Riverbrian

Last Game Left Handed Starter: September 5 - Anthony Kay - Won - 6 Runs Scored Lineup Composition: 6 RH 2 Switch 1 LH Season Record vs LH Starters: 19-24 Season Average Runs Scored vs LH Starters: 4.44 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Season Record vs RH Starters: 49-50 Season Average Runs Scored vs RH Starters: 4.79

Last Game Right Handed Starter September 4 - Erick Fedde - Loss - 1 Run Scored Lineup Composition: 4 RH 2 Switch 3 LH Season Record vs RH Starters: 49-50 Season Average Runs Scored vs RH Starters: 4.79 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Season Record vs LH Starters: 18-24 Season Average Runs Scored vs LH Starters: 4.40

I get all that. My sentence wasn't an opportunity statement or complaint toward the mistreatment of Fedko. Although I fully admit that that bone does exist in my body. This was a statement toward what I believe... and I may be wrong... yet I do believe... the decision on who to call up was limited to those who stand on a certain side of the plate.

Rules state that injured players can't be placed on standard outright waivers. The Twins needing a 40 man spot for Ben Ross could only release Fedko to create the opening needed for Ross. If he was healthy... He could have gone through the normal waiver process and return to the Twins if he went unclaimed. Fedko with Minnesota. He will just go down as another momentary contract selection that was made based on the batters box that he stands in.

First round pick of the Mets in the 2020 draft. Drafted 19th overall out of High School. That was the year that Austin Martin was picked 5th overall by the Blue Jays. It was the year that Torkelson and Kjerstad were can't miss superstars coming out of college. He was ranked the 5th ranked prospect in the Mets system according to mlb.com when they traded him to the Cubs at the 2021 Deadline. He had 32 AB's total when he went down with a season ending injury at Port St. Lucie. While injured and out for the year he was traded to the Cubs for Javier Baez and Trevor Williams. The Mets didn't know what they had in PCA. Jed Hoyer has stated that the Cubs wanted pitching prospect Matt Allen in return. The Mets refused Matt Allen but was OK including the real young Pete Crow Armstrong. PCA was steadily advanced up the system. He would accumulate a total of 1120 minor league plate appearances. His OPS over those 1120 PA's ended up at .883 which is impressive for a player his age but not overly impressive. Only 275 PA's out of the 1120 PA's total came at the AAA level (.820 OPS). For comparison sake. Emmanuel Rodriquez in the Twins system has accumulated 1511 minor league PA's (432 at AAA) and has produced a minor league overall OPS of .920. (.899 at AAA). These are numbers to chew on. There is perspective in comparison. I'm not saying Erod will become PCA. That would be ridiculous to even imply. But then again... with opportunity... who knows. I am saying that teams don't always know what they have. And in case anybody wants to send birthday cards. PCA was born March 25th, 2002 and Erod was born February 28th, 2003. PCA is 11 months his elder.

It's a poor choice if you miss the point. Agreed. All teams go through down stretches. Yes... The Dodgers haven't had as many of those things.

There is a contention from many on this website that rebuilds (or re-whatevers) means a long period of darkness. I simply don't believe that is the case at all. It can result in that depending on the depth of the rebuild... for example trading everything not nailed down. But... I've been paying close attentioni to the youth coming into the other 29 teams and seeing success with youth. There are scales to everything. You don't have to trade everyone. The Brewers cashed out Burnes, Peralta, Hader and they added to the farm system in those deals. Some panned out... Some didn't but they cleared space for more incoming youth. Today they own the best record in baseball and the starting staff (even without Woodruff) is perhaps the best in baseball... Not on Paper but by measurement of 2026 results. The Brewers know they can't compete with the big boys in the big boys free agent market. All anyone has to do is look around the league at the other 29 teams and take note of what the Nats young offense is doing? The Cardinals have been tough to deal with. The Marlins, The White Sox. The Twins can't take the Dodgers, Yankees and Phillies approach. They can't unless the CBA changes drastically. They have to make a similar commitment to youth and they have to be good at it and that will mean that they have to trade peak value players to get peak value prices in return.

I have no way of knowing so I can only guess like the rest of us. But... Yeah... I'm obviously making up a number but his value would have dropped significantly. His primary value was this year at 6 million and that primary value was largely eaten up by the Twins. Two years at 19 Million... Compared to a year and two months at 15 million? His pending arb raise alone is going to drop his value significantly. Not to mention two absolute dreadful performances where he gave up 12 runs right before the deadline that is going to plant that injury doubt in the nervous heads of buyers. You can only recoup that value with trade deadline desperation and then when you look around the league and notice that there isn't really a comparable but nobody was coughing up the elite prospects. Yeah... I think we took a trade value hit to the shorts.

