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Otto von Ballpark

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Everything posted by Otto von Ballpark

  1. Otto von Ballpark
    Thanks for the report! What were concessions like? It will be my first trip to the stadium too.
  2. Otto von Ballpark
    Claiming him on waivers isn't a desperation move. Starting him at shortstop in the near future probably would be.
  3. Otto von Ballpark
    Not so important that the Twins specifically passed on him, but the whole league passed on him a couple years ago, and the 8 worst teams of 2016 passed on him when he was claimed by the Brewers in January. Not that he was a bad claim, but that pattern suggests there are much larger issues with him than just being blocked with the Giants, and that he probably has more in common with recent waiver fodder like Neil Ramirez or Oswaldo Arcia than that he is some kind of specially targeted acquisition by our Twins. The odds of him starting at SS for us in anything other than a Florimon type desperation scenario are probably pretty low.
  4. Otto von Ballpark
    That's fair, although there were pitchers with comparable K rates over that smaller sample: http://www.fangraphs.com/minorleaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=pit&lg=10&qual=40&type=1&season=2016&team=0&players=0&sort=8,d Again, not to take anything away from Romero. He is a fine prospect, and I have no quibble with his Twins rank here. But I get the impression that some here want to consider him elite, based on that relative Twins rank, his ERA, etc.
  5. Otto von Ballpark
    Adrianza wasn't really a targeted acquisition of a blocked prospect. The Giants already passed him through waivers once a couple years ago and outrighted him; then the Twins passed on him when the Giants waived him again this past January. Only when the Brewers turned around and waived him a third time did the Twins put in a claim. None of that suggests that the Twins think he is any more than a depth piece.
  6. Otto von Ballpark
    He was pretty good in 2016, but the K rate wasn't super impressive. He also pitched in some very pitcher friendly environments -- the HR rate in these leagues is significantly lower than that of MLB, which is why it seems like every Twins pitching prospect has a magical ability to severely limit HR these days! Not to take anything away from Romero, he's a good prospect, but he's not an elite prospect. I think the national rankings reflect that pretty well.
  7. Otto von Ballpark
    I agree. Randy Rosario was moved to the bullpen at the beginning of August 2016. I don't know if it was a temporary innings limit thing or what, but his stats were thoroughly middling up to that point in the FSL (league-average run prevention, well below league average K rate). But his K rate immediately jumped in the pen (26 K's in 15.1 IP). Keaton Steele posted the same middling numbers while being 2.5 years older than Rosario and right-handed. I'm not sure why anyone would want to move him up the ladder as a starter either.
  8. Otto von Ballpark
    Romero must have been one of the last transactions under the Bill Smith regime. His MILB.com bio says he officially signed on Nov. 4, 2011, and Smith was dismissed on Nov. 7.
  9. Otto von Ballpark
    Here is a schedule of other college and high school baseball games at US Bank Stadium: https://www.usbankstadium.com/events/us-bank-stadium-baseball-games Says admission is $5. I wonder if there is a discount for kids? Concessions open? Might be a nice cheap activity for the family on a cold day...
  10. Otto von Ballpark
    Seth, you are correct! https://www.mygophersports.com/Online/default.asp?BOparam::WScontent::loadArticle::permalink=baseball-single-game-tickets&BOparam::WScontent::loadArticle::context_id=
  11. Otto von Ballpark
    This came up in the Stewart discussion too, but Gonsalves also pitched in some very pitcher friendly environments last year.
  12. Otto von Ballpark
    Perkins as a starter is an interesting comp -- I primarily remember him as a low-K starter in MLB, but he did rack up 9-10 K/9 as a starter in his early minor league seasons. Perkins was older as a college draftee, of course, but he was a faster riser so they are pretty much on the same timeline now -- Perkins was only a few months older than Gonsalves when he made his AA and AFL debuts. Gonsalves is notably taller, though.
  13. Otto von Ballpark
    No prob. Two of those Cubans (both Yoan's -- Moncada and Lopez) technically signed in the previous 2014-2015 period, so they shouldn't really be on the list either. More accurately, I guess Javier's bonus was the 6th highest for the 2015-2016 signing period.
  14. Otto von Ballpark
    I get that! I basically meant, guys who can play SS who are on the 40-man roster (not including recent addition Vlelma). FWIW, Santana is still listed as an outfielder on the 40-man roster at MLB.com. I think that's pretty accurate at this point, and his best path to the 40-man roster.
