kab21
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Everything posted by kab21
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This really gets old. Lecroy put up similar to numbers to Ortiz (as a Twin) after Ortiz left. Right or wrong (in hindsight it was definitely wrong) the Twins made a decision to only keep one tubby DH. If Ortiz had continued to put up .800 OPS's as a platoon DH then very few people would be bellyaching today. But Ortiz became a HOF caliber player instead so it's just another opportunity to call the front office idiots.
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No, it's because both of those guys are utility players. Solarte hit better but most say that his defense is pretty bad anywhere that he plays. If Solarte could be projected to be a startable player then this second guessing would be warranted. Solarte mania will die down in a month when he is back on the bench and his numbers look like a utility player.
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The only unfortunate thing about losing Yangervis Alfredo Solarte is that his name is cool. These regrets about losing him will seem as silly as last year's 'Eduardo Escobar should be starting at SS because he's a couple years younger and has more upside' arguments.
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Article: MLB's Territorial TV Rights Challenged
kab21 replied to John Bonnes's topic in Twins Daily Front Page News
The problem is that cable companies are a dying business model. They are willing to spend silly money for exclusive broadcast rights because that is one of the big reasons that people are going to subscribe to cable TV. They will do everything they can to make it inconvenient to watch your home (or regional) team on anything but their service. Despite these mega contracts things are going to be considerably different in the next decade. IIRC South Korea and Japan used to blackout mlb.tv because their pro leagues were 'concerned' about losing fans to the MLB. Of course MLB games are played at breakfast while the pro leagues played in the evening. This changed 4-5 years I think but it never affected me since I live in Taiwan. -
Baseball is spreading to more countries but for the most part soccer is king in many of those countries and will continue to be. Cuba will likely see some changes in the next decade. They allowed a player or two to play in Mexican leagues this year with special permission so something similar with the MLB is possible in the future.
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The reason that Plouffe stuck at short through the minors is that his defensive tools were fine and the team probably thought the problem was correctable. That probably isn't the case at this point but I will take him over a guy like Eduardo Escobar as long as he's hitting some (.725ish OPS or higher). At the end of the day he's just a placeholder until something better (like Sano) come along.
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Teams that have signed/resigned FA's with QO's this year Yankees -3 Red Sox - 1 Orioles - 2 Rangers - 1 Mets - 1 Braves - 1 Mariners - 1 Most of those teams are large market teams with a few mid market teams mixed in. The problem is that numerous small and mid market teams have said that they weren't interested in particular FA's because of forfeiting a draft pick even if the player made sense for them.
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So it's not a problem that the Twins avoid any FA that might result in the loss of a 2nd rd pick? All the current system does is to put one more obstacle in the way of small/mid market teams signing good FA's since it's essential for them to build from the farm. The whole system accomplishes nothing. The richest teams get the most comp picks since they lose the most players and the poorest teams can't afford to lose draft picks to sign FA's even if they have the money to spend.
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they are better than last year but still not very good. And still not worth buying mlb.tv for.
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That doesn't work at all. How could a team make any offseason moves if they have a standing QO on the table? The answer is to just get rid of the draft pick penalty. The QO system and comp picks can stay if people want to retain the illusion that it helps small market teams. Getting rid of the draft pick penalty allows every team to go after big FA's (if they have the money). And it keeps players out of this silly limbo.
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That is the theory but that isn't how things are. The Yankees and Red Sox (and other large market teams) have always made out like gangbusters due to comp picks. It's ironic almost that it has almost the opposite effect that you think it would. But comp picks aren't actually the problem. they can stay. The problem is that mid-market and definitely small market teams can't afford to lose a draft pick since that is an essential asset to their org. So the large market teams benefit again since they can afford to lose draft picks. Teams like the Twins can't sign anyone in FA even if they have the money.
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I think draft pick penalties will be gone in the next CBA. there are always a couple of cases where somebody isn't signed during spring training. This year there happen to be two bigger name players not signed on opening day due to this silly system.
