AL Central Smack Talk

[MiamiVice]

I remember when Vice and friends insisted Alex Avila was better than Mauer, because he hit for power and was cheaper. Now, stranded under .200, AA is seen for the two-bit catcher he is.. Meanwhile, the same type contract is now Justin Verlander's, and he is pitching like he is Brad Radke. Mauer's hair may be gorgeous, his twin girls karmic, but he is still one of the best hitters in the game, and will be for some time. No, he is not Miguel Cabrera, but he is eversomuch more than Avila. Minnesota will return to the top in a short while, and I promise, we will kick the dog when we get there.

LOL Rolling. Your Twins are trash and won't compete in the division until Mauer is in his twilight. You don't have the payroll the tigers do... and you never will. The days the Twins owned the AL Central came before Ilitch invested his money full on into the Tigers. Before the salary cap in the NHL.. he spent the extra 60-70 mil on the Red Wings. Salary cap isn't going away in the NHL.. so you guys are screwed. The business model the Ilitch's have allows for them to make much more than the average owner. They own not only the team, but the concessions, the food distributors that provide the ingredients for the concessions, and a CASINO. They also use the Tigers to promote and market their other companies. The Tigers will continue to spend... and thus have more talent than the Twins.


The best the Twins can hope for is one down year from the Tigers.. because no high end free agent wants to go there... nor can the Twins pay them... As for Verlander.. he still has a better season going than any Twins starter...and has another month and a half to work out the kinks. Enjoy the basement Rolling.. your team is going to be there often for the foreseeable future. Every year Joe Mauer gets older... and closer to his end.. then who do you have? I don't see a single guy on that team right now that will be an all star in 3-5 years. Not one. Can you at least have one solid starter with a whole season under his belt before you nut yourself over your team's future? I mean.. wasn't Diamond supposed to be the ace of the future? Or Deduno? Gibson? LOL Gibson is trash!!! Now I am sure its this Albers cat...

The fact you actually think your team will return to prominence is a testament to the shift you took away from sanity a year or so ago. I think seeing the Twins fall took away your mind. You now are nothing more than a Quest type homer/troll.

 

[Howie115]

I remember when Vice and friends insisted Alex Avila was better than Mauer,
because he hit for power and was cheaper. Now, stranded under .200, AA is seen
for the two-bit catcher he is...

Well, Avila is still cheaper. :^P Yeah, that 2011 season is now showing to be pure fluke and the league figured out that Avila can hit a fastball...and not much else. That said, Avila is hitting around .250-.260 since returning from his first stint on the DL, and I think the Tigers are something like 24 games over .500 in games that he's started. That means they are 2 games under .500 when someone else starts at C.

 

[MiamiVice]

Howie.. Rolling is a troll.. that is bitter with his team.. he goes on tigers gamecenters and spews filth on cbs all the time.. if the tigers are losing.. he will be there. Take his posts for what they are..

Avila is a better than league average defensive catcher, with hr power. Mauer may slap more hits... but look at this stat line from this year.

avila 73 games 253 AB 9 hr 36 rbi

mauer 109 games 428 ab 10 hr 44 rbi

All I can say is this... take away the batting average... and avila is holding his own in rbi and hr... and in almost half the at bats... that is sad.

 

[Howie115]

All I can say is this... take away the batting average... and avila is holding
his own in rbi and hr... and in almost half the at bats... that is sad.

LOL, yeah Mauer is hitting a pretty invisible .320, for sure.

 

[MiamiVice]

LOL, yeah Mauer is hitting a pretty invisible .320, for sure.

Never can I remember a guy batting .320 with nobody paying attention.. maybe its because they are all meaningless hits that lead to little scoring. If Joe Mauer gets 2 hits in a game... and the twins don't score.. does anyone care? Its kind of like that whole tree falling in a woods thing.


This Twins are in a world of hurt as far as starting pitching goes. The cup boards are bare. It will take them years to fill out a starting 5 of legit mlb talent. Deduno is a middle to end of the rotation guy.. as is Gibson... Diamond is also. Albers is a Diamond clone.. 27 yr old rookie turd sack that will eventually get figured out and have an era over 5. Lot to build on there Rolling... Whole lot to build on.

