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ashbury

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Everything posted by ashbury

  1. ashbury
    I was responding to the notion that we'd have 5 more wins in the bag if not for Rodney. I'd rather have had a better closer too, but that overstates it.
  2. ashbury
    Plan was sound, sorta. Execution, more debatable. To me, the pivotal point is in evaluation and forecasting. I still don't believe our analytics group is a strength compared to other teams. Kyle Gibson makes some changes, good results happen, and they carry over to 2018. Logan Morrison makes some changes, good results happen, and apparently pitchers adjusted to his changes and 2018 was a disaster for him. Somehow, evaluators who can tease out the difference between a "career year" and "turning the corner" are still lacking.
  3. ashbury
    I won't bother to search for a link but my recollection is that the Twins have stated explicitly that this isn't how they budget.
  4. ashbury
    Moderator's note: If you want to go full-tilt for a referendum on the front office's competence, or a retrospective on the 2018 season, please start a new thread, and keep to the topic (broadly construed) of this particular trade here.
  5. ashbury
    Moderator's note: OK, I know no harm was intended, but let's go easy on making fun of Asian names please.
  6. ashbury
    It could be a sign of having taken the first step toward respectability. If a batter's been getting himself out, the pitchers simply stop throwing strikes. So, eventually, you wise up and start taking the walks that are offered. Now, to find out if he can do anything, when the book on him gets re-rewitten a little bit again, and some strikes are offered to him.
  7. ashbury
    I see Stephen as a lock for a call-up by September 1 and am not going to sweat the details until then.
  8. ashbury
    Do you consider Craig Kimbrel a reliable closer? He's blown 4 saves for the Red Sox this season, versus Rodney's 6. No pitcher is 100% perfect. The Fernando Rodney Experience was never primarily about the blown saves and walk-offs, anyway.
  9. ashbury
    Sure, sure, go ahead and step on a good joke.
  10. ashbury
    Only two, by my count. Opening Day stuck in our minds of course. It happened again in April against the Yankees. And then, amazingly (I would have bet the wrong way also), never again. For almost two months, May 2 through June 28, a stretch of 19 games, he was involved in only winning efforts. July, nearly so. August, nearly so. Yes, a closer's usage pattern has a lot to do with it. Yes, he blew saves, and we remember them painfully. But, it usually wasn't Rodney trudging off the field while the other team mobbed their guy at home plate. Incredibly.
  11. ashbury
    That means you hope the A's are leading in the bottom of the ninth when he comes in, you traitor.
  12. ashbury
    I have a modest proposal: all satirists should be fricasseed and fed to the wealthy.
  13. ashbury
    Psst, Seth, I think 70charger was just playing along with my joke that Rortvedt can't age any faster than 1 year at a time, and perhaps just barely maybe possibly could be he was satirizing certain opinions while he was at it. I think he's on your side in this.
  14. ashbury
    I'm not even convinced he's a lock to start at AA next season. He needs to finish strongly at high-A after the mid-season promotion there.
  15. ashbury
    Progress this season but still multiple years away. He's still not even 21 yet, no matter how hard he's pushed.
  16. ashbury
    We'd probably better. They don't come cheaply though. Not if you want the complete package. The collection we have now would be fine if we could combine skills. Unfortunately, the individuals who have range don't have judgement (Cave) or the ones who have judgement don't have an arm (Granite) or the ones with an arm don't have CF range (Wade, IMO), and the ones who do have all those defensive skills/talents either can't lay off breaking pitches in the dirt (Buxton) or are needed at an even more pressing position (Lewis). We have a bunch of almost-maybes. Buxton remains our best hope, if he can shake off being cross-eyed from repeated concussions. But we're embarrassingly thin at the position.
  17. ashbury
    Wilson is unlikely to play the position in MLB for anyone but the Twins. I get your meaning, though.
  18. ashbury
    Astudillo's hidden ball trick, with of course the "Assist" by pitcher Chase De Jong, is a beauty. It fooled the PBP announcer too, as he kept asking himself if this was a pickoff or appeal play. The game log entry for the play is oh-so-boring: "Dawel Lugo out at 3rd, third baseman Willians Astudillo."
  19. ashbury
    Rooker is this FO's guy too, having drafted him in '17. Austin is a full 3 years older, plus even more pro experience as a HS-draftee, and is major league ready if he'll ever be. If the FO has any qualms about Rooker being ready, I see no problem with Austin having the first crack at it. And if this proves to be a mistake in judgement, Rooker will beat down the door quickly enough next year.
  20. ashbury
    Having watched a game in McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket makes me an expert on our AAA squad. So, hard pass on Gordon - he's floundering at AAA and would be overwhelmed against major leaguers. What's the value in that? Conversely, as I've also said previously, bring Gonsalves up - he has mastered AAA and either will succeed or fail at the major league level with the rather eccentric pitch assortment he has, so this is one of the rare times I say "let's find out". He's the one I'd say "deserves" it, in terms of this thread starter. I didn't see enough of Austin to form a real opinion about his chances, but I would assume he will be given a look-see before the end of the season. But now I'm into the realm of guys already on the 40-man, which is a different and much easier decision for the FO.
  21. ashbury
    Ramirez is hugely talented. He was added to their 40-man and got a brief taste of the majors at age 20. He split his seasons in majors and AAA at both 21 and 22, and did better in the minors than in the majors in those years. He was then in the majors to stay at age 23, and his stats have continued to get better each season. They've done a great job of developing him and he's done a great job of learning. But I see nothing anomalous about his progression. He's done better in the majors than in the minors because he was so good that he reached the majors at 20, before he was anywhere close to a finished product. In particular, his power has come in, as happens often with prospects in their early 20s.
  22. ashbury
    At certain times like this post, I intentionally go into overkill mode and write about every little detail that occurred to me during the game or afterward. Takes me hours sometimes. Ultimately I write what entertains me, and if it appeals to someone else then that's icing on the cake. Thanks for the feedback.
  23. ashbury
    Garver: "...one out in the seventh, asked me if I'd ever pitched..." Seriously, is this any way to run a ball team? It's not consequential in a 10-0 game, but do they not have a database where everyone is asked this when they are added to the 25-man? And then in every game there is not a depth chart of who is physically available to pitch that day, that goes all the way down the line to emergency pitcher use? "Would you mind pitching next?" Reasonable question. Or, "we're in a tough spot, I need you to pitch," if that's more your style. But, "have you ever pitched?" Not a fan of how this played out. Whether that's on the FO or the field staff, I want my dugout prepared for every eventuality. This shows lack of preparation; what else is falling between the cracks?
  24. ashbury
    In fairness, Fernando Rodney brings a different definition of the phrase "win probability" to any game. When I was down the left-field line at Fenway for his "save" a week ago, I was literally LOLing at every new twist in the road during that inning, as the home crowd cheered louder and louder. I enjoyed it, in about the darkest way possible. "Had 'em, all the way!" And then of course the next night he promptly served up the homer to tie the game. He'll astound you in a new way just when you think you've got him pegged. Truly enjoyable, once you get the knack. Every stat has an outlier player. No stat can truly contain Rodney. He defies WPA completely.
  25. ashbury
    Adam Johnson?
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