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arby58

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Everything posted by arby58

  1. arby58
    To be fair, that isn't what the OP implied. It is a pretty common move when a shortstop doesn't have the arm or range (paging Jorge Polanco, Xander Bogaerts, and Jonathan Villar). I, too, was much more comfortable with Lee at 2B - and probably the Twins as well. They didn't play him regularly at SS until it was absolutely necessary. He started 15 games at SS prior to 8-1 (and 5 of those were while Correa was on the injured list), and 49 from then until the end of the season.
  2. arby58
    Drew Burress is an inch taller than Kirby Puckett was, and he turned out ok. You've got to like that both Burress and Gracia walked more than they struck out last year, and Lebron's K rate was a bit higher than optimal. That said, the Twins love drafting shortstops, so Lebron probably gets the nod - and the prediction lists I've seen (MLB.com, ESPN, Bleacher Report) have the Twins taking the Alabama shortstop.
  3. arby58
    You think there were better options in AAA? They called a bunch of them up, and didn't get stellar performance from them either. Nearly every Twin hitter (with the exception of Buxton and Martin) regressed in 2025. Players are responsible for the playing aspect of the game. It's been said by far smarter baseball people than you or me that managers get too much credit when a team wins, and too much blame when it loses.
  4. arby58
    Agree about Culpepper. Fedko scuffled through his first year in A ball and his first year at AA. Not sure a GM is going to take a 26 year old outfielder on the strength of performing better at his second shot at those levels. I will grant you he did well last year at AAA, but it was only 164 ABs. I wouldn't be shocked if someone took a flyer on him, but I'd bet the under.
  5. arby58
    Based on past experience and outcomes, the Twins don't value high end relief pitchers the way they do starting pitching. It appears they believe you can take a starting pitcher who can't quite make the grade in that role and make them a stand-out relief pitcher. That has been the case recently (Duran, Jax, Varland) and in the past as well (Nathan, Aguilerra, Guardado, Hawkins). Some of these were sudden moves - Hawkins was solely a starting pitcher his first four years with the Twins and then never started another game in a very long major league career. Guardado was primarily a starting pitcher his first two years with the Twins, transitioned to the bullpen in year three and then didn't start another game between 1996 and 2009. My guess is they will experiment with relief pitcher roles for at least a couple of their young starting pitching, thinking of Festa, Raya, Prielipp, and maybe Matthews. Not all will transition to the bullpen, of course - they will need some starting pitching ready at AAA.
  6. arby58
    Are you his uncle? Even in a good year (2024), he struggled with control - 40 walks in 79 IP, leading to a WHIP of 1.316, and that was his good year. Last year was dreadful, with 68 walks in 73 IP and an 'other world' WHIP of 2.068 - not surprisingly, his ERA was north of 7. I don't see how the Twins could have possibly protected a 25 year old pitcher after a year like that. Where would be the accountability?
  7. arby58
    I'm also happy for him, and agree the end result was not nearly primarily his fault. That said, where do the players 'fault' lie in lack of performance? I'd say the general decline in performance in 2025 was as much due to the players as anything, and they should be held accountable. Maybe 10% Baldelli, 45% front office (including ownership) and 45% players.
  8. arby58
    SWR is 25 years old - there most certainly is room for improvement. I 'get' that Lawler has only had 97 ABs, but after that amount of ABs, Luke Keaschall was earning playing time and, in about twice Lawler's ABs was ending the season with 128 OPS+, .827 OPS and 2.0 WAR. Lawler's 97 ABs don't exactly inspire confidence - .165 BA, .478 OPS, 33 OPS+ and -0.5 WAR. Nor does his injury history (from Google AI): Arizona Diamondbacks prospect Jordan Lawlar has had a significant injury history early in his pro career, starting with a 2021 shoulder labrum tear requiring surgery, followed by a 2022 scapula fracture (from a HBP) and notable 2024 issues including thumb ligament surgery (UCL) and recurrent hamstring strains, limiting his playing time despite high potential, making health a major concern.
  9. arby58
    Brooks Lee was #31 in 2023, and Taj Bradley was #20. Meanwhile, all SWR has done is be a solid starting pitcher the last two years in MLB, not AAA.
