twinsfanstreif

Like it or not the DH rule is here and it's infiltrated itself into all levels of baseball. This is the problem with the NL not having it, I know the history and the strategy stuff and that's legit. The problem lies in pitchers have been specialists most of their lives so these guys are coming up to the majors and they're supposed to hit for the first time since little league and it's against ML pitching. Back in the day this wasn't the case but today it is and that's why the NL needs to adopt the DH rule. As to the original post, I get the sentiment in trying to create that strategy aspect but your proposal is way too complicated, frankly I don't think I fully got it. Whether we like it or not Baseball is on the decline in America because of the take over of Football and we don't want to complicate the sport any more for the casual fan, we want casual fans to enjoy it. I know us hardcore baseball fans don't want to hear that but it's better for the business which is better for us

He has some interesting rankings there. In the comments he makes an interesting statement, he replied to why Matuella was so low by saying that he only saw him in one start and he wasn't blown away. It kind of kills his credibility that he would rank him that low after only seeming one start. Granted I couldn't compile a top 300 list myself but it seems like he's just throwing names out there with very little analysis. I'm not as high on Matuella as some because I view him as an injury risk and he has an inconsistent track record but 29th is a little harsh. He seems to over value HS guys over college guys (I think it's a little ridiculous to have Allard over Aiken at this point)

I'm glad Biggio got in, he was my favorite player outside of Puckett growing up and I thought he deserved it last year. I think all 4 were deserving

Meyer hands down, he has the most upside and strikeout ability. No way they let him dominate AAA pitching one more year or let him rot in the bullpen without giving him a shot. May has some upside too but before last year most thought he would be a set-up/closer guy in the future so put him in long relief with the chance to spot start and potentially take over for Nolasco if he can't cut it again, if not he could end up being an 8th inning option. With Milone we know what we have, he doesn't have much upside past a #4 or 5 starter and we should treat him as depth. Pelfrey is done and he shouldn't even be here, I suspect he either gets cut or shows some promise and is flipped for a low level prospect to a team lacking depth, there is no way we block Meyer for him if we're smart.

We outbid everyone on Sano and at the time it was a hefty price for an international signing as the international market was still growing and little was known about these kids. I get that 3 million is much different than 100 million but it's worth noting

I've never liked the BPA argument. I get the idea in a vacuum but as fans it's kind of a weak idea, to me that says "I don't care, whoever the scouts like" it's kind of a cop-out. and you're right, most of the top players are pitchers. To answer your question for me it does a little but not a lot. I'm a big Nathan Kirby fan and I would like him weather he's a righty or lefty. Him being a lefty puts him over the top. People elevated Appel because he is a lefty and I thought that was a mistake, I didn't like him then and I still don't like him (as a player, I'm sure he's a fine human being). Hooper's ability to hit 100 on the gun and his potential makes him intriguing but I think he'll drop because he needs a complete overhaul in his mechanics and he has trouble hitting the strike zone, teams are cautious when it comes to guys like that because their bust potential is high, look at how Gatewood dropped last year. The Twins not having their 2nd rounder is an interesting thought that I haven't really thought about although they've used their 2nd rounders on project starters or bullpen arms in the past so I don't know if it'll be a factor. plus we do have a supplemental 2nd rounder that's about 20 slots below our normal 2nd. When it's all said and done I think we tab a college (or JUCO) pitcher because it's heavy on the top end and with Rodgers and/or Cameron likely to go ahead of us we should have at least one of Matuella, Kirby, Aiken, Bickford, or Buehler left. If those 5 go 1-5 then we take Rodgers/Cameron or maybe Allard. It will be interesting to see how things shape out in the next several months!

Parmelee was my initial thought. He's below average defensively and he gives us next to nothing offensively. I get the idea we hung on to him for so long because he was our first rounder and we were hoping for a Span like turn around but it never happened.

The Nationals need a 2B pretty bad, Maybe we could get Giolito from them for Dozier?!

well it seems like Terry Ryan has been stuck in the mid 90s for a while now so it makes sense.....

well according to this: http://www.forbes.com/mlb-valuations/list/ many teams are operating in the negative due to expenses (operating revenue) although I'm not sure if they account for merchandising and advertisment in these numbers

I knew he would get a lot but they'll end up regretting that contract in a few years. I guess he could flourish in the NL but jeez

My take on this is that the MLB can't force African Americans to play or even really be interested in the sport. In inner city AA communities baseball is not that popular, it's football and basketball. Is that the MLBs fault? maybe they didn't market well or for whatever reason those communities don't care as much. Baseball used to be a street game with stick ball games in the inner cities, why did those die off? lack of space? crack down on kids playing in the street? I'm not sure but baseball thrives in Rural communities (more space to play?) and most of the AA players in the MLB come from rural communities. In Rural communities football is king (at least in Texas where I come from) and the best athletes are usually black so most of them end up playing football so the undersized and less athletic guys (usually white) who still want to excel at sports choose baseball (this is an over generalization but you get the point). I'm not sure that promoting baseball in the inner cities is going to do much although the RBI and Urban Youth Acadamy helps. Baseball is no longer king in the US and might even be 3rd behind basketball. The reason there are so many more Latin players is because baseball is the #1 sport in the islands and is played in the street therefore kids grow up loving it, it's the reason soccer is popular world wide.

