Jump to content
Twins Daily
  • Create Account

jkcarew

Old-Timey Member
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    5,621

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    6

 Content Type 

Profiles

Minnesota Twins News, Rumors & Analysis

Minnesota Twins Videos

2026 Minnesota Twins Top Prospect Rankings

2022 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks & Signing Bonuses

Minnesota Twins Trade & Free Agent Rumors

Minnesota Twins Fan Guides & Resources

2023 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks & Signing Bonuses

The Minnesota Twins Players Project

2024 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks & Signing Bonuses

2025 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks & Signing Bonuses

2026 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks & Signing Bonuses

Forums

Blogs

Events

Store

Downloads

Gallery

Everything posted by jkcarew

  1. jkcarew
    Cody leaving the door open for a top-15 Lewin Diaz ranking. Again.
  2. jkcarew
    Same thing with Romero. They’re short (stature), right-handed, power pitchers. Neither is going to project as a dominant, innings-eating, starter. Possibly, but not likely. Meanwhile, Balazovic’s peripherals were pretty similar to Graterol’s last year at Cedar Rapids...and Balazovic is actually a bit younger, although maybe a bit under the radar coming out of Canada at a very young age. Fair to say, IMO, that up to this point we’ve had Graterol a bit over-rated...mesmerized by that third digit on the radar gun...and Balazovic somewhat under-rated. Regardless of whether it makes sense for anyone to rank Balazovic ahead of Graterol at this point...I simply take this as very encouraging regarding Balazovic.
  3. jkcarew
    Let's also remember that it's not exactly like the Mets fan look back and gloat over that trade...or even remember it that fondly. The deal they agreed to in order to consummate the trade ended up having them pay a total of $76M over the last 4 years of the contract...a period of time where the team never won more than 82 games, and Johan contributed a total of 117 innings (and a 4.85 ERA). Ouch.
  4. jkcarew
    If there was even one more year on Realmuto's contract, offering Kirilloff would be easily justifiable, IMO. Some of the arguments here to devalue Realmuto...catchers don't play enough game, get hurt too often, decline early, etc....those are arguments that make a guy like Realmuto...healthy and just entering his prime...look even more valuable, not less. As it is, with just the two years...I would expect the Twins to move the line somewhere below their number 2 prospect. But I do hope they are considering all the possibilities.
  5. jkcarew
    Polanco is extremely useful. Switch-hitter than makes contact and can put a little pressure on defenses on the bases. Depending upon how/when/if Lewis/Javier/Gordon arrive (and Schoop departs), Polanco can be a SS, 2B, or super-utility...but he can definitely be an every-day type on a very good team, IMO. Also worth noting that Polanco, given a decent contract scenario (FA in 2023), represents an asset that might return tangible value in a trade.
  6. jkcarew
    Thanks for passing this on... The Lewis pick still looks good against the alternatives, IMO. Gore or Wright are the other picks (among those that were being discussed for the no. 1 spot) that I'd still be OK with. At least at this very specific (still way too early) point in time, I'm glad we didn't take Greene or McKay. With regard to Adell and Hiura, those rankings seem fair. Hiura is older and the bat is more advanced at this stage. Not sure Adell is going to be an every-day center-fielder in the majors...so there is that. But he's hit a better than Lewis so far, at the same age, and has been pushed even more aggressively having already had a taste of AA.
  7. jkcarew
    There's always a mystery team. The mystery team always has 'great payroll flexibility'. Weird, right? Has the mystery team ever signed a player? I guess there's a first time for everything.
  8. jkcarew
    Well written article. I agree it's the players own fault that things have started to trend against them in recent years. But it should also be noted, the unfavorable trends started from a point at which the MLB Players union had the best deal...and was arguable the most powerful union, not only in professional sports, but that ever existed in any business. Unfortunately for the 'top' major-league players, things won't get materially better any time soon. The only solution for the rank and file is a floor on salaries. That will never happen without a firmer ceiling. Add to that the minor league dilemma. Revenues are very unlikely to grow sufficiently to provide BOTH a materially bigger chunk for the Major leaguers AND a bigger chunk for the minor leaguers. And the major leaguers are going to lose that PR battle all day long. Also, any negotiating approach leveraging arguments that players deploy tools for "maximizing health and performance, maintaining/improving tools and athleticism, and mitigating age- and usage-related decline"....this is a losing strategy from the start. Such tactics will only rationalize shorter seasons and/or more players on a roster. In either case, it will result in LESS money in the individual player's pocket, not more.
  9. jkcarew
    This is pretty much how this organization has always been run, right? You do the best you can with talent evaluation/acquisition (given significant payroll constraints)...but mostly, you just sit back and wait for stars to appear. If some Pucketts, Hrbeks, Gaettis, Mauers, Morneaus, Radkes, Santanas, etc. come along, you have a shot. If they don't come along, you patch stuff together so that it looks like you care, and fans can look forward to the random (and unsustainable) 85-win season when everything falls into place. That's what's happening here. Buying (at a very low cost) another year to see if stars appear. I don't defend it, but I don't look for the Twins under this ownership to become something they've never been. In the meantime, I my only hope is that Falvey and Levine have what it takes to make the stars appear more frequently, more consistently...and soon.
  10. jkcarew
