chpettit19

Fangraph's grades on him in 2019 were 45 current/60 future. Proved to be too low on both. He wasn't really a top 30 system prospect for many people so not a ton of public scouting reports (at least not on the sites I subscribe to).

Twins: Not outrageous, but I think O'Neill and Skubal are both good, not great, players. If I'm trading Rodriguez in this deal I'd need a great player in return. Cardinals: I don't know that they would be interested in a guy who's cracked 100 innings pitched once in his career and another guy coming off his 2nd tommy john with no plans to pitch in 2023 for O'Neill. Tigers: I think they'd be thrilled with Kepler and Rodriguez in return for Skubal. It's an interesting idea, but I think there'd need to be some tweaks.

That seems to be the approach he and the Twins have as well. He's talked about the plans and he's not planning on pitching for the Twins this year, but if it does happen that's great.

FYI, those MLB.com grades are not their current grades, they're their future grades. That's where my confusion came from. Acuna and De Andrade are current 25-30s. Maybe a 35 if a scout is feeling generous that day.

@Cody Christie Can you explain where you're getting these grades from and what you're trying to show with the current grades? I'm really struggling to understand how Bryan Acuna and Danny De Andrade have a current hit grade of 55. I'm quite positive neither of those guys could hit .270+ in the majors today (a general cutoff for what a 55 grade hit tool would mean). What is their current grade supposed to be showing?

Yeah, you're missing a lot of context. Lopez was at the WBC so his inning total isn't telling at all. In fact, he did really well at the WBC. It's really hard to follow what you're asking for. Not just in this comment, but them all combined. It's about injuries, but you're worried about the performance of Fried allowing him to start the 7th. So is it about injury or number of innings or performance? Sounds like you're asking for a combination of all that, and I just think that's not the right way to look at spring training outings. Spring Training stats are not something that carries a lot of weight with MLB teams. It's better to have good stats than bad stats, but it's not what they're looking at. The Twins pitchers are stretched out. Mahle threw over 70 pitches his last outing. Ryan was at 62 (compared to Fried's 68). So I don't think there's anything to worry about there. Lopez threw 1 major league inning, and 6 more on the AAA field yesterday. I think you may just be trying to read into things more than I'd say should be done at this point. I'll guess Lopez as the first to get into the 7th this season, though. Or maybe Gray. Who's setup to pitch opening day I believe.

Cleveland is an interesting/hard team to predict this year. Obviously have to expect the top of their rotation, and back of their bullpen, will be elite. They have been for years and there's no reason to expect them not to be. That gives you a very nice floor. The question is what they get out of the back of their rotation, and from their offense. The guys at the back of their rotation aren't great. They're not Bundy and Archer, but they're nothing like Bieber and McKenzie. Quantrill is kind of in the middle ground. They have what I'd describe as much more of a 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 type rotation than the 2, 2, 3, 3, 3 type rotation the Twins are trying to build (I said "trying" so don't yell at me about if the Twins guys are really #2s and 3s). The lineup is wildly variable. Ramirez will be an MVP candidate if he's healthy (not predicting he won't be, just putting in the caveat). I think he's a top 5 player in baseball. I think Kwan can maintain close to what he was last year. Their defense should be really good. And Rosario will be good at the top of their lineup as well. But the rest are anything but established. Baseball is all about adjustments. The league has notes on that lineup now and it'll be up to them to adjust to the adjustments and score runs again. Josh Bell is a nice signing, and I think he's probably the key to their season offensively. Last note, if I remember correctly, the Guardians were the healthiest team in baseball last year. Not predicting they won't be again, but it'd be awfully impressive. Decent chance they lose some guys for chunks of the season this year and that just adds to their variableness. I think it's a 3 way battle for the division. The pitching and defense (I think their defense is the answer to the difference in Quantrill's FIP and ERA) will keep Cleveland in almost all of their games. Can their offense do enough again this year? Guessing decent health for all 3 division contenders teams puts them all between 80 and 87 wins. I just hope the Twins are the ones at 87ish.

Yeah, I'm confused by the idea. You pointed out that Fried started the 7th yesterday because the Braves are "getting ready for the season" while pointing out the Twins are "worried about protecting players." I pointed out that the Twins let Maeda throw more pitches than Fried did yesterday. The Twins are also "getting ready for the season." Yes, they have some players who are being managed a little different (Buxton, Polanco, Kirilloff), but overall they're doing the same thing as the other teams with all the rest of their guys. So, sure, the only reason they haven't thrown more innings is because they've been bad. I don't know what you're looking for here. As for letting someone go into the 7th in the regular season. Ryan threw a full 7 innings last April coming off a shortened spring so I'm not too concerned about them being willing to do that if a pitcher is pitching well that day and has a reasonable pitch count.

I didn't say I don't think of Lewis as having power. I said I don't see him graded with 60 grade FV power. Clearly missed, or forgot about, the Fangraphs grades, but 40/60 is WAY different than 55/60. We'll see what their grades are for him this year. They also have Lee at 30/50 game power which is most certainly not 55/60. I was just curious as to where Cody was getting these grades. There's a reason baseball savant doesn't have his average exit velos on his main percentile card. 35 batted balls is an awfully small sample size. I was calling for Lewis to start last year in the bigs because I think he's a star. I'd put him in RF for the Twins the second he's healthy this season. I love Lee and hope he earns his debut this season. That doesn't mean they're top 5 in the system strictly when it comes to power. I'm just curious where Cody is coming up with these 5 guys all having 55 or better current power grades. I think that's an extreme level of grading. Emmanuel Rodriguez could not step into a major league lineup and hit 20+ homeruns, I'm sorry. I don't think Lee could either. Sobato would be lucky to put 25 balls in play let alone hit 25+ homers. Maybe Lewis could so I'll take back my questioning of his grade. The rest are pretty extreme.

