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arby58

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Everything posted by arby58

  1. arby58
    This 'Rocco pull after five innings' claim has got to stop. The Twins starters were at or near the top of baseball in 2023 in average length of start for starting pitchers.
  2. arby58
    The difference is they traded away players they were about to lose (or likely lose) via free agency. That is not Royce Lewis. That is more what the Twins did with Polanco.
  3. arby58
    Since 1998, 16 teams have won the World Series, meaning almost half of MLB teams (14) have not (yes, Twins and Rays are among the 14). Interestingly, only 5 teams in that time period have won more than one - Yankees and Red Sox 4 each, Giants 3, and Astros and Cardinals with 2 - so it's not as if there are major dynasties in MLB in terms of championships. The big spending Dodgers have only won once, same with the Braves. The article's premise, that there are lots of ways to win a championship, is correct. Small market, small spending teams have won during this timeframe - such as the Royals, Diamondbacks, and Marlins.
  4. arby58
    I disagree - saying 29 of 30 teams each year are a failure is too extreme for me. I want them to put a competitive product on the field, a team I enjoy watching, and with a realistic chance to keep playing through October. Yes, they won just one series last year, but they were also 1-1 against Houston with a realistic chance to win the next series as well (until their best pitcher laid an egg in game 3). Meanwhile, Royce Lewis did the grand slam thing that had never been done before, young talent emerged that will be exciting to watch, and yes, they won a division, won a play-off series, and were competitive in the series they lost. I don't enjoy baseball only if my team wins the World Series - and if that is all that counts, you're not going to have much enjoyment in your life, whatever team you choose to follow.
  5. arby58
    Actually, the best thing MLB did for it on TV was last year's introduction of the pitch clock. I like to watch Twins games, but some of the interminable cat and mouse games in past years between pitchers stepping off, batters stepping out, pitchers throwing over to first base ad infinitum were akin to watching paint dry. Last year was much better. The influx of great young talent in baseball is real, and I expect the game's popularity to rise with a faster-paced product and young stars. Royce Lewis is the epitome of a young star the Twins can market around - as long as he stays healthy and performs. He is the essence of excitement in a bottle (see last year's grand slams and post-season HRs).
  6. arby58
    Teams have won the World Series 'the bullpen way' so I wouldn't categorically reject the approach. Besides, Sonny Gray was a great pitcher last year and laid an egg in his last start against Houston in a 1-1 series. I'm thinking Lopez-Ober-Ryan is good enough to go into a post-season with reasonable confidence IF the bullpen is lights out.
  7. arby58
    It's worth recalling that last year, Ober started in AAA even though he had a similarly strong spring training as Varland this year. Unless DeSclafani is on the IL, he's going to start for the Twins, and Varland is going to start for the Saints - that is the organization's modus operandi. It worked out pretty well last year when they need to bring Ober up early in the season. It's still worth noting that Varland had his share of struggles during the regular season as a starter last year (and, as noted, spring training games don't mean that much). Some more AAA starts may prove worthwhile.
  8. arby58
    This reminds me of a famous scene in the pilot for the television show Law and Order, where the medical examiner is being pressed by the defense attorney to 'not rule out' a fairly incredible possibility on what killed the victim. The medical examiner replies, "It's possible that death rays from Mars killed her. But I don't think so." Sure, anything is possible, if that is the life raft you want to grasp onto. Considering that they have, already on the 40 man roster, several other starting pitchers, unless death rays from Mars wipe them all out, I don't think Dobnak even sniffs MLB with the Twins this year.
  9. arby58
    It's even more of a moot point in terms of bringing him up - he is not on the 40 man roster. There is no way in Hades they are bumping somebody off to bring Dobnak up to pitch for the Twins.
  10. arby58
    That start in the play-offs was five years ago - fast forward to 2023, where he started 26 games for St. Paul last year, threw 126 innings, and had a 1.654 WHIP. If the Twins had traded for that as their number five starting pitcher, people on this site would be less than happy, wouldn't you say?
  11. arby58
    There is nothing about Dobnak's career stat line that suggests he is a valid option if/when the Twins need a starting pitcher. Besides the injury issues the last few years, he owns a career -0.2 WAR, 9-12 record, 4.94 ERA, 30 walks and just 77 Ks in 126 IP, and a 1.377 WHIP. Meanwhile, at St. PauL last year, he was 5-9 with a 5.13 ERA and a 1.654 WHIP. Yuck.
  12. arby58
    I don't see the point in bringing him up. As you say, he's not part of the Twins future. If they don't have pitchers more ready than him (Varland first, then I'm thinking that should be SWR or Headrick), then things have gone off the rails development-wise.
  13. arby58
    It's a good point, if it matters. The April average high/low temperature in Wichita is 71/43, and in St. Paul it is 58/36.
  14. arby58
    I assume 'willing to get rid of' means players acquired by trade. By that 'logic' we would dismiss the performances of, in the past, Gray, Lopez, Ryan, and Duran - all acquired by trade. The Twins have picked up some bullpen arms that way for this year - we can only hope that Topa and Okert are similar performing 'guys other teams were willing to get rid of.'
  15. arby58
    It's rumor season.
  16. arby58
    These suggested trades provide strong evidence that recreational marijuana is legal in Minnesota.
  17. arby58
    In the Falvey era, the Twins top picks have generally been position players - Lewis, Larnach, Lee being prominent examples. One pitcher who was a first round pick, Petty, was traded for two years of Gray (fine by me). Reya was taken in the fourth round in 2020, and he still has a shot. Like it or not, the Twins seem relatively risk averse to starting pitching at the top of the draft and prefer to trade for it.
  18. arby58
    Only if he can improve his control - a relief pitcher with 52 BB in 91 innings is not going to cut it.
  19. arby58
    Ober has the advantage of being 6'9", so he delivers the ball from a fairly unique angle and has a release point closer to the batter, which 'speeds up' his fastball in comparison to Headrick or most other pitchers.
  20. arby58
    Assume it is '10 batters per nine innings' because it would be practically impossible to strike out 10 batters per inning. I'll admit to thinking Headrick was in a bit over his head last year. Maybe a third pitch will improve his chances.
  21. arby58
    It's pretty interesting that the TOP 3 all missed the play-offs. Didn't correlate all that well last year. Diamondbacks in the World Series doesn't sound very convincing for your correlation either.
  22. arby58
    Rose bet on MLB, and an investigation found he bet on at least 50 Reds games in 1987, at a minimum of $10,000 per day, according to Bleacher Report. I know keeping jerks out of the HOF would be an impossible task, but when you so blatantly flout the rules of the game, there are consequences. Fine with me if it also keeps Beltran out of the HOF.
  23. arby58
    I like a lot of these - although I'm thinking more like 88-90 wins. The one I'd take you on is still Buxton (and I'm a big fan of his). Only 1 season with more than 92 games played makes it tough to expect 120. The big one though - he's never had more than 51 RBI - expecting a 50 percent increase is brave. So sign me up for the under on that bet in its entirety.
  24. arby58
    So you want them to sign Montgomery, but you aren't frustrated because the payroll went down? How are those compatible? I also highly doubt that Montgomery is signing a one-year contract with anybody. He may sign a three year deal with player options, but that is not a one-year contract. It is also not going to be for peanuts.
  25. arby58
    This is serious cherry picking. Why did you stop at 10? The answer is because only 6 of the top 15 - those above the league average - made the play-offs. In other words, you had teams with below average payrolls making the play-offs as often as those with above average payrolls. The White Sox were 15th and the Twins 16th, go figure. https://www.spotrac.com/mlb/payroll/2023/
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