ThejacKmp

There's a concept that hitting the catcher is decent since he's presumably involved in hitting a guy. That Porcello pitch was super scary. I'm a DH fan but sometimes I wish it was the NL and pitchers had to bat. Porcello deserved to get plunked over everyone else.

1.) Byron Buxton stealing bases in AA seems unfair. 2.) I can't remember the last time the Twins had this deep of a rotation. The five in MN are all solid and Mejia is a great #6 to have waiting. And that doesn't even include Santana, who could be back by the 4th. And Slegers. And Gonsalves, who would already be up for most Twins teams of the past decade. 3.) I wonder if Sano will move up to AA or AAA when their all-star breaks end?

Time to blow them out for the sweep today. Get out your brooms Twins fans!

I get your point but in so many of those it's not close to me. I get using team success to figure out close ones but Trout is 30% more valuable by WAR in some of those years. They eye test also matches it - I bet all of those writers would say Trout for best positional player in those years. They just have some ridiculous criteria that makes it "best player on good team". That makes more sense in basketball where a player can really influence a game but less in baseball where so many guys need to do their job to get a win.

The argument against it would be that then you're going to have to compete on the market and that guys who turn down qualifying offers seem to not want to sign with the team that extended the offer. That said, I think Escobar loves being in MN and loves playing with these guys. I think if you told him, "We're going to extend the QO but then we want to bring you back", he'd understand. Any payday he gets will be much higher than he'd have expected before this year and especially before last year. I imagine that gives a guy a different mentality than a guy like Dozier who has been outperforming his contract for the past three years and has not been given an extension. Not sure the Twins will extend a QO to Dozier but if they do, that might be the kiss of death for him as a Twin.

Bradley's throw was great but on Escobar's single double, his fielding was atrocious. He straight over-ran that ball (at he had no chance to catch) and turned a one-run play into a two run play. And really, almost a three run play since Escobar ended up on third. That was the ball game there. Keep it to one run (the Red Sox aren't playing as close if its first and second on Grossman) and anything can happen with the FRE. that throw was nice but doesn't make up for the wretchedness of that Escobar play.

$1 million per double

See I want them to bring him back for the role. He's the Twins best reliever and now he's gotten five days off. Bring him back and maybe don't be so stuck to it? Use Hildy and Reed in the 8th and Pressley/Duke/Rogers/Magill in earlier innings. Molly just needs to expand his pen use.

He just has to leave him a path to the plate. If you look at Leon, he's out in front of the plate and Grossman has a clear path to the plate. Only after he catches it does he get into the base path. They called this 100% correct. I don't think you can say Grossman was slow on this, it was a magnificent throw. I think you can say that he should not be running down the inside part of the line. If he's on the back half of the plate I think he's safe. It also would have been a great time for that Justin Morneau fall-away slide. He's got to react to where the catcher is a little bit better.

100% agreed. Escobar has been a great story and gives the Twins two very deserving All-Stars (with Rosario) but Trout is on another level. Then again, Mike Trout should be looking for his 6th MVP but only has two so maybe Escobar has a shot: • 2012 he had 3.4 more WAR than Cabrera with equivalent stats while playing a premier defensive position and leading the league in stolen bases. As a rookie. • 2013 he had 1.7 more WAR than Cabrera with equivalent stats and again, better defense and base running. • 2015 was closer but he had 0.9 more WAR than Donaldson, played a better position, hit the same number of home runs with more stolen bases. This is probably the closest but I’d still give it to him. 2017 is the only Mike Trout year where he shouldn’t be MVP and that’s only because he missed 50 games with injuries. He was on pace for another MVP season. Ridiculous that we take team success into the MVP discussion and then base the HOF on things like MVPs. Trout’s teams have been bad but he has consistently been far-and-away the best player in baseball. He should be one behind Bonds for most MVPs – at age 26. We should trade for him.

Or the Twins did a good job getting Sale up to 105 pitches through seven so the Red Sox would be foolish to bring him back out there? Berrios was given a chance but once a guy gets on base, the odds of the tying run scoring go way up. At that point, you want a fresh arm throwing heat rather than giving the Red Sox lineup a 4th look at Berrios. I thought it was a great time to go get someone and a great spot for Hildy. He’s got a funky delivery that is a jarring transition from Berrios. He’s also young – Benintendi and Bogaerts had each only seen him once and Martinez had never seen him. That’s another nice advantage. Thought giving Berrios a shot was great but realizing the leverage of the situation and the better bullpen option was smart.

I thought the moves around Duke vs. Leon were fascinating. Two outs and a switch hitter coming up. Leon has relatively wide splits (.637 OPS vs. RHP, .713 OPS vs. LHP) but is not a strong hitter. You'd think it would be smart to get Pressley, Reed (warming), or Rodney in there. But if you do, maybe the Red Sox pinch-hit lefty Brock Holt, a much better hitter. And you have left-handed hitting Jackie Bradley up next so if Leon/Holt gets on you’ve either got to have Reed/Pressley/Rodney pitch to Bradley (who has struggled against lefties but been much better vs. righties this year) or burn one of those guys on one batter (in a tie game with a dearth of runs) to bring in Taylor Rogers vs. Bradley. I know it didn’t work out but I thought Molly was smart to leave Duke in there. He deservedly gets some crap but sometimes it’s also about just trusting guys and not trying to get too smart.

