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Otto von Ballpark

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Everything posted by Otto von Ballpark

  1. Otto von Ballpark
    Any of Tonkin, Wimmers, and Baxendale could be sent to AA, based on middling AAA performance alone not to mention lack of a future in the org. Nobody has to be given walking papers yet, if there is any concern about losing minor league depth or filling the vacated AA spots. (Mickolio would be another option for demotion, although I'm guessing we promised him a longer leash?) On the starter side, now that we've added Melville, Heston, and Wilk to the AAA starting ranks since the season began, Pino and Tepesch could be near future releases if we want too (assuming they don't want to be sent to AA, or we have better replacements in mind for AA). Most of these guys will be minor league free agents at season's end anyway, except Baxendale. (I'm assuming Wimmers gets removed from the 40-man again by that point.)
  2. Otto von Ballpark
    Why shouldn't there be a rush to promote Bard to AAA? Like you said, he's Rule 5 eligible this winter unless we add him to the 40-man, but that decision and his 40-man future are a lot more up in the air than someone like, say, Gonsavles. I would think we'd want to push Bard and get more data to better inform those decisions. Also, given his injury history (and perhaps his family history?), who knows how long this success will last for Bard? I think we'd want to make the most of it while we can.
  3. Otto von Ballpark
    Not so much the system, but in MLB and at the upper levels, Tampa has quite a few starters. That affords them some freedom to experiment with Hu's role, if they want.
  4. Otto von Ballpark
    Archer has super-affordable team options for 2020 and 2021 too.
  5. Otto von Ballpark
    Actually Hu was starting when they first called him up for bullpen work, and then he resumed bullpen work at AAA when they sent him down. He's come back to MLB for some long relief. Not sure what that means...
  6. Otto von Ballpark
    Not necessarily. Wilk could have been the 26th man instead of Wimmers.
  7. Otto von Ballpark
    Just that they should sign and do so relatively cheaply, because they have no real leverage -- they can't opt to return to school.
  8. Otto von Ballpark
    Wimmers has to be the 26th man, because he was optioned just a few days ago. So he is literally just an extra arm for today.
  9. Otto von Ballpark
    Only $1.3 mil over slot. Still pretty high, though.
  10. Otto von Ballpark
    Is it an evaluation year for Belisle and Breslow? They're a combined 73 years old. What about adding Chapman, Mickolio, Melville, Wilk, and Heston since the season began? Do they get to jump the evaluation line ahead of Bard, Curtiss, etc.? How about Wimmers, Tepesch, Rucinski, Wilk, Tonkin, all of whom have been "evaluated" in MLB this season and found wanting, yet still occupy AAA roster spots that could go to strong AA performers?
  11. Otto von Ballpark
    We're primarily talking about promotions to AAA here, so 40-man is irrelevant. Could be as simple as moving a guy up from AA to AAA, and simultaneously moving a guy down from AAA to AA. They've already moved guys down from AAA to AA to rotate more scrap heap guys into the AAA mix, it seems like it wouldn't be that hard to do it again to move a solid performer or two up from AA. Gonsalves for Pino? Bard or Curtiss for Mickolio or Wimmers?
  12. Otto von Ballpark
    Your assumption is correct -- players with 5+ years of service time can't be sent to the minors without their consent, which is extremely rare (Anibal Sanchez consented this year, I suppose just to get more innings). I can't imagine they are holding onto any trade delusions about those two any more. I'm guessing they still think Belisle can help, but even the Twins haven't been using Breslow for multiple innings or in any kind of leverage situations, which is basically saying he's not of any value on the field. They must like his off-field contributions, though?
  13. Otto von Ballpark
    Looks like Southern League all-star game is this coming Tuesday June 20. I guess even the calendar theory should produce some movement very soon. (Although it would have been nice to give a couple of those guys a better shot at the AAA all-star game in July, or even to help the MLB club by then...)
  14. Otto von Ballpark
    When you have a billion doubleheaders coming up, it probably pays to look at SP possibilities more than a couple days in advance.
  15. Otto von Ballpark
    July is 2 weeks from today, but the parameters of the situation have been in place for a month-plus already (and some of its ill effects may already be visible at the MLB level). And as baseball discussions go, this one is plenty calm, thanks.
