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Otaknam

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Everything posted by Otaknam

  1. Otaknam
    First of all, I don’t know any boomers who prefer long, slow paced baseball games. So I don’t know where that comment comes from. As a boomer myself, I have followed baseball for over sixty years and totally support the changes that have resulted in a faster paced game, especially the pitch clock, runner on second in extra innings, and non pitch intentional walk rule. But the golden at bat seems contrived compared to the other changes and would change the strategy, unlike the previous changes.
  2. Otaknam
    Carlson at the right price might be worth a shot. Keirsey deserves a shot, but he bats left handed and the team needs another right handed outfielder. Martin doesn’t hit enough and is playing out of position.
  3. Otaknam
    Rooker won the SE Conference triple crown in 2017, the first to do so since Raphael Palmiero in 1984. He was also named the College AND SEC Player of the Year, so there was a lot to like in selecting him. But with Nelson Cruz as primary DH, Sano still thought to be trending up, and Rooker with no defensive position, he didn’t get enough at bats. So it’s hard to fault the team for dealing him. Happy for Rooker that he made the best of his chance with Oakland, including an all star appearance. He was also named the Collegiate Baseball national Player of the Year and SEC Player of Brent Rooker won the Southeastern Conference (SEC) triple crown in 2017 while playing college baseball for Mississippi State University: Batting average: Led the conference with a .387 batting average Home runs: Led the conference with 23 home runs RBIs: Led the conference with 82 RBIs
  4. Otaknam
    Keaschall’s main position is second base. We can easily surmise other possible positions: shortstop or third in a pinch if he has enough arm, outfield, and first. Question asked and answered.
  5. Otaknam
    Keaschall is listed as 6’ tall, Pedroia 5’9”. So no similarity on height. But may be everything else is similar, and hopefully production at the big league level.
  6. Otaknam
    Why? What is his upside?
  7. Otaknam
    I thought this was about the top five Twins draftees or amateur signings based on their major league production, not based on their hype. That would leave Sano off the list, and Lewis and Jenkins are still a work in progress with fantastic upside. Without a deep dive Tony Oliva would make my adjusted list based on how well he hit in the minors and his immediate production in the big leagues. And Carew as well. As for number one draft choices, Mauer would be first of course, but the successes would have to include Cuddyer, Gibson, Knoblauch, Span, and Hunter. The rest of the list is pretty grim as far as players who had much of an impact for the Twins.
  8. Otaknam
    Lots of unfounded optimism here, but I hope I am wrong. The Twins have a group of low level number twos or high level number 3 starters, with no real ace. Lopez is being paid like an ace, but he needs to be an ace over the entire season, not just half of it. Ryan and Ober are solid and maybe can reach number 2 starter status with more improvement.SWR looks like a number five guy, with not much upside unless he improves his fastball velocity. Festa has a chance to show great improvement, but the rest are unproven. Wondering who would trade for Paddock and his $7.5 million contract, given his injury history.
  9. Otaknam
    Correa and Buxton are both real stars………when healthy. But you are right about Laureano.
  10. Otaknam
    With the Twins operating under salary constraints, they will likely see which internal options fulfill the utility role. Assuming they let Castro walk to save money. It wouldn’t surprise me if they find a trade for Correa to save money, which would leave Lewis and Lee for third and short, Keaschall and Julien for second, and Miranda, Martin and Hellman or other minor leaguers for infield depth and utility roles.
  11. Otaknam
    I am with you on starters getting more innings. Analytics has its place, but I think the managers have to show more trust in starters to pitch more than five or six innings. Baldelli has too many examples where he takes a starter out after five innings, 80 pitches and 2 runs. Show some confidence in your players to give you more than five innings, instead of taxing your bullpen.
  12. Otaknam
    I’m not sure why Henriquez is looked upon so fondly that he must be protected. His high octane fastball hasn’t resulted in him being a relied upon bullpen option. I guess he’s just a better,depth piece than others.
  13. Otaknam
    Positives: Big frame, upper 90s fastball, almost four years younger than the competition, front of the rotation potential. Negatives: lack of command, though 4 walks per 9 innings isnt exactly Steve Blass. And lack of experience. Hopefully his arm hold together and he avoids TJ.
  14. Otaknam
    No readers knows if Ryan should use his fastball more. Only his coaches have knowledgeable input on that topic. But we do know that having three solid pitches that he cans throw for strikes, along with at minimum a 95+ fastball, is a prescription for success as a starter. They sure need him to stay healthy, as the team started to flounder when he was injured.
