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NoCryingInBaseball

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Blog Entries posted by NoCryingInBaseball

  1. NoCryingInBaseball
    The Wednesday show of 1500ESPN of Mackey & Judd’s morning show included a segment of the Twins players that are most important to the organization. They both selected their top 10 and each added two honorable mentions, basically a top 12 list. They both agreed that their selections were not a MVP list, but player importance to the organization, which translates to more about the future than current value. That distinction means that prospects that have a high ceiling or are knocking on the door have as much value to the organization as a current roster starter.
    Judd Zulgad wrote an article about the on-air conversation on the 1500ESPN website on Friday
    Article and revised his list by moving Sano and dropping him from his top 10 list to 11th. Here are their respective lists:
    Judd
    Byron Buxton
    Fernando Romero
    Royce Lewis
    Max Kepler
    Eddie Rosario
    B. Dozier
    J. Berrios
    Nick Gordon
    Stephen Gonsalves
    M. Sano
    Jake Odorizzi
    E. Escobar
    Mackey
    Royce Lewis
    J. Berrios
    Byron Buxton
    Eddie Rosario
    Fernando Romero
    Max Kepler
    B. Dozier
    Stephen Gonsalves
    M. Sano
    Nick Gordon
    Brent Rooker
    Jake Odorizzi
     
    Observations
    Similarity of lists- Both lists include 11 similar names with only Rooker and Escobar on only one list.
    Youth- Of the 13 players on both lists, 10 are 26 or younger and only three are between 28 and 31 years of age.
    Distribution- Nine position players and four pitchers. The only overlap of position players is shortstop or second, depending where Gordon plays.
    Sano- Regardless of how anyone feels about where Sano would be on a list, I think that most would agree that he would be either one or two just a couple of years ago (maybe even midway through the season last year).
  2. NoCryingInBaseball
    Tomorrow is June and I started thinking about the July trade deadline which means what to do with Morneau? His batting average has returned to a respectable .294, but he lost his homerun power swing with only two for the year. It's his contract year and the prevailing sentiment at the beginning of the year was to let him go because Parmelee's natural position was 1st base and he was a power hitter. Then Parmelee went into a funk and has only recently started showing signs that he might be having more respectable plate appearances.

    Morneau is making $14 million through this contract and may not be willing to accept a significant cut. So what does the Twins organization do, trade him now for a prospect or try to lock him in with a less amount of salary?
  3. NoCryingInBaseball

    So who's left?

    By NoCryingInBaseball,

    OK, maybe I was a little down after that Kevin Correia signing…sort of left a bad taste in my mouth. Really can’t recall anyone attempting a positive spin on the acquisition. Thing is, Terry Ryan continues to say that the Twins are not done and they need more starters.
    Now the Twins have acquired Mike Pelfrey who might have a chance of contributing, depending how he comes back from the Tommy John surgery early last year (kind of the same situation that Scott Baker would have been). I noticed that both of these guys were on the list of pitchers the Twins organization were talking with during the winter meetings, so who's left?
     
    One good news story-line is that talks broke down with Liriano; but John Lannon is going to the Phillies and Joe Blanton is going to the LA Angels, leaving the names the Twins have offers (or just conversations) out still in play…Joe Saunders, Shaun Marcum, Brett Myers, Jair Jerrjens, and Vinente Padilla. Sure hope to see a signing from a name in the front of the list rather than the end of the list.
  4. NoCryingInBaseball
    Now that Zack Greinke has signed a $147 million deal with the LA Dodgers, does the log jam begin to unravel?
     
    http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2012/12/dodgers-to-sign-zack-greinke.html
     
    Maybe I’m way off, but are Sanchez, Jackson and Lohse the next dominoes to fall? If they are, does that take teams that seem to be in on all the talks with FA starters off the market? I keep reading LA Angles, Red Sox and Royals (obviously there are others), if they spend their Monopoly Money and leave the arena, are the Twins better positioned for Marcum, Saunders or Myers?
  5. NoCryingInBaseball
    Now that Zack Greinke has signed a $147 million deal with the LA Dodgers, does the log jam begin to unravel?
     
