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Otto von Ballpark

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Everything posted by Otto von Ballpark

  1. Otto von Ballpark
    My first guess was that Gee would be replaced by Santiago in a few days, then be recalled as the 26th man to start in next Saturday's doubleheader. But while Gee has options remaining, he also has over 5 years of MLB service time so he has to consent to being optioned. He consented to being optioned by the Rangers already this spring, so perhaps he could consent again for us. Or we could release him and re-sign him, I suppose.
  2. Otto von Ballpark
    One 40-man spot is easy: DFA Wimmers. The other, not as easy. Haley back to Boston? Or maybe Palka gets DFA'd?
  3. Otto von Ballpark
    I'd DFA Wimmers, virtually no chance he is claimed. Turley would almost certainly get claimed, if only to get a pen audition somewhere.
  4. Otto von Ballpark
    Now Wolfson is retracting that: https://twitter.com/DWolfsonKSTP/status/878077982656663552
  5. Otto von Ballpark
    That's what I said, 26th man appearances aren't subject to the 10 day rule.
  6. Otto von Ballpark
    Wimmers was optioned on June 13, and tomorrow is June 23, so that might work. (His 26th man appearance doesn't count.) Wimmers could be safely DFA'd too if a different arm is preferred. Pressly was optioned on June 17, so he has a few more days to wait.
  7. Otto von Ballpark
    Is it too late to cancel the game?
  8. Otto von Ballpark
    Perhaps. Would Carlson have told them that? Would the Mariners? You are making a lot of assumptions about perfect information there. Lots of variables and competing motivations. In any case, I thought the Carlson news was interesting.
  9. Otto von Ballpark
    I wasn't asking for your personal rankings. My point was, we don't really know if the draft unfolded according to their scouting/process. They passed on both Enlow and Carlson at 35/37, and only one was available when they picked next. They may have had Carlson ahead of Enlow but they would never admit that now.
  10. Otto von Ballpark
    I pretty much assume that by the end of his career, LaTroy Hawkins had been teammates with everyone on Earth.
  11. Otto von Ballpark
    What would you have said if the Mariners took Enlow at 55 and signed him for $2 mil? That the Twins passed on him and made it pretty clear they had other priorities? Teams don't readily admit when and how their drafts don't go as planned. In any case, I just thought it was interesting. I don't necessarily have any grand theory here, it is just fun speculation and another player to track in pro ball.
  12. Otto von Ballpark
    Some have suggested they were hoping he fell to the third round, like Enlow. Or speculated that perhaps the Mariners would be unable to sign him, or have to do crazy slot gymnastics to do so.
  13. Otto von Ballpark
    Carlson signs with the Mariners for $2 mil: http://www.thenewstribune.com/sports/mlb/seattle-mariners/mariners-insider-blog/article157506834.html So it sounds like we could have taken/afforded him instead of Rooker or Leach. Probably Enlow too. Should be interesting to watch unfold.
  14. Otto von Ballpark
    Hasn't Hunter been mentoring Buxton for 3+ years now? Did he not talk to him in spring training this year? I'd caution against reading too much into one particular visit they had. Also, Buxton was never going to stay at a 47% strikeout clip -- it was an outlier slump. Heck, as essentially a second year, well-regarded player, he was probably likely to improve on that career 35% K rate to a comparable degree going forward, regardless of external factors. History suggests that virtually anyone could have met with Buxton in the cage that day, and he would have stood a good chance at achieving a similar turnaround. Not that I'm against giving any credit to Hunter, just that the information we have doesn't support much confidence in giving him significant credit.
  15. Otto von Ballpark
    Any thought to sending Berrios out for the 9th? Only 97 pitches, after throwing 108 last time. He has averaged 102-103 so far this season. I think starting the 9th would have been reasonable usage. Although Kintzler would have had to warm anyway, and he ultimately got the job done too.
  16. Otto von Ballpark
    It only had to be in the offseason if we accept your premise that virtually none of the remaining AA-AAA arms are even worth a timely AAA promotion. I don't accept that premise, and don't trust it coming from this FO yet. These pitchers are obviously not perfect, but I don't think they should have been prejudged as irredeemable for 2017 given the alternatives. Although even in the offseason, Blake Parker and Dominic Leone were available to us on waivers. If they really didn't like anyone behind Chargois or Burdi, this FO had an odd way of addressing that concern. Anyway, I'll bow out here, I've sidetracked this thread long enough!
