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Ruven

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Everything posted by Ruven

  1. Ruven
    1981, last game before the strike was Helmet Night, a weekday evening? can’t recall exactly, probably. I went to that game against the Tigers, some guy named Morris started, pitched before AND after the extensive rain delay and the only guy on the Twins who could hit the ball with any authority on either side of the delay was the ok player but excellent baseball name Rob Wilfong. Twins lost badly. Went only because the strike was imminent and I was headed overseas. The next Twins game I went to was also against the Tigers, the 1984 version, at the Twins home opener. Twins got clobbered in that game, too. Bookends.
  2. Ruven
    My bet is lineups will be constructed to counter the starter and alternating left/right hitters will continue to predominate. Stacking could be utilized against teams with only one left-handed reliever so as to “get that over with” early on in hopes that the left-handed hitting stretch will get a second whack at the bullpen later in the game. This could be a strategy used against teams like the Twins with a mostly right-handed bullpen, Clippard and the closer notwithstanding.
  3. Ruven
    In a short series you never know. Get to the post-season and play well. That’s all that is necessary to call the season a success. Get to the post-season and play well and we’ll see what happens.
  4. Ruven
    > for Homer Bailey, there does seem to be one strong > indicator that explains a lot of his improvement, and > that is the absence of a long-term guaranteed contract. Just sayin’.
  5. Ruven
    When it comes to competitive evaluations trust the players. Players know how good they are and how good their team is and where their team ranks (on paper, before any games are played) in the league. This is true at every level of competition. The players know. Evaluations are not predictions. Anything can happen. The season can seem very long at times. But the players know this team is good, really good, and that’s a great place for a team to be before the games begin.
  6. Ruven
    The way the pendulum swings, if MLB in its infinite unwisdom overdoes the inevitable changearoo coming to deaden the balls to keep them in the park, it isn’t hard to imagine pitchers all around the league who have good stuff and a live arm having career years that would legitimize comparisons with Koufax and Gibson at their best.
  7. Ruven
    The Ramos for Capps deal is like the Sorrento for Munoz & Leskanic trade in March, 1992. Sorrento was blocked by Hrbek, Ramos by Mauer. In both cases the Twins thought they were dealing from strength, but when Hrbek went on the DL early in ‘92 they could have used Sorrento, and when Mauer got hurt the season they traded away Ramos, same problem. The Twins didn’t have anybody better than or even near as good as the guy they traded away. In this case the Twins are trading from their bullpen, a quantitative strength. To the extent that a comparison can be made, this trade is diametrically opposed to the Ramos trade. Solid 10-year catchers like Ramos are rare, and quality starting pitchers at a reasonable salary under multiple years of team control are like gold. In this trade the Twins are on the receiving end of the more precious commodity. In short, you couldn’t be more wrong.
  8. Ruven
    This short list of mostly failed trades excludes long-view deals where the players acquired eventually wind up in the Top 100. That long-view list could (eventually, if not already) include the Pressly and Escobar deals.
  9. Ruven
    That’s a simple swing, “long in the zone” and no extraneous motion. I would prefer to see that swing in a Twins uniform rather than traded away, unless it’s for an ace. 100% w previous posters on path forward.
  10. Ruven
    Reusse’s take is top notch: Hey, Boston: Duress is no excuse for making a bad trade. http://strib.mn/38b0J9D
  11. Ruven
    Hi Seth - a bookkeeping nit Age - way back in early SABR days in one of his mass market books Bill James said he set prospect and player assessment age as of July 1st of that season as the player’s age for the year. Unless there has been a strong argument against that, or Twins Daily feels it is helpful to give age as of the moment and birthdate, I request resetting the “Age” field for prospects to the player’s age as of 7/1. Maybe rename it to Season Age or whatever. In Enlow’s case, this would be his 21 year old season. Thanks.
  12. Ruven
    The Gardenhire Rules for Roster Building insisted upon a third catcher on the 25man even in the absence of major league caliber talent at the position. Had to have three catchers. Had to. Gardy is gone, and Rocco rules, so there’s no requirement to keep a third catcher. But a third catcher is essential with a 26man roster when the starting catcher, Garver, is first and foremost a hitter whose stick will be utilized at DH on days off from the wear and tear behind the plate. Having a third backup that doesn’t eliminate Garver as a DH in a game when the backup-starter has to be replaced, whether due to injury, heat exhaustion, a pinch hitter, runner, or whatever, is not a necessity, but I don’t see how Rocco says no to it as an option. All that flexibility is a good thing when you’re the one making the decisions. Astudillo will be on the roster.
  13. Ruven
    What do I know? Nobody is going to take my word for what should be done. But Earl Weaver, who knew a thing or two about building up a team and player development, said the best place for a young pitcher you expect things from is long relief. Putting that into a modern usage context, I think Earl would say the best place for a young stud is first man out of the bullpen, typically in the 6th nowadays in an Odorizzi game. And if the kid throws a good inning give him another, and another if he can handle it. That’s what I would do with Graterol.
  14. Ruven
    Unclear what Sano did to deserve a demotion from 5th against righthanded pitching to 6th when lefthanders are on the mound. From the if it ain’t broke school of thought I think we’re going to see, at least at the season’s start, Kepler leading off vs RH and Garver vs LH. And after that there are so many good options we’ll see what Baldelli does and what works.
  15. Ruven
    Best case scenario is Twins help him repair his mechanics (whatever is making it easier to hit his pitches, yo) and recover in the way of setup or co-closer that which was lost when Presley was traded away. That would be best case.
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