    http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2012/12/dodgers-to-sign-zack-greinke.html
     
    Maybe I’m way off, but are Sanchez, Jackson and Lohse the next dominoes to fall? If they are, does that take teams that seem to be in on all the talks with FA starters off the market? I keep reading LA Angles, Red Sox and Royals (obviously there are others), if they spend their Monopoly Money and leave the arena, are the Twins better positioned for Marcum, Saunders or Myers?
  7. NoCryingInBaseball
    I realize that Ryan relies on his generalize and cover-all-the bases type of response to all questions, like “there are a lot of starters we need to look at” or “we need to make sure we put the right people in the right place”, but I too would be interested in more specifics.
     
    The biggest question I have is about multi-year contracts for a starting pitcher. Given the reluctance to for a three of four-year contract in the past, does anything change with the Morneau contract going off the books in 2014? Regardless of whether Morneau is traded during the off-season or during the season, there seems little reason to resign him for 2014, which leaves $14 million available that could be part of a SP multi-year deal.
  8. NoCryingInBaseball
    My blueprint evolution
    Constructing Twins off-season blueprint has been an interesting exercise the past couple of years. There have been many needs to fill and the team tried to fill those needs with multiple trades and acquisitions. It is my humble opinion that the Twins limit their FA acquisitions & trades to one big transaction for each year for the next three years.
    The two obvious positions wind up on most everyone’s blueprint this off season would be corner-outfielder (left field) and staring pitching. I would limit the big move for the 2014-2015 offseason to a left fielder. I’m not saying that staring pitching has less of a need, far from it, this team desperately needs good starting pitching to be competitive, it’s just that a quality FA starter would most likely only consider a team with playoff potential and that will not be the Twins in 2015.
    2014-15
    My 14-15 offseason would focus (big splash) on a FA acquisition for Left-Field. While I am hopeful that Rosario or Hicks become major league contributor, although I have lost faith in Hicks’s potential comes around, Centerfield remains open until Buxton takes ownership of the role. I would limit the off-season acquisition(s) to outfielders (or infielders in need of extending their careers) by waiting for the high price position players get their contracts and then make a deal with who’s still available.
    I’m not as interested in adding a lot of arms to the rotation because there seems to be a lot of starters that need major league starts. Sure I would like Scherzer, Shields or Lester, but even if management was willing to spend the large salaries they can demand…they probably wouldn’t come to Minnesota because the team won’t be a playoff team come October. It seems that the front office is looking at Justin Masterson and South Korean Hyeon-Jong Yang, but I’m questioning where all the starting arms will find playing time.
    2015-16
    The big move for this offseason would be a trade for a young pitching prospect. If Sano is major-league ready and is promoted in mid-summer to fall call up, then Plouffe is tradable. If Hicks or Rosario aren’t competing (or controlling) a position and still possess marketable skills then one of them is also tradable. Maybe Rosario is playing better than Dozier (unlikely) and there is enough outfielders…then Dozier is marketable.
    The organization should start to have a better understanding of how their starters are doing and which of them should be on the staff for the next couple of years. There could be a log-jam with Hughes, Gibson, Nolasco, Mays, Meyers, Berrios and possibly Kohl Stewart being in the Rotation
    Sweepstakes. And there may be more starters in the mix by the end of 2015 if the team picks up a starter and they haven’t been traded away starters during the season. Hughes’s contract will expire after the 2016 season, so maybe the Twins trade him or resign him to a contract extension.
    Trade individually or trade as a package, just get top pitching prospects (top five prospect of an organization) in return. Hopefully no lower than Double A.
    2016-17
    The disinterested Free Agent pitching dilemma the past few years should no longer be an issue this year, if the prospects have begun to show their respective talent and the team will begin to look like a contender team. Trouble is that is still in need of top talent pitching. I would like to go after a true ace after the 2016 season and Stephen Strasburg would be a free agent that off-season….so why not field a team with Strasburg leading the rotation?
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