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

ThejacKmp

Provisional Member
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    2,113

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    4

 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 ThejacKmp

  1. ThejacKmp
    But he threw six pitches in the 10th. If you pulled him and put in Rogers and he gave up the HR, the boards would be complaining about not using Rodney well. Rodney is 41 but it's the first game of the season. He's not tired or overworked and this isn't his first rodeo - he's done multiple innings many times in his career. I'd get your point if he threw 10-15 pitches in the 10th but six? Not a terrible decision.
  2. ThejacKmp
    This. We harp on Molitor for a lot but that five man infield was great. Loved it. And absolutely on Rodney. He wiggled out of Hildy's jam and I can't fault him for the pitch to Adam Jones. Sometimes a guy is sitting on something and gets ahold of it. It's not like he gave up the HR to a backup catcher or something. About as nice a loss as you can get. Lots of long flyball outs, a great start, a sweet comeback and some comeuppance for all of the Grossman haters out there (though he hasn't gotten much love for a very professional at-bat in the ninth), Just sad they don't play today.
  3. ThejacKmp
    What? 1.) That's one game. One game. Two years ago it was "Dozier can't hit in the second half" which made no sense and wasn't backed up in reality. This year it's "Dozier sucks in the first half"???? Joe Mauer has the market cornered on can't-ever-do-enough-for-some-people but Dozier is a close second. C'mon. One game. One freaking game. 2.) What the heck does the guy hitting after you matter for speed? Before you, I get. He's slow and keeps you from taking an extra base. But after? Is there a concern that Buxton gets slower because he feels bad that he's so much faster than Castro? If anything, Castro is nice after Buxton because he takes a decent number of pitches and give Buxton time to steal. This made no sense.
  4. ThejacKmp
    Mauer should make the Hall, Top 5 catcher of all time.
  5. ThejacKmp
    Sorry to harp on the need for a middle infielder but right now the Twins have the following options for OF: Buxton Rosario Kepler Grossman Garver Adrianza Morrison (emergency) and the following options for middle infield Dozier Escobar Adrianza Rosario? (emergency) They are one nagging three day injury (that doesn't call for the DL) to Escobar, Adrianza, Sano or Dozier to starting a game with Rosario as the backup middle infielder. How is it not a priority to get a middle infielder? How can they even be thinking about another outfielder? What did Erick Aybar do to get cut?
  6. ThejacKmp
    Grossman came out of nowhere too and has been a valuable member of the Twins the past few years. I don't see someone better to keep - Granite should play every day, Vargas doesn't fit any positional need and the Twins evidently feel totally okay with just Adrianza as a backup IF so why not this guy? Odds are no one they pick is finishing out April in the role.
  7. ThejacKmp
    I don't get the need for a 5th OF and I really see a need for a middle infielder. I gotta think the Twins are eyeing someone they think another team might cut.
  8. ThejacKmp
    Is it? Sano gets ejected more often than most and is also relatively injury prone. You've also got Escober, not a spring chicken, and Adrianza, not someone who has played everyday in his career. I don't think it's crazy to think that might happen? The issue is how completely unprepared they'd be then. Like I don't even know who plays third. Mauer? Logan Morrison? Especially when it seems like the reason to keep Granite is to . . . have a pinch runner? The defensive replacement aspect of being a reserve outfielder is unlikely to be relevant. He hits lefty so he's not spelling Kepler against lefties. If Granite solved some other issue, I'd get going light in the infield. It might cost you one game sometime. But I don't see any issue Granite on the roster solves.
  9. ThejacKmp
    They're important but how important. Does the last man in a pen really matter? I'd be surprised if he costs you one game a year. He's there to burn innings.
  10. ThejacKmp
    Also, let's pretend that Sano and a middle infielder get hurt/ejected in a game. Who plays 3B/2B? I think that answer is Eddie Rosario? Sending Aybar down makes no sense to me unless they've got an eye on someone on another team.
  11. ThejacKmp
