bean5302

I think "technically" no formal punishment has been handed down. It's just a formality, though. They're banned for life. Ramirez is 33 this year. Like clockwork for the last 10 years he's been basically been a 6 WAR full season player with outstanding durability by modern standards. There will come a time when his decline begins to surface, but he hasn't shown any obvious signs yet.

Are you intentionally working hard to take my comment out of context? The Twins have played the yo-yo game with a number of younger players when it comes to short leashes. Much more so on the position player side of the equation than the pitching side. The criteria you've set to prove validity of my position that having a short leash on players influences their methodology require the player to perform poorly with the Twins, be shuffled frequently between the minors and majors, then be given a subsequent more patient environment and to go on to be far better for another team. Pretty narrow. I think it's common knowledge setting an unrealistic expectation for performance, then punishing a person for not hitting that performance number is a bad environment.

There's enough talent on the White Sox to win 75+ games this year. Losing Kyle Teel for the first month or two won't be great for them, but provided some of their low-key OF acquisitions pan out, their lineup could be respectable enough overall. Their rotation is probably going to be a mess, but projections seem overly pessimistic to me. I don't think they'll lose 100, but.... terrible, terrible, terrible culture there for a long time. Just tough to say.

Andrew Albers first 2 games started at the MLB level. 17.1 IP, 0 ER, 1 SHO

The Falzoll Twins have a history of the quick hook for young players. I think it's a real shame, too because it messes with people to know every time you don't strike somebody out, every plate appearance where you don't hit a home run, you're likely to get demoted. That kind of mentality destroys development and younger players. Making a decision based on 10 innings in Spring Training is pretty wild. Matthews should get the nod as part of the rotation so long as he looks better in his next start or two.

Kreideler gets a month... in AAA before the Twins release him IMHO. He's not going to hit, and there is no world where he should make opening day.

I don't see any value in extending Joe Ryan or Pablo Lopez right now. None. I see very little from either player's perspective, either. Neither Lopez nor Ryan make the cut as bone fide ace caliber pitchers in my book. They've been solid playoff caliber starters the past couple of years, and Joe Ryan's 2025 had particiularly impressive results, but with FIPs suggesting quite a bit of luck on his side (it's important to note Ryan's career results are all in line ERA/FIP/xFIP). Of the two, Joe Ryan would be my preference to extend, but I still don't see a good reason to do it if the Twins aren't going to $150MM+ in the payroll department, but it's very important to note extending a player in their Arb 3 season is now a TOTALLY different ballgame after the Skubal decision. There is no "Joe Ryan takes a discount" concept anymore. He's going to make $20MM next year in Arb 3 if he delivers another 3 WAR season. What does locking up a #2-3 starter do for the Twins? Having a jersey you recognize while the team loses 100 games? IDGAF. Signing free agents and extending deep into free agency means the team's player development department failed. Period. It's about 4x more expensive to buy free agency WAR than team controlled WAR. For infinite payroll teams like the Dodgers, no big deal. For payroll constrained teams like the Twins, it's reckless. All it takes is one step back and the Twins have a $25MM Phil Hughes on the roster.

Culpepper projects as a below average MLB bat based on his performance in AA (which was good, but hardly exciting for the level). It's a big year for him, and I can't imagine him not starting off in AAA. He's also had a good spring. If he's able to produce at a similar clip in St. Paul, it'll go a long way to easing my concerns.

Yep. Soto was supposed to be ready for Spring Training. Now Rotowire is reporting late April or early May. He sure isn't hitting 100 IP with this organization if he's not pitching till May.

Altavilla hasn't done a lot to make the team AFAIC. I'd be surprised if he didn't remain in the minors.

Can't stand Keaschall in LF. It's asinine. Shelton is truly Baldelli v2.0 as everybody feared. This roster feels like open tryouts. Lewis has 8 hard hit balls and 3 barrels with only 3 hits. If the BABIP of .057 comes up, I expect he'll be fine.

Kopech won't be ready for opening day at this point, and to be frank, it seems like he probably priced himself out of the market. He was injured almost all of last year and his inability to hit the broad side of a barn resurfaced. Honestly, I think he's going to have to settle on a 1 year deal at this point, and for probably a LOT less than he was thinking. I could see him signing at 1yr $6MM now, and he's not going to be able to choose who he plays for. The good news is, on a one year deal, he won't be playing for a losing club at the end of the season if he's any good.

You'll generally get some pushback when you compare a prospect to arguably the greatest baseball player of a generation and a sure fire 1st ballot hall of famer. Trout was a bonefide center fielder with elite everything at the plate who should have won the MVP at Jenkins' age last year. age 20 highest level: AAA - .242/.324/.396 OPS .719 wRC+ 88 (Walker Jenkins) MLB - .326/.399/.564 OPS .963 wRC+ 167 (Mike Trout), oh and led MLB in WAR with 10.1. That's more than any Twins player in the history of the game including legends like Rod Carew. I see Jenkins as a Max Kepler.

