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h2oface

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Everything posted by h2oface

  1. h2oface
    If the development is sooooo good, WHERE IS OUR ACE? All this hype is very premature if you ask me. Which you didn't. The one pitcher with a ceiling that is more than back of the rotation that was actually ready to help us and be on the 26 man roster out of ST was traded for a pitcher that is also being hyped, that the Dodgers were more than happy to move (I mean, it's not like we got Buehler or Urias or Dustin May). Seriously. We are talking Maeda! I hope it pans out. Just as I hope that May and Duffey can actually sustain. Especially Duffey, with just one half season under his belt in which the boards weren't calling for his head. When we have 3 pitchers from the farm that are actually battling for the top spot in the rotation, I will jump right on board. One thing that became obvious as the trade finally became official, is that the FO was really wanting to dump Graterol, for what ever reason that seems to be a secret. And with the Dodgers, they were even willing to add the second highest draft pick the Twins had left, and another basically MLB ready prospect.
  2. h2oface
    I don't read anywhere "here" that the feeling is immunity for the players was justified. It is just acknowledged as it was part of the process. I certainly don't feel it was justified, but once it is on the table, it is part of the story, and is not something to hold against the player. I find the comparison to capital murder....... especially for stealing signs, which people do from second base all the time.... kind of excessive. I don't think there was even bodily harm of any kind involved.
  3. h2oface
    And Shoeless Joe had backed out. Pesky details.
  4. h2oface
    The Twins must have really wanted to get rid of Graterol, and get Maeda. That really surprises me. Graterol for an innings eater. Blows me away.
  5. h2oface
    Well, I listened to (radio) and watched tons of Dodger games the last two years, and heard tons of "Dodger Talk" programs, and that is the main spin, for sure. And he wasn't the only one. Same with Ross Stripling (15 starts), who had a great run as a starter last year. Hey, the Dodgers had a very deep staff. Still will with Urias (8) and May (4) and Gonsolin (6) and Ferguson (2) coming up. But let's get real. You don't get pushed to the pen if you are one of the top four starters, unless it is for a spot inning in the post season. It was to his credit that he could handle the pen pretty well. But Maeda (26) was not one of the top 4 starters, even, but the ones that were were on the IL. Being 5,6, or 7 out of 11 that they used to start games last year is not the worst, either. Blake Parker better than the last two years of Kenley? Seriously? I won't even answer "which Kenley Jansen....."
  6. h2oface
    One thing in life to learn is...... you should punish yourself, but you shouldn't keep punishing yourself (or your children) for the same thing, over and over, once you have come clean. Once is enough. All the players got immunity (not their decision) so they would tell the truth in the investigation. Some will try to punish them all year from the stands, like they have never done anything that if the whole stadium knew about, they would be shamed as well. Plus, there will still be a goal to accomplish the same result in stealing signs in other ways. The penalty for doing it electronically aided is clear, but the goal and end result which is the same no matter how you do it will still try to be achieved all year long, every game. I also don't believe the Astros, Red Sox, and Yankees were/are the only teams doing it in some kind of aided way. Hell, nobody does anything....... until they get caught, eh? Let's play ball.
  7. h2oface
    That is the popular opinion based on the conservative and common process of projection that is often used. But my bet is that Garver will not fit in your/the box. People were saying the same thing about Kepler not being able to hit lefties, so don't let him play against lefties. I contended all he needed was more at bats against lefties, and he would be fine and improve. Garver knows his weaknesses, and will be improving them. Baldelli has already said that he doesn't expect a huge difference in his time behind the plate. I bet there is some more though. We will see who's projection is right at the end of the year. So while it's also not a given for players to keep improving once they hit their stride, I like that he is a good candidate to improve as he progresses this year. Glad to see Harper gone. I will also be happy for the Twins when swing-at-everything-mediocre-at-every-position Astudillo is gone. I wish them well carrying on their career, elsewhere.
  8. h2oface
    "In the hitter-friendly Florida State League,"...... Never heard it called that. Perhaps an opposite day?
  9. h2oface
    Garver will not regress, but be a bit better, if he stays healthy. He is smart, calculating and has been working on it this off season. I'm on the record with this call for Garver. Maeda with be better but Garver gets worse? Not buying.
  10. h2oface
    Shine that up, eh? A #5, 6, or 7 on the Dodgers is a #3 with the Twins? I'm not buying. He is still Maeda. Still not the upgrade in pitching we were promised. Not even close. Instead of Maeda for Graterol, we also lose the second draft pick we have (already lost the next one) in the 2020 draft, and get a catcher that will only catch in the minors until he is released. The best deal was no deal for Maeda.
  11. h2oface
    There was a reason Maeda couldn't crack the Dodgers starting rotation when eveyone was healthy. He just is not much for a #3 prospect. I know they got a bit more, but the Dodgers got Raley back too. I hate this trade. An innings eater for a star prospect that is ready for the show and to be the next Kenley Jansen. So much for getting a great pitcher with all that money available. Damn.
  12. h2oface
    Well I certainly called that wrong. Damn. Watch him be the next Kenley Jansen. For Maeda. Damn. I hate this trade.
  13. h2oface
    Super over-hype. Results matter. Can't wait for all the "young for the league" excuses.
