Brad Swanson

I also reject the notion that a player is either a Hall of Famer or just a commoner. Can't Jack Morris be a great player, but not worthy of the Hall of Fame? That doesn't mean he's some Joe Mays-level player, but it also doesn't mean he belongs with Bert Blyleven and the other pitchers who were just better than Morris.

If he's so great, why don't the numbers do him justice? I'm sorry, but that makes no sense to me.

Not sure that would help him that much. Here's a link to his inning by inning splits. Innings 7-9 were better than 1-3 and 4-6. http://www.baseball-reference.com/play-index/share.cgi?id=c9MAS If the extra innings affected his durability by season, his monthly splits would show it, but he actually got better as the year went on: http://www.baseball-reference.com/play-index/share.cgi?id=Xf4Zf

Originally posted at Kevin Slowey was Framed! If you've been reading my blog for the past few weeks, you are well aware that I have recently become obsessed with Eduardo Escobar. Not in a weird way. I just want to see more of him. Not in a weird way. I think he deserves more playing time. Last year, Escobar received just 179 plate appearances, but also had one of the most memorable plate appearances of the season, when he laced a walk-off double to give the Twins their first win of the 2013 season. That 1/179 exciting moments ratio led the team, I'm quite certain. Anyway, I think Escobar has something. I see it when I watch him. He just has an "it" factor that makes me want to look even closer. Not in a weird way. I think it's worth finding out if I am correct also. Therefore, I am starting a campaign called "The Eddie 400," at least until someone finds evidence that he hates being called "Eddie." I made a logo and at the end, I'll explain how you can also support this important promotion. http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-azXCFfvNMkQ/Usm7KeSBHyI/AAAAAAAABJY/8SYkgOIX-5E/s1600/Eddie400.jpg Before that, I want to make sure this is truly something that we all believe in. Therefore, I have come up with a handful of valid reasons to give Eduardo Escobar 400 plate appearances in 2014. Read on! He's a switch hitter This guy can bat right-handed and left-handed! How impressive is that! Some guys on this team can barely bat with their dominant hand, much less both. In fact, last year he barely had a platoon split. He hit roughly .270/.333/.430 from both sides of the plate. Most of his damage was done at AAA, but he didn't get regular playing time in the Majors, which is totally not his fault. DON'T LOOK AT HIS MLB SPLITS. He's always smiling http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0rBK-1_S0v0/Usm7Smun6vI/AAAAAAAABJg/FgsOxgG1phA/s320/EddieHappy.jpg See, look at that winning smile! He has an infectious personality, that is apparent. Oh, you're not convinced with one picture. Well, here's a photo collage I made: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cTbSA2aNMuo/Usm7ZK7-8kI/AAAAAAAABJo/_Le870ecQ9I/s320/escobarsmilecity.png See, winning smile. It's prevalent. This guy will make the clubhouse happier. A happy clubhouse is a healthy clubhouse. He won't be that happy playing once a week. No one would be. He certainly can't infuse the clubhouse with smiles from Rochester. He has defensive versatility It's not just that Escobar is good at defense, he also plays a lot of positions. He's primarily a shortstop, but he can handle second and third too. He can even serve as an emergency catcher! I'm pretty sure he could play in the outfield too. What versatility! Brian Dozier is the second baseman, but even he needs a day off here and there. When he does, BAM, enter Escobar. Say 10 games. That's 40ish PAs; we're 10% to 400. Trevor Plouffe needs days off too and he might need some DH time to boot. BAM, more Escobar. Say 25-30 games, 100 PA, and we're nearly halfway there. Hello Pedro Florimon. I like you. I even wrote about why I like you before last season. Read it! That said, hitting is not your strength and your fielding can be inconsistent. BAM MORE ESCOBAR!! If they simply split roughly 125 games, Escobar would get 60ish, with 200 or so PA and we'd be on the verge of 400 plate appearances. See, Escobar's defensive versatility practically screams for more PT. He's vibrant I can feel his charisma from my couch. When he's on the field, he's vibrant. When he's in the dugout, he shines. When he's in the clubhouse, he...well I don't know because I'm not allowed. When he's in Rochester, he's sad. Just look at his face, even after being named player of the week: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DZhyAH4AN6Q/Usm7fh-Jm_I/AAAAAAAABJw/KjDMvsvctmA/s320/escobarplayerofweek.jpg