Game Thread: Rays @ Twins 7:10 PM 8/13/2021

[Aggies7]

Never good when the “new guy” has salt and pepper facial hair 

[lecroy24fan]

Just now, Aggies7 said:

Never good when the “new guy” has salt and pepper facial hair 

Well he is a veteran so its not a surprise.

[wabene]

Is Big Mike's repaired elbow barking again?

[Aggies7]

2 minutes ago, lecroy24fan said:

Well he is a veteran so its not a surprise.

I know.

[Cap'n Piranha]

9 minutes ago, Aggies7 said:

So he’s been average? Is that what we were hoping for out of the signing?

No of course it's not.  But you didn't say Donaldson has been average; you said "monumental bust" and "bustaroo to the max".  If you'd said "Donaldson's been fine, but I was hoping he'd be a difference maker", I'd agree with you.  As that's not what you said, don't try and move the goalposts, just take the L.

[Irishman]

Looks like Polanco was frustrated!

[Aggies7]

2 minutes ago, Cap'n Piranha said:

No of course it's not.  But you didn't say Donaldson has been average; you said "monumental bust" and "bustaroo to the max".  If you'd said "Donaldson's been fine, but I was hoping he'd be a difference maker", I'd agree with you.  As that's not what you said, don't try and move the goalposts, just take the L.

We didn’t sign him to be an average player (and below his own average) and play 66% of our games. Bust. No L’s need to be taken. Thanks tho

[Cap'n Piranha]

10 minutes ago, Irishman said:

Bench Donaldson and call up 3rd baseman Miranda from St. Paul.   

I'd love to see Miranda up, but there's no way Donaldson will be benched.  For one thing, he's our third best hitter this year by wRC+ (if you exclude Buxton and Refsnyder).  For another, a good way to ensure you don't sign free agents in the future is to put free agents you signed in the past who are producing on the bench.

[Cap'n Piranha]

1 minute ago, Aggies7 said:

We didn’t sign him to be average and play 66% of our games. Bust.

Bust.

[h2oface]

I see we have another visitor on the mound. Great to have 35 year old minor league signing to check out for the future of the team. FO is setting the pace again.

Good thing we have Miranda to get his 2 hits a game for St .Paul, eh?

[Aggies7]

1 minute ago, Cap'n Piranha said:

Bust.

A bust is something or someone that doesn’t meet expectations. You’ve literally agreed he hasn’t, so where does the confusion come in for you?

[h2oface]

17 minutes ago, Cap'n Piranha said:

I'd love to see Miranda up, but there's no way Donaldson will be benched.  For one thing, he's our third best hitter this year by wRC+ (if you exclude Buxton and Refsnyder).  For another, a good way to ensure you don't sign free agents in the future is to put free agents you signed in the past who are producing on the bench.

Stat me all you want, I have been watching the games, and Donaldson is not even close to producing what he was signed to produce. On the field, or at the plate. 

I think most free agents have been playing the game long enough to know that there is a very long leash, but no free ride.

Perhaps the answer is to play him everyday, every inning, and give him every possible opportunity to prove himself, and when he goes down with injury, you have a spot to fill sooner than later. And I really like Donaldson, and his attitude, and his fire. I just want more than he can apparently produce these days (and what he contributed as a total for the last 2 seasons). 

[Mike Sixel]

Has any reporter asked why the heck this guy is on the roster in a rebuilding year? Inconceivable. Reduces my trust in the FO, frankly.

[h2oface]

That was Donaldson's pitch. Fastball right down the middle. Not even close to it.

[Brock Beauchamp]

29 minutes ago, Cap'n Piranha said:

This is not even close to true.  2.4 WAR in 116 games, 14th amongst all 3B since the start of 2020.  If you calculate PA/WAR, Donaldson moves up to 12th, ahead of Arraez, Seagar, Chapman, and Bregman.  He's made about $21M, which means he's right on that $10M/WAR benchmark despite the missed time, since WAR is a counting stat.  If your issue is with the availability (or lack thereof), then I presume you hope the Twins don't extend Buxton at any price?

Yeah, while we can debate Donaldson’s attitude until we’re blue in the face, he’s been as-advertised when on the field. 

[Cap'n Piranha]

6 minutes ago, Aggies7 said:

A bust is something or someone that doesn’t meet expectations. You’ve literally agreed he hasn’t, so where does the confusion come in for you?

The definition of bust is a worthless thing.  Not something that's mildly disappointing.  No one writes articles about the players who signed big contracts who were 80% worth it.  The articles are written about the players who completely flop.  I think the word you're looking for is underachiever/underperformer.  I do wish Donaldson had produced more to this point, but it's not like we didn't know about his injury propensity when he signed, so I won't blame him for not producing more since he's injured.  Despite all that, he's 4th for batters on the entire team in WAR since the beginning of 2020.  He is in no way a bust

[sampleSizeOfOne]

10 minutes ago, Cap'n Piranha said:

Bust.

A bust is a statue, usually the head of the person?

As in "the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door"

So the Guardians are busts by definition...

 

 

[Cap'n Piranha]

7 minutes ago, h2oface said:

Stat me all you want, I have been watching the games, and Donaldson is not even close to producing what he was signed to produce. On the field, or at the plate. 

I think most free agents have been playing the game long enough to know that there is a very long leash, but no free ride.

Borderline Top 10 3B in all of baseball is not even close?  Were you somehow confused, and though we had signed 1979 Mike Schmidt? 

[sampleSizeOfOne]

Runners at corners, we gotta get stuff.

 

Sano!

[Aggies7]

4 minutes ago, h2oface said:

That was Donaldson's pitch. Fastball right down the middle. Not even close to it.

He’s 3/25 with 8 K’s with RISP and 2 outs this season. But I’m sure there’s some stat that disputes how terrible that is.

[sampleSizeOfOne]

And not to belittle the action on the field, who of the '91 team has made an appearance in the booth?!

[Mike Sixel]

Nuance is clearly not a thing on this thread. ttyl.

[Brock Beauchamp]

1 minute ago, Aggies7 said:

He’s 3/25 with 8 K’s with RISP and 2 outs this season. But I’m sure there’s some stat that disputes how terrible that is.

He has been really terrible in that very specific situation but also has a 200 tOPS+ in Late & Close situations.

Like most clutch stats, I write it off as noise. But it’s still frustrating to watch.

[Aggies7]

1 minute ago, Mike Sixel said:

Nuance is clearly not a thing on this thread. ttyl.

What about oldance?

[h2oface]

5 minutes ago, Cap'n Piranha said:

Borderline Top 10 3B in all of baseball is not even close?  Were you somehow confused, and though we had signed 1979 Mike Schmidt? 

Like I said, I watch the games. I know what I have seen. And I like Donaldson a lot.

[Richie the Rally Goat]

What the hell is a “Nick Vincent”?

 

well… it doesn’t really matter cuz he’ll be sent down tonight after the bloodbath is over

[Aggies7]

My god that was a rocket. Hope the person is ok

[h2oface]

I'm fine with Pineda taking the rest of the season off. Time to see some youth. And not minor league signings, and 2 month visitors. Let them sink or swim, and give us a product that points to the future. Fans deserve it, especially at home.

Didn't they activate Joe Ryan for St. Paul already? That would be fun to see against Tampa. He did great in the Olympics. I am sure he wouldn't say he isn't ready.

[wabene]

I was thinking signing Pineda as a reasonably priced quality starter was gonna be a thing, but now I am wondering if he is going to be able to be available enough in the future.

[RpR]

Rooker has 3 hits, amazing, hopefully that is not all for the rest of the month.