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Otto von Ballpark

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Everything posted by Otto von Ballpark

  1. Otto von Ballpark
    Update this morning -- can any YouTube TV subscribers in Twins Territory confirm if Fox Sports North is still available for them in the YouTube TV app?
  2. Otto von Ballpark
    According to this article, hot dog prices at these kiosks is $4, only $1 cheaper than the normal stands. And I don't think that comes with chips (I think chips are only included with the "The Big Dog" at regular concession stands for $7). https://www.mlb.com/twins/news/target-field-family-friendly-concessions-pricing https://www.mlb.com/twins/ballpark/concessions#hotdogs But I endorse the designated driver free soda coupons -- you can get them in left field lower deck behind section 130, or on the third base side upper deck behind sections 222/322.
  3. Otto von Ballpark
    I believe Alvarez was the second piece, after De Leon, in the trade agreement rumor that never came to fruition.
  4. Otto von Ballpark
    I updated the thread title, so it no longer suggests that Verlander just signed this contract. (He signed it in March 2019.) Also worth noting he still has full no-trade protection, and was fairly particular about waiving that even when he was on a sinking ship in Detroit. I'm pretty sure bad press / controversy alone won't make him want to leave Houston.
  5. Otto von Ballpark
    Networks are giving the teams/leagues billions of dollars a year for exclusive local/national streaming rights. It would be pretty hard to make up that lost revenue selling direct to the consumer. (Although I agree the current situation could definitely be improved!) Not sure where you are, but in places where media markets overlap, some streaming providers provide both team's channels. For example, River Falls, Wisconsin is blacked out from both the Twins and Brewers on MLB.TV, but if you subscribe to YouTube TV in River Falls, it appears that you get both Fox Sports North and Fox Sports Wisconsin. (For now, anyway ) You can enter a zip code here and see what you'd get on YouTube TV: https://tv.youtube.com/welcome/#id-70channels
  6. Otto von Ballpark
    Yup. No timeline yet, though: https://twitter.com/TeamYouTube/status/1233578974443339776?s=20
  7. Otto von Ballpark
    Maybe he is also in the Twins Daily blackout area.
  8. Otto von Ballpark
    I use a site called suppose.tv to compare TV providers. You just enter your location in the top left, select what channels you want below that, and it shows you what providers offer that in your location and how much they cost. https://www.suppose.tv/tv?m=15&f=1l15l160l250l100l1l0lll1&r=BJKPJZU4U YouTube TV was indeed the best deal ($50) for Fox Sports North before this mess. Now it is Hulu Live TV ($55). Another, more expensive streaming option is AT&T TV Now (formerly DirecTV Now, $80). They also show satellite providers, but those usually come with a contract. At least streaming providers are just month to month and can be picked up or dropped at any time.
  9. Otto von Ballpark
    Garza had a 3.69 ERA (117 ERA+) and 4.18 FIP in 2007 for the Twins. His best single-season marks in Tampa were a 3.70 ERA (119 ERA+) and 4.14 FIP. I think it's fair to say he would have turned into much the same pitcher.
  10. Otto von Ballpark
    I thought the Young trade was included here more because of Garza, although technically he had graduated the prospect list in 2007 too. I guess even in 2008, both guys were still getting valued by their high top 100 ranks from 2007. Humber had lost his top 100 ranking by the time we traded for him too, but due to health/performance rather than graduation. It's not surprising Nathan wasn't on any lists -- not only was he drafted as a shortstop before converting to pitcher, he was actually a mediocre starting pitcher in the minors until converting to relief at age 28. I think top 100 lists can be useful, as long as one understands their limitations and context.
  11. Otto von Ballpark
    It appears Neagle was never a top 100 prospect. Baseball Reference has the BA lists going to back to 1990, reflected on their minor league player pages, and it shows nothing for Neagle: https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=neagle001den Someone compiled the BA lists into a spreadsheet here too, no Neagle: https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0ApDc5PGsBzgVdDRwRU9PMXp3MV9mMERXek16N0s4WHc&hl=en For West, unfortunately I don't think BA's top 100 list existed before 1990 and West was ineligible by then. He was #2 on the Mets list in 1989, though, behind only Gregg Jeffries, so I suspect he could have done well in a top 100 list that year. https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/1983-2000-top-10-prospects-rankings-archive/
  12. Otto von Ballpark
    FWIW, Trevor May was a top 100 prospect the offseason *before* we acquired him -- he had a pretty mediocre year at AA for the Phillies in 2012 which knocked him off lists.
