Trov

I will agree all three look to be ehhh at best, if Larnach can stay healthy he may produce, but the other two are not looking good so far. However, that does not mean they have not had some good picks in those drafts. Also, you need to always look at who else could have been drafted around them to really judge. Cavaco was a reach but there is no one after him that has lit it up in the majors as of yet. In 2018 we still had plenty of guys that have made majors, Larnach, Jeffers, Sands, Winder. In 2019 we have a few made majors and several used in trades for major league guys, or top prospects. Walner, Canentero, Steer, Varland, and a few others. It is still early to shut book on Cavaco, as he is only 22, and if he went to college would be his first year in full pro ball. He was drafted as a project and that has held true.

So when a player is drafted, the team generally says what they are drafting them as. If you go by that standard, most HS guys will be drafted as SS, even when team fully expects they move off SS in future. If they are out of college, you will see more identified as the position they think they can stick at. However, out of HS most will be SS as you do not put your best player overall at 2nd base. If a team drafted a HS player at 2nd they better not be a high pick.

My guess he was not highly touted at 16, but a low level signing, and he just developed very well. It happens. Maybe he becomes something great, or maybe he, like many pitching prospects, burns out quickly. Pitching prospects one of hardest to project and they will rise and fall very quickly at times.

If you go by what teams are paying for WAR, bWAR has Ohtani averaging over 9 WAR last 2 seasons, his overall worth is 81 mil, as teams have been paying about 9 million per WAR to FA. So with contracts going, $50 mil a year does not sound crazy. Mainly because he is still only 28, turns 29 mid-season, and if ever needed, he can just go to either hitter or pitcher full time if he drops off doing one.

Well at some point, if Mets wanted to spend more, and did not care if their team was losing money, they could out spend the Pohlads several times over. Pohlads worth in 2015, according to Forbes about 3.8 billion, that is using the value of the Twins. Steve Cohen is estimated to be worth 17.4. Even if you take out what the teams value is, Cohen could dip into his own worth and out spend the Twins any time he wanted to. So yes, at some point Pohlads could not spend as much as Cohen. Even if the Pohlads net worth jumped a bit in last 8 years, they still at best would be worth half of what Cohen is worth. Now, if you want to talk about just spending revenue from baseball, I would bet anything the Mets pull in much more money from baseball revenue than the Twins do. Just on TV money alone.

The rule does not hurt the Twins. The title suggest the rule is better for some teams versus others, like the Twins. The rule is the same across the board and affects everyone the same. Just because the Twins have been worse in those games does not mean it hurts them. I think the team plans to never play them, and will use all their good pitchers in tie games, hoping there will be no extra inning game, then they use a lessor pen guy to pitch.

In regards to pitch clock, report was the overall game time has been cut down by average 23 min in spring games. As pointed out, that is dead time of nothing happening other than having to listen to the broadcast team filling dead air, or if you are watching in person, the guys walking around doing nothing. I was so happy they put in the pitch clock, it will make games easier to watch. I loved watching games pitched by Silva and Buehrle. Buehrle never needed a pitch clock, he would get ball throw ball in like 5 seconds it seemed like. His games were always under 3 hours. Silva his games were fast mainly because he always threw strikes and guys put ball in play. I once watched a 78 pitch complete game by him, it was crazy.

I have talked a few times about his overall value. I agree he should not be graded as an OF, as he will not be playing much out there. Sure he could transition there should his pitching ever drop off, but as long as he is still pitching as a top pitcher you do not take him off there. I have long said though he is one I would be willing to sign to a long term deal as a pitcher, because he has the fall back of hitting should he ever losing the pitching level. Normally, I say stay away from deals beyond 4 years for a pitcher due to their completely falling off cliffs, but none of them could just stop pitching and be only a hitter like Ohtani could.

Most players drafted, or signed are either SS or CF, if they are not college players. Only pitchers or catchers out of HS are really put into a position. Some college guys start to get more put into a position of 1b or corner OF, but that is because they are bat first guys. Look at a guy like Cuddy, who was drafted out high school as a SS, or Sano who was signed as a SS. Neither were expected to stick there in majors. Cuddy moved to 3rd then was decent OF. Really, I would say no team likes to lock a guy into a position, because then they may get put behind someone and you decide to trade someone or let someone walk because and settle for a lessor player at a different position. Also, if a guy can play CF, they better be able to play either corner.

