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Otto von Ballpark

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Everything posted by Otto von Ballpark

  1. Otto von Ballpark
    Huh? Abreu and Sale are superstars performing well and controlled (rather cheaply) through 2019. Trading them for prospects would have been an incredibly risky move, especially considering the White Sox haven't been great at finding and developing prospects themselves, you think they have really great odds of finding and developing impact players from other organizations? Remember, even with elite controlled talent (like Jose Fernandez recently), it's not likely for anyone to fetch multiple elite prospects in trade -- the White Sox would have more likely seen returns in the Hamels and Knoblauch mold, which is pretty much a bad deal unless you project to completely hopeless for the foreseeable future (like the Phillies and Braves now, or the Twins circa 1997). It's almost certainly a smarter play to keep those superstars and just try to get better. It hasn't quite worked out yet, but they almost certainly have a better outlook today and for the next 4 years by not trading these two guys.
  2. Otto von Ballpark
    I think you are letting your narrative get in the way of reality. Since the end of the 2012 season, the White Sox have only twice traded prospects for MLB pieces: this Frazier deal, and the Samardzija trade last winter. That one last winter turned out poorly, obviously, but Semien and Phegley don't really represent "core" players, and many observers don't think they are giving up any such players in the Frazier deal either (many have Montas pegged for the bullpen eventually). They've actually traded MLB players themselves far more often, most notably Peavy and Hector Santiago, but also lesser deals selling Rios, Reed, etc. Additionally, they haven't forfeited any first-round picks for their various free agent signings (even their 2016 pick is still protected, if they want to sign someone yet this winter), and they actually netted their own compensation pick for Samardzija next year. You can go back even further too and you won't find much actual evidence to support your claims. Aside from Eduardo Escobar in July 2012, I think you have to go back to 2008 and Gio Gonzalez to find a prospect they traded that became a "core player" (and even then, they actually acquired Gonzalez a year earlier for selling Freddy Garcia). They are obviously not perfect, but no, they haven't been selling the farm.
  3. Otto von Ballpark
    Sure, a hall of fame hitter in Molitor did it, largely by moving to DH and staying healthy. That's a terrible argument for justifying an early, exclusive commitment to catcher Suzuki last year.
  4. Otto von Ballpark
    2013? The Twins made abundantly clear they didn't trust Pinto in 2014, it didn't take hindsight to know he wasn't a viable option for 2015, concussion or not. None of this is a hindsight argument, you can comb the archives and find me and others questioning the early commitment to Suzuki and sitting out the catcher market last winter. Heck, I would have endorsed signing Suzuki for more than 2/12 if necessary, provided we waited to explore other options first. But committing to him as early as we did, with the suspect internal options behind him, and passing on other external options for at least a calendar year after the extension -- it doesn't take hindsight to question that strategy, no. I am surprised this is a controversial point for some.
  5. Otto von Ballpark
    No hindsight required to see that committing to Suzuki as your only reasonable option at the position for 2015, while other options were changing hands without requiring much talent in return, was probably a mistake.
  6. Otto von Ballpark
    There were starters in that list that didn't cost the farm, doesn't that invalidate your claim? Long term answers meeting your ridiculously high standards are hard to acquire at any position. The threshold here is complement to or potentially better than our incumbent starter, no?
  7. Otto von Ballpark
    Has TR said he prefers May in the pen? I know he said they still see him as a starter, and that he would get a chance to start in the spring, but that's not necessarily incompatible with what Molitor is saying here.
  8. Otto von Ballpark
    I've done it, definitely advisable to have 2 parents/adults present though so one can be on "watch" at all times (my wife gladly gives me that duty). Can be rewarding, the kid can actually see the players up close, and we've gotten a few baseballs tossed to us between innings.
  9. Otto von Ballpark
    I don't think so. On the bullpen, for example, TR is the one who put Stauffer, Boyer, and Thompson on the team last spring, with similar blueprints for years past. I'd guess they are on pretty close to the same page.
  10. Otto von Ballpark
    When exactly would have a "total rebuild" improved the White Sox outlook? Again: Sale, Abreu, Quintana, Eaton, Rodon, Robertson... they're far from perfect as a team, but a "total rebuild" is no guarantee of that either.
