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Road trip

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Everything posted by Road trip

  1. Road trip
    I'd be willing to trade Julien due to his defensive limitations and our depth at 2nd (esp with the option to keep Polanco another year), but think I'd want a pitcher a little more established than a prospect (which, to me at least, means someone still in the minors). A Hunter Brown type of young, controllable starter would intrigue me. Regardless, I'm not terribly worried about Julien's August mini-slump. He's still swinging at strikes and taking balls (even though he is getting the rookie treatment and umps frequently screw him). He's had some hard hit balls go right at fielders. So long as he is healthy, I think he will be a solid hitter.
  2. Road trip
    Willie Norwood, Rob Wilfong, Hosken Powell, and especially Bombo Rivera, c.a. 1978 😁 The Twins management was in full rebuild and advertised this crew as the next great hope! None of them really developed, but the names.... just great names! (I didn't include Butch Wynegar, as he actually was a pretty good player, and already was a grizzled 3rd year veteran of 22 years old when the rest of this crew got started) Little wonder Rod Carew was ready to leave town...
  3. Road trip
    Indeed. The same could be said for Floro back in the day. He had a nice stretch with the Dodgers on their World Series runs a few years ago, getting meaningful innings on teams that had a wealth of quality pitching options. Time moves on. Could be the problem is a mental block (likely for Lopez, given his family tragedy), or that the arm is simply cooked (possibly Floro's story). It's unlikely that either will ever be a high-leverage reliever again, and even "back of the bullpen" may be too much to expect. I suspect both players will get a chance to be on someone's roster next spring though.
  4. Road trip
    Vital? That's too strong a word. The early 70's Oakland A's provide a counter example. The late 70's Yankees, same thing. Horrible clubhouse drama with both squads, along with World Series victories. Teams and individuals can hate each other and still win a lot of games, especially in baseball: a team sport that is based on the individual match ups that occur with every pitch. A cohesive team/clubhouse probably helps a little. Some players may focus better when there is minimal drama, and perhaps Kepler is one of those guys. However if teams can't hit, pitch, catch, and run they will lose no matter how much they like each other. Josh Donaldson was perceived to be a very valuable player when he was playing well. He was so greatly valued that he won an MVP vote in 2015. He became a "problem player" when he stopped hitting a couple of years ago due to age and injuries. There are many great players that you might not want as a neighbor or friend, but they could really play ball, and they helped their teams win titles.
  5. Road trip
    I'd like to see him back. I have far more confidence in Maeda (old/sometimes injured/but usually effective) than I do in Paddack (young/historically marginal starter/recovering from 2nd TJ surgery). The team has a chance to be quite good next year, so keep investing in pitching. We'll need some depth.
  6. Road trip
    If I'm feeling super cautiously optimistic, I'll note that Buxton had knee surgery last September. Recovery varies but always takes time, even from arthroscopic surgery. It is plausible that his knee was still healing in April. And May. And June. The PLAN, good or bad, maybe is justifiable, even if it failed. After a few months of DH-ing, in unfortunately typical Buxton fashion, a hamstring injury take him out. But this is totally unrelated to his knee injury. And it takes him off his feet for awhile. And his gimpy knee gets several weeks off to heal further. Maybe, just maybe, it feels better now. (Knee pain sucks and endures / personal experience) Add in the fact that he realistically has about 20 or 25 possible games left in the regular season, plus possible playoffs.... Well, if you are Byron Buxton, why not give the outfield a shot now? Worst case scenario (medium probability) is you hurt yourself again. Best case? You are able to play 20ish games in September, plus some playoff games. It's the only likely way to bring substantial value to your team (DH ain't helping much). Nothing risked, nothing gained. Give it a shot and hope for the best..
  7. Road trip
    Twins have acquired a few good veteran hitters over the years (Cruz, Thome, Shannon Stewart, Willingham, etc), but for the most part competitive small and mid-market teams have to grow their own. The Dodgers/Yanks/Red Sox can sign whomever they want, and dump them just as quickly if they don't work out. Most teams don't have the deep pockets to do that. Of the many veteran signings the Twins have made over the years, many would be chalked up as expensive mistakes (Donaldson, Simons, etc), or minor cheap victories (Solano being a good example of a pleasant surprise, as little was expected). I think this is why Twins fans, esp on this site, are so focused on all the shiny new prospects in the minors. We know that a certain percentage of them need to succeed.
