ashbury

A precious Like bestowed simply on the merits of that coffee sandwich-board photo. "Oh my! Look at the time!"

I'm sure Terry Ryan and his scout/draft team paid no attention to the voices of fans, at sites like Twins Daily or elsewhere, who declared, "we need pitching, so forget all other options and just draft the highest-ceiling high school arm - I know there's risk of a bust but I want upside," and based their draft decisions on the soundest scouting they could. And no, I didn't foresee Kohl Stewart turning out like this, nor am I pointing fingers at anyone else. But when you say you prefer high-risk, high-reward, you'd better not complain too vociferously down the road if and when it doesn't pan out. Trouble is, the "safe" picks don't necessarily turn out better, either. It's an enigma.

Wait, Mrs Ash has been tattling on me?

How's his fielding been? That was the red flag, for me. His defensive number on b-r.com is negative, but in small sample it's difficult to trust, and the eye test would be worth knowing. It's always possible he may have tightened up a few things. I see he's logged a fair number of innings at first base, and I don't believe his league average OPS becomes any kind of plus there. His hitting for Detroit is about in line with his minor league progression, and his bat is IMO not why he was let go. In some other thread, when WAR becomes a topic of debate, keep Niko Goodrum in mind as the quintessential Replacement Player for discussion purposes. You can even win some games with a roster full of guys like him - they'll have their nights. You can't contend, though, or even hope for .500.

I'm going to stick my neck out and guess that an age of 53 also ranks highly on the roster.

Things are looking up for LoMo. So far, August is shaping up as his best month of the season for batting average. With his 2-for-4 night he's now hitting .250 in 3 games, eclipsing May's .244.

Call it a hunch (I didn't find any in-depth reporting of the game yet), but the way his night played out, Slegers still ain't right. I won't be surprised if it's his last appearance of the season. Get well, Aaron!

Rough return to action for Aaron on August 4. At Pawtucket, he managed to record only 5 outs before being removed. The first inning was 1-2-3. He wasn't exactly aided by his shortstop in the second, with Nick Gordon committing an error, but a strike 'em out throw 'em out play instrumented by the redoubtable Willians Astudillo (behind the plate, I guess I need to specify) got him two outs with nobody on. Then things caved in. Ohlman and Miller singled, and Wren tripled to bring in two runs. That was it for Slegers. Ryne Harper came on and promptly served up a homer to Witte, accounting for the third earnie against the starter. I haven't found any reporting yet on this situation, but call it a hunch: Slegers still isn't right and will be back on the DL soon.

Speaking of Renda, he just got the call to the big club, with both Kinsler and Pedroia on the DL now. 2B is where he has most of his experience, and he's been swinging the bat well in 2018, so good luck to him! Maybe the Sox are now wishing they had traded for Iron Man Dozier instead?

Trouble is, most other teams have 40-man troubles too. I'm becoming convinced that a prospect loses a lot of his value once he becomes Rule-5 eligible - in part because if that's the case, he hasn't yet proved to be worth a 25-man roster spot and thus is pretty fungible but constricted.

It is impossible to know, because it is impossible to replace Scott Baio.

Could be worse. You could have had the Tyler Duffey Experience, as I encountered last night in Pawtucket.

