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

9 minutes ago, chpettit19 said:

Why would the Twins do that? If the Twins want to trade other players who are positive assets, why would they tie a negative asset to them to bring down the return they'd get?

(Twins have many players they could & should trade),

What's the sense of hoarding players we don't need & not give them opportunities they need elsewhere that they won't get here, while we can obtain players we do & bring down payroll. 

1 hour ago, USAFChief said:

"Baldy?" 

That's not very nice.  Not one of your "favorites" I guess. 

OK I admit referring to Baldelli as "Baldy" is not very nice and I apologize for calling him that. "Baldy" is just my nickname for him - MY shortened name for Baldelli. It's not meant to imply anything negative. He is a good manager. There are people who have worse nicknames or have just been called worse names. But I'm sure you are aware of that.

That being said, your prior post in which you said Dobnak probably got "down on his knees" was very insulting and "not very nice" to Dobnak. And it is very obvious that he is not one of YOUR favorites!! It's not his fault that the FO offered him that contract! You have to agree that ANYONE would have signed a contract such as that! Dobs could have just given up after dealing with the frustration of his lingering finger injury and quit baseball. But he wanted to try to earn that contract by continuing to pitch and to strive to pitch better. St Paul manager, Toby Gardenhire, praised Dobnak last year and stated that he felt Dobs had an excellent chance of returning to the major leagues. And I'm not doubting Toby.

So please "be nice" and give Dobnak a  break - that is, if it's in your nature.

5 hours ago, Doctor Gast said:

It's clear the Twins have their favorites & those they put in the doghouse because they failed to be transformed into a player they wanted. That hype gets magnified on social media way out of proportion, & becomes toxic. I get criticized for being a certain player hater because I don't adhere to all their positive hype & also for being a certain player lover because I defend them against all the negative hype. We have to eliminate all this hype to better evaluate our players.

Dobnak was a very good GB pitcher but didn't have a putaway pitch & batters kept fouling off pitches, driving up his pitch count. He came up with a new slider that was striking out batters. The Twins were ecstatic so they decided to extend him on the spot. Instead of letting Dobnak continue to be a good GB pitcher & incorporate that new slider to keep hitters off balance & let his fingers get used to that new pitch. They wanted to transform him into a SO pitcher, having him using that new slider all the time & quickly screwed up his middle finger. Now Dobnak should not be blamed for his new contract or injury, it should fall squarely on the Twins. Yet the displeasure of the Twins on Dobnak for not becoming the pitcher they wanted became very evident on social media & the animosity that should be on the Twins was placed on Dobnak. 

I don't say that Dobnak is this great SP that should be in the Twins rotation but he does have value & should be treated better by the Twins & fans. If Twins don't have a clear path for Dobnak then take the time to put together a package & sell it to teams like the ROX who would.

Thanks, Doctor Gast. It's obvious that not only the Twins organization but all major league organizations attempt to mold players into becoming players whom the organization wants them to become. Many, many years ago, there was never the emphasis for pitchers to be evaluated on things such as pitch velocity or strike-out rate or WHIP. And there were never as many pitcher arm/shoulder injuries then as there have been in recent years. Now there are also tommy John surgeries on minor league pitchers! Today, it seems that a pitcher's value is determined in part by his velocity (a "flamethrower") SO/BB record and WHIP and other factors. All of this places more stress on pitchers and high velocity, especially, is causing more pitcher injuries and "burnout". MLB should not try to mold players into players whom they may never become.

And as I mentioned in a prior post, Dobnak will never be given the chance to be a starting pitcher on the Twins roster since the Twins are into a "youth movement" regarding pitchers. So, I strongly hope another MLB team can give him a chance.

4 hours ago, Fire Dan Gladden said:

The hating on Dobnak is unwarranted.  The Twins took a promising young pitcher, locked him into an insanely cheap contract, than watched him get injured as other names passed him by.  He has come back to look like a possible MLB pitcher somewhere.

The guy does what he is asked, has basically been a workhorse for the organization, and has not said one negative word about his situation.  The Twins aren't looking to move him because of all the net positive things he provides.  When his contract is up, he will get other opportunities.

Stop the hate, respect the dude.

Thanks for your support of Dobnak. It is said that he has a good attitude and has done good things for the community and has held fundraisers benefitting St. Jude's Children Hospital and possibly other charities. St Paul manager Gardenhire has praised Randy and believes he will some day find a "home" back in the ML

So as you said he should be respected. Too many people hold his contract against him. That contract was OFFERED to him and he wisely accepted it. The Twins took a chance and it backfired on them. So, it appears that regardless of his performance, the Twins are determined to keep Dobs in St Paul for the duration of that contract. I'm sure he'll soon be "counting his days" until he can leave.

