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jkcarew

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Everything posted by jkcarew

  1. jkcarew
    Opposing forces at play. First, defensive flexibility in the majors (emphasis on majors here) is determined primarily by inate skill and athleticism, not where you play your games in the minors (or college or HS, etc.) And players advance to the majors primarily based on hitting. The result is, the pool of players that find themselves in the majors because they can hit at that level is not optimized for defensive flexibility...no matter what their minor league managers tried to do with them in games that didn’t matter. Some teams might make it a priority to have truly ‘flexible’ guys...it certainly has value...but you’re not going to have a league full of them simply because, in general, the importance of the hit tool is the trump card. RB, I see two trends that are your friends in your dream. Fewer roster spots available to position players (i.e., more and more pitchers on active rosters)...may force the issue to a certain extent. And/or the bar lowering with regard to what is acceptable major-league defensive play at all positions (fewer balls in play, higher FO/GO, station-to-station base running, etc.). So, although I think it’s a cool thing to think about....I put this one in the “be careful what you wish for” category.
  2. jkcarew
    Dabbled in other religions such as Olympic Games. We should have been more wary of him!
  3. jkcarew
    This is a primary reason why, when God created baseball, (person pronoun of your choice here) put the trade deadline so much before the point of mathematical elimination for even finge contenders.... It creates communion among the followers.
  4. jkcarew
    I guess if winning a Division title is an important goal, we can’t know which side of this argument is ‘correct’ until we see where Cleveland ends up. Depending on whether...or how badly, Cleveland sputters in Aug/Sept, it could end up that the Twins would have had a realistic shot...or not. For my money, I’m glad the Twins are not behaving as though an unlikely...or even a ‘decent’...shot at a Central Division title in 2018 is a goal worthy of any act or omission of act...no matter how small that act may seem today...that doesn’t help the club’s chances to realistically compete for a pennant some day. I see this as what many fans would have hoped for with a new management team... a front office that is not going to be concerned with ‘pressure’ to follow the path of least resistance...one that is not interested in the strategy of celebrating mediocrity....or that has experienced futility for so long, that they confuse mediocrity with actual goodness. Now, IMO, they need to follow through with the theme before the deadline hits.
  5. jkcarew
    If the Twins catch Cleveland, they are still massively inferior to at least 2 (and probably all 3) other teams in the AL playoffs. The AL in 2018 is the opposite of a year to bet on a long shot. But, more to the point, IMO, is that you have to make decisions based on the team you have, not the team you hope you have. If the team finished 10 games below 500...which is exactly what their performance over nearly 100 games points to...and you didn’t sell when you had the chance...especially the assets not under control in 2019...then the FO would be, and should be, open to massive criticism.
  6. jkcarew
    Twins were going to get nothing for him. Not challenging for anything meaningful in 2019...a theoretical division crowns with 83 or 84 wins does nothing for me...as unlikely as it is. This was the right move. Could they have done better is the only question I would have, but this seems reasonable...and infinitely better than nothing. One of my favorite guys on team. Still, the right move, IMO.
  7. jkcarew
    Expanding rosters a disaster...unless it comes with big restrictions (enforceable) on pitching changes.
  8. jkcarew
    Lewis Diaz is on 7-day DL with fractured right thumb. (Sounds like it would end up being more than 7 days.)
  9. jkcarew
    I think Garver can be as good offensively, and his arm is better than Harper’s. Harper’s receiving skills, though, were good...Garver, yikes! We’ll see, I hope. Need to play him (basically) every day behind the plate and see how much better it can get. Nobody was giving Harper much of a chance. His first year with the Twins was his first shot at being an every-day catcher...at age 28. Garver is 27.
  10. jkcarew
    Exactly my take on the comment. Not a big deal, just not adding anything meaningful or relevant...which is easy to do when answering questions spontaneously. And it sounds like we both agree with the conclusion of his take on Rooker, which is ‘maybe’.
  11. jkcarew
    Agreed. But opposed to a player that didn’t go the college route and is playing 1B in high-A or AA? They’re the ‘least athletic’ at their levels too. What is the disadvantage that the first base ‘type’ coming out of the SEC or PAC 12 has relative to that player? Does Lewis Diaz have a better chance than Rooker because he didn’t play 1B in college? College has nothing to do with it...and right-handedness has little to do with it. We already know first-basemen have to hit really really good...and the analyst’s second comment serves to make that point.
