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Otto von Ballpark

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Everything posted by Otto von Ballpark

  1. Otto von Ballpark
    I also tend to doubt that Dozier will be seen as an elite trade target (which he would pretty much have to be, for the Yankees to consider dealing Sanchez right now). Dozier is having a heck of a year, but he's tracked Neil Walker pretty closely for the last few years (and isn't that far ahead of him this year, 132 wRC+ to 118 with some season left to play). I feel like Dozier would be viewed as a very good 2B on a hot streak, but still in Walker's class, or even Daniel Murphy's. Murphy settled for 3/37.5 last winter. I think Walker can get more than that, thanks to his defense, but not an obscene amount more. 4/60? That would put him above Zobrist's deal too. Seems like the Yankees or other big spenders would be far more likely to just write that check to Walker to fill a 2B hole, than to cough up elite talent to get Dozier at 2/15. (Sorta like how the Yankees got Headley for 4/52 a couple winters ago, and took on Castro for $41 mil last winter.)
  2. Otto von Ballpark
    Thanks, I didn't check Sickels. If you like BA, note that in their midseason list from July, Sheffield was #69 and the other two pitchers you mentioned were not ranked. Despite the fact that BA's midseason list excludes new draftees and amateur signings (hence how Mejia was able to sneak in a #91, even though on their offseason list he would probably rank no better than 130-140). I wasn't really picking on your trade idea except in the context of this thread and discussion, which is about helping our 2017 pitching staff. There's no way to do that in trade with the Yankees. If you want to talk other trade returns, you can certainly talk Yankees and those players you mention could be in the mix. I would be surprised if the Yankees traded Sanchez, though -- their reputation for aggressively trading prospects has long since passed, and it would be very difficult for them to upgrade their catcher production in 2017 without Sanchez. (Note that Wieters is worse than McCann.)
  3. Otto von Ballpark
    Yeah, without the steadying influence of Suzuki, our pitching staff could have had the worst ERA in MLB for August. But thanks to Kurt, we're only second worst, at 5.81. (Also thanks to the Diamondbacks, at 6.15!)
  4. Otto von Ballpark
    Congrats to Wimmers! I've been calling for this move since Wimmers would have been eligible for minor league free agency after the season anyway, so it's basically a no-cost audition (presuming that he's not blocking anyone else, and I don't believe he is). That said, it's unlikely that he will be able to show enough in the next month to avoid being dropped from the 40-man after the season regardless. I usually oppose wasting too many innings on such players, but it will be good to get a major league look at Wimmers, and it might help convince him to re-sign with the organization. If he can parlay the audition into a major league deal somewhere else like Yohan Pino a couple years ago, more power to him.
  5. Otto von Ballpark
    Maybe the big league coaching staff is part of the problem....
  6. Otto von Ballpark
    I asked you a question about Santana. You responded by not directly answering the question, but bringing up Nunez as another utility player maligned by fans (presumably in addition to Santana whom you have repeatedly called an adequate utility player in this thread). Nothing was taken out of context, I fully understood you were talking about Nunez, but reiterated my question about Santana which you once again failed to acknowledge. You seem to be missing a very simple point: while Santana might be an adequate option as a utility player in some circumstances, HE IS NOT A UTILITY PLAYER ON THE TWINS nor do we need an extra utility player at this point to do things poorly in other positions/roles. An analogy might be, a third catcher on a team might be an adequate backup if a team needed one. That doesn't necessarily justify carrying a third catcher or miscasting him as a fourth outfielder. We seem to have some problems getting on the same wavelength to even have a discussion! I will bow out at this point too.
  7. Otto von Ballpark
    It's pretty bad. How many guys have been demoted behind him? Or released? Or being pushing into retirement?
  8. Otto von Ballpark
    I think you may be misunderstanding what I am saying. You keep repeating that Santana is acceptable as a utility player, but he's not one, and we haven't needed him to be one.
  9. Otto von Ballpark
    I think you could say neither player is rated, period. The catcher in particular appears to be the very definition of org filler (40th round pick last year who has seen scant playing time in rookie league ball since). The "SS the Braves got" is not a shortstop. He's been primarily a 1B this year, but has played basically everywhere but catcher (he even pitched). Still, I'd take him over Francoeur, except the Braves also had to send an international bonus slot away in the deal too, so it's not quite a pure Francoeur for minor leaguer swap. (Considering the Rangers gave up the semi-interesting prospect, and got back a lot of international bonus pool money, Francoeur may not even be the key figure in the deal.)
