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RaoulDuke

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Everything posted by RaoulDuke

  1. RaoulDuke
    I like it solid depth move for a minimal price. Sisk and Cruz are both real wildcard prospects with major control issues that weren't viewed as close enough for anyone to claim in rule 5. Up to 4 gold glove caliber outfielders now, they have clearly worked to raise the floor of this team so they don't bottom out again like the 2nd half last year. Taylor/ Farmer/ Larnach/ Jeffers is a very solid bench. This also allows Lewis time to get right and ready when he comes back, allows Wallner/ Celestino/ Martin/ Julien time to earn their call ups in AAA. Kepler has to be traded at this point, right?
  2. RaoulDuke

    Who's on 1st

    RaoulDuke commented on Doc Munson's blog entry in Fantasy GM

    A healthy Kirilloff hopefully runs away with the position. Nasty LH bat and the scouts seem to like him at 1st. Miranda will certainly take reps there, though I think they would like to maximize his 3b innings to get him experience. Gallo has played there. Polanco/ Gordon could see reps there. Julien if he forces his promotion.
  3. RaoulDuke
    I think they are hoping Larnach or Wallner claim a Mlb spot in the spring and then they can cycle through everyone at DH. There is a lot of positional flexibility with Farmer/ Gordon/ Miranda/ Kirilloff/ and Kepler/ Gallo maybe taking a day in center here and there. DH is the half work day to keep defenders fresh and bats in the lineup. That being said I wouldn't mind a cheap Reyes or Gurriel signing but they shouldn't be full time or have a long leash. In the end they are playing the Garlic role as lefty masher.
  4. RaoulDuke
    Untouchable - Rodriguez/ Lee Near untouchable - Lewis/ Duran You are going to pay a premium - Miranda/ Ryan/ SWR/ Varland It will cost you - Arraez Lets talk - Polanco/ Kepler/ Wallner/ Larnach/ Martin/ Ober/ Winder/ Gordon/ Farmer Probably not worth trading due to depressed value - Kirilloff/ Balazovic They seem to want an innings eater with the targeting of Lopez, he isn't clearly above anything we have now but is a better bet to throw 170+ innings than Gray/ Mahle/ Maeda. I expect this is the route they will eventually pull the trigger on (weather it is Lopez or a similar pitcher). They have been gambling on injury risk so a high upside/ high risk play like Sale could certainly happen. I doubt they pay the prospect capital for an established 1 or 2 but Woodruff/ Gallen/ Cortes would all look great topping this rotation. I personally love Cortes but I see zero reason NY trades him and certainly not for Kepler + mid pieces. Young controllable top of the rotation talent is the golden goose, target players that have that upside. I would much rather they spend more on an upside arm like Cabrera than a known solid one like Lopez.
  5. RaoulDuke
    Another possible plus to this deal is if Paddack struggles to return to form or the 3rd pitch doesn't turn into an actual weapon he is a pretty good case of move him to the pen. Maximize his two pitch mix, increase velocity and break with extra effort, reduce injury risk by reducing work load. Its not the path he, or the Twins wants, but it could be a viable plan B if needed.
  6. RaoulDuke
    I really like this move. Lot of upside while being a real gamble on health, but at a significantly reduced cost. Continues the trend of paying less for upside by assuming risk of getting nothing. This team in the next couple years is going to be a real dice roll, but if they hit on a couple in the same year it could look really good. Previously they were capped at first round exit because they didn't/ couldn't sign the big contracts, now they have the potential to make real noise if things break right, but could also completely fall apart to injury. Missing addition is an ace upside starter that has massive question marks lol.
  7. RaoulDuke
    This has become an interesting gamble after the events of today. Trevor Story is going under the knife for ligament repair leaving Boston even more devoid of infielders, and the Twins just happened to solve SS for a couple years. Is there something to be worked out with Polanco/ Farmer/ Gordon headlining a deal to bring Sale to MN? Its an injury risk riddled move that has a low floor and high ceiling but that seems to be a Falvine special at this point.
  8. RaoulDuke
    Correa is the short stop until he can no longer play there, hopefully in about year 6 or 7 of this contract.
  9. RaoulDuke
