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whosafraidofluigirussolo

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Everything posted by whosafraidofluigirussolo

  1. whosafraidofluigirussolo
    I know nothing about these players beyond what what I've read and sort of "aggregated" from various public sources. But the draft rankings that Fangraphs just updated are interesting: link FG, similar to Keith Law, seem willing to stick with their own evaluations of players and to give those more weight when they differ from consensus opinions or rankings. These are not huge differences, but I'm noting that they're lower on Green and Cross and higher on Neto and Lesko than many other rankings (although the scouting reports on the "lower" guys are still quite positive overall.) If anything, this gives more reason to think that one of the consensus top 7 realistically could slide down - and also that Lesko could a be viable pick at 8...?! While this draft is said to be weak on pitching, the flip side is that there isn't a lot of consistency in how the mid- to late-first round guys are rated between different mocks and rankings. It gives me hope that someone intriguing could fall to the Twins' second pick. Should be an interesting draft in any case!
  2. whosafraidofluigirussolo
    "Bat-first corner position player" definitely isn't an exciting profile to me, but the information available about Cross suggests that he's a high-end version of that profile (relative to the uncertainty of any draft prospect, at least.) And the limitations of guys like Sabato and Rooker are one reason some Twins fans are tired of this player type, but you're likely to get a better version of that type at pick 8 than at a pick in the high 20s or 30s. The "draft with a clear top [x] and the Twins draft [x+1]" made me think of the draft when the Twins drafted Kohl Stewart 4th after Mark Appel, Kris Bryant, and Jon Gray went 1-2-3... Which says something about variance in outcomes for even the highest-rated players. Gray seemed to be perceived as a step away from putting it together for several years, and now is having a nice season to begin his first free-agent deal; Bryant seems like he may have peaked early; Appel just debuted.
  3. whosafraidofluigirussolo
    I tend to respect the current Twins front office's body of work overall, and to give their ideas of how to construct a team the benefit of the doubt, but if this series isn't an impetus to seek help for the bullpen ASAP, I don't know what will be. It would be great to add a high-end reliever to shift everyone (or maybe everyone except Durán) down a notch in the pecking order, but if they can find someone sooner and more easily to be the new 4th-best arm in the pen, do that too. Anything that will shake up the mix has to have some benefit at this point.
  4. whosafraidofluigirussolo
    This was certainly a dominant start for Smeltzer overall—but does 12 swing-and-misses seem like not a lot, considering that he had 9 strikeouts?
  5. whosafraidofluigirussolo
    Heh, I like that in a paragraph that also mentions Josh Donaldson and Aaron Hicks, you reserve the description "former Twin" for Isiah Kiner-Falefa.
  6. whosafraidofluigirussolo
    Can the players who replace those who are restricted from traveling be added to the 40-man and then removed without waivers, just as if they were replacing guys on the COVID-IL? There could be some interesting short-term additions to navigate the roster shortage if there were no 40-man implications.
  7. whosafraidofluigirussolo
    Bottom of the 9th, tie game. Opposing team brings in a lefty reliever and the Twins have 3 lefty hitters due up. This situation seems...avoidable, somehow?
  8. whosafraidofluigirussolo
    So to put this in the context of last year's rules: Both last year and this year, players on the COVID-IL didn't count against the 40-man roster The difference is that last year, players added to the 40 as COVID replacements could be removed from the 40 without being DFA; this year, they can't. At least that's what I'm gathering.
  9. whosafraidofluigirussolo
    In the morning, the team announced that outfielder Trevor Larnach was being placed on the Injured List with a right adductor strain. To take his place, the Twins recalled catcher Jose Godoy... It’s also fair to ask why Godoy would be brought up? Sure. However, he is the only hitter on the 40-man roster... It's also worth noting that, while Gary Sánchez' defense still may regress, his ability to stick at catcher and the Twins' willingness to work with him there make this roster move make more sense. Obviously it's not a seamless change, and they'd rather have Larnach's bat than Godoy's glove - but Sánchez being at least theoretically playable both at DH (though he hasn't hit well so far) and as a part-time catcher allows this move, subbing a catcher for a corner OF/DH, to work more smoothly. Also just want to point out that that video clip of Polanco's hit just captures the Oakland left fielder getting so caught by the force of his running throw that he helicoptered his entire body into the air.
