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Otaknam

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Everything posted by Otaknam

  1. Otaknam
    The quote from Zoll (“We feel like the spot we’re in is something that allows us to be creative and opportunistic,”) sounds meaningless, as is the speculation that a new owner, which can’t come soon enough, MAY be willing to spend more. The fact is the team has a decent and fairly young roster with some potential IF the big boys can stay on the field and the top three starters pitch well. But competitive rosters are largely built with money, and right now they are just throwing a wide net hoping they get more than bottom feeders. Good luck with that approach!
  2. Otaknam
    Good point. Twins all star Earl Battey caught between 131-147 games from 1960-65. Jerry Zimmerman was the no hit, strong defender backup, similar to where Vasquez currently is in his career. Of course lots of things have changed in baseball. Starters used to pitch 240 innings and more, especially with four man rotations. Now they are considered iron men if they pitch 180 innings.
  3. Otaknam
    A silly proposal to trade Jeffer for an aging bullpen lefty in Peralta. It doesn’t save them any money, which will drive all FO decisions to make the penurious ownership happy. Even with yesterday’s trade for Dodgers minor league catcher Cataya, that leaves Vasquez as the every day catcher, creating a huge offensive hole in the lineup any time Vasquez is catching.
  4. Otaknam
    This video is about the Margot trade last year, not the Cartaya trade.
  5. Otaknam
    I agree with you on Eeles. He has come of nowhere and performed at a very high level. And I don’t remember any negative comments about his defense, so it must be better than Julien’s. If he had been a top ten draft choice two years ago we would be considered a top prospect, despite his size. And Eeles is a great story that the media would be all over if he plays well at the major league level.
  6. Otaknam
    Trading for Pablo Lopez later is a factor in the Berrios trade. Trading Berrios freed up enough money to later pay Lopez about half of what Berrios got. Lopez has at least as much upside or possibly more than Berrios, and the Twins wouldn’t pay them both. I’ll take Lopez over Berrios, as Lopez has more upside at this point in his career, IMO.
  7. Otaknam
    Rocco’s dogmatic adherence to analytics has always frustrated me. His inflexibility ignores a manager’s intuition and showing situational confidence in players. I think Rocco and the front office agree on the obsessive focus on analytics. Whenever the future ownership assumes control, I don’t think they will make immediate managerial and front office changes until they have time to review every aspect of the operation. It is generally believed that the players really like Rocco and have confidence in him as a manager, so that should carry some weight.
  8. Otaknam
    McCann is preferable to Vasquez, at half the cost. But who would trade for Vasquez and his bloated $10 million contract? The Twins would likely have to eat a large part of Vasquez’ contract to move him, so likely it won’t save money if they sign McCann. And saving money by dumping salary, even if it hurts the team, seems like the mandate from the penurious Pohlads.
  9. Otaknam
    Dobnak hasn’t done anything in the past couple of years to think he can contribute. His $9 million contract was always a head scratcher. He would have been released already if not for his contract.
  10. Otaknam
    This isn’t enough for Duran and it weakens the team without adding well regarded prospects. Casparius is a back of the rotation starter, which the Twins have a half dozen of already, and a 27 year old catcher who isn’t an upgrade or does not have projected upside. I would support a trade if it included two Dodgers prospects like Justin Wrobleski, a lefty starter with mid rotation ability, and their top prosects, catcher Dalton Rushing, who is blocked by other players. Otherwise keep Duran.
  11. Otaknam
    An exercise in futility.
  12. Otaknam
    So they dump a lefty reliever with an excellent fastball but iffy control, for a 29 year old bench player who is 0-18 in the big leagues. I don’t think that’s going to sell any tickets.
  13. Otaknam
    You know it is the baseball doldrums time of year when someone writes about the five hardest hits ball from 2024.
  14. Otaknam
    I like the optimism for Culpepper, as warranted by his early minor league stats. But I will curb my enthusiasm until he has a solid if not a breakout year in AA.
  15. Otaknam
    Moran and Gaspar are making the minimum ML salary, a paltry $729 K. So it’s not a salary dump. But I understand why you think that, since ownership has embraced its Scrooge persona towards the few Twins fans left who are not jaded. My first thought is they are looking at Gaspar as a cheap replacement for Castro and his $6.8 million contract. But he isn’t versatile enough and plays different positions, despite his modest flexibility. More likely they think Gaspar can be the backup catcher, freeing them to trade Vasquez and his always ludicrous $10 million contract, though I think they would have to pick of part of the Vasquez contract to make it happen. I guess the Twins brass thought Moran, with his TJ surgery and control issues, was unlikely to make the squad. Hopefully they haven’t misjudged Moran, like they did with Yenier Cano.
  16. Otaknam
    I’m not a fan of trading Lopez, weakening the starting pitching. And we all know success starts with pitching. The potential cost to sign both Verlander and Scherzer would mean either Correa or Lopez would have to be traded. Trading them for guys around 40 makes no sense. I do like reading the trade speculation, however.
  17. Otaknam
    I don’t think the owners are trying to make the team better, but they might be ok to make it worse if it saves money. Everything is on the table right now.
  18. Otaknam
    The good news is the Twins have a promising starting pitcher pipeline. Hopefully two or three become big league starters and at least number two starters, like Pablo Lopez.
  19. Otaknam
    Lee was a head scratcher on this list because I skimmed the part about giving up 11 earned runs in 8 innings. If Prielipp can stay healthy I like his chances of helping this year. And hopefully it’s as a starter.
  20. Otaknam
    Clearly neither is a satisfactory option, especially the oft injured Polanco playing out of position. They are better off platooning Miranda and Julien IMO. First base is one of the easiest positions to fill, where hitters with no position and declining players who can still hit end up. Yet this team has no internal options?
  21. Otaknam
    Gallo was a complete disaster in 2022, and was benched for the last half of the season. His only value is defensive, with occasional power but rally killing 45% strikeout rate. Signing him would be verification that the team is completely uninterested in competing. Better to platoon Miranda and Julien at first, where they have the potential to make contact.
  22. Otaknam
    The FO and ownership should not make any major trades leading up to a potential new ownership, especially one that includes your top starter who has a manageable contract. Trading Lopez to save money and weakening the three solid starters in the hopes that some young guys like Festa, Morris, Raya and Matthews emerge would make an already dreary offseason worse. Especially if the overpaid Vasquez with his .210 average and high strikeout rate is still on the team. That’s how you make an already apathetic fan base totally disinterested.
  23. Otaknam
    As we know, hindsight is 20/20 with trades. The issue with the Paddock and Mahle trades is that they had injury concerns that were known. The FO just hoped it wouldn’t be a problem. It was.
  24. Otaknam
    I see no reason to move Alcala unless there is something behind the scenes that we’re not aware of. His stuff plays, despite the late season meltdown. Flamethrowers with decent control have a place on the roster. Maybe he can refine his approach or add another solid pitch in the off season program. Miranda has shown flashes of excellence, such as the 12 straight hits. It sounds like his back held him back last season, contributing to the meltdown. But he could be effective as a bench player, playing DH, first, and occasionally third when needed. And the team needs right handed bats. Julien is another matter because he is too selective at the plate, resulting in too many called strike three outs. But the team should be able to help him improve that. His below average defense is an issue, like Miranda. But he has good power for a second baseman, so he should be able to contribute somewhere, just not on defense.
  25. Otaknam
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