 

[mr.hockey4242]

Never can I remember a guy batting .320 with nobody paying attention.. maybe its because they are all meaningless hits that lead to little scoring. If Joe Mauer gets 2 hits in a game... and the twins don't score.. does anyone care? Its kind of like that whole tree falling in a woods thing.


This Twins are in a world of hurt as far as starting pitching goes. The cup boards are bare. It will take them years to fill out a starting 5 of legit mlb talent. Deduno is a middle to end of the rotation guy.. as is Gibson... Diamond is also. Albers is a Diamond clone.. 27 yr old rookie turd sack that will eventually get figured out and have an era over 5. Lot to build on there Rolling... Whole lot to build on.

Alright Vice, we are back to talking baseball like you wanted. Now I will try to be gentle here.

First off, as of just last week(Mauer has actually had 6 RBI since) Joe was 5th in the league in runs created per 27 outs.

It is not his fault he is for some dumb reason batting second for most of the year. Or batting behind the worst leadoff spot in baseball. Dozier has gotten it going recently but that position was a revolving door and at one point in June hitting .169 as a team...second worst in baseball was at .240. LOL. Mauer is doing everything that he can. Him and Avila really are not comparable.

You are correct on the general idea of our pitching. It still sucks but Gibson isn't trash, he will be serviceable. You are right that Deduno is middle of the rotation. Albers will come back to earth OBVIOUSLY but he is not a diamond clone. Actually very different in the way he pitches.

Part that blows my mind because I say it more than anything on here....STOP saying we CANT spend. We CAN we HAVE the money. Now will we? Who the fuck knows. But we CAN. So you are right that we dont have the tigers payroll, but we can drop cash.

The Pohlads actually finally told Terry Ryan to spend money this year. For some reason he thought it wasn't a good idea(why? we'll never know). But Imagine when the big guys get up here we will start spending

Sano,Buxton,Arcia,Hicks(hell figure it out and is the best defensive center fielder around),Rosario(may be used for pitching if dozier is not a fluke) we have the fire power coming. Still need pitching and thats where we will spend. Berrios and Stewart are way too far away and Meyer needs to get healthy and finish up developing.

 

[broncosmitty]

If the Tigers don't get a hit off Danny Fuckin Duffy in the bottom of the sixth, I'm goin streakin. Something needs to wake this lineup up this afternoon. Might just be my whiteass.

 

[Shanemansj13]

Danny Duffy is shutting the Tigs out

 

[broncosmitty]

Thank god for Miggy.

 

[mr.hockey4242]

Well vice, might be time to eat some crow yourself.

Lucky for the Tigers they have 3 innings to get to the Royals BP.

 

[Howie115]

When Ramon Santiago provides your only offense, your lineup is a complete no-show. Not worried about the Royals overall, but getting owned by Danny Duffy in his second 2013 start is rather embarassing.

 

[mr.hockey4242]

Kind of an interesting DH.

Game one saw the youngster Duffy vs veteran ace Verlander(not ace now but still)

Game two flips it with veteran ace Shields vs younster Alvarez.

The Royals youngster stole game 1, now Shields needs to be an ace and get the sweep. Royals badly need this one I believe.

 

[Fountain City Blues]

Kind of an interesting DH.

Game one saw the youngster Duffy vs veteran ace Verlander(not ace now but still)

Game two flips it with veteran ace Shields vs younster Alvarez.

The Royals youngster stole game 1, now Shields needs to be an ace and get the sweep. Royals badly need this one I believe.

Got that right.

 

[MiamiVice]

Kind of an interesting DH.

Game one saw the youngster Duffy vs veteran ace Verlander(not ace now but still)

Game two flips it with veteran ace Shields vs younster Alvarez.

The Royals youngster stole game 1, now Shields needs to be an ace and get the sweep. Royals badly need this one I believe.

Hockey.. You crack me up... I understand its not Mauer's fault that nobody is on base for him to score... but truth is this.. if Mauer was in a lineup like Det's.. he would be useful.. in a lineup like the Twins.. he is a waste of money.

Here is another one for you... The twins are building a rotation full of 3's and 4's? Because that is all Gibson's ceiling is... and Deduno... Diamond is a 4 or 5. Albers is just like Diamond.. they throw strikes and hope and pray that the defense can get to the ball. You don't win with a rotation filled with 3's and 4's...

