you cant just isolate Ryu + Graterol, which was your point. I'd probably have preferred Ryu, too, but these things dont happen in a vacuum. If they'd signed Ryu, Donaldson doesnt happen.
Moving from one league to another just isnt very significant. Average ERA difference between leagues is down to around 1/5 of a run. What matters is the quality of pitcher, not which league.
The "NL" vs "AL" pitching thing was never that significant, and it's gotten even smaller. There's not a lot of difference in the league average ERA's any more. It's down to around 0.2 ERA. Dunno how Maeda will do, but switching leagues isn't a big deal.
Feeling better about the rotation, but not convinced the bullpen is good enough, or deep enough, to be an asset. The everyday lineup is tough, and very deep. And there's some depth on the bench.
I will say, I never really bought into the "Twins pen is really good" theory that is accepted around here, and taking Graterol out of that mix is disappointing. I'm a big believer that a strong and deep bullpen is way more valuable than the sum of it's parts. "Just a reliever" is a little overblown, IMO. Consistently owning the final three or four innings wins a lot of games. Still...I will say this is a good trade. That it has me conflicted probably means its fair, as others have pointed out.
Further proof, along with Bailey, Hill, and Chacin that the front office isn't too enamored with trusting a rotation spot to any of Dobnak, Thorpe, or Smeltzer for anything other than emergencies. An opinion I share, for the record.
Big arm to give up, but the Twins were still in need of starting pitching. 4 years of control. I think I come down in favor of this deal. At the least, gotta give Falvine credit for courage. This is all part of the cost of not getting one of the top FA starters.
well, no, they both purport to identify the same performance, and assign the same value: "wins above replacement." batting average and on-base percentage are different things...and both are measured and reported the same no matter if you go to Fangraphs or Baseball Ref. You don't get a BA of .275 on Fangraphs and .375 on BR.
I'd frame the question as "If you do look at WAR, or DRS, or UZR, or OAA, what are you actually looking at?" There's no real reason to think any of them are accurate, and the fact they so often wildly disagree about a player seems proof of that.
Gladden: "There's a line drive down the right field line..it'll reach the seats." ... Which seats, Dan? Was that a home run or was it a foul ball? ... Gladden: "Yes."
There was never a time when throwing at someone's head was common or acceptable. By the way, by "the opposite is true," I take it to mean you believe YOUR generation is superior?