical. More than likely, you'd be lucky to get a solid role player. And the Wolves weren't going to win a title with DLo, Beverly, Bolmaro, Vanderbilt, Kessler, and Beasley, so why be upset at trading them away? Hell, it may not work, but I'd rather have them try something different...especially one that can make give them a little more flexibility in a couple of years and not be tied to players you know aren't part of the solution. Edited February 10 by swede700 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDBrocks Posted February 10 Share Posted February 10 5 minutes ago, swede700 said: Most draft picks in the NBA are worthless to begin with, unless you're in the top 5, so I'm not sure why people are upset about giving up picks. That is so wildly shortsighted and untrue. Teams are built on depth, which is found up and down the draft in both rounds. 2nd round picks are very valuable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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