Scroll up and look at the collage again. LOOK AT IT! Which Escobar do you want? He's young Escobar will be 25 next season. He's two full years younger than Pedro Florimon. I don't want this to become an indictment of Florimon, but we all know his shortcomings. It's possible that Escobar has similar shortcomings, but he's two years younger so it's at least a bit more likely that he can develop and overcome those shortcomings. You are what you are at 27; the World is your oyster at 25. Think about it. He's arbitration eligible in 2015 Tick Tock. That's Escobar's free agency clock and it is ticking away dangerously. Escobar has now been on an MLB roster in 3 different years. He has played 125 games. He's out of options and approaching arbitration. If the Twins don't figure out what they have in Escobar this season, they'll never know. I'm not sure they can deal with that kind of regret. Regret is a powerful emotion. He's popular and beloved I found an article from Mike Berardino last March that has some really great Escobar-related quotes. I'll just share them without comment. Twins General Manager Terry Ryan: "He's a pretty good baseball player, it looks like to me," Ryan said. "He's got some energy. He can steal a base. He's all right." Former Twins reliever Luis Perdomo: "I don't like snakes, but I like Escobar," Perdomo says. "He's a pretty good guy, a funny guy. He's happy all the time, never angry." Also, we find out in that article that Escobar is close friends with the Guillen family. BONUS POINTS! Here are some quotes from another article, this one from ESPN, after Escobar was traded to the Twins: White Sox DH Adam Dunn: “He’s such a good kid,” Adam Dunn said. “He’s such a good part of this team. He keeps everybody loose and we really enjoyed having him. He’s a lot of fun. They’re going to really enjoy him over there.” White Sox OF Jordan Danks: “He’s definitely going to be missed,” Jordan Danks said. “When I first signed in ’08, he and I came up together so I’ve played with him pretty much at every level. He’s the same guy that I met whenever I first signed. He’ll be sorely missed.” White Sox Manager Robin Ventura: “I think it’s a little tough in here after a good win like this because Escobar’s a big part of what we’ve been doing,” Robin Ventura said. “It’s more than just numbers and how you play, it’s the attitude he brings. It’s a tough one team-wise. He’s kind of like a little brother or a son to most guys. The Twins love him too, remember the "C'mon" story? Here's the Berardino article and I'll just give you one Gardenhire quote for free: "I don't know what he says half the time, but I love him," Gardenhire said Sunday. "He just entertains me. He's one of the happiest guys I've ever seen at the ballpark. Always smiling, always laughing." Everyone loves this guy, now let's let him play some baseball! Final quote, from the first article and from Escobar himself: "When you're happy, be happy. You get a base hit in the game, be happy. I'm always happy playing." I love him. Finally, why not? Really, what do the Twins have to lose? Games? They've done that already. Plenty. Why not see what they have in the guy they traded Francisco Liriano for? Escobar is billed as a solid, if not better defender. Florimon is a great defender, but could Escobar be better? One thing I know for certain, Escobar is just as likely to post a 68 wRC+ as Florimon did last year. Plus, he's two years younger, has a winning smile, is loved by his teammates and manager, and I already made the logo. There's simply no downside here. The 2014 Twins aren't making the playoffs, so why not see what they have in Escobar? It's a shark move. The New Terry Ryan that wears a leather jacket makes shark moves. It just makes sense. Now that you are 100% convinced, you can show your support for "The Eddie 400" in a number of ways. Get the logo tattooed on your forehead. If not your forehead, your stomach, but then you have to keep your stomach exposed at all times. Create leaflets and hand them out to friends, co-workers, and anyone who looks angry on the streets. Fly to Venezuela and inform his hometown; gather their support. Change your name to "Eduardo Escobar." Purchase business cards. If those ideas don't suit you, perhaps you could just download the logo from above and make it your Twitter or Facebook or whatever avatar? Tell your friends about Eddie. Post on the Twins' Facebook wall. Tweet at Dave St. Peter. Do everything humanly possible to create awareness of this important campaign. Together, we can ensure that Eduardo Escobar gets 400 plate appearances in 2014. I can't do this alone. I need you. Not in a weird way.

