Aerodeliria

I don't know how they would manage it (or if it's even possible), but I would love to get Livan Moinelo (Cuban) from the Softbank Hawks. He's a 21-yr old lefty and he was used constantly in high leverage situations. He throws a four-seamer with some pop, a splitter, a disappearing slider, a lollipop curve (which almost always freezes hitters) and he has a tremendous change-up.

They'll make a movie called Robo Ump, where a robotic umpire goes rogue and starts killing batters who complain about the strike zone, but Bio Ump--half man, half machine saves the day by re-inventing the strike zone by making it so small no batter would ever complain. In Robo Ump II the pitchers get their revenge by installing robo pitchers who can throw a 273 mph fastball for a strike every single time. Rob Manfred finally finds the already retired Bio Ump living in a maintenance facility in Olympic Baseball Stadium in Montreal. He agrees to come out of hiding to save baseball once again. Bio Ump realizes he will have to destroy all of the robots and over the next two hours and seven minutes, he does just that and baseball is returned to the brutal sport that it once was.

...you forgot Edwin Jackson. I'm sure he has a pretty high flyball rate... Seriously, does anyone know how many games Pineda needs to sit if we resign him? I'm not putting that on the table as chip to resigning; I'm really just wondering. I'd like to sign one ace, and the rest will fall into place. I would like this rotation: Veteran Ace, Berrios, Odorizzi (if we can), Pineda (if we can) or Dobnak (I'm still high on this guy. He reminds me a lot Yamaguchi of the Yomiuri Giants.)

...Edwin Jackson means we busted

I think that they have a great core and will be even tougher next year. Let me change the topic for a moment. Not to take anything away from the Nationals, but I was cheering for the Astros as I am sure many of you were. So I really have to ask if anyone else was saying, "NO!!! You can't pull Greinke now!" That was the first ball that was smoked off of him, and it wasn't an awful pitch. It was a perfectly timed swing by Rendon. He then walked Soto; however, as Soto was the one National who had been a very tough out during the series, I didn't even mind the walk. Hindsight is 20/20, but Greinke was making them look foolish at the plate, and I think as he had only thrown 80 pitches, he had two more innings left in him. Se la vie...I told my wife that it seemed to me that the Nationals were a team of destiny before the series had started. Sadly, I guess they were....

But the Angels unfortunately always want something for nothing, so frankly, I don't see that happening either. The Angels had a great chance to deal some talent in return for some young studs at last year's deadline but they didn't even create a ripple in a rain puddle. I think they are being very poorly managed upstairs, which IMHO believe will hurt them for years to come unless they adopt a more flexible approach.

Every team needs a guy like Grossman on their roster because he takes walks--tons of them. That is why Arraez became so valuable as a Twin in the second half. He doesn't lose any sleep over taking four balls, but he is of course far better than Grossman because Grossman does strikeout. I think there are plenty of teams who wouldn't mind having a Grossman around--hopefully not as an everyday starter, but he still has value IMHO. I wasn't sad when Grossman got sent packing, but I wasn't jumping for joy either.

I thought they photoshopped the hat...they didn't? Is it held in place by magnetic resistance?

Great assessment. I couldn't add a word to it to make it any better.

I was just checking errors by our infield (and outfield). Sano would have had the most errors of any 3rd baseman had he not been injured for a significant amount of time. As it was, he committed the second most in baseball for 3rd basemen. Polanco committed the second most errors in all of baseball (not only for shortstops). Schoop would have committed the most errors by a 2nd baseman had he not been replaced by Arraez. As it was, he finished with the second most in baseball. Cron was just outside the top five for 1st baseman with eight errors (and I thought he was particularly bad at scooping low throws or even blocking them), so the infield defense is not something that we cannot crow about. For the most part, the outfield defense was fine and even pretty good (even when Cave was playing), with the exception of Rosario who had the third most errors for all outfielders (although, this is primarily a concentration issue IMHO). To take the next step, I think the issue of errors cannot be swept under the rug IMHO.

