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stringer bell

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Everything posted by stringer bell

  1. stringer bell
    Gee, isn’t a 15 year regular what Carlos Santana has been?
  2. stringer bell
    To paraphrase Yogi—90% of baseball is half mental. Confidence seems to trump mechanics for hitting and pitching. All three guys have looked like stars, lost confidence and flailed in the past two years. If the Twins coaches can be gurus who unlock peak performance of several players, they will have earned their salaries.
  3. stringer bell
    Ildemaro Vargas, who got in to 10 games with the Twins in the COVID year, signed a minor league contract with Arizona. I believe it is the third time he has been acquired by the Snakes. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2024/12/diamondbacks-ildemaro-vargas-agree-to-minor-league-deal.html
  4. stringer bell
    A lot to comment on from tha @TopGunn#22 post above. 1) Rocco not taking advantage of the 2023 rules changes has about 90% to do with roster construction, 5% to do with game situations and 5% to do with Rocco's judgment IMHO. Besides Castro and Buxton, who on the 2023 team would be a SB candidate, remembering that in 2023 Buck couldn't even play in the field. Secondly, the offense started so poorly, they rarely had runners on to put in motion. 2) Great and gifted players like Ohtani often put up a year where they steal a ton of bases, with Ohtani's 2024 season being the most extreme. I remember Jose Canseco putting up a 40-40 season and then hardly stealing at all after that. It takes a lot out of their bodies to steal that many bases and long term it doesn't pay off that much. 3) Lewis' body has changed as many players' do. Reaching a balance point between strength and looseness should be a goal and getting his lower body fully healthy is part one of this. I hope with better health both he and Brooks Lee post better sprint speeds and can be somewhat of a threat to steal bases in the future. 4) I like players that can win games with their gloves, their legs and their bats. The Twins' top two prospects so far look like they could be that kind of player. Let's hope the all-around development keeps happening for Walker Jenkins and Emmanuel Rodriguez.
  5. stringer bell
    On a somewhat more positive note, the trio of Keirsey Jr., Martin and Helman seem to have plus speed and have accumulated lots of stolen bases in the minors. Right now, at least two of those guys figure to be on the Opening Day roster with the other one the likely "next man up" early in the 2025 season.
  6. stringer bell
    Happy Birthday to the Rogers twins. 34 years old yesterday.
  7. stringer bell
    Hard to imagine that Bader will fit in the Twins' budget. He's quite an injury risk as well. BTW, Happy Birthday Buck! He's 31 today.
  8. stringer bell
    Lewis and Lee played after missing large chunks of the year with injuries. I also wonder if both of them might show more speed with a normal ramp up to their playing time. Castro was nicked for much of the second half of the season. I would hope he would be a more effective base runner in 2025 if he remains with the Twins.
  9. stringer bell
    I think the younger guys were pretty bad at holding runners in particular. When the Twins were going with three rookies at the end of the season in their rotation is when things deteriorated in a lot of respects.
  10. stringer bell
    Passed balls and wild pitches don’t figured into fielding percentage—it is putouts assists and errors. It’s probably fair to compare Jeffers and Vázquez, but wild pitch and passed ball scoring varies depending on official scorers, so catchers on other teams might be charged with fewer (or more) passed balls depending on the tendencies of their home official scorer.
  11. stringer bell
    There is much to agree with on both sides of the argument. Yes, it is true that base running isn't really the game changer that some seem to proclaim once a player gets picked off or thrown out trying to advance. However, stealing a run here and there with good base running will probably change more games than one or two games a season. It is pretty apparent to me that the hidden problem with the Twins base running (failure to take extra bases) is a bigger problem than stolen base volume on the offensive side. When the Twins are in the field, limiting stolen bases can and should be a priority. It seemed that the team did much better limiting stolen bases in '23 than '24 despite having the same catchers in both seasons. I think part of that is the Twins allowed more base runners and there were more runners on base in what I would call running situations in 2024. Another factor is the preponderance of right handed pitching--it remains accurate that running on right handed pitchers is easier than lefties. The Twins really lack speed as a team and I would hope that adding speed in future acquisitions would be a priority. I do buy that some players without great speed can still be athletic and be assets on the base paths, but it would be nice to have more than two or three guys with above-average speed.
  12. stringer bell
    There’s blatant and there’s gray area. Joey Gallo in 2023 is an example of gray area, and there are multiple examples across MLB where a guy with no options finds the IL during a roster crunch. Over the course of a season, players have nicks which they deal with, but there is something there. If the Twins like Castellano well enough to keep him and he has a minor injury, I don’t think he’d be prone to grieve since he would be accruing MLB service time and $$$$ instead of being returned and sent to the minors. Yes, if he totally healthy, that’s a horse of a different color, but if he has some pain somewhere from forearm to shoulder (which I would assume most pitchers have by midseason), using the IL isn’t going to generate much controversy.
