Jump to content
Our free agent ranking is up to 100 names, and now you can filter by player position! Click here to check it out! ×
Twins Daily
  • Create Account

drivlikejehu

Verified Member
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    2,284

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    2

 Content Type 

Profiles

Minnesota Twins News, Rumors & Analysis

Minnesota Twins Videos

2026 Minnesota Twins Top Prospect Rankings

2022 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks & Signing Bonuses

Minnesota Twins Trade & Free Agent Rumors

Minnesota Twins Fan Guides & Resources

2023 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks & Signing Bonuses

The Minnesota Twins Players Project

2024 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks & Signing Bonuses

2025 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks & Signing Bonuses

2026 Minnesota Twins Draft Picks & Signing Bonuses

Forums

Blogs

Events

Store

Downloads

Gallery

Everything posted by drivlikejehu

  1. drivlikejehu
    The only way to avoid both walks and strikeouts is to put the ball in play early in the count. That means he is not being patient. I like Kepler a lot, I just think he will need some extended development time to put his skills together in a way that will work at the MLB level.
  2. drivlikejehu
    I haven't watched him play, but statistically Kepler does not look ready for a call-up this year. His OPS is great of course due to his very high batting average, but his approach at the plate won't work - he is putting almost everything thrown at him in play. MLB pitchers will exploit that and get him to make poor contact against hard-to-hit pitches. His BABIP is also somewhat unsustainable. Right now I would expect him to hit .250 with no walks or power, which would be pretty bad for a corner outfielder.
  3. drivlikejehu
    Mauer is really struggling. He's not going anywhere but it's very concerning from the standpoint that the Twins may have a replacement-level first baseman for the next few years.
  4. drivlikejehu
    You know full well that they would insist on Stauffer to close the deal.
  5. drivlikejehu
    Nolasco for Van Slyke is exactly the kind of ludicrous suggestion that renders most trade discussions pointless.
  6. drivlikejehu
    I don't think it's likely the Twins will play at .500+ from here on out. Possible, but not likely, and I wouldn't say it was a disappointment if they ended up with, say, 82 wins.
  7. drivlikejehu
    Well I didn't say it, nor did the more cogent posts on the topic. I guess there are some I didn't read closely. To the extent some posters are against trading anyone, I don't agree and I don't think the majority of posters do either. It's also a perfectly reasonable viewpoint to oppose acquisitions this year under the theory that the Twins aren't actually contenders, even with some additions. In that case, trading away mid-level prospects for rental players is basically pointless, even if the prospects dealt aren't a huge loss.
  8. drivlikejehu
    I don't think anyone is arguing against trading mid-level prospects. Trading Sano has been a prominent theme in recent posts on the thread. Is there a post somewhere about refusing to trade, I dunno, Kepler, that I'm not seeing?
  9. drivlikejehu
    Or the acquisitions do no good, the team loses in the playoffs, and now the club is way more screwed than it otherwise would be. I'm all for supplementing a playoff-caliber roster with trades, within reason, but I wouldn't trade away a guy that I expect to be a core element of the team for 5+ years. The playoffs are too random to justify it.
  10. drivlikejehu
    Organizations seemingly overflowing with talent nonetheless can implode. The Rangers are a perfect example. Key pitchers get hurt, some position player prospects fail to develop as expected, and all of the sudden things aren't so rosy anymore. Young, cost-controlled talent is the most important thing in baseball. It should only be surrendered in rare situations. The Twins have "logjams" that largely consist of mediocre or decent players. At what positions do the Twins have too much impact talent? As of now, none. The way pitchers are, it's very rare for any kind of logjam to remain in place there, assuming one were to develop. And I don't see it with the position players either, except maybe outfield and DH in a best-base scenario.
  11. drivlikejehu
    Pelfrey has thrown a splitter for years - he used it with similar frequency way back in 2010. He throws it with less velocity now (despite his fastball velocity being the same), which may be helping it work better as a change-up. His swinging strike rate remains low, as it has been throughout his career. That limits his ability to consistently shut down opponents. One thing that might help him keep it up would be replacing Santana with Escobar. I remain in favor of trading him if possible when Santana is ready.
  12. drivlikejehu
    Though the Twins have continued their timely hitting, it's interesting that over the past 14 days their staff xFIP and ERA are basically the same. There also has been a huge split between starters and relievers - Rank: ERA, FIP, xFIP Starters: 5th, 2nd, 6th Relievers: 30th, 30th, 26th
