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Dman

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Everything posted by Dman

  1. Dman
    I think you have this backwards. The game is for the fans. Not the owners, Not the players. Without the fans there is no money for either side. The less interest in the game the less revenue to go around. With a cap there is still room for both sides to make plenty of money. Other sports have done just fine with a cap. In Football the cap is so bad that QB's are making 40M per year. What game can you think of where one player starts with an advantage while the others start with a disadvantage? I can't think of one. Card games, most any game you all start with an equal chance to win. If you and I sat down for a game of poker and I get to start with three aces every hand how much fun is that gonna be for you? It would get to a point where it is pointless to play and I think that is where baseball is headed. The game is for the fans and when your favorite team can only be competitive once every ten years because you have to start over with young players it starts to feel pointless. If the players association doesn't want "fair" competition then yeah as a fan I am going to blame them for the fact that my team has little to no chance year in and year out to win a world series and or be competitive year in an year out. I like the sports that have caps that create a level playing field. I If the major money makers don't want to revenue share then maybe have them buy out the smaller market teams and have them create a 12 team league. Or maybe take the the top 10 to 15 teams and create an uncapped league with the bottom 15 being a capped league. Then at least teams could be closer competitively than they are now. I think both sides are being short sighted and eventually it seems to me they will make it miserable enough that too many fans lose interest and neither side will make any money. They need to solve this issue.
  2. Dman
    I like the depth in the system right now, but there was a reason fans were clamoring for them to take a catcher early in the draft. The Twins just haven't developed any meaningful catchers in the system since we all complained about them reaching for Jeffers. Before the deadline there really only seemed to be one legit guy for backup catcher and I would say that was Cardenes. It's a weaker bat but he had decent defensive numbers. I'm not sure if you can even call Baez, Cossetti and Oliver "true" catchers. Maybe light fill in's, but certainly nothing to hang your hat on. It seems they lucked into getting Pereda who has had a very good bat at AAA, but offensive and defensive numbers dipped considerably at the MLB level. Still he looks like the next man up and he has two option years left so seems like a really good fit for backup catcher, with Gasper the only thing standing in his way. In the end they might be identical as both have killed it at AAA, but have yet to translate to MLB. Still it was a good get by Minnesota and increased their catcher depth at the upper levels. The Twins finally spent a top 100 pick on Diaw in the 2024 draft and he looks extremely mobile back there and appears to have a legit bat. I don't know if he is built to take a beating back there though. We'll have to wait and see, but until the deadline he was the most promising catcher prospect we'd seen in quite some time. Until recently it seemed like Diaw was the only catcher with "real" upside in the entire system. The trade deadline changed things. Tait while still young with a long way to go brings a power bat and arm to the position giving him All Star potential . If he hit's it would be a dream catcher scenario. He could have everything you want from the position. He still has to make enough contact for it to all work, but his potential is sky high and something we haven't since Mauer (Based on potential not batting styles). I really, really like the Jimenez trade. His strong suit appears to be defense and the Twins seem to have him selling out for power early in at bats and the home runs have exploded his OPS. If he continues to hit like that they would could have another high end catcher on their hands. So yes with the recent acquisition's things have changed and catcher depth would be a strength in the system and no longer a weakness. Glad the FO was listening to the board and decided to make catchers a priority, lol.
  3. Dman
    Yeah I noticed that too. It's quite a jump from DIII to pro ball though. Also they bumped him to AA recently as well. He's gonna have to figure out the breaking stuff. Will be interesting to see how he does next year. Ben Ross was DIII too I think and he's had trouble getting his bat going so he might not translate. Still a good gamble IMO.
  4. Dman
    Lot's to like about last night in the system. I think my favorite was Tait and Winokur going back to back. Nice to see the young guys getting it done. Jimenez another day another Home run this time a grand slam. He leads his team in OPS at least for the moment. Like @DocBauer gotta believe Houston and Smith are Cedar Rapids bound, but we'll see. They both have hit well and it seems like a good idea to get them acclimated for the Playoffs.
  5. Dman
    I said the same thing, lol. Here is a link I found online. It looks like he is this year Eeles like Gamble.
  6. Dman
    In general not a huge fan of this type of player. I do love the athleticism. Hoping that somehow, someway he can figure things out fairly quickly as the Twins could use his skillset if he can hit the baseball.
