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JD-TWINS

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Everything posted by JD-TWINS

  1. JD-TWINS
    Just don’t want to (see the need to) spend the $$ for a guy that would play much less (be NEEDED less) and strikes out at a high rate. I’d take my chances with Castro & Martin (if Buxton crumbles) and their ability to hit .240 and play a decent CF w/o striking out as much. Also, they both bring speed to the line-up. Both available v. LH pitching. Taylor can run as well & obviously is a RH bat but he was having leg & (I think) back issues after July 1 last season…….already have fragile Byron! Bottom line is he signs somewhere else. I would think for his cost & the thump in his bat, his agent should call the CUBS.
  2. JD-TWINS
    Nothing is a certainty - he lost weight because of a new discipline and new strengthening workout. Not suggesting he’s an ACE because he is eating more salads. The main focus of my comments were directed at durability. If he’s pitching with health, he’ll probably be pretty good…….I think we agree in principal.
  3. JD-TWINS
    Agree with the broad strokes here…….Bader signing for $10.5M is just crazy - that’s like his version of the Ohtani deal - I was shocked! Maybe Randal Grichuk is an add in OF for depth at all 3 positions - agreed though, too much cost at $9-$11M……..he’s got good pop in his bat and has a career OPS of .769. RH bat in OF. Seems like a good potential add. Other guy I see lots of value in, despite your slight above, is Clevinger. He threw a bit in ‘22 after returning from arm surgery. He then threw 131 innings in ‘23 with an ERA of 3.77. Was 9-9 with the lowly White Sox. I think he’s worth $13 - $14M/year …..give him a player option for year 2 so he has both security & independence with a deal. He’s the replacement for Mahle from the beginning of ‘23 season’s staff in both ability & cost.
  4. JD-TWINS
    Games seem a little more exciting with the 28 man in September! I think the roster limitations and a maximum of options on a player are both in place so the rich clubs can’t stash players and water down the rest of the League’s talent pool. Tough for me to argue against this. IMO - 26 man with a decent AAA team to supplement in times of injury, all bases are covered.
  5. JD-TWINS
    Agreed - work with him in Twin’s system for 3-5 months (March - July) and make a decision. Worthwhile on paper. Fingers crossed.
  6. JD-TWINS
    Maybe Larnach as well?………the reason we don’t have perfect success in the draft and the draft order is that evaluating young talent is subjective on many levels, work ethic varies greatly player to player, and the biggest reason - baseball is hard & not many guys make it from any draft class!!
  7. JD-TWINS
    Lopez has lost a bunch of weight & become a workout fiend over past 18 mos. - seems to not be a coincidence he’s been durable. The Driveline guys seem to help pitchers with proper form/approach as well. Gotta point out again that team was 15-19 in Gray’s starts. He went 1-1 in the playoffs with a pick off at 2B to end a rally in his win v. Toronto. Other start v. Houston was a stinker. Gray was 8-8 in ‘23 & obviously deserved better run support but the results regarding team’s record are real. His playoff starts & those results are real. I honestly think that Varland will be a .500 pitcher with a serviceable ERA at 4.50 or better - seems durable as well. IMO, after seeing the innings from Lopez and with his 2 lights out starts in the playoffs, he’s the real ACE coming out of 2023.
  8. JD-TWINS
    Farmer is around in the meantime…….Eddie is still young and needs to see a lot more pitching……..both of us hope he gets there v. lefties!
  9. JD-TWINS
    #1-#5……Pablo - Lewis - Jenkins - Lee - Jeffers
  10. JD-TWINS
    Jeffers displaces Buxton down to 21 or so…….maybe?
  11. JD-TWINS
    He’s talented - he’ll be OK. It’s between his ears, a mentality that needs to be tweaked. Again, his coaches need to help him improve with this. A concern for me is that his demeanor seems very rigid with this issue & my concern is he may not be real open to any criticism. We’ll see.
  12. JD-TWINS
    Am sure it’s not easy but it’s his job. He’s got another season to start to improve - wish him luck!
  13. JD-TWINS
    One leads to the other - is Solano slapping the ball in front of the right fielder exciting? If he drives in a run - sure it is. Hard hit balls show high promise to then hit the ball over the fence at some point - denotes a confidence the hitter is winning the battle.
