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Major League Ready

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Everything posted by Major League Ready

  1. Major League Ready
    Happy to see Valimont bounce back. I am going to watch his portion of that game before the Twins game tonight. Really curious about him.
  2. Major League Ready
    There is no denying you are correct that this information was widely reported. However, those who want to insist the Twins could have signed player XYZ absolutely and completely ignore this type of information. Here is another fact, there has been exactly two instances in the past 25 years a top free agent SP signed a 5 plus year deal with a team producing equal or less revenue than the Twins. Mike Hampton with Colorado was the first. Of course, that deal was one of the biggest busts in the history of free agents. The other was Grienke to Arizona which requires two asterisks. Arizona had just signed a billion dollar TV deal and they did not win with Grienke. The closest example of a success story was Scherzer to Washington. The Nationals generate enough incremental over the Twins to pay for Scherzer but they are close enough to at least make it plausible. The point here is when someone insists with such reverence we should have signed Wheeler / Darvish or any other top free agent SP they MUST ignore a great deal of fact, history, and common sense to insist with such conviction that we just needed to make a competitive offer. The common sense being history and the fact that their are numerous teams with significant revenue advantage over the Twins. Who should we expect to win a bid when one of the people (teams) have significantly more money? Does a person of average income drive the same car or live in the same house as someone making 50% more?
  3. Major League Ready
    Fair enough. I stand corrected.
  4. Major League Ready
    A lot of people complained that these trades would not help us for 4-5 years. Are we going to also complain we are getting guys that can help almost immediately because they require a 40 man spot?
  5. Major League Ready
    We have no idea if they are insisting on a club friendly deal. You are insisting that Berrios will accept an offer that is reasonable at this point. He may not be willing to accept an offer unless it is so outrageous that Berrios and his agent are confident no other team will match it. If this is the case, why would they sign him now? That would be the height of incompetence. For one thing, he could blow out his arm next season. It happens. Why take the risk if you have to make an offer so high no other team would match? Why not let the process playout and probably get him for less than would it would take today. In the meanwhile, take the prospects? It sounds like they are willing to pay Buxton as long as he actually plays. This seems very prudent. Do you really want them committing a huge guarantee to a guy that has a very consistent track record of playing in less than 100 games? He is a great player but paying full market value for 80 games a year is a very bad investment and one that could really hurt this team for several years.
  6. Major League Ready
    Here is how I see it. They tried like hell to get Wheeler. He wanted to play on the east coast. They tried to get a couple others to no avail. That’s how it goes when you are competing against teams in cities more attractive to players, especially when those cities have far more revenue. So, they signed Donaldson as the best alternative. We would have better with Wheeler. Would we be contending this year. Of course not. So was signing Donaldson one of our primary problems? Was it reasonable to assume Donaldson at 3B and Sano at 1B would improve the team? No doubt. Is the problem in this equation that they signed Sano or that Sano is performing very poorly? It’s really simplistic to point to spending as the problem. Where does the Donaldson signing rank in terms of the problems with this team? Very low. The premise seems to be we can’t supplement our core. Call me crazy but I don’t look at the performing player and see the primary problem. I would look at the core and determine if I actually had a core that could contend and if not why. What caused the poor performance this year? Is it how payroll was allocated? Here is my top ten more relevant problems. There are a number of reasons far more We have not developed starting pitching How have we done developing BP arms? Does Buxton’s inability to stay on the field pose a problem? Injuries other than Buxton. How is Sano working out? Is Kepler as good as we hoped? How did Rosario perform in 2019/2020? Was he a difference maker? Did the Jay / Stewart / Gordon / Bard picks contribute to our ability to build a contender? Polanco is not a SS and Lewis development has been derailed by injury. JA Happ / Colome signings. The loss of 2020 really hurt our ability to augment the rotation and BP so blame that on the pandemic. We are not going to find out if this regime can develop pitching until Balazovic / Winder / Canterino / ETC get a shot at the MLB level. BTW … The player value is one of the most ill-conceived concepts in baseball. How can player value be the same for all teams when the bottom revenue teams have literally three times the revenue? These teams can’t possibly view value propositions in the same way. I was on the fence where the Donaldson signing was concerned because of his age but I can't possibly look at this team and conclude the problem is/was even remotely due to spending on Donaldson.