  12. jkcarew
    IMO, the first comment above is meaningless and represent a type of increasingly-common occurrence resulting from the modern phenomenon of people running statistical filters 24x7 for a living. It's an interesting observation, but doesn't even hint at why the right-handed, or the college-playing 1B 'type' would be at a disadvantage relative to all the other first-base 'types' out there. Exactly the same as saying "because, other than the small number of guys that were good, nobody was good". I agree with the second...and that statement is pretty true of all corner guys with marginal defensive skill and speed. FWIW, I'm also cautious on Rooker, having to do primarily with his K rate (and yes...he's going to have to be significantly above average offensively to have value as he's more than likely a 1B/DH in the majors.)
  13. jkcarew
    I'll take Juan Soto performance by his year 22 season.
  14. jkcarew
    Kirilloff 3-3 with HR and walk. En. Fuego.
  15. jkcarew
    The thought that this wouldn't increase the number of pitcher used in games...on average...is hopeful theory, IMO. Basically you're into your 2nd pitcher before you've let the circumstances of the game play out. There are still many games during the course of the year where a bullpen sees very little work...or only low leverage guys need to be used. Meanwhile, to think managers won't still want the protection on the back-side in case of especially tight games or x-inning games...again, pretty hopeful. In practice, you're likely....over the long term...to use more pitchers in this model. All of the above might not have any material impact on pace of typical/average game. But, where this matters is in how rosters will be managed. If effective (or frequently used) it's pretty likely that this would accelerate the trend for more pitchers on the active rosters...and could very well spur the movement (already requested by the player's union) for rosters to be increased to 26. That would be very, very, bad unintended outcome, IMO.
  16. jkcarew
    Molli worried Rosario would try to steal a base next inning?
  17. jkcarew
    Looking at Garcia made me wonder how Huascar Ynoa is doing this year. He's doing well. Good numbers especially hits/9 and K/9...more walks than you'd want. Been at low A all year, 20 years old. Basically we got Littell for Ynoa, as it turned out. (And Enns.)
  18. jkcarew
    Kirilloff is kinda having a good year. 3 more doubles and a walk tonight. Now batting over 350 and OPS'ing over 900 at Ft. Myers.
  19. jkcarew
    I think your argument against specialization is admirable. The trend...across sports...is more not less specialization and earlier and earlier. I think the chance for you to get your wish...and for the Friedman's of the world to be right with regard to MLB...will play out...and will have a lot to do with what baseball does with rosters in the future. (Hint: bigger is not better.) Having said that, I put catcher it's own category. Think of it this way...on a typical 18-man HS or Legion team, there will be many (at least several) pitchers that are still hitting. Conversely, 12-14 of those kids will be kids that haven't put on catcher's gear since T-ball. And you'll have maybe 2 that are developing catchers. Meanwhile, it's the most important defensive position in the game. So, when you find a truly good defensive catcher that is going to be able to hit major league pitching, you simply arern't going to waste minor league development time with him in left field. You can always find a left-fielder that can hit...those HS and Legion teams of full of them. The math is the math. IMO, the exceptions will continue to be rare....until such time as there is a coordinated effort to develop amateurs differently.
  20. jkcarew
    I agree. If you QO him, you better be prepared for him to accept. Then what do you do with him the next year? To me, you either need to sign him to a 2-3 year deal/extension....or if preliminary discussions with his agent indicate that that will be problematic, you need to sell high now. But I wouldn't be shocked if they QO him. I guess it could be argued that (at least for 2019) his flexibility would have more value for the Twins than for almost any other team in the market...as it's hard to imagine that any other team will have as many questions at multiple infield spots in 2019 as will the Twins.
  21. jkcarew
    He's a free agent in 3 months, so "big" will be a relative term. Still a lot of chatter on these threads regarding how the Twins 'should' keep Escobar. It's hard to disagree...but, it missed the point a bit. If Escobar wants to experience the open marked (and why wouldn't he, at this point)...then there's not much the Twins will be able to do....other than trade him first.
  22. jkcarew
    The point is not that the Twins shouldn’t want him back. The point is Escobar may choose to hit free agency. Then what?
  23. jkcarew
    Kind of a tall order at this point. 3 months from hitting the open market and having a career year...doubt he is being advised to negotiate exclusively with the Twins for an extension at this point. Twins hand may be forced to trade him.
  24. jkcarew
    The cost being thrown around in this thread (Syndergaard)...IMO, is the kind of cost only justifiable for a solid contending team that just needs one stud to put them over the top. And I’m not talking about a division title. Is that the 2019 Twins? And if it is (it’s not)...is your biggest spend of prospect assets going to be on a SP?What about C, 1B, DH, 3B (if Sano is your answer for 1B), RP, maybe a right-handed outfielder that can hit a baseball, etc, etc.
  25. jkcarew
    Because he was the team’s best player over a period of 4 years heading into this year? Might that be why?
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