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Otto von Ballpark

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Everything posted by Otto von Ballpark

  1. Otto von Ballpark
    Yes, a bit. Last paragraph here: http://twinsdaily.com/topic/21681-article-friday-minor-league-report/?p=450505
  2. Otto von Ballpark
    I don't think a discussion with you on this issue will be a productive one, since you clearly formed your opinions before bothering to learn the facts. So don't expect any further response from me on this thread.
  3. Otto von Ballpark
    Well, he was at Twins Fest in Minnesota from Jan. 29-31 too, should we hold that against him too? Any way you slice it, the other poster's statement that he made "no effort" to show early or put in additional effort is flat-out wrong, and was clearly a talking point made to fit his conclusion rather than the other way around.
  4. Otto von Ballpark
    Interesting. I don't think the difference is quite THAT stark. That 2010 bunch wound up 4th in MLB in SP fWAR, I think we'd be thrilled if last year's group (13th) improved like that.
  5. Otto von Ballpark
    Well, of our 2015 opening day 25 man roster roster, only two players from it were actually out of the organization before season's end (Stauffer and Schafer), and both involved epically bad performances and injuries (and both were relative newcomers to the organization too, probably shortening their leash). Not counting Ervin Santana's "replacement" Aaron Thompson, only 5 guys from the 2015 opening roster even got optioned out during the season, and 3 of those guys are back with no options left, and 1 more was just the backup catcher. And if not for Santana's suspension, our 25 man roster at the beginning of the season would have been responsible for starting all but 10, or 94%, of our games. Depth is nice and can be useful, of course, but let's not overstate its importance compared to the talent of, and (perhaps more importantly) the club's expectations for, the initial "top 25."
  6. Otto von Ballpark
    Sorry, no. Sano was voluntarily in Ft Myers as early as January 20: http://www.news-press.com/story/sports/mlb/springtraining/2016/01/21/minnesota-twins-arrive-early-prepare-practice/79060770/ Reusse's beef was that he later took a break to go back home before the mandatory reporting date.
  7. Otto von Ballpark
    I'd be curious what those systems are based on. There are so few guys coming over here from Korea, I'm not sure these projections are any more meaningful than our guesstimates on this thread.
  8. Otto von Ballpark
    According to the "GO/AO" stat at MLB.com, Mauer is indeed hitting more groundouts this spring than last spring.
  9. Otto von Ballpark
    Actually, the Red Sox signed Ortiz in January 2003. And Millar was primarily an outfielder in his career up to that point, and was again in 2004, and was never really a platoon player -- for his career, he was better vs RHP and his percentage of RHP faced was pretty much equal to the league's. So I doubt the team was primarily intending Ortiz to be his platoon partner. I think Ortiz was more Jeremy Giambi insurance than anything, although Ortiz still started 4 of the team's first 6 games so they were giving him opportunity (obviously his playing time really picked up as he heated up in June). Probably a smart move to bring in both Ortiz and Giambi -- neither one was that expensive, and the team could afford to later pick whichever one was healthy and effective.
  10. Otto von Ballpark
    Has anybody asked Sano? Not sure if we should be blaming Ortiz when people ask for his opinions and he provides them. It's not like he's call his own news conference to address the Kennys Vargas situation.
  11. Otto von Ballpark
    This gets repeated a lot, but I'm not sure if it is particularly true. Take a look at Ortiz's hit locations and performance scompared to a non-Fenway LH power hitter like, say, Jim Thome. http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/split.cgi?id=ortizda01&year=Career&t=b#hitlo http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/split.cgi?id=thomeji01&year=Career&t=b#hitlo Thome had basically the same percentage of at-bats going to the opposite field (~17%), and was actually a better opposite field hitter than Ortiz relative to their overall performance (tOPS+ of 163, versus Ortiz's 99). Their career home/away tOPS+ marks are virtually identical too. Maybe there is some more granular data that suggests Ortiz took special advantage of the Green Monster over his career, but I haven't seen that case made yet
  12. Otto von Ballpark
    But you could use a pitching machine in that role, if the league would let you. Doesn't mean the pitching machine is providing a valuable service. Or better yet, someone with options like Logan Darnell, so after a game where he pitches 4 innings, you could option him out for a fresh arm in case you need one the next game too. Virtually any AAA pitcher could "save the bullpen" in mop-up situations just as well as anyone else.
  13. Otto von Ballpark
    It's not really a WAR thing, it's just definitional. Bringing in a mop-up man with a big early deficit is not a value role. Whatever value you gain by "saving the pen", you are losing by punting the game (presuming your long reliever is not as a good as a series of short relievers in keeping the game close). Not that a guy in that role can't come through with a valuable performance from time to time, just like any other player, but as a role, "long reliever" as traditionally conceived and deployed is near valueless.