Fried started the 7th because he needed to get more pitches. He only threw 68 yesterday. Maeda threw 75. So which team let their guy do more yesterday?

The problem is the same thing can be said about their center fielder. You can't DH both Polanco and Buxton and only play them in the field in the occasional emergency case.

Because Duran needs to get his work in, too. The live BP stuff is done between all the guys, and is for both the hitter and the pitcher. It wasn't just for Kirilloff's benefit, it was Duran needing to get in his set number of pitches against a hitter and working on things. These are things that have been done in spring training for decades. 1 ball off a leg doesn't make it some crazy thing. This is just how spring training works. For every team.

I don't know for sure their reasoning, but I can tell you that throwing with a screen in front of you is not comfortable. If you're out there really trying to work on things and make them as close to game like as you can on the back fields the pitcher likely wouldn't want the screen. My guess is they don't use one because they want the pitcher thinking about nothing but executing their pitches in game like fashion. But I can't tell you for sure that's the reason they don't use one.

87-75, 1st place. And win 2 playoff games!

Japan's staff is pretty much fully loaded with their best guys. It's why they're usually the favorites.

For what it's worth, Castro has played 724 innings in the outfield in the majors. He's a true super utility player.

I forgot about Celestino having surgery. I wonder what the chances are of him getting a 60-day stint are. He'd be allowed to be back in St Paul playing before that (you're allowed a rehab stint before the 60 day mark), and it'd free up a 40-man spot for Castro and a reliever. I'm not sure on the rules as far as Celestino being able to be optioned first and how that works for the rehab stint, but even if he accrues 2 months of service time before he's able to be optioned I don't think it's a huge deal. He hasn't been optioned yet despite them knowing he's going to be so I wonder if that's one of the options they're looking at.

Yeah, a 60-day stint for Polanco would be brutal. Really hoping that's not even in the realm of possibilities at this point. 10 day stint to give him an extra week to ramp up is 1 thing. 2 months is another. 10 days to see what Solano looks like in regular season action, and for Larnach to show he deserves a spot wouldn't be the end of the world at all.

If I remember correctly the 60-day count doesn't start until opening day no matter when they go on the 60-day. You can put them on it in Spring to open up the 40-man spot, but I believe the official count of 60-days doesn't start until opening day. Could be wrong, but I believe that's how it works.

Alright, now I've got some concern on Polanco. I was going to give it until Wednesday to see if he got into a game by then, but those Falvey quotes are a little concerning. Not panic mode yet, but a little concern there. Kirilloff getting in some AAA game action yesterday, including playing 1B, gives me a little more hope for him. Basically switched my concern levels between Polanco and Kirilloff. If this means Kirilloff is good to go for opening day then it's still just Larnach making the squad opening day. Based on their recent demotions I'd say it looks like that's plan A as of now. Buxton, Correa, Miranda, Kepler, Gallo, Farmer, Solano, Vazquez, Jeffers, Taylor, Gordon seem to have spots locked up, and are on pace for opening day with very little question (yes, I know you haven't seen Buxton on TV yet). Larnach looks healthy, and looked great at the plate yesterday. Expect he's in line to take either Kirilloff or Polanco's spot if 1 of them can't go. If both can't go I do think Castro is an interesting choice, and he'd probably be my choice as of today. As much as I'd like to see Julien given a chance to continue this hot streak in the majors, he wouldn't be getting everyday at bats and I think it's best he's in St Paul playing everyday so he's ready when a bigger opportunity for ABs in Minneapolis opens. Plus they save that extra year of control that annoys us all, but makes great sense in team building assuming Julien doesn't win, or nearly win, rookie of the year.

Curious where these grades came from. Are they Cody's grades or did he pull them from some scouting sites? I don't remember any scouting reports I've seen on either Lewis or Lee that had them at 60 FV grades for their power, but I don't check all the sites. I think that's a little high for both of them, but would certainly be nice if they develop that kind of power!

I'll be surprised if it isn't broken, but hopefully he's back quick.

It feels like we just watched Bard get the yips for the second time and his career end live on TV. I hope Altuve is alright, and Bard can get it together back in Rockies camp. That was hard to watch.

I'd add that not only is there little competition for spots, but the spots are mostly filled by veterans. Correa, Farmer, Solano, Buxton, Polanco, Kepler, Gallo, etc. know what they need to do to be ready for the season. They're in constant contact with the coaching staff and tell them if they need more ABs or fewer or what. Same with the pitching staff. The possible regulars we are seeing a lot of are guys like Jeffers, Miranda, and Gordon. The young guys who don't know their bodies, swings, etc. as much and need a little more work to help ensure they're ready.

No worries, just wanted to give you the info. Yeah, it definitely would've showed their willingness to spend! Also would've allowed them to keep Arraez since they wouldn't have needed to trade for Lopez. I'd like to see them boost the payroll another 20 mil, but I can't be too hard on them for not giving any 1 player 40+ mil a year. Unless it's Ohtani. They should give him 50 a year and really show they'll spend!