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Taildragger8791

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Everything posted by Taildragger8791

  1. Taildragger8791
    Against a couple minor leaguers and Pedro Florimon. Impressive, but not a resume for promotion yet.
  2. Taildragger8791
    Way too early and too small of a sample. Hardly anyone is hitting yet. As long as he can play he'll mash a lot of taters and probably be top 5 in the league in strikeouts (or strikeout rate). That's just his game, and as ugly as it may be that's the way the league is going. That's also why I'd rather see him in the 4 hole than the 3 hole, but we probably don't have a better candidate for batting third.
  3. Taildragger8791
    Can they 60 day D/L him if he’s technically healthy though? I assume he can fight it and force his way to free agency. But yeah, I don’t see him bouncing back from a second long shot TOS surgery. It’s too bad but the body isn’t always willing, and there’s nothing wrong with admitting that it isn’t there anymore.
  4. Taildragger8791
    Love the signing at that price. Hopefully this means a little less Grossman in the full-time DH slot. I assume this will bump Vargas from the 25-man, and I assume this means Sano will be forced to 3B even if he's a dumpster fire over there all season. Hopefully he gets his legs back in a hurry.
  5. Taildragger8791
    Tyler Jay was a #6 overall pick and was part of that run of college relievers.
  6. Taildragger8791
    Probably because they're already shedding salary and they know Sano is only a year away from starting to demand significant raises year over year. And he'll probably be a challenge to negotiate with for a small to mid-market franchise. Especially if he values himself at a Machado/Harper/Trout/Cabrera level instead of as the two/three true outcomes DH slugger he's becoming.
  7. Taildragger8791
    Is it possible this was done to preserve his final option year? If he isn't healthy and the timing is prime to sneak someone though, that seems like a viable strategy and worthwhile risk.
  8. Taildragger8791
    Those pictures are a year or more old, and he looks considerably better in them. I'd be comfortable with him at the weight he was at last spring if he could maintain it throughout the season. I'd be interested to see a full body shot of him today, but so far all I can go off of are reports from his team and pics of his newly grown jowls (I kid).
  9. Taildragger8791
    And his hamstring injury in 2015. And the other hamstring injury in 2016. And for 2018 spring training, the 'generous carriage' his GM notes will limit his spring activity. Yes, I'm aware that's connected to the shin injury but a little dietary discipline could have mitigated that and had him ready to go sooner. Athletes in other sports don't gain significant weight due to lower body injuries, because they know that's not an option. Maybe all those injuries and recovery times were unrelated and unaffected by his conditioning/fitness, but why put yourself in a position to even wonder? You're right we don't know what his ideal weight is, because as you said every body type is different. Maybe he really will be the outlier that sustains excellence for many years at 280-300 lbs. But it's hard to bet against history, and I can't look at the pictures in this Star Tribune article and not think he's ballooned quite a bit from even previous seasons: http://www.startribune.com/twins-miguel-sano-healthy-and-happy-but-heavy/474439303/
  10. Taildragger8791
    No, he doesn't. And that's not what I said. I'm not being unreasonable and saying he needs to be 225 or get to 5% bodyfat. I just don't see how pushing 3 bills on the scale can be considered normal and sustainable just because he can still hit a baseball hard today (and probably for a few more years). I've mostly ignored this topic in the previous iterations because I didn't think it was going to be an actual problem and he'd settle into a normal playing weight to extend his time at 3B, a position he claims to want to keep. But that's not happening, so it's fair to start being concerned about another year of trending in the wrong direction. Ultimately, only time will tell.
  11. Taildragger8791
    Dwayne Johnson reported his weight at 262 last year, at an inch taller than Sano. He also lifts for show, not for go (i.e., maximum lean bulk, not athletic performance). And he's still 30 lbs lighter.
  12. Taildragger8791
    Obviously us at home don't know with certainty what his healthy baseline weight is, but there's just no way it's 290 at 6'4". 250-270 is a reasonable. He'd have to be an extreme outlier (and probably the only athlete ever) to have a lean body mass anywhere near 280-300. Also, Sano has a track record of gaining weight after spring training starts. Not losing it. He'd have to show he can reverse that trend before anyone should expect it.
  13. Taildragger8791
    Those guys played between 250-270 over the years, so still less than Sano is already sitting at by quite a bit. Papi had major foot problems as a result, and to his credit he put a ton of work in to overcome that just to play every day. He also got on a pretty strict diet in his later years to keep the weight down. Both have tried to keep their playing weight closer to 250, so even they recognize that anything much over that is excessive and wasteful.
