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arby58

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Everything posted by arby58

  1. arby58
    I don't understand/agree with the claim they have managed Arraez very poorly. Last year, he appeared in 147 games and had 603 plate appearances. For a player who is primarily a hitter, what is very poor about that? In fact, I think they have managed him pretty well, considering that he doesn't have a natural defensive position and isn't particularly fast on the bases (which is what you would expect from a hitter with his high OBP and not-so-high slugging percentage). The Twins have actually maximized his potential, but he has real shortcomings.
  2. arby58
    Simmons never won a gold glove - Mauer won three. Simmons had never won an MVP - he finished 6th, 9th, and 10th in his best years - Mauer finished 1st, 4th, and 6th in his best years. Simmons won one silver slugger award, Mauer won five. In terms of peak performance, they are not similar.
  3. arby58
    He'll get in for being both a three-time Gold Glove winning catcher while also winning three batting titles and an MVP. He has a higher career OPS than Rod Carew mostly because of a higher slugging percentage. Carew was a first ballot HOFer.
  4. arby58
    I think he'll get in, but I wouldn't bet the farm on it being on the first ballot. I've yet to see a baseball writer pen a scathing story/column about Joe Mauer the person. Given the stats are strong, my guess is they'd rather vote for him than some other worthy player who was more jerky toward their profession.
  5. arby58
    But it's not just 'have in their system' it's keeping them on the MLB roster for the entire year. That's an even bigger restriction on 'impulse buying' especially as rosters have shrunk compared to the COVID years.
  6. arby58
    Right - they have to stay on the MLB roster for the entire season. Do we really think there are 5 unprotected Twins minor leaguers that teams are itching to get and keep on their roster for the entirety of the 2023 season? If so, the various rankings of minor league systems (where the Twins are more in the middle or toward the bottom) are missing something.
  7. arby58
    He's shown promise - there are very few players that show up in the majors and immediately start hammering pitching. There have been very productive months-at-at-time stretches, and the cratered months can/might be attributable to the injury issues. Look at his history - he put up very strong stats in college (perhaps the best player on the team that won the College World Series), strong stats at each stop in the minors. The pedigree is there. Then there is the defense - he's got a tremendous arm. That alone is worthy of 'the look' and part of why in less than a third of a season, he had a 1.1 WAR this year.
  8. arby58
    Agree with adding Bundy to the list. My third pick (along with Thielbar and Urshela) originally was Garlick - when he was out, they missed him against left handed pitching. Still, Bundy has been more impactful, and many Twins fans wanted to DFA him after the first couple months of the season.
  9. arby58
    Baseball is probably the toughest sport to gauge how talent will translate into results - and these are excellent examples. A side note - Chase Petty, the 100 mph pitcher the Twins traded for Sonny Gray, is 0-6 with a 3.77 ERA for the high-A Dayton Dragons. Granted, he is still younger than most of the competition and may well turn into a great major league pitcher, but where would the Twins be this year without Gray (7-4, 3.04 ERA in 20 starts)? Answer: third place in the Division.
  10. arby58
    When the Twins traded Eduardo Escobar in 2018, they had 'nothing to show for the trade' until 2022 - and now Jhoan Duran is one of the top relief pitchers in baseball. Sometimes you have to have a bit of patience.
  11. arby58
    I generally agree with your list, but if I were a GM calling the Twins, the player I'd ask for in any trade for an established player was Duran. He has great upside potential and a long period of team control. You worry about an injury to any pitcher who throws as hard as he does, but still - he needs to be on the list somewhere. Of course, the Twins wouldn't trade him, but Buxton is first on the list, and I seriously doubt they'd consider trading him either.
  12. arby58
    Buxton is still a potentially great player - Torii Hunter did it in centerfield for a long time (and his catch of Barry Bonds' near homer in the 2002 All Star Game is highlight reel stuff). Jim Kaat's 25-13 1966 is at least as good as Liriano's (arguably) one good season with the Twins.
  13. arby58
    I seriously doubt they would get much in trade for Sano - he's 29, has some history of injury issues, and he's limited in what he can do. That said, I don't see any future for him, as Miranda and Kirilloff are younger and cheaper. Some people fear Sano will be another David Ortiz, but Ortiz was 26 and coming off a year with an .836 OPS when he landed in Boston. Sano's OPS the last two years was .757 and .778 - and then, of course, there is this year's .379. Trade him if you can, or DFA if you can't. If he turns into a different player in his 30s (highly doubt it), so be it.
  14. arby58
    I watched two games in Des Moines this week, and Kirilloff was scalding the ball - three HRs in those two games, one a rocket that damaged the facing above the left field boxes. If nothing else, Kirilloff can split time as the DH with Sanchez.
  15. arby58
    There are reasonable points on both sides. However, I find the experience to be more likely to boost rather than shatter Lewis' confidence. In some ways, I'd rather he get sent down now, after tasting success, than have him with the Twins and hit a slump and get sent down. To me, that would be more of a confidence issue. For everybody who says 'he proved he can hit in the big leagues' there are literally hundreds of examples of rookies who have a hot one, two, three weeks in the majors, and then pitchers start catching up to their strengths and weaknesses. Consistently making hard contact in baseball is about recognition, reflexes, and repetition - and Lewis had a pretty big gap in his opportunity to do that on a regular basis. Some more time in AAA certainly can't hurt.
  16. arby58
    I agree the situation isn't as big a deal as some think. OTOH, DFA'ing Urshela is not aging very well.
  17. arby58
    Give Miranda a chance - he has nothing left to prove at the minor league level. I worry a lot more about Minnesota's catching depth (quality-wise) than I do about first base.
  18. arby58
    Give Gordon a shot at SS. I'd much rather have him there with another season with Simmons. IF we think Lewis/Martin are a year away, spend your money elsewhere (like starting pitching).
  19. arby58
    I think you meant 'release them' rather than 'trade them.'
  20. arby58
    Whatever Ryan turns out to be (agree the MLB sample size is small, but he has performed at other levels), some of the knocks against him are of the 'so what' variety. Right, he throws a fastball in the low 90s, but plenty of excellent pitchers (Maddux, Buehrle, Greinke) get by/got by in that range. Right, he throws a lot of fastballs - so do Lance Lynn and Jake Odorizzi (also around the same mph and spin rate). He can be an effective MLB pitcher with what he's already got.
  21. arby58
    Another advantage of having a reliever work 1+ innings is they will already have faced three batters, so the manager has more flexibility with removing them - plus, if that pitcher gets, say, 1 or 2 outs and another reliever is needed, if they get to the end of the inning, they are also no longer subject to the three batter rule.
  22. arby58
    If you send him and he's out, he definitely can't score. If you don't send him, he still might score. It's a case-by-case decision.
  23. arby58
    It's only six games. Maybe he is the real deal, and maybe pitchers will figure out how to get him out. It's when they start changing approach we'll see whether he can also figure out how to respond - if he can, then we can pronounce him ready.
  24. arby58
    I suspect that a 12 noon start had something to do with that.
  25. arby58
    An illness isn't really an injury. If you take the Twins at their word, neither Buxton or Arraez are likely to miss much playing time.
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