  7. Dman
    Yeah it's because the competition is so variable in the Minors. Anyone who does well there moves up a level and then weakens that team. At AAA anyone playing well gets moved to MLB and often times arms get picked over at that level because of injuries at the MLB level. So if a team loses a lot of talent then when other teams face them they do well and can pad their stats. At the MLB level you are playing against the best of the best every day. there is precious little padding of stats at that level. So of course the numbers come down and of course like any other level some hitters won't be able to adjust or take a really long time to adjust to that level. Still while stats aren't completely predictive in and of themselves they are the closest thing we have to determine when a player is ready. I'd still rather give a .900 to 1.000 OPS player a shot at MLB time versus someone at AAA with a .700 to .800 OPS. We don't know which players will make it as their weaknesses get exploited at the MLB level, but you still have throw guys out there and see what they can do.
  8. Dman
    I'm just comparing the bat, not the defense with Rosario and Fedko. If guys can hit they usually find spots for them. They both seem to have good power and decent Onbase Skills even their number of steals is close. So offensively they don't seem too far apart to me. Gonzalez is a slightly different bucket. Only 21 and he hasn't shown the power those two have yet. Doesn't mean it's not there. He also hasn't stolen many bases like Fedko and Rosario have. He's more of a pure hitter though. All three have a chance, but Fedko is the oldest so the least likely to get a shot. I agree Gonzalez will be added for sure so he is the most likely to debut and you are right they have too many outfielder's on the 40 man right now. not really any room to add more. It is very possible both Fedko and Rosario are not added. Still I can't shake that Fedko is almost exactly what they are looking for in a 4th outfielder. A right handed bat with some power that can play center, left and right. I mean they have the left handed version of that in Outman so maybe it doesn't matter, but Fedko looks like he might be able to handle the Bader role if he can hit MLB pitching which is no easy task. I keep coming back to do I like Fedko better than Martin? Who has really good plate discipline ,but not much power and is not that great defensively. Do I like him better than McCusker? Who has a ton of power but likely loses value defensively? It's a tough call and hard to base on such a small sample size, but the better he does at AAA the more he makes me wonder if he could be a right handed 4th outfielder solution. Maybe with Gonzalez there just is no room for Fedko. Maybe this is the best year Fedko will ever have as a pro. Hard to say. If this is who he is though he really does fit a need IMO.
  9. Dman
    Gallagher is impressive. Handling AA in his first full pro year is a good sign. He seems a fair bit like Morris. It would be nice for him to hunt a few more K's other than that what's not to like? Speaking of Morris nice to him back and pitching well. Will be interesting to see how he does the rest of the way. SWR looked really good too. I know he is not a top prospect, but Smith went 3 for 5. So far he has been making good contact. It will be interesting to see how he does as he moves up levels since contact is supposedly not his forte and the Breaking stuff gets much better High A and AA. Still nice to see him doing well and always nice to see pick 17 making some noise early. While I had written Ross off for next year I might have to change my tune. It's been the same low batting average and low slugging for Ross for pretty much a full two years at AA. While the K and Walk rates are good it hasn't been enough for him to make solid contact with the ball. Until of course the last month of the season where he carries a .994 OPS heading into today. August isn't over and he could still slump to the end, but he also might find enough momentum to see if one more year will help him get over the hump. He had a brutal July and hasn't had an OPS over .700 in any month this year until of course August. Hopefully he has figured something out, but he is on the precipice of being out of pro ball. Outman with another home run and two more K's. With his OPS rebounding in St. Paul it won't be much longer before we see him at the MLB level. I start talking about Fedko and he goes and has an 0 for 6 night with 2 K's. Hopefully he gets back on track soon. And it better be soon as Rosario is right there with him having hit 19 HR's with 25 stolen bases. Those numbers would likely be much better if he hadn't gotten off to such terrible start to the season. Fedko has the edge with the walk to K ratio and ability to play all three outfield spots, but Rosario has done well this year. He could stand to cut the K rate even more, but he is on track to be an option next year with a bit more polish. My man Jimenez with another Home Run. Seems the Twins have him trying to hit the ball harder? 2 K's and no walks though which is uncharacteristic for him. Love that .900 OPS though.