Largely Mike's plan fits with my ideas. I so much want to discuss the pitching in conjunction with the full roster but will hold off. Concur with a definite thumbs-down on Gordon until he shows something at AAA because right now he's major-league deficient both at the plate and at SS. Concur about Sano and Buxton. Do what's best for their future, 2019 in particular, and if that means playing, play them, if that means playing in the minors, play them there, if that means rest, DL them or otherwise keep them inactive. I differ in my thinking concerning catcher. I would acquire some kind of starter in the coming off-season, unless Garver wows me in the coming two months. I do not base my plans around Castro making it back as a useful major leaguer. He's a gamer and I expect him to do all he can - and if I do acquire a stud starter, I inform Jason that my plan is to do right by him by opening day if he makes it all the way back, with a trade to a good team if there remains no opening here even if I could have gotten more in trade some other way (even just a waiver deal). You can't in good conscience leave yourself vulnerable with a "maybe" or even a "probably" at catcher. Either way, in the here-and-now, I agree Garver gets the reps the remainder of this season. Neither Cave nor Wade is a major league center fielder. Cave is a fourth outfielder. Wade is a center fielder in the same way Kepler is a center fielder, i.e. he is not unless your team aspirations involve high draft picks in June 2020, and like Kep he has a chance to be a good starter at a corner outfield position. I would base their playing time in August and September on those views. Middle infield is now a team weakness due to the deadline trades. That will be one way I'll judge the FO this off-season, but again we're talking about Aug/Sept. Get Motter up here, I suppose. Sean Miller from AA if you need a warm body. The pickings are slim for whom to give playing time. I don't remember why Rosario washed out as a second baseman, but I'll assume it was turning the DP rather than pure range or arm. No need to revisit that decision, at his age. He was a revelation on that one play at third base the other night, but unless and until Sano is not an option there, we keep that idea in our back pocket for some future year. I don't see a role for Willians Astudillo on anything but a last-place MLB team, like Willingham and Doumit before him, so despite his being a good "story" I would not invest anything but spare cycles in letting him strut his stuff. I don't want Mauer back next year, and it pains me to think this could become a black eye for the team if he wants to continue his career, but again that's a problem for later on, and getting Tyler Austin up seems like a good idea in preference to keeping Morrison on the roster for August/September. These two months are no longer about getting the most production out of players, but about teaching, and about evaluation. I was so angry at Jake Cave for that botched play I watched in Kansas City, and wanted him benched and/or optioned and/or excommunicated. But two weeks later, I don't see a benching for a mistake like that, just kindly and constructive teaching by the on-field staff. And careful note-taking.

I watched him in-person last night, and wrote it up as a response to the minor league wrap-up thread so I won't belabor it here, but I concur that he can't succeed in the majors at this time. I'm quite concerned but am not writing him off yet.

To paraphase senator Everett Dirksen, a [m]illion here and a [m]illion there, and pretty soon you're talking big money. I'd retain Rodney only with spare change jingling after all other needs have been met. Given that his decision might need to come before that's settled, I'd take my chances with someone else.

