Trov

To me it is not just about if they were "wrong" in signing or trading for a player, but who else do we have to step in and are they better? You point out to some starting pitchers that they held on to for awhile, but you do not point out who would have made those starts instead if they would have cut the player earlier on, and if that player would have done any better. Without pointing me to a clear easy replacement that was available at the time, it is hard to say they had a hard time admitting they were wrong. You point out Simmons and having different options at SS, but other than putting Polanco back at SS, what was their clear option, after we had Simmons. Yes, we had options of picking someone else, but the article is after we had the player not arguing we should have signed someone else. Lewis was hurt, and the next SS on the top prospect list was Wander Javier. So it was find someone off the junk pile, move Polanco back to SS, and use Arraez at 2nd full time, but he was filling in at 3rd and 2nd already with some time in LF. So who was our clear better choice during the season for Simmons? You also address the 2021 starters we held onto, but do you forget we used 16 different guys to start games, some as an opener, but still had 16 different guys start games that year. One of them was Joe Ryan after we traded for him when we gave up on season as well. So who would have been a better option, for the 2 you wanted cut earlier than was? My point is, to say we hold onto a player too long simply because we do not cut them when they struggle does not tell the whole story. Sometimes you hold onto who you have because you do not have current better options due to injuries, lack of MLB ready prospects.

Full disclosure, I have been big on Alex Kirilloff since we drafted him. Everything I read on him was he was going to be a hitter. Defense was secondary but he was expected to be a hitter of high average, with middle of road power, but an overall great hitter. He was moving quickly through the minors as a high school drafted player, but then injuries and COVID hit. It is crazy it took until his 5th year of pro ball for his wrist to pop up, being reports are he had a bone that was longer than it should have been. I also wonder why the doctors never addressed in the first surgery. AK had wasted years for himself. All that being said, whenever he has been healthy has shown that great ability to hit. He is not a Gallo or Kepler dead pull guy, like many hitters these days are. He can pull when pitch is inside, but he will go up the middle and opposite field, with power, as well. I am not saying he is as good of hitter as Mauer, but he has a bit of his approach willing to let the ball travel, but will still be aggressive on pitches inside for power too. He is still young, and the pro sample size is still small, but when he has not had a bothered wrist he has shown great abilities. What is best is so far he claims no wrist soreness or anything holding him back. If that holds up, he may be in the running for team MVP this year because he appear to be one of very few guys that will give great at bats every game. Yes, sample size small, but he has shown in the past he can be a stud. He will get pitched differently as year goes on, lets hope he adjusts. He is still only 25 and hopefully will have many years at this level hitting in middle of line up for Twins.

I have to say one of my favorite at-bats of the game was CC's single up the middle. He was down in count and was willing to just put the ball in play to try and get a hit. He flipped his bat out at the ball and hit a slow roller up the middle. We were, if not still are, leading the league in strike outs per game. The team clearly has a general plan of always hitting the ball hard no matter the count. This may be in part because the belief that hitting the ball soft will rarely result in hits. However, never putting the ball in play and striking out has a 0% chance of getting a hit. Even if it is like 10% chance of getting hit because too soft, that is still better than 0%. I am all for looking to hit ball hard before 2 strikes, and hate watching guys do check swings or taking defensive swings before 2 strikes, but after you get there, I like to see the get bat to ball approach and do whatever you can to make contact, even weak contact.

Overall I like Jax, but watching him last night it was crazy to see so many foul balls with 2 strikes until a weak contact hit to the right spot got the job done. Yes, he got hosed on the Otani walk, should have been strike 3, as it was a better pitch than a strike 3 on Twins just inning before. Is it bad luck when you cannot strike a guy out and he keeps fouling off pitches until he gets a soft hit over the infield head? I would say that is not bad luck, but not good pitching to finish a guy off when you have 2 strikes. The triple was not hard hit, but hit in right spot and guy was ready for the pitch. The 0-2 single was just a guy wanting to not strike out and get ball in play. Twins lack people that are willing to have a soft hit to avoid a strike out, so when we see it happen we think it is just luck that a soft hit fell. I wish our offense would learn how to not try to crush pitches on 2 strike counts but try to get ball in play more often.

Picking the right pen arm of the FA is like picking the floating rubber duck at kids carnivals. They all look pretty much the same as they go around, but until you pick one you do not know what you will get. Some get injured quickly, some have good starts and fade, some start slow and get better, and some just are not worth it. Pen arms are some of the most volatile positions around. I do find it interesting that the article praises Jax for being good and attacks Pagan for being bad, but overall numbers have been better for Pagan this year than Jax. Yes, Jax has had a lot more higher leverage, but really since end of April he has been down right bad. Yes, he has been giving up weak contact hits, but eventually you need to think about fact he is not getting the outs, and say it is not just bad luck. For years people would say Rogers was getting unlucky, this article mentions it that he may be getting unlucky again this year, how long can someone be unlucky before we just say, they are not getting the outs?