  14. Taildragger8791
    You know full well that comparison doesn't make sense. Judge is 3" taller, looks trim, and doesn't have a track record of steadily gaining weight. He also plays the outfield decently, unlike most guys (including Sano) who would be a clown show out there at that size. Nobody is a natural 290 lbs at 6'4", even with a large muscle mass. I didn't expect Sano to be in top form after his leg injury, but gaining 30 lbs as a professional athlete just because of an injury is a little ridiculous. He usually gains weight during the season too, so I don't expect improvement in 2018. Weight control starts with the diet and he's not gaining that kinds weight from grilled chicken salads and egg whites. Just because the weight isn't a 100% definite problem yet doesn't mean the increased risk should be acceptable. He's already battled hamstring issues in 2015 and 2016 (something often caused by insufficient conditioning), and if he carried 30-40 less lbs then maybe he recovers better from his shin injury. If Sano continues to experience back or lower body injuries throughout his 20s and it limits his performance I doubt folks will still chalk it up as some unavoidable bad luck or genetics. Why wait until then to address it? Maybe this is all much ado about nothing and he whips into shape or plays fantastically at 300 lbs for the next 10 years. But the story of the overweight slugger limiting his ceiling has played out too many times before to not be at least a little bit concerned.
  15. Taildragger8791
    That’s because our slow iso-heavy ball-control offense with our talent works against a lot of teams but it can’t keep up with the explosiveness of the true contenders. Especially with our inconsistent defense and total inability to guard or shoot the 3, or slow teams in transition. Side note: Wiggins could become the worst contract in Minnesota history and his max deal hasn’t even kicked in yet. He got benched in crunch time tonight for Crawford of all people, and has been invisible on the court way too frequently. His shooting and passing is somehow getting worse. I don’t know how you salvage him but you have to find a way.
  16. Taildragger8791
  17. Taildragger8791
    At some point, no amount of offense will reliably out-hit a bad rotation. Especially once the bullpen gets overworked and dragged down too. Great pitching/defense usually beats great offense and we're going to run into that at some point. Plus, bats just inexplicably go cold at times. Even good offenses have a lot of 1-3 run games. Building that way is a great way to win a good number of regular season games but is also how the Twins got blown out by the top tier teams repeatedly last year. Two more starting-caliber pitchers will win a lot more games than 2 more starting-caliber hitters on this team.
  18. Taildragger8791
    Do the 60 days not start counting down until after opening day?
  19. Taildragger8791
    Insurance doesn't do anything if a guy is healthy but just plain stinks. And I believe it typically only pays out a negotiated percentage of the salary, not the whole thing. But yeah, at this point I don't think a 6th year should be the big sticking point as long if the AAV comes down a little bit with it. He's talented enough to be effective even if he's overpaid in those last years.
  20. Taildragger8791
    Is there any type of testing that could be done on the finger other than throwing? Imaging? Finger exercises to stress the joint?
  21. Taildragger8791
    We all agree a player has control over their body, especially with respect to surgical decisions. Typically the player doesn't have a choice because the alternative is to retire, and they want to play (or get paid). But just to play devil's advocate...what if Santana chose to sit out the year over what appears to be a minor procedure and ran into this again next spring? What if he decided to forgo surgery altogether and tried pitching with 2 fingers or his left arm until his contract ended? Maybe he's into homeopathy or has religious beliefs steering him away from surgical treatment. In both scenarios he's fully expecting to get paid to not play (or play poorly) and consume a roster spot. Do you support him then?
  22. Taildragger8791
    I feel like my comment was taken a little to the extreme, but then again it's the internet so I should expect that. My comment was part wishful thinking and part frustration venting, but I never advocated for preemptive or unnecessary surgery. Nor did I say the club should have control over a player's surgical decisions or he should be throwing full-bore sliders in Decemeber, because that would be utterly stupid. That doesn't mean we can't criticize the situation to see if it could have been handled better. My hope was that the player and team would have worked together this offseason to identify the recovery status of the injury sooner than this week. Maybe the doctor never said surgery was a possibility, or maybe there is no reasonable test to check out the finger other than full-go bullpen sessions. I would understand if that's why this played out the way it did. But if surgery was a strong possiblity and there were reasonable tests that could have been done to monitor progress then it seems like a waste to not have worked this out sooner. What are the chances that an extra month of rest for a cumulative wear/tear injury is the difference between full recovery and required surgery?
  23. Taildragger8791
    Surgery is also part of the deal when you're an athlete and are expected to manage your health to be available to perform. This isn't TJ or a shoulder/knee rebuild. It's a relatively minor procedure plus some cleanup due to wear & tear, something a lot of athletes have to do at the end of a season. If they knew there was a possibility of this happening then it would have been negligent not to have the finger tested and fixed a month or two ago. This article has a decent explanation of the procedure: https://zonecoverage.com/2018/twins/seehafer-explaining-ervin-santanas-mcp-release-procedure/
  24. Taildragger8791
    Losing the starts is a bummer that could directly lead to an additional 5-6 losses. I’m more worried about the ripple effect on the bullpen and offense, or the other starters if they choose to shorten the rotation. Those added stresses could indirectly lead to several more losses until he’s back to full strength and effectiveness.
  25. Taildragger8791
    So we're a barley a week from pitchers and catchers reporting and we're already looking at a starting rotation with only 2 definite members for the first month and change of the season. Berrios, Gibson & the offense better be clicking right out of the gate...
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