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TheLeviathan

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Everything posted by TheLeviathan

  1. TheLeviathan
    I think it's fair to criticize the gay marriage question, that could be left to a later time. (Plenty of time for filler stuff before Spring Training) But the defense question is fair game and Torii's response was ridiculous.
  2. TheLeviathan
    So we want a leopard to start having stripes? These guys are what they are, it's not like they'll magically become Randy Johnson when they stop making excuses. The front office brought a bunch of high contact, fly ball pitchers in and are now fielding a defense that looks like they all put their foreheads on bats and spun around for 10 minutes before taking the field.
  3. TheLeviathan
    Other posters in this thread have said that he "will teach them how to be a pro" and other such sentiments. You want a guy with a fiery personality? Fine, say that. But if you look through the first few pages of this thread the word "leadership" and "mentor" and "being a pro" are what was thrown around, not having a fiery attitude. If you want to commend this for bringing some attitude to the team (something I've been a champion of too) that's fine. I can't take issue with that. But we have plenty of evidence in his actions and words that demonstrate the terms above (like "leader" and "mentor") are probably at best overblown and at worst completely ridiculous.
  4. TheLeviathan
    Wait....so what's your point? They just have to suck it up and ignore a dude bumbling his way around the outfield to the tune of 3-4 runs on their stat sheet? That's not how baseball works. They can worry until the cows come home about doing their job and it won't matter a lick if they give up soft contact and watch it drop routinely in front of our OF when many other OFs would've turned it into an out. This team was friggin AWFUL at preventing runs and if you think that was only because of the pitching staff and "Excuse making" you are sadly mistaken. Defense - across the diamond - matters. And it matters more when you populate your staff with flyball pitchers. I feel bad for the young kids coming up to pitch for our team that have this gaggle of poor fielders roaming the spacious OF of Target Field. That's not an excuse, that's the reality of how the game is played.
  5. TheLeviathan
    Psuedo, I think you are right that there is a genuine hope on his part that he can instill an attitude in the young guys to help turn the franchise around. I think the team and Paul Molitor believe that too. Where you lose me is putting him on some kind of leadership pedestal that I don't think he belongs. This guy has a big personality, largely because of his huge ego and self-serving (often ignorant and misguided) ideas. Torii doesn't bring "professionalism", if you want that we had it with Josh Willingham and even with Joe Mauer. You want an "attitude"? Alright, maybe. But I can't help but think a guy whose attitude is embodied by punching a futility infielder to send a message isn't the right kind of attitude.
  6. TheLeviathan
    Then very strong cases can be made that they are very, very wrong.
  7. TheLeviathan
    I'm not 100% on this, but I seem to recall Arcia playing in LF for the Twins some in the last few years and the broadcast team and the team itself saying he wasn't comfortable there and he was playing it very poorly.
  8. TheLeviathan
    Even if comparing Hunter to Heyward isn't fair, there seems to be universal consensus by Tigers fans, metrics, and video evidence to indicate he's basically a butcher out there now. It's precisely the wrong kind of player for this team to add, especially with young pitchers on the way.
  9. TheLeviathan
    Oh I fully remember how bad they were. Even if Hunter is marginally better (by most accounts I've read that isn't true - he was rated the worst defensive OF by the metrics. I don't trust them, but they can be an indicator) - we're now taking that marginally better player and moving a bad defender to a position they are worse at and uncomfortable with. So even if Hunter is a bit better than Arcia in RF, Arcia in LF is for sure worse than Nunez and even Willingham. As sad as that is to say. There is just nothing to like about this.
  10. TheLeviathan
    By most accounts, Hunter stopped "playing OF" a couple years ago. Even if that's where he jogs out to during defensive innings.
  11. TheLeviathan
    If the club feels we need more egotistical jerks that's fine, but let's not dress that up as "leadership". And maybe we should have found an egotistical jerk that, you know, could actually help make us better.
  12. TheLeviathan
    Hunter should be a platoon player and most likely a DH at this point. Starting RF that pushes our other guy that should be a DH to LF? I really, really don't like it.
  13. TheLeviathan
    Right, which makes all this hot air about leadership and personality really hard to swallow. Is Torii Hunter really a better role model for professionalism than, say, Josh Willingham? For whatever limitations Hammer had as a ball-player, the guy seemed like the consummate pro. I certainly don't recall him dogging players publicly, talking about "real" blacks, or devising the use of Nick Punto as a punching bag for clubhouse chemistry in his time here. Look, we all loved what Torii brought defensively in his initial stint. The guy was a ton of fun to watch and his you could even handle his quirks and mistakes along the way. But the romanticism of him as a leader and a professional are pretty hollow. If you wanted a guy to be a good pro and role model than sign Alex Rios or Nick Markakis. Torii Hunter? He's too busy "being Torii" to be any of the things we seem to think he's bringing for intangibles. And that isn't even touching the concerns about the tangibles and the ridiculous overpayment that constitutes.