Ha. Adrianza sixth is scary to see.

I always thought that the Twins had Chris Sale's number (as much as one can have Chris Sale's number). They are one of the top large-enough-sample teams (#4 in OPS) but the three teams ahead of them are the rest of the AL Central. Who knew that Chris Sale wasn't "good" in the division? I guess it's better when we get to ERA. He has a 4.21 ERA against the Twins with only Cleveland (4.78) higher. Hopefully the trend continues and we get good Berrios.

Woof. That's an ugly looking lineup. Woof.

If Mike Trout hits the open market, he’s more likely to re-sign than Machado but not by much. They can throw big market money at him but every other big market will too. And others can offer a much better chance to win. The Yankees are going to hand him 12 years like its nothing. Can the Angels do that with Pujols still on the books? I’m not sure that an Angels team that is struggling at the break next year can afford not to trade Trout and do a quick retool around Ohtani. If Trout leaves and they get nothing but a draft pick that would be devastating. As for the first part, we’re talking about maybe the best baseball player ever. A once-in-a-generation talent. MLB isn’t as conducive to stars carrying teams but that’s still crazy if they get nothing from this era.

Didn't count rookie year. This is year 7 and he has two more years left. That said, I said if they didn’t compete in the next year and a half so eight would be more accurate. Still, I don’t think that’s a bold call given the current roster – a lot of oft-injured starters, Ohtani heading towards TJ, big contracts to below-replacement veterans. Do you see a path to the Angels being competitive by the end of Trout’s contract that doesn’t involve a miraculous Ohtani recovery? I don’t. They’re cash-strapped and blocked at most positions due to big contracts to Pujols, Cosart, and Simmons. The farm system is ranked #20 (with top prospects all in the low minors – highest graded prospect likely to hit be end of 2019 is a C+ prospect) so help isn’t coming from within. Maybe if all of their starters stay healthy and they get a bunch of bounce-back seasons? Even then a stretch in a pretty tough division (the A’s and Rangers are competitive, the Astros are dominant, and the Mariners are competitive). Playoffs are what matter. Those Orioles teams won the most games in the AL over five years from 2012 to 2015 – it eventually broke down because they went for it without pitching but that’s baseball. At least they took a shot? The Reds made 3 out of 4 postseasons in Votto’s prime. It’s also important to note that they’ve only kept Votto during the rebuild because he doesn’t want to leave and has a no-trade clause. There’s no chance of losing him so they’ve done a slow rebuild. Trout isn’t going to be the same. He’s young and he wants to win and the Angels clearly can’t provide that. And he loves the Yankees . . .

How are they way above? The Orioles made the postseason in 2016, 2014 and 2012. LCS in 2014. That's 3/7 years with Machado. The Reds made the playoffs in 2010, 2012 and 2013. The Angels only made it in 2014. Mike Trout has played three postseason games. And Mike Trout is way more of a star than Votto and especially Machado. Trout is likely the best player of his generation and is on track to potentially be the best player of all time. The Angels only have him two more years and are going to have to start thinking about trading him if they don't compete by the break next year. It's criminal to make the playoffs once in nine years with Mike Trout.

What were the Royals thinking? Herrera is one of the better relief arms there and they skipped the whole arms-race-at-the-deadline thing. I know nothing is guaranteed but you know that teams are going to want in on relief arms, they are every year. It's not like they got some "can't help but take this" offer. The Nationals are all-in this year. The Twins are not. A team like the Nationals should be thinking of buying in mid-June. A team like the Twins should be thinking about playing out the string a bit to see if they should buy or sell (it'd be one thing if they needed something major but we're talking a platoon catcher and a 4th OF as the big needs - hardly holes you need to fill immediately). I'm fine with the Twins letting those two markets play out while they see if the offense can take off.

I'm talking more about this team, not two years ago. Richards makes $7 million, Shoemaker makes $4 million, Skaggs under $2 million, and Heaney and Tropeano don't even make $1 million. For a big market team with aspirations, they've invested almost nothing in their big league rotation. They haven't been in on big free agent pitchers and they haven't signed the solid depth guys like Lynn. Of those guys, only Richards and Ohtani (who they were pretty lucky to get) have upside higher than a #3. You can't go into a season with 3/5 of the rotation having missed most of the past two years and think, "We're going to be fine!" And it's not like they've spent that money on a deep lineup. They're old and ineffective. You really could only project a good season from Trout and Upton this year. They've gotten one from Simmelton but everyone else has been about what you'd expect (except Kalhoun, he's been terrible). Bad lineup, unrealistic rotation, average bullpen. That's not a well-conceived team. They were dependent on Ohtani being a superstar to make the playoffs as a wild card. They got lucky that he was and then unlucky that he got hurt. But any GM that rests a team's hopes on a 23-year two-way guy from Japan isn't doing a great job.

