gobirds

The Cardinals are in a bit of an injury bind. Tyler Lyons or John Gast would probably have received this start, but are either injured or just back from an injury (not sure). They aren't as old as Pino, but not exactly top 100 prospects. Wacha had 15 AAA starts, but only 2 Rookie league starts prior to that. 8 innings in AA out of the bullpen. But he did transition to the majors in the bullpen, same as Carlos Martinez.

I'm not a Twins fan, but this is an excellent board, so I like to waste some time here. I'm also not 100% hip to all the new stats thrown around. But aren't all of the players mentioned in this stream of threads your basic replacement level type player? Is there any difference between Fuld, Mastroianni, Wilson, Presley, Bartlett, Raley, Hermann etc.? If you lose any of these guys, can't you go pick one up for nothing?

One other factor not mentioned is the effect on the batter. When he sees a dramatic shift, does he try to hit the other way? Does this reduce his effectiveness? I would think it would reduce the power numbers if he does. I doubt there is enough data available, but you could compare OPS against the shift and against a standard defensive alignment.

Only problem with this is, the Orioles are asking for the moon for Hardy. They wanted Shelby Miller plus others from the Cardinals. They'd probably ask for Sano/Buxton and Meyer from the Twins. So really, I'd say they aren't really shopping Hardy. Wieters might be a different story, I think I read that they are reluctant to keep him due to salary demands going forward.

Are you thinking of David Ross? He started the last 2 or 3 games of the Series. The announcers said the Sox just liked the way he handled the pitchers better. I think Salty has more of a rep as an offensive catcher.

On a more frustrating note, in researching Adams, I was again disturbed to compare the Twins 09 draft "success" (Dozier, Gibson, Hermann) versus the St Louis Cardinals. Not surprisingly, they totally outclass the Twins. Not only did they hit for gold with the high picks: Shelby Miller 1st rd Joe Kelly 3rd rd They also know how to draft in the rounds where most other teams (and fans) are seemingly going through the motions: Matt Carpenter 13th rd Trevor Rosenthal 21st rd Matt Adams 23rd rd Keith Butler 24th rd There's gotta be a reason besides luck why the rich get richer. That Cardinals draft of 2009 might be the best of all time when you consider how many impact players there are (assuming they continue to produce). I think most draft classes are considered a success if you get one starter (either pitcher or position) and one backup/relief pitcher. I've never really seen a discussion of best baseball draft classes, that would be an interesting article.

It's too bad the Twins don't have a SS ready, the Cardinals could move Lance Lynn and/or Miller and still have enough starters. Miller looks like a solid #2 long-term (not knowing how much of a potential attitude problem or whatever) and Lynn can be a solid #3. Both of these guys have performed at the Major League level in the heat of a pennant race and still are cost-controlled for several years.

I'm guessing the Twins end up with none of the pitchers speculated on in this thread (with the possible exception of Narveson). Some posted the Giants wouldn't give Lincecum the $14 mil qualifying offer, but he ended up getting more than that. The prices are going to be high this off-season, and the Twins just don't seem to want to win bidding wars. Especially when it comes to long contracts for pitchers on the downside of their career. And I think this is pretty astute. Look for them to sign someone like Jake Westbrook to a one or maybe a 2 year contract. I believe the Cardinals will decline his option. He'd provide a veteran to help bridge the gap to the Twins prospects, but there will not be a bidding war for him. No one will be excited by the signing, but the Twins aren't making the playoffs next year. I'm not saying this is a great move, but it matches the Twins philosophy more than going out a signing guys from the top of the market.

I'm gonna pick a few nits here...."Quandry" should be "Quandary" and... 2. Miguel Sano is not dominating AA. Let's not talk about this as if he's tearing the cover off the ball. Is shortly followed by In short, this is a great dilemma. Again, Miguel Sano is 20 years old. And tearing the cover off the ball. I'm confused, is he actually tearing the cover off the ball, or not? As to the gist of the article, I'd make him earn his way up the ladder and wait until next year. The commenters throwing out his first 2 weeks of AA ball are then relying on a very small statistical sample at this level. Sure, he has hit well at the lower levels, but give him a chance to learn how to adjust at the AA level after the opposing coaches and pitchers have familiarized themselves with Sano's hitting tendencies.