Twins interested in AJ Pierzynski reunion

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

I know AJ is popular pick, but if we are going for a good hitting catcher, why not just develop Pinto?

[jimmer]

After seeing him try to take out Morneau not once but twice in one game (by running slightly inside the baseline and trying to hit Morneau's ankle with his cleats) he will forever be a scumbag in my eyes and I would never root for him no matter what jersey he wears.  

 

Anyone who purposely tries to injure another player loses all respect.

[Willihammer]

I don't know if it's that unlikely. While we all disagree with the front office's decisions at times, they can't be completely oblivious to the financial risk of letting Suzuki vest a $6m option for 2017.

On the short end of a platoon?

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

 

Let's just say that, between AJ and Zuke, most TD posters could steal bases at 80%. (Plus or minus 20%).

I think the Twins should start using the pitcher as a cutoff man on steals to second, and we can bring that percentage down. 

[Brock Beauchamp]

On the short end of a platoon?

I'm not sure what you're asking here. The Twins will likely have to put Suzuki on a short platoon in his last season under this contract. Why not do that in 2016 instead of 2017?

 

If the team wants Suzuki back in 2017, they could make that happen for $3-4m, not $6m.

[clutterheart]

Feel free to go somewhere else.

Its your site, but its notable that folks with "access" are publishing the same stuff while those begging for access are censoring it.

[jimmer]

 

Its your site, but its notable that folks with "access" are publishing the same stuff while those begging for access are censoring it.

I guess I have a few questions on this:

 

1. If the Twins and St. Peter didn't want the info out there, why did St Peter say it in the first place?

2. Was this told to a bunch of employees only and it got leaked or was the info told to some fans too?

3. If told to fans, why is it okay for those fans in attendance to know this and not anyone else?

4. Was there an understanding agreed upon between St Peter and the people listening to him that everything said was said in confidence (non-disclosure agreement or something)?  I ask because someone actually suggested that by deleting the thread, it saved the originator of the thread from getting in trouble. Not sure how he would get in trouble because someone blabbed something he shouldn't have.

5. See question #1 again.

[Willihammer]

I'm not sure what you're asking here. The Twins will likely have to put Suzuki on a short platoon in his last season under this contract. Why not do that in 2016 instead of 2017?

 

If the team wants Suzuki back in 2017, they could make that happen for $3-4m, not $6m.

Right I see. The confusion is with the word "complement" I think. Being on the short end of a platoon, I would consider Zuke the complementary piece. Either way, I agree its likely they do something to keep his PAs under the vesting threshold. IMO AJ seems like pretty much an ideal candidate for the job.

[Brock Beauchamp]

Its your site, but its notable that folks with "access" are publishing the same stuff while those begging for access are censoring it.

I'm not going to get into a prolonged argument about it but we hardly "beg" for access. As I've come to discover, there was one piece of that post the Twins didn't want released publicly and it's probably the last thing you'd expect. And we respected that request after prolonged debate.

 

Criticize us as you will but at least show a little integrity when you do it. We were transparent not as an acquiescence to the Twins, but to be honest with our users.

 

We could have simply deleted the thread and brushed it off as moderation because that thread was ripe for it. Instead, we tried to be open and honest about it. If you want to criticize that decision, so be it. That's fair... But your petty shots at the writers who spend thousands of hours a year delivering content YOU want to read will not sit well with me.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

Can't we all just get back to bashing AJ?

[jokin]

 

I guess I have a few questions on this:

 

1. If the Twins and St. Peter didn't want the info out there, why did St Peter say it in the first place?

2. Was this told to a bunch of employees only and it got leaked or was the info told to some fans too?

3. If told to fans, why is it okay for those fans in attendance to know this and not anyone else?

4. Was there an understanding agreed upon between St Peter and the people listening to him that everything said was said in confidence (non-disclosure agreement or something)?  I ask because someone actually suggested that by deleting the thread, it saved the originator of the thread from getting in trouble. Not sure how he would get in trouble because someone blabbed something he shouldn't have.

5. See question #1 again.

 

The scenario presented by the original poster was that it was St Peter speaking in front of season ticket holders in a Q & A.

 

How would you enforce a non-disclosure agreement with 1000s of prospective or actual paying season ticket holders?  

Why would you try to impose such a potential PR disaster on your biggest paying customers in the first place?

 

Re: Questions 1 & 5: In what organizations would such a breach-gaffe by the President be a firing offense? Especially since this isn't exactly the first time he's been responsible for PR disasters?

[jokin]

 

Can't we all just get back to bashing AJ?

 

Ohhh, there'll be plenty of time for that.  I have a strong feeling that he's going to be the focal-point of the big off-season "splash".

[Otto von Ballpark]

To be fair I imagine most TD posters are fine tuned athletes and would be kick-ass base runners.

