Emmanuel Rodriguez, Marco Raya, Cory Lewis Among the Twins First Spring Cuts

[djm24]

22 minutes ago, Schmoeman5 said:

Another Twin who was mismanaged. They forced Dobnak to over use that slider. They knew it would lead to further injury. So pathetic. The good dr and djm are spot on. I think there might be some collusion going on. Not one major league team would sign a major league ready starting pitcher for 3 million. That's crazy.

Thank you tremendously for giving me some credit. I agree that not only was Dobnak .mismanaged, but was always quickly given the "boot" when he was called up to play for the Twins. Last year he pitched a whopping nine innings, all in relief, for the Twins. Sure, the first few innings he pitched were poor.  But, not making excuses for him, much of that poor performance could have been attributed to nervousness from not pitching in the ML for years. I believe during his last six innings pitched, he surrendered just one run -a home run. Yet, after that, the Twins quickly shoved him back to St. Paul. And although he pitched well in two games in ST this year, once again the Twins quickly shoved him back to St Paul. In those two games, he surrendered ZERO runs across six innings pitched. Of course, the Twins already have their "chosen"  young pitchers selected, so basically Dobnak  is once again ",unwanted".

You may be correct in thinking "some collision going on". When my son  played little league baseball another parent told me that there was "politics" being played by his team. Perhaps the same happens in pro sports.

 

 

 

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[Schmoeman5]

Can someone tell him.  ⏫️ 

[Linus]

9 minutes ago, Schmoeman5 said:

Can someone tell him.  ⏫️ 

And you thought sarcasm was going to work in this thread? 😂

[USAFChief]

2 hours ago, ashbury said:

Chief is so old, he was here BEFORE the beginning.

I'm talking Book of Genesis of course.

Interesting piece of trivia: Genesis is actually about baseball. 

"In the big inning..."

Which, of course, brings us full circle back to Randy Dobnak. 

[ashbury]

12 minutes ago, USAFChief said:

Interesting piece of trivia: Genesis is actually about baseball. 

"In the big inning..."

Which, of course, brings us full circle back to Randy Dobnak. 

For we walk by faith, not by sight.  Certain players come to mind.

 

[DJL44]

13 hours ago, Mike Sixel said:

He's been available, for the cost of his contract and nothing more, multiple times. No one has picked him up.

I would bet that if any other team in MLB was willing to give the Twins even $100,000 of salary relief, the Twins would willingly pay down the rest of the contract and give away Randy Dobnak.

[chpettit19]

48 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

I would bet that if any other team in MLB was willing to give the Twins even $100,000 of salary relief, the Twins would willingly pay down the rest of the contract and give away Randy Dobnak.

If another team bought Falvey dinner during the winter meetings, he'd give them Randy. 

[Major League Ready]

5 minutes ago, chpettit19 said:

If another team bought Falvey dinner during the winter meetings, he'd give them Randy. 

I would put the over under at lunch.  Dinner yes, breakfast is the point of no deal.  Lunch could go either way.

[DJL44]

 

I would put the over under at lunch.  Dinner yes, breakfast is the point of no deal.  Lunch could go either way.

Breakfast is free at the hotel, and they have one of those robot pancake machines.

[tarheeltwinsfan]

23 hours ago, ashbury said:

I wonder if Oriole fans would be as charitable.  I believe one of their players had to come out of the game after being plunked.

Raya hit 3 Boston players. One of whom injured his hand and came out of the game. 

[Doctor Gast]

16 hours ago, djm24 said:

Doctor Gast:

Thanks for seeing the value in Dobnak .I've always felt that the real problem with other  teams not wanting him is his salary, although he not being an elite pitcher could have played a part. But try telling that to other posters who know it all. Many of them feel Randy has "no value" and/or is ",unimportant".  Some posters must feel so authoritative that there's no reason to argue with them..They feel "always right".

So, I give up. 

 

 

Your welcome djm24, I know how it feels to sometimes stand alone & appreciate the support when given.

