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Jham

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Everything posted by Jham

  1. Jham

    SELL!

    Jham replied to mudcat14's topic in Minnesota Twins Talk

    Wait, the kid who had played professionally since 16 years old got a late start? He's always hit. But his prospect ranking jumped when he added power to his game. it seemed this coincided south a dip in contact and ability against lefties. He's a good hitter, but I'm not sure exactly what type of hitter. I think he was another victim of the hype train. I think his value is dropping like a stone. He once could have been the corner piece of trade for a difference maker.
  2. Jham
    Isn't the pedigree a bit different? Position? Maybe it's the catching situation in the organization that's making me jumpy.
  3. Jham
    Dozier is the most extreme example of something the Twins have put up with for years: babying players in spring training. Not bussing to road games is 1 thing, allowing guys to come in throwing 5 mph under top velo, make public comments about needing 10ab to get ready, come in out of shape, overweight, and incapable of fielding, that's anther. Dozier would often spend winters with mission work. Super noble. But the team seems to put up with slow starts and does nothing to push in spring training or encourage guys to come in ready to hit the ground running.
  4. Jham
    How far does Jeffers jump at seasons end if he keeps this up?
  5. Jham
    I think most teams still view him as an all star. To me, the demotion to Ft Meyers was an extreme move. A desperate move. A make it out break it move. Now he's in the Dominican for a family situation. It reminds me a bit of when he "reported early" for spring training to shag fly balls to be ready for right field. Ruesse discovered he wasn't in Florida. He was home. Or the winter he turned down Arizona fall ball to return home. None of this is a slight on Sano, necessarily. A move could be best for all involved. I dunno. We haven't really seem him control his weight or stay healthy. If he's heavier next season... I just think it's a lot to assume at this moment that things are fine with Sano and he's still a as start who will be a perennial all star. My guess is enough teams still think that now. If his weight is 310 and not his batting average next year, that might not be the case. I guess I'm more worried than most. I specifically hope the kid is doing ok mentally.
  6. Jham
    Wait, how do you know this?
  7. Jham
    I just don't see the logic of trading for "whatever we can get". If all we're gonna get is trash or 40 man cast-offs then it doesn't really matter whether we keep or trade. This is how we end up with tons of AAA and AAAA guys we can't get away from, don't know enough about, or have to be released. I don't see how tanking or trading guys for suspect returns helps foster a winning culture, send a message about the importance of winning to young players, or give any reason to sign here as a FA or accept an extension. I don't think having a reputation of caving helps future bargaining either. Sometimes you try your best and it doesn't work out. High character means you don't quit absent a darn good reason. "Whatever we can get" isn't a good enough reason, imo. It's ok to demand a fair or even favorable offer. It's ok to play it out and let guys walk if the return isn't there.
  8. Jham
    Given the organizations frustrations with Sano and with Machado off the market, he is the guy I'd be calling on if I'm another GM. At least to see. Machado's return would be a decent bench mark I'd think.
  9. Jham
    Sometimes a Front Office must fire a manager or trade a popular player to get the team's attention and rededicate the team in a "we'll show them" sort of way.
  10. Jham
    I'm not even against signing Joe back of we are willing to A Rod or Ichiro the situation if he's bad or the team needs his spot. Mostly I just don't think Gordon is even a lateral move next year. And I don't think the market will love either Mauer or Dozier. And we'll have tons of money either way. If we get a good offer, take it. If not, who cares? There are lots of reasons to be a baseball fan that don't involve winning every single world series. Twins fans, of all fans, should understand this.
  11. Jham
    Where's he at this year?
  12. Jham
    The TD 1 through 5 midseason rankings were released. Gordon held 4th with Romero graduating. My point is actually that it seems like his trajectory and steam, if not his perceived ceiling have been lowered since his hot first half last year. I shouldn't have referenced lists, as that's not really what I meant. Sorry for the confusion. Thank you for the actual various rankings. Doesn't change my opinion (bolsters it?) that Gordon may be more valuable as a SS trade chip than an young mlb 2b on what should be a good teams.
  13. Jham
    I mean, he's fallen on most TD prospect lists. The most important and most accurate, obviously. I assume his promotion to AAA puts him higher on lists that consider proximity in their evals. Also, he can move up by attrition, that is other top prospects graduating. He's yet to establish himself as a short stop. His slugging may be limited by better fielding. He's a major league ball player. But a good one? In my mind, not likely.
  14. Jham
    I'm not saying that I'd rather have Dozier. But purely who is better at baseball? I guess insanity is too strong. "Probably" is more accurate. Dozier could be falling off the JJ Hardy Trevor Plotted cliff.
  15. Jham
    Insanity. I love Escobar. But Dozier is the better player. Come on. I'm not even the biggest BD fan. Looking at results, I'm not sure Dozier is part of any solution, his leadership mostly failed, and possibly blocked future leaders from stepping up. That said, is Gordon really or future 2B or AS? He's very young, and developed very questionable minor league power. His prospect status has taken a hit. Moving to 2B because he couldn't unseat Adrianza would only be a greater hit. Then when he struggles... There is still a chance he develops into a really good player. I'm trying to think of a player who's fallen down prospect lists then rocketed back up... Anyway, Gordon's future as near as it is, is no sure thing. He still had significant trade value, but less than last year. I'm not liking a lot of our choices at this point.
  16. Jham