If I'm picking an ideal contract, I'd like to see 2 years and $22 million, with an $11 million club-option for 2016. I'm ok with going a little higher on annual value because it could entice him into a shorter deal. Doubtful though.

I think the "young" label might be relative at best. I've been doing some research on and off about older players, and part of it focuses on the fact that I think we are still applying age and youth within the context of the "steroid era." This doesn't fully apply here, but it did make me look at Drew's youth closer. In this case, I looked at all shortstops (at least 120 games played at the position) who achieved a WAR of 2.0 or greater. In the past 25 years, only 60 player seasons have occurred. That's about 2.5 per year. If you look at Drew's 3.1 WAR from last season, that total lowers to 40 total seasons, or about 1.5 per year. Basically, shortstops either age rapidly or move to another position. I'm not certain Drew solves the shortstop issue for the next three years. If that is the case, then I'm not sure he's worth 3 and 30 and the second round pick. Here's the link to the table with all the player seasons I found. If you remove repeats, there are just 28 unique players. In the past ten years, only 14 different players reach these figures: http://bbref.com/pi/shareit/8crOD

I don't dislike Drew, and if the Twins sign him, I'll be cool with it. That said, if he does sign, I think he has the potential to become one of the more unpopular players in recent history. He misses a lot of time, he often looks disinterested and he is very inconsistent. He's just as likely to hit .220/.310/.350 next year as he is to hit .255/.333/.440. Those are his last two seasons and while he was injured for some of the poor season, that kind of proves my point too. I'm with Thrylos, I'd prefer Escobar next season, although I'm not sure that's a real option. The Twins seem to be pretty fine with Florimon.

Bonds is wearing the hell out of that suit in the top picture. White tie with a white shirt, good look.

59.5% That's the percentage of games Drew has played over the last three seasons. I am quite certain that is the number that is scaring teams away.

I'm late to this party after being early to the party. I wrote about my Hall of Fame ballot back at the beginning of December, but I didn't include it until now for strategic reasons. I forgot. I am "Big Hall," so I chose 10, but wanted to vote for 17. I also proposed building a second Hall on top of the existing Hall. I actually don't remember writing that; I must have blacked out. Anyway, if you're interested: http://smartpitcher.blogspot.com/2013/12/my-hall-of-fame-ballot.html

False, J.D. Drew is retired. I'm warming to Stephen Drew though. It would be nice to have that position figured out for the next three years. Drew misses time often, but the Twins have Eduardo Escobar to back him up. That 2nd round pick will likely be nothing, so I guess there's nothing holding me back.

Could not have said any of this better, excellent analysis.

I'm with you on this. I love Hicks' arm in right. Nothing would fall between center and right either.

It's so hard for me to shake just how brutal Drew was at the plate during the World Series. I'm hesitant to give up that pick, but Drew is probably worth it. Drew is one of those trendy new fly ball hitters too. Excellent analysis!

I'm right there with you, on the 2014 part at least. I think he will be much better next season and I think that signing him will look very intelligent after the next two seasons. Watching him pitch is gross though.

Yeah, I'd say in the long-run, say 5-6 years, Polanco is ahead of Santana. But, since Santana has AA experience and Polanco hasn't reached Fort Myers, Santana has the upper-hand for 2015. I love Goodrum. I still think he has a major breakout in the very near future.