Watch this youtube video of Cameron: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1Iax4AwFYQ he has some of the quickest wrists I've seen in a while. He's a lot bulkier than Buxton was at that age and he looks to be a lot stronger, I just hope he doesn't fill out too much like Delmon Young did and become a defensive liability. I watched a bunch of other youtube clips of a lot of these top guys and here are my observations: 1. Hooper can hit 98 MPH on the gun but he has some serious mechanical issues and needs A LOT of work. Too risky for #6 2. Allard is a hot name right now. He's almost lackadaisical on the mound and he shows his hand in his wind up. This could be a problem if not fixed as advanced hitters will pick up on it. He does have a sick Curve though. He's risky because he's essentially a 2 pitch guy and has a lot of growing to do. Nevertheless I could see the Twins target him. 3. Brenden Rodgers swing is long and I think he's gonna struggle, he's not nearly as athletic as most of the top SS prospects that have come out in the past. I see him moving to 3rd and being a Plouffe guy at best, Matt Bush at worst. 4. Nathan Kirby has the most consistant and smoothest mechanics of any pitcher I watched 5. Matuella has pretty inconsistant mechanics but by far the best stuff. With his delivery I would worry about shoulder issues as he puts a lot of effort forward and cranks his shoulder forward as he throws (I'm not exactly sure how to discribe it), Mark Prior did the same thing BTW 6. Bickford has really improved since high school. He was almost a full on side arm in HS and was super inconsistant. Video from this past year he was more of a 3/4 slot and repeated it well making his control much better, plus he gained a few ticks on his FB, props to his coach at Cal State Fullerton. 7. The only video of Trenton Clark I could find is when he was 15, He's intriguing to me bacause of his numbers but I can't really evaluate him right now 8. Walker Buehler reminds me of Greg Maddux. Their mechanics are so similar it's scary and they are both smaller guys (although Greg gained a beer gut in his latter days). I'm not saying Buehler's gonna be Maddux or that I would even take him it's just interesting. 9. The only video's of Aiken are all the same ones from last year (not sure why I expected more of them) and I still like him. 10. Cody Ponce will have TJ surgery at some point. His delivery is heavy arm action and looks to be high stress on his arm

I've always liked Beede, I feel like his control struggles are overblown, he's not a control pitcher but he's not exactly wild either. I also believe he had 2 dominate years at Vandy although last year he wore down at bit at the end. His BB/9 isn't even close to Crick's

Easy, PTBNL until June

Yea, that's why many see him as more of a closer than a starter, maybe Susac and Beede would be better

Yea, I don't get the fascination with Buehler. He seems like a lesser verson of Nola from last year and his weight could be a problem. I just don't see teams looking at him until later, Small guys in the past have been passed over even though their numbers were ridiculous (Stroman, Lincecum) and those guys could hit the upper 90s, why is buehler different? I'm also not sure why they hate Bickford so much, I see him as one of the top 5 college pitchers

I feel like Crick and Susac would be too much but maybe I under value Plouffe. Crick + Susac would be a home run IMO

Wow, I've never disagreed this much on mlb.com's rankings before. They have Cameron at #8 and I feel like that's insane! Mark my words, barring arrest or injury, Cameron will be top 5. They also have Bickford at 17, that's ridiculous. Rodgers is a nice player (although his scouting report reads suspiciously like Matt Bush's) but #1 overall is pushing it, he doesn't have one stand out tool and looks to be a little above average on all of them, not exactly #1 overall unless it's a $ saving strategy. I don't know who mlb.com is using for scouts but they seem to be getting some second rate info in my opinion. It'll be interesting to see some of the other guys (TTF already has a few things) and how they see it.

Gonsalves was my first thought too. I could also see Kohl Stewart having a break out year as well, as a top pick he's suposed to do well so it might not exactly be "break out" but he was rather pedestrian last year and slipped in several rankings. I think he begins to throw more sliders and his K numbers will go up

The Royals would be a good trade partner, they need a RF and a DH. From what I hear they want to use the DH in a rotating basis so that would work well with them rotating Arcia in the DH spot when they use their defense/speed look with Dyson in CF and Cain in RF. They are also in win now mode and have a deep farm system with lots of arms plus they need power in their lineup bad. They wouldn't part with any of their young current MLB arms (Duffy, Ventura, Finnegan) and probably not Zimmer but they might part with Manaea and a lesser prospect. I'm not confident that Arcia will hit for average and I see him as at best an Adam Dunn type of guy (no D, no hit, all power) except he doesn't get on base as much as Dunn did. Plus I think Vargas will solidify the DH spot. I say cash in on Arcia while he's young

It could be the way the Royals used Dyson although I'm not hopeful for a playoff run in 2015 for us so I say start him and let him develop. The mental makeup thing seems overblown to me, there seems to be some light anecdotal stuff but no real evidence, could also have just clashed with a coach or 2 (happens more frequently than you would think). I think Torri helps out a lot in this manner. Hicks had these same issues but it seemed to be more of a him and Gardy thing than anything else (and it's not like that wasn't an issue with others through the years) so it would be like getting Hicks with more speed and more potential

My only question is will anyone draft him before us? The Astros obviously won't so that leaves the D-Backs, Rangers, and Red Sox. I feel like the Red Sox are trying to rebound and win now based on their recent signings so they are probably out. That leaves the D-Backs and Rangers, any shot those guys go with DeShields?

After the Hunter acquisition I'm more on board with DeShields, his speed will make up for the lack of speed with Hunter/Arcia and Torri would be a great mentor for him. He will most likely struggle (not a given though) but he couldn't struggle more than Hicks did and Hicks was asked to be "the guy" where DeShields could come in and be asked to just learn. I'm fully on board with him!

So I guess we can expect a Cy Young from him soon?!