diehardtwinsfan

Here's to your expectations becoming unreasonable. I probably wasn't too far off of that myself.

As did I, and the thread was at something like 11 pages too.

To be fair, I think the numbers systems are always based on projections, and sometimes those are off. It is possible for a player's major league numbers to trend towards their minor league career... and Berrios was an ACE during his minor league career. He's certainly pitching like one right now. His MO in the minors, for the record was something like "He has 3 plus pitches and can command the hell out of them." I don't remember who said that, but that's an ace. It's also a potential ace, even if KLaw didn't like the plane on his FB. Will that remain? Who knows. It's possible he's doing something that MLB can adjust to, and when they do, he's going to need to adjust. I'll say this, given the guy's work ethic, I'm quite confident that he will if it's possible.

I don't know much about him. I was a bit surprised to see him on the roster with both of those guys in AA. I'm assuming (perhaps I'm wrong) that he's org filler. I wouldn't be surprised at all if he's released at some point to make room. As it is, there are several deserving guys in AA for what amounts to one AAA spot. That will probably change due to DL stints at the major league level, so it isn't a bad way to start, but both Gonsalves and Littell did well in AA last year. I've got to think both will be in AAA sooner than later.

Might have to ask Keith Law some questions on Berrios during his next chat...

all of MLB was going through changes at that point. The shift was a bit one, as was an infusion of more high K pitchers into the league. Don't forget that Mauer started seeing some really odd shifts and needed to reinvent his swing on the fly. That probably compounds things a bit.

There's something to be said about the quality of hitters behind you as well. Sano is striking out a bit too much at the moment, but when he's on, I'd probably prefer Mauer taking that walk more times than not. Mauer didnt' always have good hitters behind him though. That's a place where you want him being more aggressive.

The score matters a ton in this situation to. At 0-0 in the first, I think aggressive is smarter. Down 6-1 late though? You need a lot more than 1 run and don't have many chances left. I think the walk certainly makes more sense, because the expectancy of scoring multiple runs just went up significantly. But yes, we both agree that Joe needs to show more aggression at times.

Big thing I see from it is that Gardenhire vs. Baker might have helped Prior's career last a big longer. I'm not sure taking Mauer over Prior is the definition of perpetuating mediocrity. Mauer didn't exactly take a hometown discount when he signed. Santana was left unprotected between 1999 and 2000, I think he'd still be a Twin, though Thrylos is right about Liriano. I don't see AJ getting traded with no Mauer waiting in the wings. That means no Joe Nathan (though he might have eventually signed as a FA given SF's inability to see his ability to close, who knows) or Boof Bonser.

2019? The guy is being rushed. I'd note that each of his stops last year were marked with some pretty awful starts as well. His season is about 2 weeks old right now, so I wouldn't worry just yet. It's pretty rare for a college guy to start in AA his first full season. It may take some time for him to adjust.

This. Remember what happened when we played the Stro's last year? Barring injuries, we have a pretty good team. Doesn't mean we win the Division, but I don't think it's going to be a slam dunk for Cleveland either.

I seem to remember that being the name of some elf that sold cookies...

I'd much rather see him starting.

If he was a Yankee, there would have been coverage... just my 2 cents.

He was pushed pretty hard, to be fair, as most HS guys who aren't first round picks find themselves in EST. From what I understand, that's due to his defense being well ahead of his bat right now. He got off to a horrendous start last year in CR, and still finished with a somewhat respectable line. The good start this year tells me he might be that legit catcher we want, and if he keeps it up, I'm betting he gets a midseason call to Fort Myers.

