Cap'n Piranha

Should this pitch be called a curve, or would it more properly be termed a slurve, given it's break to the left?

Shouldn't there be a law that requires there always be a player named Walker on the Texas Rangers roster?

I dislike the red unis, now almost exclusively because of their association with Mike Pelfrey.

This is an...interesting...decision. Make 'em pay Bocaton.

Yes, I think the Jays package is better. I don't know if TR ever offered the Rockies your proposed package; if he did than obviously the Rockies preferred the Jays package. If not, we'll never know. I think we absolutely could have made a package the Rockies would have preferred, but I'm assuming 3 out of Gibson/Berrios, Polanco, and Kepler are in it, unless we're including Sano or Buxton. Anyways, my point was that the Jays package isn't really that bad, especially if the Rockies can grab a couple more pieces by moving Reyes in the offseason or at the break next year, or if Tulo breaks down and declines.

Buxton 2 for 2 thus far in Rochester tonight...

I'd say it looks like the Twins left their bats in Toronto, but that would imply they actually had their bats in Toronto.

The Jays package was way superior to that Twins one. Reyes is far more valuable than Santana, and Hoffman has better numbers in the same league as Stewart despite coming off Tommy John. Miguel Castro struck out a batter/inning at 3 levels of A ball as a 19 year old last year while throwing up a 2.68 ERA and a .178 BAA. He's been worse this year, mostly because the Jays jumped him up too far too fast. Meanwhile, Meyer this year at 25 has a 5.97 ERA in AAA, so Castro is better than Meyer. So what it comes down to is Tinoco v Arcia. Tinoco turned 20 in April, and has been starting all year at low A, where he's put up a 3.30 ERA, 7.7 k/9, 2.3 bb/9, and a .266 BAA. Arcia turned 24 in May, and has only OPS'd .695 at AAA (despite his past power-hitting success), while striking out 29% of the time, and putting up a 4.1/1 k/bb ratio. Add to the fact that the Rockies can't DH him, and he becomes even less valuable. I think it's pretty clear to anyone that isn't over-valuing Santana/Stewart/Meyer/Arcia that the Jays package is better.

His service clock has already started. In order to gain an additional year of control, wouldn't he have to stay in AAA until August? So no, if he starts in AAA, I think it will be because the Twins think Rosario, Hicks, and Hunter/Arcia/Kepler/someone else are better at that time.

He IS the best shortstop in the game, but he is also old, injury prone, and expensive at the same time; nowhere does it say those things have to be mutually exclusive. I would have been ok trading for Tulo, and I would have been ok not trading for Tulo, based entirely on the acquisition cost.

If Buxton starts in AAA next year, I would guess it's because they did decide to put their best players on the field, and Buxton wasn't yet one of them.

Kohl Stewart is at High A, and has been all year.

You really think the Rockies would have traded the best shortstop in the game for Arcia, Stewart, Meyer, and Santana? There is no possible way that would happen.

Of course there's risk. There's risk both ways. TR's job is to assess the relative levels of those risks, and act appropriately. When you have a decent, but not good team, the prospect package it would take in multiple deals to move from decent to good or great is so large, the risk of watching Berrios/Kepler/Polanco/Stewart et al potentially star elsewhere outweighs the risk of not attempting to improve this club through trades.

I'm saying that if Dozier was/is so convinced the Twins FO won't make the team better, why the hell did he sign his extension? I understand he gave up no years of free agency, but he certainly could have made more in arbitration while playing in such an allegedly depressing locale.

Yeah, they're in the second wild card spot--doesn't yet qualify as a success for me. What if Tulo and Price both get hurt this week. The Royals came close to missing the playoffs with Shields, but had a great run for sure. Now Shields is gone--don't you think the Royals would like to have Odorizzi fronting their rotation right now? As for Detroit, they didn't really take "risks". Trading for a 25 year old Miguel Cabrera is hardly a risk. Trading for a 29 year old David Price is hardly a risk. I've never said the Twins should never trade, I've said they would have had to take such a huge risk in order to get a team to the Royals/Pirates/Cardinals/Yankees/Dodgers that I wasn't interested. I'd rather keep my young nucleus together, and let them become the stars.