 

As durable as AJ is, he has got be be pretty close to falling off the cliff - is the catcher market that low?

 

Would he take over the smoke machine if Torii does not return? I might change my mind if he can lead the dance party -- because when you think of AJ - you think of dance moves.

 

[Not sure this is how I wanted to use my 1000th post. I was hoping to save that for when we won the World Series.]

I expect you, "D. Hocking", may suffer a broken hand during the World Series winning celebration and may be unable to post at that time anyway.

[DocBauer]

Probably not quite the same as the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow.

Are you speaking of an African swallow or a European swallow?

[DocBauer]

The time of that comment is so appropriate for its content

 

There are better choices that Pierzynski for a LHB C, as cheap free agents, including this guy and this guy and this guy.

 

1* Some people actually want to call out or hint at a lack of integrity by the TD staff because they deleted a posting at the Twins request because the information came from a situation that was, more or less, considered off the record? And TD did so with an explanation and apologies? That's called integrity. Look it up. The Yankees could always use more fans I guess.

 

2* And now for something completely different.....the actual content of the post!

 

3* I'm going to do a Colonel Sherman T Potter on this post and call "horse hockey". Lol But in fact, I'd call it and donkey donuts on a few of the posts here. I did not, repeat, did not spend hours poring over articles and new age stats regarding defensive metrics for ML catchers. I didn't have time. But we have also been down that path enough times to realize the only thing we will all agree on is that we won't all agree.

 

But Brayan Pena 260/ 300/ 352/ 651 for career

George Kottaras 215/ 326/ 411/ 737 for career

 

These guys as better options than AJ? Saltalamacchia had a couple decent years before falling off the proverbial edge. But his career is 240/ 311/ 419/ 730.

 

Don't like or believe in AJ if you want. Totally cool. But at least be realistic if you bash him or the idea of him joining the Twins again. He would absolutely overtake Zuke as the principal catcher. His career slash line

282/ 321/ 424/ 745. His "washed up" 2015 numbers were 300/ 339/ 430/ 769. In other words, not only are his career slash numbers very good, and above average for a catcher, but he actually produced better than his own career average numbers last season. All of his numbers could drop 20 points and he would still be a productive offense player from the catcher position. (Further, Zuke may be more productive facing fewer RH pitchers)

 

AJ can't throw? He has thrown out a career average of 32% of base stealers and 31% in 2015.

 

Whether total surprise by what happened to Mauer or bad planning, the Twins are short on catching in the minors. This is the reason Turner skipped low A, and Navarreto has been played at three different levels in three years despite being at least a year younger than the competition and with sub-par offensive numbers at each level. Turner, Garver and Navarreto may all make it and provide a happy ending. (I just wish any of them could hit like Swim) And a move for a talented young catcher would be a great move, should said player and move be recognized and made successfully. But don't pretend AJ can't play or hit or help. Because he could.

[jimmer]

 

AJ can't throw? He has thrown out a career average of 32% of base stealers and 31% in 2015.

 

No he hasn't and no he didn't.

 

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/p/pierza.01.shtml

 

[DocBauer]

I stand corrected. 24% for his career. The numbers I looked up originally must have been incorrect. If that is the case, then I will freely admit my error. But still better than Suzuki and again, a far better offensive producer than most.

[jimmer]

 

I stand corrected. 24% for his career. The numbers I looked up originally must have been incorrect. If that is the case, then I will freely admit my error. But still better than Suzuki and again, a far better offensive producer than most.

Yes, 24% for his career and 24% this year too, as opposed to 31%.  Also, base runners don't only steal on the catcher, the pitchers have a lot to do with it too.  We can't judge a catcher's arm solely on stolen base %.  Well, I suppose one CAN do it. 

[DocBauer]

Absolutely. Totally agree. Which is why I like percentages, and numbers, but also recognize flaws in relying too much on them. Hence the ongoing debates in regard to defensive metrics.

[jimmer]

Stats are good if one knows how to use them.  For example, if a person (or persons) quotes a stat and then just blatantly disregards what the stat tells them per the explanation given about the stat, that's not using them correctly. In fact, that is choosing not to use them correctly, which is even worse than not knowing how to use them. :-)

 

Also, while CS% isn't a great way to tell a catcher's arm strength, it is interesting to note that would-be-basestealers ran on AJ a lot.  88 times in only 909 innings behind the plate.  That's a lot and there's probably some scouting out there that told them it was a very good bet they could take a base.

[Platoon]

I don't know if it's apples and oranges, but last year the Twins had a chance to "save" something like a half mil by sitting Kurt a few games at the end of a lost year, and didn't. So will they get another catcher solely to platoon for monetary reasons or on field reasons? As for just plain getting help, it it was I, and Turner was as advanced defensively as advertised, I would look at him as an option. I know his bat is short, but he also has had some offensive success. The bottom line is AJ does nothing to advance the Twins in the right direction. It's just a complete meh move!

