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arby58

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Everything posted by arby58

  1. arby58
    Assuming they get by Canada (maybe start your top players this game?), the Dominican Republic team has a scary offense to rival the U.S. - their batting order 1 through 7 against Venezuela was Tatis, Marte, Soto, Guerrero, Machado, Cominero, Rodriguez. That will test any pitching staff.
  2. arby58
    Trade Larnach, waive Outman, platoon Emma and Martin, stash Roden at AAA for now. Rodriguez has played plenty of CF - no reason he can't back up Buxton there, and he's certainly athletic enough.
  3. arby58
    Go back to 201`6, with ByongHo Park as the DH - there was an overhyped international player. Ended the season with an 82 OPS+. Never played in MLB again. Went back to Korea and resumed having decent results - which suggests more about the Korean league than anything else.
  4. arby58
    In fact, this IS a game where you can just move players around. Most teams have a player or two they can just 'move around' as needed. It isn't a brand new thing either. I remember the 1968 World Series, where Detroit manager Mayo Smith made the gutsy move of OF Mickey Stanley to SS - the criticism then sort of sounds this now. It worked out well, as it allowed Al Kaline (who had been injured) to return to RF and keep Jim Northrup in the lineup (he had a breakout year when Kaline went down). In the series, Stanley went 11-29, scored 4 runs, and had 8 RBIs. Kaline has said they probably wouldn't have won the series without that move by Stanley - who had played there in just 9 games that year. While he mostly played OF the rest of his career (and won 4 gold gloves), he did play 59 games at SS in 1969.
  5. arby58
    Both Plouffe and Smalley played at other positions with some frequency. There are plenty of examples from other teams as well - probably the most notable being Mookie Betts. Ben Zobritz also played multiple postions for many years in MLB.
  6. arby58
    Plouffe, Smalley, and Cuddyer weren't moved to get them to 'safer' defensive positions - they all moved around and were competent throughout the lineup. Tovar's 1966-1969 seasons found him playing the majority of his games at 2B and SS in 1966, 3B and CF in 1967, and 3B and LF in 1968 (albeit with plenty of games in both CF and SS). The first year where he played more games in CF than any other positioN was 1969, with 69 games there, but he still played 41 at 2B, 40 in LF, and 20 at 3B. It wasn't until 1970 that he became a more or less full time outfielder - but even then, when he played for Philadelphia in 1973, he played the most games at 3B and 2B.
  7. arby58
    Twins baseball is replete with examples of players who have successfully transitioned to other positions, and not just recently, This included Killebrew, who went LF-3B-1B. Cuddyer played OF-3B-1B basically his whole career. Polanco went SS-3B-2B. Plouffe started as a SS, played some 2B and OF, settled in as a regular at 3B but still saw occasional action at 1B and the OF. Smalley was primarily a SS but also played more than just a bit at every other infield position. Tover was famous for playing every position. There are other examples.
  8. arby58
    He's got speed that will play well in the outfield, and this isn't a new occurrence. In 2024, he played 20 games at 2B and 16 in CF.
  9. arby58
    I like to think I'm at least semi-optimistic, so I was looking forward to the 5 bold predictions. I don't have faith (even a little bit) in any of them. Ryan at 230 Ks is probably the best shot, but he started 30 games last year and didn't even get to 200.
  10. arby58
    If you read the article, the author only includes games played as a Minnesota Twin, so the answer is 'yes' to not including Rod Carew's 7 seasons with the Angels. It would be silly to include stats from other teams - if you are going to include them, Steve Carlton definitely belongs on this list. Chance played three years with the Twins, and the year of the 1.65 ERA was with the Angels, not the Twins.
  11. arby58
    This is about a player's time with the Twins - Dean Chance was only a Twin for three years. He doesn't belong in this discussion, other than his 2 no-hitters, which isn't really a statistic of much value in terms of pitching greatness (Greg Maddux being exhibit A).
  12. arby58
    FYI, it is life in prison, not jail. Jail is short-term (held until trial or offenses with a sentence of one year or less), and prison is for felony offenders, which means incarcerated for over one year.
  13. arby58
    Lee is more likely to be a passable third baseman than SS - although his hitting (or lack thereof) will be hard to accept there.
  14. arby58
    "For of all sad words of tongue or pen, The saddest are these: 'It might have been!'" That will always define Buxton's career, unless, at age 32, he discovers Ponce de Leon's fountain of youth - I'd short that. I've loved watching him play, and I'm old enough to have watched most everybody on these lists play. He is more a meteor than star, as the Twins baseball galaxy goes.
