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ashbury

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Everything posted by ashbury

  1. ashbury
    Once again the b-r.com link leads to the wrong player with a similar name. The one we want is https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=gonzal006jac Anyway, let some other team take this prospect. The bat would be interesting for a SS, not as much otherwise.
  2. ashbury
    I still feel elite catcher is a rich team's luxury for when all other needs are filled. I don't remember why Teel is not in the consensus top five, but the Twins need to be really sure of their player evaluation skills relative to other competent organizations if they take the catcher. As others have said, don't try to get cute at #5.
  3. ashbury
    Replying to my own post, just for simplicity, the current CBA is found online here and Appendix A contains a uniform player's contract. (Any important contract no doubt contains unique language beyond this.) There are many clauses of course and amateur legal sleuths may enjoy digging through them all, but I found 7(b)(2) in that appendix to contain the language regarding skills, notably, "fail, in the opinion of the Club’s management, to exhibit sufficient skill or competitive ability to qualify or continue as a member of the Club’s team" (my emphasis) This specifies contract termination, so like I said. Nuclear Option. And of course the distinction between "exhibit" versus being injured is going to be fraught.
  4. ashbury
    I think* it's the case that MLB contracts of any significant value carry a clause regarding so-called "diminished skills." It's not often brought into play but here is a link to what happened with Frank Thomas a couple of decades ago. link I'd imagine the current contract does not specify that Buxton has to play CF specifically, so it depends on how exactly the diminished skills clause is worded. It's kind of a nuclear option, and the FO would want to think extremely carefully before trying to invoke it; not only could it result in a grievance hearing or a lawsuit, but they'd have to feel sure of where the teammates stand on the matter. Perhaps "only" $15M for several years isn't enough to justify the risk. However, actually invoking it is not the only value the clause carries for the team. It could also be the basis for starting a frank discussion, where a renegotiated contract would be the outcome. * okay, for all I know, such clauses could have been banned by more recent Collective Bargaining Agreements.
  5. ashbury
    If Willi Castro is your best position player,
  6. ashbury
    Firing Popkins won't accomplish anything unless it marks an organizational change in how hitting is approached throughout the system. Waiting for mistakes from the pitcher, if that sloganized summary suffices to explain the philosophy, is of course where a lot of every team's offense comes from, but taken to extremes it will produce hitters who look great in the minors but then fizzle when facing the elite arms who reach the majors and stay there.
  7. ashbury
    Shutouts are by definition "complete game shutouts." This important information was passed along unsolicited by an MLB official scorer so I take it more seriously than some distinctions.
  8. ashbury
    I live to serve.
  9. ashbury
    Max Kepler to Byron Buxton: "Ha ha! This article says you're the new me."
  10. ashbury
    Keeping Ober's innings down means keeping someone else's innings up. The pitchers performing well are presumably already maxed out. You want more innings from Pagan?
  11. ashbury
    Part of me wishes I followed the Wolves more closely so that I would fully grok all the great analogies and references. The saner part of me reminds my other self that there's only room for so much aggravation in one's life.
  12. ashbury
    You hit several negatives, and to me they outweigh the positives. Except in rare cases, a six-man rotation's main feature is to give more starts to the sixth best candidate you currently have, the last thing you should want. Only if the extra day of rest will elevate everyone's performance will it pay off, because also the bullpen is weakened for the cases a given starter has a bad day. I'd sooner explore the potential of a four-man rotation, but that introduces different objections.
  13. ashbury
    No. Emptier.
  14. ashbury
    The subject line could have been clearer.* It's a game. I like games. Games can be arbitrary. Fun to play with friends, and that's why I bothered to participate, when usually I pass "all-time team" discussions right on by. * And I resisted until now to mention the spelling/grammar error. Whose on first?
  15. ashbury
    Yeah, every argument in his favor, whether counting stats or rate/percentages, is fueled by his first 15 starts of the season. Maybe he's capable of heating up again, but right now it's what have you done for us lately, Joey?
  16. ashbury
    It's cherry picking, but after his monumental home run against Cleveland, his OPS has been .577. No extra-base hits, only 2 walks. However.... he's hitting .273 in that span. It's the classic "empty" batting average, one that's powered by a BABIP north of .400. Still, he's putting bat on ball, and not being overwhelmed. If he was the worst problem on the roster, maybe send him down to AAA, but given his age and pedigree, I'd say to let him keep at it. Another week's worth of data might change my mind, if the BABIP goes down without an uptick in power or batting eye, and also to wait and see if Miranda's mild resurgence at AAA stands up a bit longer.
  17. ashbury
    James Paxton has had 1 bad start out of 7 so far this season. The Twins were not the team to accomplish this feat. As expected.
  18. ashbury
    At the end of the day, a 6-man rotation makes room for your 6th best starter, in the hope that extra rest elevates everyone else's performance and stamina. Better innings, more innings - if you don't get either of those, then you are putting extra strain on the 7 remaining bullpeners. I'm skeptical that it would pay off, either short term or long term. The plan is to give Louie Varland more innings in the majors when he needs to tune something up at AAA? No thanks.
  19. ashbury
    Stevenson has the misfortune to bat lefthanded, behind at least one likely-better and definitely-younger guy (Wallner), in an organization that prioritizes handedness at least as much as the average one does. His ability to play CF might be his one edge. If Buxton needs to go on the 60-day IL I wonder if he gets his chance, sooner than Celestino who I think is still kind of marginal despite one hot game out of 5 at AAA so far.
  20. ashbury
  21. ashbury
    Varland is a case in point for my view that there's really no such role as "#5 starter", not as anything permanent for a season anyway. That slot is for pitchers trying to establish a role - either a veteran trying to show he can still be a contributor in a rotation, or a young guy trying to establish himself. The difference is what to do with the guy if he's not making the grade: you DFA the veteran or maybe put him in the bullpen, you probably just option the youngster. Varland is our #5 guy, and right now it's time to send him to St Paul. The uptick in home runs might be just a SSS phenomenon, but it seems clear that whatever deception he brought in the early going has been scouted and adjusted for. So now it's his turn to adjust, and AAA is the place for experimentation and learning.
  22. ashbury
    This year Carlos Correa leads the Twins in total bases, with 97. Meanwhile Shohei Ohtani leads the majors with 175; Carlos ties for 103rd most. We don't meaningfully have a "best hitter" on the team. It's like declearing which of Snow White's little friends was the tallest.
  23. ashbury
    The outlook wasn't brilliant for the Twintown nine that day ... (yadda yadda - eighth inning instead of ninth, two other guys made outs after the bases were loaded) ... But there is no joy in Twintown —mighty Buxton has struck out. / edit - not to pick on Buxton, the whole offense was feeble yet again.
  24. ashbury
    Sounds about right for Max and Byron. I might have had higher expectations for Jorge than others did, and hoped he would establish himself as a shortstop, but his right arm just never would support him grabbing that role and keeping it. Jorge also has been beset by injuries, less than Byron but more than Max. I think I imagined more from him also.
  25. ashbury
    I always want to see a second season before pronouncing anyone (aside from a few top draftees) a top prospect, but this is the kind of progression you like to see from a college player right out of the gate.
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