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cmathewson

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Everything posted by cmathewson

  1. cmathewson
    "All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain."
  2. cmathewson
    Just ahead of Florimon. But it was a joke.
  3. cmathewson
    "In the service, one must always choose the lesser of two weevils"
  4. cmathewson
    Their shortstop sucks.
  5. cmathewson
    "That was the best bath I ever had."
  6. cmathewson
    'Started outer half..." I don't miss that.
  7. cmathewson
    Best movie line ever: "Inconceivable"
  8. cmathewson
    I predict an opposite field hit here
  9. cmathewson
    Nice stab by Gibsom
  10. cmathewson
    Escobar looked slow there.
  11. cmathewson
    Stupid Mauer swinging at the first pitch Why doesn't he take a few pitches for a change?
  12. cmathewson
    By the way, when people say there is no downside to signing people to big contracts for multiple years, they rarely have these situations in mind. They say, "you can always trade them." I was all for trading Correia in the offseason. So were the Twins, according to rumors. No takers, despite the horrible state of pitching in baseball. If he doesn't improve, you eat his $5 million. Ditto for Pelfrey ($11 Million). Ditto for Hughes ($22 Million). Ditto for Nolasco ($44 million). (I might have my figures a bit off, but I like the progression.) I don't think any of those guys will continue to suck. But can we dispense with the talk about zero risk for signing free agents?
  13. cmathewson
    Oh, I was with you then, I just didn't think it was the right time. The time is coming soon. I suspect he Twins will keep it this way until they have to make a move to save face. It can't come soon enough for my taste.
  14. cmathewson
    It's not a random number, it's what he put up in the second half last year. If that's his full-year OPS this year, I'd be thrilled. It might warrant a Span-like contract at that point, just to control costs over his expected time with the team, and enhance his trade value. Polanco is at least two years away from being a viable option imo, so maybe a three-year deal to buy out his arbitration years would make sense, assuming "Deke" continues to hit like he has in the last four months of baseball for a full season. As it did with Span, this can enhance his trade value when the time comes.
  15. cmathewson
    My sense is they put him in the bullpen to save his arm. A couple of more starts like we've had in the Oakland series and they will not worry so much about his arm. I look forward to the day when Deduno moves into the rotation in favor of Correia. What to do with the latter is less important than improving the team.
  16. cmathewson
    I think that is the issue. I think he has tried often, and it hasn't worked, so he reverted to his usual approach. You might disagree. I don't see a way to break that impasse. I have just watched him very carefully since I lived behind Cretin and frequently walked over to watch him hit. What impressed me initially was his opposite field approach. That is rare for high school kids who hit against guys throwing 70. Most guys in high school can't wait like that. In the majors, it is even tougher to pull the ball for hits. That's because pitchers are constantly trying to exploit that weakness. Every time I see him pulling off the ball a little bit, he starts to slump. It's a thing. He does have good opposite field power. And I hoped he would be able to pull it more with the fresher hands that come from not catching. But so far, that hasn't happened. Like I said, I hope for more. I just don't expect a 31 year old to change the way he hits and have the same rate of success.
  17. cmathewson
    I am not speculating. They would interview him, and he would say he was trying to pull the ball more. I'd watch his progress. He would regress into a string of 4-6-3s. Then he'd go back into the cage and start looking to drive it to the opposite field, and he'd start hitting again. It's kind of the story of his career. His 0-12 to start the year is the most recent case in point. I knew he was close to breaking out of that slump when he lined out to left field twice in one game. Since then, he's hit .400.
  18. cmathewson
    I don't think it's necessarily a zero sum game. But in Mauer's case, I think it is. He's 31. He's tried a lot of different ways to increase his power production. None of them have produced more results than his usual approach. Most of them led to slumps. 2009 was an aberration, fueled by an incredible May in which he hit like 12 homers into the first row to left field in the Dome. Target will never let him get there. More likely, it will frustrate his attempts to hit homers. So I'm content to let him have an OBP of .420 without complaint, and let the other numbers take care of themselves. I always hope for more, but I don't expect it.
  19. cmathewson
    Fair enough. As Carew did at this age, moving to first will allow him to play another 10 years, win a few more batting titles and collect 3000 hits. I'm all for it.
  20. cmathewson
    Of course you can. No one said you can't . But you're not the audience we're talking about. Those who exaggerate his deficiencies and diminish his contributions contrary to science are. You started to go there when you analyzed a single at bat as a paradigm case of his deficiencies. I don't think it's all that helpful to look at one at bat in which the team is down by three runs and down to its last out as all that instructive. Especially his second walk of the day in which he went 2-5 with an RBI. Pick a larger sample. Look at tendencies. But most of all, put it into context. Even the best hitters make an out 60% of the time. The fact that Mauer has a better percentage than the best hitters almost every year, and from the catching position is not a sign of weakness. It's a sign of strength. So he's not a home run hitter. Many of the all-time greats weren't either. The Twins ruined their relationship with Rod Carew by insisting that he hit homers. So one year he swung for the fences a lot, struck out more than normal, and had his other numbers suffered. They were more critical of him after the second year (as were the fan), and traded him. Mauer is similar. You can add homers, but you'll make him more strikeout prone and he'll roll over more balls to second. His OBP will drop below .400 and he'll be less productive overall. It's a zero sum game. Stop trying to fix what is not broken. Start appreciating the history you are witnessing. That is all.
  21. cmathewson
    Look. Joe will be the first one to admit he is not perfect. He goes through stretches where he's pull happy (like his 0-12 to start the year), and he rolls over a lot of balls to second base. He has to hit like he does to get base hits. Should he have more power with his body type? Absolutely. And he has tried. When he tries, he almost always goes into a slump. So he has resigned himself to driving the ball the other way because it is the best way for him to hit. That's not ideal. The thing that gets me is that there are 24 other guys on the team who are worse, and yet he is the one who takes most of the shots in the media and the blogosphere. Don't you find that odd? You'd think fans would have a lot more to complain about. But, I guess it's like Yogi used to say, "they're not happy unless they're miserable."
  22. cmathewson
    Olerud never won a batting title did he? Ole rude never won a gold glove or an MVP did he? Mauer is the first catcher ever to win three batting titles. That makes hi elite.
  23. cmathewson
    Besides, the walk was not useless in the situation (runners on first and second, two outs). Down by three runs, they needed base runners. Loading the bases gets them a double away from tying it. It has the same affect as a single. The odds of an extra base hit were pretty low. The odds of a walk were pretty high. He was just playing the odds.
  24. cmathewson
    I think this chart is deceptive. Maybe he should have taken a hack at the first pitch, like Plouffe did, and made an out. The second strike was a pitcher's pitch. It had Deduno type movement. Even though it crossed the front of the plate there, it was caught outside and low.
  25. cmathewson
    This. See also, Boggs, Wade and Gwynn, Tony. No one argues that they were elite. The Mauer hate reminds me of stories of the Williams hate in Boston. After he hit .400, they couldn't accept .350.
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