This was really the point I was trying to make in my post doing a comparison to Jax. I know Pagan was terrible overall last year, but this year he has had only a couple of blow ups. Sure, we would love a full pen of closer potential arms, but that just will not happen. I would understand if we cut him, but overall we need guys to eat up an inning or two when our high leverage guys have been used.

I believe MLB will bring in the challenge system next year, or year after. They will use it for a few years before going full robo umps. The league will want to ease in the use of the robo ump, but as they get used to it, the league will get full robo. I see no reason why not to do it if you have faith in the tech. The scorecard for umps has a huge flaw to it as well, as they give the 50/50 calls basically right either way it is call, only the balls well outside or inside the zone being wrong the wrong call. I get the job is hard, but on boarder line calls it is basically a coin flip, and the up is always considered right when the ball is thrown there. To make things worse, that is generally where the pitcher is trying to throw, the edge of the zone. So if they hit their spots the ump will always have the right call in the score card, even if it is technically the wrong call according to an ABS system.

Baseball reference does not have yesterdays game log in yet. However, going into that game, Pagan numbers are not great, but not as bad as some may think. Griffin Jax has similar, if not worse numbers than Pagan, but I do not see people calling for DFA Jax. I am not saying I want Pagan pitching over Jax, but the numbers are similar. Jax had a FIP of 2.55, going into yesterday. Pagan had FIP of 2.03. Yes, he had a very bad outing yesterday, giving up a bases loaded walk, and his first HR of season, but he was out there because pen was taxed, Gray had a short start, and lets not forget we had bases loaded 0 out, and did nothing with it. The loss is not just on Pagan. If you want to be objective on numbers, maybe Jax should be looked at being sent down as well, if you want to get rid of Pagan. Guys will have bad outings, and Pagan has had more than his fair share, but he generally is being asked to fill not high leverage roll, but had to yesterday because of heavy pen use the two prior days.

If nothing else he is shown he could be used as a trade chip. Not saying they should trade him, but he is showing he may be MLB prospect again.

This is not an update on prospects we let go or traded away, but a question on what are your thoughts on having prospects we drafted that got traded, or taken in rule 5 draft or other means. One view is the one that got away view and what if we still had them and how dare the FO not know what they had. However, the other side of the coin, is look at how good they were at identifying talent in the draft or international signings. I know sometimes it may be for what was traded and if it was worth the lost future value, but what if you traded away a top prospect that tanked at MLB level, do you feel better we maxed the price or worse we tanked the pick? I am always on the fence on how I feel when I see guys we had doing well elsewhere. I know roster dynamics are more complicated that just who we let go or traded, as much more decisions go into it, like who else is in the pipe, what other replacement options do we have. Personally, if our FO is continuing to get prospects to develop, that is a plus, even if we trade them away. Unless it starts to turn where we start trading away prospects for bad returns, and starting keeping prospects that never pan out.

The main question that needs to be asked, is what vazquez gives you behind the plate, defense and game calling wise, is it worth the difference in offense? Maybe for games with Gray Jeffers should always catch, because Gray calls his own. Maybe for games where the starter relies more on the catcher to guide them along Vazquez has more to offer.

Ryan has shown he can get out lineups now. If he has 2 pitches that rate out top 50 in all of baseball that is crazy good. Yes, neither are top 10, but considering there are hundreds of pitchers that throw an average of 3 pitches per, there are thousands of pitches to grade. I am no expert on pitchers, but the fact he continues to get it done, against people saying he will eventually fall flat and get moved to pen just shows he is willing to prove everyone wrong. Am I willing to say he is our "ace" no, but every time he takes the ball I fell like we will have a chance, no matter who we are facing.

I would send him down for Farmer when Farmer is ready. There is no reason to keep putting him out there to stumble around at 3rd and not hitting any power.

I expect Miranda to get sent down, to allow him to keep getting regular at-bats. He has options. Castro would have to pass waivers, which he very while might, but in reality, he would only be holding spot until Lewis is ready to come up, baring other injuries to people.

Exciting time in the minors. E-Rod hopefully back for long stint, and Lewis making rehab run. Hopefully Lewis will be ready to get to MLB level, take over 3rd and hit the ground running as soon as he can get of the 60 day list. This will be his spring training.

