Jocko87

Yup, a little over slot money in the late single digit rounds. I'd be interested. Not completely horrible by pitch count alone, most likely the lack of prep for that much work. It reads like he was a reliever that went from 0-100 in two weeks. He'd probably be glad to get into a pro org for rehab.

Brent Rooker is on pace for 42 homers. A's on pace for 35 wins.

Get your head around, plenty of time to get position.

Qualifying offer coming in clutch. He's never been a free agent before, it would take a big check to keep him from it.

Lots of reasons not to make the move. One, it’s a solid for Ober getting a bit of service time and pay. Two, they need to extend these out somewhere with not even having Sands eligible to come back yet. They can’t blow through the moves that quickly or they will be hamstrung down the line. Third, all the other conspiracies. Fourth, Headrick is probably good for a couple innings instead of a bullpen or something.

Agreed although I really like Gallo in the 6-7 range with more chances with runners on. The last person you want to face after some long ABs in the heart of the order is Gallo. Of course, the heart of the order has to be producing to optimize. I wonder if Taylor could lead off from time to time. It would open the 9 hole for Kepler.

Another thing to keep in mind is that he doesn’t project as someone who’s stuff gets better going to the pen. His first time with the Dodgers he was just a really good pitcher who happened to also be good in the pen. There is a good chance he’ll never be that pitcher again. I’m much more comfortable with him figuring it out in the bullpen and being used in positive matchups while he gets right. When that move also frees up a rotation spot for Ober it becomes a lot more tempting.

Forever! When it’s not even the start of his third year of major league action. Had he not had some injuries we would know a lot more about him but forever is a long time. I’m fine with sending him down to solve a short term crunch but I don’t think he’s going to prove he can hit breaking balls at AAA. Hit straight ball very much!

While I agree that his track record as a starter is solid it doesn't exempt him from age and performance issues coming back from an injury. I think you are right at about 10 starts but the eye test is kinda telling for where we are heading. In the scenario that he goes to the bullpen it drastically improves the talent level throughout the staff. He's not necessarily just a long guy out of the pen and I think the rotating long guy still exists. If the net of change is Ober and the prospect rotation replacing say, Alcala and Pagan it would be very hard to not make that move for me.

Updated chart with minimum PA filter removed. Leading or lagging indicator?

I was wondering if they could get someone with a similar skill set that bats right handed and has options. Probably have to throw a prospect in to get the options but they could kill two birds with one stone here. It would cost quite a bit more than just Gordon but the Red's store has a Nick Senzel with three options possibly available. Former top 2 pick, plays all over, hits right handed and has not been good. Great comp for Gordon now that I think about it. I expect Castro to be on an Uber platinum subscription plan between Target and CHS field all year. That's the role he signed up for. I think his first trip will come when AK forces his way up. It would make sense to me that they can absorb a short term left handed overload rather than make that tough call on Gordon for at least a few weeks. After Cortes on Tuesday its another long stretch of righties. They might be able to make this dance work with Larnach and AK for a few weeks after Farmer comes back but once Lewis and Julian start beating the door down something significant will have to happen.

I agree 100%. Except I think you got the names backwards.

It's Kiriloff friendly at least. Best data I can find is probably behind the paywall at Baseball America. I can find historical data on most AAA parks but its all pre-AAA at CHS field. 330ft to left 405ft to center and 320ft to right isn't huge by any means. There is some fence height in right but nothing that makes me feel like it will hold the ball in. I think you are on to something here.

I'd have to think a rehab assignment would be warranted at a minimum. Maybe he can feel comfortable in simulated ABs but I'd hate to take my first swings back in the big leagues after that. That could get close to 60 days total and give a lot of flexibility on the rest of the roster. I have to assume that within a month he will be ready to play somewhere. For the overall roster the crunch is about to get real if Kirillof keeps hitting. Farmers absence eases it a bit but we start running into skillset issues as all the lefty corner bats are looking healthy. I would assume Castro for Kiriloff but after that it might be time for a tough decision on Gordon. I have a tough time keeping up with which long reliever/spot starter is up as I don't much care. Ober, Varland, SWR, Headrick, Winder and a bunch of bullpen names are on auto-rotate based on pitch counts etc. and I don't look at that as a roster crunch per se. We are a few root canals away from a real roster crunch where someone looses a job of the hitter side.

Noted power hitter Micheal A Taylor. Also noted the back brace/heat pad/massager thing on Correa lower back during one of the home run celebrations. Gotta keep it loose...😑

His key has always been power the other way. When he does that he's been a monster. All good signs but I wouldn't be surprised if they waiting a few more days just to see how he feels playing several in a row.

Aren't we all 😂

Good thing they have a winning record then. I'm excited.

Yup, was thinking that live. 50/50 play need a really good throw to get him. Send everytime.

Is he wrong? What year is the better roster?

Obtuse, I was. It was a few days earlier than rumored though, which is nice.

Did the Minnesota Twins just activate an injured player, um, sooner than expected?

Taylor has been a pleasant surprise. I like him much better off the bench where Rocco can set matchups and pitch run or play late inning D. Maybe its how poor the rest of the lineup has been but for the most part he had passed the eye test for me. A solid player as expected. Then I few days ago I looked at his numbers and whoof. I will say I lean towards Buxton going to CF for the mental aspects for him. Agreed that there's no hurry to get someone else ABs. He seems the type that needs to distract himself between at bats and help defensively when he's not hitting to keep on the level. It may get him going but it doesn't fix anything for the rest of the lineup, although hitting is contagious I hear. Looked back at the prime Degrom years with the Mets. I don't remember how touted they were but yuck for hitters for the most part. Stars and scrubs with the stars fading or not developed. There are far too many capable hitters still in the mix here to struggle too long. The up the middle guys will hit-if they don't its a long year all around. Then the corner spots have options that can be rotated based on performance. Its about the best roster construction we could hope for and a really low probability that no one hits. I just hope they aren't as patient as they have been with lower performance but a manager is only as faithful as his options. I believe Rocco/FO will have a quicker hook this year for hitters.

3 years with Minnesota, who didn't sign him to the contract and have nothing to worry about as it comes to his incentives. His full career numbers are interesting, 2331 professional innings are quite a lot at age 35 to come back from TJ. Oddly similar profile to MadBum who was DFAd today at 33 with 2200 pro innings and looks washed without TJ. We are in the maximizing remaining career value phase of Kenta Maeda. The Twins owe him nothing towards the incentives and he has to compete for a roster spot. Its not Bundy and Archer he's holding back. I'm not worried about him being a starter, I'm worried he may be done for good.

It feels like this is a pretty good description of xwOba as the original posters states. I quite often look at the analytics and say to myself, that’s the same thing all these other simpler stats said too, but with more math. Then I read a bit more, figure out what the data is looking at and reevaluate. When these type stats are pointing against results we can reasonably expect results to be effected to the mean eventually. When they mirror, I pay less attention as it becomes another indicator of the same symptom. In this case, as Ash points out, xwOba seems to be a very good indicator of poor, non-competitive plate appearances and matches my eye test. Gordon having 15ish first pitch outs meets both tests. An old school fix in the hitters room can fix this new school metric. Get up there and BYTO. We can live with high strike outs if it’s a result of working to get your pitch, swinging hard and missing, not if you let the pitcher control the AB and swing at bad pitches.