  11. Otto von Ballpark
    I don't think the whole market for relievers is seller-friendly. Kimbrel and Giles fetched a ton, obviously, but the Padres and Brewers largely gave away Benoit and K-Rod, for instance. And not all free agents have signed for a lot more than anticipated (i.e. Mark Lowe). We just haven't participated in that market yet out of choice. I don't have a ton of sympathy for our "spare 3B" plight either, considering Plouffe wasn't really a spare until we signed Park (and arguably still isn't, depending on what you project for Sano's health and defense).
  12. Otto von Ballpark
    None of the original guys they gave up for Peavy ever amounted to much (I guess Clayton Richard was decent for a few years as a back of the rotation guy), and they kept Peavy on a reasonable extension then later flipped him for Montas (their headliner in this deal) and Avisail Garcia. I think it goes to show that these "selling the farm" trades often are not so. The Samardzija trade might be worse (Semien, Phegley, etc.), particularly since they only got one (lousy) year from him, although they are still due a comp pick too.
  13. Otto von Ballpark
    As Mike says, they have Sale and Abreu, plus Eaton, Quintana, Rodon, Robertson, etc. Montas looks pretty good, but the White Sox strength right now is pitching. The other two guys are pretty "meh". They got what looks like a very durable, 4-5 WAR player at a position of need.
  14. Otto von Ballpark
    Yeah, the Dodgers basically exchanged Peraza for Montas. I guess Peraza is OK, but the Dodgers don't seem to need him, he was just a trade chip they were able to pry from the Braves recently.
  15. Otto von Ballpark
    Jared Burton was signed as a minor league free agent 4 years ago, same as Fien. Carl Pavano was never a minor league free agent for the Twins, he made $8.5 million in the final year of his contract in 2012, not sure what that comment is about...
  16. Otto von Ballpark
    What if I am injured by a foul ball while looking at my phone to read the Twins text message warning about foul balls?
  17. Otto von Ballpark
    Oh, no doubt. I wasn't arguing for Nolasco or Milone to displace Hughes, but rather May, Duffey, and/or Berrios to (potentially) displace him.
  18. Otto von Ballpark
    I don't know, Hughes was pretty good in his bullpen season back in the day, and he's always been inconsistent as a starter. If he was still on his 3/24 contract, and it didn't come with an explicit promise to start throughout, I think you'd have to consider it, no? Less desirable on his re-negotiated contract, but putting the money aside, I think there is still an argument for it. I'd definitely explore trading another starter or two before that, though.
  19. Otto von Ballpark
    Actually Tampa used Davis exclusively out of the pen one season and he was pretty darn good, admittedly low leverage. As a reliever, he represented a notable piece going to KC in the Shields-Myers swap. A lot of folks were very confused when KC tried to move him back to starter, and stuck with it for a full season at that. In any case, Davis had pretty thoroughly failed as a starter before his teams moved him to relief.
  20. Otto von Ballpark
    Maybe, but if you are correctly identifying Madson and Lowe as higher priorities than Boyer, maybe you should offer them something more than what you offer Boyer? (Maybe an MLB deal?) And maybe you'd get one of these guys better than Boyer once and a while? (Twins haven't had one in 4 years.)
  21. Otto von Ballpark
    Terry Ryan is on his 5th consecutive offseason of not adding a notable reliever in MLB FA or by trade. I doubt he had a really aggressive Plan A that just didn't work out this winter for reasons beyond his control. The prices for K Rod, Benoit, Lowe, etc. certainly haven't been prohibitive.
  22. Otto von Ballpark
    No one said that, sorry. Davis was 28 years old when KC moved him to the bullpen, and he had 3 full MLB seasons as a starter with progressively worse ERA+ figures of 96, 85, and 78.
  23. Otto von Ballpark
    If May is probably a number #4 -- what does that make the rest of our rotation?
  24. Otto von Ballpark
    So your point is there aren't perfect catchers available for free at all times? That's true for every position. Cervelli, Montero, Castillo, etc. would have, at minimum, represented competent partners for Suzuki, if not potential starting replacements. There is no indication the Twins inquired on them, or any catcher, for nearly 12 months after extending Suzuki. That's a missed opportunity, no?
  25. Otto von Ballpark
    You and Seth both missed the "with substantial MLB experience" qualifier in my post. Those guys usually have more choice in minor league invites, so they tend not to bunch up with one team. If your team invites a guy with the MLB experience of Boyer, you probably missed out on other guys like Madson, Lowe, etc.
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