[ashbury]

22 minutes ago, tarheeltwinsfan said:

Raya hit 3 Boston players. One of whom injured his hand and came out of the game. 

Orioles, Red Sox, who can really tell the difference?  😀

[Rod Carews Birthday]

These posts have gotten ridiculous for sure. 

The "value" of having a Randy Dobnak (and also Yunior Severino) is that they are players that could be called upon in an emergency situation (break glass in case of emergency) to come up and fill in.  They're not good enough for regular MLB duty -- just like a LOT of players in the minor leagues -- but they can fill in.  The team doesn't have any of their future invested in them and anything they provide (IF they provide anything) is just gravy.  Because the Twins don't have their future invested in them, they can come up, be offered on waivers, sent down, et al without concern about whether they will be claimed.  AND, that's what the Twins are using Dobnak to do.  That is the only thing they have been able to get out of the contract extension for the big league club. I'm sure they would prefer that he had developed into a viable MLB starting pitcher, but it hasn't worked out that way.  As it is, he is getting paid handsomely for providing innings to the St. Paul Saints.

No one here is suggesting that he is a bad person, in fact I've heard he's a likeable guy who works really hard -- just like a lot of players in his situation.  Dobnak flashed something interesting, and then got hurt and hasn't been able to develop that "interesting" thing into something permanent.  It sucks but it happens all the time on every team in the league. 

[djm24]

32 minutes ago, Doctor Gast said:

Your welcome djm24, I know how it feels to sometimes stand alone & appreciate the support when given.

Yes. It's tough feeling like you're standing alone.. I oftentimes feel that I am the only person who sees the "good" in Randy. Arguing with the naysayers is like fighting a losing battle. Their minds are set. They are unbending. They feel "always right". Going forward, I'm greatly limiting my future posts on this board. It's as though I'm "always wrong" anyway. Thanks for your support, Doctor Gast. And.......Good Luck!!

[Cris E]

Amen Rodcarew . I'm not sure who is supposed to be harshing on Randy, but I think it's more a strawman than a real problem. 

He's got value in St Paul as a solid source of innings, a good clubhouse presence and a pillar of the community. He's got value to the Twins as an insurance policy. But he was signed to a deal that over-pays him for more years than his current output would warrant so he's going to be harder to trade. The best situation for everyone is him accepting his role, accepting that there are better players passing him by and getting shots ahead of him, and him continuing to pitch to his potential and being a positive force whereever he's playing. He could complain, he could give up, he could get injured and be completely worthless, but he's not and no one is saying that at all. He's just making more as insurance than most guys in the role.

The idea that anyone is playing high school favorites or there's some conspiracy to prevent this 91 mph heater from dominating MLB is preposterous. He's a guy caught in a bit of a Faustian bargain, where he's getting his money but it's coming at the cost of easy mobility between organizations and a low bar to changing hands. But honestly if you had a chance to offer a 19 year old Dobnak a couple decent MLB years followed by injury and $10m as a AAA starter into his 30s he'd grab it again and not look back.

[Richmond Dude]

Three brief things:

1. I was at Spring Training this weekend.  The most telling thing about Dobnak was that when he was sent back to the minor league camp on Sunday, all of the Guest Services security staff were bummed out about it.  He is very well-liked.

2. Nobody here hates or blames Dobnak for anything.  They simply don't think he is in the top seven starting pitchers in the organization.  That's all.  I imagine most people here would say he is probably in the top seven decent guys in the organization, though.   That actually matters more in life, but it won't get you a job on an MLB team.

3. The reason some people are confused about the ability to trade Dobnak is because they see it happen in other sports.  Taking on bad salary can have value in a salary cap/floor system, but baseball does not have a cap.  There is absolutely no incentive for a team to take on $3 million when they can get the same body of work for league minimum.  Taking on his salary is just less profit in the MLB system and GMs don't get paid to intentionally waste money for the owners.