  10. arby58
    He's had three good years in a row - OPS+ of 122, 119, and 125.
  11. arby58
    Clemens had his moments last year, but his numbers aren't 'ok to pretty good returns' for 1B. O'Hern's 125 OPS+, .803 OPS and 2.4 WAR are head and shoulders above Clemens' 94, .715, and 1.0. We can convert some starters to relief pitchers (it's how Duran, Jax, and Varland got good, not to mention Nathan, Aguilera, and their current bullpen coach). We've got plenty of utility options, but we don't have a 'thumper' at 1B, and the Twins lineup needs one.
  12. arby58
    I will grant you that Lawler has strong stats at AAA over two years - that still doesn't strike me as sufficient for SWR, who has decent stats in MLB over the last two years and is still only 25. Maybe Ober, definitely one of hte others.
  13. arby58
    Maybe they could/should/would trade from surplus starting pitching, but the four players suggested have 'yuck' all over them. Casas last year was -0.9 WAR, .580 OPS and OPS+ of 62. He makes Clemens look like a superstar. Lawler was even worse, with a 51 OPS+ and .545 OPS. He is negative WAR both for last year and his career. Vientos was closer, with 'only' a -0.2 WAR, 97 OPS+ and .702 OPS. Acuna was 63 OPS+ AND .567 OPS. Is this really the best you could get for Ober (1.1 WAR) or SWR (2.2 WAR)? I sure hope not.
  14. arby58
    The odds are not in the Twins favor. It's nice to dream, though.
  15. arby58
    I assume this was at least partly in jest - Trout played 40 games for the Angels at age 19 - most of the guys I went to college with were shaving at that age.
  16. arby58
    I doubt you could get two of the players mentioned here but agree that Williams and Reimer would be a good ask.
  17. arby58
    I wouldn't view that trade as 'upper hand' for the Dodgers. Stewart is perpetully injured (including after four games last season for the Dodgers).
  18. arby58
    IF Buxton agrees to a trade, it's primarily because he wants to contend/win a World Series. I'd eliminate the Reds on that alone. The Dodgers are the 'sure bet' and the Phillies next if that is the primary reason to leave. I 'get' that he's from Georgia, but are the Braves really contenders in the next couple of years?
  19. arby58
    The 'it won't take that long to be stretched out' flies in the face of actual practice. Any examples you can cite that 'it won't take that long?' Piggybacks are also hard on a bullpen. There is a reason teams don't often adopt this 'strategy' when constructing a bullpen or a way to deal with a starting pitcher going down.
  20. arby58
    I know SWR isn't as flashy and doesn;t throw as hard as Zebby - all he does is put up solid numbers. Last year, SWR was 7-4, 4.04 ERA, 107 Ks in 111.1 innings, a WHIP of 1.275 and WAR of 2.0. Last year, Zebby was 5-6, 5.56 ERA, 88 Ks in 79.1 innings, a WHIP of 1.487 and WAR of 0.2. For his career in those 254.2 innings, SWR is 12-10, 4.21 ERA and a WAR of 4.0. In the aggregate, that doesn't look too bad to me.
  21. arby58
    While I get your point, if the last two years have proven anything, it is that you need starting pitching depth at AAA. Given Festa's health issues, he might be the one I agree with you about moving to the bullpen, but having stretched out Matthews and Abel in St. Paul is at last some insurance when the inevitable starting pitching injuries manifest themselves.
  22. arby58
    Wanted: a defensively challenged Joey Gallo. Found him.
  23. arby58
    It was 181 plate appearances, which is basically 1/3 of a season. Hard to annoint him based on that, given that over his MLB career 438 plate appearances, he is -0.3 WAR. I'm happy with last year and agree he made great strides defensively in LF and is a decent baserunner. Handing him the starting LF spot based on that seems a bit premature.
  24. arby58
    I think you spelled reprise wrong.
  25. arby58
    The league average OPS in the AAA International League in 2025 was approximately .750 - how is a player with an OPS of .853 'just average in AAA?' He's on basically evey list of the top 100 prospects in baseball - again, that doesn't scream 'just average in AAA.'
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