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Cris E

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Everything posted by Cris E

  1. Cris E
    Tatis can't pitch. I read here that we need relievers. Otahni, now he can pitch, and the deferrals should make him affordable to the Pohlads.
  2. Cris E
    Julien came up as a batting eye guy that managed to hit in the majors until he couldn't. Last season in St Paul he finally got his act back together, but Keaschall blew past him at 2B in 2025 and he isn't enough of a defender to have use in a utility role. I hope he does well hitting in Denver, as he seemed like a decent guy who had the bad luck to lose his way during his short window of opportunity in MN. Ohl just doesn't have the velo to catch anyone's eye, and his control and stuff wasn't sharp enough to let him get away with much at the MLB level. Not sure that pitching in Colorado is going to do him any favors, but it's a weaker system so he should get opportunities.
  3. Cris E
    And of course not what I said.
  4. Cris E
    Jackson is insurance, not a major league player. He belongs in St Paul. It's a problem that he'll need to pass thru waivers, but that's the downside to how/when he was acquired. A slight misstep but if he doesn't make it guys like him and Paredes come across the wire all the time.
  5. Cris E
    Neither of these things is at all certain. Many sources are indicating that the owners know they have to fix the revenue problems among themselves and that won't get easier by locking out players. And a few people stepping up in 2026 can make a big difference in what happens this season. A .500 record might put them smack in a race in this weak division, and anything happening to Witt or Skubal will utterly tumble the DET or KC seasons.
  6. Cris E
    They need Lewis to step up, Lee to continue improving, Ober to be over his hip injury and the young pitching to mature. If the rest of the roster stands still that's enough to stay in a fight around 82 wins, and both history and direct communications from the front office indicate that the roster is not set yet.
  7. Cris E
    They went through a month of no Jeffers last summer and it was very bad. Going into a season with the same weakness would have been stupid (at least Vasquez could play defense.) This way they ease into a post-Jeffers world, they have a viable backup in case one of their catchers gets hurt, and they finally acknowledge how lucky they've been with regard to catcher injuries over the past four years. Jackson was a dumb pickup, but Eeles was never a real candidate to make this team because he's not really a SS. And there's a good chance that Jackson can make it thru waivers at the end of camp once everyone has established rosters because he's just another AAA journeyman who had a good half season at the age of 30. He was far worse in much more time the year before and chances are that's who he really is.
  8. Cris E
    Plus it sure simplifies things for writers. They can ignore what the teams say, write whatever they want, and use scary words like LIE. Occam's Razor says that management probably knows they've been incredibly lucky the past four years in how much catching they've gotten from Jeffers and Vasquez, and that the catchers behind Jeffers were unplayable last year. So maybe they want to have 160 games worth of decent talent on the 24 man roster just in case someone takes a foul tip off the thumb and we're not treated to another month of Gasper and Paredes levels of awful. Jackson may or may not play into this as it's unclear he can hit at all. His best performance in the majors was an 85 OPS+ six years ago (in 7 plate appearances.) (Oh sorry, that overlooks his 111 OPS+ last year. Consider me skeptical, especially since that was only 100 AB and he had a 26 OPS+ in 155AB the year before. 26.)
  9. Cris E
    It may seem like all this analytic data has been around forever, but a lot of the swing data is quite recent. Baseball Savant wasn't able to add it until 2024, for example. So Lee was evaluated based on results, on his baseball instincts, how he looked, and all the other things that were state of the art in 2022 when he was chosen 8th overall. He was seen as one of the top college bats in the draft, based on both batting eye and terrific bat-to-ball skills and moderate power. He was a good bet to be a doubles hitting machine that might end up moving down to 3B or 2B if his range didn't stand up. EDIT: I had some browser trouble getting this to work. Lots of guys don't even approach average, so Lee being one of one a couple dozen that qualified in his cohort is actually an achievement. He's still only got 189 games under his belt, so there's plenty of room for improvement. But if he just manages to hang around average that's OK too, it'll play until a better guy appears. Also of note, here's a link to a Driveline Baseball blog post on how to use the swing data and how it describes various types of swing. It's a fun, nerdy read with lots of math and specific player names. https://www.drivelinebaseball.com/2024/07/using-mlb-bat-tracking-data-to-better-understand-swings
  10. Cris E
    I'd love Lawler but I think for his pedigree and potential they'd want more than the scraps you suggest. That said, I'd give them a decent arm for a decent SS candidate, and I'd do it tonight.
  11. Cris E
    See!?!? See!!! They got cash from Seattle for Jhonny Pareda. With that infusion they can commence the hunt.
