Twins select RHP Austin Adams

[Mr. Brooks]

Anyone else tired of reading about Falvey's or Lavine's connection to players they bring to the Majors? I swear every guy they bring up has a story line that goes... "he was part of the Indians organization in 2016 and struggled at the major league level in (less than 40 innings)..."

 

Move on dude. Would much rather see Jake Reed or Cody Stashak get the opportunity. What's the scouting report on Adams? Throws 91-92 with a average curveball or slider?

 

On another note, it's a positive to see them cut bait with a guy they signed and simply hasn't performed.

Per LENIII:

 

"Austin Adams throws around 96 mph but can reach 98. Also has a good slider."

[Doomtints]

 

And they never will. They are paid to stand in front of the camera and represent the franchise on behalf of ownership. They can no more throw ownership under the bus than employees at a typical business can publicly denounce their bosses. That's just not how things work. If I go on social media and denounce the partners I work for, I'd be fired. Falvey and Levine would get the same treatment if they blamed ownership for the budget.

 

The front office cannot be fairly evaluated under the fictitious notion that they intentionally under-spend for no reason. It's factually incorrect. Instead, fans should accept the reality that ownership sets the parameters, and the front office does the best that they can within those boundaries.

 

And you should realize that you are guessing just as you are accusing others of guessing.

[drivlikejehu]

 

And you should realize that you are guessing just as you are accusing others of guessing.

 

I'm not guessing. This is common knowledge. There are articles and books where former front office members discuss how things work. I've personally seen it for several pro organizations in MLB and the NFL. The Twins are either the most unusual sports franchise in the world or they do business just like everyone else. Outside a few posters on here, I've never seen anyone claim that a front office would intentionally spend significantly less than authorized by ownership. 

 

The bottom line is that it's a false and baseless accusation and it shouldn't be made, unless Twins ownership goes on record with the budget number that they authorized. 

 

The real reason some posters seem to deny this is that it undercuts a lot of arguments about what the Twins "should" have done. Some fans don't want to consider the trade-offs that the front office has to navigate in real life.

[h2oface]

The ol' "that's just not how things work". 

 

The bullpen used to not be such a big deal. It was just how things worked. Until the Royals did it the way it didn't work and that worked. And these days starters are yanked at around 100 pitches, if that. That's just how things work, now. Any billionaire that wants to spend money, and even lose money because they have a passion and want to try something out of the box can, at any time. Billionaires just don't live "in real life". This is common knowledge. Billionaires just don't get in a balloon and try to circumnavigate the planet, it just doesn't work that way.... until Richard Branson did it. No doubt he has been told many times by others that many of the great things he has done.... that it just doesn't work that way. I hope they go for it and get Kimbrel. We had Pressly and can't get him back now. Kimbrel is going to pitch for some contender. It may as well be the Twins. Maybe the ownership and front office will just drive like a fast and reckless chariot commander, and take over MLB this season. It just might work that way. Then again, it might not.

 

I bet Austin Adams doesn't last the month.

[Aerodeliria]

Well, Reed was given ample opportunities to 'prove' the skeptics wrong, but he just kept proving the skeptics right. I watched his home run pitch in the MiLB a couple of days ago. It was like deja vu of the 2018 iteration of him coughing up gopher balls against the Angels. I'm glad we didn't think he was now ready for prime time and called up Adams instead. I think Adams is a pretty weak retread, but it is 'thin pickings down on the farm' as my mother likes to say. 

[nicksaviking]

 

So then it's agreed.

 

The bullpen is a worry, and should have been better addressed.

 

I think all that can be agreed to is that the bullpen, like always, is a worry.

 

But the path the front office chose has thus far worked, the players we all wanted are getting destroyed league-wide and had we had our way we'd all have more to complain about. 

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

I think all that can be agreed to is that the bullpen, like always, is a worry.

 

But the path the front office chose has thus far worked, the players we all wanted are getting destroyed league-wide and had we had our way we'd all have more to complain about. 

Well, not Pressly, of course.

 

And I'd be careful about saying "the players we all wanted" among FA -- I'm not sure there was any kind of consensus. There have been successful FA relievers thus far in 2019 too: Ottavino, Britton, Holland, Kelley, Diekman, and more. (Parker is among this group too.)

[diehardtwinsfan]

 

Yes this is a placeholder move but this doesn't mean he will be bad.

 

We can give him the chance he deserves.

 

We know this isn't permanent so ... big deal.

 

My concern numbers in the L column if it doesn't go well. That is a big deal.

 

The team is roughly average right now in the pen. Given that the rest of the team is above average and is starting to look like a legit threat to go deep into the playoffs, this should be a concern... and it was a concern to most of us at the beginning of the season as well.. it's not like it just popped up. 

 

Overall, I'm pretty happy with how the FO approached the offseason, but their approach to the pen was and still is mindboggling.

[KirbyDome89]

 

Not sure if this is a serious post . . . there are constraints to everything. Are you saying the Twins have $1 trillion available to spend and just chose not to? $500 billion? How on Earth do you know that the Twins front office intentionally chose not to use their available budget? It flies in the face of all logic and common sense. It's absurd.

 

The front office gets an annual budget from ownership. That's how it works. It can go up and it can go down. The Twins have not been competitive for the most part in recent years, attendance has dropped, and ownership plainly was not looking to spend a lot of money. This is all very, very obvious stuff.

 

I am 100% positive that the front office did not come in significantly under budget. There is no chance, none, zero, zilch, that they could sign someone like Kimbrel with their current budget. I don't know how anyone who follows the Twins to the slightest degree could fail to understand that.

Either way you spin, budget or no, the overarching criticism, that the bullpen didn't receive the attention it needed, is still valid. If it's obvious that MN operates on a self imposed budget then it should also be obvious that the bullpen, as currently constructed, isn't built to last 162 games. They can't hide 4+ guys on the back end through the summer. 

 

If the Twins truly hit their salary ceiling (a notion I don't buy) what would've been a better allocation of resources, a utility player with an OPS+ of 79 to this point, or a couple reliable bullpen arms? I'd argue the latter. If the argument is that MN was content with what they had and didn't feel the need to spend on the bullpen, then why are they turning to a guy like Adams in mid May? 

[Riverbrian]

I'd like to see the Twins trade for the Mariners Austin Adams. Put them both on the same roster. 

 

Just for the confusion created when Bremer announces that Austin Adams is warming up in the pen. 

[USAFChief]

 

I'd like to see the Twins trade for the Mariners Austin Adams. Put them both on the same roster. 

 

Just for the confusion created when Bremer announces that Austin Adams ARE warming up in the pen. 

ftfy