  8. Road trip
    Wallner's July, which you seem to think is bad, is an .819 OPS. That's quite good in 2023. An OPS+ of 123. The only Twins getting regular ABs with higher OPS for the year are Julien and Jeffers. Too many strikeouts? Yes, I also wish the number was lower, but he isn't striking out at the same rate as Gallo. Do I know Wallner's a long term answer? Heck no. He could be the next Oswaldo Arcia, Marty Cordova, Bobby Kielty, or any other number of young Twins who looked good for a year, but then faltered. Wallner's thoroughly scouted now, and he'll have to make adjustments. In a year or two we will know if he can. For now, give him a chance, as he's the best option the Twins have for 2023. I'm not full bandwagon, but I do know at this point I like Wallner's chances at the plate more than Gallo's (or Larnach's, or other LF alternatives they could roster).
  9. Road trip
    Correct, if you ignore May, June, and July, Gallo and Wallner are equally productive 🙄 For the year, Wallner's OPS is .858. Gallo's is .751. While we don't know that Wallner can maintain .858 for the duration of the year, Gallo's track record is very well established. It's hard to believe, but Gallo was even worse last year!
  10. Road trip
    Yes on Funderburk. Now. The pen could use another lefty (or for that matter, any reliable arm). Easy to find room for him, and he sports an excellent SO9 of 13.5!
  11. Road trip
    I'm skeptical. Solano has been more than adequate there defensively, and has hit well enough this year. He's the right-handed part of the platoon, and arguably should also play more against right handed pitchers as he hits righties as well as lefties. At the moment I'm more concerned about who backs up/platoons with Taylor in centerfield with Castro on the DL. While excellent defensively and adequate against lefties (I guess), Taylor is a glaring weak spot against right handed pitchers.
  12. Road trip
    While that was the standard, the format has changed. The first series vs a wildcard opponent will now be "best of 3" series. There is no reason to save or plan for a 4th starter. All hands on deck... The Twins are the very rare team where the 4th and 5th starters (Ober and Ryan, at the moment) are significantly better pitchers than the majority of the bullpen options (arguably everyone other than Duran). It would be managerial malpractice not to have contingency plans to utilize them in some kind of role during the wildcard round. Yes, they aren't accustomed to coming into a game with men on base. However if given sufficient time to warm up they should be perfectly capable of entering the game to start the 6th or 7th inning.
  13. Road trip
    No real disagreement. He's a 6th starter, but that still has some value. I can't identify a clearly better alternative waiting in AAA. Ryan rather desperately needed a reset/rest. There are innings to eat in August and September. If the Twins can find a way to win a few of his starts, and they've already won one, it's all good. Now if Keuchel makes an appearance in a playoff game... then we have a problem.
  14. Road trip
    Agreed, so long as he doesn't fall apart over the next two months. If Kepler finishes somewhere around his current OPS+ of 108, he would likely get around 12 - 15 million as a free agent on a one year, and likely could find a 3 year offer somewhere. He's still a good fielder, and the list of potential free agent outfielders is rather slim. He's a bargain at 10M. I think we all look at his average/power numbers and think, "this is all we get from a corner outfield spot?" Truth is, his production is above average. Pitchers are still dominating the game. We've got to forget about the video game numbers that hitters put up a few years ago.
  15. Road trip
    I'm with you. I think it's unlikely that Gray retires, but not impossible. He's already unimaginably wealthy by an average person's standards. 62 million in major league salaries according to Baseball Reference, plus whatever he made in bonus money as a first round draft pick. His future grandchildren are already set for life, barring some really bad spending habits. Gray will be 34 next year. He wouldn't be the first ballplayer to retire when he was still wanted. Buster Posey would be one recent example of a player who retired when he clearly was still productive.
  16. Road trip
    Doing nothing is not an option. Somebody goes.... today... by 6:45. Barring a setback Polanco is scheduled to be activated prior to tonight's game. Options: 1. Return Wallner or Julien to AAA. Sending down either is absurd, as they are the two hottest hitters on the roster. There are no other optionable position players. 2. Trade (or DFA) somebody 3. (Theoretically) a DL stint for someone. It won't be Buxton, who just returned from leave. I suppose it could be Kirilloff if his shoulder is worse than originally thought. Barring some large deal it seems logical to try to get something, anything, for Joey Gallo. The front office has known this day was coming for awhile. Hence, the "Hey, look! Gallo can still play centerfield" advertisements in recent lineups.
  17. Road trip
    Yeah, Kaat and Tiant. Just a hair before my time of following the Twins, but wow, talk about epic bad decisions to save paltry sums of money! As much as we may complain about current ownership, the Pohlad family is much better than Griffith!
  18. Road trip
    With another nice game yesterday Wallner now has .8 BWAR in only 39 at bats. That's more than Gallo has accumulated in the last two years combined! Maybe rather than considering Wallner a trade candidate the Twins should just give him all of Gallo's playing time..
