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jkcarew

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Everything posted by jkcarew

  1. jkcarew
    Overrated? That's something not often uttered about prospects ranked in the 60's, 70's, 80's or 90's within their own organization.
  2. jkcarew
    That's funny. But also, not inaccurate. Rose was not good at anything...didn't have a defensive position he was even average at. But he could put the ball in play and slap singles all over the place. Benefited from playing on turf almost his entire career and saw many ordinary ground balls shoot through the infield for singles, and many ordinary singles shoot through the gaps for doubles and triples. Incredibly over-rated in his day...but he what the media wanted a baseball player to look and act like...what with being the first player in history to 'hustle' and all. To be fair, he was a switch hitter and was a better-than-average base-runner...something I don't think we'd be able to say about Arraez.
  3. jkcarew
    I'd go with Trout "could" be looking for his 6th...not "should" be. When you go down that path, you'd need to re-calibrate the award for a whole bunch of seasons in the award's history. The award is named the most Valuable Player...and, historically, the value has been weighted to creating runs leading to wins in a meaningful season for the club. Never in it's history has the award been considered to be the equivalent of a 'Best player' or MoP award. Trout is not the first victim or even the best example (see Ted Williams, 1947...then look at Ted Williams 1941 or Ted Williams 1942). Although Trout might end up being the most frequent example before he's done. If the award was MoP, then we could debate using WAR exclusively to determine the best player
  4. jkcarew
    We tend to think that Hall of Famer's were destined from day one to attain that level. But, at their 21st birthday, there's very little difference between Louis Arraez and Carew. Both are/were left-handed hitting second-basemen with about 1000 PA in the minors; high BA, OBP, and low SLG. Actually, Arraez's numbers just a little bit better than Carew's...(other than speed/range, where Carew was good and Arraez appears to be a non-factor, unfortunately). Of course, the next year, Carew was the AL RoY. While I don't hold out quite those hopes for Arraez, it just goes to show that you never know.
  5. jkcarew
    Let's get to consistently useful before we worry about the hall of fame. And let's not use Ozzie Smith as the comp. Shortstops are shortstops...no position (other than catcher) is close with regard to the visibility and opportunities to impact games. If we want to use a 'defensive wizard' comp for Buxton with regard to a HoF discussion, Paul Blair would be more appropriate. Blair showed up in the MVP races a few times, won multiple gold-gloves and was generally viewed as the best defensive center fielder in the game for several years. He had a career OPS+ of 96. Oh...and he won multiple World Series. Never sniffed the hall. Buxton sits at 81 career OPS. Of course, he could still end up being a better player than Blair. And if he get to the 95+ range OPS-wise consistently, he will be better...as Buxton's a better base-runner and perhaps has a razors edge in terms of his defense. But he's got to start hitting. For Buxton to even have any real value, he needs to at least be OPS'ing over 600. Jordon Schafer is at 615 for his career. Danny Santana 670. Bobby Wilson accomplished 600 or better at least 3 season in his career. He can have WAR of 2 or so OPS'ing in the 500's, but it would be artificial due to inflated defensive value. Meanwhile, in the 17 months that Buxton has registered statistics in his career, he's gotten to 600 OPS in less than half of those months. A LONG way to go.
  6. jkcarew
    Lewin Diaz not only makes...but starts...the all-star game? When I read this, I thought maybe I had missed something with regard to Diaz's season so far. But no. He's slashing 208/232/344...at first base, no less. It's a small league, so I'm guessing every other 1B 'qualifier' for the South had been promoted out of the league prior to the game, or injured. The FSL is a pitcher's league...but every TEAM in the league has managed a better OPS than Diaz's 576.
  7. jkcarew
    It looks like JR Murphy will continue to get significant, even most, games for the D-backs behind the dish. Alex Avila has apparently completely forgotten how to hit. And, fwiw, it's doing damage to Murphy's numbers. Slashing 182/270/182 over last 11 games. OPS still 803 for the year.
  8. jkcarew
    Thanks for the update. I'm not seeing 'so many' disappointments. On an unrelated note...we should probably add the 4th overall pick in the 2013 draft to the 'other 10 to know'. The story with his year so far is that he's reduced walks and increased strike-outs. Unfortunately, the reduced walks have resulted in more hits and slightly more runs. Remains a work in progress.
  9. jkcarew
    I get tired of the "Sano doesn't care, but Buxton cares" analysis...almost always totally unsubstantiated by anything real...and rationalized by pointing to Sano's weight as either symptomatic of his issues or the outright cause of his issues. Meanwhile is goes without saying that Buxton is doing everything asked of him because...he's fit?...speaks perfect English? We don't know. Besides...other than to inform the approach for the fix, the 'why' is irrelevant. For me, I actually hope they're BOTH more in the immature/stubborn/unprofessional category of 'able but not willing'. Much more recoverable than the 'willing buy not able'. (Note: I realize you are primarily simply sharing what you heard on the radio show.)
  10. jkcarew
    For context...Buxton 2018 OPS+ is 7 (I didn't forget a digit)...Sano's 84. But given Sano's expected role in the lineup, I agree that it's not apples to apples. Having said that, there is no defense at any position that makes an OPS+ of 50 (or 7!) anything other than an unmitigated, negative value, disaster. I think Buxton's road back from his toe should also include some type of extended 'reset' at some level of the minors...presumably a different flavor of reset...but reset just the same.
