Matt Capps

[birchbranch]

This guy really needs to go! He's certainly no closer with his inability to strike people out,, not to mention his knack for blowing games. Liriano seems to be effective for one or two innings and can strike people out. Perhaps they should try him in this spot. I wasn't a fan of Capps from the start, especially since we lost Wilson Ramos in that trade. Anyone else have thoughts about our "closer"?

[SledNeck]

If I was GM, Capps and Liriano would be wayyyyy gone

[GFNER]

+1 Get rid of Liriano already, go let him win 20 games for someone else ( he will you know). Every year it's been the same old cra#. Pinning our hopes on the likes of Scott Baker,Blackburn, and Liriano. Message to the Twins.....It AINT WORKIN!!

[schmitty3]

How bout Rick Anderson. Not sticking up for Capps or Liriano, as they both have been awful. Capps fastball has absolutely no movement at all. But then you look at all of our pitchers, and none of them ever get better. They all still struggle with the same things yr after yr.

[Musky Buck]

He might be the easiest pitcher to time, he plants that front foot and here it is, nice and flat, you better have a 2nd pitch that's nasty, think Mariano Rivera has proven 1 pitch you can get er done but it can't be straight, it meets that good maple too often otherwise.

[bucketmouth64]

Wasn't happy when they decided to sign him again. What is Ryan thinking? He's been terrible and still is. Trade him and a pitcher for something better. Put Perkins in closing role, can't do any worse.

[thatoneguy]

How bout Rick Anderson. Not sticking up for Capps or Liriano, as they both have been awful. Capps fastball has absolutely no movement at all. But then you look at all of our pitchers, and none of them ever get better. They all still struggle with the same things yr after yr.

Perkins has showed incredible improvement. Baker also improved before he got hurt. Crain was inconsistent, but put together long stretches of effective pitching. Nathan went from a nobody to an elite closer. Duensing hasn't been spectacular, but he went from a fringe prospect to a very solid pitcher

I don't think you can point the finger too much at Anderson...he's been asked to make chicken salad out of chicken [PoorWordUsage] for much of his tenure. Also, the Twins' organization philosophy of finding strike-throwers instead of live arms...it just doesn't work against good hitting teams. You look at the guys Boston brought in from the pen last night - all throwing 96-97mph with nasty breaking stuff - and compare that with the Twins' stable of plodders who throw 89-91.

I remember a few years back when I was doing some research for a fantasy baseball draft, a LOT of baseball stat wonks were talking about how Capps (who at the time was being touted as a potential star closer) was never going to amount to much because:

* Had a flat fastball that isn't overpowering

* Had no real second pitch

* Had a terrible fly ball to ground ball ratio

* Didn't locate pitches well

We're the lucky fans who get to see that in action! I railed against the Ramos-for-Capps trade the day it happened. I about had a stroke when they resigned him at a value FAR above his worth.

Now they're going to end up either cutting him loose or making him a mop-up man for blowout games.

Nicely played, Twins brass. Nicely played.

[brian6715]

I don't think you can point the finger too much at Anderson...he's been asked to make chicken salad out of chicken [PoorWordUsage] for much of his tenure. Also, the Twins' organization philosophy of finding strike-throwers instead of live arms...it just doesn't work against good hitting teams. You look at the guys Boston brought in from the pen last night - all throwing 96-97mph with nasty breaking stuff - and compare that with the Twins' stable of plodders who throw 89-91.

We're the lucky fans who get to see that in action! I railed against the Ramos-for-Capps trade the day it happened. I about had a stroke when they resigned him at a value FAR above his worth.

Now they're going to end up either cutting him loose or making him a mop-up man for blowout games.

Nicely played, Twins brass. Nicely played.

Don't you think the "brass" consults their hitting coach when making these moves? Rick Anderson is more at fault than anyone else when it comes to our pitching. He has to go.

[Big Tom]

I'm surprised it took so long for him to blow a save and lose a game. Liriano is not the solution due to his walks. Since we paid Capps we can all cringe the rest of the year.

[thatoneguy]

2011 was the first year since Anderson came on board that the Twins' staff finished worse than 8th in the league in runs allowed per game - despite having mediocre (at best) talent to work with.

Anderson is not the problem. A front office that has consistently failed to identify and develop pitching talent is, IMO.

[B. Amish]

pitching coaches and managers can only do so much. anderson has said many times that liriano looks flawless when pitching in bullpen sessions. he was also pretty good in spring training. the problem with liriano is between the ears. i don't know if a pitching coach can fix that.

capps is what he is. overpaid because he's a 'closer'.

i think liriano could excel in the pen. it worked wonders for perkins. some guys just flat out excel when they know they only have to work one inning or get a couple outs.

[nofishfisherman]

I don't see this as Anderson's fault either.

We complain about the Twins signing lousy players and then start blaming a coach because he's can't turn them into all stars? That logic seems a little flawed. If you're going to put blame somewhere lets put it on whoever decides to sign lousy players to start with. Generally you'd look at the GM but in the Twins case it also goes back to the payroll the GM is given to work with. I'm sure Gardy, Anderson, and Ryan would love to sign some big name ace but with the limitations they are given its not going to happen.

The truth is the coaching staff has been given a bunch of turds that they have been asked to polish up and make them look like major league pitchers. When thats what you're given you can't be expected to have a 100% success rate. You're lucky to get 1 out 10.