[re-posted from the night's minor league summary thread...] I was in attendance at Pawtucket last night, so let me offer some additional impressions and details. First, a minor correction: the Red Wings' final run scored on a wild pitch. The bases were not loaded when Motter walked, but when ball-four skittered past Mike Ohlman, Edgar Corcino on third scored anyway. He was there because of another wild pitch on the previous batter. I don't have a lot to say about Pawtucket's players in this game, as I really don't follow the Red Sox and definitely have no clue about their prospect pipeline, but I must mention starter Mike Shawaryn. He was much, much better than his line score indicates, pitching perfect innings his first time through the lineup, in his very first appearance at AAA at age 23. He probably had only that one really bad pitch, to Astudillo, and the additional run came in the seventh as described above after he was out of the game. Looks like the Red Sox have found a way to feed their farm system with 5th round draft picks. Maybe having a short-season single-A team for college draftees is their secret sauce, hint hint. Anderson wasn't very effective for us in his stint as "opener", but the run scored in the bottom of the first was as much due to runners taking advantage of Jeremy Hazelbaker's arm as the base hits themselves. Tony Renda's "double" should have been a single but the word apparently is out and he challenged the center fielder and won. And then what seemed like a harmless single by Rusney Castillo plated Renda, with the throw from CF taking way too long to get there. I'm guessing there's a reason Hazelbaker was available for cash. Anyway, Anderson then permitted a single to Sam Travis, so the run probably would have scored anyway. So, not a good start to the game for either guy. Nick Gordon also had a stinker of a game. No errors in the scoresheet, but his opportunities to impress, on a couple of plays that major league shortstops would likely make, went unclaimed. One was a grounder to his right that I thought he would get to but didn't. Another was one where he had to come in, but his throw was high and pulled Austin Tyler Tyler Austin off of first base. What's more, he looked feeble at the plate, striking out twice and making two easy outs in the air. Mrs Ash remarked that he might do better if he didn't have his pant legs pulled up so high - I think he should take Mrs Ash's scouting advice to heart as she is rarely wrong about anything. In any case, do NOT bring this guy up now, and probably don't bring him up for a September look-see either. Maybe he'll be ready someday, but he is not, today. Speaking of Austin Tyler Tyler Austin, I thought he acquitted himself well. He didn't get any base hits, but one of his outs was a sharp liner to third base in the eighth, and he walked which resulted in a run when Astudillo hit a homer. The first baseman also got three chances to field popups, all in the final two innings - indeed he notched the last putout before the fatal home run. Speaking of liners to third, Astudillo scorched an even tougher one to Tony Renda's right in the sixth inning. You simply can't play a liner better than Renda did, leaving his feet and stretching to full extension to barely snag that rocket. Beautiful play. Kudos to him. Speaking of Willians Astudillo, that home run to left in the fourth inning was a rocket too - a no-doubter. It was one of the few bright spots in the game for my team. He was unremarkable in left field, making the easy fly outs and handling the base hits in his direction. However, what stood out to me was how very slowly he moved when going to his position, and slow coming back to the dugout. He exerted effort on balls in play, as I said, but I don't recall someone taking that much time to and from. It's like he's the anti-Charlie Hustle (which itself is not originally a compliment, so I'm not sure what bearing it has). Speaking of home runs, how about that Tyler Duffey? On that last batter, it was a 2-2 count, with curveballs missing twice. I don't often try to guess pitches, but I was sure it would be a fastball, and mentioned to Mrs Ash that they should come back with another curve instead. I'd go with another curve even on 3-2, too, and if it was a walk, so be it - there were two out. Nope, flat, 91-MPH, nothing fastball. Brandon Phillips was sitting on it, just like me. Ain't I smart? Ball game. There was of course also the dong by Josh Ockimey that tied it in the eighth. Duffey is another of the disappointments this franchise has suffered in the past few years. It won't surprise me if he's non-tendered this off-season - this guy never progressed beyond being a two-pitch pitcher, and now he's down to one. He's cooked. Or, if some other team signs him and gets something out of him, a hard look needs to be taken at the coaching and why they didn't help him find answers. Speaking of fastballs, Stephen Gonsalves.... oops never mind. He may have reached 90 or 91 on the radar gun display, but generally sat at 88 or 89. I can't identify off-speed pitches, one from another, but he had a variety that would register at 79 or 74 or even 69 - a knuckler? Visibly slow, and entertaining, from our excellent first-base-side cheap-seats. That much differential from the fastball is said to become counter-productive, but he's getting AAA guys out. The homer in the third inning to the aforementioned Tony Renda was a cheapie to right, barely clearing the 325 foot mark, so I don't hold that against him. He weakened in the 7th, walking the first two batters, and was bailed out slightly by an ill-advised stolen base attempt by the PawSox' Mike Miller - down two runs, you need to be awfully sure you can take the base, and he was out by a mile thanks to an accurate throw by Juan Graterol. Gonsalves might have gotten out of it unscored-upon, had Gordon made the play previously mentioned. It's unclear to me that Gonsalves's stuff is going to play, in the majors, but if this is who he is, let's bring him up now, or in September, and start to find out. Unlike Gordon, he's mastered his game, such as it is. If he bombs, there will still be time to option him to the minors mid-2019 and try to retool his entire game in some manner. Speaking of ill-advised baserunning, with the score tied 4-4 in the top of the ninth, Edgar Corcino got a clean single to left leading off, and was (wait for it) out by a mile trying to stretch it to a double. Left fielder Kyle Wren had come up with the ball practically by the time Corcino rounded first. There was time to go a third of the way and then change his mind. Nope. As events played out (which of course might not have), we would have had bases loaded with one out, with the top of the order coming up. And that lone out was thanks to a possibly game-saving snag by PawSox right fielder Aneury Tavarez near the foul line on a drive by Graterol. Of course the top of our order was third baseman Taylor Motter followed by Gordon, and Motter actually did strike out looking, which brings us to Gordon, so never mind. Speaking of never mind, when we didn't score in the top of the ninth, and I saw Duffey coming out again, I said to Mrs Ash, this won't take long. It took longer than I expected, five batters. Good for him, I guess. Speaking of good, despite the ragtag nature of our lineup, and the generally negative results, I enjoyed the evening a lot. McCoy Stadium gets a lot of criticism locally, but as far as I can see it's only because there are no luxury boxes to make the team more profitable. The park has been kept up, and I have yet to have a poor experience there. It's my east coast version of the Oakland Coliseum - a straight ahead old school place to watch a baseball game, in my book. The site-grilled Italian sausage with onions and green peppers never fails to satisfy, likewise the Foolproof Backyahd [sic] IPA available on draft which leaves me pleasantly sleepy. Source: Article: Twins Minor League Report (8/3): Brusdar Cruises, Severino Soars

