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Taildragger8791

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Everything posted by Taildragger8791

  1. Taildragger8791
    The coincidence is that those guys were all signed early to team-friendly deals before they fully proved themselves, thus discounting for the risk that they weren't going to blossom into above average players. They all understood that they were better off grabbing the bag now while there was still the 'potential' label on them. Turns out that flawed players in their mid-20s often remain flawed into their late 20's and beyond.
  2. Taildragger8791
    Looking forward to it. Especially if it reduces the ridiculous pop-ups on mobile...
  3. Taildragger8791
    Kiriloff had another one driven to the wall in center the day before. I have faith he’ll start getting them to drop in.
  4. Taildragger8791
    I’m not convinced the window is even open. Too many hitters built a reputation off a juiced ball, and now without it half the lineup looks very pedestrian. Buxton, Arraez, Cruz, and Donaldson are the only really positive hitters. And most of those guys are injury risks. Everyone else is league average or replacement-level at the plate. Polanco is looking toast ever since he and the ball were both de-juiced. Rotation is competitive, which is a nice development from years past. But Maeda might be struggling to prove last year was legit and Berrios has never quite proven he can be a stopper or bury a good team being going 6-7 strong. The bullpen is a mishmash of failed starters and junk ballers that are good enough for regular season matchups but get exposed in the playoffs.
  5. Taildragger8791
    Difference here being that Wes Anderson wants a certain profile & quality of pitches thrown for strikes.
  6. Taildragger8791
    I wonder if this is due to the pitcher trying to throw to a side to get a ball hit that way, and missing their spots. Add to that the hitters not wanting to swing towards the shift and you've got a recipe for more balls.
  7. Taildragger8791
    I hope Donaldson has a little more time in the field than that, otherwise we're going to have a logjam between him, Sano, and Rooker. And maybe add Kirilloff to that mix depending on how his outfield defense looks in the big leagues. I assume they've had him cross-training at 1B for a reason...
  8. Taildragger8791
    Good luck signing Berrios to an extension after yanking him 75 pitches into a solid playoff performance. Both games could have been saved if the starter was allowed to go another inning and we didn't have to dig deeper into the bullpen in the 9th...
  9. Taildragger8791
    This is getting embarrassing. And for a pitching staff that all year had success on the philosophy of “just throw your best pitch”, how does Romo throw his worst pitch in that situation? Walking in the go ahead run should never happen. Make them put it in play and take your chances!
  10. Taildragger8791
    Where do we keep getting the idea that early season games don't matter as much as summer and late season games? If the Twins drop 5-6 extra games the first two months while trying out a smattering of borderline MLB-ready pitchers and rehab projects, well that could be the difference between a comfortable division title win and a dogfight to make the playoffs. And there is no room for error if Berrios/Odorizzi are anything less than their best. We know Berrios can be an impact pitcher but he can also go in the tank for long stretches. Did we not learn anything about the importance of starting pitching from the latest playoff embarrassment? Anyone who thinks they'll trade for a #3 or better starter mid-season is crazy. Every year people think the price will be more palatable next time (whether offseason or trade deadline or waiver wire) and when the time comes it's still always too rich for our blood.
  11. Taildragger8791
    The shine of 101 wins has tarnished a bit when we saw how helpless the Twins' pitching (and even their vaunted offense) was against a quality opponent. A very good offense and decent pitching can go a long ways in the regular season, especially in this tanking era and this division, but that doesn't mean you're a true contender. There were six 96+ win teams and three 100+ win teams last year, which (like the juiced baseballs) is way out of the norm and means we have to look at 2019 records/statistics with a little different context. That said, I think the Twins are still on the upswing and will at least be relevant and watchable for the foreseeable future. Yet I wouldn't blame anyone for doubting their contender status until they've proven they can: Develop/acquire enough playoff-caliber pitching (including the bullpen)Clean up the defense and add depth at key defensive positions so it doesn't look like a clown show out thereMaintain a top 5-6 offense as key players leave (Cron, Schoop, Cruz, Rosario?, Sano?, Buxton?The above is mostly banking on prospects stepping up and fulfilling their promise, which is always a gamble. At least the team is interesting enough now to hopefully enjoy watching it play out.
  12. Taildragger8791
    I like this idea and agree it seems like a fun project. It's always interesting to follow the threads on how players came into the organization. In regards to players acquired via trades or compensation picks you can probably go back even further to connect the dots to where the player that was let go originally came from. We'd probably be surprised how far those threads really go.