Polanco too. And who would be surprised if Dozier went nuclear for two months? Nice thing for the Twins is that Rosario/Escobar seems relatively sustainable (maybe more Rosario than Escobar) and guys like Kepler, Dozier, Morrison, Garver, Buxton, Sano, and Polanco all have the upside to make this offense scary. With the pitching solid, how many really need to get hot to set the Twins on a streak? 2 or 3? Didn't even mention the positive effect of having steady Mauer around.

God that would be the worst. Imagine looking at the Yankees and Red Sox and being as bad as the Orioles. Ugh. The Twins are at least looking rosy for the future. A young developing core with some high-upside MILB arms and the ability to compete now. And the Royals and Tigers are in the process of bottoming out while the Indians are starting to see the end of their window. The White Sox have tons of prospects but not all will pan out (hopefully!) It's a bit dark now but overall, not a bad spot to be in for the Twinkies in the AL Central.

Not sure what Angels team you’re looking at. This Angels team is top heavy and frankly, has overachieved. It’s not an awful team but the role injuries have played for the Angels has been overstated. • Ohtani is obviously a big loss but he was also markedly better than anyone would have expected coming in. He wasn’t a guy you could pen in. • Garrett Richards is really the only other major player who has missed time. And Garrett Richards missing time should be expected at this point as he’s started a total of 12 games the past two years. He’s a good player but not someone who should make or break your season. • Guys like Zack Cozart and Kole Calhoun have also hit the DL but those guys have been pretty awful so missing them hasn’t been a big deal. The Angels have had 15 guys hit the DL but they haven’t been particularly good players. The real issue is that this was a pretty risky team to begin with: LINEUP: The biggest issue for the Angels is their lineup is pretty awful – it feels like those top-heavy Tigers teams. They have Trout and little else. The Angels have gotten a career year from Simmons and what counts as a bounce-back year from Pujols and even with that are pretty deficient. The non-Simmons infield is super old and ineffective – Pujols and Kinsler have predictably struggled, they bet on Cozart after a career year out of nowhere, and Luis Valbuena has taken a big step back at 32. Upton is having the season you’d expect and is a good player but he’s really the only guy besides Trout who is having the good season you’d expect. Calhoun and Chris Young have both been awful at the other corner. In short, the Angels once again trotted out a lineup of Trout, a few good players and a lot of drivel. They haven’t developed any cheap, effective position players and that’s killing them. Again. Trout is great but you can’t depend on him every game. ROTATION: Those Tigers teams were hit-and-miss but they got away with it some years because they had dominant pitching. The Angels had Ohtani and Richards but other than that, they’ve actually been way luckier than they could expect. Skaggs is outperforming his FIP by a half run and Barria by 1.7 runs. Andrew Heaney is having a bounce-back year but he’s started even less games than Richards these past two years. The Angels rotation was “hope Richards pitches a full season, Ohtani is an ace, and we can cobble it together otherwise”. They’ve gotten luckier than they should have on the back half of that but depending on Richards and Ohtani seemed pretty risky and has turned out rather predictably. BULLPEN: The Angels pen sits middle of the pack. They’ve lost some arms to injury but no one especially damaging. This is about the pen they could expect to have. I don’t see a well-put-together team. I see an organization that continues to try to take shortcuts and is paying for past mistakes. Pujols salary hurts their ability to cash in with free agency and they make strange decisions with the money they have (Zach Cozart was one of the more questionable offseason signings and bringing in Kinsler was a pretty risky proposition). They’re dependent on catching lightning in a bottle with guys like Simmons and Kinsler and while those work out sometimes, you’re almost always better off using young guys who might develop into something better than expected. Poorly constructed team. They only have two more years of Trout and they’re wasting it. No one should be surprised if he ends up in pinstripes halfway through next year.

Complete and utter aside. I was reading an article about Mike Trout and started playing around with his stats on Baseball Reference. Turns out the AL team (interleague has small sample so excluding NL teams) he has the hardest time with is the Twins. However, this year we only have two payers (Rosario and Escobar) with a higher OPS than Trout has against the Twins (.873). And we're the team he plays the worst against. That's crazy. Mike Trout. It's sad the Angels seem to be intent on wasting his talents.

My point is that bad bullpens don't have the ability to rest a struggling guy while other guys step up (like the Twins did with Hildy in April when he sucked). There's no one to lean on. They're more likely to jettison someone who might be expected to bounce back because they're looking for anyone who can help now. Especially a team that is expected to contend but is struggling. Again, not arguing that Matt Belisle is amazing or a savior. Just that the sample size this year is small and Cleveland jettisoning him may say more about the current state of Cleveland's bullpen than Matt Belisle's outlook for the rest of the year.