  7. Major League Ready
    I believe the budget was $545M and it came in at $555M to build Target Field. Target Field Construction
  8. Major League Ready
    If the Astros can stay good after letting Cole go and the Rays can stay good after trading Snell and letting Morton go in free agency, I think the Twins can find a replacement for Berrios. Of course, the astros also lost Verlander to injury. It is probable that losing Berrios for 22 will hurt the team for one year. Of course, it is possible they sign someone else from a deep FA pool next year. On the other hand, not trading him will probably hurt the team for the 6-10 years after 2022. So, I guess it just depends on how inclined the FO is to bet on contending in 2022. I am betting they realize the odds of getting 3 more starters and completely revamping the BP is not a good bet. Of course, they also need Buxton to stay healthy and replace Cruz's production and get a SS. Not a bet I would make. I would bet that I can get some good pitching prospects for Berrios and Kepler. Then, I would spend the next year and a half developing those guys and the plethora of current prospects at the MLB level. Some starters and some converted to RPs. Put another year experience under Kirilloff/Larnach. Get Miranda up by mid-2022 and Lewis and/or Javier by the start of 2023. I burn a year in 2022 when we are not going to truly contend but we look good for several years post 2022. Plus, if we develop a couple starters and a couple BP arms internally, we would have a considerable amount of money to sign a Berrios equivalent or better. Now you have a far better team for several years than you would holding on to the status quo and betting on everything turning around in 2022.
  9. Major League Ready
    I thought the same thing but not exactly a class move telling his team he is coming back if it's a negotiating tactic.
  10. Major League Ready
    That would great if they can get it but I doubt it. I would hope they would take a reasonable trade and free up the dollars. Kirilloff looks good at 1B and we could play Garver some at 1B. Invest the money in pitching. They know this so if we are so fortunate as to have buyers for him this off-season, let's hope they move him. The only thing that could change this a little is if Kepler is moved. I could see a trade of Kepler to NY happening. They have a bunch of pitching prospects and we have OF depth.
  11. Major League Ready
    How is this a strawman? . I am not being coy. I am wondering what's you point. Throwing strawman out there is a good way of saying nothing when you don't like the message. Are you saying the fact these teams did not win is irrelevant. Did KC or Baltimore have an ace I am not aware of? Is it or is it not true SanDiego has averaged under $80M for the past 15 years? Are you saying small market teams can be successful building a rotation via signing elite free agents. What are you saying? I would love to see hard evidence (examples) instead of "strawman". That's a copout.
  12. Major League Ready
    The trade(s) of Pineda and hopefully Happ will make plenty of room for Winder to be promoted and Balazovic can take his place in AAA.
  13. Major League Ready
    You have picked a couple rather extreme anomalies. You have established a team could payout these amounts. You can also personally spend more than you make in a given year. It does not make it a sustainable way to succeed. You also omitted a crucial piece of information. How did Baltimore and Kansas City do those years with record payrolls? KC was 80-82 and Baltimore was 75-87 good for last place. You also failed to mention that the Padres averaged under $72M a year for the last 15 years and spent over $100M twice. $110M in 2015 and $104M in 2019. I think they banked enough cash to go wild for a year. Also, the Padres team is what it is as a result of great drafting and development, including the trades they were able to make as a result of an extremely deep prospect pool. So, the Padres are much more of an example of what you arguing against than for. I guess we could add that KC did not have a true Ace when they won the WS. We could add that Baltimore did not have a true ace either during their run. They had a rotation of 2s and 3s. We could also look at how much other small market teams that DO RATE amongst the lowest team ERA and see how they are doing it. Tampa Bays top paid SP is $6.5M. They traded away a Cy Young pitcher and let their top SP in terms of WAR walk in free agency. Oakland's top paid SP is paid $6M. They do have a RP they are paying $11M but he has not completed an inning this year. Their top two SPs (WAR) they got by trading away an established player for a prospect. Their 3rd SP in terms of WAR they got for "cash considerations". Even the Dodgers with all their revenue ... How did they acquire their 3 top SPs, They drafted and developed them. I guess the point is your evidence of the need to spend big to get an ace (or win) is full of holes. You went looking for examples of spending instead of looking for examples of winning.
  14. Major League Ready
    Pretty reasonable synopsis. I have run the numbers. It's possible to put together the team you elude too above IF Sano and Donaldson's are moved at close to 100%. This is the part I don't think is realistic. It would take $185M with them on the payroll and that's not happening. I am using $13M in the BP and $22.5M to add the caliber SP we would probably need to contend as well as 22.5M for a SS. That won't come close to getting one of the very top guys but it did not want to get carried away with the amounts. I would like to see them trade Donaldson this year and eat most of this year's salary and 35-40% next year with the new team picking up full salary in 2023. That would make it feasible to move him. Would the Met's be more interested if trading for him did not put them over the LT threshold? Probably given the escalators and the likelihood they are over next year. Sano is a different story. The only way he could be moved at full salary is if he catches fire the rest of the season.