  10. whosafraidofluigirussolo
    I have some opinions about who gets playing time when, but I'm going to remain silent about them
  11. whosafraidofluigirussolo
    My memory from reading prospect reports before Larnach came up is that they portrayed him as a pretty one-dimensional bat-first guy. I think Fangraphs might have called him "sluggish" in the outfield. There's definitely some selection bias here because I'm watching highlights, not full games, but in those limited views his arm, reactions in the outfield, and speed (at least as a baserunner) all seem perfectly fine and playable.
  12. whosafraidofluigirussolo
    Like everyone on this site has been saying, Sanó was due.
  13. whosafraidofluigirussolo
    Getting a "phantom injury" vibe about the Romero IL placement.
  14. whosafraidofluigirussolo
    Two pitches! Jeez. He threw yesterday, but that was 6 pitches after 3 days of rest. I get that it's consecutive days, but still, weird usage, unless he's pitching through some minor injury.
  15. whosafraidofluigirussolo
    Looking at the bullpen usage chart, I see how they're rotating guys through with rest days pretty carefully - but I'm wondering why Smith couldn't have come in instead of Thielbar yesterday, when the top of the Boston lineup was up and 3 out of their top 4 guys hit right-handed.
  16. whosafraidofluigirussolo
    I thought it was lefties against whom Verdugo often sits, not righties...?
  17. whosafraidofluigirussolo
    Shortly after submitting last week’s piece, Georgia prep pitcher Dylan Lesko set the internet ablaze with a dominating performance in the NHSI tournament He's finishing his senior year, he's pitching at the highest level of high-school competition, and he still found time to write a piece for this website? What a prodigy! ?
  18. whosafraidofluigirussolo
    Random tidbit from another opening weekend series: In each of their first two games, the Padres' starter has given up no hits (Darvish yesterday, Manaea today.) This early in the season, and with the abbreviated spring training affecting pitchers' stamina, neither starter was left in the game to complete a no-hitter. The same reliever was first up both nights and lost the no-no two nights in a row.
  19. whosafraidofluigirussolo
    In principle, some amount of money evens out the value in the trade. In principle, a starting pitcher under control for 3 years is much more valuable than a reliever under control for a year, but that's counter-balanced somewhat by Rogers being a more reliable bet to be good right now. (Putting it that way rather than simply saying "Rogers being better than Paddack.") I think it just sounds weird to some people (including me) that the amount of $ is the equivalent of nearly Rogers' whole salary. It makes it seem like San Diego didn't actually value him that much, enough to pay a seemingly fair arbitration-year salary—even though other factors are at work, like the players coming back and perhaps how close SD is to the luxury tax. (Edit to add): This is not looking at the deal in terms of precise surplus value, as in a single number from a model that estimates how valuable a player is against how much they are paid and will be paid. It very well may make sense in those terms to cover all of Rogers' 2022 pay - it just comes across a little odd in the context of how good the players involved are right now.
  20. whosafraidofluigirussolo
    (L-R): The Twins bullpen, the Twins front office
  21. whosafraidofluigirussolo
    Just curious, has it been announced whether Ryan still will start (putting the whole rotation on an extra day of rest) or the Twins skip to whoever was going to start the second game?
  22. whosafraidofluigirussolo
    There's also Dinelson Lamet, who has done good work in their rotation in the past but, if I remember right, had health stuff last year and wound up spending part of the year in the bullpen. I think both of your points are true. SD went and got Manaea, which suggests that they didn't fully trust the starter options they had on hand, and they're unlikely to trade the ones they trust most. But it is also a lot of potential starters for 5 spots and it wouldn't be surprising for SD to trade from depth, even a starter they trusted, if they think it fills a bigger need.
  23. whosafraidofluigirussolo
    Certainly seems possible, but I'd wonder then why it wasn't just a 3-team trade. I have to guess the Twins have been in touch with the Padres at least about the general availability of their pitchers and what they'd look for in return. But if not Manaea, maybe another arm from SD?
  24. whosafraidofluigirussolo
    Just looked this up because I thought I had read it recently: Montas had TOS and had his surgery in 2016, before he was established in the majors. It is a troubling injury for sure, but it seems safe to guess that he's more of a recovery success story than a health risk now.
  25. whosafraidofluigirussolo
    One reason for concern: He had thoracic outlet syndrome, and that's a worrisome injury from which some pitchers never come back fully. One reason for optimism: Tying an incentive to games with nine or more outs recorded is interesting. It's probably responding to the uncertainty about how much pitching Archer can handle after his recent injuries, but it also suggests that he's prepared for a piggyback or multi-inning relief role, and hopefully it indicates something about the Twins' readiness to upgrade in midseason if there's an upgrade (internal or external) available.
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