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cmathewson

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Everything posted by cmathewson

  1. cmathewson
    +1 Pelfrey is a 4 on a good day, and he only has good days every other game. Gibson is a 5. Corriea is a 4/5. We need a 1 and a 2 if we want to get back to being competitive. I would not bring Pelfrey back for more than one year. And I would worry about the typical dead arm guys get in the second year back from TJ when they pitch a lot of innings the first year back. So we better not count on him for much.
  2. cmathewson
    I don't have a problem bringing Pelfrey back as long as he's one of three free agents they bring in and the other two are Ervin Santana and Matt Garza.
  3. cmathewson
    I'm not convinced Pinto is that big of a downgrade from Mauer, especially with the tall catcher/low strike issue. Yes, he's a downgrade, but not huge. It comes down to risk/reward: The risk of losing your best player maybe forever vs. the small reward in improved defense. Plus I do think he's a better hitter when he doesn't catch, especially multiple games in a row.
  4. cmathewson
    A .476 SLG is not zero power. It's among the best at his position. Further, his power is dampened at catcher. When he has fresh hands, it goes about .500, which is elite power.
  5. cmathewson
    I don't think Pinto is bad offensively or defensively. He's no Pudge or anything, but he's a better hitter than either of the first base candidates. And the combination of him behind the plate and Mauer at first is a better defensive alignment than the combination of one of the first basemen and Mauer behind the plate.
  6. cmathewson
    There's a reason catchers who can hit don't often stay at the position beyond 30: They find they can produce more value with their bats than with their gloves. Mauer with fresh hands is an MVP hitter. Catching deadens his hands to the point where he becomes a singles hitter, or rolls over every other swing to the second baseman. I think he'd consistently put up 900+ OPSes at first, which, if you add in his outstanding glove over there, you've got a top-tier first baseman. Before his catching-related injuries this year, I think he was third in WAR in the entire league. And that was while catching four of five games a week. The other thing is, his defense behind the plate is starting to become a liability. Sure, he's been better this year with throws and such. Be he's so tall, umps give up on the low strike as often as not. This is a really bad thing for guys like Kyle Gibson and Scott Diamond, who have to live at the knees. Besides the injury issue, you have to ask: Would the Twins be better with Mauer at first and Pinto behind the plate or Mauer behind the plate and Parmelee/Calobello at first? I think the former. As some have said, Mauer's wishes are irrelevant. Let's make the best team we can with what we have. And I have a hard time believing he wouldn't do what is in the team's best interest.
  7. cmathewson
    14 pitchers is what would have happened.
  8. cmathewson
    I don't know if having concussions qualifies me to have an opinion on them. But I have been through this several times, and I can't imagine catching after a severe concussion. I had to stop cycling after one because it caused me to get tentative and to second guess when in dangerous situations. It is so traumatic and debilitating that you subconsciously will do anything to avoid it ever happening again. Those who have caught before know the hardest thing to get over is not flinching when someone swings. This will be doubly hard now that Mauer has had a serious brain injury. Minor ones like the one Doumit had this year aren't debilitating in the way seveer ones are. I would be surprised if he's even able to catch after this. I would be shocked if he tries it again.
  9. cmathewson
    1. The owner says he wants to spend whatever it takes to put together a winner. 2. The GM says he will only spend if he thinks his team is ready for the World Series already. Ergo, he will not spend money. If Ryan continues to defy his boss, he will not last long.
  10. cmathewson
    I think Ryan is more at risk than Gardenhire. His insistence on not spending through free agency is growing untenable. I wouldn't be shocked if he's shown the door at the end of the year unless he can acquiesce to building a winner in the near term, which necessarily involves free agency.
  11. cmathewson
    So now he's the next Brad Radke waiting for an opportunity? Wow. FWIW, Radke's first three seasons in the majors: 42-30 4.2 ERA 652 IP Hendrik's first three seasons in the majors: 2-13 6.0 ERA 151.1 IP Radke was a stud from Day 1 at a younger age than Hendriks' debut. There is simply no comparison between them.
  12. cmathewson
    I was wondering whether someone would catch that. And I agree. I've been following the team since 67 and I never remember a three-year stretch with worse pitching. Even in the 90s we had guys like Tapani and Radke.
  13. cmathewson
    We have a gold glove catcher who is one of the best I've seen at framing. But the umps make no effort to change their stance with a taller catcher. So they don't call the low strike when Joe is behind the plate. Doumit has the same problem, but he is also framing challenged in general. I think the catching position will revert to 5 foot 10 guys who can get really low, work with pitchers and manage the running game. The days of the Mauers and the Poseys are numbered, especially with the concussion issue.
