chopper0080
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Everything posted by chopper0080
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Trade Span, Liriano and Capps (if possible) if you get offered legitimate pitching prospects, and if not, trade Span in the winter, make a qualifying offer to Liriano, and decide if picking up Capps option makes us a better team than not.
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So, in the end, it is almost purely a talent issue then. Good to know. We really need Morneau to bounce back next year. Looking at our lineup, him hitting again would make a world of difference. Hey, maybe a David Ortiz farewell tour could be in the works for Minnesota. (I doubt it, but it might be worth the 13 mil).
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I am also in the camp that believes Span is replaceable, and Revere can be a solid stop gap until Hicks is ready. It's isn't that I believe we need to drop Span for any offer that comes across, but if you can get much needed pitching for him, you need to make that deal.
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As TK loves to say, "you have to hit it to win it." I agree pitching is very important, but having power in your lineup gives your starting pitching much needed wiggle room. Scott Diamond is not a great pitcher, but with Willingham in our lineup, he can arguably win 15 games. The problem with our pitching isn't that it is bad, it is that it's bad throughout our system.
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This is my point. I can't in good concious say Willingham is untradeable, but he would have to bring a huge return for us to unload him in my opinion. I would say it should take multiple pitching prospects, at least one being a top prospect. I'm not sure if a team would be willing to part with a package like that (though it is a possibility as the market for power bats is limited), and if not, that is fine by me. My point is Willingham is extremely valuable to this team and brings power to our lineup which we don't have without him. Trust me, if you think our pitching is lacking, try finding a power bat that is close to the majors. Benson was the closest that I could find and then he went into the tank, and the only other one would be Arcia.
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From the perspective of a baseball fan, your post comes off as ignorant. No one on this board will say that Span is in the same league as a player like Upton, but neither would the Pirates have to give up as valuable of prospects as they would have to for Upton. Facts are their are very few power bats available for trade at this point in time. So, if you can't upgrade your offense by power, it would make sense to upgrade it with speed and make sure their is someone on base when Neil Walker or Andrew McCutchen goes yard. You can tout your own prospects all you want, you know them better than I do, but none of them are a proven and premier lead off hitter in the major leagues. Combine that with Span being a solid defensive player and having a team controlled contract for the next few years, and maybe he is more than just an option who is a bad fit. Honestly he is probably a better fit for a team trying to win a division than a prospect coming back from a concussion (Presley), a converted infielder (Sutton), a demoted player (Tabata), or a top 100 prospect who has not sniffed the majors yet (Marte). As a pure baseball fan, I can tell you your outfield would be much better for a stretch run with Span, McCutchen, and Jones/Tabata/Marte/Presley/Sutton than with MCCutchen and two question marks. You have pitching, you need hitting, and Span won't cost one of your untouchables. How can you find anything wrong with that option to upgrade your team's offense? -
I can't see the team moving Willingham for anything less than a package of prospects including a top prospect. He means that much to this as his power plays at Target field unlike any other player on this roster. That being said, if a team is desperate and an offer like that comes across, then yu have to make the move.
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I totally agree. AAA is great to build up hitters confidence before heading to the bigs because the get more pitches inthe zone to hit and the stuff is not quite as nasty.
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This is purely my opinion, but I believe in AA, hitters face major league talent, and in AAA, hitters face major league approaches. It has always been my belief that you can tell when a pitcher is ready to jump to the majors if he can get guys to swing and miss on pitches in the strike zone consistently. Pitchers at AA generally feast on batters who do not make them do this because of their less refined approaches as a hitter which is a reason as I see AA being a pitchers league. What this means as a batter is if he can show he can consistently force these talented pitchers to pitch into the strike zone and then execute against those pitches, he is pretty close to major league ready. If a player can't do this consistently or does, but isn't conecting as much as he should (just missing pitches) then he probably needs to move to AAA where he should get more pitches in the zone, but with less electric stuff to where he can work on making solid contact and gaining confidence against fringe major league talent. So yes, time in AAA can be very valuable to hitters and very necessary for them to build confidence. However, I don't feel top hitters need to spend time in AAA if they can generate walks and hit consistently at the AA level.
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The facts are that hitting fastballs in fastball counts is one of the easier things to do as a major league hitter. The difficulty is putting pitchers in positions where have to throw a fastball which only happens if players have a solid approach at the plate. In the end, it comes down to recognizing the situation you are in and executing accordingly. Willingham is good at this which is why he drives in runs and hits home runs. Twins hitters IN GENERAL are not. They work counts and take pitches to get into these situations, and then seem surprised when they get the pitch they should be expecting. I agree this may come down to this team not having very good hitting talent, but this wasn't the case when our team was being called piranhas and we were competitive 5 or so years ago. Now, we are rolling over and hitting into double plays or hitting high pop fly outs.
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Skole interests me as we are lacking in prospects at 3B and even better if he could transition to 1B. I know we have Harrison and Sano, but you can never have enough corner, power bats in the system. I would also prefer a high end pitcher or a nice middle infielder, but Skole would be a decent consolation prize.
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Article: Thursday's Minor League Round-up
chopper0080 replied to Jeremy Nygaard's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
Agree that it is good to see some signs of Joe Benson turning things around. Hopefully he can work his way back into the discussion of the Twins wealth of outfield talent in the minors. -
My issue is with their approach at the plate, not their plate discipline. My issue is that Twins players consistently struggle to work opposing pitchers into fastball situations, and when they do, they either miss it or take it to progress the count. I have never thought the Twins taught a free swinging approach, but I do feel they have failed to instill the desire and ability to crush mistake fastballs in hitter's counts.