Well... You probably know by now but this is where the crux of my disagreement with the organization lies. Our spillage is my main concern. We need more than Jenkins and if prospects have to be Jenkins like to get a full shot at full development. We are doing Agbayani types a favor by trading him. With our utilization of Fedko and how we are going to be utlizing Martin. Those guys can go away. They will have no trade value even if they are successful at the very specific minimal task we ask out of them. Dasan Hill is the only guy we lost that bugged me and it's not that I'm a Dasan Hill expert. Hard throwing lefties. I'd hang on to them with all my might.

On this we agree. Well... except this deadline part. The off-season was the time to set the correct course. Joe Ryan was probably half his January trade value at the trade deadline. That would have pissed me off more than keeping him using all of his trade value by hanging on to him until the very end and getting nothing at all.

I understand your point. I'm in the crowd that says that ship sailed in the off-season. I wouldn't have done what they did but they did what they did and it wasn't a complete failure. It certainly didn't knock our socks off but they kept themselves in contention... Unimpressively in contention or impressively in contention. It is contention and there are peaks and valleys to come. I wasn't happy with the off-season approach but I would have been more pissed if they decided to go for it, stayed in contention and then did what we thought they should have done in the off-season. If they trade Joe Ryan at a significant value loss at the deadline instead of the off-season at peak value. That would piss me off. You can make the argument that they probably shouldn't do a thing. Which is a viable argument but I don't like standing still. It's tricky but the end result of it all... in my opinion. We just delayed the inevitable for a year. We are going to have to make a heavy commitment toward youth at some point because we are going to be graduated people through the arb system and we need replacements. Young replacements.

There is the on paper viewpoint and the what is actually happening on the field viewpoint. My opinion is only my opinion. I won't use the terminology rebuild. But, they started a re-whatever in August and they didn't finish what they started and I would have finished what they started. The bullpen was almost completely gone and it was going to take time to rebuild that thing and with the rather large hole in the bullpen and a rather large hole in infield depth. Again... in my opinion... We had two players who had to be at the top of their trade value and hanging on to them was going to for sure lower their trade value... I felt it would have been a perfect time to move them to add some young talented talent to the system. Specifically I wanted a young SS capable of anywhere in the infielder and a young 1B and young bullpen arms. Joe Ryan and Ryan Jeffers could have plugged some of those holes. The front office decided to go for it instead. In the process of going for it. They found themselves in contention and being in a weak AL is not something you hold against them. The offense was good in comparison to their peers. The Bullpen while still not where I'd want it to be was improved significantly through the process of audition. The starting pitching was not what I was hoping. I think they are just delaying the inevitable because our players are going to age out and we need a clearer focus on development to keep the wolves away. No matter how I felt about the approach. I still believe I was right in the off-season. The team played itself into contention and I'll never question contention. I was OK with the trades because you don't declare you are going for it, not fail going for it and pull the plug anyway. The front office needed to support the effort of the players on the field. It doesn't always work but they needed to support it. Now... this coming off-season. I'm probably right back where I was last off-season. We are going to have to make a stronger commitment to youth before the walls cave in.

I've been tracking opposing team starts. There are a lot of examples of scoring off the aces and getting shut completely down by guys with a 4 plus ERA's. The Miz has been exceptional but the Cubs just put a 5 spot on him. The Twins, The Cards, The Pirates and Red Sox have all put a 3 on him. A 1.97 ERA is incredible but a 1.97 means that there are occasions where he gave up two runs or more to create that average. Bailey Ober has a 4.37 but he has 6 starts out of 21 where he gave up 1 or less. While the Orioles, Pirates and Nats touched him up pretty severely. I'd say he had 9 starts were he was average and gave the offense a chance to win it. When you look at individual games. There are always these individual moments in key situations and they work in both directions. The Twins also probably stole a couple of games along the way.

I think it's too soon to lock in but... as the season winds down... they've had an entire season to determine the best 9 and you are running out of time and space so you probably need to shorten. However... I still think it's too soon because our best 9 while doing alright. That alright-ness is only temporary because it is almost always temporary. Injuries will change that top 9 on a dime... hot and cold streaks start and stop on a dime.

Yeah sure but the article was implying "another 2nd half collapse". The 2nd half has been pretty heavily influenced by that stretch of games that I highlighted. The Twins were 15-9 in July. 11-18 in August. 26-27 for both months. It's .500 ball and that is where you find most teams during most 30 game stretches or entire seasons. .500 ball is where half of them reside at any given time and .500 isn't a collapse... it's normal. Where does the 2nd half start? If it's game 82. The Twins were 38-43 in the first half and that means 29-30 in the 2nd half. If it's the all-star break. We were 48-49 at the all star break. We are 19-24 since. Season's are up and downs and if the Twins or any team can control the roller coaster. We would all have to find something else to complain about. Now... if the purpose of this article is to get the TD posters to attack prior decision making. OK... in that case... I have my criticisms... I would have taken another approach in the off season... However... my approach... your approach... anybody's approach wouldn't be immune to a sub par stretch of baseball at any given time of the season like our August has been. Case in point... The Dodgers are 13-17 in their past 30 games. The Dodgers like the other 29 teams do not have immunity from the ups and downs.