The first problem I see is that this is a hard conversation to even fathom until we have a better idea how Joe holds up over the course of this season. I'm going to make an assumption that the Joe we've seen thus far will be pretty similar to the guy that plays the whole year. No, I don't think he will hit .400 (though that will cement the HOF discussion if he does), but I could see a vintage Joe season of a .320 BA, .400 OBP, and a high .400s SLG. That won't be a 6 WAR season at 1st, but it would be pretty respectable, and in an MLB world where there's way too many 2 outcome type guys, a guy like Joe that can get on base more than anyone and has plenty of doubles power to go with it with GG defense. If he does significantly worse, then I'd probably pass, but as long as that OPS stays over .800, I don't see a scenario where upgrading Mauer in the short term will be easy or cheap. In the minors, you have Vargas (who I'm guessing will not return next year as a 6th year FA) and Rooker. I like Rooker, but I think it's a stretch to say he's going to be ready next year at this time. Realistically, he's likely going to be ready at some point in 2019, but most likely not on April 1. And that is probably a best case scenario. Rooker could stall in AA for all of 2018 and still be a decent prospect, but that would push is ETA to 2020 if that happened. In the majors we have LoMo for 2019 and an opening at DH if Mauer is gone. In 2020, LoMo is gone. Rooker will likely be in the conversation, as could a guy like Lewin Diaz. Perhaps one of the really young guys could surprise, but I'm not sure I'd count on that personally. Bottom line is that other than Rooker, I don't see anyone coming up the pipe that could be a plausible option for 2 spots in 2020 and 1 spot in 2019. That brings me back to Mauer. If he continues to hit, I think there's a good fit here. As a matter of fact, a great one. I don't think a 3-4 year deal would be smart, especially at 36. I do think a 2 year deal with a club or vesting option for a 3rd makes a ton of sense for both parties, especially if Mauer wants to stay. I think he gets somewhere in the 6-10M range per year, and that will depend a lot on how the season plays out. If it's vintage Joe, then probably closer to 10... and I'm fine with that. What I don't see is the team going crazy in FA and getting the best bat out there. We all want that, don't get me wrong, but this will also be a that time where they are doing long term deals with the current core. That high priced deal might mean a guy like Rosario or Kepler ends up being shipped away because they are too expensive. I think Mauer provides plenty of value, and I also think that it's a bit underappreciated in the two outcome baseball that we see today. So in short, if he keeps hitting, I'm giving him a 2-3 year deal.

It has been a while since one could say this with a straight face...

did anyone check to see if this was actually a 2000 word piece? Well done Nick.

I wish I could have watched this one. Nothing quite like seeing a 4-0 box score. Means every side of the team was working well. Hope this Mauer torrid streak continues. Only real thing I want to see is Sano and Buxton cutting down on the Ks. I know Sano's OPS looks good, but I really don't think either have really taken off yet.

I kid you not, there's a guy down the street from me who has painted all of his vehicles with cubs strips/logos, got married at Wrigley Field, and has his house completely decked out all year long in Cubs paraphernalia. His cars are easy to spot and when I happen to cross paths as the same shopping centers, people are taking pictures of them. Anyways, a few years back, right after the Cubs drafted Bryant, I was walking by his house and asked him what he thought of Kris Bryant. I got the deer in headlights look and a statement that he only cared about the ML team. Of course, now he knows who Bryant is.

Seems his problem had to do with not playing as much ball as the typical prospect. Plenty of scouts think his problem isn't stuff as much as sequencing and those types of things... which I find strange. He's got the stuff. I'll echo what' you're saying here. Hopefully, it's a good start that gets him on the right track. Stewart suddenly looking like the guy we hoped for would be a big win for the team.

just a yucky day...

I haven't looked, but are 200 hit seasons rare now? He should finish the season with between 2100 and 2200 hits. I know due to walks that 3k hits would be hard to do as he has never had a 200 hit season, but if he starts another 5 seasons and is productive, he's going to be very close.

Yeah, didn't like that line either... I'll note though that Rooker did this both in Etown and the FSL last year. He seems to adjust quickly, and hopefully this is just a blip.

It seems clear Molitor doesn't trust either of them. Not sure about Moya. He wasn't bad last season. Kinley I get.