Big League Stew Offseason Grades For All 30 Teams

[Seth Stohs]

Chris Cwik from Big League Stew (Yahoo) handed out grades to all thirty MLB teams today... 

 

The Twins tied the Reds for the 2nd worst offseason (in his opinion) among the 30 teams. Only the Rockies were given an F while the Twins and Reds each recorded D-.

 

They mentioned adding Byung Ho Park and John Ryan Murphy and losing Torii Hunter and Aaron Hicks. 

 

No surprise on the grade, and although they didn't have a ton of needs, they didn't answer all of them.

[bird]

Sorry, Mr. Cwik. D-. Do over.

[Craig Arko]

No team left behind.

[Vanimal46]

Mr. Cwik must have the same grading philosophy as my old economics professor in college. Most will fail, very few will get an A...

[jimmer]

It has been a very poor offseason for the Twins

[Mike Sixel]

 

Sorry, Mr. Cwik. D-. Do over.

 

What should it be?

[nicksaviking]

I wouldn't give the Twins high grades, mostly for the nonsensical nature of the moves and non-moves this offseason, but this line kind of contradicts itself AND his grade:

 

"The club's inactivity makes some sense considering the team is built on youngsters and prospects, but that rotation is still a big weakness."

 

So if the plan was to not make big moves because using the young players "makes some sense", was the default grade a D-? And also, why can't the "youngsters and prospects" be used to improve the rotation too?

[JustinCB]

 

Sorry, Mr. Cwik. D-. Do over.

 

Sounds about right, actually.

[bluechipper]

If the Rangers got a C- for just adding a solid reliever in Tom Wilhelmsen and a 5th outfielder in Justin Ruggiano, then I think the Twins should be at least at that level when you consider they upgraded their weakest position of catcher and also got a medium risk/high reward guy in Park.

[gunnarthor]

I don't know - seems like the Twins did ok.  They upgraded at C, DH, CF and RF (assuming Park works out).  They have a good young pieces to plug in (that they shouldn't block) and enough pieces to fix the pen.  They'll be fine.

[jimmer]

We Added a backup catcher and player who played in a very offensive league and still managed a ton of Ks. He is a complete wild card may not even adapt to the majors. Still a bad rotation and bad pen. We have to put a guy who has never played OF in RF. our Lf had a sub .290 Obp. Our IF as a whole is average at best. this team has many places it should upgrade.

[TheLeviathan]

 

I don't know - seems like the Twins did ok.  They upgraded at C, DH, CF and RF (assuming Park works out).  They have a good young pieces to plug in (that they shouldn't block) and enough pieces to fix the pen.  They'll be fine.

 

They did not upgrade DH and RF - you're counting Sano twice to make your point.

 

This team said itself that it needed bullpen help.  By their own standard they came up short.

[gunnarthor]

 

We Added a backup catcher and player who played in a very offensive league and still managed a ton of Ks. He is a complete wild card may not even adapt to the majors. Still a bad rotation and bad pen. We have to put a guy who has never played OF in RF. our Lf had a sub .290 Obp. Our IF as a whole is average at best. this team has many places it should upgrade.

OR, we added a new starting catcher who should upgrade our catching production.  Our rotation was middle of the road in nearly all offensive categories and has reason for positive regression and young arms to bolster it.  Sano is a fine athlete who can probably play RF as well as Arcia.  And probably better.  Our rookie LF was worth over 2 WAR despite a low obp.  They'll be fine.  Sure they could upgrade (specifically at first base) but they have a pretty good young core to build on. They'll be fine.

[jimmer]

Sano was the DH for a lot of last year. Park won't be an improvement there. And while Rf may improve offensively, it will go from bad to horrible defensively.

[jimmer]

And one ok year from a rotation doesn't mean it will stay that way. See 2010 to 2011 with the same guys in the rotation.

[gunnarthor]

 

They did not upgrade DH and RF - you're counting Sano twice to make your point.

 

This team said itself that it needed bullpen help.  By their own standard they came up short.

Nah, that's why I specifically said "assuming Park works out."  If Park catch match his low projections from steamer, that's an actual upgrade over Twins DH production last year.  His bat isn't as good as Sano's (obviously) but a solid DH all year would be an upgrade.

[jimmer]

Anyway, this team failed to address the one area they themselves said they needed to upgrade. Right there it makes the offseason a failure by their own desires.

[TheLeviathan]

 

Nah, that's why I specifically said "assuming Park works out."  If Park catch match his low projections from steamer, that's an actual upgrade over Twins DH production last year.  His bat isn't as good as Sano's (obviously) but a solid DH all year would be an upgrade.

 

Do you realize what you are projecting Park to do to be "better"?  You think he's going to be a .800+ OPS player from the get go?