I think it is always a stretch to compare someone who played in the 1960s when there was no DH (and no attention to a wealth of data) to someone who is playing today (in any category). My problem with Sano is his lack of agility. Maybe that could be worked on, but how long does it take to 'make' someone more agile? He made a brilliant play on the slow chopper down third in the first game against the Yankees, but even then, it looked like he was throwing an acorn to first rather than a baseball--there was nothing smooth about it. Maybe he can take ballet lessons in the offseason or something?

They could go after some Cuban players who have been playing in Japan, like Livan Moinelo of Softbank. He has all of the tools and he is relatively young at 23. He already possesses a very nasty slider and his fastball is not bad. When his slider is on, he is almost unhittable. They overuse him here in Japan (to be honest), but when he's rested that slider just disappears. As he is a lefty, when his slider is on, he's basically unhittable from the left side. He would probably start at AA or AAA, but with a little work, he could be reliable at the major league level in under a year. (Here in Japan, he's only given up 37 hits in 59.1 innings. He has walked 25, but Japanese players tend to get more walks per nine in general. He has also fanned 87, so there is a lot to like.)

Sano needs to be moved to 1st IMHO. You can teach him all the tricks in the bag, but he is not that agile. He could probably play first as well as Cron anyway with a little work. We were extremely weak at the corners and mediocre up the middle. It meant a lot of extra runners and free runs. Poor defense at the corners cost us a number of runs against the Yankees. You can say, "Good try," on that hot smash to third, but I'd rather say, "Nice double-play." We can move Gonzo to 3rd or go and get a Donaldson. Either scenario is fine with me, but I just can't see how Sano improves playing at 3rd. Good defense wins and loses games in the playoffs. The Astros played phenomenal defense in Game 6 against the Yankees. There were three truly stellar plays and almost two more (inches).

He looks like Baldelli's son.

I wasn't so concerned with who Baldelli brought in as much as I was concerned with when they were brought in. I am rock solid in my belief that all three starters were yanked too soon. We have now seen the nationals starters pitch 21.2 innings in three starts. Each pitcher threw +100 pitches in their starts for a total of 305 pitches. Compare that to the Twins. 11 innings and 213 pitches. We are not the Yankees, but we tried to play the Yankees game. Berrios in game one. Not being hit hard, but some mental and physical errors led to three runs. If anything, it seemed like he had settled in. He was still throwing +95 on the radar gun, which seems to be the measure of whether or not Berrios is doing well or not. Dobnak had a rough first inning, but didn't get a couple of calls in the third inning and had been very good in such situations throughout his 'short' career as was mentioned by John Smoltz. (BTW, I am normally irritated by most former ball player hired as color guys because they tend to make overly dramatic, polarizing statements about players, but I though Smoltz was so good that I wanted the Twins to hire him to help with the pitching staff.) I just wanted Dobnak to face one more batter to see if he would continue his success in such situations. The game certainly was not out of hand at that point, but Duffey assured that it would be after a few more pitches. I won't fight to the death on this one, but I still think it was too early. Odorizzi was the most baffling as he seemed to be cruising. Only 82 pitches and he gets the hook? (I honestly don't think it would have mattered by the third game because the Twins were completely humiliated by that game, but still, I'd like to think the team would somehow rise up and start fighting back.) Also, I agree with rv78. It seems that the analytics so heavily vetted during the season, suddenly was of little importance to Baldelli. I'm not sure why. I'll put it down to first playoffs jitters.

Of course, if you can get a stud starter, you have to take him. It changes the outlook for the entire year; however, getting one is another matter. The Twins don't have a sparkling history when it comes to landing a stud.

I agree that this may be the way things go, but personally, I'd swap Gibson and Cron. I complained about Gibson as much as anyone, but the guy still has skills--hidden somewhere in that damaged body and mind. I just envision some weird scenario playing out in my mind whereby he ends up in NY, gets healthy and gets 16 wins for their team (including two against the Twins, of course).