If you actually look, the zone is set as to how they are when in their hitting stance, mostly. So yes, when they are standing with straight legs it looks like the top is at the belt, but when they crouch and stride, it is much closer to the actual rule book zone. The ABS system is a work in progress and MLB has stated as such. They have tinkered with it in the minors to try and get the best they can. The ABS is coming and will start with the challenge system.

I believe this will be the first the way MLB gets to "robo" umps. I like having the full system in the minor, hopefully training the umpires. I would hope they are testing their own calls with what the machine tells them. The challenge system will be next up for MLB, no way will they go full robo right away because it will be too much for fans. The challenge system will add to some things. Last I read MLB is still trying to figure out how to set the zone for the system as well.

Replace on the roster or replace in the lineup? If we are just talking about roster there are a few options. First, assuming Farmer takes Castro place, then we have really a few options for AK. The 2 easiest will be Larnach or Miranda as both could be optioned down without passing waivers or anything. If you are worried about losing others. Larnach would be the most logical as they play similar positions, AK can play OF or 1B, but Gallo could do OF if AK is at 1B. Miranda's spot can be taken by Farmer, but then in the lineup we juggle Larnach, Gallo, Kepler, and AK, with 1 always on the bench. This assumes Buck stays as DH. For those thinking DFA Salano, similar situation as Miranda, we still need to find spot in line up. In my opinion, if they plan to bench Larnach, if AK is on roster, you should just option him to AAA and let him play there. We will have other roster moves when Lewis comes of IL to worry about as well.

I agree with the possibility of sending down Miranda for a bit. He is not hitting much at all, and has been chasing some bad pitches up in zone over and over. Larnach has been struggling as well. However, the one issue with sending down Miranda is AK will still have to take a spot in the line up between Larnach, Gallo, or Kepler, assuming Buck will not move back to CF any time soon. Really, they all are left handed hitters playing similar positions in varying level of defense. One of them gets the Pine if all 4 are on the team, unless Twins try to move Gallo back to 3rd where he came up playing, but has not played there for years. If they go that route, then I would assume mostly Kepler gets to sit, depending on how he is hitting, because they will want Larnach to get regular at bats for most part. So overall, I think Larnach will get sent down if he continues to struggle and AK shows he is healthy and can play each game without issue. We can still option Miranda for Farmer when he ready, or at minimum when Lewis comes back from his IL rehab. I just do not see a point of having AK Larnach, Gallo, and Kepler all on MLB roster and all being healthy, if Buck is going to stay at DH, because one of the 4 have to sit every game. Maybe you rotate them around to help make up for that.

I have no concerns when Jax comes in. Every pitcher will have a bad outing, so even his couple do not worry me. I think our back end of pen can be very strong this year. I would prefer one more lefty to upgrade for end of pen, or to use in addition to who we have, but we have 3 strong RH options including Jax.

I bet Larnach gets optioned down when AK ready to come up. Really they are interchangeable pieces. Since Larnach still has option year left he will get sent down if he does not get on hot streak soon. He has always been a streaky hitter, but we need at least him or AK to reach what he hoped.

Speculating on what we could have got in other trades is hard to evaluate. Would Miami have made same trade for Lopez, we will never know. Would we have found some other pitcher out there available, maybe, would they have done any better, who knows. Look what happened with other trade target every one seemed to have targeted on here. Montas. He failed bad in New York and now out the year for them. Maybe we could have traded for him, and be in same situation.

I would point out CES has played 6 games, so if he goes 0-4 a couple of games he will be well below .300 he does it 3 games may be below .200. Not saying he will, but pointing a batting average after 6 games is very SSS. He also was still our like 5 ranked infield prospect, so likely we would have been looking to move him at some point. I also hear he cannot play much defense.

I wrote a forum on Rooker last week too. He is off to hot start, will it carry over and is he going to be this good all year, doubtful, but he is showing he is a MLB player, not just a AAAA. However, he would have been DFA last year and good chance someone would have picked him up.

My wife is Pirates fan, and I watched the game. First, when I heard he was called up, I said I think he was on Twins for like 2 games never got in and the big story about how long he was in minors. Rocco never felt like he could even give him 1 at bat, I was upset then about it. Pirates, a first place team, called him up for a player on bereavement. They did not get him in a game at first, and the player even came back, but they left Maggi on the roster and gave him a pinch hit appearance. Their field reporter talked to his parents and his dad was basically crying after the at-bat. The ump even understood the situation and held off the pitch clock when he first stepped in, because he got standing ovation. It was a very emotional interview with him after the game too. Good for him, even if he never gets another at bat, he will get to say he played in a major league game.