  10. Otto von Ballpark
    Well, the Braves expected to lose (want to lose?) and they have very few options. On a relative scale, I can't imagine any Braves fan being too frustrated with any one player or decision. And somehow the Braves managed to flip Francoeur for something -- I'd gladly move Danny Santana for some international bonus pool cash, or any kind of prospect...
  11. Otto von Ballpark
    Do you mean "backup to the utility guy"? Does that guy get 409 PA over a full season? Do MLB teams even need that guy on the MLB roster at all times?
  12. Otto von Ballpark
    416 out of 585 if you exclude pitchers. 380 out of 466 if you add just a 50 PA threshold.
  13. Otto von Ballpark
    Again, who is the Twins utility player now? Who was our utility player for the first half of the season? If Santana was actually our utility player, fewer people would be complaining. But he's not, we've had a different, better utility player on the team basically all season (and 2015). If Santana was in AAA where "emergency" players belong, no one would be complaining. But he's not either of those things. He's on a 409 PA full season pace as a 4th outfielder.
  14. Otto von Ballpark
    Sheffield appears to be in the 80-something range at BA and MLB, and those other two guys did not appear in either MLB's or BA's midseason top 100 list (even though BA's doesn't include recent signings, so it's really probably more like a top ~140 or so). MLB has them at 9 and 10 in the Yankees system right now, although it's an admittedly good system -- the top 7 were in MLB's top 100, although Sheffield is the only pitcher in that group. I was thinking along the lines of the article, and Vanimal's preference for quality not quantity to help our 2017 rotation. In those terms, there is no match with the Yankees. If you are willing to take a mix of non-elite, lower level prospects, perhaps even position players, I suppose the Twins could find a match with the Yankees. It might look something like the return in the Rich Hill trade. Although the utility of such a trade would be more questionable, of course.
  15. Otto von Ballpark
    To be fair, he isn't much of a commodity. This is the first time he has been traded in 6 years, and he's been released 3 times in that span (and allowed to leave as a free agent 3 more times in that span too). His last two contracts have both come from the worst teams in baseball. But he's probably the only thing available for a desperate team in late August. (An aside, but the Francoeur trade confirms my suspicion that the Dodgers have indeed not tried to "give away" Puig.)
  16. Otto von Ballpark
    What's the "quality over quantity" pitching that the Yankees can afford to give up for Dozier?
  17. Otto von Ballpark
    Who was the Twins utility player the first half of the season? Who is their utility player now? I'll give you a hint: neither was/is Santana. Teams do not generally devote a full-time roster spot (and playing time equivalent to a 409 PA full season) for a second utility player whose primary function is to cover for other players when they are on the DL. They usually use a player from AAA for that purpose, and play him sparingly. Santana may be a utility player in your mind, but in actual practice, he is a 4th outfielder this season. And a pretty terrible one.
  18. Otto von Ballpark
    Today marked Santana's first appearance outside of a corner outfield spot since July 30.
  19. Otto von Ballpark
    Yup. When Santana has been on the active roster this year, he has played at a 409 PA full-season PA pace. Pretty stunning usage after his 2015 performance, considering he's only marginally improved upon it.
  20. Otto von Ballpark
    I'm not "writing him off" or saying he doesn't deserve another chance. Just that, at worst, the injury probably just denied him a chance at making his adjustment to MLB pitching this year. His "fast start" was not the adjustment; he still has that adjustment to make.
  21. Otto von Ballpark
    This is a better way to look at it, as compared to cumulative WAR over the entire period. Although I'd probably look at MLB as a whole and not just the AL.
  22. Otto von Ballpark
    I am pretty much cringing already, based on this club's recent development record. A Dozier trade isn't going to address that.
  23. Otto von Ballpark
    The value behind his "fast start" was almost entirely in a handful of HR in a small sample. There are scores of players who had a similar "fast start" in MLB and faded -- an injury is not necessary to explain such a thing at all.
  24. Otto von Ballpark
    Thanks. That makes me even more skeptical that you will be able to trade Dozier. You're already limiting your return to pitching, and now in terms of prospects, a top ~30 one at that (if not already an established major leaguer)? Generally teams that are selling aren't that particular about the assets returned.
  25. Otto von Ballpark
    Santana's either a second utility guy on this team, or he's not really a utility guy but rather a backup outfielder and emergency infielder. Santana's first infield start this year? July 6th. His most recent infield appearance of any kind? July 30, just after the Nunez trade but before Plouffe came back.
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