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Otto von Ballpark

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Everything posted by Otto von Ballpark

  1. Otto von Ballpark
    The past few days, I've been in sync between my desktop and one of my mobile devices. But today I just noticed another of my mobile devices showed I wasn't logged in to TD anymore ("+" icon in top right corner)... but unread threads were still bolded, and the "goto=newpost" links were correctly picking up where I had left off on this device before (not just going to the last post of a thread, which seems to be the default behavior for logged out browsers). Perhaps read/unread can also be stored and retrieved by cookie, separate from logged in user? Even now that I've logged in on this mobile device, there seems to some residual sync issue. I still have a thread marked read on my mobile device from when I was apparently not logged in, but the same thread is still marked unread on my desktop computer, even after logging out and logging back in on both devices (same account on all devices, obviously). But new stuff is syncing fine again. Sorry to bother!
  2. Otto von Ballpark
    Define "nowhere near the top end". Since 2010, Mauer ranks 46th in unintentional walk rate among 287 players with 1000+ PA. His rate is almost equal to David Ortiz's. Ortiz ranks 12th overall, 44th unintentional; Mauer 24th overall, 46th unintentional. I'm kinda not sure what this is supposed to mean anymore, but I enjoyed the database queries.
  3. Otto von Ballpark
    Link: http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=bat&lg=all&qual=y&type=5&season=2014&month=0&season1=2010&ind=0&team=0&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0&sort=4,a He's right next to another hitter who is notably too passive, Mike Trout. Also, he's 13th lowest in that time frame for 1st pitch strike percentage (F-Strike%). Is the best way to pitch him really to groove the first pitch?
  4. Otto von Ballpark
    http://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/IBB_leagues.shtml
  5. Otto von Ballpark
    I agree that Mauer is great, but it's not fair to compare Mauer's OPS through age 30 with Boggs/Gwynn through age 41 (or Olerud through 36). There should be era/ballpark adjustments too. I don't think your conclusion is at all clear given that problematic data.
  6. Otto von Ballpark
    Well, that's just, like, your opinion, man.
  7. Otto von Ballpark
    Mauer's Intentional Bases on Balls 2005 AL 12 (4th) 2006 AL 21 (3rd) 2009 AL 14 (2nd) 2010 AL 14 (2nd) 2012 AL 10 (8th) 2014 AL 2 (2nd) Active 105 (10th) Career 105 (113th)
  8. Otto von Ballpark
    Like Dozier!
  9. Otto von Ballpark
    Just posted this in the Mauer thread! I know Mauer isn't a speed guy, but in virtually every other aspect, Joe would be perfect at the leadoff spot for this team. The catcher barrier has been broken -- let's make it happen!
  10. Otto von Ballpark
    Somewhat off topic (which might be good, since I don't particularly care for the topic anymore ): Is it time to revisit the idea of "Joe Mauer, leadoff hitter"? - We don't currently have a prototypical leadoff hitter (or if we do in Hicks, we are still protecting him in the bottom of the order). - Mauer ain't catching anymore, so he doesn't have to rush to get his catching gear off before the bottom of the first - Also since he's not catching, he's playing everyday and thus could provide more stability at the top for an offense that could use some - He's obviously still our best OBP guy Assuming full health, something like would be cool: Mauer Dozier Kubel Cola/Willingham Arcia Plouffe Hicks Pinto SS du jour I guess back to the thread topic, haters still gonna hate ("we didn't pay him $23 mil to leadoff"), but I think it could be a better role for him, framing his skills and accomplishments better, and in a way, it could also be seen as Joe being a leader or "taking one for the team" (volunteering to be the table setter, rather than insisting on the glory of the RBI guy).
  11. Otto von Ballpark
    I think expectations for Mauer have been raised by a few factors: 1) 1st overall draft pick 2) he joined an already competitive team 3) he has often batted somewhat "out of position" given his skill set and at times our otherwise poor roster construction Carew suffered a bit from factors #2 and #3 too. Add in the fact that Mauer has mostly been a catcher, and thus required more rest than other players, it made it even harder for him to deliver on the increased expectations. And these has all been pretty much out of control.
  12. Otto von Ballpark
    Agreed! And my first thought was, why would anyone want to go back and watch these games again? Wasn't there enough pain experienced while watching/listening live? I think Mr. Bonnes just wanted to generate some extra Google traffic.
