3 Things

[Richie the Rally Goat]

1) With starters going less innings these days, should a quality start be 5 innings and 2 earned runs or less instead of 6 and 3?

 

2) Will the Cleveland Indians be sellers at the deadline?

 

3) The Twins will have some pieces to move around, as many of you have eluded to.

 

 

1 - quality start statistic should be eliminated. The Brewers has a contract with a pitcher, I can’t remember which (maybe Josh Tomlin) that was more incentive than salary, and the incentives weighted 3 inning appearances or longer as 3 and shorter than 3 innings as 1. Then received bonuses based on points achieved, in quarter million increments. This kind of thought process combined with WPA or similar weight based on leverage is what should be used to measure pitcher value.

 

2 - I sure hope so.... it wouldn’t surprise me. My assumption is they would have really sold off in the off season if they thought they had competition for the central.

 

3 - they do have pieces to trade away, Ehire Adrianza isn’t one of them that will be in a package to substantially improve the bullpen. Best case with him is DFA and trade for a flyer. Not sure why you’d do that and hamstring yourself for the other 80 games. They definitely need to improve the bullpen, and would do well to improve the rotation for a few years. Prospects are the currency of trades. I’d like to see them make a trade similar to the Yankees deal for Paxton.

[alarp33]

 

Oh, they really blundered this offseason, but trading their young core would be miles worse than that.

 

They have already acknowledged they won't be able to sign Lindor long-term, I think it's safe to assume the same goes for Bauer. It's a matter of when, not if, they trade these guys. 

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

They have already acknowledged they won't be able to sign Lindor long-term, I think it's safe to assume the same goes for Bauer. It's a matter of when, not if, they trade these guys. 

Sure, but it doesn't have to be 2019. The team *should* have enough money and talent to make at least one more run.

[ChrisKnutson]

I’d like to see them make a trade similar to the Yankees deal for Paxton.

I agree, although if we were to follow the Paxton/Archer trade model of 2 mid-rotation (or better) starters and 1 toolsy outfielder, you’d think a package of Celestino, Gonsalves, and Thorpe would be enough to land us 1.5 seasons of Stroman, especially since they’d be acquiring players near Vlad Jr.’s age/controllability. However, since teams like Astros, Padres, Braves, and possibly the Yankees could still easily outbid us, high ceiling arms like Alcala, Duran, and Enlow shouldn’t be off the table either. Just as long as we don’t have to give up special arms like Graterol and Balazovic, I’m good.

[ashbury]

I agree, although if we were to follow the Paxton/Archer trade model of 2 mid-rotation (or better) starters and 1 toolsy outfielder, you’d think a package of Celestino, Gonsalves, and Thorpe would be enough to land us 1.5 seasons of Stroman

I continue to have qualms about going after Stroman. I'm not sure he's a good fit for this team, for this moment. A recent article:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2019/05/22/marcus-stroman-blue-jays-alex-cora-red-sox/3768138002/

 

Among the observations:

"It's the same thing with him every day. He competes a certain way and people don't like it," Cora said. "It seems like whenever a team comes in, somebody screams at him. I don't know, that's the way he acts."

 

I don't think Cora is considered a hothead or anything close.

 

I expect our clubhouse currently is pretty tight-knit. Would you introduce a guy in there that some of the current players will roll their eyes the first time he does something a little eccentric? And I don't mean Tortuga-eccentric.

 

[ChrisKnutson]

I continue to have qualms about going after Stroman. I'm not sure he's a good fit for this team, for this moment. A recent article:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2019/05/22/marcus-stroman-blue-jays-alex-cora-red-sox/3768138002/

 

Among the observations:

"It's the same thing with him every day. He competes a certain way and people don't like it," Cora said. "It seems like whenever a team comes in, somebody screams at him. I don't know, that's the way he acts."

 

I don't think Cora is considered a hothead or anything close.

 

I expect our clubhouse currently is pretty tight-knit. Would you introduce a guy in there that some of the current players will roll their eyes the first time he does something a little eccentric? And I don't mean Tortuga-eccentric.

I don’t blame anyone who may be annoyed by his antics, but I gotta believe he’s a good teammate. Kinda like Carlos Gomez. Besides, wouldn’t you love to see his intense demeanor on the mound as a Twin?? I get that that he’s typically the instigator, but how are these type of “issues” any different then what Bumgarner would bring to the table?? If anything, MadBum is even more notorious for these kind of things than Stroman is.

[ashbury]

I don’t blame anyone who may be annoyed by his antics, but I gotta believe he’s a good teammate. Kinda like Carlos Gomez. Besides, wouldn’t you love to see his intense demeanor on the mound as a Twin?? I get that that he’s typically the instigator, but how are these type of “issues” any different then what Bumgarner would bring to the table?? If anything, MadBum is even more notorious for these kind of things than Stroman is.

You could be right. I'm just thinking greater than normal due-diligence would be called for if Toronto calls up and offers Marcus.

 

Google searches for '"insert player here" controversy ' is a lot more target-rich for Stroman than for Bumgarner, last time I looked and now again this week. With Stroman it's always something. Buyer beware.

[ChrisKnutson]

You could be right. I'm just thinking greater than normal due-diligence would be called for if Toronto calls up and offers Marcus.

 

Google searches for '"insert player here" controversy ' is a lot more target-rich for Stroman than for Bumgarner, last time I looked and now again this week. With Stroman it's always something. Buyer beware.

Sure, Stroman’s probably had a lot more controversy surrounding him overall (fueds, brawls, arbitration, ejections, etc), but MadBum’s fueds with other players for being ‘too eccentric’ has been very well documented. In fact, even more so. Besides, it’s not like we’re gonna land Bumgarner anyways, which makes Stroman the next best fit for us on the trade market. So if we really want that ‘frontline starter” (really a #2), we’re gonna have to just accept Stroman for who he is; a high maintenance pitcher who lives for the big moment.