    Very strange that they're carrying Granite and so little infield depth. Especially since they essentially have six OF with Adrianza. And Logan Morrison isn't an awful 7th OF in a pinch. I wonder if this means that they know Sano won't be suspended?I wonder if this means they'll be bargain bin shopping for shortsop depth as other teams make cuts?
  12. ThejacKmp
    Yeah but how much does that last bullpen guy matter for winning? 95% of the games he pitches are blowouts one way or the other. The 5% are games that go like 14 innings which happen like once or twice a year. Seems like we should all just shrug our shoulders and say, meh.
  13. ThejacKmp
    The Twins top three relievers at AAA are going to be Buesnitz, Moya and Duffey. That's really awesome depth.
  14. ThejacKmp
    It seems almost impossible for Tyler Kinely to make the Twins staff - if Duffey is being left off then no way Kinely makes it. Hindsight is 20-20 but that makes the decision not to protect Burdi (who could be sent to the DL and not take up a 40 man spot until late summer) even worse. They essentially gave him up for nothing. He may not pan out and again, 20-20 hindsight, but that's not ideal. P.S. By my calculations, Duffey has options left since he has only been down to the minors twice since hitting the bigs and is still in his first five years of service time. Can someone confirm that? What a nice piece to have waiting at AAA but tough for the Duff Man. He certainly seemed likely to make the team before this crazy offseason.
  15. ThejacKmp
    I think to get this done you'd have to offer a player option. So two years $28 million with $15 million this year. That way the player is a little protected in case of injury (which is what players want for long term deals) but still have the ability to get out after a year if they pitch super well.
  16. ThejacKmp
    This. And he's redundant. Your bench should fill needs starters don't hit. Granite's OF defense is redundant since he's not markedly better than any of the current starters. His LH bat makes no sense from a pinch-hitting perspective - on days the Twins face lefties and then get righty relievers, he would be behind Mauer/Kepler/Rosario/Morrison bench guys. His base running is okay but Adrianza and other middle infield depth can handle that. Grossman is not a perfect player, nor is Vargas. But both make more sense as they fill the need for a right-handed platoon/bench bat. And Grossman makes sense as a RH OF platoon option with Kepler/Rosario taking over in late innings for defense.
  17. ThejacKmp
    I don't even want to see the Twins contemplate this. Logan Morrison hasn't played out there in years and he wasn't an asset back then. He should only play OF in an emergency during intraleague play.
  18. ThejacKmp
    This is about to hijack this thread. But I actually sent an email to a Mauer hating friend awhile back that talks about this towards the end. Mauer would have made so much more money if he'd been paid commensurate with his value: +++++++++++++++ Fangraphs lists the cost per WAR each year. Last year, 1 WAR was worth $10.5 million. Fangraphs lists Mauer's WAR last year as 2.3 which means Mauer was worth $24.15 million last year, higher than his $23 million salary. Boo Yah! Let's take it a bit further and look at the whole contract: 2017: Mauer is worth $24.15 million 2016: Mauer has 0.9 WAR. WAR is worth $10.2M. Mauer is worth $9.18M 2015: Mauer has 0.2 WAR. WAR is worth $9.6M. Mauer is worth $1.92M 2014: Mauer has 1.6 WAR. WAR is worth $7.7M. Mauer is worth $12.32M 2013: Mauer has 5.2 WAR. WAR is worth $7.2M. Mauer is worth $37.44M 2012: Mauer has 4.5 WAR. WAR is worth $6.2M. Mauer is worth $27.9M 2011: Mauer has 1.2 WAR. WAR is worth $7.4M. Mauer is worth $8.88M So Mauer has been worth $121.79 million thus far over all but the final year of a $184 million contract ($161 million paid so far). That concussion really hurt him as even his subpar production those years would likely have been worth the $23 million if he was still catching. Moving to 1B really hurts his WAR. You can hate the outcome but that contract extension is pretty defensible -- the concussion and move to first so early was pretty close to the worst case scenario (no insurance money but less production) and even then, the contract hasn't been that bad. He'd need a pretty big throwback season to make the whole contract worth it (if WAR is worth $10.5 million next year he'd need a 6.0 WAR season which only Joey Votto reached among first basemen last year) but if he can have a $25 million season like last year that would get it up to a decent return on investment, especially when you consider that Mauer was a big reason Target Field was built and what he's meant to solidifying the team's place in MN. For fun, I also looked at 2006 to 2010. On a $33.4 million contract, Joe Mauer produced $164.51 million of WAR. That's pretty insane.