I was in attendance at Pawtucket last night, so let me offer some additional impressions and details. First, a minor correction: the Red Wings' final run scored on a wild pitch. The bases were not loaded when Motter walked, but when ball-four skittered past Mike Ohlman, Edgar Corcino on third scored anyway. He was there because of another wild pitch on the previous batter. I don't have a lot to say about Pawtucket's players in this game, as I really don't follow the Red Sox and definitely have no clue about their prospect pipeline, but I must mention starter Mike Shawaryn. He was much, much better than his line score indicates, pitching perfect innings his first time through the lineup, in his very first appearance at AAA at age 23. He probably had only that one really bad pitch, to Astudillo, and the additional run came in the seventh as described above after he was out of the game. Looks like the Red Sox have found a way to feed their farm system with 5th round draft picks. Maybe having a short-season single-A team for college draftees is their secret sauce, hint hint. Anderson wasn't very effective for us in his stint as "opener", but the run scored in the bottom of the first was as much due to runners taking advantage of Jeremy Hazelbaker's arm as the base hits themselves. Tony Renda's "double" should have been a single but the word apparently is out and he challenged the center fielder and won. And then what seemed like a harmless single by Rusney Castillo plated Renda, with the throw from CF taking way too long to get there. I'm guessing there's a reason Hazelbaker was available for cash. Anyway, Anderson then permitted a single to Sam Travis, so the run probably would have scored anyway. So, not a good start to the game for either guy. Nick Gordon also had a stinker of a game. No errors in the scoresheet, but his opportunities to impress, on a couple of plays that major league shortstops would likely make, went unclaimed. One was a grounder to his right that I thought he would get to but didn't. Another was one where he had to come in, but his throw was high and pulled Austin Tyler Tyler Austin off of first base. What's more, he looked feeble at the plate, striking out twice and making two easy outs in the air. Mrs Ash remarked that he might do better if he didn't have his pant legs pulled up so high - I think he should take Mrs Ash's scouting advice to heart as she is rarely wrong about anything. In any case, do NOT bring this guy up now, and probably don't bring him up for a September look-see either. Maybe he'll be ready someday, but he is not, today. Speaking of Austin Tyler Tyler Austin, I thought he acquitted himself well. He didn't get any base hits, but one of his outs was a sharp liner to third base in the eighth, and he walked which resulted in a run when Astudillo hit a homer. The first baseman also got three chances to field popups, all in the final two innings - indeed he notched the last putout before the fatal home run. Speaking of liners to third, Astudillo scorched an even tougher one to Tony Renda's right in the sixth inning. You simply can't play a liner better than Renda did, leaving his feet and stretching to full extension to barely snag that rocket. Beautiful play. Kudos to him. Speaking of Willians Astudillo, that home run to left in the fourth inning was a rocket too - a no-doubter. It was one of the few bright spots in the game for my team. He was unremarkable in left field, making the easy fly outs and handling the base hits in his direction. However, what stood out to me was how very slowly he moved when going to his position, and slow coming back to the dugout. He exerted effort on balls in play, as I said, but I don't recall someone taking that much time to and from. It's like he's the anti-Charlie Hustle (which itself is not originally a compliment, so I'm not sure what bearing it has). Speaking of home runs, how about that Tyler Duffey? On that last batter, it was a 2-2 count, with curveballs missing twice. I don't often try to guess pitches, but I was sure it would be a fastball, and mentioned to Mrs Ash that they should come back with another curve instead. I'd go with another curve even on 3-2, too, and if it was a walk, so be it - there were two out. Nope, flat, 91-MPH, nothing fastball. Brandon Phillips was sitting on it, just like me. Ain't I smart? Ball game. There was of course also the dong by Josh Ockimey that tied it in the eighth. Duffey is another of the disappointments this franchise has suffered in the past few years. It won't surprise me if he's non-tendered this off-season - this guy never progressed beyond being a two-pitch pitcher, and now he's down to one. He's cooked. Or, if some other team signs him and gets something out of him, a hard look needs to be taken at the coaching and why they didn't help him find answers. Speaking of fastballs, Stephen Gonsalves.... oops never mind. He may have reached 90 or 91 on the radar gun display, but generally sat at 88 or 89. I can't identify off-speed pitches, one from another, but he had a variety that would register at 79 or 74 or even 69 - a knuckler? Visibly slow, and entertaining, from our excellent first-base-side cheap-seats. That much differential from the fastball is said to become counter-productive, but he's getting AAA guys out. The homer in the third inning to the aforementioned Tony Renda was a cheapie to right, barely clearing the 325 foot mark, so I don't hold that against him. He weakened in the 7th, walking the first two batters, and was bailed out slightly by an ill-advised stolen base attempt by the PawSox' Mike Miller - down two runs, you need to be awfully sure you can take the base, and he was out by a mile thanks to an accurate throw by Juan Graterol. Gonsalves might have gotten out of it unscored-upon, had Gordon made the play previously mentioned. It's unclear to me that Gonsalves's stuff is going to play, in the majors, but if this is who he is, let's bring him up now, or in September, and start to find out. Unlike Gordon, he's mastered his game, such as it is. If he bombs, there will still be time to option him to the minors mid-2019 and try to retool his entire game in some manner. Speaking of ill-advised baserunning, with the score tied 4-4 in the top of the ninth, Edgar Corcino got a clean single to left leading off, and was (wait for it) out by a mile trying to stretch it to a double. Left fielder Kyle Wren had come up with the ball practically by the time Corcino rounded first. There was time to go a third of the way and then change his mind. Nope. As events played out (which of course might not have), we would have had bases loaded with one out, with the top of the order coming up. And that lone out was thanks to a possibly game-saving snag by PawSox right fielder Aneury Tavarez near the foul line on a drive by Graterol. Of course the top of our order was third baseman Taylor Motter followed by Gordon, and Motter actually did strike out looking, which brings us to Gordon, so never mind. Speaking of never mind, when we didn't score in the top of the ninth, and I saw Duffey coming out again, I said to Mrs Ash, this won't take long. It took longer than I expected, five batters. Good for him, I guess. Speaking of good, despite the ragtag nature of our lineup, and the generally negative results, I enjoyed the evening a lot. McCoy Stadium gets a lot of criticism locally, but as far as I can see it's only because there are no luxury boxes to make the team more profitable. The park has been kept up, and I have yet to have a poor experience there. It's my east coast version of the Oakland Coliseum - a straight ahead old school place to watch a baseball game, in my book. The site-grilled Italian sausage with onions and green peppers never fails to satisfy, likewise the Foolproof Backyahd [sic] IPA available on draft which leaves me pleasantly sleepy.

