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cmathewson

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Everything posted by cmathewson

  1. cmathewson
    I just think the sinker puts a lot of pressure on the elbow. Blackburn's elbow has had some pain or soreness since 2009. Also, when they are hurt, they tend to overthrow and the ball comes in straight.
  2. cmathewson
    He did got from slap hitter to power hitter in a Palmeiro kind of way. A few years later, of course, he got caught. So you have to wonder when he started taking them. There's nothing in his numbers that stands out like a Brady Anderson year.
  3. cmathewson
    One thing I've been wondering about: How does Pitch F/X determine whether it's the curve or the change? I know Jim Kaat was confused, because they both have good downward movement and come in the low 80s. He was only able to say for sure after they did a freeze frame on the grip, showing the change-up grip. The change moves slightly into righties and the curve moves slightly away from righties. Otherwise, movement and speed are comparable. I'm thinking if he's fooling Jim Kaat, he's probably fooling Pitch FX as well.
  4. cmathewson
    The injury occurred in December, as he was ramping up to prepare for the WBC. They did the surgery two days after he reported it. This was not a case of rest and rehab first.
  5. cmathewson
    The main difference between this year and last year is depth. Last year, the whole rotation collapsed and they had nobody with major league starting experience to pick up the slack. And they had no decent prospects available. Luckily, Diamond, DeVries and Deduno exceeded expectations to have decent years. And Hendriks got some much-needed major league experience. Two of those four are depth this year, with Gibson and Meyers waiting for an opportunity. That is significantly better than the situation we were in at this time last year.
  6. cmathewson
    What, no Bombo Rivera? Good retro. Hopefully Hicks will establish himself as a player with Span's patience and Hunter's range, arm, and power. That's a pretty good combination.
  7. cmathewson
    I think it's a matter of telling him to mix up his pitches and then he goes out there and doesn't mix up his pitches. It's also a matter of location. He's got good velocity and a deceptive delivery makes him "sneaky fast". But he need to hit his spots. When he doesn't, he gives up 4 homer runs in four innings. I'm not convinced he's progressed since last year. He is falling into the same habits that got him demoted three times last year. Recall the last time he got demoted, it was because Anderson was exasperated that he threw 95% fastballs and gave up 6 runs. I don't think a couple of months of AAA will hurt him. He's still very young (younger than Gibson).
  8. cmathewson
    THey are not signing him. They could have signed him in the offseason and declined. As several have posted, there are plenty of better arms in camp right now.
  9. cmathewson
    I would rather be eviscerated than watch Matt Capps pitch in a Twins uniform. He had the same effect on my enthusiasm as a Twins fan as Ron Davis. No lead was safe. It got to the point where I would just say, "why bother to watch if Capps is going to just blow this lead?" If that was the effect it had on me, imagine the effect it had on the team.
  10. cmathewson
    The battle between Benson and Hicks is a lot like the battle between Gomez and Span. Span was clearly the better player that spring, and Gomez clearly needed more time in AAA. But the Twins went the other way because they wanted to show some value for the Santana trade. In this case, there should be no such pressure.
  11. cmathewson
    This from Top Jimmy:
  12. cmathewson
    I agree that they need an everyday center fielder, and Maestro is not it. But he's a better fit for this team than Benson. When they lost Span, they lost their lead-off hitter. Replacing him with a patient hitter is vital. Benson is not that type of hitter. But I question sending Hicks down in the first place. He's the best replacement for Span--he's more patient, has better range, a better arm, more power and is a better base stealer than Span. He's certainly better than Maestro and Benson at those skills. The Twins continue to put up the facade of a competition, but this was all-but won when he played outstanding defense against the Red Sox. Everybody on this board seems to think that the Twins place a high priority on controlling service time. There is little evidence of this in the last 10 years. They sign the guys they want to keep to long-term deals before arbitration. Also, Terry Ryan has said he doesn't care. He was asked point blank by Bernadino and he said "Why would you even think that?" "Because fans are saying it." "Well, they're wrong." It makes no sense to entertain something that has been proven wrong by both Ryan's words and actions.
  13. cmathewson
    Correia is going to start in the opening series. Period. Florimon is about 90% the starter at short. Escobar will make the team as a second utility guy.
  14. cmathewson
    Also, just checked and DeVries is on the 40-man. Deduno, Walters, Ramirez and Boggs are not. Only two of those are likely to make the team, though. Fien has an option. Robertson would get claimed. Not sure about the others, but probably not.
  15. cmathewson
    If the Twins go with an extra bench bat rather than three catchers, I have a hard time believing they would go with Benson as a "bench bat". He needs to play everyday. So the bench bat battle is between Wilkin Ramirez, Brandon Boggs, Chris Colabello and Jeff Clement. Because of Parmalee's versatility, I would go with one of the outfielders. Boggs is a switch hitter who can play all three outfield spots, so... The only problem with that is 40-man roster issues. Say they take Boggs, DeVries, Deduno and Walters north. If so, they would need four new roster spots. I think they could DFA Woods and Butera because of their price tags. But I can't find other DFA candidates (unless you count Roenicke and Pinto). They might be forced by roster constraints to keep guys like Hendriks and Robertson rather than Deduno and Walters.