So everyone is just agreeing Burns is an ace, but if you look at his numbers last year, and specifically his second half numbers maybe, just maybe his luster is wearing off. I am not saying I would pass on him, but I think some may be overvaluing him a little. He would not be the first ace that burns out after age 27 season. I will agree Burns had a very good 2020, and a crazy good 2021. However, last year his walks were back up from his 2021 season, his k/9 were down to career low, to 10.8. His HR were up a ton, giving up 23 compared to the 7 the year before. His ERA was close to his FIP right around 3.00, much higher than the 2021 season. If you look at the second half it was worse than his first half. Maybe it was injury, maybe it was fatigue as he pitched more games and innings than any season prior. However, take a look at Tim Lincecum, both started at age 23, both had ace type numbers over their first 5 seasons. Burns 2021 was better than anything Lincecum did, but Lincecum overall numbers over those years where about the same, if not better. Burns had more K/9 and less walks per 9 We do need to keep in mind Burns did not start full time until 2020, and really 2021 where he tore it up. Then year 28 and it all fell apart for Lincecum. I am not saying Burns will fall apart, but other than a great 2021 and a very good 2020(9 starts only) are we really saying this guy is a top ace? I mean in 5 seasons he has 74 starts, and if you remove the 2021 season his numbers are not ace like. They are very good, but let me point you to Phil Hughes 2014 season. It was not quite Burns 2021, but not a ton off overall. Hughes threw 209 innings, had a FIP of 2.65 with a much lower K rate of only 8.0, but much better walk to k rate of 11.63. Hughes never came close to those numbers any other season. Again, not saying they are the same. My point is, we have 1.5 very good to great seasons out of 5. 1 good season where he faded down stretch. You want your ace to pick it up on second half in in playoffs. He did fine in his 1 playoff start in 2021, going 6 allowing 0 but walking 3 with 6 strikeouts. Maybe Burns is not 2021 guy, but closer to 2022 guy, who is good, but are you willing to give up the farm for? Really Pablo Lopez, was not much worse overall last year compared to Burns. Some did not want to give up Arraez straight up for Lopez, but is willing to give up everything for Burns.

To me the only debate would be Mauer versus Oliva. I would give Joe the slight nod as he did it at catcher, at least is prime years. Oliva had the better personality, Joe is so bland. They both played part of 15 seasons, bur really Oliva played 11 as 3 seasons were 10 games or less, and the 4th was 6. Joe played like 13.5, as he had 30 game season rookie year, and a 80 game season. Joe put up slightly better numbers. Oliva also played with other greats, Killer and Carew, Joe played with some greats too, but none that are HOF, still salty about Santana snub. Neither brought home a WS. I would not object to either above the other, but I would say Joe gets my vote. He also had to deal with new defense data late in his career with a ton of shifting.

Really the question would be does either side want to have that much of a gamble. I fully expect Lewis to come back, but we only saw a very SSS to judge on. Even if he is healthy, he could just not become what we hope or even close. Twins gamble is not only on his health but that he really is MLB guy. Lewis would be gambling he becomes a superstar and have bought out one of his top dollar years. Personally, I think the dollars suggested are way too low for Lewis. One salaries are going up. Two, he is going to be 24 this year, a 7 year deal takes him to 31, and only mega stars will get huge deals by then. Sure, if he is good to great, he could still get a 4 year deal at that point. I get it is only 1 year of FA being bought out, but the overall price is low I think. Maybe if you threw in a lot of incentive based bonuses along the way, like extra mil for All-star game, extra for MVP or other awards. Personally, I am a huge fan of those types of contracts. Then players do not feel like they are getting underpaid, but teams are not overpaying if production drops off. Kind of similar to Buck's contract.

This is clearly a depth for infield that can hit lefties move. He will likely play mostly just against lefties, depending on injuries. Depending on injuries and how season plays out, he could be a DFA after Lewis comes back. It surprised me when I saw it, but more I think about it there is some sense in it.

This FO and coaching staff has never been high on Gordon. I do not agree this is taking Gordon playing time though. He is mainly coming in to hit against lefties and play 1B. He will play 1B against lefties and be injury replacement should AK not be healthy. Gordon is basically an OF now with some 2nd or SS, but will not play much against lefties, if at all. Really, what this move does is takes Garlick out of the running for coming back to MLB roster absent injuries.

Have you looked at the home road splits for Stanton? Also, after the all star break he was terrible. Sure, he was hot the first half, but even if money was equal, I would not take Stanton over Miranda because Stanton you cannot count on anymore.

I do not understand why people keep wanting Martin to increase his power so much? I get we are in the hit HR world for value, but there still should be some value in a guy that can get on base at high level, steal bases, and can get hits at a high level. We loved Arraez for that, but still wished he hit with a little more power, but still loved his ability to get hits. Martin has the speed to turn singles into doubles, and walks into stolen bases, unlike Arraez. I am still bullish on Martin, just do not look to make him something he is not. The more you try to tinker with guys sometimes the results are the opposite of what you are seeking, then people will say see we knew he would be a bust, but you take away what made them great. It is like in football, when you have a running QB and tell them, we need you to be a pocket passer to stay healthy, but if you take away what makes them great, their ability to run, you have a sub par player. For Martin, if you sacrifice some on-base percentage for hopeful increased power, you take away what makes him great, in hopes of improving something he may not be great at. It is not like he is Jason Tyner or something, he can hit some HR.

