jimmer

You got to ask yourself WHY they are swinging more. Baseball has studied this and they are looking into adjusting (shortening) the strike zone because they believe it has affected offense. 'Since 2009, the average size of the called strike zone has jumped from 435 square inches to 475 square inches, according to Roegele’s research. The results: Pitchers are throwing more in the lower part of the zone, and hitters are swinging at an increased rate, knowing the tough-to-drive pitches will be called strikes.' 'This was always the most simple and logical solution to increasing offense, so it’s encouraging to hear that MLB is at least looking into it. And good on folks like Jon Roegele and Brian Mills for putting the numbers out there for everyone to see. See, analytics aren’t so bad.' http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/02/12/report-mlb-could-change-strike-zone-to-boost-offense/comment-page-1/ 'Roegele’s study estimated 31 percent of the offensive drought could be attributed to the strike zone while Mills estimated it’s between 24 percent and 41 percent. After seeing a strong correlation among the size of the strike zone, all-time-high strikeout rates and historically low walk rates, members of the committee now are fairly certain the relationship is causative, too, and seem primed to do something about it.' 'Most agreed that raising the strike zone almost certainly would spark offense. The potential issue: More offense equals longer games, and with pace of play one of new commissioner Rob Manfred’s priorities, balancing the two remains a difficult proposition.' http://sports.yahoo.com/news/sources--mlb-could-alter-strike-zone-as-response-to-declining-offense-232940947.html

Let's not forget who though signing Pelfrey in the first place was a good idea much less re-signing him for two years at an even larger salary (though not large in the grand scheme of things overall).

The point was, with the strike zone being called larger and larger, it gives the pitchers a larger area in which to do their work. It hurts the offense.

It's not just the leaving of the steroid era. The strike zone that the umpires call has grown steadily larger over the last 5 years. That helps the pitchers greatly.

I don't think too many people expected or are disappointed that 6 or 7 rookies didn't make the Twins out of ST. I think some, myself included, are disappointed that NONE of our touted guys did. As far as having the best rotations we've had in YEARS, the barometer isn't exactly high now is it? And many said the same thing last offseason.

Speaking of OF defense. Guys at MLB Network just got done saying that the best OF defense in baseball is 'easily' the Pirates. I look at Gordon, Cain and Dyson and wonder if the Pirates OF defense is better at all much less easily the best OF defense in baseball. Again, confusing offense with defense.

ah, you can see where I got confused since we were talking about Beane's trades and the part you quoted was about trading away guys at peak value and still winning. But yeah, the Twins had a nice run of competitiveness going for around a decade, but now it;s been 4 years, very likely a bad 5th coming up and likely a 6th in 2016.

well that is certainly debatable. I'd take Beane myself. They hardly have the financial constraints.

Ortiz wasn't traded and was better after he left. Hunter left as a FA, Santana was traded when he made it known he wasn't going to sign (so that took away some peak value). Gomez was traded way lower than his peak value. I'd need some examples. We talking about AJ? Cause I'll give you AJ. Of course, having a Mauer ready made that a pretty easy decision. In any event, whether that's true or not doesn't change the Milone situation now. He's not what his ERA and win/loss record says he is.

Mudcat? I agree with what you're saying though.

yes, he has a habit of trading away guys at their highest value and they keep winning.

Lots of people and for lots of reasons. But given his long track record of evaluating talent and understanding value, do you want to bet against him by saying Milone was worth more than Fuld? I don't. Beane has a great rep for a reason.

I nodded off by the time I got to the 5th guy. :-)

Jose Fernandez was drafted 14th. Hardly a prime drafting spot obtained by losing, That's where we got Hicks:-)

Well, first we have to assume wins and losses and ERA are all about a pitcher's performance. He played on some very good teams which help with the wins/losses and on a team with good defenses (and a good pitcher's park) which help with the ERA. We have to remember that Beane felt so unimpressed by him that he sent him to the minors and then accepted Sam Fuld for him. The Nats also traded him. Three teams before even making arbitration. If his ERA and win/losses was indicative of his talent, these things likely don't happen. Seems the teams understand that the record and ERA might be a bad way to judge his ability.

It helps if the people he was supposed to mentor are actually on the team as well, or did the team decide to pay the mentor 10M just for ST mentoring :-)

That's fair. If that's what you meant, I concur whole-heartedly. Though I don;t think either had a chance to make the rotation during the 'competition'. BTW, do you remeber the press conference Ryan had when talking about the team making a real effort to convert to power type arms. His face when saying it made it seem like he was eating a lemon. :-)

here is what was written: 'I want to see them play and play well, but don't blame Terry Ryan for the fact that Meyer still doesn't have a repeatable delivery and May choked in his big audition.' Seems to me this is absolving Ryan of fault . As if the mechanical issues couldn't be foreseen before traded for nor fixed by the developers that Ryan employs in the minors. As far as May performance, he choked for sure, but he did it in a season that was a lost one for us from the start like this one likely will be. And, let's face it, the majors is littered with pitchers who did horrible to start and ended up with good-great careers when their team stuck with them.

Maybe after Ryan re-signed him for two years and more money after the kind of year he had with us his first year, he felt his spot was pretty secure. That was an interesting precedent set by Ryan.

Not sure what insecurity you may be referring to. What I do know is you took a sarcastic swipe at a poster saying something that is almost assuredly not true. Unless they are hurt, it's unlikely a guy is gonna turn the switch on and be any more ready for the majors in June than they are right now. And this season, as last year, is supposed to be about seeing what we have. We're not going to be competitive. Now is the time to see what we got. Holding back a pair of 25 year olds for a couple months isn't going to help their development or fix their issues. But whatever.

Wait a minute. You want to give credit to Ryan for making the trades because they looked good at the time but you then want to absolve him if the two guys don't work out? How does THAT work? Trying to say that when scouting these two guys there was no possibility to foresee the control problems they have, especially Meyer? There are scouts that have been saying reliever for Meyer for quite some time.

It's a fool's errand to try and significantly improve the rotation while ignoring the defensive shortcomings of your team.

Give him time? Twins traded one of my favorite players in the game for him going on three seasons ago, didn't replace him, and we still have zero to show for it. There's patience and then there's patience.

you believe guys who spend only 2-3 months in the minors get significantly better to the point their readiness level tilts from not being able to compete at the major league level to being able compete at the major league level? You don't think that maybe , if promoted then, their pause in reaching the minors had more to do with significant dates in the season than besides readiness. Like a 7th year of control or past the point where Super Two becomes an issue?

Maybe one day down the road you'll be proven right. My guess is May is a back of the rotation starter, maybe as good as a #3, and Meyer is a reliever, maybe a quality closer one day. If that's good then yeah. In the meantime, neither one of these 25 year olds is in the majors. Neither one was good enough to displace Tommy freakin Malone.