  14. Otto von Ballpark
    Really? I don't see "NHRA Drag Racing" (I am seeing UFC and indeed getting UFC when I click it) and Fox has been pretty adamant they don't have the streaming rights to spring training games. Perhaps a happy accident? In any case, glad it is working for you too. You should see Monday's game listed already if you advance the schedule.
  15. Otto von Ballpark
    You can add/change a VPN or proxy at any time. Blackouts aren't determined when you sign up for MLB.TV, they are only determined each time you load a stream. Feel free to message me if you want more assistance.
  16. Otto von Ballpark
    I have some sympathy for fans in Iowa dealing with MLB blackout policies. However, it's nowhere near $150 per month to get Fox Sports North in Iowa. Dish Network, with the add-on sports package that includes FS North, is $63 per month, price locked for 3 years. A similar package at DIRECTV is $56 per month for the first year, and $88 per month thereafter. That includes equipments fees, and both offer free installation. And with DIRECTV, you could also stream FS North on any device supported by Fox Sports Go, so you could watch the Twins on your phone or tablet away from home. By comparison, the cheapest standalone Comcast TV service in Minneapolis that includes FS North is about $50 per month after fees for the first year, and jumps to $75+ per month thereafter, plus an installation fee. And as I discovered in my first post of this article, Comcast doesn't allow FS North streaming via Fox Sports Go, so you could still only watch the Twins on your home TV. I'm a cord-cutter, and I don't like the blackout system, but getting Fox Sports North on either cable or satellite costs about the same everywhere you go in the Twins blackout region.
  17. Otto von Ballpark
    Correia, Willingham, Butera, and Doumit were in a different stratosphere of salary and guaranteed commitment than Nolasco. It's very rare for a team to dump a salary like Nolasco's without eating a huge portion or it or taking an equally unpalatable contract in return, neither of which the Twins seem likely to do.
  18. Otto von Ballpark
    And like old chicken breasts, Ricky Nolasco is difficult to cut.
  19. Otto von Ballpark
    Events in American sports stadiums are privately funded?
  20. Otto von Ballpark
    To be fair, content providers probably think access via a proxy is just as much stealing as those free pirate streams. Netflix has notably started to crack down on customers using proxies. And infrequent baseball watching might be a gray area for me, especially if you are a Hennepin County taxpayer. After all, the Twins offered at least one game a week on free over-the-air TV through 2010, then pulled it after the success of their new publicly-funded stadium. If you are watching regularly, though, yeah, you should probably just get a MLB.TV subscription, for quality and convenience alone, setting aside issues of legality and degrees of theft.
  21. Otto von Ballpark
    Thanks for the report! Sounds like it is still an issue for some users at their forum, but good to know that it is possible and the free trial can be used to verify at any particular location.
  22. Otto von Ballpark
    It could be worst case if he pitches lights out for a couple months, then regresses to his norms, like Pelfrey last year. Obviously if he somehow sustains lights-out pitching for the next two years, that would be pretty good. (But it's also quite unlikely.)
  23. Otto von Ballpark
    I don't know if anyone has "value" in the long relief role. The role is almost valueless by definition. Hence why the Twins have recently not bothered to fill the role, or used it for Rule 5 picks. Either they pitch well enough to leave that role, or they stay in it accumulating no value (or negative value, if they are taking a roster spot that could be going to a pitcher in a better role).
  24. Otto von Ballpark
    Actually, that's probably not the worst case. If he pitches bad enough to give the team clear justification to cut him, you've freed his roster/rotation spot for a better replacement. I think the worst case might be closer to this one. Around career or league average, he still has very little trade value and offers marginal present-day value to the team, but that level of performance makes it unlikely the team would act decisively and demote/cut him to make way for someone else. Think Mike Pelfrey last year -- he even added a "hot start" to the equation (sub-3.00 ERA into June) that made him extra hard to cut or demote, even at a significantly lower salary than Nolasco and on an expiring contract.
  25. Otto von Ballpark
    To summarize what I know so far: No streaming Twins games Comcast Xfinity (the largest provider in Minneapolis-St. Paul) DISH Network Streaming Twins games DIRECTV Charter Spectrum (except on Fire TV devices) Playstation Vue advertises Fox Sports North but may not be able to provide it. I haven't yet confirmed CenturyLink Prism either (a new provider in Minneapolis) -- signs point to it working, unless they have special restrictions after you sign in like Comcast.
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