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Otto von Ballpark

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Everything posted by Otto von Ballpark

  1. Otto von Ballpark
    There is no reason for Anderson to know WAR. WAR is a cumulative counting stat above a theoretical replacement level. Why the heck would a pitching coach need that? He's coaching players, and at best on the periphery of roster and usage decisions. Even if the front office uses input from Anderson on acquisitions and promotions, they don't need him to quote WAR figures -- they can get that elsewhere. A pitching coach doesn't need WAR at all, and it's frankly ridiculous to pick on him for not knowing it. A manager *might* find it useful, if only because of the defensive component for position players. Hopefully they are looking at some kind of advanced defensive stats, even if it's not in WAR form (probably preferably not in WAR form, WAR is a little too general for a field manager). But primarily WAR and its components are going to be interesting to the front office only (and fans, of course).
  2. Otto von Ballpark
    It actually sounds a little dirty when Gladden says it too. I think it's because he uses the term so often, it doesn't really accurately describe the play, so one's imagination is left to wander...
  3. Otto von Ballpark
    I'd probably take Thome over Wilkin Ramirez right now, unless the Twins think Ramirez is a legitimate CF backup. That said, if it was going to happen, I think it would have happened by now. For whatever reason, I think Thome is done.
  4. Otto von Ballpark
    True, but the Twins will likely hold Sano back awhile if his defense doesn't improve (also if his K rate doesn't improve). That will delay his promotions and probably holds back his prospect ranking a bit.
  5. Otto von Ballpark
    Last Twins scheduled doubleheader (two games, back-to-back, for one admission): May 26, 2001 vs Oakland at the Dome. Both games went 10 innings, plus a short break in between, for a total of 8.5 hours of baseball that day. (Somewhat regrettably, I left after the first game, bitter about its 10th inning conclusion. But that's a long time to sit inside the Dome for daytime baseball -- the Dome ambiance was always best for night games.) May 26, 2001 Oakland Athletics at Minnesota Twins Box Score and Play by Play - Baseball-Reference.com May 26, 2001 Oakland Athletics at Minnesota Twins Box Score and Play by Play - Baseball-Reference.com This was also MLB's last scheduled doubleheader until 2011, I believe.
  6. Otto von Ballpark
    How about Gladdenisms, for us radio listeners? I'll suggest "jamshot" (or "jam shot" or "jam-shot" -- style handbooks differ on the written representation of the term). Gladden has the remarkable ability to describe a wide variety of baseball hits, of different speeds, trajectories, distances, and directions, with the same term "jamshot". It's quite elegant in its simplicity, really.
  7. Otto von Ballpark
    In addition to defense, Sano could still stand to show some consistency with the bat (basically, avoid the midseason slump he suffered last year). And after a couple early homers, Buxton hasn't shown much of a power game yet. Encouraging starts -- I don't think either has dropped on any lists -- but I don't know if they've leapfrogged anyone else yet either (aside from injury/promotion cases mentioned above).
  8. Otto von Ballpark
    Well, looking at the BA Top 100, #2 has a date with Dr. James Andrews, and #5 and #6 have been promoted to the majors: Baseball America | Blog | Baseball America Prospects Blog | 2013 Top 100 Prospects List So that alone could bump them up three spots, unless someone else could have leapfrogged them.
  9. Otto von Ballpark
    Wasn't Sano's age thoroughly vetted? As documented in the movie "Ballplayer: Pelotero"? His age/size combo isn't that unique among elite athletes. Did anyone suspect Delmon Young of being a few years older than his listed age?
  10. Otto von Ballpark
    Sano doesn't have to be added to the 40 man roster until November 2014, I think. So I think late 2014 might be the earliest we see him, unless he continues mashing uninterrupted in the minors and/or there is a significant injury in the majors. They can keep him down for defensive reasons for awhile yet. Also, Sano OPSed around 1.000 last April too before going in a slump. He's going to get a half season at high-A, at least, to see if he can avoid that slump again, not to mention defense.
  11. Otto von Ballpark
    If this is actually their approach, they should probably swap roles for Burton and Perkins. The Twins have generally been protective of their closers anyway and relied more heavily on their setup men (as it probably has to be, given the modern closer's role, as close games in the 7th/8th are going to be more frequent than save opportunities). Plus, as a right-hander Burton is probably more suited to generic closer matchups than a lefty, and Perkins could be a shutdown lefty setup guy (no offense Duensing) who could be deployed more strategically. I know it will never happen, but such a switch is probably more likely than the Twins ever going beyond the conventional closer's role, and could provide similar benefits given their current resources.