It's the same argument as always which amounts to players can choose when to be good or bad. It was the argument a lot of supporters for Jack Morris made. He only gave up runs and hits when they didn't matter. In general, the argument doesn't hold water based on statistical analysis; however, it's true, some players seem to fold under pressure. Wallner might be such a player, but he generates RBI at a pretty solid rate compared to other Twins hitters from 2023-2025. Every 7.686 plate appearances, Wallner bats in a run. Better than a solid majority of Twins batters with 300+ PA over that time span. So again, if nobody is ever on base, Matt Wallner will not have a ton of RBI.

REALLY need to have Clase and Ortiz as notable subtractions in this article. The loss of Clase is catastrophic to a team which relied on their bullpen as a weapon. Ortiz was a big loss to their rotation depth as well. Their careers are over. Cleveland took a notable hit there. They're probably not a .500 ball club this year, but they always seem to outperform.

Being tall is a significant mechanical advantage. Longer bodies and arms, longer strides... it means the release point of the baseball can be much closer to the plate than for shorter pitchers. Every foot closer to the batter = almost 2mph of perceived velocity. Ober's height advantage makes his pitches seem 1mph faster than the average pitcher, and he focuses on long extensions as well to improve the perceived velocity further. In Randy Johnson's era, his height added 2mph to his fastball. Of course, there are plusses a minuses. A long motion with a lot of leverage means perfect repetition is harder and a little variance here or there can have a much bigger impact. That's what Johnson struggled with. Repetition.

You're the one who implied Ober wasn't giving up hard contact. Looks like after I put a bunch of holes in that with facts you want to change the subject again? Let me add you to the ignore list, lol.

Here are the numbers. I originally highlighted 2021 for the WAR, but removed it because Joe Ryan didn't really pitch in 2021. It looks like you used bWAR rather than fWAR. Stick with your opinion it if you like. I don't find it remotely credible.

I have no concept of how a person could legitimately get to your position. Valdez vs. Ryan 2022+ GS = 143 vs 109 Inn = 902.1 vs 614.2 fWAR = 18.3 vs 10.8 ERA = 3.20 vs 3.78 FIP = 3.40 vs 3.84 xFIP = 3.34 vs 3.70 Valdez is more durable, has generated more value, has better results across the board, and much better individual peak seasons than Ryan. Is this one of those Alex Kirilloff things where Ryan is only healthy if he pitches a great game and every game where he wasn't great he must have been injured?

1st inning - Story 96mph off the bat from an 89mph fastball, double. 2nd inning - Monasterio 102mph off the bat from an 89mph sinker, single. 2nd inning - Campbell 100mph off the bat from an 82mph slider, GIDP 3rd inning - Durbin 92mph off the bat from 88mph fastball, single 3rd inning - IKF 97mph off the bat from 82mph slider, single plus a walk and a HBP xFIP 5.35.

1 MiLB option from what I'm seeing on Fangraphs, and he doesn't have 5.000+ years of service time to refuse.

I looked at Outman objectively. His big rookie year did have 23 HR but it required 567 PA, and I just don't see him getting anywhere close to that right now. He's got the raw power to do it.

Scott Baker's fastball was above average in velocity for the day. In fact, most of the Twins pitchers back then were above average. 2010 median fastball velo for starter with 100+ IP was 91.4mph. 147 pitcher sample Liriano = 94.4 (9th) Baker = 92.3 (48th) Duensing = 92.0 (55th) Blackburn = 91.5 (68th) ----Median = 91.4 (74th)---- Pavano = 90.6 (93rd) Slowey = 90.3 (100th For interesting reference... Mets Johan Santana = 90.4 (98th) Complaints about the old days of the Twins wasn't about fastball velocity. It was "pitch to contact" and living in the strike zone for the sake of efficiency. It was a short-sighted perspective which was best used in the 1980s and earlier when HRs weren't so prevelant and lineups had dead spots.

Calling a pitcher who is arguably an ace and certainly far better than anybody the Twins have in the rotation a "playoff caliber starter" is a disservice. Framber Valdez hasn't been a locked-in every start dominator like typical aces, but over his past 4 seasons where's he's qualified every year, he owns a 3.21 ERA, 3.29 FIP, and a 3.20 xFIP. He's probably not going to win a Cy Young, but he's good enough to go up against opposing best pitcher in the playoffs, and he's their #2 behind arguably the best pitcher in baseball. Even at the back end of the Tigers' rotation it's Justin Verlander, who is pretty likely to be a playoff caliber starter next year. They're STACKED. On the offensive side of things, Kevin McGonigle looks like the real deal showing Twins fans what a REAL top prospect looks like over full seasons, not 1/2 seasons while they nurse unlimited injuries. If McGonigle plays well, it frees up some options for CF. Overall, the Tigers offense looks to be highly capable almost across the board, but without any real monsters. Unlike the Twins, again, Detroit has established full time players who are projected in line with proven performance. The Tigers are probably going to win 95 games this year thanks to weak teams to feast off in the AL Central again.

Yeah, it was too critical. I edited my post while you were responding. The issue with Ober is really what we've seen when he throws 88-89 already. He isn't effective. He was't effective today, either. Many pitchers flame out after they lose 2 mph on their fastball. It's abnormal for pitchers to continue their success, actually, and Ober was not a dominant pitcher before. He was a #4ish kind of guy. Losing 2mph for a guy like Ober means you expect him to be a non-viable starter due to the decline.