This is one of the few times I would agree the anti shift rule will benefit a player. Buck hits the ball so hard, when you take away that 3rd guy defending on that side of the infield it will greatly limit the range on that side. Hopefully there will be more balls hit through the left side now.

I would say the most improved is actually Cleveland. We added a starter, that could be best in the rotation, but took away the batting champ to do it. Gallo is a lottery ticket that if he can get to what he was in Texas we will love it. Really, we are just hoping we have health this year. The new catcher may be the best upgrade for us. Cleveland really did not lose anything and added Bell. He, like Gallo, is a bit of a lottery ticket. When he is on, he carries teams. He is bad on defense so most likely will see most time at DH, but if he is hitting like he has shown, he will help carry that team. The only reason I say Cleveland is most improved at this point, is they only really added and did not have to subtract to do it. I still think we will be fine as I think our prospects can fill holes left, and hopefully health is a little more on our side.

The 140M is across all Diamond Sports Group, Bally North payment would be much less. The new owner could do what Diamond did, just borrow it, and then when cannot pay bills later go bankrupt.

I either try to get him to agree to minor league deal with opt out if not on MLB roster by certain days, or wait until we can put guys on 60 day IL. I do not see anyone on the 40 man I am willing to pass through waivers right now to go with Hand. He used to be a top guy, but over recent years he is more so a vet that is getting by on smoke and mirrors and very will may blow up at any moment.

There is no need to rush him, but if he comes out the gate hitting like he did last year, he can push himself into the MLB roster. You do not sit an elite hitter simply because there are guys on the MLB roster. If Miranda struggles this year, or any of our other guys with options struggle, or Polanco gets hurt, we very well may see Lee sooner than later. Again, this is only based on him hitting like he did last year.

If he is willing to sign minor league offer at this point, I would bring him in, but I would not offer him full major league contract. He used to be one of the best, but has had some rough years. As the article points out, even his numbers last year looked good, but may have been more smoke and mirror kind of thing. The fact AAA is in MN where he is from this could lead to him willing to make that agreement. I am sure he will hold out hoping for major league contract as teams starting dealing with injuries or poor spring trainings.

His walk rate is what everyone should be super excited about. At his age, to be willing to walk that much tells me a few things. One, he is not chasing many pitches overall, meaning he is not trying to do too much and at times gets himself out. Even if you do not strike out, chasing pitches will lead to bad at bats generally. It also shows me he has a plan of attack, and goes with that plan. Yes, he is facing much worse pitching at that level, breaking balls will not be as good, and more pitchers will rely on fastballs more. However, rarely will a guy who walks that much will suddenly lose that eye. I believe that if he can stay healthy we will see him up to AA this year, and knocking on the door in September or looking to break with team next year. If he can show near the same hitting ability with eye at plate at each level, do not be surprised if gets a late season call up. I know it was just a flash, but he has Juan Soto type to him. Decent power, but with elite eye at plate. I am not saying he will be Soto level, but I am super high on him.

I do not understand how you can be against the extra inning rule, but for the position player pitching rule. Personally, I am all for the extra inning rule for regular season. Just like hockey, where we do not want ties, but also do not want endless regular season games, MLB used a softball rule to help games end faster. Both teams get the same chances, just increases the chance of runs being scored. This saves bullpen arms from having to pitch so much more and saving a team from maybe having to use a starter messing up the whole rotation, requiring guys being optioned for a fresh arm to come up. Also, it allows for fans to not stay up for hours in an extra inning game. You get to see more action and an end to the game. I get it is not what baseball was for long time, but the game has changed over years, and all sports change over years for various reasons, but the number one is entertainment. Personally, I am more entertained by the extra inning rule. In terms of position players pitching I really do not care if they come in at any score. I am not sure why MLB really cares, but the purpose is to save pen arms, so to require them to be out there in closer games makes it kind of odd. I have no real position on that rule.

Position players are set in my opinion, unless there is an injury. The rule allows for 13 pitchers, assuming we carry 13, that leaves 13 position players. The 2 catcher, Mirands, CC, Polanco, Kirilloff starting in infield with Farmer on bench, that is 7. Then Buck, Kepler, Gallo, Larnach, Taylor, Gordon rounding them out. Again, this is fully based on health coming out. Pitchers I think are basically set too, depending on health. Rotation (not in particular order) Gray, Ryan, Mahle, Lopez, Maeda or Ober. (could be both if they go 6 man rotation). Then Duran, Pagan, Thielber, Jax, other Lopez, then either Moran or Alcala. The only wild card is the possiblity of sending Ober down to keep him as a starter roll if they do not go 6 man, and someone like Sands being the long man out of the pen, or after the 60 day DL moves someone not on the 40 man comes in. I only see one real battle that is for 5th starter or last pen spot. If they go 5 man rotation Ober starts in AAA and both Moran or Alcala make it. If they want 6 man rotation then the only battle is for last pen spot, or if Ober wins the 5th over Maeda out the gate.