  12. Otto von Ballpark
    I could get behind this. But then again, I am perhaps Metrodome baseball's most ardent supporter. Loved that place. It would have been interesting if there was a monster snowstorm threatening a whole series or homestand -- other teams have had games cancelled and move to neutral sites in such circumstances. They could have done it here: cancel the games at Target Field, and schedule new general admission ones at the Dome. Although you'd still have to deal with the bad weather for the teams traveling, everybody getting to the ballpark, etc., so the actual benefit would be reduced, and thus it will never happen. But it would be fun to see. I wonder if they could pack the Dome for a one-off game? Would have been cool to schedule the season finale this year at the Dome, before its demolition. But I guess most people (especially Twins brass) hate the place, and they don't want to do anything to impact the Target Field "brand" either.
  13. Otto von Ballpark
    I'm not advocating either, but I've heard Andres Torres suggested. Probably could have swung a Julio Borbon deal. I like the Twins approach here, though. Give Hicks a shot to win the job if he has a good spring, and keep the underrated Mastroianni as a cheap fallback option. (With Mastro's injury, I would have liked to see them be more aggressive in picking up Borbon, though, because we are pretty thin now for CF coverage.)
  14. Otto von Ballpark
    Then they wouldn't have a long man in the bullpen, I don't think that's going to happen. If they can get by longer on a 4-man rotation, I could see them optioning Hernandez and going back to one long man in Swarzak. But I'm guessing they won't continue having 3-4 off-days per week for very long...
  15. Otto von Ballpark
    It seems like Roenicke is the next-in-line setup man, no? It probably should be Fien, but the Twins seem to like Roenicke.
  16. Otto von Ballpark
    Interesting. Maybe that extra salary will make him easier to pass through waivers?
  17. Otto von Ballpark
    Holy cow, I just realized Slama is 29 years old. And he's been pitching in AAA for parts of 5 seasons now.
  18. Otto von Ballpark
    Atherton's control was pretty suspect last year in Beloit: 6.6 BB/9. If he gets that under control, he should see some pretty fast promotions as a reliever.
  19. Otto von Ballpark
    Actually, Florimon OPSed .740 at AA as a 24 year old, versus Escobar's .670 OPS at AA as a 21 year old (and their league OPSes were roughly the same). That complicates the equation a bit. Also as a 21 year old, Escobar OPSed .730 at high-A. The year before, Florimon OPSed .760 in the same league at age 22. Interesting that Florimon was an epically awful hitter at ages 20-21 at low-A. Given that, it's kind of impressive that he's become as good of a hitter as he has. Defense is really what's going to determine their respective careers, but it will be interesting if their offensive profiles diverge much at the MLB level. As I mentioned before, Florimon seems to have a slight edge in plate discipline right now, which could help keep his offense at the minimal acceptable level for MLB.
  20. Otto von Ballpark
    I understand your point, but the magnitude of the difference also matters. I would guess that even folks who prefer Escobar would have to admit the difference is pretty darn slight right now. Might as well leave the exclusive SS at SS, and the more versatile one as the primary utility man for now.
  21. Otto von Ballpark
    I love when articles quote a guy's OBP when it's barely different from his batting average. Why not just say Gomez batted .500? Who cares that he also reached base by HBP once during the week?
  22. Otto von Ballpark
    Obviously very small sample size, but I am a bit encouraged by Florimon taking a few walks -- that seemed to be a minor advantage from his minor league performance, as compared to Escobar -- and both players have limited their strikeouts well thus far. Hopefully those trends can continue even as their batting averages inevitably fall.
  23. Otto von Ballpark
    To be fair, most of those guys you mention did not perform that well in low-A, missed some time to injury those seasons, or in the case of Sano, slumped and had some obvious holes in his game (strikeouts and defense). I think the hypothetical here assumes that Buxton continues his all-around domination at Cedar Rapids, in which case, I could see a promotion at mid-season. That said, the only example of a guy getting promoted out quickly (Arcia) was probably influenced by his ~3 seasons in rookie league ball, thus the need/desire to promote him aggressively.
  24. Otto von Ballpark
    Mauer was promoted about as aggressively as any Twins prospect of late, and he spent his entire first full season at low-A. And the next year, he spent the first half at high-A before moving up to AA for the second half. I strongly suspect Buxton won't be promoted until midseason, but I'd love for him to keep hitting .400 with power and force the issue earlier!
  25. Otto von Ballpark
    I too would be interested in the waiver priority order. Not only would Borbon have been a help with Mastroianni on the shelf, but Casper Wells, another waiver guy, would be an upgrade on Wilkin Ramirez if you're looking for a corner guy on your bench with a little pop. Wells' career MLB stats are about on par with Ramirez's career AAA stats.
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