  13. stringer bell
    Brandon Waddell (4 appearances with the Twins in '21) signed a minor league contract with the Mets. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2024/12/mets-brandon-waddell-agree-to-big-league-deal.html
  14. stringer bell
    It is rare that a truly gifted defender starts as a first baseman. Guys with less gifts in the area of range, soft hands and footwork usually are assigned there. The demands of the position can be achieved by hard work as far as being a satisfactory defender IMHO. Miranda is not blessed with good foot speed or range and I would state that his hands are below average, but with work he's become borderline acceptable at third base and I would expect at least the same at first base with more reps and experience. He wouldn't be as good a defender as Santana has become, but he would certainly be good enough if he could hit like has for prolonged stretches, better than what can be expected for Santana. That said, Santana has demonstrated durability far beyond normal in his entire career and it seems his superpower is to get PAs even when he isn't productive (sorry, a little tongue in cheek there). The Twins shouldn't be the team to give him 600 PAs when he only gets 1 WAR. It's prudent that the Twins have a Plan B behind Miranda, but Santana has never been a part-time option and the platoon-loving Rocco isn't very likely to do that with a Gold Glove switch hitter,
  15. stringer bell
    Gleeman & the Geek were discussing Castellano on their free podcast, mentioning the difficulty in keeping him in the majors for the whole year as a low-leverage long man. What they didn't mention is using the IL (and rehab) to maintain his major league roster status. My mind's eye sees Eiberson going four plus innings and then having a sore ankle or left wrist injury, followed by 15 days on the IL and a twenty day rehab. Perhaps not blatant cheating using the IL, but using the list to the club's advantage. I also don't want to sound too curmudgeonly, but "getting by" with a seven-man bullpen for a few days shouldn't be impossible, especially if the starting pitchers are relatively effective. The Twins had long periods where the last man in their BP wasn't used in 2023 (Cole Sands)--I think they can do it for Castellano if he offers enough promise to be worth it.
  16. stringer bell
    I know you weren’t addressing me about wanting him gone, but I’ll answer anyway. Santana led the team in HRs and RBI because he is what he’s always been—amazingly durable—giving him a maximum number of opportunities. Can he do the same at age 39? Is it “good enough” to allot 600 plate appearances to a guy who was born in 1986? He’s the epitome of a high floor/low ceiling guy at this point in his career, with the rarity of being so durable at an age where so few have avoided significant injury. At this point I’d prefer the Twins aim high, as opposed to going back to Santana and trying to milk one more (successful) season out of him.
  17. stringer bell
    No. The risk of decline is too great at age 39. The risk of keeping him in the lineup with marginal or less that marginal results is also too great. At some point the sand in the hourglass runs out.
  18. stringer bell
    Beware the White Knight. I am old enough to remember how excited fans were that Carl Pohlad would take over for "cheapskate" Calvin Griffith. If the Pohlads are really serious about selling (I guess they are) the payroll reductions make sense. Selling a team with a "right sized" payroll would increase it's worth wouldn't it? Also, the new owner would be granted good will if he then increased payroll I would suppose. It does appear the brothers are sports enthusiasts rather than only cold-blooded investors. To me, it is a mixed blessing. They would probably be more hands on, but hands on doesn't mean effective. If we are looking only at payroll, the Ishbias seem likely to try to hold the line.
  19. stringer bell
    Glad to see those guys get a bump in salary. Sim gets some money, but Royce doesn't--a little surprised by that. Incidentally, I noticed that Woods Richardson is just short of one year of service time, so the Twins have six more full years of control of him. I hope that he will be a significant part of the team for all six of those years.
  20. stringer bell
    Yeah, Rule V guys present a problem since they can’t be optioned, but if he’s a solid arm, they’ll find a way to keep him , whether it is using other player’s options, the IL, or making a trade to keep him.
  21. stringer bell
    With three extra spots on the 40-man, I thought there was a good chance the Twins would make a selection. I think all teams, including the Twins, have it figured out who would be claim candidates and handle their major league roster accordingly. I am not sure of the rules about Injured List time for Rule V claims. I wouldn’t be surprised that Castellano will spend some time in the IL in 2025 if he shows promise.
  22. stringer bell
    Two former Twins signed contracts. Oliver Ortega (pitched in 10 games in '23) signed a minor league deal with the Mets and Gary Sanchez signed with the Orioles. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2024/12/mets-sign-oliver-ortega-to-minors-contract.html https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2024/12/orioles-to-sign-gary-sanchez.html
  23. stringer bell
    A comparatively weak-hitting catcher with a plus defensive profile might work, with Vázquez then being traded. I don't know if there are any unprotected catchers that meet the criteria.
  24. stringer bell
    In a little more depth, here’s my “analysis”: Castro was far more effective in 2023 and the first half of ‘24. I think he was overused and the reason for that was he was Option 1 as the backup for Correa and Option 1-A for Buxton. Castro played in 158 games and had 635 plate appearances. Ideally, his usage should be more in line with 2023–124 games and 409 PAs—and if he’s not at short and center field so much maybe he won’t be worn down. No one expects Buxton to be an iron man, so having a backup who isn’t Willi Castro would benefit Castro.
  25. stringer bell
    It’s a small sample size, but there is no indication that Keirsey’s defense is elite. More telling to me, his sprint speed is listed as 38th percentile. This is from Baseball Savant.
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