  13. drivlikejehu
    The thing is that Ft. Myers is an easy place to pitch. Guys can hang a curve and not really pay the price for it a lot of times because of how hard it is to hit homers there. So they may as well promote Gonsalves to High-A, but he probably should spend the rest of the year there working on his breaking ball. Taking a step back... fastball command alone is enough to dominate A-ball, and even do pretty well in the high minors (e.g., Kevin Slowey). It's certainly crucial to starting in the Majors, but that also requires secondary stuff. The downside with Gonsalves is that most scouts think breaking balls are the hardest pitch to improve on, depending largely on natural feel for spinning the ball. The positive aspect is that he probably needs to only throw around 10 per start because he has a quality change-up.
  14. drivlikejehu
    I'm not saying he would be that decent of a RF. But he's not great at 3rd either, whereas Plouffe is good there. So that switch costs the team heavily in terms of defense. I'm not convinced the hit from playing him in the outfield would be any worse, if at all.
  15. drivlikejehu
    Here's a somewhat close example: Span for Meyer. Span had a longer track record of success, was under contract dirt cheap for 2 years with an affordable option, as opposed to 2 years of arbitration with Plouffe. The return was a pitcher who had never been in AA and was nowhere near a call up. Sano is a good athlete with a good throwing arm. Let him play RF until Mauer's contract is up. So far as Plouffe, he's under team control through 2017. If he helps the Twins continue their turn around, I don't care if he walks after that.
  16. drivlikejehu
    I guess it comes down to whether you believe Plouffe can fetch an elite player in return. Are there examples of actual trades that would resemble your proposals? I've been trying to come up with one, and looked through a website that lists trades over the years, and can't come up with anything.
  17. drivlikejehu
    I guess step one would be determing where the positions of need are. There is already a rotation crunch looming when Santana returns. The Twins like Suzuki as a starting catcher. Even minus Santana at SS, they like Escobar. And if you get a young SS, that's basically it for Jorge Polanco in the organization. Then there is the fact that you included various unproven players in your potential trades. Is that really the direction the Twins should go at this stage, trading a proven, cheap, above average 3rd baseman for a guy that is basically still a prospect? Value is a factor there, to be sure, but I do wonder if a team will trade a potential ace (or even #2) under team control for 6 years for 2 years of Plouffe. If someone offers that to Ryan, I'm sure he would listen. I personally don't think 2 years of Plouffe is enough to get an elite talent in return. And, if not, it really limits what positions make sense. The only obvious fit for me is at catcher, and that's because I disagree with the Twins about Suzuki.
  18. drivlikejehu
    Sounds good in theory, except that a contender won't want to trade one quality starter for another. The point is to get better, not rearrange deck chairs. And Plouffe's value to a non-contender is questionable since he only has 2 years left of team control and will get more expensive in arbitration (or in the process of avoiding it). I haven't heard of a single trade idea involving Plouffe that made sense... I'm open to suggestions.
  19. drivlikejehu
    I don't think the Twins have enough quality starting players to get rid of one.
  20. drivlikejehu
    Ah, weird. Thanks for the info.
  21. drivlikejehu
    Not really... the key to a minor league system is the elite talents, and the Twins' top two are position players. They do have some pitching depth, to be sure, but Meyer and Stewart have both slipped in terms of their prospect stock, so it's more quantity over quality at this point.
  22. drivlikejehu
    That's only for A-ball. In reality it's a numbers game, they don't actually care about the FSL playoffs.
  23. drivlikejehu
    Buehrle is a completely different pitcher though. There are always one or two crafty southpaws in the league that get results with deception and command. Garland had a decent run from '05-'07 but it's probably a stretch to say he was a #2 starter, though he threw a lot of slightly above-average innings that resulted in solid WAR totals. One comp that comes to mind is Scott Feldman... a tall righty with a sinker and poor peripherals. He's been somewhat inconsistent, at times pitching like a #3 but with some down years where he didn't provide much value. At his best, Gibson is probably better, but I suspect he may be prone to the same kind of ups and downs given how many baserunners he allows. So maybe he can be a #3, but a frustrating one.
  24. drivlikejehu
    Pelfrey is not going to fetch a return of any significance, certainly not one that would help the Twins in 2015. If they can get anything for Milone, they should definitely trade him, but I think a C+ prospect is probably the max they would receive.
  25. drivlikejehu
    Who are the #2 starters with peripherals like Gibson? I guess that would be the source of my skepticism.
×
×
  • Create New...