    It's certainly a risk but a degenerative problem with his leg is much more worrisome for a 10+ year contract than a 6. The vesting option years and pretty team friendly, if he is hitting those he is still playing well and they will happily sign that check. Somewhat like the Buxton deal they are eating injury risk to get "dior" at an outlet price. They do seem to see it as a market inefficiency they can exploit. So far it has netted them Cruz as an incredible signing and Donaldson that didn't really work out. Buxton and Correa are more extreme cases on great deals, results tbd. It has also blown up in their faces on multiple pitcher trades. It is a gamblers strategy but if they hit and get a healthy year out of multiple pieces they have top level talent that would not have otherwise been available to them. Honestly I am amazed the Met's did not match or beat this offer. I think either they got cold feet realizing they had signed him to play 3rd already decreasing his value or tin foil hat time, the other owners told Cohen to knock it off and stop making them look bad.
  10. RaoulDuke
    First move should be to renovate the clubhouse. Padded walls everywhere and get some of those airport moving walkways for the halls and tunnels.
  11. RaoulDuke
    Teams with money to light on fire are looking at the medicals and saying "nope". That seems like a major red flag on signing him for the next decade. We probably won't know until years later when the injury potentially flares up but it seems like maybe the contact he took to the surgical plate last year loosened something (pure speculation)? I would be more than happy to do the higher AAV less years route, looks like it will still take at least the 10 year 285 million they initially offered. I really wonder what this whole thing would look like with a different agent that isn't hell bent on setting salary records. Correa has become Dior that has fraying stitches somewhere on the garment, do you still pay brand new off the shelf price for that or is it an open box deal? All that being said it is becoming the kind of large contract the Twins have actually signed or traded for, somewhat damaged or questionable goods that lowers the price.
  12. RaoulDuke
    There is no where left to spend it, bring on the pen arms (they are always trade-able later). Get Matt Moore/ Fulmer or some LH/ RH combo. Duran Lopez FA FA Thielbar Alcala Pagan Moran Megill Jax/ Winder/ Ober/ ect all ready to step in when needed (I am sure I am missing a ton). Then when they pull the starters at 5 innings there is actual depth to replace them.
  13. RaoulDuke
    Every time the "look at his target field numbers!" thing comes up, you must realize the player was facing Twins pitching. Its not the ball park or how well they see the batters eye...
  14. RaoulDuke
    Lewis already looked better than Polanco at short, albeit for a very short time and you have to hope he comes back strong. He is certainly quick enough, has the arm strength, but the question is his glove and arm accuracy. Lee appears to have the arm to play it for sure but may grow to big to have the range. So far he seems to be hitting his way to the mlb sooner than later so maybe they get a few years there out of him before he gets to big. Polanco lacked range, had a mediocre glove, but his major failing at was his horrible arm strength and poor accuracy. He had zero above average traits for the position. Neither are guaranteed to do so but Polanco is a low bar to clear at short.
  15. RaoulDuke
    Ya I was happy with the trade at the time just being overly pessimistic now lol. It hurts to see the rebuild stuff start to pop up after they spent a ton of prospect capital last year only to have it fall apart.
  16. RaoulDuke
    What if someone offered a young pitching prospect with a lot of upside, someone like Chase Petty.
  17. RaoulDuke
    They are well out of it, let the man rest. I am amazed they got the season out of Duran they did. He was one of the top 5 relievers in baseball in his rookie year with no real experience in the role, as well as basically missing 2 full seasons due to injury and the covid year. He was awesome all year but the way things were going I kept expecting him to break from overuse. He stayed strong and exceeded any possible expectations, shut him down and sacrifice to the gods for this level of health every year.
  18. RaoulDuke
    The Vikings model which leads to a lot of .500-ish finishes which is the worst place you can be if you ever want to really compete. Go all in or punt and acquire assets. Finishing 82-82 gets you a **** draft pick and at best an early playoff exit, though it does sell more tickets than punting unfortunately.
  19. RaoulDuke