  10. Dman
    Personally I have been impressed with what he has done his entire pro career. He has been a good arm from the time he turned pro and kind of slow played given his result's IMO, It seems most any team he is on they use him as a stopper and when they run out of arms they use him as a long man too. I agree the K rate is somewhat concerning and I keep expecting him to fail as he moves up, but he hasn't had much trouble at AA this year. Morris didn't really get exposed that way until AAA so maybe that is where Paredes levels off? Hard to say. All I know is lower velocity fastballs and pitch to contact generally doesn't work very well at the MLB level. He will need to find an out pitch at some point. Personally I have been impressed with what he has done his entire pro career. He has been a good arm from the time he turned pro and kind of slow played given his result's IMO, I hope he finds his way to MLB as he has worked hard and gotten good results to this point.
  11. Dman
    I have so many thoughts and scenario's in my mind about this I could write a small book. The true blind fan in me would like see the Twins just hang onto the starting pitching they have and find a way to extend Jeffers. Add some decent bullpen arms and try to find at least one more hitter to lengthen the lineup. I think that could be a decent playoff caliber type team if most everyone stays healthy. They'd have great starting pitching and a ton of young options ready to come up and fill spots. The weakness would still be the lineup unless Gonzalez or the perpetually injured Rodriguez were good out of the gates which seems unlikely. The questions I have before blindly keeping this team pretty much in tact for 2026. Is there any possibility they can extend Ryan with 2 extra years and maybe an option with buyout for a third? Given what hitters say about his unique rising fastball being really hard to square up it would be nice to have him four more years.. He is a unicorn arm and likely all star pitcher every team needs in the playoffs. Anything can happen to an arm but just given his unique arm slot I think he will be one of those arms that ages better than most, but who knows. He has had trouble staying healthy for full seasons. If you can't extend Ryan and don't see the team "truly" competing next year then you better get All Star caliber talent back. Don't go pennies on the dollar as we can keep him and still get a comp pick in the end.. The deal they make better be really, really good. We traded a MLB player and batting champ for Pablo. They better get something good for Ryan if they decide to trade him. If they really want to save money to spend on another quality bat then trading Pablo makes sense as it clears 20M from Payroll which they could reallocate to the offense which needs another big bat in the lineup. It wouldn't hurt if said player could actually play plus defense either. I mean they have pretty much pitched without Lopez all year and while the results haven't always been great I think with all the young arms they have coming up they can fill that spot better than they can fill their offensive holes. I would prefer they hang onto him as he is a playoff caliber starter and when he is on a really, really good arm. Again if they do decide to trade him it needs to be an overpay. He too can get them a comp pick just by hanging onto him. He is cost controlled and 20M for a pitcher of his caliber is a deal that is hard to come by these days on the open market. I guess bottom line for me is I would keep the starting pithing for next year. If the team sucks yet again there still would be the deadline to hash this out again. If they can't extend Ryan I understand looking at overpay deals. but it must be an overpay to move him IMO. Extend Jeffers. Even though he isn't a great defensive catcher he is one of the better offensive catchers out there. We can't afford to take even just competent bats from the lineup. I could on go and on but will stop here.
  12. Dman
    I just don't see re-location as a serious thing. Granted the Twins are on the bottom end of payroll, but certainly no different than 8 to 10 other teams and they have been at the top end of those teams in spending recently. I think the Twins just made a solid business decision. they got more money per share from the minority owners so why not do that deal? The team is only going to increase in value not decrease. Once the new CBA is settled it will be a better time to sell the team. I think this is more about waiting for a better windfall than anything else. Like most Twins moves the Pohlad;s want an overpay to move on the from team. They didn't feel they were getting that so here we are. I don't think that means any nefarious plans to move the team are in play. Could it happen? Sure anything can happen. The odds seem pretty low to me though.
  13. Dman
    Great game by Langenburg. He'd been pitching better the last month or so. Looks like he might have found the stuff to move up a level next year. Hope he keeps this up. I guess I have to get off my Outman sucks campaign. He's been relatively who he has been at AAA, anyway, after a brutal start. With Stewart now on the injured list I guess the Twins knew better about moving on from him. Hopefully Outman keeps the contact coming and eventually can translate it to MLB. MaCleod with the much better line than Rojas tonight. I know Rojas has some nasty stuff but it seems Like MaCleod understands how to pitch better. We could have us some lefty competition with MaCleod, Rojas and Prielipp. Hill is further away, but another exciting lefty arm.. Always nice to see lefty arms doing well. I know small sample sizes give erroneous long term info but has anyone else noticed Jimenez has more walks (12) and strikeout's (9) and a .500 OBP? It's a few less plate attempts but his OPS is higher than Houston's as well and the kid is only 19 and this is first taste of A ball. Nice to have some young catchers to get excited about. Lot's of bats slumping. Hopefully they get back on track soon.