    I would have thought we could throw blind-folded darts at a list of free agents and come up with guys that would improve the 40-man...if not the 25-man. Apparently, I was wrong.
  11. jkcarew
    Funny how the masses don't want to rely solely on drafting and player development to jump-start the franchise... ...after the better part of two decades of horrible drafting and player development.
  12. jkcarew
    I agree that it's almost completely about the money. BUT a small (but not insignificant) part of the money consideration is the market and opportunities beyond salary. And then the part not related to money relates to perceptions on chances to compete for championships. This means that the Twins (currently) would need to offer above-market (materially more than the competition) to get the likes of Machado. It would be nice, if nothing else but from a symbolic standpoint, that we would hear that the Twins tried to do that. Having said that...I'm not as enamored with Machado as most here.
  13. jkcarew
    Who in the gosh darn heck is our closer this year? Whoever it is, (or they are), he stands at least a decent chance of being better than the opening-day closer from last year.
  14. jkcarew
    I'm feeling like this is the optimistic view. The pessimistic view being that nobody in the division maintains even an 84-win pace, and the Twins stand pat through the deadlines (since they're in the "race") playing marginal veterans on short-term deals...and simply waste the year in every possible perspective that can be taken.
  15. jkcarew
    There's total revenue, then there's the percentage used for MLB salaries and then there's the percentage used for MiLB salaries. The percent spent on MLB salaries have been coming off historical highs. And it's unlikely that the rate of growth of revenue will satisfy what MLB players want AND AT THE SAME TIME what MiLB players deserve. The next CBA negotiations will be interesting...and I doubt seriously that the players association will do anything material for the MiLB players. Might be time for the players to go for a firm minimum at the price of a harder cap...NBA-style. In the meantime, 8/250 seems fair for Machado, IMO. Twins could offer a little more....but it wouldn't matter.
  16. jkcarew
    No thanks. Bring in quality, or let the young guys have a crack.
  17. jkcarew
    Thanks for sharing the video. I don't have a clue from a technical standpoint. As always, he looks plenty athletic. Hitting can provide sufficient value to justify moving Lewis to a less important position. But hitting can also justify keeping a 'below average' defending SS at the position. Teams won a lot of games with Jhonny Peralta and Derek Jeter playing SS. It would seem reasonable that Lewis has a chance of being at least that good defensively at the position. In the meantime, keep him at SS in the minors...and like for all prospects, I'll remain more worried about his hitting, almost no matter how well he hits
  18. jkcarew
    The Twins need Astudillo on the 25-man in 2019. Don't know if I could justify it from a pure baseball standpoint. But I'd have him spend the season walking next to Sano. Makes Sano look like Kevin Garnett. As a side benefit, Sano's HR routine would apparently never look in any way egregious, in the event that Astudillo were to hit one.
  19. jkcarew
    I would be all for this, if I thought what you state would happen. Instead, I believe the new spots would simply be used to move even more pitchers around (more easily...back and forth between active and inactive) with the result being even more arms being available for each game. That would make things worse, not better. Roster expansion is right at the top of the 'be careful what you wish for' list, IMO.
  20. jkcarew
    Gonsalves strong finish last year (12+ innings) came against KC and Det...both of whom were deploying what amounted to AAAA (to be kind) lineups. And one of the reasons he didn't give up many hits over those innings is that the batters didn't have much incentive to put a ball in play. He walked 9 over those 12 innings. IMO, in 2018 he looked more afraid to throw the ball over the plate than incapable of doing so. That can change. I agree the Twins are in a position to be patient with him in 2019 and that's a good thing.
  21. jkcarew
    An average (optimistically) 34-year-old, right-handed, bullpen arm. I would be angry...but then I realize we have at least 6 40-man spots already being wasted. Falls solidly in the oh-so-familiar 'why not' category of Twins moves over the last couple of years.
  22. jkcarew
    After being released, Parker only lingered on the market without any other club seeing fit to add him to their roster for 37 days. Last year, Magill had been out there for 80 days. In Twins terms, this makes Parker a big signing.
  23. jkcarew
    I mean...would we grumble that the Twins are stuck in the dark ages if they identified/acquired/developed the next Dallas Keuchel or Whit Merrifield? I think pursuing the modern ethos is better than being ignorant of it, or dismissing it. But you still need players that are very good or great...at something/anything that has value. The simple act of acquiring/deploying players based on a 'smarter' criteria doesn't mean anything once everyone has adopted that criteria. Well...I agree it should make you something close to average. So, we have that going for us....
  24. jkcarew
    Best offensively against a Right-Handed starter ( possibly ) Polanco SS Rosario LF/RF Cruz DH Kepler 1B Sano 3B Cave RF/LF Schoop 2B Castro/Garver C Buxton CF
  25. jkcarew
    Funny how even relatively small changes can make the lineup significantly different. You add Cruz...you assume more PA's for Buxton and Sano, and you lose the two best OBP bats from the left side (even given neither was terribly productive taking into account slg). What are we left with? A 2019 team that will be desperate for at least one more left-handed bat that can do damage...as apposed to a 2018 team that was desperate for at least one more right-handed bat that could do damage. Given that righty-righty splits tend not to be as dramatically unfavorable, this probably isn't catastrophic. But I'd really like us to work to a situation where Jake Cave isn't our third most dangerous left-handed bat.
×
×
  • Create New...