So, the naysayers become energized whenever there is a TD article mentioning Randy Dobnak. There are worse pitchers - like Trevor Bauer, who is still hoping to return to the ML since he strongly feels he has " so much to offer a team". 

4 hours ago, chpettit19 said:

The Rockies, and every other major league baseball team, has had numerous opportunities over the last few years to get Dobnak for nothing (except his contract) and have chosen not to take him. He's been waived a handful of times and placed on outright waivers. No team has ever claimed him. He's not valuable. He's a negative asset. The Twins would have to pay to get rid of him. Why would they want to do that?

This isn't "hating" on Dobnak. He seems like a good dude and was a wonderful story and seems to work hard and I have no problems with him and am glad he got the money he could. But he's not wanted by MLB teams. The league is "hating" on Dobnak. Nobody wants to pay him that deal, as small as it is. All 29 teams, on multiple occasions, have refused to "clear a path" for Dobnak. This idea that he'd be valued more somewhere else is provably false. It's been proven time after time over multiple years.

And from what source did you obtain the information that no other ML team wants Dobnak? Perhaps it appears they don't at the present time. So, do you know for.certain  what the decisions of those teams could be in the future? WHO told you that he is "not valuable" WHO told you that he is a "negative asset"?  WHO in the Twins organization told you that they "would have to "pay to get rid of him"? Or is all this just YOUR opinion?

If you're not "hating" on Dobnak, then your comments are far from respecting him, in spite of you claims that he "seems like a good dude" and he "seems to work hard". Your comments that he is a "negative asset" and is "not valuable" are downright insulting. But, of course your negative comments regarding Dobnak are just YOUR opinions and fortunately don't reflect the opinions of everyone.

And although you .at find my last comment here as being sarcastic, I hope you can find happier days ahead! 😌

5 hours ago, chpettit19 said:

The Rockies, and every other major league baseball team, has had numerous opportunities over the last few years to get Dobnak for nothing (except his contract) and have chosen not to take him. He's been waived a handful of times and placed on outright waivers. No team has ever claimed him. He's not valuable. He's a negative asset. The Twins would have to pay to get rid of him. Why would they want to do that?

This isn't "hating" on Dobnak. He seems like a good dude and was a wonderful story and seems to work hard and I have no problems with him and am glad he got the money he could. But he's not wanted by MLB teams. The league is "hating" on Dobnak. Nobody wants to pay him that deal, as small as it is. All 29 teams, on multiple occasions, have refused to "clear a path" for Dobnak. This idea that he'd be valued more somewhere else is provably false. It's been proven time after time over multiple years.

2 hours ago, djm24 said:

So, the naysayers become energized whenever there is a TD article mentioning Randy Dobnak. There are worse pitchers - like Trevor Bauer, who is still hoping to return to the ML since he strongly feels he has " so much to offer a team". 

I have no problem with Randy Dobnak. I do get irritated with people suggesting he has any future with the Twins or in MLB at all. It's more irritating when they highjack an otherwise interesting thread to talk about Randy Dobnak. I expect he will play out his last season on the contract and nobody in organized baseball will offer him a chance to continue his career. He might catch on in an independent league if he decides he still likes the lifestyle.

Bauer is a better pitcher than Dobnak but a thoroughly obnoxious person.

1 hour ago, chpettit19 said:

Even the added sentence doesn't answer the question. You want to "obtain players we do (need) & bring down payroll." Attaching Dobnak means the other team wouldn't give the Twins players they "do (need)." 

Are you trying to suggest trading good players at spots you think have too many players for good players in spots you don't think have enough good players? Why would the Twins attach Dobnak to a deal attempting to do that? If they were trading a B level player from a position of perceived excess they'd want a B level player back for a position that's lacking. Attaching Dobnak would free a useless (on its own) $3 mil this season while dropping the return to a C or D level player. That is not a good strategy.

No team being willing to pay Randy Dobnak a whopping $3M while giving up nothing is all you need to know about the situation. No MLB team thinks Randy Dobnak is a major league pitcher. None. 0. Zilch. Nada. The Rockies don't care about his groundball abilities. #5 starters get paid 2 to 3 or even 4 times what Randy is being paid this season. If any team in the entire sport felt he was a #5 starter he would've been claimed after last season when he was waived again. Nobody thinks he's good enough. Attaching that player to a player you expect to get an actual return for just to clear 3 million is an awful strategy.