  14. Dman
    Totally agree! I would add that they are on the 40 man taking up valuable spots so finding out if they will work out in the pen ideally happens quickly. I don't have a ton of faith in either arm and 40 man spots are valuable. They both have interesting stuff though and have been pretty good starters all the way to AAA. I hope they can make it as pen arms it's tough to make it at the MLB level though.
  15. Dman
    True position players are rarely taken in Rule V and generally if taken would be younger. I'm just thinking that the Twins did protect Severino when he led his league in HR's that year and he didn't even have much defensive value, but he was younger. Fedko does have good 4th outfielder tools. It would be a toss up, but to your point rare that older position players get taken. Yeah I like GG for one of the corners as well.
  16. Dman
    Probably for the same reason they are playing the 29 year old Kody Clemens at the MLB level right now. Fedko is a right handed bat which they don't have many of that plays better defense than Wallner or Larnach. He can play center as well and has stolen 30 bases this year and he is younger than Outman with a much better K to BB ratio than Outman. I'd say lot's of reasons.
  17. Dman
    No walks for Bohorquez is huge. Nice to see him trusting his pitches in the zone. This is what I was expecting to see more from him this year. It took a bit longer to get there than I expected, but I'm still a believer that he can be a difference making arm. Fedko keeps this up and he going to force the Twins to add him to the 40 man. All the numbers are solid and he's been good all year. He's the athletic outfielder with some speed they have been looking for. Add in the power he is showing and it seems hard to ignore his potential.
  18. Dman
    I think that's true to some extent, but if you are a pitcher 24 or older I'd be more interested in getting my service time started than holding out to be a starter. You need to get through three non- arb years and then three more arb years before you can make the big, big bucks. I'd do whatever I can to get my service time started. There would always be a chance you could go back to starting if good enough out of the pen. We've seen more guys able to do that recently.
  19. Dman
    There is a bigger discussion that revolves around 40 man decisions as the Twins are about to have a ton of young arms (potentially 13) entrenched there in: David Festa Zebby Mathews Taj Bradley Mick Abel Kendry Rojas Connor Prielipp Andrew Morris CJ Culpepper Marco Raya Travis Adams Pierson Ohl Christian McCloud John Klein (Did not include Lewis because I think he can make it through Rule V without being taken) They can't use all those arms as starters. Someone needs to move over to the pen and if all those arms are added to the 40 man they need to be able to use some of them at the MLB level. They can't have too many of those arms stuck at the minor league level as they won't have room to add many veteran arms in the offseason. I still think Matthews should have more time as a starter. He had 10 K's last night and 3 earned runs through almost 6 innings to the bombers which isn't horrible by any stretch. He looks more like a mid rotation piece than pen arm to me. I have Matthews, Bradley, Abel and Rojas as potential starters. With Festa having shoulder issues and unable to barely go four innings he seems like the best bet to replace Varland IMO. Adams and Ohl are already likely pen arms that can be long men when needed. Morris, Prielipp and Klein are bubble starters for me. they could go either way. Raya, Culpepper and MaCleod I see as relievers. I agree with those that say this likely won't be seamless as it took Sands quite a while to get there and other arms never quite made it in Henriquez, Alcala, Winder, Moran etc. There is no guarantee all these arms work out even in the pen. This doesn't even include the likely possibility that the Twins trade one or more starting pitchers in the offseason. There is a lot to decipher in a short time frame as they need to decide how many of these arms they should keep on the 40 man and then who can best be moved to the pen and get up to speed quickly.
