Is this anything? Josmil Pinto not coming to TwinsFest?

[jokin]

http://elabonado.com.ve/noticias/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Josmil-Pinto.jpg

 

 

As I posted on the Arcia thread, Josmil Pinto is curiously not scheduled for Twins Fest. By all accounts, Pinto had a strong showing in Winter League ball at the plate.  He also put in most of his time behind the plate, playing much more at Catcher than Wilson Ramos, or any other option for his Aragua Tigers squad once he started playing. In fact, after joining the club after the season started, he played in almost every game through the end of the season, catching in 21 of 27 games played.  In the postseason, he played in every game until he shut it down on Sunday- in 13 postseason games he caught 9 games and DH'd the other 4.  

 

How was his hitting?  Well, with the understanding that the pitching quality is always a question in winter ball, Pinto still acquitted himself quite well.  In the regular season, he slashed at .321/.412/.476/(.889).  In postseason play, he did that slash line one better, plus he hit safely in all 13 games played-  

.404/.491/.723/(1.215) .  Yes, it turned out to only be about 160 PAs, but he accomplished this after playing 117 games in the States in 2014, mostly at the most difficult position on the field.

 

As I posted elsewhere, ZiPS forsees a big season for Pinto in 2015- around .720 OPS and a projected 2.1 zWAR.  

 

Will it be with the MN Twins ?  Did the Twins see enough development behind the plate in AAA and Winter Ball or are they preparing to move on?

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

rolling with just one catcher in 2015 would seem to be an overcorrection……..

[JB_Iowa]

Pinto wasn't there last year either from what I could find.  So maybe it just isn't his thing or there are visa problems or something.

[jokin]

rolling with just one catcher in 2015 would seem to be an overcorrection……..

 

There are other cheap FA or talented trade options that the Twins possibly might have in mind.  Wellington Castillo, Jason Castro and Andrew Susac are all available in trade with the right deal put in place.

[DaveW]

Me thinks you are reading wayyyyyy too much into this. Twins fest is nice and all but hardly something to look at even semi closely on who is there and who isn't.

[jokin]

Me thinks you are reading wayyyyyy too much into this. Twins fest is nice and all but hardly something to look at even semi closely on who is there and who isn't.

 

Somehow, I don't think Dave St Peter and his PR department look at it the same way that you do.  

 

I don't know what the new coaching staff thinks long-term about Pinto, or what Terry Ryan thinks, for that matter,  but it is worth noting that Escobar and Arcia  are shutting down their Winter League seasons at the same time as Pinto, and they are rushing on to Minneapolis.  Perhaps there's a potential big trade in the works involving Nolasco and Pinto, admittedly, this is simply speculation.  But there's no doubt that he could be the odd man out if Vargas clicks at DH and Suzuki is given the lion's share of the catching duties again.   

 

And of course, it's certainly reasonable and possible to assume that he's taking a couple well-deserved days off and then reporting early to Ft Myers, instead of Minnesota.  Hope to hear from Halsey on that front to confirm that this is the case.

[jokin]

These Latin players are attending Twins Fest:

 

Arcia

Berrios

Escobar

Polanco

Rosario

Sano

Santana

Vargas

[Rosterman]

Could just be a Visa issue.

[Platoon]

Maybe they will trade him for another RH starting pitcher with fastball in the low 90's, a solid 4 pitch mix, and good command of all 4 pitches. Someone has to fill that 5th spot in the rotation!

[iTwins]

I don't think you can gauge anything by who is or isn't attending Twins Fest.

 

Pinto also missed last Twins Fest. Arcia missed the last two years. Max Kepler, Lester Oliveros, Eduardo Nunez and others are missing out this year too - they're certainly not going anywhere in the short term - and I don't think Pinto's absence means anything either.

 

Plus, if leaving someone off of the Twins Fest list meant the team was planning something with them, wouldn't they have left Parmelee and Fryer off the initial schedule? They passed each of them through waivers shortly after putting them on the original schedule.

[nicksaviking]

Pinto certainly could be an attractive trade chip, though unless a trade was occuring as we speak, I don't think it would stop the club from bringing him to Twins Fest any more than it stops teams from trading guys two games before their Bobble-Head give-a-way games.

 

If it ends up the Pinto has value at catcher, I'd rather not move him.  I have little faith that Suzuki will be much more than replacement level offensively going forward.

[DaveW]

http://i2.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/283/235/7e3.jpg

[jokin]

Pinto certainly could be an attractive trade chip, though unless a trade was occuring as we speak, I don't think it would stop the club from bringing him to Twins Fest any more than it stops teams from trading guys two games before their Bobble-Head give-a-way games.

 

 

 

I agree with this exactly.  But  I'm still thinking that in two other cases, the team strongly "encourages" players like Vargas and Arcia to come, even at the expense of thier PR and VZ teams, which are just beginning the final playoff series to defend their Winter League titles.   Whereas for Pinto, seemingly no sense of urgency or insistence on getting him here, but for BJ Hermsen, Mike Kvasnicka, Cole DeVries?-->  "The Line Forms to the Left!!!"

[TheLeviathan]

This thread makes me think....Spring Training....how far away is that?

[Squirrel]

This thread makes me think....Spring Training....how far away is that?

Closer for some than others. I have my travel and lodgings arranged.

[Halsey Hall]

This thread makes me think....Spring Training....how far away is that?

It's right now for some of us.  Should be a good group showing up down here after Twins Fest on monday.  And no fans yet, but me!