  13. Otto von Ballpark
    It's a luxury tax thing. I don't think teams can send much arbitrary cash around any more -- it all has to be tied to a player's salary for specific seasons, for luxury tax purposes. So for example, if Maeda earns $8 mil in 2020 including incentives, that's all the Dodgers will be sending the Twins. If they tried to send $11 mil, then $3 mil of that would count against a future luxury tax season, and the Dodgers don't want that. (They're already over the tax threshold for 2020 anyway, but may try to stay under in 2021 or beyond.)
  14. Otto von Ballpark
    Worth noting the Twins are now incentivized to keep him starting for all of 2020 (well, at least up to the postseason) by the terms of the cash considerations coming from the Dodgers. The Dodgers are paying his $3 mil base salary this year, plus his $1 mil assignment bonus (for being traded), plus up to $7 mil in 2020 incentives, if he earns them -- but nothing after 2020: FWIW, 30 games started, 160 IP would be exactly $7 mil in incentives this year, so it's do-able if he stays healthy.
  15. Otto von Ballpark
    Yes. The Dodgers have actually been under the threshold each of the past two seasons (2018 & 2019), after being way over for a few years prior. And they can probably go way over again this year, and maybe even reset again next winter (pending FAs Betts, Turner, etc.).
  16. Otto von Ballpark
    It's not much of a salary dump (the Dodgers could have simply released him and only owed $12 mil). I think they just realized they were going to be far enough over the luxury tax threshold with Betts and Price anyway, so they might as well use start using cash to buy more assets this year (in this case, mainly the draft pick and its accompanying bonus pool value).
  17. Otto von Ballpark
    Mentioned in the other forum, but the $10 mil cash is interesting here. Mirroring the structure of Maeda’s contract, the Dodgers are only guaranteed to pay the Twins $4 mil in 2020 — but will also pay up to $7 mil in incentives if Maeda earns them this year:
  18. Otto von Ballpark
    It is immediate, but it may not be $10 mil. According to this, the Dodgers are paying the $3 mil base, plus $1 mil assignment bonus, plus up to $7 mil in incentives this year: https://twitter.com/ericstephen/status/1228042185943089152?s=20 The writer clarified, in a later reply, that if the Maeda doesn’t earn those incentives in 2020, that means the Dodgers will pay less. So if you count the assignment bonus, it sounds like the Twins will get between $4 mil and $11 mil from the Dodgers in 2020, depending on what incentive level Maeda reaches.
  19. Otto von Ballpark
    I don't think I like this playoff expansion either, but I don't know that you can project backwards quite like this. Those 80-82 teams, and the 78-84 teams just behind them, etc., were playing under the old rules and thus may not have had as much motivation to push for a slightly better record. Now, it's certainly possible that it may shake out like this under the proposed system, but it may not happen with the frequency that the recent 2017 example might suggest.
  20. Otto von Ballpark
    Technically, free agent comp picks can't be traded anyway. Only "competitive balance" picks.
  21. Otto von Ballpark
    What did Barry Bonds suffer for cheating? Joe Niekro? Gaylord Perry? I totally get wanting to see the Astros players punished, but baseball doesn't have much of a history of meting out tough punishments on players for cheating. The strongest ones are the PED suspensions, but those are a lot easier to prove -- and a lot of people think those are weak punishments too.
  22. Otto von Ballpark
    I heard the Mets aren't alone in having separate clubhouses for spring training and their regular season minor league team. But my goodness, it is stupid to publicly give that reason for it.
  23. Otto von Ballpark
    Have you seen the TV ratings of sitcoms from the late 70's compared to today? Laverne & Shirley 1978-79: 30.5 The Big Bang Theory 2018-19: 10.6 Compare that to World Series Game 1 ratings: 1979: 28.5 2019: 8.1 Why, it's almost as if the whole media landscape has changed!
  24. Otto von Ballpark
    Thanks. Nothing to that effect on Twitter yet from anyone. Spotrac and Cot's assumed it was spread out, so I did too...
  25. Otto von Ballpark
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