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the ball doesn't sound different coming off of Cuddyer or Willingham's bat. That doesn't mean that jackson doesn't end up being a .270 20+ HR hitter but his upside is higher than that. so far the news is good this spring. It sounds like a top 5-7 is emerging and the Twins could have a top pitcher and/or Jackson available. Some promising news about Gatewood also but he still isn't at the Jackson level in this draft.
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I think you sold pretty low on him though. None of those players are very interesting. Guys like Dominguez just clog roster spaces and 3rd MiLB picks are hard to use (unless you trade all of your picks away like me).
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I don't think you really understand Miguel Cabrera's career. Last year was his best season but it was just a blip above his typical season. You continue to ignore that every 200+M contract is questionable. Did they pay too much/too long? Yes. Do they care? No. Helton's contract didn't sink the Rockies. Mauer's contract won't sink the twins. ARod's contract won't sink the Yankees. Cabrera's contract won't sink the Tigers. All this means is that the Tigers can't bid on the next Cano level FA to hit the market.
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This has been the way that Willingham has always looked. There's only one thing that he has ever been good at and he might still be able to hit regardless of how non graceful he looks when he moves.
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You don't get discounts for extensions for elite players 1-2 years from FA. The Twins didn't with Mauer. The M's didn't with felix. the Reds didn't with votto. The Dodgers didn't with Kershaw. What the Tigers got was a guarantee to keep Miguel. Some teams would be willing to move on and not lock into the decline years but the tigers have silly money to spend and this isn't going to doom them.
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All of these arguments are the same as every other 200+M contract. Or Mauer's contract. This is the price that you are going to pay for adding/retaining an elite player and it doesn't spell any doom for the Tigers.
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I like the Wright trade, don't understand the Minor one and am indifferent on the Bruce one. I think username is a sissy. those 4 teams aren't unstoppable.
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I remember these same 'he gets weak contact' arguments being made when Blackburn had a 3.00ish ERA at midseason so many years ago. Probably the same argument for Diamond at some point. The margin for error is just too low when you aren't getting K's. I like Deduno a lot as a #5 that isn't guaranteed any money. He might give us a couple of very valuable seasons but he shouldn't be depended on. At this point the only way Worley stays with the team is if he ends up on the DL imo. He found ways to get K's but there were warning signs (low swinging strike %).
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Even though Hicks is better than AP and DM......
kab21 replied to KirbyHawk75's topic in Minnesota Twins Talk
Whether or not Hicks can be this year's Dozier is dependent on whether or not the Twins feel that he has mentally reset himself. He was a big mess. It's possible that he has but just looking at his .650-.700 OPS after the first month disguises how poor his AB's were in his better months. I still like Hicks as a solid OF'er but his upside isn't as high as some think or thought. -
Exactly. Butera netted an A ball reliever that doesn't rank in the Twins top 30 as far as I have seen. That's the kind of value that KC has.
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The irony is that their penalty doesn't allow them to sign those long shot players next year. So you're basically saying that they didn't lose much since the players that they can't sign are longshots.
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Nice vent. All he's saying that Correia's trade value is pretty much zero. Perhaps he should have said an equivalently ranked (overall rank) Twins hitting prospect + Correia would net an equivalently ranked Braves pitching prospect. the fact is that if the Twins wanted to trade Correia then they aren't going to do much better than the Pedro Hernandez's, Eduardo Escobar's, Duke Welker's or Kris Johnson's. corriea is what he is. A veteran pitcher with no upside that is paid fairly. This isn't (currently) a tradeable commodity.
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Even though Hicks is better than AP and DM......
kab21 replied to KirbyHawk75's topic in Minnesota Twins Talk
By the end of last season Hicks was so messed up at the plate that he didn't even hit well in AAA. He needs to regain some level of composure and plan at the plate before he gets challenged by MLB pitchers again imo. It's possible that the Twins could make feel that he is ready again but I would like him in AAA. Allow him to come up with very little pressure in June.