[jokin]

It's right now for some of us.  Should be a good group showing up down here after Twins Fest on monday.  And no fans yet, but me!

 

Hey Halsey, don't rub it in!    Please let the community know when you make a Pinto-sighting, perhaps it might happen before next Monday?  It's hard to imagine that ST is only a month away.

[jokin]

http://www.el-carabobeno.com/public/images/articles/id97397.jpg

 

"Pinto has been the best bat of Round Robin". (Photo Archive)

 

 

 

Now we know what Pinto had in mind for sticking around in Venezuela.  Both he and former Twin farmhand, Yangervis Solarte, were drafted to play for the rival Magallanes team in the Venezuelan League final series, which begins on Saturday.  The winner of this best-of-seven playoff round will go to the Carribean World Series in February. Pinto's opposing team for the final is Caribes, Oswaldo Arcia's team (but apparently only with one Arcia on the roster, Oswaldo's brother, Orlando).

 

Evidently, the Twins are A-OK with all of this extra time that Pinto is putting in.  Enjoy the Google translation,  apparently, Pinto is the "best-beats", gives "quality shifts"  and has the "backs" to prove he can cover behind the plate (and easy to dance to?):

 

 

 

 

 

Josmil Pinto and Yangervis Solarte strengthen Magallanes

He completed calendar "All Against All" Navegantes del Magallanes sought to strengthen their offensive and reinforced it with Josmil Pinto and Yangervis Solarte facing the end which starts Saturday in Puerto La Cruz to Caribbean Anzoategui.

"Pinto was the best bat of Round Robin and you can not pass up. Maybe they believe has the offensive necessary, we need the offensive and Pinto was the best batsman "All against All" and that guarantees that you will give quality shifts" said manager Carlos García after taking reinforcements in the draft.

With the arrival of Pinto gets the cleanup hitter Magallanes not had throughout the season, in addition to the backs in the catching position is covered. For Solarte, arrives to take over third base in place of the injured Andres Eloy Blanco and Jonathan Herrera.

In January Pinto was the best-beats, flirt .404 with 18 RBIs and three runs. Meanwhile, Solarte ligated .306 with five brought to the plate and two home runs.

[JB_Iowa]

Mystery solved.

 

Good for him.

[stringer bell]

I hope Josmil keeps the facial hair.  It should be a big year for Pinto, since I expect Suzuki to fall off quite a bit.  Perhaps sometime this season we'll see a lineup with Santana, Sano, Rosario, Vargas, Pinto, and Escobar in it.  Then we will know that the Latin invasion is here.

[jokin]

I hope Josmil keeps the facial hair.  It should be a big year for Pinto, since I expect Suzuki to fall off quite a bit.  Perhaps sometime this season we'll see a lineup with Santana, Sano, Rosario, Vargas, Pinto, and Escobar in it.  Then we will know that the Latin invasion is here.

 

You forgot about  Arcia. And if some unforseen, injury-related circumstances were to happen, you could even add Polanco to that mix. 

 

And I agree, the facial hair is generally a bad look and a bad trend for a lot of guys currently in the game.  But not Josmil, it really works for him.  I'm very curious how much differently he will be treated under Molitor vs. Gardy.

[jokin]

Pinto hits a HR tonight for his new team against major league rookie pitcher, Jose Alvarez, going 1-5 and playing catcher.  But Magallanes loses again to Caribes, to go down 2-0 in the VWL playoff final. 

 

In the meantime, there's a chance that Pinto could catch for Johan Santana this coming Wednesday. It turns out the latest reports about the "Gotcho" being injured and down for good from Thursday's missed start weren't entirely accurate.  It's now being reported that he had a successful bullpen on Friday and that the Twins will be on hand for Wednesday's game:

 

 

Johan Santana could open the fifth game of the final against Caribbean                                                                                      

The manager of the Navegantes del Magallanes announced that the lefty Johan Santana could be the fifth starter Challenge final against the Caribs of Anzoategui.

Carlos García: "The most probable is that Johan Santana opened the fifth game," said the boss of Turkish journalist Rafael Tejera.

The merideño perform a bullpen on Friday under the supervision of pitching coach, Edwin Hurtado to define the opening of Santana in the final.

The "Gocho" not injured his shoulder as had been speculated, so continue catching up to his return to the majors.

[jokin]

One more Winter Ball tidbit-  in the Dominican, the Cibao Giants punched their ticket to the Caribbean World Series tonight, clinching the playoff final against Oriente.  Old friend and ex-Twin, Alexi Casilla plays second base for the Giants, alongside Brewers SS, Jean Segura.  Casilla, who has had a great offseason and was re-signed to a minor league deal with the Orioles, had 2 hits today and scored on 2 HRs from Phillies top prospect and #53 ranked overall, Maikel Franco.  

 

Also on the Giants team, current and former Twins:

 

Scott Diamond

Brooks Raley

Pat Dean

Jeremias Pineda 

[iTwins]

I hope Josmil keeps the facial hair.  It should be a big year for Pinto, since I expect Suzuki to fall off quite a bit.  Perhaps sometime this season we'll see a lineup with Santana, Sano, Rosario, Vargas, Pinto, and Escobar in it.  Then we will know that the Latin invasion is here.

100% agree on Suzuki, the Latin invasion and, most importantly - the beard. That's a good look Josmil. Keep it.

[jokin]

Josimil Pinto is the key man for Magallanes in Game #3 in the VWL finals.  Catching his 2nd straight game, Pinto goes 2-4, including a HR and 4 RBIs, while leading Magallanes to a 10-3 victory over Caribes. .