We're starting Suzuki because we have no better options, either before the season started, or now. And while Ramos isn't a stud, he's certainly better than Suzuki (Suzuki has a 58 wRC+ and -.3 WAR, Ramos is 71 wRC+ and .4 WAR).

The All Star break was on July 14, and 12 games were played after that and before the trading deadline. Are you saying Dozier foresaw the lack of action by the FO, and pre-emptively became depressed?

That makes no sense whatsoever. What you're in essence saying is that if TR doesn't make a trade for 10 years, the next trade he makes is much more likely to be a good one, since the risk of not acting is piling up. I would argue that continuing to make moves piles up the risk just the same, as if the move fails, you have to make another move to fix that, and then maybe another move to fix that one. For example, in 2010 Bill Smith took a risk. Because he did, we're starting Kurt Suzuki at catcher this year and next, not Wilson Ramos.

You're right, I forgot about his -2.3 UZR/150--16th in the league. I'll give you baserunning, although it's hard to make an impact on the basepaths when you're sipping Gatorade on the bench. And yes, take away a player's biggest skill, and they become worth less. But Dozier has become a black hole on offense--he's turned into Chris Carter. All-stars and team leaders should have more than one skill propping up their value. Miguel Sano isn't getting good pitches to hit, so he's talking walks.

With that logic, the risk is equal between doing something and doing nothing. Therefore, doing nothing is no more of a risk than doing something. Ask San Diego how taking a risk has turned out for them.

Dozier needs to stop complaining, and realize that he's been a big part of the problem ever since the AS break. Slashing .203/.276/.406 while striking out 34% of the time isn't getting it done. That's the issue with Dozier and his one tool--if he's not getting XBH, he's a replacement level player.

That was the question. Just because you don't like the answer doesn't mean it isn't the answer to your question. When you're trading prospects, the only bad thing that happens is if the prospects you traded end up being studs. Say we traded for Price and Cespedes, and they led us to the wild card game, where we lost. Meanwhile, the prospects I mentioned become stars, and re-launch the TIgers franchise--that's bad. Alternatively, let's say we say no to the deal, and Cespedes turns into Mickey Mantle for the rest of the year, and Price is Cy Young, while in the future, our prospects all flame out, and are out of baseball by 2019. Then standing still was bad.

The Royals also had a historically great bullpen. Spoiler alert--we don't.

For me it's the standard because the playoffs have been expanded. Playing one game and going home does nothing for me. I don't care if we get to hang buntings for a day. I don't care if we get nationally televised for one game. If the Twins can't go into a series and say "we've got a chance to win this", I don't care if we make the playoffs. In 2001 through 2011, I felt the Twins could've won every series they were in. They (almost) never did, but there was never a series (except maybe 2009), where I honestly thought we couldn't win. As for Papelbon, I would have been fine for acquiring him for Taylor Rogers or some AA starter, because he makes you better this year and next year. I would've been fine with getting Tulo for a package of Gibson/Berrios, Polanco, and say Walker. My guess is that the Rockies wanted Sano or Buxton included (I have no proof of this), but if that was the price, pass. That being said, Tulo makes me nervous, as he's on the hook for $20M for the next 5 years, with a full no-trade clause. He hasn't played more than 130 games since 2011, and 150 since 2009. He's seeing more fastballs than ever, but he's making career-low contact when swinging. He's chasing more pitches outside the zone, and swinging through pitches at a career-high rate. This suggests that pitchers aren't as intimidated by him, which is borne out by his elevated k-rate (highest since his rookie year) and decreased bb rate (career low). He's 31 in October, and his declining UZR suggests he may be losing his range in the field. If that's the case, that's a lot of money to pay an injury-prone player who can't play second (Dozier) or third (Sano), leaving him as either a defensive liability at short, or a DH.