  15. Otaknam
    It wouldn’t surprise me if one of them is traded. They are redundant, with similar power profiles and middling defense, though Wallner has a cannon for an arm. But having these two as corner outfielders compromises the defense, and there isn’t enough offensive upside to ignore that.
  16. Otaknam
    Raya has been handled like he is coming off TJ surgery. No one outside the team seems to know why the team is so cautious. As for where he is in the young starters pecking order, I’m not as high as some others on the Festa, Matthews, Morris group, as they seem like mid rotation or lower starters. While that’s not a bad thing, no one in this group looks like a top of the rotation starter. And to compete for a long playoff run you need more than mid rotation guys, IMO. I hope I am wrong and a couple of these guys emerge as better than mid rotation players.
  17. Otaknam
    After the DiSclifani fiasco, cutting Topa would add insult to injury. His salary isn’t much by major league standards, but this ownership is determined to cut salary at the expense of competing.
  18. Otaknam
    So make your team worse by signing less accomplished players, but it saves money. That does sound like what the team will do.
  19. Otaknam
    Lewis is the potential face of the franchise. When healthy he can be dynamic. I can’t imagine any scenario where they trade him for a pitcher who was limited by injuries last year. A Larnach trade would need to include some other player with an upside, probably a young pitcher like Festa. Larnach and Julien wouldn’t get it done I don’t think. Maybe Larnach and Keaschall, though I don’t think they want to trade Keaschall, as he might be their solution for second.
  20. Otaknam
    I wonder why the FO chose these pitchers for the 2025 AFL. I recognized only a couple of the names on the Twins pitching roster. None of those guys had impressive credentials and seem poised to make a big jump in 2025. Why wasn’t Conner Prielipp given some AFL innings, since he could be ready to make a move in 2025.
  21. Otaknam
    The Twins wouldn’t be concerned about a trade for value with Vasquez, like they would with Jeffers. It is about salary dump with Vasquez, and they would give him away for nothing if someone would take on the salary.
  22. Otaknam
    I appreciate the effort to put this together, with a lot of ideas to consider. Sarcastically, Bieber signing would be another example of the team’s desire to ancquire injured pitchers, with no guarantee that they will recover and be effective. Mahle, Paddock, and DiSclifani are the latest examples. Why not just keep Paddock at $7.5 million instead of an injured Bieber for a half season at $4 million, with no guarantee that he will be effective? And I would want a team option for Bieber in 2027 instead of a player option, given that in this scenario the Twins took all the risk on paying an injured pitcher substantial money. Vasquez needs to be dumped if they can find anyone to take him and half his salary.
  23. Otaknam
    I think it is inaccurate to say that Severino’s power is unsustainable going forward. It was not sustained this year, but with a fresh start he may again find his power stroke. Winder did show some promise, but always seemed to be injured as was pointed out. But pitchers can find new life and reinvent themselves by adding a new pitch, new arm slot, adding an uptick in their fastball, or finding a better role like Cole Sands did. Hope these guys keep chasing their dream and find success.
  24. Otaknam
    The only reason to trade Ryan is if the team is in total rebuild mode, which it is not, despite the late season collapse. A part of the collapse is that Ryan was injured. Right now the team has three solid starters in Ryan, Lopez, and Ober. All are capable of winning 15 games, maybe more. But unlike some other postings here, I am not sold on on SWR, Festa, Matthews, and the other young minor league starters waiting for a chance. None of them are can’t miss prospects, but each has a chance to be solid mid rotation guys, and maybe even better. The exception is SWR, who needs a better fastball or add another very good pitch to be more than a back of the rotation starter. The good news is the Twins will have a handful of young starters with limited experience to choose from. But they don’t really have a true ace, like a Verlander, who dominates most of the time. Lopez isn’t that guy, though some like to call him an ace. At his best he is a 2- or 3+ .
  25. Otaknam
    “ I could definitely see him an as a weapon in a multi-inning bullpen role, which I've always wondered if the Twins were grooming him for”. No team has as a goal to groom a top pitching prospect to be a middle innings reliever, especially when good starters are so difficult to find. The team has been VERY cautious with Raya, for reasons they won’t explain. Likely they will continue to limit his innings while developing him physically to be a starter. If he pitches well in 2025 they could move him to a middle innings role. More likely they will let him start and put him on a pitch limit, making his starts essentially a bullpen game. As Raya gets stronger keep stretching him out as a starter. I could see him make his debut as a double header call up.
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