  14. cmathewson
    First of all, if you had to pick a decade with the worst pitching in Twins history (besides the teens), you'd pick the 90s. Secondly, I don't like your comps. Frankie Rodriguez pitched 206 innings one year. He had three better years than Hendriks. The next year he sucked and was gone. Aldred Pitched in parts of two seasons and was gone, after he had been in the major leagues for six years Robertson had a 3.83 ERA his first year and three shutouts in the next. In his third year, he sucked and was gone Parra pitched parts of two seasons (mostly as a reliever) and not more than 70 innings in either of them Pat Mahomes and LeTroy Hawkins were both former phenoms who threw in the upper 90s. They are still perhaps the best comps for Liam considering that both had successful careers as relievers after leaving the Twins. But Liam doesn't throw that hard, so I kind of doubt it. Finally, I don't think innings is the best measure of how many chances a guy gets. Liam Hendriks has been given five chances. In each case, he has been historically bad. The reason he has not racked up innings is he's so bad, they have to pull him in the fourth inning a lot and end up sending him down. Then he pitches OK at AAA, and they call him back up again, where he is horrible. If he was at all good, he would have put up more innings than all but Rodriguez on your list.
  15. cmathewson
    I can't think of a suspect upon which we have disagreed so starkly. Maybe Slowey. I didn't want them to give him another chance this year, let alone two. I've seen enough of him to know he's never going to amount to much as a starter in the big leagues. If you go back into the anals of Twins pitching history, you will be hard pressed to find a guy who was allowed to fail so many times and for so long. Sorry Liam, the truth hurts.
  16. cmathewson
    I was going to say that that is no longer the case. It is really hard to get a called third strike the way the umps call it in today's game. It used to be too easy. Not so anymore. To me, this is the main reason games are so long and we have to use so many pitchers. If umps just called the third strike regardless of the count, guys would start protecting the plate again.
  17. cmathewson
    I think both Doumit and Mauer struggle to get the low strike called because they are both tall for catchers. Gibson lives at the knees and most of the in-zone pitches called balls were in that area. Another reason to move Mauer to first and put Pinto back there in 2014.
  18. cmathewson
    The Twins are suffering from three years of focusing on position players int he first couple of rounds. 2006, 2007 and 2008 were not good drafts at all for pitchers. But there is some hope that the last four years of pitching rich drafts will bear fruit. And if you look at High A and below, you see a very well-stocked system. Patience.
  19. cmathewson
    Glad this thread didn't devolve into "the Twins will never sign _____________ because they are too cheap". Though I don't think it's likely, if it doesn't happen, the reason is as much about the insane spending by other teams as the cheapness of the Twins. I'm not averse to overspending here and there to improve the team. And my sense is neither is Jim Pohlad (Ryan on the other hand...). But you have to pick and choose carefully lest you run out of cash. The Twins are not in danger of running out of cash anytime soon. But if, for example, they had signed the two Cubans and this Japanese player, there wouldn't be much left for filler. I'd love to see them sign one of them though. Of the three, Tanaka was my top choice, both because of need and projectability.
  20. cmathewson
    Hey, what about Pelfrey for 2 years and $10M? Can I see a picture of a half eaten shoe?
  21. cmathewson
    I'd say they keep Santana and Goodrum at short because they have more tools and the game is easier in many ways at short than at second because you have all the plays in front of you. But Polanco is a better SS than either right now, and he's only 19. I don't think Goodrum will stay in the infield. Santana just needs to be more consistent and he could be the next Pedro Florimon. Meh. Polanco has the best chance of any of them to be a regular major league shortstop.
  22. cmathewson
    Sano would make a great tight end. His legs are 28 inches around, but he has fast twitch muscles, which is also why he has such otherworldly bat speed.
  23. cmathewson
    BTW: Several Twins were drafted in the Dominican Winter Draft. Interestingly, Sano was not drafted as highly as other prospects in the Twins system. Polanco was drafted third overall.
  24. cmathewson
    I echo the thoughts of many: We would need to be blown away at this point with a starter better than Kyle Gibson. I doubt that would happen. But next year, if both Dozier and Rosario continue to progress as they did this year, I could see trading one of them for a stud starter. Of the two, I would prefer to trade Dozier. He'll have more value and is less consistent than Rosario.
  25. cmathewson
    I love all the lefthanders. Going into this year, it seemed like our biggest hole in the org. Now it looks like a strength, especially when you add in Thorpe, Gonsalves and Sulbaran.
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