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drjim

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Everything posted by drjim

  1. My thought is that the Twins were going to hit somewhat of a down cycle but the movea of Smith made it worse and deeper than a competent GM would have. He made some solid moves in lesser trades/acquisitions but those are far outweighed by getting the big moves disastrously wrong. This is not all on Smith by any means, but it is worse than it has to be. Ryan made mistakes, especially towards the end, but they were errors of omission which are often less costly than errors of commission.
  2. I don't think Smith had it easy by any means, not sure I ever said that. But he did have some assets and he made a mess of them that has directly led to the current disaster.
  3. Partially torn UCL. Damn shame. Pitchers and injuries ...
  4. 3 bench guys doesn't exactly open up the possibility of a platoon even if Joe Maddon or Connie Mack is the manager.
  5. Certainly true that the farm system was down, a decade of drafting in the bottom half can cause that. But, savvy management of mlb assets can overcome that. Disastrous management leads to the collapse we have seen. Had Smith been bequeathed a top 5 system that would have mitigated the disaster somewhat but no guarantee.
  6. He'll be lucky to be as good as Correia and the Twins already have Swarzak as long reliever. When young guys "need more time" I think of live arms that need to harness command more than mediocre stuff .
  7. Arcia can cover the many Ellsbury DL trips as well.
  8. The problem is a lack of stuff. He can get AAA guys out but it really won't translate. By all means keep him up the rest of the season but the Twins should be in a position to have better options going into next season.
  9. If Hicks is permanently ruined by this season there was minimal hope to begin with. I do think he starts in AAA next season.
  10. I would be really hesitant to start Meyer in the majors. Probably wiser to protect the arm with lower leverage innings (ie AAA) to begin the year so he can hit it running when he is finally called up.
  11. Unquestionably a terrible trade on multiple levels - all which were covered well in this article. That said, the one thing that I think gets slightly underappreciated about this trade and the timing was that the Twins were trailing the Whities at the time and Rauch was starting to look a little dicey at the end of games (this is an eye test thing, not sure if the numbers will completely agree and I don't care to look them up). I think the front office truly thought that sealing off the backend of the bullpen was the main need of the team (perhaps a frontline starter, but there was no options outside of Lee). The flaw of course was that a team should not utilize a talent like Ramos for bullpen help. And if by chance they have to, it better be someone with more upside than Matt Capps.
  12. Two things that probably need to be repeated. Mauer as a 1B is probably an elite defender. That will make him more valuable at tha position. Also, if Mauer becomes a full time 1B he will almost certainly get 10 or so additional games worth of plate appearances. This also doesn't take into account he will have more quality at bats as a 1B as opposed to a C because he won't be as dealing with the fatigue or battering a catcher suffers from. Simply put he will put up better numbers with additional at bats while providing elite defense at his new position. The difference in plate appearances over the balance of his career would also be substantial. It seems a no brainer at this point.
  13. One thing you don't mention here is that the two best prospect/young player Ryan left Smith (Garza and Ramos) were traded and there is virtually nothing in the organization to show for it. While it is true the farm systems was weak when Smith took over, there was still significant talent on the major league roster including two mvp caliber players, young startering pitching, other fringe all star caliber players (Nathan and Cuddyer), other mlb quality players like Kubel and Bartlett, etc. The cupboard of talent was hardly bare. Smith did some things well but his bungling of the big trades caused significant harm to the franchise and that is the mess Ryan is trying to clean up. Perhaps you should give the man more than two years.
  14. I would disagree a little with this. I would argue that whatever he may say in public Terry Ryan is acting like a GM of a rebuilding club instead of a GM of a club that is on the cusp of competing.
  15. The Wire. Best TV show ever.
  16. Is it lame and snippy to say took a look at the return for bats so far this season? It is practically nonexistent. I don't think teams give much up for bats, much less bats that are below average. Butera was a unique example because he is a catcher. Dodgers saw the wisdom of having depth at that position.
  17. These accusations could open up a whole boatload of new conversations. My first objection would be that it would be very difficult to prove, statistically or through Terry Ryan quotes, that the Twins don't place an emphasis on plate discipline.
  18. Great post. I especially like the bolded section. I generally fall in the category that the Twins use advanced metrics more than we probably think, but like all things in the organization there is room for improvement and for additional resources to be committed. Does anyone know anything about Brad Steil? In an interview with Mackey Ryan hinted that Steil is from a more modern analytical approach. If there is one place the organization has seen a significant jump this year it is the minor leagues. Maybe there is something to that.
  19. This may be true if you are a casual fan but even a mildly competent scout or judge of talent wouldn't fall for this. Even teams that eschew advanced metrics would check a player against stats.
  20. This is a good point, the Twins are certainly not cheap in this situation. I still think you are overrating the possible return. My sense is they just aren't going to get anything of substance so they are demanding more salary relief than is being offered. That is why "money" is the big sticking point right now.
  21. But this analysis also ignores the benefit he provides the team by staying on the roster. You keep mentioning some hypothetical lottery ticket prospect, but I think that is the wrong way to look at the return because that would imply a live arm A ball guy or something. I don't think Morneau gets that. The return would be 40 man roster filler that would otherwise be DFAed or a lower level non-prospect organizational filler. Or maybe cash.
  22. I still think this is a massive overrating of Morneau's value, but I would love to be wrong.
  23. I wasn't necessarily criticizing Houston's draft They definitely added talent and were strategic how they did so, and it will surely pay dividends down the road. But in that process they left a beast on the table that was right in front of their face, and I'm quite pleased that they did. The dopey Twins took advantage.
  24. I think this is the right conclusion. The core of the game is not going to change from team to team, but failure to embrace new information will leave value on table at the margins, which can result in a couple of runs/wins which add up over a season.
  25. I don't think the Twins necessarily scoff at everything, but I completely agree with the sentiment. The Twins absolutely need to expand in this area and embrace some of the findings.
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