  14. h2oface
    From what I hear on Dodger Talk out here, the Dodgers really aren't interested in Graterol. They would like to make room for their wealth of young pitchers that are MLB ready, and Maeda is taking up space.
  15. h2oface
    All it takes is a fine season by Graterol and it all goes away. He isn't going to get any more money this year, anyway. It is up to Graterol to be a star, and he will be paid when he can.
  16. h2oface
    Maeda was not very happy out here in LA, especially come play-off time. There were even times during the last two seasons, and not just the playoffs, with the Dodgers pitching depth and clever carousel with the AAA club and IR list, that Maeda was asked to come out of the pen, especially when Jansen became a risk. So was Ross Stripling. Plus, every so often, Hill and Ryu and the other oft injured would all get healthy at once, and there was just not room for them all to be in the rotation. Maeda, because of his success out of the pen, would be the the sacrificial lamb. I didn't realize, until the trade, that it benefited the Dodgers financially, and limited the money Maeda made. While he would get hot at times (hey, even Ricky Nolaso and Mike Pelfrey would have a good month once in a while) and be lights out, as his stats show, his upside seemed to be capped, and still does. The previous poster(s) that claimed that he just wasn't one of the 5 best starters was(were) correct, especially with the emergence of Buehler and Urias. Stripling had a great starting streak while Hill was hurt last year, and he would get sent back to the pen, too. Also now traded as part of the Joc Pederson to Angels trade. I really don't see Maeda as an upgrade, regardless of his MLB pedigree, to what we could field, and still have Graterol and all the upside and the power in the pen for this year. The more I write about it, the more I really don't like this trade. But it is what it is now. One thing is for sure - you can never have enough good pitching. Which is a reason to add Maeda, but is also another reason for not trading Graterol, especially, since he could have made the pen even stronger. You can never have too good of a bullpen, right? I just have a gut feeling that Maeda will bomb, and Graterol will shine like Ortiz did in Boston.
  17. h2oface
    Maybe. But I see it as Boston just really wanted Graterol, and that was the driver. Price was a salary dump, and the Dodgers had to find a way to get Graterol for Boston to get the deal done, and the Twins needed a starter. Since Kershaw was off the table (ha) and the Twins couldn't get Beuhler - already had passed on him in the 2015 draft (24) for Tyler Jay (6) - the Twins had to settle for Maeda, and that is the best they could get. The prize was Graterol, and Boston's keen and savvy fleecing of the Twins.
  18. h2oface
    I smell David Ortiz all over again. The one pitcher that should have been off limits is gone. At least we got a #3 for him. That is something. 32 as the season starts. I would have rather went with Grateral to help us. Not a fan of the trade.
  19. h2oface
    Nick for Brian Schales, who had a horrible year at 4 levels - extended ST, High A, AA, AAA, and back to A, where he was claimed off Fort Myers waivers by the Toledo Mudhens on Dec 12. Brian who?
  20. h2oface
    Unless there are injuries, I expect none of these to break camp with the Twins. ST filler, that is all. Jake Reed best get out of this organization, unless he just likes playing AAA ball for hardly any money. He should have bailed to Asia a couple of years ago. Thielbar's short story is over.
  21. h2oface
    Ever since I was a kid, I just hate the phrase "innings eater". If you get called one, it usually means you suck, and that is the best someone can say about you, and a replacement for how they really feel - you know - the brutal truth. Much ado about nothing. He won't break camp. Put it in the bank.
  22. h2oface
    I don't know his motive, no will I pretend to. But I am a huge fan of the late Jim Bouton and Ball Four. Truth is truth, no matter the motive, anyway. I will not villianize the whistleblower. He could have been the guy (as a pitcher, he didn't benefit at all) that was forced by peer pressure to assimilate into the team, and just stay silent. But after all the lies, and he didn't need to be part of the team, he spoke up. Good for him. Good for the good cop that doesn't buy into the crooked code blue. And I am one that doesn't care at all about sign stealing, and thinks it is up to the defense to figure out how to keep the signs secret, regardless of how they are stolen.
  23. h2oface
    For benches to clear, and the childish BS that ensues, is the most ridiculous part of the game, and always has been. It is way past time for MLB to make a rule with suspension attached, for any player that comes out of the dugout or bullpen, just like the NBA has done for anyone coming off the bench in any altercation. Time to grow up MLB. I, for one, do not have a problem with players being vocal about things that happen in play. I don't see it as a problem. The problem is always the childish chest pumping and postering like it should be something that one should get in a physical fight about. To come off the bench, out of the dugout or bullpen, when what has happened on the field has nothing to do with you, is really just ridiculous. Let Donaldson talk. Nothing wrong with that. No big deal. Other than arguing balls and strikes, I don't see a single rule that he broke to incite all the shoolyard shenanigans.
  24. h2oface
    Funny stuff. But....... 5. September 20, 2016 - Donaldson vs. Umpire Arguing a pitch that the umpire correctly called a ball (-2 points) How does a guy strike out on a called third strike (that was a ball incorrectly called a strike according to the pitch f/x) if the umpire called it a ball?....... which he didn't. Hence, the called third strike. Am I missing something, here?
  25. h2oface
    The bad guy is the honest one. This is the zeitgeist we live in. The old "have my back" even if I am the dishonest one - and you are a good teammate.
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