  20. Dman
    If Miller wasn't going to stick at short then Yeah I like Tait better. Also watching Tait more he has a pretty swing and with his exit velocities he should do some damage with the bat. I don't know if he sticks behind the plate or not, but if he does then just getting him alone would make this a good trade for the Twins. Getting Abel too would be a steal. Long way to go though so won't know on Tait for a while. I am curious as to what Seattle had to offer. I wonder if they didn't want to include Ford? It would seem that would have been a must for the Twins. I would have done Ford and Sloan or Farmello even though they are further away. Sloan would have looked good with Soto, Hill, Bohorquez and Barr coming up. That would have been a nice wave of young arms coming up together. If not Sloan then Farmello might be an answer for center field near the end of Buxton's contract. He could also stick in left or right if he moved early. I have to assume the Twins liked a near ready starter in Abel with a young bat that had elite bat speed and a strong arm for the catcher position. If they plan on Moving one of Pablo or Ryan that might have made more sense to have a near term starter whose close to ready. There definitely must have been some tension because it was reported that Philly backed of doing a Duran deal in favor of trying to get Jax. Not sure if that was Seattle upping their offer or Twins playing hardball, but it didn't look easy to get their two top 100 prospects for Duran.
  21. Dman
    Happy to see Hill get promoted. Will be good for him to see what kind of hitters he will face next year. Couldn't have really asked for much more from an 18 year old arm in his first year of pro ball. Culpepper and Jenkins are doing special things. Haven't been this excited about our young talent since the Buxton, Sano days. Hopefully both of those guys can handle things when they get to the MLB level. Some talented hitters would take this team a long way.
  22. Dman
    I don't disagree, but I wasn't really thinking of him as a "true" utility player. More like Mookie in that he could play any position the team needs him to play. Granted up the middle positions are the most important, but if guys get hurt he might be a better option somewhere else and he has the skills to help your team that way. It's a rare skillset IMO and makes him more valuable than a player that can only really play one position well.
  23. Dman
    Yeah I agree with this article. I don't see Correa as any kind of villain. A lot of it has been tough injury luck which seemed to exacerbate a defensive decline. I still think he could be an .800 OPS bat or close to it and play decent defense at third. I mean that's why Houston wanted him back. He's still a good player just not 33M per year good and that's why Houston made Minnesota pay that down. I know Correa is going to be solid player and yet I am fine moving on as well. It's not like both sides weren't trying to make things work, but it just didn't seem like things have been working that well. He was an absolute rally killer earlier in the year and he was supposed to be the guy who lifted this team. Honestly he really looked old and slow this year. The only potential value left would have been his bat which was starting to come around just before the deadline. We have Royce at third, Correa admitted short wasn't his best spot anymore so likely Culpepper there eventually. Second looks like Keaschall. there wasn't really gonna be a good spot for him in the future. If anything his body failed him in his time here more often than not. I think him being home will help him a lot. He has a good history in Houston, lot's of support. I just think he is going to perform better there. I wanted him here badly, but in the end it just didn't seem like the fit worked as well as hoped. I wish him the best and I'm sure he wishes the same for Minnesota. Sometimes things don't work out the way we think they should. I think that is what happened.
  24. Dman
    I guess if you don't see him fulfilling his potential a trade would make sense, but the Twins are and have been starved for actual athletes in the field with above average traits that letting one of the few they have go doesn't make much sense to me. A 60 runner with 60 power that can play multiple positions. I'm not trading that away, but that's just one guy's opinion. You look at Clemens and his .220 batting average and near .800 OPS and if Winokur's could do that with plus defense at any outfield position, plus the ability to play any infield position and that could be a star player right there. He would be a very rare player to be able to do all of that. Would be hard to trade that away.
  25. Dman
    Yeah if Winokur can finish the year strong he can make a believer out of me. .840 to .850 OPS's for a 20 year old at high A would be really, really good. AA would be a good strong challenge for him next year. I know some don't love him at short, but I think he is fine. I don't see him as an elite defender there, but certainly someone who can solidly play the position. I don't mind him splitting time there as it would allow him to fill a Willie Castro type role with the Twins if needed. Still as things stand he will have more value in the outfield going forward. I agree that lot's of bats struggle in the cold weather to start the season. Hard to concentrate when cold and hard to feel loose in the cold. Still a sub .600 OPS is pretty bad. I give him a pass as it was the start of a new level for him as well. If he has even an league average or slightly below bat I don't think you trade a guy like this. If he can hit just .250 with his power he could be a 5 tool player. You don't trade guys like that. If he can't hit he won't make it so it's boom or bust IMO. Right now it looks like boom but there is a ways to go. AA is hard on hitters and AAA even harder. Then the toughest jump of all MLB. He's been young for the level every year and adjusted in the second half so far. If he keeps doing that Twins scouts are going to look really, really good for finding him late in the draft.
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