Baseball players, in general, are no sure bets. You sign one, he can become injured. I like the Addison Reed signing, and I am convinced that he has encountered/endured some kind of nagging injury that has taken the movement away from his pitches. It happens. You don't pay a player for performance, you pay for a chance. A seat at the table. I don't know where a list of anticipated free agents is, and such a list will be very different by the time free agents must declare, anyway. I see Craig Kimbrel as not being signed beyond this season. David Robertson. Jeurys Familia just went to the Mets but I don't see that he's signed an extension. You may know details about these, or any of a dozen guys a little lower-ranked, that rules them out as targets. Frankly I don't want to get into the weeds about this, so prematurely. I just want to set our aim higher this off-season, than someone with Rodney's track record already was when we signed him, and I accept that it will cost a lot more to do so.

Getting close to my phone's data limit. Hope the Twins and Wings win. Ash out.

For sure!

The off speed pitches are visibly slow. He entered the game with two out in the second, and gave up a cheap homer to right in the third. Thanks to Astudillo, he's currently the pitcher of record with a 3-2 lead. He just cruised through the fifth. In other news, Mrs Ash has a scouting report on Nick Gordon. She says he might hit better if he didn't have his pants legs up so high.

Gonsalves on the mound throwing sub-90 junk. One off speed pitch registered at 69 mph. I dunno what to think about him.

Oops, I'm in the wrong thread. At Pawtucket, watching our Red Wings. Astudillo went yard with two on.

WILLIANS!!!!

Did they take advantage of the market, or did the market take advantage of them? Swooping in and making a late offer, to a player no one else has seen fit to step up to sign, has its risks too.