  17. Otto von Ballpark
    The second tier was already a pretty injury prone group (Chargois, Burdi). Relying heavily on them and Belisle/Breslow/Haley, and failing to adapt to fairly predictable injuries/ineffectiveness, was a bad plan. So yeah, I am a little skeptical at this point when the same minds that cooked up that plan tell me it's not worth pushing basically any minor league arms. Obviously the book on this FO will be written about more than just this season's bullpen, but so far it is a demerit. But I digress.
  18. Otto von Ballpark
    Not late on Reed, obviously -- late on doing anything with any minor league arms. Obviously there must be something this front office *thinks* they don't see in this group of minor league relievers. The question is, should we trust them? And more importantly -- have they offered a compelling alternative?
  19. Otto von Ballpark
    I lowered the qualifying threshold to 40 IP to see where Berrios ranked (6th in the AL, 4th among AL starters)... but more interestingly, our old friends Alex Meyer (3.52 ERA, 18th) and Mike Pelfrey (3.56, 22nd) popped up! http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=pit&lg=al&qual=40&type=8&season=2017&month=0&season1=2017&ind=0&team=0&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0&sort=16,a
  20. Otto von Ballpark
    Remember, Francona is manager. I don't know if he plays favorites, but Kluber and Carrasco have solid cases, and of course he knows the value of bullpens and has a few excellent relievers to choose from. He also might try to put on Lindor, Ramirez, Chisenhall, or maybe even Brantley or Encarnacion as reserves if they aren't voted on by fans or players.
  21. Otto von Ballpark
    They only have 3 relievers making the AL squad -- last year there were 9.
  22. Otto von Ballpark
    34 players on the roster. Sano should win the vote at 3B. Pitchers are selected primarily by player vote (5 starters, 3 relievers) and manager choice (last year, each manager chose 6 pitchers). Then there's the "final vote" (although all of those candidates were position players last year) and replacements (again up to the manager and the league office). The AL only took 5 SP last year (although 3 of them required replacements), and the NL took 9. 4 setup guys made the AL staff last year, which would make it harder for a closer like Kintzler to make it. Looking back, it's been awhile since a Kintzler-style, low-K reliever has made either team -- maybe Jim Johnson back in 2012? (Interestingly, Johnson is back closing this year in Atlanta with a 10.0 K/9)
  23. Otto von Ballpark
    I'm not really "looking at numbers over stuff"-- I guess that's a tangent of a tangent. : ) I was just skeptical that there was enough difference between Reed and guys like Bard or Melo to explain the last few months of org bullpen inactivity (even just AA to AAA movement, since these level of arms are unlikely to successfully skip the AAA step). I'll gladly give Reed a chance, and I hope you are right about him replacing Breslow very soon, even if it seems awfully late.
  24. Otto von Ballpark
    I don't mind ranking them that way, but I don't hold up the line for going on 3 months to wait for Reed either. No reason other guys couldn't have gotten a look in the interim, either at AAA or in MLB. Where would you put Curtiss? Same age as Reed, taken one round after him, much better numbers than Reed over the past year since going to relief full-time (35% K% at AA this year, 0 HR, .138 BAA). Seems like enough interesting arms, and enough dead weight ahead of them, and enough of a need at the MLB level, that they shouldn't be looking at their first taste of AAA in late June or July.
  25. Otto von Ballpark
    Actually, Reed's best numbers were from 3 years ago. It's his more recent numbers that aren't very exciting. ~25% K% at AA last year and again this year, ranking about 8th on the team, similar to Van Steensel and Nick Anderson. 22% at AAA so far last year and this year, admittedly smaller sample. His BB rate doesn't stand out either. Thought about giving him credit for minimizing HR -- but same career HR rate as Bard, a tick higher than Hildenberger, etc. I'll grant that I missed the reports out of spring training, but his numbers didn't look very good there either before he was reassigned.
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