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Otto von Ballpark

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Everything posted by Otto von Ballpark

  1. Otto von Ballpark
    According to Seth in the minor league forum, Slegers was optioned back to Rochester after 1 day to make room for Hale.
  2. Otto von Ballpark
  3. Otto von Ballpark
    Would he? Isn't that basically Grossman-level production?
  4. Otto von Ballpark
    Blackout restrictions apply!
  5. Otto von Ballpark
    Actually Hale has never been outrighted. So if he were to clear waivers, he could be sent outright to AAA and remain in the Twins org, at least for the rest of the season.
  6. Otto von Ballpark
    As you may guess about a 30 year old on waivers, Hale is out of options, having been optioned in 2013, 2015, and 2016. He has been a minor league free agent each of the last 2 offseasons.
  7. Otto von Ballpark
    With Slegers called up, I could see them optioning Duffey when Buxton is ready to be activated.
  8. Otto von Ballpark
    Hmmm... the power of persuasion? Maybe the next TD article should be, "It's Time for Free Beer at Target Field."
  9. Otto von Ballpark
    Just checked the weather for Yankee Stadium. Looks like a little rain, but not enough to cause a postponement. Did see this, though: "Dense Fog Advisory in effect from 6:00 PM EDT until Thursday, 6:00 AM EDT." Any way the Twins can use dense fog to our advantage?
  10. Otto von Ballpark
    Interesting Rule 5 note: the Braves took Dan Winkler in the Rule 5 draft in December 2014 (for reference, the same year we took JR Graham). But Winkler spent so much time on the disabled list, he didn't satisfy the "90 days active" requirement to remove Rule 5 restrictions until just this month (April 2018). Even with just over 90 days active, he already has 3+ years of major league service time, thanks to disabled list stints. And he's performing well so far for the Braves. (Credit them for persistence too -- while they were able to put him on the 60-day DL during the past few seasons, they had to give him a 40-man roster spot each of the last 4 offseasons.)
  11. Otto von Ballpark
    Worth noting that Nick Anderson was born in Minnesota, graduated high school in Minnesota, went to college in North Dakota, was drafted by the Brewers, cut by the Brewers, then signed by the Twins out of indy ball. Almost an identical path to Caleb Thielbar (who went to college in the other Dakota ). Anderson is old, but this is just his 3rd season in affiliated ball. I have no idea about the scouting on him, but he might be more interesting than Kinley at this point.
  12. Otto von Ballpark
    Definitely. I'm not saying Rooker is ABW, but in my judgement he's a little closer now than he was at the end of last season. (And in fairness, the original poster said he was "rapidly becoming a non prospect" rather than he was already a non prospect. I too think that's a little strong, but I think some concern is valid.) A player can struggle while still showing progress or a good approach. Trout's rookie season is a great example of that -- only a 87 wRC+ (although that's basically Buxton's production the last two seasons), but Trout showed good power and very reasonable K/BB rates. The biggest negative was a .247 BABIP, which you'd expect to correct itself. All that around his 20th birthday, and in MLB. Rooker's problem, although it's still a small sample, is that he has really shown nothing this year. Could just be a slump -- he started slow in Ft. Myers last year too -- but that zero walks thing is just weird, and it's hard to explain. Makes me wonder what is going on there, and if this guy is going to have the capacity to make the necessary adjustments to be a plus hitter at higher levels.
  13. Otto von Ballpark
    (Actually, Trout's first 80 PA in MLB were pretty good -- 120 wRC+, and that was held down by a .222 BABIP. Good ISO and K%, and even a decent BB%.) K and BB rates stabilize faster than other stats, so I think it's fair to have some concern about Rooker. Yeah, he's been rushed a bit from the draft a year ago to AA now, but he hit well in high-A last year and he's 23 years old, so you would think he'd be able to at least show a solid approach in AA, even if the other results weren't quite there yet. 68 PA, 0 walks, 24 K is a bit of a concern. He certainly has time to right the ship, but the longer this continues, he does seem to be trending toward Adam Brett Walker status...