  12. Cris E
    They already hired Hawkins to stand around and be wise. Taylor could add a lot, but his experience is only relevant as long as he pitches well. Veteran leadership is harder for pitchers than pinch hitters and backup catchers since as soon as he says "just work the edges and it'll get better" and then gets pounded again the kids will say "yeah, that totally worked." No one will listen to some superannuated dude with a 6 ERA who can't stay out of the meaty center of the strike zone. As long as he can stay effective they'll treat him like a sage and he'll offer something that Hawkins doesn't.
  13. Cris E
    Agreed. This is a valid point, but should have been a single paragraph in a better article on something larger.
  14. Cris E
    Finding an article this dumb online indicates we've reached the stage of winter when boredom and incomplete rosters is leading to frustration and hallucinations. I recommend staying away from the Submit button until Feb 10 when Truck Day articles are due, maybe getting some exercise, and lighting a candle for Derek Falvey so that he's able to complete his work without this noise in the background.
  15. Cris E
    This isn't a morality play, the rules say if they stay on their side of the line they pay no penalty. If that motivates them to make less than ideal trades to manipulate their payroll then why not step up and help them out?
  16. Cris E
    I think 1% is high, actually. These mutual options are never exercised. If everyone is that kumbaya then they extend. Also, not sure what the hyperbole is all about. It's only this site that's running with the breathless "face saving deal". The Twins very rarely go to arbitration with their players, almost always meeting in the middle to avoid the acrimony. He may be a great player, but if he doesn't want an extension right now then you sign him to what you can and play him (or trade him, but that's another discussion.) In this org this step is only slightly removed from filling out your W2 and getting a locker assigned.
  17. Cris E
    Lessee: - Pipeline is the whole system, so it should include everyone including the 40 man guys that may or may not be moving out of the way to let the kids play. The series should be an organizational look at each position that lays out the various deep and shallow places in the landscape and which players may need to change lanes to reach the majors. - Spring training is for messing around with positional changes, not the regular season. Keaschall can run around in left field in March while Larnach spends some time in RF and 1B and Wallner gets acquainted with his new glove at the slow corner on the dirt. - Salas seems to have already moved, so are we expecting any other SS to take ten steps to their left and go to second?
  18. Cris E
    Maybe they send Walker and $20-25m and pick up $10m of breathing room (plus Larnach and whatever A arms make it right) and we can go out and play kingmaker with that massive* trading chip. * Massive = top 1B on the market. Named Christian. From Norristown, PA
  19. Cris E
    Astros are very near the luxury tax line and are quite cautious about the dollars right now. The Twins might be best served taking back some money from them, but there don't seem to be any contract dumps that jump out. Maybe someone who knows the org better could help.
  20. Cris E
    The Brewers were comfortable making that trade because they were much closer to being a complete team than these Twins, and the removal of part of their rotation was proportionally less damaging because the distance back to being a contender was so much shorter.
  21. Cris E
    “What you've just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.”
  22. Cris E
    They didn't sell the names because they need to sell some tickets after a couple really bad years. They didn't sell back to the bare studs because then you'd need to trade something to get two more front of rotation starters just like the ones they have now. They didn't sell everything because you can get to the playoffs with a fairly pedestrian team in the AL Central. If the second and third year guys improve then they can compete, and if they don't then they will not be ready to compete in 2027 either. Lewis and Lee/Culpepper and Keashcal and some young pitching needs to establish in 2026 for anything to work in under 3-4 years. But if it does work then they can certainly hang with this division. There's some bizarre notion around these parts that the only acceptable goal is a World Series, and that's just wildly untrue. It's even less true when you're a couple years away and waiting on kids to make things possible. Ownership (especially the new non-Pohlads) knows that getting into a playoff hunt is winning, that excitement is winning, and positive energy on your way to a top team is winning. Doing a bad job of winning a little bit more is bad, but they aren't blocking the kids and they aren't trading away the future for mediocre parts of a .500 team they can afford. They can't afford to win more than .500 via free agents, so raising your own top prospects must happen and they are working on it.
  23. Cris E
    Maybe KC wants an OF bat, but there's no way they work in the division, or take on any money, and especially for a marginal improvement.
  24. Cris E
    I had not heard this before. Those are going to be tough tickets to sell.
  25. Cris E
    Rogers is valuable because even if he's dog average but retains some platoon advantage it frees Funderburk to be used as a good reliever, not simply as a lefty. It's a solid move. I don't think the bullpen will be settled this year, since even the best rosters have lots of churn at the back end. But Shelton should be able to get the first six or seven arms identified by June even if the roles aren't quite set it stone. Older guys like Topa and Rogers (and Hawkins) may offer some guidance, but mostly they need to pitch to hold a spot. This is a season of tryouts and learning so they need to actively sift to select the ones that are working and remove the ones that are not.
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