  15. arby58
    The biggest difference, of course, is Mauer was a catcher (at least at the start), so that was a big plus. But in terms of their approach to hitting, they look similar. The game still has room for guys who 'hit like Joe.' I'm not projecting an HOF career based on it, of course - but the comparison is remarkable.
  16. arby58
    Mendez' stats compare pretty well with Joe Mauer's at AA. Joe was 20, Mendez 21. They each had a great 'eye' - Joe 25 walks and 25 Ks, Mendez 67 walks and 65 Ks. Joe's OBP was .400, Mendez was .399. Joe's slugging percentage was .453, Mendez was .439. Joe had 4 HRs in 310 PAs, Mendez 11 in 491. I'm not convinced he has to change his approach all that much to be an impactful offensive player.
  17. arby58
    It's hard for me to get that excited about Young (other than his pedigree, at least half of it) just yet. There is a boom/bust look to him. I'm now convinced I would move Mendez to 13.
  18. arby58
    I agree about DeBarge, but I like Mendez where he is ranked - maybe (depending on the next group) a bit higher. You've gotta love the K to W ratio, and the rest of the stats are good as well. If he can make the switch to 1B it would give the Twins a possible homegrown answer at that question mark of a position.
  19. arby58
    Which ones have anything close to Lopez' performance record? There was a time some might have thought it smart to offer contract extensions to Kirilloff, Julien, and Miranda.
  20. arby58
    Not every player is poor defensively and lacking speed. You have to be good at something.
  21. arby58
    Hope springs eternal, but Lee is working with a limited skill set, given his below average defense and speed. Unless he can up his OBP and maintain 20 HR power, he has little future as an everyday player in MLB.
  22. arby58
    We were hoping at least one would step up, now it has to be two. Larnach has little real trade value and also little value to the Twins. Lots of baseball commentators thought the Twins would not tender a contract to him - still don't see how he 'fits' into their plans, given his defensive liability and their surplus of left handed bats to DH. So, if any of these trades would pan out, more power to the Twins.
  23. arby58
    Starting him in the bullpen doesn't necessarily mean he can't go back to being a starting pitcher. Chris Sale was solely a relief pitcher his first two years with the White Sox. Derek Lowe was primarily a relief pitcher his first five years, then at age 29 switched to starting and won 21 games. There are other examples as well. The Twins will likely need another elite starting pitcher at the latest in 2028. He could be the Twins version of Derek Lowe.
  24. arby58
    I'm sure it is the same as the prior article - you only get the full 12 if you pony up $ to become a caretaker. Seems more of it at the start of this year, though, than before.
  25. arby58
    There was an interesting piece on Baseball Prospectus today, where the author, Craig Goldstein, covered prospects who could break camp after Spring training. The gist of the piece was that MLB's introduction of the Prospect Promotion Incentives has led to more top prospects breaking camp with the big league teams. He then reviewed 5 of the 'typical suspects' who might make it on MLB rosters and what PECOTA thinks of them. The first few names were far from surprises, as Konnor Griffin and Kevin McGonigle were MLB's top two prospects, and JJ Wetherholt was number 5. The next two were slightly more surprising, as Carson Benge was 16 and Jett Williams 51. Of course, this is about those with an opportunity to break camp, not simply the best prospects. Then the author added a 'bonus' pick: Emmanuel Rodriguez. This is what he wrote about him: BONUS Emmanuel Rodriguez, CF, Minnesota Twins 117 DRC+ | .238/.356/.410 | Top 101: No. 48 It would be a shock if Rodriguez broke camp with the Twins, but I had to throw him in here because of his outrageous DRC+ projection. PECOTA just doesn’t love rookies this much! Especially ones that swing and miss like he does. But, when he’s healthy enough to take the field, Rodriguez takes plenty of walks, and assembled enough of a Triple-A track record that the model is buying in. He also hits the ball hard when he does make contact, driving an incredible .375 projected BABIP (his career minor-league number is .363). But because he puts so few balls in play, the average is still playing down, but what’s salvaging it is the more aggressive (for PECOTA) slugging projection, which is powered by a projected .718 SLGCON (.812 career). I don’t entirely know what to do with a projection this gung-ho, but I had to include it given the optimism from a normally conservative projection system.
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