[HitInAPinch]

While I appreciate the idea of adding AJ, I'm not sure it's a step in the right direction. 

 

I'd rather try to trade for a young catching prospect, like Gary Sanchez, and start by working him into a rotation with Suzuki, with the C prospect [ hopefully ] taking over the lead in the 2nd half. 

 

 

[nicksaviking]

Its your site, but its notable that folks with "access" are publishing the same stuff while those begging for access are censoring it.

Heyman made his claim without disclosing any sources, ours was made by a poster who flat out named names. If Heyman was going to name names, he would have confirmed that he could disclose this news on the record, and if he was reputable, an editor would have further confirmed this information.

 

Our poster was being helpful to TD, but clearly did not get permission to use this information from his source. If an actual reporter wrote the same piece as our poster, and his editor called the Twins to confirm, but they denied everything, it wouldn't have been published either.

[jokin]

 

Heyman made his claim without disclosing any sources, ours was made by a poster who flat out named names. If Heyman was going to name names, he would have confirmed that he could disclose this news on the record, and if he was reputable, an editor would have further confirmed this information.

Our poster was being helpful to TD, but clearly did not get permission to use this information from his source. If an actual reporter wrote the same piece as our poster, and his editor called the Twins to confirm, but they denied everything, it wouldn't have been published either.

 

The problem here is that the poster wasn't a reporter paid to get a story, but a fan who was paying money to hear a story.  Was there a transaction, implied or otherwise that gave these fans the inside info, but required them not to disclose it? This appears to be more of a problem created by the name-namer- unless there's some Skull and Bones-type blood oath of secrecy that season ticket holders are required to take, how can they expect fans not to name the names they're given?

[ashbury]

would-be-basestealers ran on AJ a lot.  88 times in only 909 innings behind the plate.  That's a lot and there's probably some scouting out there that told them it was a very good bet they could take a base.

Or it could be that in a bad season Atlanta pitchers were putting a few more men on base. WHIP of 1.414 in a league with an average of 1.299. Would need to know the baserunning opportunities before judging that a counting stat like SB+CS tells the story.

[nicksaviking]

The problem here is that the poster wasn't a reporter paid to get a story, but a fan who was paying money to hear a story.  Was there a transaction, implied or otherwise that gave these fans the inside info, but required them not to disclose it? This appears to be more of a problem created by the name-namer- unless there's some Skull and Bonea-type blood oath of secrecy that season ticket holders are required to take, how can they expect fans not to name the names they're given?

That sounds like you're asking for TD to be a reputable source of breaking Twins news (which it's really not supposed to be) but with none of that pesky journalistic integrity.

[nicksaviking]

I think the biggest problem with AJ will be the demand. We've heard the Braves are interested, and sounds like the Twins are so there's a good chance other teams would be as well. If he's got multiple suitors, he'll probably get a multi-year deal if he wants one. Anyone want him for two years? What if AJ gets hurt, Suzuki's option vests and both are under contract again in 2017?

[stringer bell]

Talking about AJ's arm: I remember when noted base-stealer Michael Cuddyer stole three bases in one game against the battery of Floyd/Pierzynski. The thing is that guys with moderate-at-best speed take liberties against the likes of Suzuki and Pierzynski. I think this figures in to the high numbers of runners who ran against Atlanta last year. To know that an average runner can take second with minimal risk at a crucial time of the game is huge and IMHO both Pierzynski and Suzuki afford opponents that opportunity. Sure, it has much to do with the pitcher, but Zuke and AJ are substandard throwers who have been taken advantage of and will be in the future.

[USAFChief]

I would prefer the Twins take whatever steps necessary to acquire a full time solution that will be here for a few years than a possible short term platoon mate.

 

That probably requires a trade.

[jimmer]

 

Or it could be that in a bad season Atlanta pitchers were putting a few more men on base. WHIP of 1.414 in a league with an average of 1.299. Would need to know the baserunning opportunities before judging that a counting stat like SB+CS tells the story.

To be fair I didn't say it did tell the story, just that for the amount of innings he caught ,baserunners ran a lot.  I think I've made it clear over and over I don't like counting stats to judge anything, just found this one interesting, not necessarily telling.  I see a catcher caught 1078 innings and only had 54 attempts against him. That's 170 or so extra innings caught than AJ with over 30 or so less attempts. Not sure the WHIP issues covers that kind of difference.   SBs allowed by AJ and the ATL pitchers was 6th and he didn't even play enough to be a qualifying catcher (though only eight catcher did qualify)

 

In any event, you make a good point. How about this, ' When watching a lot of AJ play, he seems to currently have a noodle arm for a catcher.' Then again, a statement like that is just a matter of opinion.