Right now the Twins have 2 MVP's on their team that they can win with, they just don't want to make that investment in pitching help to take this furhter.

[Bryce]

Not a big fan of Capps but feel the coaching has to take some of the blame here too. You don't use your closer in a non-save situation. Twins are notorious for this. I understand that the closer needs work if he hasn't seen action in awhile but a tie game is not the right situation.

[Musky Buck]

I'd be careful with the term MVP, had a few MVP seasons, so then Cody Ross was an MVP last night, I'd rather have a guy finish between 2nd-5th in MVP voting year after year, consistency is huge, not to diminish their MVP seasons but there wasn't a great deal of threats around then, now the NL sluggers are showing up in force in the AL, Miguel Cabrera, Prince, Pujols, etc. and those MVP seasons are a distant memory, that's the beauty of baseball, you have to prove it year after year, at bat after at bat. Some guys in hockey don't score for 2 months but are considered great adding other good things to the team, in baseball it's just you and the pitcher, it's you and that groundball, and it's night in and night out. Glad to see we're leading the league in double plays again. OOps Capps, we used to face a gas thrower but he was so short it was a flat pitch, we crushed him every time, another taller guy with good movement but didn't throw as hard was much tougher on our team to crush. Ask Billy Koch how his 97 straight as an arrow landed him in retirement.

[nofishfisherman]

Not a big fan of Capps but feel the coaching has to take some of the blame here too. You don't use your closer in a non-save situation. Twins are notorious for this. I understand that the closer needs work if he hasn't seen action in awhile but a tie game is not the right situation.

Alot of teams will use their closer in the top of the ninth in a tie game at home. At that point there will no longer be a save situation in the game so why not use the guy who you think will shut the other team down for another inning.

[LABS4ME]

I'm surprised it took so long for him to blow a save and lose a game.

Really? When they have had a grand total of how many save situations? HA

Capp's blows... Never had anything we should have looked at... especially trading for Ramos. The Press over in 'National's land' still laugh about that trade. we were 'desperate' and this was the 'best' trade the higher ups could pull off... funny why our minors have no talent in them.

Keep trotting out the same old retreads and this is what we have to look forward to! yuck!

Good Luck!

Ken

[thatoneguy]

MN has great draft position this year. It will be interesting to see how they handle it, since they are in desperate need of developing a true ace starting pitcher, but they also have a dearth of hitting talent in the minors right now. Look at any list of the top 100 minor league prospects, and you'll find no more than a couple of Twins farm hands, and they won't be listed anywhere near the elite prospects.

Kinda like the Vikings - so many holes to fill, it's hard to know where to start!

[Musky Buck]

Realistically, why not Capps for now, we aint going anywhere but I agree we need to let someone else give it a go, was Capps' first year due to switching leagues and facing guys for the first rodeo ? Well the 2nd rodeo we aint ridin 8 seconds. How strong is Cody Ross to get it out oppo style ? What if Doumit and Willingham weren't adding what they're adding to our team ? Carroll also. We are going to need to get really hot really soon or this season is really going to get away from us, Capps or not. How many save situations do we expect to be in, maybe a lot we're not likely to blow teams out I guess when we are winning.

[SledNeck]

Capps doesnt have more than one pitch.

He doesnt throw exceptionally hard, so hes not gonna blow balls past anyone.

He is what you DONT want in a closer at all

On the other hand, perkins is much better suited for closer. He throws hard, and he HAS A STRIKE OUT PITCH

[nofishfisherman]

I bet you see Perkins closing be the end of the season.

Didn't they sign Perkins to an extension in the off season? I remember thinking they are probably trying to sign him to be their closer of the future. Its cheaper to sign him now as an 8th inning guy and move him into the role versus bringing in a true established closer through free agency.

[Musky Buck]

I miss Joe Nathan, I really do. Not saying he's great or whatever, but I just liked his leadership, his attitude, his demeanor, his professionalism, we've lost a lot of high quality people that were pretty darn good baseball players. We're kinda trying to figure out how to win again, who's going to rise to the occassion night in and night out. I bet October 3rd feels a mile away to our current squad. We are going to find out who is what this year and the answer moving forward is very complicated. Remember the old adage about how guys once they're hooked on a girl they suffer on the field, seems like when M and M found their lady friends the production dropped off, lol, just saying when they were single they tore the cover off the baseball . lol

[nofishfisherman]

seems like when M and M found their lady friends the production dropped off, lol, just saying when they were single they tore the cover off the baseball . lol

Actually when they were living together their production was much higher. I'm not saying, but I'm just saying...

[Musky Buck]

LOL, no doubt, no more Joe yes Justin I'm just gonna kill the ball tomorrow night, that flat throwing pus cake we're facing, tee off baby, ready for some major league 2008 want to do homerun derby or what, sounds good justin, I think I'll go 3-4 with a few rbi's, sounds good man, lets have a cold one, now it's " Honey, do you want olive garden or Appleby's ? Your finger nail polish is a bit thick isn't it my love, yes I'll go the beautiqque with you after practice tomorrow, lol, the conversation has a different tune now lol.

[10,000 Casts]

completely agree on Perkins.. I think the Twins will keep Capps around for a while since they won't need a closer that much if they keep giving up 5-10 runs a game..

[bucketmouth64]

maybe ryan is thinking of using capp's as trade bait later in the season and pick up prospects. Or packaging him with another pitcher and raid some other farms.