    If they got hot enough to actually catch Cleveland, we'd be hot enough to make a run. Still unlikely.
  17. Jham
    In fact, the thing I find most striking in the Gifs is the chest angle of the 2 corner outfielders. Kepler's chest is pointing towards the ground. Rosie is up, Mauer is up. Interestingly, I first started watching the chest angle when I heard scouts criticizing Buxton for the same thing. Try rotating your shoulders while standing up straight vs leaning over.
  18. Jham
    https://www.twincities.com/2018/03/05/max-kepler-wont-change-his-launch-angle-just-for-homers-sake/ From March. It's concerning that he had to figure out the steep angle by himself and with help outside the organization and once he reached the majors...
  19. Jham
    I remember a thread last season, or maybe in the fangraphs thread regarding his approach and launch angle. I believe it suggested that he tended to hit a lot of really hard grounders. His steep swing means his grounders are pulled. It also means his opposite field swing produces lots of pop ups. Eye test already knew that. His steep swing plane is actually really close to Mauer's. Where Mauer seems to roll his hands over really hard and fast to stay on top of the ball to left making it really hard to elevate to the pull side. Kepler does the opposite. He finishes through the ball, which drives the ball to right and loops of the ball to left. But he has to square it up to elevate to right = no cheap homers. Think of all of Mauer's pulled HR, they're normally crush jobs. This swing would predict a low HR to fly ball rate and high velocity ground balls. I'm no swing coach. but I'd have him work off a tee. Tee it up higher than he feels comfortable, and see exactly what he does to get in top of that ball. Right now, he, like Mauer, must go down then up. Joe has the wrist speed, Kepler doesn't right now.
  20. Jham
    I think you're extrapolating too much from my statement. And I don't exactly care for the holier than thou "no one knows what kind of leader..." We've watched Dozier for 6 years and Mauer for how many? I think we can draw some pretty fair conclusions. I love Mauer, but he's never been a leader. Same with Dozier and Cuddy. Each of them did their best in that roll, but every time a stronger personality emerged they would defer. That is not a slight. A club house can't have all leaders and no followers. The FO left them in miscast roles. Mauer is better when he can be Mauer. Dozier when he can be Dozier. The part about getting theirs is what comes when you take first pitch fastball strikes down the middle when you're down in the 9th with guys on base or insist on leading off when you're hitting 42 hr and when you're cold and hitting .200. Some call that selfish, I just think that both guys have their routines and struggle when they try to do something else. If they're not comfortable leading why force it? For the record, I don't agree with punching teammates. I hope Hunter regrets hitting Morneau. You can keep guys focused without violence. Still, I've always felt that since Hunter, Santana, and Redmond left, perhaps even Nicky P, the team seemed way too comfortable losing.
  21. Jham
    Hicks needed to be traded. Remember when he'd show up to the game and not know who was pitching but expect to be in the line up despite hitting below .200? That's the cost of losing and not keeping any veterans around. Hunter would have punched him in the face. Joe Mauer and Dozier would... talk to each other and make sure they got theirs. Funny how getting traded and going to an organization like the Yankees gets the most putt of guys, and going to a losing culture...
  22. Jham
    I understand exactly what you're suggesting. I'm just saying that I don't think your argument that we should trade for prospects is particularly well supported in fact. The comp pick rule you cited doesn't even exist anymore and didn't involve trading. I'm saying that the idea that you can trade expiring contracts for legitimate pieces sounds nice but rarely works. You tend to get cast-off prospects who eat up roster flexibility. If we were hopelessly years away, with no assets, then trade away and reset the clock. Who could we trade that would bring back franchise changing prospects? Probably just Berrios who would bring a pile. Maybe Sano, Buxton, Rosario, or Kepler? But all of those guys could be part of a winner as soon as next year. If we're gonna tear down and rebuild, do it right and go get some actual prospects with all-star level ceilings. Gibby, Rodney, Esco don't do that. so what's the point? We assume that guys like Dozier and Lynn can't be resigned (not saying we should) but what has either done this year to suggest they're going to get nice deals rather than 1 year prove its? I said before the year that I wanted to give this core a year to prove they could win. We brought in tons of support, and they failed miserably. Now I want to give them 1 more season for some reason. But if not, we need to trade our most valuable players. At this point, Probably Berrios which we'd never do. Then I wonder if teams prefer Sano or Buxton or Kep or Rosario. If you're not willing to part with valuable pieces, why would you expect valuable prospects in return? And if you're not getting vale in return, then what difference does it make?
  23. Jham
    Who exactly are we talking about that was traded and netted a major contributor? The Indians are the only team you referenced who was remotely built though trade. And that is because they had a CC, Cliff Lee, and Jake Westbrook (ditto Zack Greinke) to trade (returning Brantley, Carrasco and Kluber). That's a long wait for return on investment. Shin Soo Choo returned Shaw and Trevor Bauer which is really the only players I could come up with. The As have been irrelevant for a decade. And all other 4 teams you referenced have this in common: lots of hits on high draft picks and international FA signings plus a willingness to take risks by signing big free agents and trading away prospects. Yankees don't get Gleyber Torres from the Cubs without first signing Aroldis Chapman. What players are you referring to as examples of rebuilding through fire sale? Bad teams just usually don't have much to sell.
  24. Jham
    Tuffy Tire ftw.
  25. Jham
    This is an awesome story. Thanks for sharing. There are a lot of reasons to love baseball and cheer for the Twins even when titles and pennants aren't within reach.
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