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Otto von Ballpark

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Everything posted by Otto von Ballpark

  1. Otto von Ballpark
    Santana can't be sent to AAA without clearing waivers. Although if he is a fringe guy / 5th OF, that probably doesn't matter much anyway. I was just curious.
  2. Otto von Ballpark
    Winners can be a minor league free agent this winter, right? So it might make some sense to look at him. For other guys, it is a bit different calculation. If you add them to the 40-man, in order to remove them they have to go on waivers and can be claimed by any other team with an open 40-man spot. But if you don't add them, and they are not yet eligible for minor league free agency, they will still remain in your org unless another team selects them in Rule 5. For Wheeler, if he would be on the edge of the 40-man bubble anyway, it might be easier to keep him in the org for 2017 by not adding him this year.
  3. Otto von Ballpark
    Danny Santana isn't on your 25 man roster for August, but he is back for 2017?
  4. Otto von Ballpark
    I've made this observation elsewhere, but "Trader Terry" actually doesn't seem to do a whole lot of trading.
  5. Otto von Ballpark
    Maybe I wasn't clear. He could appear in games yet this year, but it still would not be hard to DL him at some point next year.
  6. Otto von Ballpark
    Thanks. I was thinking, if he hit 90 days in 2014, and he wasn't added to the 40-man and optioned until the 2017-2018 offseason, he would finish 2020 with 5 "full" pro seasons (2014, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020) and thus not get a 4th option year in 2021.
  7. Otto von Ballpark
    I think that happens a lot, when it turns out to be a nominal amount of cash, no one bothers to follow up. Same for Neal Cotts too, I think.
  8. Otto von Ballpark
    The thread is two weeks old, and in the middle of baseball season, I'm not sure that reaching 20-21 pages at this point is particularly noteworthy, or any kind of sign of misplaced concern/outrage. Arcia had been in the org for 9 years, I would expect some kind of concern when he left.
  9. Otto von Ballpark
    There are so many other factors going on there, though. You really can't pin any of it on an extra 3 days off a month. I like the idea of resting him more because it can't hurt, and he is very much a known quantity at spots (1B/DH) where we can easily take looks at less known quantities. I am under no illusions that the extra days off will dramatically boost his OPS, though.
  10. Otto von Ballpark
    Probably not a decent PTBNL in a DFA deal, particularly one that specifies "or cash considerations."
  11. Otto von Ballpark
    I don't think it would take much to play the setback card. Dude hasn't thrown a professional pitch in nearly two years now, he has 115 career innings in the U.S. It wouldn't be that blatant to ease him through the first few months of 2017 (or alternatively, pitch him early but shut him down in July). Thorpe would be getting MLB salary and MLB service time throughout -- one season's minimum MLB salary as a Rule 5 guy would exceed his original $500k bonus. Not to mention the longer-term benefits (increased minor league pay in 2017 and beyond, a year closer to arb and free agency, plus lifetime pension and health benefits tied to service time). There are plenty of incentives for Thorpe to prefer being someone else's Rule 5 stash over continuing to be non-40-man roster property of the Twins.
  12. Otto von Ballpark
    I don't think there is a whole lot of evidence to support that theory. Mauer's best season, he played at a 154 games started pace (after missing the first month in 2009). Larger differences between Mauer ages 20-30 pre-concussion and Mauer age 33+ post-concussion overshadow any possible performance advantage in an extra 3 games off per month.
  13. Otto von Ballpark
    I am assuming he returns to active duty yet this season, but he could still be DL'ed again next year as he works his way back. It's a process, not a binary thing. Pelfrey was DL'ed in 2013 for generic reasons after his return, although it was a shorter timeframe overall, but Thorpe warrants more caution than a veteran arm too.
  14. Otto von Ballpark
    Agreed, although of that group, I think Mauer and Grossman deserve to sit the most while we try to play/evaluate Vargas, Rosario, Santana, Escobar, etc.