  16. cmathewson
    What likely happened is TR offered three or four guys the same or similar deals and told their agents the first guy who signs gets a deal, after which the other offers are null and void. After he made the offers, he said "we're going to sign a pretty darn good pitcher." He was confident one of the three or four would sign, and Correia did. None of those 14 guys are as good as Corriea, at least on a scouting basis. Maybe a few are by the numbers, but you don't pay for past numbers. You pay for future performance. Will Jason Marquis pitch better than Correia this year? After last year, I doubt any Twins scout would say that. Livan? Been there, done that. Go down the list and you have similar stories for each one. You can say you're smarter than the Twins scouts. I personally will not say that. I defer to the professionals. Anyway, it's not that outlandish to say he will have a better year than those 14 suspects. To claim definitively that any one of them will have a better year is even more arrogant than saying you're smarter than Twins scouts. Besides, put it in context. What's a few million or an extra year when we're already $20 million under budget?
  17. cmathewson
    This is their upside: Correia = Nick Blackburn circa 2008 Deduno = Francisco Liriano circa 2010 DeVries = Kevin Slowey circa 2010 This is their floor Correia = Blackburn circa 2011 Deduno = Liriano circa 2012 DeVries = Slowey circa 2011 Cost differential is nominal. The second year of Correia is the main problem. If he pitches well, he's worth a second year, and he's also tradeable, if we don't want that burden. If not, he's not worth it and we can't trade him. That seems like a lot of risk. But it's what the market demanded, I guess. I'm no Correia, fan, but it bugs me that that one signing flipped a switch from "TR is having a great offseason!" to "Fire TR, he sucks!" The Twins were known to have offers on the table for several pitchers But all but one decided to sign elsewhere, and we were left with Correia. They are called free agents for a reason: They're free to choose the best offer for them, and not all of their decisions are based on $$$. For example, we had a competitive offer for Liriano, but he decided he wanted to pitch in the NL. So what are you going to do? Rumor has it, a similar thing happened with McCarthy. The Twins can't disclose this stuff, so they just take the criticism for decisions largely out of their hands. The only reason we know about Liriano is he told the press after he signed with the Pirates.
  18. cmathewson
    Prior to Tommy John surgery, as a 22 year old, he dominated both High A and AA. You can hardly fault him for blowing out his elbow and effectively losing two years of his career. Now he just needs regain his consistency, which is not uncommon for someone less than two years removed from TJ surgery.
  19. cmathewson
    Diamond will only miss a couple of starts. Gibson should be back when he can just calm down without trying to make the team. Meyer will not be far behind. By midseason, the rotation will look like this: Worley Diamond Pelfry Gibson Meyers
  20. cmathewson
    Two words: Corky Miller, who was the FOURTH catcher on the team (counting LeCroy), who pushed Restovich off the roster for good. Gardy has gradually abandoned the desire for so many catchers since that year, when we had like two pinch hits all year or something. But this is a new attitude for him. It's refreshing that he's maybe not as set in his ways as we thought.
  21. cmathewson
    Mauer is healthier than he's been since 2009, and healthier at this stage of the season for "as long as I can remember" according to Joe. So there's less concern about him catching five times a week than in past years. Couple that with Gardy's stated desire to get a real bat on the bench, and this move makes perfect sense. The question, then, is who? My money is on Boggs, but Ramirez has a shot as well.
  22. cmathewson
    I don't see Burnett making the team this year. He's been horrible this spring and he has an option. Not sure about Wood, either. He is out of options, but I wouldn't be surprised if they tried to pass him through waivers to make room for DeVries or Deduno. He's been better the last couple of outings, but he's still way too slow to home plate to be anything but a closer, which is what he will be for Rochester this year, imo. So who goes in their place? Tyler Robertson for one. The second guy is anyone's guess. The only guy who's pitched well is PJ Walters, and he's not on the 40-man. Maybe Swarzak can make a late impression and avoid the DL.
  23. cmathewson
    I'm just glad they're sending him over there to start games and stretch out. I didn't like him relieving last night. Apparently, he didn't like it either, cause his first 10 pitches missed their mark.
  24. cmathewson
    The IPA was my beer for 15 years. I rejoiced when it moved from a seasonal selection to a regular offering. But then I started sampling other IPAs, like Bell's Two Hearted or the the Flying Dog Snake Dog and Raging Bitch, and I stopped buying blue label in favor of the more "in-your-face" hop bombs. That's why I'm so pleased with Saga, which is all the hops I need, but smoother and more enjoyable than other hop bombs.
  25. cmathewson
    Point is, these sample sizes make the distinction tenuous at best. I get it over the course of a whole season or something. You're just controlling more variables. But over 80 innings, it's probably not all that helpful. If he's getting more groundouts and fewer Ks over 33 innings than he did over the previous 46 innings, what does that mean? It could mean a lot of things. Here I think Pitch F/X data might be more helpful.
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