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stringer bell

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Everything posted by stringer bell

  1. stringer bell
    Zoilo never played a position other than SS during his time with the Twins.
  2. stringer bell
    I thought I had googled "DaShawn Keirsey sprint speed" last year and apparently I did. Baseball Savant shows his sprint speed at 26.9 (38th percentile) in a small sample. That isn't even average speed, what's up with that?
  3. stringer bell
    You know this because? I don't know if any of us had a scouting report on Mickey Gasper until the Twins acquired him. We do know that the Red Sox played him at second base last year in six of the eight games he played a position. I believe he played more first base and a bit more catcher in the minors, but for all we know it is because of the guys the Yankees and Red Sox had playing with him. Frankly, any guy who has catcher and first base as his primary positions isn't likely to be a good glove man at second, but getting Gasper innings to see if his glove is acceptable at second base makes sense to me. Also, since he was paired with Julien, Edouard would get some innings at first maybe to work on plays he botched today.
  4. stringer bell
    That is an obvious yes. Can they DFA him or put him on the 60-day IL if he's on minor league assignment and injured? I wonder if this is where injury settlements come in.
  5. stringer bell
    First roster cuts announced today. From the 40-man roster--Adams, Canterino, Raya and Emmanuel Rodriguez were optioned to AAA. Interesting that they can option an injured player (Canterino). I don't know if they can DFA him in order to get him off the 40-man.
  6. stringer bell
    Another Original Minnesota Twin has passed away. José Valdivielso passed away at age 90. I haven't counted recently, but a couple years ago a surprising number of 1961 Twins were still alive. Edit to add: I did an unofficial check of 1961 Twins and now seven remain--6 pitchers (Pedro Ramos, Camilo Pascual, Jim Kaat, Don Lee, Bill Pleis and Jerry Arrigo) and one position player (Rich Rollins). It would appear that Rollins and Arrigo were not on the team that opened in New York in April of 1961.
  7. stringer bell
    I'm not sure about all of the procedures, but there is zero reason to add someone to the 40-man roster until they are going to be on the active roster--that is, why add someone like Blewett to the 40-man unless he is on the active 26-man roster? Canterino, Topa or Tonkin might eventually land on the 60-day list, but the first move will be to put them on the 15-day list until there is a need to add a non-roster guy to the active roster. Any of those guys can eventually be moved to the 60-day if the injury is disabling for that period and there is a need to add to the active roster.
  8. stringer bell
    I haven't seen much of him, but Keaschall looks better than just about everybody. He's looks very comfortable at the plate and is getting good results. I don't know what the plan is for him positionally. I don't like the idea of him coming to the majors as only a DH, but it doesn't look like he's far away.
  9. stringer bell
    I would say that the odds were never good that Canterino would be a healthy contributor for the Twins. That said, one has to feel bad for the still-young man who has obvious talent but simply can't stay healthy. Banking on more than a half season from either Stewart or Topa is a similar long shot IMHO. Being able to use both the IL and rehab will allow the Twins to hold on to their Rule V guy and get Varland some innings as a bullpen piece while not losing either Tonkin or Topa. By the time someone falters or is injured, they might be able to step in. What are the rules for DFAs of injured players? It could be they'll have to carry Canterino on the 60 man IL and he will accrue major league service time since he hadn't been optioned to the minors. I don't know if he can be DFA'd while injured or recovering from surgery.
  10. stringer bell
    I have Lee leading the way at second base right now. He's hitting over .300 in SSS spring PAs. I don't think he has clinched a spot on the plane to St. Louis yet, but he's played well and certainly better than Edouard Julien. To me, the battle for the last position player would be between Julien and Gasper. They don't need a CF (Keirsey) with Bader around and with Miranda, Larnach, and Julien/Gasper all in the mix, Mike Ford isn't a good fit either. Austin Martin would be the fifth or sixth OF depending on how Castro is categorized.
  11. stringer bell
    Terry Mulholland is an Immaculate Grid favorite of mine (I always try to populate all the entries with current or ex-Twins). Mulholland played for eleven teams in his long career, was an All-Star and threw a no-hitter. Butcher had a nice first year with the Twins after being acquired from the Rangers. Through his time with the Twins, he "owned" the Baltimore Orioles and was 4-0 with a 1.80 ERA against them in '84. My guess for the Trivia Question would be Paul Molitor, leading the AL in hits with the Brewers, Blue Jays and Twins on his way to well over 3000 knocks.
  12. stringer bell
    Sands is a lock after his good work last year. I had my misgivings about him, but his numbers were very good to outstanding in 2024.
  13. stringer bell
    I think you're reading waaaaay too much into a couple of spring outings for Matthews (and the injury is apparently his hip). I think he has a nice upside, but they aren't going to send Woods Richardson to St. Paul after a successful nearly complete season in the majors, while Zebby struggled. Also remember Sim is actually younger than Zebby. As far as Paddack goes, yeah he never seems to be rested, built up and healthy. This will be his last chance with the Twins. Is his upside gone after two TJ surgeries? I think the Twins will find out, which means he'll be given a longer leash than most of us want to see.