  15. Otto von Ballpark
    I generally agree, although if you visit the right concession, they can give you a container of sauerkraut to garnish your dog, which makes it much more edible in my opinion. (I only wish sauerkraut and onions were stocked at the condiment stations like at the Metrodome...)
  16. Otto von Ballpark
    If you prefer soda to beer, you can actually get a free drink coupon at the "Good Sport" Designated Driver booths near sections 130 and 222. You can also bring in sealed bottled water (or sealed kid's juice boxes), or an empty water bottle to fill at a drinking fountain.
  17. Otto von Ballpark
    Jeremy, do you know if that 90 day requirement includes minor league playoffs? I notice that from his first start of 2014 through the end of the Cedar Rapids regular season, Thorpe had 87 active days, but the team did have an additional 6 days in the playoffs (although Thorpe did not pitch in them). Not a big deal, but if it was considered under 90 days, Thorpe could still qualify for a 4th option in 2021 if he was left unprotected this winter (either for us or for whatever team selects him as a Rule 5 pick).
  18. Otto von Ballpark
    That looks about right. Centeno probably gets dropped too if we are protecting Garver/Turner anyway (although it might be offset by re-signing Suzuki or adding a different veteran catcher). I'd also add Dean to the list of suspect pitchers. Among recent protections, we probably have to consider dropping Randy Rosario too -- he's got a 4.73 RAvg and 5.8 K/9 this year, compared to the FSL averages of 4.02 and 7.7. Maybe we should see if he can be more effective in a relief role the rest of this season? He is 22 years old already. (And I'd be surprised if we dealt any of Dozier, Grossman, or Ervin Santana by December, I think their spots are pretty safe.)
  19. Otto von Ballpark
    I think the extra year is already plenty. Thorpe will be 21 years old when the Rule 5 draft happens this year. If we add him to the 40-man roster, he will be 25 years old before he is out of options. You really think teams should get more time to evaluate than that? In Thorpe's case, it seems short because they started him a bit slowly and then he got hurt, but that already buys us an extra option year. As a rule, I would hate to shackle prospects to the minor leagues any longer than they already are.
  20. Otto von Ballpark
    But, Thorpe wouldn't have to stick anywhere next spring -- he has a built-in excuse to spend 3 months on the DL to open the 2017 season, with his continued surgery recovery. That seems to be the Rule 5 ideal -- April/May on the DL, June in the minors for rehab. The only cost through that point is the 40-man roster spot from December through March. At that point, after the extra evaluation time, if the team still wants him and has a spot for him, they can bury him in their bullpen for July and August before effectively shutting him down with September's expanded rosters. Then they can freely option him until the spring of 2021. It's not for every team, but a lot of teams who don't plan to contend, or have a very real chance of being out of the race by July, could be willing to do that. I'd hope the Twins are considering doing it themselves if another team left a Thorpe type unprotected -- it might be a better Rule 5 strategy than more traditional picks like JR Graham.
  21. Otto von Ballpark
    I think you missed the result today? They are already 6-4 over their last 10, as noted above. Won the finale in NY, then one win in 3 games in Chicago, then 2 of 3 from each of the Rangers and A's at home.
  22. Otto von Ballpark
    I don't care too much about moving Santana specifically, but we do need to clear room fairly quickly. Berrios deserved to be back up here yesterday, and May deserves a chance too.
  23. Otto von Ballpark
    .500 from here on out will leave us at 68-94. Frankly I am more interested in individual performances and team composition the rest of the way. If we get to 68 wins without answering a lot of questions going into 2017, that's not ideal.
  24. Otto von Ballpark
    I agree. I was just going by the premise of the discussion.
  25. Otto von Ballpark
    I think you overestimate how much salary that contenders are willing to take on. Even stars like Hamels and Tulo had significant financial components to their trades. Who was the last guy traded, owed ~$34 million or more, where the acquiring team took on the full salary? It is pretty rare, I think.
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