  16. Otto von Ballpark
    Gonsalves is one guy. There are 7 others at AA with solid cases for a AAA promotion as well. And I'm not talking about promoting all of them at once, or even half of them, to the point where affiliates would really notice. Are you telling me not one of them is worth moving up to AAA before July? As far as replacements, there are several at AAA with solid cases for a demotion to AA. Heck, we just traded Wheeler for cash and cut Chapman, either of those guys could have been assigned to AA instead, if finding replacements was really a concern.
  17. Otto von Ballpark
    After hearing the Wright buzz for the last few weeks, and seeing his over-slot deal with the Braves, plus McKay's rumored bonus with Tampa, I was wondering if part of the Twins strategy was kicking the tires on as many guys as possible at #1, to hopefully inflate their values and give other teams less financial flexibility. Obviously there are limits to this, but I think draft bonuses are often more art than science, so it's something to do at the margins when there is no consensus top pick.
  18. Otto von Ballpark
    Yeah, and what's the point in waiting? Specifically in the case of Breslow, he's only pitching short relief in low-leverage situations anyway, which would be the perfect opportunity to ease in and evaluate younger arms.
  19. Otto von Ballpark
    I feel like this is something they'd say about every player. "If he was ready" being so subjective as to make it effectively impossible for most guys. I do agree we are likely to see Gonsalves in September, though -- he will require a 40-man spot by November anyway, and he got a late start so innings shouldn't be a concern.
  20. Otto von Ballpark
    Not about Romero, but -- When a certain player gets called out as deserving a promotion, we often hear "the club knows what's best for these guys, maybe there is a specific thing they are working on with a specific coach, etc." But then it seems to apply across the board to everyone, and we hear generically that "the club doesn't move up guys until midseason, after the draft." I believe the former is a pretty rare circumstance, and the latter is the most common case, but it's not a terribly inspiring way to run a club, even acknowledging that a lot of clubs do it. There are basically 8 pitchers at AA who have a good case to get a test at AA, and very few guys at AAA who seem to be earning a spot there, much less deserve any consideration for a MLB spot appearance. Seems kinda silly to hold every single one of those AA guys back until July, just because of the calendar or because it would require finding some org filler to backfill their vacated spot.
  21. Otto von Ballpark
    Polanco never came up that long in 2014 or 2015. He came up 4 separate times those seasons, for the following number of days each: 4 2 1 3 That's 10 days total over those 2 years. And he started 4 MLB games during those 10 days too, plus 4 other appearances, so he wasn't completely parked on the bench. April/May 2016 he spent more time on the MLB bench, as did Kepler. But not the previous two seasons.
  22. Otto von Ballpark
    Polanco was already using those options -- he had to be added to the 40-man in November 2013 to protect him from the Rule 5 draft, thus he had to be optioned to be sent to the minors out of spring training in 2014 and 2015 (and 2016) anyway. Calling him up for a few days in those seasons did nothing to affect his option or contract status (other than give him a couple days service time). Like Randy Rosario this year -- he was already on the 40-man, so the option was already used this spring. So calling him up and sending him back down later this season was a "free move" as far as options are concerned.
  23. Otto von Ballpark
    Romero is already on the 40-man (was required for Rule 5 protection last winter). Same for Polanco when he first came up to Minnesota.
  24. Otto von Ballpark
    Shouldn't we be looking to promote from AA to AAA though? Curtiss has a 12.8 K/9, Bard a 14.8 K/9, Melo 10.7 and left-handed, plus Van Steensel and Rosario... But the only pitchers we've promoted from AA to AAA are Turley and Eades (both of whom they shuffled back to AA later). And since the season began, we've added Chapman, Heston, Melville, Mickolio, and Wilk to Rochester's current staff from outside the organization. And the only AAA guys that have departed the org have been Wheeler and Tepesch.
  25. Otto von Ballpark
    Doesn't seem like Enlow was a tough sign, sounds like he is quite willing to sign for roughly 35/37 pick money. So I'm not sure the round or extra night really bought them anything in regards to him. I think the plan must have had Leach in it, even at the risk of losing Enlow. (And perhaps they did lose Carlson over it.)
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