  14. stringer bell
    Two straight subpar outings for Festa. I know it's early, but he may drop back a spot or two in the pecking order. Matthews' injury on Thursday also might change who is in line to get starts and make it clearer that Woods Richardson and Paddack start the season as #4 and #5 in the Twins' rotation.
  15. stringer bell
    It would be complicated to keep a Rule V guy in the BP, but I think it is doable if Castellano is close to ready to be a major league pitcher. I seriously doubt that Michael Tonkin will spend all year on the Twins' roster. I understand that he is a guy that they can "abuse" without worrying that they've ruined his career, but he'll never be more than that IMHO. The last two spots on the position player side would include looks at Ford, Keirsey and Martin who would be out in the semifinal round, The three finalists for two positions look to be Lee, Julien and Gasper. It seems that Lee might have a leg up in claiming second base and could get a lot of starts since he is a switch hitter. That would leave the final position down to Gasper and Julien. Julien has produced at the major league level in 2023 and hits lefty--he's been used at both first and second base. Gasper is older, has no major league success, but is a switch hitter who can cover first, second and catch. I'd give the edge to Julien today, but Gasper has done what he can to give himself a chance to make the Opening Day roster.
  16. stringer bell
    My expectation for the Topa/Stewart duo is somewhere around 70 innings combined. It seems close to certain that one or both will spend significant time on the IL It's entirely possible they only pitch as many innings as last year. This is why it makes good sense to have at least 10 BP arms. There are more options like Blewitt, Bosiokovic and others who might contribute besides those on the 40-man.
  17. stringer bell
    I mostly agree with the idea that a reliever is very hard to hide in the bullpen in today's game. However, in 2023 Cole Sands was almost completely a low-leverage relief pitcher. In the entire season, he pitched in one high-leverage situation--faced three batters, struck out one, walked one and yielded a homer. He pitched one inning of medium leverage (scoreless inning) and the rest of his appearances were low leverage. Sands was optioned twice and went on the IL once, but spent a large majority of the season active on the major league team. It might take some roster manipulation and it would require a starting staff that is among the the league leaders in innings pitched (as in 2023), but it is possible to pretty much protect someone if they really want to keep Castellano. If they decide to keep the Rule V guy, I would hope that he is closer to a finished product than Johan was. Rule V is a unique situation for players. The teams are better at protecting prospects from being claimed and the game has changed so that it is harder to carry someone for an entire year if they aren't ready to help a club. Teams not trying to contend have a lot more latitude, of course.
  18. stringer bell
    While it’s optimum to keep the very best arms on the active staff, reality is that somewhere north of 20 guys will throw innings on this (and every) big league team. Allowing the 14-17 pitchers to be DFA’d is worse than starting one or two guys who look better to be optioned. Last year’s numbers aren’t as telling as the stuff the pitcher currently has.
  19. stringer bell
    Yes, I’ve only seen two-plus games, so I probably overemphasize things I’ve actually seen. Gasper had a very good game against the Yankees and looked pretty good at first base to boot. I don’t think he is a true candidate for more than a bench role, but his versatility and the fact that he switch hits and could be a third catcher might give him an opportunity to get to and stay on the roster. Lee also had a nice game including a homer against Cole. He’s a switch hitter too. If he can seize second, less platooning is needed and the Twins will have their backup SS on the roster. OTOH, Julien was 0-4 today and looked bad on an error he made. I guess I see Lee as the narrow front runner at second, with a tightening race between Julien and Gasper for the DH/1B/2B/PH—the last spot on the roster. Willi is gonna play a lot regardless and right now it looks like second is a prime spot for him, but an injury or ineffective play could put him in one of many positions.
  20. stringer bell
    In 2023 Willi Castro was a really good player, playing mostly third, left and center. Not great in center field, but pretty good in left and third. I think he's decent at second, third and left--less so in other positions he played last year. He showed he could move around from day to day, even inning to inning. Not everyone can do that. Castro could be the ultimate tenth regular in that his versatility combined with others ability to move around could keep him in the lineup virtually every day. If someone were to go down for an extended period, Castro could be much more settled at one position. It's probably best if Willi moves around and isn't planted at one position, particularly if that position is center field or shortstop. Getting him back to being a dynamic threat on the bases and plus fielder would be terrific.
  21. stringer bell
    Gasper has three knocks including a HR. Also looked pretty good at first base.
  22. stringer bell
    Yet another ex-Twins reliever finds a home. Jackson was mostly unimpressive last year and now takes his game to Mexico. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/03/mexican-leagues-bravos-de-leon-sign-jay-jackson.html
  23. stringer bell
    Zebby might have tweaked something. Doesn’t look too serious. BTW, the screen is saying the feed is from the YES network. I assumed this was Yankee broadcasters since I started watching.
  24. stringer bell
    Lee homered and Julien kicked a ground ball and then hesitated before throwing to first base—advantage Lee.
  25. stringer bell
    Brooks Lee!!
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