And another... You are correct.. the Twins can spend... But no legit free agent wants to play there.. Name the last big name guy you guys signed... i am waiting to hear this one.. I don't want some guy like Willingham.. he was not a big name guy.. he is not a game changer... please get back into reality... Not one person is choosing Minny as their choice destination. MLB, NFL, or NBA... nobody really WANTS to be there.

You have no pitching to speak of anywhere.. You can trade half your farm for one decent guy... but you have to fill 5 spots.. and you don't have one guy that is a legit long term option. If Gibson is your best long term bet.. you got problems..

Once again.. good luck in the future.. by no means are you guys close to competing for the division any time soon... and the funny part is... by the time your prospects are ready.. all the legit talent you have like Mauer and Willingham will be to old.. or gone. You are not on a path that scares anyone.

 

[MiamiVice]

Teams like the Mets, Cards, Rays, Marlins, A's.... they have young stud pitching talent either that came up this year or are close in the minors.. They understand that pitching is what brings you to the playoffs. If the Twins could develop 3 or 4 decent pitchers in the next 3 years.. they might be able to compete.. keep drafting position players.. you will be battling the Royals for 3 place at best if you do.

Why is it the same teams can keep finding and developing great pitchers? A's, Marlins, Rays... they just keep pumping them out... Twins and Royals can't even get one to actually be legit. Why is that? And don't say a word about Duffy.. he was barely hitting the strike zone today.. tigers were swinging at crap and bailing him out.. along with a ton of luck that saw well hit balls go right to a fielder. If you are putting your hopes on winning a division and going deep into the playoffs on Danny Duffy or Gibson for that matter... you are screwed.

 

[MiamiVice]

Got that right.

Royals needed to win all 5 to really do anything.. winning 4 would be better than nothing.. but if they come out of this with 3 wins.. they do nothing.. they gain a game... that is not doing anything at this point. Unless something really odd happens.. Det is more likely to go on another 10 game winning streak at some point in the next month than lose 5-10 in a row to fall back to where the Royals are.

One more run of 7-10 games in a row by the tigers would just about finish this race off.. and I see it happening in the middle of Sept.. weak schedule.. vet team wanting to finish strong. Royals can't take moral victories at this point.. they need to win just about every game left with Det to really have a shot.. and the wild card is getting harder with the yankees poised to pass the Royals soon and add another team to fight to get a WC.

 

[MiamiVice]

Mauer is like Ichiro with the Mariners.. paid a ton to not do enough to keep the team from sucking. He is not a bat that changes a game.. you don't have to pitch around him.. because unless a man is on second he can't hit a runner in.. he is not a threat to hit a hr often... You waste the salary that you could use much more wisely on multiple positions.. instead of having the crap starters you have.. maybe you have an anibel sanchez?

Flat out.. Mauer in NY, DET, BOS, Tex, or Tampa makes sense.. putting him out there with 8 guys that blow is pointless and if the Twins were smart.. they would trade him to a team like Miami for a starter.

 

[MiamiVice]

My god.. I ate Burger King for the first time in about 2 years an hour ago and I already have to crap... I feel like the Tigers did at the plate earlier.

 

[Nosferatu]

But no legit free agent wants to play there.. Name the last big name guy you guys signed...

This has more to do with the Twins not spending money than nobody wanting to play for the club... When the Tigers were sucking how many big free agents did they sign? If and when the Twins start winning again and if the Pohlad boys open up the checkbook free agents will sign...

 

[MiamiVice]

This has more to do with the Twins not spending money than nobody wanting to play for the club... When the Tigers were sucking how many big free agents did they sign? If and when the Twins start winning again and if the Pohlad boys open up the checkbook free agents will sign...

Bro... its not just the twins... any team in minnesota... the timberwolves... the vikings... the twins.. none of them get big name free agents to even sniff them... the best they get are old past their prime guys or injury rehab guys.. If Greg Jennings is the best thing you can land in minnesota.. you have an issue.. seriously... I am still waiting for you to produce that last time a Minny team signed a top end free agent.

The worst part is you claim the owners said to open the checkbook.. yet they still couldnt lure a guy there? You would think if they had money to burn they would have pursued Sanchez... who would have been their top pitcher and something to build off.. and by far an upgrade from what they have on the team. Who knows.. maybe they will go after Cano next year...