Obviously, I like Dozier. I did call him penne arrabiata, didn't I? Overall, he had a good 2013 season. He had two excellent months, two good months and two bad months. The order of when the bad and excellent months occurred is encouraging. I'm not ready to say he can be a core member of a championship team just yet. If he improves in 2014, I'll admit that I'm wrong. As for who is a white castle cheeseburger - I'd say Ryan Doumit is a pretty good fit. Simple, pretty good, you'd like to have more than one, but it's no one's favorite and sometimes it makes you really sick. It's just too bad the Twins traded him away.

You can view the page at http://twinsdaily.com/content.php/2580-January-Mailbag-!!!!!

Originally posted at Kevin Slowey was Framed! My one resolution for 2014 is to answer more fake questions. If someone (me) is going to go to the trouble of asking a question, the least I can do is answer it. In addition, I'm going to answer the really tough questions that others are too scared to tackle. In fact, 2014 is the year of answering the tough questions. I won't be afraid of what the answers reveal. I intend to get to know myself better through this exercise. It's going to be quite cathartic and important, really. Most importantly, we need to get off on the right foot with a really important question. What type of food is each Twins player? ~ Brad S., St. Paul, MN We're off! I'll flesh this out in more detail in the future. I might even devote a full post to it and possibly create some stupid photoshops. That said, I'll provide some of the easier answers: Joe Mauer: Wonder Bread. Kind of goes without saying. Brian Dozier: Penne Arrabiata. Spicy, good-looking, complex, yet traditional and non-threatening. Glen Perkins: Tremendous Twelve. Just outstanding, lots of variety, affordable, very filling. Mike Pelfrey: Burnt Popcorn. Some people actually like it; the result of taking too much time. Sam Deduno: McRib. Bounces between available and not available, saucy, incites excitement, makes some people crazy, not really very good. Hi-yo. What do you think the lineup will look like at the beginning of next season? How about 2015? Thanks, I'm a huge man. ~ Brad S., St. Paul, MN That's a very excellent and timely question. It's possible that the Twins could still add one more position player who could weasel his way into the starting lineup. Of course, I'm not sure the Opening Day lineup will change much, as our current skipper tends to err on the side of sentimentality/tradition. Therefore, here is what I expect in 2014: Alex Presley, CF Brian Dozier, 2B Joe Mauer, 1B (still looks weird) Josh Willingham, LF Oswaldo Arcia, RF Trevor Plouffe, 3B Josmil Pinto, DH Kurt Suzuki, C Pedro Florimon, SS Nothing shocking, and I could see Plouffe hitting ahead of Arcia for those sentimental reasons. Pinto and Suzuki are in the lineup because I think the Twins like Pinto's bat, but won't trust his defense initially. Florimon's there, but I don't think he'll be there for long (more on that later). Presley should hold off Aaron Hicks for a couple months, but I expect Hicks to tear up AAA because I am very irrational about him. As for 2015, I foresee a couple of changes: Aaron Hicks, CF Brian Dozier, 2B Joe Mauer, 1B Oswaldo Arcia, LF Miguel Sano, 3B Josmil Pinto, C Trevor Plouffe, DH Alex Presley, RF Eduardo Escobar, SS Obviously, I prefer Escobar to Florimon, Hicks to Presley and Sano to Plouffe. Unless the Twins sign some free agents, these are the guys who should be on the Opening Day roster in 2015. I believe Sano will be ready but Byron Buxton will be a midseason entry. Sano is a better defender than Plouffe and Hicks has better range than Presley (Hicks has a vastly superior RF arm too, but range > arm). If Eddie Rosario plays like gangbusters upon return from his suspension (and plays in the outfield), he could supplant Presley, but I don't see that happening. Which player do you want to see more of in '14? ~ Brad S., St. Paul, MN Take a look at my starting shortstop in 2015. I want to see much more of Eduardo Escobar next season. In fact, I'm starting "The Eddie 400" and I won't stop writing/talking about it until it is apparent that Escobar has no chance of getting 400 at bats. I would love to see Escobar get 400 at bats next season. I'm not really sure that he's good, but I am quite certain that he can hit at least as well as Pedro Florimon. Plus, he's two years younger and might be an even better defender. Even if the Twins are happy with Florimon, I'd love to see Escobar get some starts at 3rd and enhance the team defense. http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qRLvRxtVGkQ/UsRbLXXnkjI/AAAAAAAABIM/3jIinF24APY/s1600/Eddie400.jpg Next week, I plan to fully outline "The Eddie 400." I'll outline all of the reasons why I'm smitten with Mr. Escobar. I just really hope that someone calls him "Eddie" or this whole thing is quite loony. There are rumors that the Twins are interested in Johan Santana. How does that make you feel? ~ Brad S., St. Paul, MN http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-t1cintWWhpk/UsRbV8m-y9I/AAAAAAAABIU/ipcUiuYdfbs/s320/Ron-Swanson-Dance.gif Don't ruin my New Year, Twins. Make this happen. What is the core of the Twins team? ~ Brad S., St. Paul, MN The core has to contain the players who will lead the team to glory. Guys like Brian Dozier and Glen Perkins are great and nice and super, but they aren't really core players. Dozier is good, but not great. Perkins is great, but fills a role that can be filled much more easily than other roles. So, the Twins core is Joe Mauer, Oswaldo Arcia, Miguel Sano, Bryon Buxton and Alex Meyer. Obviously, only two of those players have MLB experience. There is a lot riding on Buxton, Sano and Meyer. If all three reach their ceilings, the Twins will have an insane core. If two of three pan out, the core will still be great. Perish the thought, but if all three crap out, well...let's just not think that way. That core is excellent, but one more pitcher would be nice. I'm actively wooing Masahiro Tanaka in my weekly POWER RANKINGS. Check out my Rankin's here. Tanaka would be a nice sixth in that core. What's your Pelfrey problem? ~ Brad S., St. Paul, MN Ah, nothing really. He seems very nice and he'll be great at the back of the rotation. Calling him burnt popcorn will be my final jab at Pelfrey. At least until he starts pitching. Then, I might have to start in on him, just to pass the time between pitches. Have a great weekend, everyone!

