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jkcarew

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Everything posted by jkcarew

  1. jkcarew
    Wrong! Austin gets a start in LF against a lefty. Belt benched, and Buster Posey plays first base. So, they'd rather have Austin in the OF than Buster Posey. (Austin was removed for a left-handed pinch-hitter later in the game.)
  2. jkcarew
    Again, the early tea-leaves indicate Austin might be used to platoon at 1B and come off the bench. Last night's starter for the opponent was a lefty. Austin started at first, and Belt moved to LF. Let's see what happens when they see a few right-handed starters. Bottom line, it's kind of moot. Once Cron was signed, there was no way Austin was going to remain on the 25-man roster all year, or even very long (outside of injury to Cron/Cruz).
  3. jkcarew
    The encouraging thing for Romero was "only" 40 pitches in 3 innings and zero walks. Strike % was up a bit, 3-ball counts were down. More of that, and we're in business. Discouraging for Stewart, but I don't think hugely discouraging. It was kind of the perfect storm of what his challenges will be, and what we already know them to be. He couldn't finish guys off with K's when he needed it most...and all the balls in play, despite only a couple of hard-hit balls, resulted in multiple consecutive hits.
  4. jkcarew
    Belt to LF (made a small handful of appearances in the OF in 2018)...Austin to 1B. They’re not going to play Austin in the OF.
  5. jkcarew
    Feel worse for the fielders that had to stand out there an hour at 11:30 PM Waiting for him to record an out. Having to warm up Rogers in that situation was an epic fail.
  6. jkcarew
    Yeah...46 pitches from DeGrom in 2 innings is sort of a small victory in itself. Hopefully we can take advantage later.
  7. jkcarew
    The bats have been a bit slow coming out of the gate, to say the least. Gordon, Javier, and Kirilloff being out makes it seem worse, I suppose. Rooker now with 9 K’s in 16 PA at Rochester (after posting 12 K’s in 23 PA in spring training). But there’s no question the results are fantastic when he happens to swing where the ball is.
  8. jkcarew
    I think ranking Colina as a potential major league power starter is more hope than projection. Beware the 6-0 (ish) power starter...they usually make good relievers, and we got a lot of them: Colina, Romero, Graterol.
  9. jkcarew
    Don’t think Cave is going anywhere. A catcher and Adrianza are the most vulnerable, I think...but again, it could be Cave based on his option...and still good chance it’s moot if only one guy needs to DL in the next several weeks. Doubt seriously that any major league team sees Austin as an outfielder, even a platoon OF. In 91 appearances, Austin started 3 games in the OF...that was awhile ago, with the Yankees...and they replaced him in two of those games.
  10. jkcarew
    I tend to agree with this. As far as the Twins are concerned, Romero's a reliever. I suppose things could change in the long-term if he were to start showing command/efficiency, including a quality 3rd pitch. The signs that he would be challenged starting in the majors have been there for some time. Was never an innings-eater or particularly efficient. Tended to fade late in seasons...K-rate took significant hits as he faced better batters in AA/AAA. A lot of us were probably mesmerized by low-level results and MPH...especially the MPH, since it's something the system had lacked forever. Still probably true that if he develops major-league command...even with just the two pitches...he's a good back-end guy. Without the command...well, that's what he is right now.
  11. jkcarew
    IMO, the key for Astudillo's value is the developing power, not the 'defensive flexibility'. A .300 hitter isn't that valuable if it comes with zero walks and no power (and no base-running)...which was the case with Astudillo for the majority of his professional career. But, his power seems to be developing...showing way more SLG in the last couple of years than he had earlier in his professional career. So, if the x-base hits continue to come along, he has a very legitimate shot to hit his way into a regular major-league role. I just think it's going to be as a catcher/DH or as a 3rd-baseman. It seems pretty clear that the Twins consider him only an emergency option in the outfield, and no option at all in the middle infield. So, in that regard, it's not looking, at least so far, like he's going to be a 'super-utility' guy.
  12. jkcarew
  13. jkcarew
    Not I’m my opinion. Had Harper clueless and behind in the count, then he and the catcher decided not to throw another pitch anywhere close to the strike zone and instead pitch to the hot right-handed bat with a runner on base. Stupid.