I rather play Gonzales at first than Cron. He probably won't hit quite as many home runs, but it's hard to imagine him missing/dropping throws to first base, and over a full season, he would have a higher OBP than Cron. One would also avoid the righty/lefty conundrum that always becomes a point of discussion with Cron.

I disagree about Arraez, he had one bad play that arguably could have been caught by Rosario coming in on the bloop, but he also came up with some clutch hitting. On the throw to first, it was low but it wasn't even in the dirt, so that was completely on Cron. You have to catch that!!!!! On the remainder of the complaints, I agree. I was worried by Cron's inability to catch non-perfect throws to first and wanted Gonzales on the infield instead. Use Cron as a pinch-hitter against lefties, but his defense is just not good enough for playoff baseball to be on the field for the whole game IMHO. I've already ranted long enough about pulling Berrios out, so I'll just leave it at that.

It was like I was in the twilight zone to be honest. The crazy thing is that it seemed like Rocco was trying to mimic Boone and the Yankees' strategy. Pulling a pitcher after five is the Yankees' strategy because they have a very experienced bullpen. This what they do. We don't have to follow suit. Just because Boone pulled Paxton after five, we have to pull Berrios to match this move? Despite having a bit of trouble locating his curve, Berrios' fastball still had plenty of pop. He was still throwing 95+ in his final inning, and he had only give up one earned run and only two balls had been hit hard. Isn't this a case where you apply the vaunted metrics? Berrios is still hitting 95+ and getting swinging strikes; he's only given one earned run, so let's pull him???...I wouldn't have cared if he had thrown 108 pitches if he was still bringing it. My point is this: The Twins are not the Yankees and this notion that we can play like there is a tomorrow in the playoffs reminds me a lot of the mindset brought by Gardenhire. Berrios would not be an ace on many teams, but, for the time-being, he is the Twins' ace, so let him pitch until he starts getting hit. If we think back (way back) to 1987 and 1991, the starters in those games went as long as they could. It's different era, but the general principle should still apply IMHO. We lost the first game (which was sooooo winnable) by horrible game management and this set the tone for the next two games, whereby the process was repeated. Tom Kelly, for all of his weaknesses as a manager, knew how to manage the team in playoff games. Maybe a chat with him is in order? Let's see if we can get this figured out by next year. I love Rocco, but that was indefensible playoff management. OK, my rant is finished, but I'm still frustrated (apparently more than Rocco). Let the poison arrows fall from the skies.

Agreed! Although the throw was low, it wasn't even in the dirt. Cron is not adept at taking throws that are a bit off-target. It is why I preferred to have Gonzales at first and using Cron only as a pinch-hitter.

It's mind-boggling to me that Baldelli goes from his Joan of Arc patience with his starters to Captain Hook. As I can watch the games here in Japan on cable, I was a bit flummoxed at Baldelli's quick hook. Berrios was not getting hit hard IMHO and Dobnak wasn't even given a chance to work out of the jam despite his record of consistently managing such situations during the regular season. (I just wanted one more batter in the third inning. If you say he is your starter, there has to be a modicum of trust in his ability.)

I thought I read somewhere in TD a plea to attack the heart of the Yankee's lineup. I couldn't agree more--go right after them. Keep getting ahead in those counts. Make the Yankees beat you by swinging at pitches while they are behind in the count rather than ahead. If we can avoid the 3-0, 3-1 and 2-0 pitch counts, we'll be fine.

There are always unsung heroes who emerge in these kinds of series. My pick for an unsung hero is Jake Cave. He's been swinging the bat fairly well as of late and he has power to all fields.

If you want to take your vacation in Japan this year, you can come here and watch the game on TV via NHK on Saturday morning in your hotel room. The game will be broadcast live in two languages...just ask the staff to show you how to shut off the Japanese (unless you want to learn baseball lingo in Japanese). :-)