  19. ThejacKmp
    But if this is now the norm, then the next CBA needs to shift money to the players earlier. Maybe arbitration starts a year earlier. Maybe arbitration amounts are higher. Maybe they knock a year off of arbitration so that the players hit that payday younger. Something's got to give - if the back end is being compromised than the front end needs adjusting.
  20. ThejacKmp
    Disagree. For me, things softened because this wasn't the first of seven women to come forward. That's been the pattern in the past and when it's a serial thing, it's harder to think "well he was young" or "maybe he learned his lesson." i hope the league takes it seriously and sano learns from this and apologizes (likely privately). But I'm optimistic that he was young and misread something and made a change after this. Otherwise there would have been others stepping forward.
  21. ThejacKmp
    Robbie Grossman had a 101 OPS+ in 2017 and a 124 OPS+ in 2016. A 101 is replacement level, a 124 is a great 4th OF. So which one is right? Robbie had similar slugging and OBP numbers, the difference was a 40 point drop in BA. Last year his BABIP was .287 and the year before it was .364 HIs three years in Houston it was .348. I think it's way more likely that he's a .350-.360 BABIP guy than a .287 guy since that's a one year blip. If it is, he's more the 120 OPS+ and is a great guy. A guy going through waivers means nothing. Jose Bautista went through waivers several times. Thames went all the way to Japan because no one wanted him. Robbie Grossman does OBP very well and he does a lot of other things pretty well. Some pop, okay fielder, okay baserunner. That's what you want in a bench guy. Not every player can be a starter, some guys are valuable in other ways.
  22. ThejacKmp
    Wow, look at the hot take. All the guy said is that with ten at-bats he feels ready for Opening Day. Not that he refuses to take more than ten at-bats or that he thinks he's too good for spring training - just that after ten at-bats he feels back in the swing of things. And he said this on a radio show. I don't think he was unburdening his soul. There's a lot of Robbie Grossman hate on TD of late. I don't get it. He's a very solid 4th OF who fills a lot of holes for the Twins. in this day and age of a three or four man bench, his ability to play an okay OF and be a switch hitter off the bench has more value than Granite, another left handed hitter who only makes sense if you love pinch running or have an OF who needs to be replaced in games (the Twins don't).
  23. ThejacKmp
    Other people addressed the defense but even offensively that makes no sense. Grossman has 50 points on Morrison in career OBP vs. LHP. He would be a way better bat. Wade hits lefty. He's pretty redundant unless he really really hits. Granite/Wade should likely be part of a midseason trade if they play well -- they're maybe good players but they don't fit a team that has Buxton in CF and a pair of lefties in the corners.
  24. ThejacKmp
    Take away half Logan Morrison's homeruns and he's a weak hitter. Take away half of kershaw's strikeouts and he's a bad pitcher. Do you have any reason to take away grossman's walks? He's been doing it for two years now at the mlb level - I think it's here to stay. This isn't 1990, we don't think a player has to hit bombs to be good. Walks are great, no one can catch a walk.
  25. ThejacKmp
    I've heard this argument a lot and its a fun one to make because it has a good soundbite. But it's pretty ridiculous. You're not building the best Opening Day roster, you're building the best team. You will almost certainly need both Grossman and Granite at some point during the year - someone's going to get hurt (Buxton) and you're going to go to AAA. If you start with Grossman, you have Granite in AAA to fill in when the Twins need him. If you start with Granite, Grossman gets exposed to waivers and ends up elsewhere because he's a useful MLB player. So let's pretend Granite > Grossman (I would disagree strongly but for the sake of argument we'll go with it). That seems simple but it's really GROSSMAN + Granite vs. GRANITE + Some 27 year old AAAA player. I take the GROSSMAN + Granite side of that everyday. Competing teams don't throw away MLB talent unless the upside is a lot higher than whatever someone looking at Granite through rose shaded glasses sees.
×
×
  • Create New...