  13. Taildragger8791
    Not sure why you'd group IFA with MLB FA. Everyone goes after IFA because the money pot is heavily constrained. That's the perfect place for bargain shoppers to hit the lotto on cost-controlled players. Even on the MLB FA you're stretching the term "impact" quite a bit. Castro and Gonzalez play adequate defense at defensive-oriented positions without being a total black hole on offense. That's about it. Pineda was a reclamation project that they had to pay up front for a year of rehab before getting a good-not-great partial-season out of him. It's good they resigned him because they need solid mid-rotation starters but he's a 4+ ERA pitcher year-in and year-out. These guys are good for plugging holes and raising the floor but they don't raise the ceiling for the team's competitive level that much. The floor is pretty solid these days but they really need to raise that ceiling if they want to avoid getting swept in the playoffs every year. Cruz is absolutely an impact player and I'm stoked they got him on a 2-year team-friendly deal. I have to believe age and positional (in)flexibility is the only reason the Twins had a shot at him, but I'll take it.
  14. Taildragger8791
    I thought he only had a year of arbitration left, my mistake. I wouldn't drop him just to count on a prospect to replace him, since I think pretty much all prospects are suspects until they prove otherwise in the majors. If they find a stopgap free agent for a year or two that would be ideal. Use his $5-$6 million he'll get in arbitration towards a hitter that provides a steady presence in the heart of the order rather than his swing-from-the-heels-on-a-ball-thrown-at-his-eyes boom/bust style.
  15. Taildragger8791
    I don't expect to get a haul for Rosario, but I don't want to extend him either. This lineup could use some steadier bats/defense to compliment the boom/bust, so rather than let him walk I'd rather get something and at the same time see if they can replace one of their most volatile & impatient hitters. I like Rosario and his aggressiveness, he's definitely a gamer and gets big hits, but there just isn't enough upside in his bat at his position to accept the boom/bust outcomes.
  16. Taildragger8791
    This seems crazy to me after we saw how poorly the bullpen strategy worked in the playoffs without a few starting pitchers that can at least get you 4-5 quality innings. You end up so far behind you don't even get a chance to throw your top relievers out there before the game is out of hand. Even the best bullpen can't cover 7 innings per night.
  17. Taildragger8791
    Pretty much spot on what I expect as well. I like Rosario but I think this team would be better off getting some pitching for him and finding a replacement with better plate control and ideally better defensive chops. They also need to make sure they have a quality backup CFer for when Buxton unnecessarily gets hurts running through a wall in a July game. The clown show they put on in the outfield in the ALDS exposed the suspect pitching that much more. This shouldn't be that hard and at this point it would be negligent not to plan for it. Sano came a long ways this year but hopefully he spends all offseason working on handling high velocity and pitches up in the zone, as well as laying off those low/outside balls. Improve on that stuff a little and he'd be an absolute monster, but as it is his achilles heel was exploited by the postseason high octane pitching.
  18. Taildragger8791
    The home runs and big offensive displays were fun this year, and the players are certainly likeable. But we all knew this pitching staff was threadbare and too much of the team got by and smoke and mirrors and matchups. Unfortunately those favorable matchups disappear in the playoffs and now it’s just an embarrassing massacre. They need to replace 2/3 of the pitching next year get an adequate backup for Buxton.
  19. Taildragger8791
    Has anyone laid eyes on Keoni Cavaco to see what he’s struggling with? I don’t get too excited one way or the other with GCL results, especially with a first year kid, but a .470 OPS is still a little surprising. I’d expect to see the raw talent flash at least a little.
  20. Taildragger8791
    The hitting displays are fun when things are going but even in this super ball era you still can’t out-hit mediocre pitching. If they limp into the playoffs as-is they’d get absolutely embarrassed with their one-dimensional sideshow. At least the long ball still sells tickets.
  21. Taildragger8791
    Any word on what in particular Cavaco is struggling with? He’s off to a particularly rough start in his first year. My (usually fuzzy) memory was that these top prospects usually at least hold their own in the GCL on raw talent alone.
  22. Taildragger8791
    While Gibson has been around league average, his performance doesn't translate to being a #3 for a strong contender which is what we should be talking about. That translates to being a #3 on a likely non-playoff team. If he's our #4 or #5 starter I'm good with that because he can eat innings and put together some really good stretches at times, but his downside is off-putting to me for a playoff rotation. Just too many baserunners and stressful innings for my comfort level.
  23. Taildragger8791
    He has 11 RBI on those 9 HRs because good pitchers are more careful to stay out of his happy zone with runners on base. I'm not convinced solo home runs add enough value to offset the tradeoff it took to get them.
  24. Taildragger8791
    Methinks the results are starting to catch up to the process...
  25. Taildragger8791
    I'm curious what impact shifting has on defensive metrics like that. Regularly playing Sano in the hole or on the other side of 2nd base isn't really a fair assessment of how he performs as a 3rd basemen. But then again if that's the direction the game is going maybe the skills required for 3rd basemen are changing also, pushing guys like Sano across the diamond or elsewhere.
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