  19. Road trip
    The Carew trade was bad, but the Twins were somewhat stuck. Carew wanted out, as Griffith was dismantling the team and refused to pay anyone in the early free agency era (see Hisle, Bostock, etc). Of course, under these circumstances the Twins were going to be terrible anyway. Had they not traded him Carew would almost certainly have left as a free agent. It hurt emotionally to lose Carew, but the late Griffith/Met Stadium era was going to be hopeless regardless simply due to the owner's refusal to recognize the reality of rising player salaries in the new free agent era. Now, Tom Brunansky for Tommy Herr... oof, it still hurts decades later. That trade was totally unnecessary and self-inflicted. The Twins were coming off of their 1987 title, and *thought* that Tommy Herr would thrive on the MetroDome's turf. They made the trade in late April, and it disrupted team chemistry very badly. Turned out that Tommy Herr HATED leaving St Louis (where he was a fan favorite) to play in Minnesota, and his performance reflected that. Bruno had also been a fan favorite at Minnesota, and his leadership, bat, and glove was sorely missed. The Twins sort of seemed to be in a collective funk all year, in part because Herr was brought in to replace the popular (but offensively subpar) Steve Lombardozzi. They finished a very distant 2nd place. Herr was essentially done as a productive player (note: don't trade a 27 year old outfielder entering his prime for a 33 year old middle infielder). The Twins flipped Herr the next spring for an even more past-his-prime Shane Rawley and went into full tailspin mode in '89. Rawley went 5-12 with an awful ERA and retired following the season. I'm sure from a perspective of lost WAR there were worse trades, but the '88 Twins were potentially primed for another playoff run. This trade derailed them.
  20. Road trip
    Steer and Encarnacian-Strand could hit before they were traded (probably, in the minors at least). But then you have to account for LaMont Wade. And Luke Raley. And Brent Rooker. None of them good enough to keep, and given away. All very good hitters now, assisted greatly one would assume by the coaches in their new organizations. I'll certainly place some blame on the current Twins players themselves, but it should be very apparent that the hitting coaches aren't succeeding.
  21. Road trip
    I'd add Balazovic's knee injury, which pretty much derailed him last season. He dropped from the Twin's top pitching prospect to a maybe prospect. It's not just the prospects either. The major league squad suffers from an alarming injury rate. I'm not saying the players aren't just as tough today as they were a generation or two ago, but I do wonder if something has changed with their training which has led to more muscular explosiveness, but less overall health.
  22. Road trip
    Gosh, I'll just strongly disagree with any takes on here that essentially say "Arraez isn't that good" as a way to justify a trade that the Marlins would make 10 times out of 10. Currently Arraez is #5 among all NL position players in bWAR. Don't like bWAR? He's #3 in OPS, which obviously includes slugging percentage. Don't like OPS? He's #2 in Adjusted OPS+. He's not only the best 2B in the NL, this year he's one of the NL's best players at any position! He even leads the NL in intentional walks received... so perhaps the opposition respects him even if some fans don't. Arraez likely won't win the MVP because Acuna is otherworldly awesome and plays on the best team in the NL, but if the season ended today Arraez would almost certainly finish in the top 5. Will he age badly? Sure, he might... but so might Lopez. I'll take the "aging badly/injury" odds on a position player over a pitcher any time (see: Mahle, Tyler)...plus Arraez is a year younger. Maybe the prospect sent along with Lopez will even things out, but right now the Marlins are laughing about the theft they pulled off.
  23. Road trip
    Um... Ryan Pressley says hello. LaMont Wade was given away. He'd be handy to have about now. The return on Jose Berrios may end up being a zero as well, although it is too soon to know.
  24. Road trip
    Well, I'll give ChatGPT a "B" on this assignment. Nishioka at #1 on the list seems an obvious call. David McCarty was perhaps the most disappointing Twins prospect in my memory. So much was expected, and it just didn't work out at all. Felton and Worely are deserving of spots, although I could also name a dozen other equally deserving pitchers (Ron Davis being the obvious omission). Drew Butera... as a hitter, for sure, but I don't believe anyone expected him to hit much. Teufel is a strange choice, as he was a fairly productive hitter for the mid 80's (and they got his playing dates wrong. He left in 1985). OPS+ of over 100. My recollection is that the Twins were not enamored with his defense. Ron Coomer... I remember him as being one of the better players of those late 90's Twins teams... which probably says a lot about how bad those teams were. 1.4 career WAR in over 3000 career at bats? Perhaps a better definition would be mediocre, rather than struggling.
  25. Road trip
    Bring on the robo umps. I HATE the human error element in officiating. HATE, HATE, HATE. If robo umps are wrong, they will be equally and blindly wrong for all, home and road, veterans and rookies, superstars and journeymen, all ethnicities, all uniforms (I will swear to my grave that the Yankee uniform is worth a few calls a year, if not per game). I've been watching egregiously bad calls ruin close games for nearly 50 years. We have the technology...fix it!
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