  14. TheLeviathan
    Our rotation should be crying themselves into a bottle tonight.
  15. TheLeviathan
    10.5M? Holy schnikes.....why on earth that much?
  16. TheLeviathan
    I kind of hope the Twins bring Swarzak back as a potential reliever, but Duensing is no longer needed at the price he's going to demand. I just wish we would've moved him and Fien last year while they were effective and started auditioning the kids in AAA.
  17. TheLeviathan
    1) That is the most optimal situation. The least optimal, by contrast, is you just lost 50M in available salary over 6 years. 2) Arbitration growth is relatively steady already 3) This also assumes Dozier is a stud into his 30s. Chief's right, handing guaranteed contracts around when you don't have to is precisely what got us Blackburn's contract. Is Dozier likely a better player? Sure. That doesn't make the thinking any less problematic. Let him earn what he earns in arbitration and worry about the FA years when you have to. You're putting the cart a mile before the horse to sign him now.
  18. TheLeviathan
    You should probably go back and look at this, the trade record isn't as sterling as you think. That's more of a perceptual bias because Beane is a very talented GM. Just to name one: the Hudson deal was pretty much an utter disaster.
  19. TheLeviathan
    I think 2.5 years of data to make a decision is WAY better than 1.5. That's when I'd like to answer that question and I think the Twins would be wise to do the same.
  20. TheLeviathan
    We are less than two years removed from him being a sub 600 OPS player and an afterthought. So, yeah, he could be.
  21. TheLeviathan
    Except that's exactly what happens to many players like Dozier.
  22. TheLeviathan
    I wouldn't have done either of those deals either and in general I think the trend towards these contracts is a fad that is going to die off quickly when teams start realizing how infrequent it is that you get even a decent return on your investment.
  23. TheLeviathan
    Saving 20M over 6 years is pretty close to what I said - " a couple million a year". Does it matter? Sure and if we were talking about Santana repeating 2014 for the next two years I'd hop on board in a heartbeat for this type of deal. But your position assumes he continues to be above average and his arb. prices increase to reflect that, but that scenario is hardly a given. So while the Arb. prices MIGHT get bigger you are guaranteed the price on him gets bigger if you extend him. Production or not and I don't see the need to guarantee him that much money when the team has so much control over him left. Also, Dozier has had one above average year, not two. He was average in 2013 and above average in 2014. We'd be paying 50-60 million in guaranteed money for what amounts to 1.5 seasons of good play for a guy who didn't have an elite prospect status. I think I can safely say I'd never be comfortable with that situation going forward regardless of who the player is or how they profile.
  24. TheLeviathan
    I was just using baseball reference for those 10 comparisons. I also didn't highlight him for the injury reasons, Espinosa and Crosby do remind me a lot of Dozier on the other hand. But let's be clear - Dozier has been above average for only 1.5 years. He was pretty bad to start 2013 but then came out of nowhere in June and August of that year. I'm not sure why that deserves 50+ million when your hand is far from being forced.
  25. TheLeviathan
    First, I'd argue the longer the deal the less valuable he'll be in trade. Span had value because it was a short deal that wouldn't hang over your head for long. Signing Dozier to such an extension would, for all intents and purposes, make him untradeable for at least the bulk of the deal. Second, I'd also quibble with your conclusion at the end that you can subtract that 20M and suggest we're buying Dozier for 5M a year. It doesn't work that way - the 75 to 55 comparison is fine, the point about 5/35 is just erroneous and misleading. Brian Dozier has accomplished one season in which he was an above average major league baseball player and that one season was very erratic. If a repeated 2014 bumps his arb. cost by an average of 1-2M for the next few years I can handle that and talk extension at the end of the year when we have more data on what he'll be. If you want more reasons to consider that, please look at the ten players Dozier's career is most similar to thus far: Dale Sveum (962) Bobby Crosby (957) Danny Espinosa (953) Damian Jackson (952) Ted Lepcio (950) Tim Teufel (949) Bernie Allen (948) Don Zimmer (945) Gary Alexander (941) Andre Rodgers (940) Yeah, Bobby Crosby and Danny Espinosa aren't guys I want to toss 60M at because we're happy with 1.5 seasons of baseball.
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