    He was going to opt out unless he had a terrible year or a major injury, he is a Boras client that was basically typed in bold on the contract. I think I would be ok with him at 35-36 a year for 3 or 4 years (no opt outs), but anything past that years wise is paying for decline at a premium position. It's frustrating to watch the New York and California teams sign all the stars because they can eat the decline years, but it is what it is. This team is only signing big contracts that are short years or older/ riskier players with limited options, they will never buy a contending squad. Hindsight is 20/20 but I really wonder what they could have got for him at the deadline, incredibly hard move to make but that's how a team like the Rays competes consistently in that powerhouse division. /Deadhorsebeaten
  20. RaoulDuke
    Duran and Miranda have been amazing but I think it goes to Duran as of now. He has absolutely carried the pen from day one, debuting and excelling in a brand new role while the guys intended to fill the back end have failed at it. Miranda came up later and after initial struggles has been the reliable offensive catalyst for a month or two. By the end of the year Miranda may over take him because he has so many more opportunities to contribute but Duran has been everything you could have possibly hoped for. I worry about his work load as we get later into the season, he has to be super stretched at this point and we still badly need to rely on him often.
  21. RaoulDuke
    I am fully on board with this trade. They needed a back end arm and ended up with 2.5 years of cheap control of one who has been awesome his first year in the role. I am hoping the Twins just found their Liam Hendriks, back end starter becoming a real bullpen weapon when they focus on pitch mix and throwing 100%. Povich hurts but a 10-20 starter and 3 wild card relievers is a price I am well willing to live with.
  22. RaoulDuke
    This team is in a major funk right now. They are looking bad right when deadline is here and it's perfectly reasonable to question spending future talent to boost this roster. That being said the pen has cost them 7-10 wins and control of a weak division. Bring in 2 guys to stabilize the back end with Duran (and sacrifice whatever needed to gods to keep him healthy) and they should win it. A starter is a playoff move, ya they look bad now but playoffs is a crapshoot and Buxton/ Correa is a good core to push with. This offense could do damage if hot at the right time. I still kinda want them to push, the division is there for the taking and anyone can get hot come playoffs. Idk if I pay for a top end starter but they need at least someone to throw game 3. I pay for real pen help period.
  23. RaoulDuke
    Looks like two big steals with top 5 potential guys falling to the Twins. Gotta love that! Prielipp will most likely cost over slot money to sign and they didn't save anything taking Lee, I doubt they can go over slot on much else now but the return certainly looks worth it initially. There are 3 could be nasty lefties in the system now, we haven't had that in the majors in a long time.
  24. RaoulDuke
    Hey weird connection, I live about 30 minuets from Cal Poly and even worked there for a short time. Definitely not known as a big baseball (or sports in general) school. It is famously where Ozzie Smith came from as well as Weird Al Yankovic. Former Twins Casey Fien and Kevin Corriea are both alum as well with a few more mlbers scattered throughout the years. Seems like they have been having more kids drafted higher up in recent years, though Lee will be the 4th first round selection overall and first since 2012. He certainly fits the big college bat mold they target in the first most years. Interesting that his Dad is a coach like Kiriloff.
  25. RaoulDuke
    They have some interesting arms that could prove to be good pen pieces, I think this is why they were comfortable trading Rodgers and not signing much. However Pagan/ Duffey sucking has really accelerated the time frame. Maeda is going to be back at some point this year, and probably doesn't have the time to stretch out. He was an awesome reliever with the Dodgers in the playoffs/ stretch runs. Winder/ Ober are going to face innings issues and could use the decreased workload. Archer is getting an early hook to keep his innings down he could be a pen piece. Bundy could be a long guy. Prospects like Henriquez/ Sands/ Canterino could all get their feet wet in the pen and then we will see who they want to develop as starters next year. All those possibilities and they are still short 2 late inning arms. They need Alcala back in the worst way but hes hard to bet on at this point. Duran has been awesome but has already pitched double the innings he has in 3 years? Is he really going to be there later in the year at this pace? They must trade for 2 setup caliber guys period.
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