2015 rotation with Garza: Garza Nolasco Hughes Pelfrey Gibson Meyer Obviously the 2015 rotation wouldn't include six guys, but having six legitimate arms potentially in the rotation is pretty nice. This also assumes the Twins don't upgrade between now and then. Trevor May could still take a step forward too. I really think that the 2015 season is the reason to sign Garza right now. Unless the Twins are very confident that they can get an equally impressive arm next off-season, they should just get a good starter like Garza while they can. I only see Homer Bailey, Clayton Kershaw and Max Scherzer as true 2015 free agents who I prefer to Garza. I don't think Scherzer and Kershaw make it to free agency, meaning Bailey is the premier arm next off-season. I think the World of Bailey, but he's going to get paid. There are some guys with options for 2015 who might become available, but Johnny Cueto is the only guy I put in Garza's class. This is the best opportunity for the Twins to land a borderline number 2 starter without trading prospects. I also think that signing another starter right now is great Hughes insurance, just in case Yankee Stadium wasn't the sole reason for his unimpressive stats. He's proven himself as a late-inning reliever and if he can't start, he might become an expensive set-up man or even closer. That's not ideal, but the Angels paid Joe Smith $15.75 mil over three years, so it's not completely off market value. If Hughes flames out, it would be great to have two starters who we knew would be better than him.

My overall feeling about the infield is that I would like to see more of Eduardo Escobar in 2014. They may find out that he isn't worth playing, but that would be good information to have going into 2015.

I completely agree that Polanco is a much better prospect than Santana, but I'm not sure he reaches the Majors by 2015. That would require him to move three levels in less than two seasons and the Twins just typically aren't that aggressive. I could see Santana as a utility guy by 2015, just because he can play multiple positions and even if the batting average is empty, someone is going to look at it and think he deserves a shot. Regarding Plouffe, I completely agree. I don't actually think he is versatile because he can't play any one position well. However, I am certain that the Twins like the idea of having a guy who can play third and a corner outfield position, with second base being an option in a huge pinch. I'm not sure he'd be average at any of those positions, but he can physically play each.