  13. Otto von Ballpark
    Interesting that Nunez's minor league slash lines are very similar to Florimon and Escobar. His big advantage there seems to be K rate. Of course, Nunez has over 800 PA with basically the same slash line / OPS at the MLB level, so obviously his skill have translated better. Career MLB OPS+ is 87, similar to 2012 figures from Revere, Carroll, and Mastroianni -- still not great, but definitely useful IF he can demonstrate some level of proficiency/versatility up the middle.
  14. Otto von Ballpark
    Thanks, I hadn't read much of the official press on this move yet. I guess we should find out soon, when we see how much Nunez plays (and where he plays) at Rochester.
  15. Otto von Ballpark
    Because we are sure that Phil Hughes would comment on his former and likely near future teammate without bias? I'm pretty bad evaluating defense, particular minor league defense, but given the context, I wouldn't take Hughes' comments as evidence of much here. Hoping for Nunez to become an acceptable glove at SS might be only a slightly better bet than hoping for Florimon to become an acceptable bat. Besides, with Santana at SS in Rochester, I am pretty sure they view Nunez as a utility guy, which lowers the bar for his SS defense a bit but also lowers his potential value.
  16. Otto von Ballpark
    I know Nunez was a DFA too, but Triunfel didn't have to go on a 25 man roster either, or at least he was able to be outrighted (and a few DFA outfielders were passed by too). Not that I think Sulbaran is a heavy price for anything. Just wondering if we should have been more aggressive in adding infield depth earlier, hopefully the Bartlett flier didn't lead us to pass on there other options (like Bonifacio too).
  17. Otto von Ballpark
    Interesting stuff about the Can-Am league too. I always assumed it was about equivalent to the Saints league, but it actually sounds lower quality and more disorganized, which makes Colabello's ascent even more unlikely!
  18. Otto von Ballpark
    Anybody know if they can scan the ticket barcode on your phone at Target Field, or do you have to physically print the ticket? All I could find online at the Twins site was stuff about buying the tickets on your phone (with frequent mentions of Blackberries, so I don't know how current that is). UPDATE: If you are buying tickets from the official Twins site, you can use the MLB.com At The Ballpark App (iPhone/Android) to show your digital tickets at the gate (although the Twins ticket office said "your entire group would have to enter with you at the same time"). You can also use the iPhone Passbook app to store and display your ticket. Otherwise, if you buy it from a reseller, I think you have to print it (or get the physical ticket, of course). (And given the prices on the secondary market, I suspect most folks are going this route!)
  19. Otto von Ballpark
    Wonder if it would have been better just to pick up one of the recent DFA guys from another org (Triunfel?).
  20. Otto von Ballpark
    I appreciate the reference, even though I'm the unfortunate target. Look, I'm not trying to be a stat drone / Debbie Downer, but wasn't this the scouting knock on Cola last year? That he wasn't able to pull the ball at the MLB level? I get that he moved closer to the plate this spring, and generically speaking he's off to a hot start, but he still hasn't pulled anything yet. And until he does, his success as a MLB power hitter seems about as likely to continue as Andrew Albers being a workhorse ace with K/9 rate around 2.
  21. Otto von Ballpark
    No doubt Oakland has found some slugger gems in the rough. But every one of those four guys you list was pulling the ball in at least 23% of their MLB AB *before* their Oakland breakouts.
  22. Otto von Ballpark
    He's pulled two balls this season so far: a 250 ft fly out in Chicago, and a double play groundout to third in Cleveland. I think we need data that he can be a MLB pull hitter before we can say he is one.
  23. Otto von Ballpark
    I get that TR is taking a break and Antony is the acting GM, but I can't imagine TR didn't have final say about a DFA move. It's not like there was any real urgency to it. Same with Parmelee and Diamond -- the whole front office must have known the plan with these guys for awhile (DFA and outright at the end of spring training unless something unexpected happens).
  24. Otto von Ballpark
    Wonderful deadpan surreal humor. Anyone know the story behind it?
  25. Otto von Ballpark
    If the RSN takes $5 from you, the cable company will quit paying them $3 for anyone (including all the users who don't care about the RSN). $5 multiplied by all sports fans is probably a lot less than $3 multiplied by all cable/satellite subscribers (even at reduced "cord-cutting" levels).
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