prouster

Rortvedt went 1-2 last night. I don’t think he was the problem. Refsnyder got in the game as a pinch hitter (for Rortvedt, so that may have made you happy). Would a couple extra at bats from him have alleviated the toll of stranding 19 runners? I doubt it. Who should Austudillo have replaced? The point is that Baldelli is playing the guys he has. There was no one on the bench obviously better than anyone who started. Baldelli can’t unilaterally call players up from the minors. I think people are complaining for the sake of complaining, because they don’t like when the team loses.

You can’t use Turtle to pinch hit, because then he’s unavailable to pitch.

Who was on the bench that should have been playing?

Yeah, I think Austin will see plenty of time in the majors next year, just not for the first couple months of the season. If they trade Buxton, my feelings will be different.

Regarding Ryan’s potential as a top, mid, or backend starter, I think his unique profile makes him really hard to predict. Not many guys throw a single pitch so often, especially fastballs. Most guys who do are relievers. Even so, Ryan has been successful in the minors due in large part to his unusual arm motion. To my amateur eyes, his ceiling is a bit better than what we got in Berrios. A less good (but still acceptable) outcome is that he throws quality innings from the bullpen. I think a fair expectation is something like Lance McCullers, but with lots of fastballs instead of curves: a dependable mid rotation arm you trust to compete in a playoff series.

Great news. I’m excited to watch him mow down some Cubs.

I don't see Lewis or Martin losing their prospect status in the first half next year. One of them will very likely start the year ranked number 1 by most outlets.

It’s almost like the main factor for winning isn’t the manager or GM, but players doing their jobs well.

Woof

Interestingly, Happ pitched really well in his lone start against Pittsburg with the Twins: 7.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, and 3 K. For his sake, maybe he should go against the Pirates more often.

Haha, alright then. I guess your mind is made up!

I think many of the pitchers have done a really bad job this year. But Duffey has a 115 ERA+. 125 for Rogers. 101 for Pineda. Those three have been between average and very good. 89 for Maeda, who has been hurt. Slightly worse for Robles, who isn’t on the team anymore. Alcala is at 85. He’s hurt and put up much better numbers last year. He can probably be explained as someone still in development. Barnes is a rookie who’s like 10th on the depth chart. Gant has been on the team for three weeks. Not sure what you’re expecting there. Minaya’s ERA+ is 121. He’s been good. Law, Dobnak, Thorpe, and Stashak have barely pitched this year. The only true clunkers are Happ (traded), Shoemaker (cut), and Colome (still blowing saves a couple nights per week). I’m not sure what any pitching coach could do for those three. Tell them to throw more strikes?

Do you think Johnson has anything to do with Ober’s and Jax’s performances over the last month?

Man, I hope they bring up Ryan sooner than later.

That’s my mistake. I had it in my head that Falvey started before the 2016 season, not after. Kintzler was a MiLB signing, but we can scratch him off the list of examples I provided. My general point is that Falvine have in fact picked off some useful fringey players from other organizations.

True, not all of the names listed came directly from waivers. You got me there. The only narrative I’m advancing is that the current front office has acquired fringe guys from other teams that performed well for a period. If you disagree with that, then I don’t know what to tell you. A lot of folks here seem to have a pretty selective memory that only includes what they want it to. Edit: As I thought I remembered, Cron and Drake were both waiver wire pickups, as was Adrianza. Kintzler, Magill, and Harper were signed as minor league free agents with spring training invites. Schoop was a MLB free agent, and Smeltzer came in the Dozier trade. So if you want to accuse people of fabricating “enormously false narratives,” it would be wise not to peddle false information.

I don’t see how leaving a young guy out to get shelled is coddling him. Because it isn’t.

This front office has taken guys off other teams’ “scrap heaps” and gotten good performances out of them. Wisler, Smeltzer, Cron, Schoop, Rhyne Harper, Matt Magill, Adrianza, Oliver Drake, Brandon Kintzler. There are some others. None are obviously pillars of the organization, but if that’s what you’re using the waiver wire for you should probably fire everyone involved with the draft.

As of posting this, Reed has pitched 9.1 Major League innings. I don't know what to say about this article other than it's conclusions were probably formed before the author even wrote it. Chum for the already aggrieved, as another poster said.

This does not compute.

It takes a few games for hitters to get their timing back. These guys take pride in what they do. If I was in their position, I’d want to take some hacks against lesser competition before doing it in real games. I just don’t understand how someone could object to this, unless they only see players as something like automatons who are only useful as long as they entertain us.

Where are these anti-rehab takes coming from? Rehab assignments have been SOP for every single team in the league for decades. It’s not some “math boy” thing the Twins just invented. Honestly, the only reason I can think of that a person would complain about it is that they haven’t been watching baseball for very long. Edit: I should say that’s the charitable explanation that comes to mind.

It’s probably not worth debating very much, since it’s a pretty far-fetched scenario. I think it would ruin the game for a few reasons. First is that it would severely limit player earnings and drain the game of high end talent. If a kid with elite athletic talent sees a baseball future of toiling in the minors for poverty wages for half a decade followed by a MLB career where he’ll make maybe $10 million total, will he pursue that or the football career where he can double his total earnings instantly with his first contract? I also think it would ruin individual careers. Imagine if Gerrit Cole had to stay in Pittsburgh his whole career—maybe he blossoms into the pitcher he has actually become, but I wouldn’t bet on it. David Ortiz is another example. He probably wouldn’t have become Big Papi if the Twins tried to get him to slap the ball to left field his whole career. There are a few trash organizations in the league, and anyone unfortunate enough to be trapped there would basically lose any chance at a Hall of Fame career the day they’re drafted. My last point is that I think it would lead to terrible owner behavior and more overreach. What would stop them from dramatically shrinking draft pools, or doing away with them altogether? What would stop them from colluding to suppress the highest salaries in the league? What would stop them from holding the best players in the minors until they’re 25 or 26 years old, so they can guarantee they’ll get them for their entire peak? All of those things would deprive the fans of the best product on the field. It would be a moral abomination to hand over total control of working conditions to ownership in a multi billion dollar industry whose existence depends entirely on the extraordinary athletic abilities of its workers.

Your suggestion is to severely limit and, for many players, outright eliminate free agency—the single biggest victory in the history of the MLBPA? I don’t think that’s going to happen. I also think it would be absolutely devastating for the game itself.

On its face the proposal seems like a good starting point. I agree that the players’ union will almost certainly not agree to lowering the tax threshold. As someone who is habitually skeptical of MLB owners, I also wonder if this could be some kind of end around that winds up giving players less of the overall pie once the numbers shake out. We’ll see what happens!