  14. Otto von Ballpark
    Morrison has certainly struggled, but the thinking behind his acquisition wasn't bad. Unlike Kinley, who was suspect from the get-go. I suppose in all their talks with the Rays, they could have added Corey Dickerson instead of LoMo? Wasn't quite as good as Morrison at the plate last year, but a bit more consistent track record plus the ability to play outfield.
  15. Otto von Ballpark
    They are not related. Here is a newspaper article from a few years ago, the writer dances around the question for effect, but no, they aren't related:https://www.pressherald.com/2014/05/14/steve_solloway__joe_cronin_lives_with_joe_cronin_/
  16. Otto von Ballpark
    FWIW, Melky Cabrera just signed a minor league deal with Cleveland.
  17. Otto von Ballpark
    Another factor to consider is team morale. The players know when a guy is only there because of Rule 5. They can also see when a guy is just tossing batting practice on the mound. Note that Moya did it Saturday and got sent out immediately, Busenitz did it last night and got sent out immediately, but Kinley did it both games, arguably worse, and is still around? Had to be relieved mid-inning by LaMarre? I know, we tell guys "worry about yourself" and publicly they usually say that too, but they don't have their heads in the sand. Not saying this alone has to dictate moves -- heck, we saw at the trade deadline last year it may not matter -- but it's not necessarily something you want to push a lot. Maybe they figured it was worth it for the prospects received at the deadline -- but is it worth it now for Kinley? Consider it another potential cost.
  18. Otto von Ballpark
    I am not giving them too much serious flak at this point, but it was a curious decision at the time, and it has become even more curious since.
  19. Otto von Ballpark
    Actually I misspoke -- counting Anibal Sanchez (who was on the 40-man roster), it was 8 additions, although by that point Pineda was on the 60-day DL. I'd guess they may have expected at least 1 or maybe 2 of their 7-8 acquistions to take a non-guaranteed deal, which changes the roster analysis.
  20. Otto von Ballpark
    Well, they were both RH relievers on the fringe of the roster. I think they are directly comparable without much abstraction. I too did not believe the Twins would cut Kinley before he threw a spring training pitch -- but then again, I didn't expect them to add 7 MLB players on guaranteed contracts this winter either. I might have re-evaluated the Rule 5 commitment at that point.
  21. Otto von Ballpark
    Does anyone here actually like what they have seen in Kinley so far? Honest question, I am no scout.
  22. Otto von Ballpark
    It was just an example. Rogers pitched both games in PR, and we immediately went back to him our first game back. Pressly pitched 2 innings in that 16 inning game, and we turned to him in the very next game and he had his worst game of the season (2 inherited runners scored). Also our first game back, we had to turn to a struggling Duke in a tie game in the 10th to give up a double to a RHB. Gee, maybe having TWO pitchers on the roster who were off-limits even in a 16 inning game was having some indirect effect on usage and effectiveness of the rest of the staff? I mean, I can't prove a hypothetical, but this doesn't seem like a stretch by modern MLB standards. Look at last year -- for awhile, we had Breslow in this role (mop up short reliever, last pitcher on the staff) and it DID hurt us and he was eventually replaced. This year, we doubled down with 2 short relief mop up guys, maybe even less trusted than Breslow, not a stretch to say it has had an impact or will in the forseeable future. If you are looking for criminal conviction-level proof that Kinley has contributed to Twins losses (beyond the ones he has pitched in), that is an impossible demand. On the flip side, I won't say it is 100% incontrovertible that he has either, but given that he is clearly not helping in any way, shape, or form, it's not that much of a stretch to suggest he could be hurting us. If not already, then he will at some point, and I'd rather avoid that if possible.
  23. Otto von Ballpark
    Keep in mind, we weren't using Moya either. So we weren't really executing this strategy very well.
  24. Otto von Ballpark
    The Twins used Rogers in both games in Puerto Rico, and then he helped lose 2 games in Tampa this weekend. You don't think maybe that usage is related to carrying Kinley who has no practical usage on this staff?
  25. Otto von Ballpark
    Chargois was lost on waivers in late February. Cutting Kinley was certainly a possible alternative move.
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