  11. jkcarew
    I'm sure the plan is to have him work for some period of time...probably an extended period of time...in Fort Myers. Then, if the response and results are as hoped, he'd do some time at Rochester before he comes back. That would be the 2018 scenario. If the response/results are not as hoped, then all bets are off. So Mauer is officially back?
  12. jkcarew
    Even as I'm hitting send, I'm remembering that sending someone like Sano to the minors to work on things would require a roster move due to the ridiculous current construction of the 40-man. Not that I'm advocating that...but it's just another example of how the construction of the roster is not in any way in balance with the needs of the major league team.
  13. jkcarew
    Not a fan of benching/resting Sano. Doesn't matter what recent results have been. He just turned 25 and is one of your very few current hopes for real production. Either option him and have him work on it in the minors, or play him.
  14. jkcarew
    I'd love to know the source. And the methodology for the metric. I haven't seen an 'official' metric along these lines. Maybe I'm not looking in the right places. Do I think the shift saves net runs? Yes. Would I trust a metric to rank or establish absolute value of the shift. Not necessarily. Lot of subjectivity (and/or assumptions and data that is hard to establish). We'll see. FWIW...my gut tells me the Twins really haven't saved more runs that every team (save one) with their use of the shift. If for no other reason that the staff is near the bottom of the league with regard to their ground ball rate.
  15. jkcarew
    I really don't have that strong of an option on whether...or how realistic it might be...that Belisle is in a position to help more than Duffey or Busenitz over the next month. Although, I think it more likely that Molitor is simply more likely to actually USE Belisle than he would the other two. So, I guess that would be the good part of this...if you want to call it that. Mostly though, it's a frustrating move to me simply because it takes a 40-man roster that already seemed absurd...and makes it seem...well, absurder. 24 spots consumed by pitchers...at least 10 of which are not being considered...or apparently even that close to being considered, for the active roster...and of course that doesn't count the pitchers on the 25-man that the manager doesn't want to use. Has to be some kind of a record.
  16. jkcarew
    Poor Robbie...taking the heat for Buxton's failure to perform and/or stay healthy, FO unwillingness to put (presumably) more talented prospects under the harsh glare of the major-league spotlight, and the manager's inability to consistently use him appropriately. Having said that...and to be fair, he's also under performed against his own utility-player standard. But when we're moaning about Robbie, who are we really frustrated with? I'll continue to pull for Robbie...from what little can be determined by watching games, he seems like a good teammate...and I'll continue to hope we see less of him in the future.
  17. jkcarew
    The judges would have accepted “Cave-man Discovers Fire”.
  18. jkcarew
    Gordon has an OPS of 745 with 15K and 2 BB. I’d like to see Gordon up (or traded in a package for a MLB catcher) sooner rather than later...but he isn’t tearing up AAA. He got off to a good start and is doing fine...K rate is not atrocious...but BB rate too low.
  19. jkcarew
    I’ll take the over, as well. You sure you want to take the over, Chief?
  20. jkcarew
    Don’t often see an intentional walk in the first inning with one out. Don’t trust your catcher to catch pitches outside the strike zone, I guess. But maybe next time, just let the runner at third walk home between pitches, so the rookie can use his stuff on the current batter?
  21. jkcarew
    Aside from the SSS that is this year, Enns minor league numbers are significantly better than Bencomo’s...and he’s younger...and he’s left handed. It’s a moot point regardless, as the Twins literally just move Bencomo back to AA...so that pitchers they consider prospects (or in May’s case rehabbing) can get the ininnings available at Rochester.
  22. jkcarew
    About as often as pitchers bat in the AL. NL fans don’t like watching pitchers hit, any more than they’d like to watch Sabatian Janakoski carry the football...but, they’re programmed to say they do. It’s a badge of honor at this point to the NL...they know the numbers...and they’re not getting better. They’ll change only when/if they perceive it to be a material disadvantage in the WS.
  23. jkcarew
    Every league in the universe uses DH except NL...to even debate this at this point is kind of ‘throw back’. It’s not a matter of coddling, not even a matter of skill. It’s a matter of specialization...by a certain time, hitters are spending all their practice time hitting and fielding...and pitchers are working on their arm, their mechanics, and pick-off moves, etc. Why include in the game something as rediculously non-competitive as the pitcher hitting (ex rare exceptions) when there is an alternative. We’ll see the DH go away right around the same time the NFL decides fans want to watch punters and kickers play running back and safety.
  24. jkcarew
    Hard no on Gordon coming up and DH’ ing. He needs to play and continue to develop defensively. If they’re OK with him playing SS with the big club, they should have already brought him up; if they’re not, they need to move Dozier. Regarding Rooker, he apparently is not going to be an outfielder...other than of the emergency variety. After seeing him play the outfield for a bit last year, the Twins literally took a first-baseman (Zander Wiel) and made him an outfielder so that Rooker could play first base. He’s got 31 games at 1B, 21 DH, and 6 in LF. So, he better rake.
  25. jkcarew
    Yep. Rooker is a whole 1 1/2 years younger than Sano.
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