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Doumit being our starting catcher in 2 years is a bit of a stretch IMO.
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My biggest issue with the Twins hitting has been their approach. The Twins seem to develop hitters who aren't great at working counts to their favor and then making the most of their opportunities. Maybe this is because for a while now, the Twins have never stacked a lineup with solid hitters, top to bottom, like the Yankess. It always frustrates me when our players "miss" mistake pitches and foul them off or hit short fly balls. Even Mauer takes a ton of fastball strikes that I believe he could crush, but he is a good enough hitter to be effective with two strikes and not a lot of hitters are.
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Action Plan for the Second Half of 2012--Part 3
chopper0080 replied to stringer bell's topic in Minnesota Twins Talk
I don't see clearing an outfield position as a NEED, but if the Twins can improve their middle infield or starting pitching by trading a current outfielder, they have to consider it. I find it hilarious that people think the Twins HAVE to trade an outfielder when in fact, they should only do so if they get a solid offer which improves some key areas of this team that are lacking. -
Article: What Would It Take To Come Back?
chopper0080 replied to Nick Nelson's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
In reality, all it will take is good, consistent pitching and timely hitting which we haven't had all year. We do play enough division games for it to at least be a possibility. -
Span becomes more and more of an option as long as Pedro Alvarez keeps raking. If Alvarez keeps hitting, I would look for the Pirates to pursue options that have more long term value rather than short term fixes. Putting a legit lead off hitter with team control for the next few years in front of McCutchen and Alvarez will be a more attractive option for the team as it will almost have to give up pitching prospects to gain a player.
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Article: What Would It Take To Come Back?
chopper0080 replied to Nick Nelson's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
The issue I have with trading Willingham is it would create a huge hole in the 4 spot of the lineup and deprive the Twins of the RH power bat they really need in Target Field. Being able to hit home runs is so key for teams these days and Willingham is the one player, outside of the unbelieveable year from Plouffe, that provides this. In my opinion, if we did need to compete and thus keep Liriano, the only viable option would be to trade Span or Revere, and then call up Hicks. He is ready defensively and has been improving at AA. He also brings a similar skill set to the table. I don't see us contending as a real possibility, but who knows. -
Agreed
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What is interesting is I agree, but think Arcia is probably the most ready of your aformentioned prospects to make the jump to the majors from a hitting standpoint. Where I would hesitate in promoting everyone but Arcia is that leaves him little protection in that lineup. Pitchers won't have to pitch to him which could hurt his development in commanding the strike zone as a hitter. All premier players want to help their team, and to put a young hitter who seems to command the strike zone in a situation where teams don't have to throw him strikes could very well lead to him expanding his strike zone in order to try an make an impact in the game as is expected of him. It might be a bit far fetched, but I have seen it happen. I am curious to see what Hicks does if promoted to AAA where there are less talented pitchers but ones who are more technically sound. In my opinion he either struggles because pitchers can bait him to chasing pitches outside of the zone or he blows up because he is able to crush more balls coming into the zone. All in all, I guess I would prefer to see the Twins move these guys up sooner if they aren't comfortable allowing them to make the jump from AA to the Majors. I understand the Twins don't want to call guys up to sit the bench, but it isn't like we are fielding a hugely competitive major league club right now. If the Twins do trade Span, I would love to see what Arcia could do in RF if the Twins think he can consistently lay off pitches outside the strike zone.
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Liriano .... 4 more starts???
chopper0080 replied to greengoblinrulz's topic in Minnesota Twins Talk
My question is why would Liriano take a deal like this when he is in the prime of his career. He will hold out for a long term deal which I would say would probably be 3 years WITH an option or 4 to 5 years without. Make no mistake about it, Liriano is looking to sign the biggest deal of his career while he is still young. This is pretty much it for him. When he hits the market, if he continues his current production, he will probably command 13 - 15 million per year for 3-5 years. -
Liriano .... 4 more starts???
chopper0080 replied to greengoblinrulz's topic in Minnesota Twins Talk
This is the main reason I believe the Twins have to trade him. Re-signing Liriano now is more than just paying him market value, it is about paying him enough to forgo exploring what he feels he is worth on the open market. If the Twins were to trade him, they could add a prospect and then wait to see what Liriano's market value turns out to be. If the market for him is shallow, they can always offer the 9 or 10 million per year that most would like to sign him more. If not, they can explore other options knowing they at least got some value for him leaving. If the Twins keep him this year, they are stuck. Either he is successful and signs a big contract with another team, or he regresses again and they didn't get anything for him when his value was at it's highest. -
Reasoning on starting pitching rotation
chopper0080 replied to greengoblinrulz's topic in Minnesota Twins Talk
Worst case, the Twins can roll out a 6 man rotation of Pavano, Blackburn, Diamond, De Vries, Hendriks, and Walters (if he comes back) and use Deduno as a long reliever or to fill in if Walters/Pavano doesn't come back. The Twins do have options, but I have to think they will think to 2013 and try to determine what options they have on roster and what holes they will need to fill via free agency. I believe this will be expecially true for Blackburn, De Vries, Walters and Hendriks. Blackburn to see if he can regain his sinker, De Vries if he can continue to provide 5-7 quality innings, Walters the same, and if Hendriks can make the leap as he seems to be able to dominate AAA. 3-4 inhouse options coudl put the Twins into the market of Grienke, but if not, I would look for them to consider multiple, lower costs alternatives because there is a huge lack of #1's available in our system. -
The Twins could sign Anibal Sanchez and Colby Lewis for about 21 mil which will be about what Hamels and Greinke get per year.