  14. JD-TWINS
    Agree, he got rung up a number of times when the pitch appeared out of the zone. Too many times though in the zone AND on pitches too close to take that were marginal. Julien isn’t Ted Williams so his reputation isn’t going to help for another 5 years - umpires are proud & they aren’t Twin’s fans! Their pride will have Eduard coming up #2 on close calls for some time to come. Robo-umps may soon come into play and have some influence over this issue?
  15. JD-TWINS
    Agree it’s frustrating watching him with 2 strikes & “taking”!…….I get the feeling he’s just arrogant enough to think he has such a great eye that he’s taking balls in most cases and the calls are wrong when he gets rung up. At any rate, he needs to be more aggressive or at least get better at protecting the plate by fouling off pitches if they are too close to take. COACHING may need to step in to help get through this obvious problem.
  16. JD-TWINS
    Love Duran. Stated he should be higher than 11th. That said, he can’t be higher than Lee or especially Jenkins with their draft spots & evaluations to date - both viewed as franchise everyday players. Shifting gears, am going to suggest an “add on” at maybe 21-24 on our asset list that would cost zero trade capital/assets. Was on this guy in June/July and he ended up with the Angels. Free Agent - Right handed bat - plays all 3 OF spots - he has Michael Taylor power or better and has a career .761 OPS - 101 OPS+ - .249 BA. Randal Grichuk…….assuming he may cost near $6.5 - $8M/year but other than a nose dive offensively at the end of ‘23, he’s a solid player over a 10 year career. Better offensive upside than Bader or other journeymen available on the market. Worth considering………….Whit Merrifield is an option as well but not much CF there and probably more $$.
  17. JD-TWINS
    Staumont - Alcala should help regarding workload………Thielbar is aging & seems to be more fit to come in and end innings a starter has begun. Funderburk - Stewart - Jax are the guys that will get the ball to Duran. 11 2/3 and 6 hits - 1 run over his appearances last year - really good. I think he takes over as the left hander in tight situations after the 6th. He looks to be a solid contributor over all of ‘24.
  18. JD-TWINS
    Not sure how, when roughly 75% of pitchers are right handed, having Wallner & Kepler in the corner outfield spots is redundant. If Lee comes up by year’s end & Julien locks down 2B, maybe Lewis moves to LF by next Spring & Wallner shifts to right? If we add an OF bat, then they become redundant but not prior. Agreed, Paddack has a chance to be special after seeing his performance in September/October.
  19. JD-TWINS
    Understand the angst! This isn’t a list of our best players or highest contributors in ‘24……………With that in mind - years of control - cost today and over years of control - obviously, ABILITY - age - etc. are all blended to try and come up with overall value.
  20. JD-TWINS
    I like his value in the fact that he influences the games played toward Wins 55-60 times per year. That works!
  21. JD-TWINS
    I gotta agree - Hawkins sense of humor comes through……..Smalley seems worn out - my biggest issue is that it sounds like he’s not miked up for about 60% of what he says. I like Roy but maybe, at approximately 72, he should hang up the booth duties?
  22. JD-TWINS
    List seems reasonable again today. The fact that Raya is #13 really speaks to the inflated value prospects carry until they fail. Festa - Kirilloff - Varland - Paddack could all be, arguably, ahead of Raya. Gotta make choices though, so it’s all in the eye of the beholder. Duran having dropped 3 spots after being at #8 last year is pretty surprising. Hopefully, that means we got better with our top end depth. We’ll see how the list concludes but I would think it’s hard to argue he isn’t one of our top 6-7 assets if looking to move him.
  23. JD-TWINS
    After seeing the attitude & velocity in a few outings out of the Pen in ‘23, am very bullish on Paddack! Not really worried about how he ranks here - Twins have him under control for 2 years at a good $$ number. I’d be happy if he started games until the All-star break & then moved to the Pen. Not very likely but it is a specific way to limit innings and getting him to help us win games. Hopefully, by mid July team will have a couple other options for some spot starts in the 2nd half. Handful of notable guys have come back from 2nd Tommy John - just as many have busted out of baseball. deGrom & Beuhler will be a couple other guys everyone will be scrutinizing. Will be interesting.
  24. JD-TWINS
    “Farm guys” in the Top 20 that haven’t been unveiled, that is my meaning.
  25. JD-TWINS
    List seems very reasonable to start……..waiting to see if there are any other Farm System guys other than Lee & Jenkins. Maybe Rodríguez?………..are any prospects available for trading capital?
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