  15. Major League Ready
    Looks like posturing to me. He is telling fans they want to compete and other teams it's going to take a lot to get one of our impact assets. I guess that's the way the game is played.
  16. Major League Ready
    I would sure hope he understood this several weeks ago. Frankly, I would be more concerned if he is not properly motivated by pride and competition regardless of fear of being replaced. There have been question marks regarding make-up since he was in the minor leagues. Just not they guy that should be extended, IMO. However, I have to admit that I was impressed at how much his approach improved in 2019 and the results that came with it.
  17. Major League Ready
    Could be that he is using this play to get the best possible offer from the Twins? We shall see.
  18. Major League Ready
    Seems likely. I have been hoping Sano would break out of this slump for the last month so that there would at least be a chance he could get traded. I never understand extending him but here were are. What are the new waiver rules? Can a team claim him and use him on a playoff roster? At this point I am just hoping to see some pitching prospects can a chance. It would sure boost my confidence in turning this team around if some of our pitching prospects showed well the rest of the year.
  19. Major League Ready
    Rooker and Ober have done quite well in Milb. Gordon's Milb performance was poor in the early years but he was decent in 2019 and looked much improved this year. He has also looked the part at the MLB level. They are all pretty much perfect examples of players who's role or lack tgereof need to be defined. Sounds to me like you just want to go on with the status quo instead of investing in the future. That's your prerogative. I am interested in finding solutions to building a better team. Apparently, so is Nick. My only quibble is that I share Mike's position that the most important question they answer is related to evaluating prospects that can contribute to starting pitching in 2022.
  20. Major League Ready
    None of them had had a significant opportunity to do so. Thus, Nicks suggestion this would be good to test during this period that does not matter in the standings. Makes perfect sense to me. Just writing them off because they are not top prospects is really foolish. Have we not learned anything from TB or the multitude of players that have taken off when given an opportunity?
  21. Major League Ready
    If the reported base amount ($70M) is remotely correct, it's probably a 5 year incentive heavy deal, it's definitely not a 1 year deal. Why would he sign a 1 year extension. He would be much better off to hope he can stay relatively healthy next season and get a nice offer elsewhere. It will be interesting to see if this comes to fruition. He is an elite player and our W/L with and without him can't be denied. We also have nothing in the pipeline that could come anywhere near replacing him unless Lewis were to end up in CF. Not exactly sure how next year gets pieced together but after 2022, I hope for an infield of Kirilloff/Polanco/Lewis/Miranda and an outfield of Kepler/Buxton Larnach for a few years.
  22. Major League Ready
    I watched the game and his fastball looks to grade 55 maybe 60. He was 94-96 as you mentioned but it is quite straight. However, he was quite dominate with it so maybe it plays up more than I think from first impressions. A better change up would really make him tough. The secondary pitches looked like they need quite a bit of work, especially if there is any chance of him being a starter. However, this is the first game I watched him pitch. How has is off-speed stuff stuff been in other starts?
  23. Major League Ready
    I am not sure how you could possibly believe this is true. Donaldson and Polanco are $26M. What about Berrios /Maeda/Rodgers/Duffy/Kepler/Buxton/Sano and Garver? I come up with $93M with arbitration estimates and an assumption of first and 2nd year players getting an increase to $600K. My guess it's probably closer to $700K. They could get a very good SP and a SS. The rest would have to be filled by prospects. However, it probably would not be financially feasible to retain any of Berrios/Buxton/Rodgers after 2022. So, it would be an all-in for 22 play.
  24. Major League Ready
    Thanks for this article. I was unaware. He is the biggest difference maker we have for sure but will he ever stay healthy long enough to impose that ability? I sure as heck do NOT know. We also don't have anyone in the system that's a good replacement unless Lewis ends up in CF. I would not be disappointed if he was extended. The rumor mill should be heating up soon!
  25. Major League Ready
    The reason for poor attendance is the horrid location of the stadium. It's a nightmare getting there. Is Houston's attendance down having let Cole and Springer go to free agency? How about Boston letting Betts go? How about when they let Lester go? Did attendance go down in St. louis when they Pujlos go. Are you telling us you would rather they hold on to players we know vs developing a consistent winner?
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