I don't think CO prefers FB pitchers so they can watch their opponents hit HRs.

MN has a far superior pitching staff than CO, yet MN sees value of keeping Dobnak. They could let him go like they have done to Rosario & Sano. So why wouldn't CO see much more value in Dobnak than MN? The thing is Dobnak would fill a need & doesn't have to be the #5 SP, if they don't need him on the 40 man they can DFA him & not worry about losing him; the problem is the $3M. so if we have one or more players with surplus value of $3M, so before we even start to negotiate for a player we need, we have filled 2 or more CO's needs with players we don't need. Shouldn't that be the goal for CO's FO? 

But you know what? It doesn't matter if you understand or agree with my idea. Because we both know full well that CO won't approach MN about Dobnak & Falvey, doesn't care about my ideas, he'll do what he feels comfortable doing. So this unfortunately will never happen under his term.

8 minutes 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. He's not even on the 40 man right now. He could be claimed right now. 

You don't understand, Mike, that no one wants to give Dobnak a chance because of his $3M price tag, not his abilities. If you understood what I wrote that if we pay down the $3M with unneeded player capital, a team would receive Dobnak free with the assurance of DFAing him w/o fear of losing him. IMO many teams would do this. Again I don't think he'll be a great SP but he does have value.

1 hour ago, chpettit19 said:

The source of Randy Dobnak having been on outright waivers numerous times over the last 3 years and no team claiming him. #5 starters on major league teams make more than $3 million a year. The last 2 years Dobnak was making 1.5 and 2.25 million. Those are not numbers that would stop a team from giving him a shot if they thought he was a major league pitcher. Not very good relievers make that. 

Every time the Twins DFA him (I'm not going to look up every instance, but it's been multiple times a year for years now) every other team in the league has the opportunity to claim him and not have to give up anything in trade for him. Just have to pay him his very low salary. If any team in baseball thought he could be a #5 starter they'd claim him and pay him that salary. None of them have. The only logical conclusion is that no team believes Randy Dobnak can pitch in the majors.

It's not insulting. I don't know if you know Randy personally or why you have such a strong feeling on this, but this is what talking sports is like. He's far more talented than any of us on this site when it comes to playing baseball, but that doesn't mean he's talented enough to be in the majors. That's not disrespectful. It's not "hating." It's not insulting. This isn't little league baseball we're talking about. Not everybody gets to play. This is professional baseball. And the guys who run teams in professional baseball have decided he isn't good enough.

No sense arguing any more..I guess you are the "authority". Going forward, nothing that I could post would matter to you nor would you agree with. Perhaps you could apply to be a consultant to the Twins FO. I'll keep an eye open for any openings

10 minutes ago, Doctor Gast said:

You don't understand, Mike, that no one wants to give Dobnak a chance because of his $3M price tag, not his abilities. If you understood what I wrote that if we pay down the $3M with unneeded player capital, a team would receive Dobnak free with the assurance of DFAing him w/o fear of losing him. IMO many teams would do this. Again I don't think he'll be a great SP but he does have value.

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. 

14 minutes ago, chpettit19 said:

I appreciate the offer, but I worked in baseball for 5 years. Not the lifestyle I want so I'll just stick with talking about it on the internet and in group chats with my friends who are still working in the industry.

I'm sorry the league has decided Randy Dobnak isn't worth a 40-man spot for $3 million. He's lived a dream of a life though, so I'm sure he'll be alright.

My FINAL Comment: The season is long. Don't jump to conclusions.

41 minutes ago, Doctor Gast said:

You don't understand, Mike, that no one wants to give Dobnak a chance because of his $3M price tag, not his abilities. If you understood what I wrote that if we pay down the $3M with unneeded player capital, a team would receive Dobnak free with the assurance of DFAing him w/o fear of losing him. IMO many teams would do this. Again I don't think he'll be a great SP but he does have value.

The average price per 1 WAR for MLB free agents is over $8M.  If even one team thought Dobnak could produce above replacement level, his $3M salary certainly would not have been a hindrance, and it his salary was even less in previous years and no teams wanted him at $2.25M.   It's pretty simple.  Markets establish value and this market has determined Dobnak has little or no value.   

10 hours ago, amjgt said:

This thread is strange.

Aren't they all?

THIS board is the place where the baseball "authorities" like to hang out!

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.

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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