FrodaddyG

If there are fingers involved in your colonoscopy, you probably want to find a new doctor.

To be fair, they were playing the 2011 Twins. The same group that picked the lineup could have taken the field and had a chance to win that game.

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Well, let's just throw trades out, too, since Ryan hasn't made trades for big name players, either. He's only wasted everybody's time trading for unproven prospects like Nathan and Liriano. And instead of whoever the scouts think has the best chance to be a useful player down the road, they should draft what they need RIGHT NOW, and hope that 4 years down the road when they player they draft gets to the big leagues, that's still what the team needs. That sounds like a way better plan, and not at all a way to turn your system into a complete cluster****.

But with the recent focus on concussions throughout sports, a guy with his history is going to get viewed differently than say, a guy who has had TJS. One ailment physically heals, the other is still a largely unknown quantity, and Morneau hasn't just had one incident with head injuries. "Durability" isn't really being called into question. It isn't how well he bounces back from or avoids typical injuries. It's the fact that his head is one hit away from not just missing time, but probably ending his career. His last concussion didn't subside, by Morneau's own statements, for two years. And as the 2010 concussion showed, it doesn't take an NFL-level "WR-lit-up-on-a-crossing-route-by-a-free-safety" shot to bring head issues back. One minor collision on a slide gave him issues across multiple seasons, and the team that thinks about ponying up for him has to know in the back of their mind that another one of those is the likely end of their investment. That may make it tough for him to see much beyond year-to-year or a two year deal at best, just due to teams minimizing salary risk on a guy who won't exactly be making the league minimum wherever he ends up.

...

Anyone know if Eddie Gaedel has any grandkids floating around?

Or you use other assets to trade for pitching, or sign useful free agents to fill in gaps wherever they may be on the roster. There are many avenues to fill needs, which is why drafting for need is so pointless. In the period of time it will take virtually any prospect to move through the system, your needs will most likely have changed greatly from the day they were selected.

Not arguing the rest as the spring results go, but Hicks is a flat-out superior fielder. Mastro is good enough to be an acceptable CF, but profiles better as an above-average corner guy defensively. Hicks has legit Gold Glove potential as a CF.

Sure, if you want to see guys get on, and then stand on a base. Those kind of guys will only even attempt to run toward the next base 53% (rough estimation) of the time when the person at bat puts the ball in play, because they don't understand the finer points of the game. The point has been undeniably made, and backed by the rock solid science of made-up facts, that a lineup of Guzmans is far superior to a lineup of guys like Mauer/Willingham/Morneau with their useless, tangible "on-base percentage" and lack of the important factor in baseball, which is, of course, the chronically undefinable "speed". Sure, they get on base at a ridiculously low clip, but when they do, there's a slightly better chance of them scoring, provided that the guys behind them can also find ways to effectively get on base at a solid clip. Wait a minute... that would almost mean that it has more to do with the linup composition than the individual players. Nah, that couldn't be. Rock solid science. 9 Guzmans > 9 Mauers.

Yeah, and even if he isn't actually up at that point, he should go up and hit when someone else is facing the situation to be the "Decider". That's what "Deciders" do. They "Decide". And on the completely unlikely 8 out of 9 chance that they aren't even the one who gets the chance to "Decide" the game, they should "Decide" that they get to hit when they want and go to the plate, with a fake nose and mustache if they have to. That's what "Deciding" is all about.

And since there's no real point in taking it seriously, it will continue, and nobody in the US will care. As they shouldn't.

Everyone knows that quiet guys can't win. Just ask perennial loser Mariano Rivera.

Because Ryan basically insulted Santana with his extension offer on his way out the door, leaving Smith with essentially no chance of re-signing him, forcing him to make a deal. Pierzynski was dealt because of Mauer's presence, but could have easily been kept as a backup C/DH at the time. SF gave up a good package because AJ was a useful player entering his prime at a position that's starved for offense. It wasn't like they were getting sure-thing prospects in return, but they panned out better than prospects generally do. The Mets ended up giving up less in their deal because they knew the Twins' hand was forced, and all of baseball knew Santana had one foot out the door the second he turned down Ryan's "competitive" 5/$100M offer. The prospects they got in return ended up being essentially useless during their Twins tenure, but making a deal was something Smith had to do given the circumstances.

Yet, strangely, the MLB runs leaderboards aren't dominated by low OBP fast guys. I wonder why that is?

Your completely made-up and non-fact-based situation certainly does point to you being correct.

I forget, what GM hamstrung Ryan's leverage before the Pierzynski trade the way Ryan did to Smith prior to the Johan trade?

The guy literally has his own thread. Can't be bothered to post there?

And, as also stated before, he either thinks having a barely-trained catcher catch is better than punting at worst a handful of ABs from the DH, or he's planning around the infinitesimally small chance that both his catchers get hurt. Whichever of those is driving his mindset is far beyond stupid from a baseball standpoint. Catering to misguided notions is not how you change the mindset behind misguided notions. Informing Gardy of the fact that "planning for this never-going-to-happen scenario is ****ing stupid, your third catcher is a phone call away in Rochester" would be a boon to the roster composition of the team. Hypothetical "conversation": Person A manages a small warehouse employing 25 people which needs two guys to cover the receiving of shipments. Person B is the owner. A: "I need a third guy for receiving." B: "Why? Are we busier?" A: "No, but what happens if both guys get sick?" B: "Are both guys sick?" A: "No." B: "Is one guy sick?" A: "No." B: "But if one guy got sick, the other could cover for him, right?" A: "Yeah, but what if they both get..." B: "Why are you expecting them both to get sick?" A: "Well, you know, what if they do?" B: "Doesn't just about everyone who works here know enough about receiving shipments to get through a day even if that happened?" A: "Sure, but it would be nice to have someone who knew it better." B: "I'm sure it would, but we can only afford to pay so many people. I'd have to fire someone elsewhere. It hurts the company." A: "Yeah, but I'd feel a little better knowing that guy was there." B: "So preparing for this situation is more important to you than the company running its best?" A: "Yes. Yes, it is." B: "You're fired."

No. Because as was previously stated, the second your catcher goes down, the one DHing shifts behind the plate and you give up the DH for the game without a second thought. Having a pitcher hit or pinch hitting for the spot a couple times is far preferable to hoping an "emergency catcher" doesn't hugely **** up the rest of the game behind the plate.

Except Correia signed BEFORE most of the comparable guys, and got more money and years. They weren't "left" with Correia, they made a concerted effort to pick him above several others. Hence, the annoyance.

What asset should bring you a greater return five years down the road: Justin Upton or Rick Porcello?

I'm not sure what the exact calculations are that go into it, but wouldn't the qualifying offer amount likely go up from the $13M or whatever it was at this year? It does require him to have a good year to even take the chance on offering it, but if it's maybe going to be closer to $15-16M, is that an amount Morneau can possibly be worth on the far side of 30? Really, unless he's playing at an absolute peak level again by the trade deadline, he needs to get moved for the best package possible. Morneau producing at 75% of his peak probably won't be worth risking that qualifying offer (leaving him most likely walking with no return), but may have value to a team with injury woes or weak production at 1B looking to push towards a playoff spot at the end of July.

They'd have to offer him a high dollar qualifying offer, which he probably doesn't turn down, since there's a good chance it would be significantly more than he'd get on the open market.

When professional scouts have been watching and evaluating players for months before the draft, when the time comes, they absolutely know who they consider the best player available at the time they pick. It's kind of the whole point of their job.