  14. jkcarew
    Hope Thorpe is healthy. Wasn’t good in very brief spring training look. Now this.
  15. jkcarew
    One position player was going to go as soon as there was a short start to bring the staff to 12. Two more will go. One when Sano returns and one when the staff goes to 13. (Unless someone DL’s in the interim.) None of that should be surprising when it happens.
  16. jkcarew
    So, then maybe 15-20 TB in one game would be significant?
  17. jkcarew
    If 10 TB in one game isn’t very significant...how many more would it take?
  18. jkcarew
    Everyone wants to talk about revenue. But revenue will eventually track attendance. With attendance stagnant/declining, it raises the question of when, not if, teams will no longer be able to squeeze money out of media streams (or at the very least...how they would at the past growth rates.) If you measure the current health of baseball strictly on the basis of revenue growth up to this point, you are ignoring some major, and obvious, question marks. Mind you, I'm not taking the 'side' of the owners. But, the players (and when we think players, we should think agents) have lost some of their leverage. I'm acknowledging that there are reasons for that (I'm sure some not related to the economics of the game) beyond the possibility that all the owners suddenly discovered the concept of collusion.
  19. jkcarew
    Attendance has always grown as well. But not anymore. Many owners will see (do see) attendance as a leading indicator of revenue. The union was arguably the most powerful in the nation when the game's growth was strong. Whether the status quo was 'fair' to begin with...the players were bound to have a struggle as growth slowed.
  20. jkcarew
    To the extent that a 'new phenomenon' has arrived, I'd say it arrived because the players have less real leverage. And that would make problematic that any material tilting on the player's behalf would be accomplished in the next CBA...perhaps, even with the threat of a work stoppage.
  21. jkcarew
    But did the team take advantage of the unequal relationship in the cases of Harper, Machado...or Trout? To me, it's just negotiation. Acuna is in his own unique situation...as were Harper, Machado, etc. I concede that the teams are able to exercise leverage in more scenarios than they were 2+ years ago...but think that that pendulum was bound to swing back at some point.
  22. jkcarew
    In my mind, I had the Twins basically giving up on Diaz. Seems he's been around forever, and his results haven't been very encouraging, given how the bat will need to play at 1B/DH. But the perception has a lot to do with the ridiculous situation for international players where they're professionals at 16 and rule-5 eligible before they can clear A ball. Fact is, Diaz is the same age as Larnach, playing on the same team...even though, at this point, most of us (probably for the wrong reasons) have infinitely higher expectations/hopes for Larnach. Interesting.
  23. jkcarew
    This says nothing about the current status of free agency. Unless one thinks Acuna was 'discouraged' by the contracts Harper and Machado signed. Their situations/ages were very analogous to where Acuna would have found himself if he had chosen to defer the payday, and bet on his health and performance. This is one person making an individual/personal choice to get rich now, and forego the possibility of some later earnings that could make him much richer yet at that later date. It's worth mentioning that betting on your performance and health as did Harper and Machado might look differently for a kid that grew up in Venezuela (Acuna) vs someone who grew up in Las Vegas or Miami (Harper/Machado). I say, congratulations to Acuna for being in a position to be able to make the choice he just made. IMO, comments regarding his view of injury risk and lockout risk are relevant. Meanwhile, it's a no-brainer for the Braves.
  24. jkcarew
    I look at it differently. Helman is a year older than Larnach and Jeffers...played the extra year of college ball (in a top program/conference), which also explains maybe droping a few rounds compared to the juniors. To me, if they like him at ALL they should be getting him to Fort Myers sooner rather than later. Either way, it's encouraging. The absence that has me a bit surprised is Rortvedt. The inclusion that has me surprised is Willie Joe Garry. Did I miss something, or is he kind of coming out of nowhere in your rankings? A 9th round draft pick (article says 10th, btw) that hasn't registered anything positive in an official league as of yet. My guess is you're hearing things regarding Garry from people in the organization?
  25. jkcarew
    Now I see how Baldelli is going to do it...every starter throws 85 pitches, regardless of results.
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