  15. Otto von Ballpark
    Like Danny Santana, our other SS candidates -- Escobar, Polanco, and the new guy Ehire Adrianza -- are all out of options. Honestly, the Twins should probably cut two of those guys this spring, but failing that, the roster pretty much demands them to cut one and deploy another in the outfield. Hard to see a way you can avoid Santana in one of those outcomes. Also, if Santana cleared waivers, he couldn't refuse an outright assignment to AAA and thus would remain in the Twins org this season, unlike Adrianza who has the right to elect free agency under such conditions since he was previously outrighted by the Giants. I guess Escobar could also be a candidate to clear waivers and be outrighted, due to his $2.15 mil salary -- I'll call this the "Tommy Milone Principle" -- with over 3 years service time, Escobar would have the right to refuse the assignment and elect free agency, but he would then forfeit his salary -- players need 5 years service time before they have the right to refuse the assignment and force the team to release them, thus keeping their salary. Escobar will reach 5 years service time around May 14th this year, so perhaps we will see an attempt to waive/outright him before then if he doesn't start strong.
  16. Otto von Ballpark
    Or 8th, if you count Cuban prospects (and I don't know why you wouldn't at this point, since they are subject to the same bonus pool).
  17. Otto von Ballpark
    It has been reported that Vogelsong can opt out "just before the start of the season" if he doesn't make the Twins 25 man roster. I suspect he would exercise that opt out rather than accept an assignment to Rochester at this point (he hasn't been assigned to the minors in ~6 years, so he's probably still looking for an MLB job). Not sure about Tepesch -- I haven't seen it reported either way. Breslow also has an opt out, same as Vogelsong, and while Breslow did accept a few minor league deals/assignments last year, I suspect he's looking for a MLB opportunity with his new arm slot too. If they have a rough spring, I could see them accepting minor league assignments, but negotiating another opt-out for the end of April too.
  18. Otto von Ballpark
    Y'all have to remember, Norris was actually worse than Danny Santana with the bat last year (by OPS+ or Rbat per PA). Even with positive defensive value and a positional adjustment, he was basically replacement level at B-Ref. Now, he could bounce back, but I'm not sure I'd want to put all of my eggs in that basket quite yet. At least not when a guy like Wieters is available at relatively modest cost. I know there are rumblings about them trading Norris now, but I'd like to see those two split the playing time 50-50 in the early going, eventually looking to favor the hotter/healthier hand.
  19. Otto von Ballpark
    I haven't had to chance to see Turner in the infield, but the metrics all love his ~290 innings of work at 2B in MLB so far, despite only 5 scattered starts at the position in the minors. Not sure what conclusions you can draw from only 2 MLB starts at SS, both dating from his MLB debut in 2015.
  20. Otto von Ballpark
    No doubt that Turner over-performed in some areas last year. But he doesn't need to sustain anywhere near a 147 wRC+ to be valuable. And he's got a minor league track record that says a sustained ~120 wRC+ is absolutely do-able (unlike, say, Danny Santana).
  21. Otto von Ballpark
    As for Polanco, I don't think the lost option or the lack of AAA SS reps last year really matter much. Will be interesting to see what they make of him as am asset, and if trying to maximize their return on Dozier leads them to squander Polanco (playing him out of position or benching him a lot). Will be interesting to see what they are really thinking about the SS position for 2017 too.
  22. Otto von Ballpark
    To add to Chief's point, while it is unlikely for any specific 32nd rounder to become a MLBer, it isn't unlikely that you will see some marginal MLB contributors in those late rounds. Just like getting a base hit is unlikely in any specific at-bat, it doesn't make it a "success" when a MLBer gets 1 hit in 4 AB. It's more like the baseline. The Twins these past 10 years or so have had plenty of these marginal baseline "successes" -- a 32nd round utility guy, a minor league deal turning into a competent reliever for a couple seasons, a Scott Diamond having a brief run of effectiveness, etc. But every team has those "successes." What makes a team good is how much/often they succeed beyond that baseline, and the Twins have been pretty deficient in that regard.
  23. Otto von Ballpark
    To be fair, Polanco's options had to be exercised those years, unless we wanted to keep him in MLB virtually the whole season (or leave him off the 40-man entirely to be selected in the Rule 5 draft). TR didn't burn really burn any options on him. Polanco only has 105 days of MLB service time, and he's played in 78 games with 63 starts, so he hasn't ridden the pine too much. The worst stretch was the week of April 26 to May 3 last year, when Polanco had 1 PA in MLB. That was around the same time Kepler was called up to ride the pine too. Polanco was still mostly relegated to the bench in his next 2016 call-up (23 PA in 16 days later in May), but he did start everyday after his late July call-up (54 starts in 60 team games).
  24. Otto von Ballpark
    Haley? When was the last time a Rule 5 pick made a starting rotation? I could see him getting a couple spot starts through the year, but I would imagine he almost no chance of making the opening day rotation.
  25. Otto von Ballpark
    I have mentioned elsewhere, but Vogelsong hasn't gone to AAA on anything but rehab assignments in ~6 years. I know he's not a lock to make the MLB team, but he must think he has a pretty good chance here. At the very least, he will get a lot of opportunities in spring training before his opt out date.
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