We may need to rename the "Pagan trade" the "Brent Rooker trade".

[Twodogs]

On 5/1/2023 at 5:20 AM, Riverbrian said:

 

Opportunity is necessary for a Rooker or a Yennier Cano to happen.

With opportunity, these type of stories happen all the time. Jake Burger, Connor Joe, Edward Oliveras, Mauricio Dubon.  These stories happen all the time. 

It's why granting every day playing time to someone with an OPS in the sixes and just handing a rotation spot for a pitcher with a 5 plus ERA is the biggest mistake a club can make. 

The teams don't know who the next Rooker, Cedric Mullins, Joey Meneses, Jose Altuve is.  

 

I was watching the MLB channel yesterday and they had Rooker on the show.  Mark DeRosa said that he himself was a bench player for a number of years and how hard that can be.  We all know that coaches always say trust the process, keep working and doing things right and if you trust the process good results will happen.  When you are a bench player, when you get only a couple of at bats per week that you become results oriented and not process oriented.  Rooker then said after DeRosa that his hitting coach was a starter and then became a bench player who pinch hits once in awhile.  He said that typically as a pinch hitter you come in and face the high leverage relief pitchers that the league is hitting like .140 against, this sounds weird but if you're hitting .180 or .190 in that role against those guys you're actually doing well.  But when us fans look at that and we look at all of the advance metrics we determine that these guys stink.  Where in reality some of these guys just needed everyday at bats to show what they can actually do. 

 

[Twodogs]

On 5/1/2023 at 12:50 PM, August J Gloop said:

Brent Rooker is flourishing in the way a power hitter might on a team that is almost always losing by 4+ runs. He gets plenty of cheese, cuz no one wants to walk any As. Good on him for turning meat into bombs, but I have my doubts that teams would struggle to get him out in leverage situations. 

I see your point, if the other team is up 5 - 0 all of the time that he should see good pitches, however, in his defense, he's not doing these things in Colorado or Cincinnati or in some hitters park.  Oakland by and large is considered one of the worst hitters parks in MLB, so you can add that he's also doing well even though he plays in an extreme pitchers park.

[Brock Beauchamp]

Everyone knew Rooker had the talent to be an MLB masher. I can't fault the Twins for cutting bait on him and dishing him to the Padres (who also gave up on him).