Korean Job Discussion Forums

northway · Joined: 05 Jul 2010

I don't think Valencia will be as good as he was this year, but I think he'll be a solid player going forward. Even with those question marks, their lineup is still stacked.

That said, their starting pitching is going to look kind of weak if they don't sign Pavano. I had such high hopes for Slowey and he's consistently disappointed.

PastorYoon · Joined: 25 Jun 2010 Location: Sea of Japan

@steelrails - The Twins could definitely be taking a big risk with Nishioka. By the way, what's with the Japanese league? Kaz Matsui had like 36 homers one season there, and Iwamura (I think) had like 42 homers another year. Then these guys come to MLB and hit like 6. Where does the power go? Anyway, he won't be talking as much as O-Hud at 2B (maybe nothing at all - haha), so that could be an improvement right there. It seems like Liriano's arm got a lot stronger last year, so hopefully he can have a strong season again. I definitely hope Morneau can come back and stay healthy. That's my favorite player, right there. Cuddy is a crapshoot. He's had entire months where he's carried this team, but has also had complete seasons where he didn't quite find his stroke. I can't believe that Crain went and signed with the dirty sox. The Royals have had quite a few good players come out of their system, but they can never find a way to keep them. They usually trade their rising stars away - sometimes years before they hit free-agency. Is Maggs going to sign with Detroit?

I'm glad they are out of the dome now, too. Did you see what happened last weekend? http://video.minneapolis.cbslocal.com/global/video/flash/popupplayer.asp?vt1=v&clipFormat=flv&clipId1=5376117&at1=News&h1=Raw&rnd=11651590 I'm sure you did, if you are a Detroit fan. The Vikings had to play at the Ford Center. I think Target Field is a pretty fair venue, and it should seemingly make things more even. However, the Twins keep finding a way to win. One thing I do remember though, last year most players had a difficult time hitting homers to right-center. Then all of a sudden the Tigers' backup catcher came in and just crunched a LASER over the huge wall there. Pretty tough kid. I forget his name, but I think he was of Latin ethnicity.

@northway - I think Valencia was just lucky that Hardy went down with an injury. When that happened, Gardy filled the SS hole with Punto. If that wouldn't have happened, then Valencia never would have got his chance. I think if Valencia would have struggled early on, he wouldn't have been able to cope. However, he had quite a few seeing-eye hits that helped him gain confidence. He went on to have an excellent season and played very well. I think he could repeat his '10 performance. He's one of the few players that reached the upper deck in left field at Target Field, too.

There are a lot of question marks regarding players' health, but this team definitely seems to always fill holes with someone who can contribute. Slowey has disappointed me, too. Ever since a few years back ('06?) when he had 10 wins at the break (then went down with an injury), I thought that he might become our ace. It hasn't happened. The guy just can't stay healthy. There are quite a few guys that, if healthy, could make a big impact this year. Neshek, Perkins, Baker, Slowey, Morneau are some main question marks. I'm not even expecting anything from Nathan. He's going to earn $12 million, and will basically be like throwing batting practice (just had the Tommy John surgery last year). Between him, Morneau, and Mauer, that's about $50 million right there. If they can't get healthy, it's going to be a long season in Twinsville.

What do you think about re-signing Thome? IMHO, they need to sign him and Pav ASAP.

Do any of you guys get mlb.tv? I've been subscribing for 3 years now, and it's been great. It usually ticks me off in the beginning of the season (some technical difficulties), but at least I can watch any game on demand. With streaming sites, you have to watch live, which means you'd have to watch at like 9AM (impossible).

northway · Joined: 05 Jul 2010

Aside from the health issue, Slowey is a guy that the sabermetrics don't tell the whole story on. He's got a decent strikeout rate and a low walk rate, but at the end of the day, his stuff just isn't good enough over the plate to be a top of the rotation starter. That said, I have a feeling he'd probably be a number two on most NL teams that don't play in Philadelphia.

Thome needs to come back, particularly if the never-ending nightmare of Nick Punto starting five days a week is going to continue.

I would expect Nathan to be close to fully recovered by the end of April. Billy Wagner took about 13 months to come back from Tommy John in '08. Relievers generally come back a lot faster. At worst he should be full strength by midseason.