[PseudoSABR]

The Twins made all their moves in the first week of the offseason.  Articles written now will punish them for that.   I am surprised the Twins haven't gotten some credit for pursuing players that might be undervalued in Murphy and Parks.  If either turns into an average starter, the Twins deserve more than D.  If both turn out to be plus players, that's an incredible boon, given how little each cost, and how much team control remains.  

[TheLeviathan]

The problem is, even if you like the value signing of Park (I do) it didn't exactly address an area of need.  In fact, it may end up causing more problems than it solves depending on how many Delmon-esque adventures we see from Sano.

 

Where there was need we made one move in Murphy, but we did nothing to address an area that needed help.  We can quibble over D vs. C or whatever, but the truth is that we just didn't do enough where there was opportunity and need.

[gunnarthor]

 

Do you realize what you are projecting Park to do to be "better"?  You think he's going to be a .800+ OPS player from the get go?

Steamer has a .254/.327/.479 line.  That's doable.  I'm not quite sure why there's all this pessimism around him.  Jung Ho Kang stepped in and did a better line last year.  Park should be a good hitter.  

[PseudoSABR]

 

Anyway, this team failed to address the one area they themselves said they needed to upgrade. Right there it makes the offseason a failure by their own desires.

I'm tired of reading these kind of statements.  Even if you set out to address an area of need, you don't overpay to do it.  I'm glad the Twins stayed out of the inflated reliever market this offseason. 

[bluechipper]

 

Sano was the DH for a lot of last year. Park won't be an improvement there. And while Rf may improve offensively, it will go from bad to horrible defensively.

The Twins got .251/.338/.421 (.759) with 21 HRs and 82 RBI from the DH spot last year. Those seem like reasonable numbers to expect from Park.

[PseudoSABR]

 

 we just didn't do enough where there was opportunity and need.

Well, what should we have done?  What opportunities are talking about? 

[TheLeviathan]

 

Steamer has a .254/.327/.479 line.  That's doable.  I'm not quite sure why there's all this pessimism around him.  Jung Ho Kang stepped in and did a better line last year.  Park should be a good hitter.  

 

Because it's an adjustment.  To upgrade on an .807 OPS is not some easy thing.  Only 40 qualified hitters in all of baseball exceeded that last year.  Assuming he has 500 at-bats you're basically arguing he can be a top 50 hitter in baseball.

 

I wouldn't call tapping the brakes on taht pessimism.  

[TheLeviathan]

 

Well, what should we have done?  What opportunities are talking about? 

 

I'd have matched Detroit's offer on Lowe in a heartbeat. 

 

Basically, I would've liked to see their early aggression target bullpen rather than DH.

[gunnarthor]

 

Because it's an adjustment.  To upgrade on an .807 OPS is not some easy thing.  Only 40 qualified hitters in all of baseball exceeded that last year.  Assuming he has 500 at-bats you're basically arguing he can be a top 50 hitter in baseball.

 

I wouldn't call tapping the brakes on taht pessimism.  

Actually, 44 according to fangraphs.  But that's beside the point.  That's steamer's projection.  As bluechipper noted, Twins DH's line was substantially below that - .759 OPS.  He should hit enough to be an upgrade.  Which is what my original post said.  I happen to think he'll be substantially better than the .759 line but we'll see.  

[Boom Boom]

The Twins got .251/.338/.421 (.759) with 21 HRs and 82 RBI from the DH spot last year. Those seem like reasonable numbers to expect from Park.

Yeah, except the 2015 DH numbers would look a whole lot better if Sano had been the DH all season. Before he was up, they had 0 home runs from the DH spot.

 

Honestly, I don't even remember who was the DH before July. Nunez? Hunter and Mauer sprinkled in?

[PseudoSABR]

 

I'd have matched Detroit's offer on Lowe in a heartbeat. 

 

Basically, I would've liked to see their early aggression target bullpen rather than DH.

I did like the Lowe deal comparatively to what other relievers received. But we're talking about the third guy in the bullpen (even if he's on par with Jepsen and Perkins, that's essentially how it play out) and Lowe would be a tremendous upgrade to Fien certainly, but this can't be the sort of missed opportunity that pushes the Twins offseason to an obvious and abysmal failure. 

 

My point is that what we'd have them actually do would in fact be incremental towards their success.

[alarp33]

 

Nah, that's why I specifically said "assuming Park works out."  If Park catch match his low projections from steamer, that's an actual upgrade over Twins DH production last year.  His bat isn't as good as Sano's (obviously) but a solid DH all year would be an upgrade.

 

You have pretty flawed reasoning here.  Sano was the DH entering this offseason... why does the Twins general DH production from last April - June matter in your equation?  Park isn't replacing Vargas' 3 months at DH, he is replacing Sano for 6 months at DH