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Alex

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Everything posted by Alex

  1. Alex
    I definitely wouldn't call him a bust, but there's something significant going on with him mechanically or mentally. He's had 131 PAs and has a .528 OPS. He's never hit for great average in the minors but he also never had an OPS below .800 in the last three years.
  2. Alex
    Willingham swung at the first pitch as well and made an out. Plouffe is responsible for the only run tonight. I'm not saying he's been great (or even good) but I'd like to see him get some extended play and see if that gets him in a rythm and he gets some hits. He's worked 10 walks in 60 PA. There aren't options at 3B right now, so I'm fine if the Twins give him another couple weeks.
  3. Alex
    Now that was good to see. Joe crushed that ball. Twins need to score this inning. Plouffe has had good plate discipline this season. I'd like to see some more games for him.
  4. Alex
    Exactly. It's nothing to do with stretching a pitcher out two innings. In fact, iirc, The Book mentions using the closer (good ones anyway) for more than the last three outs increases win percentage.
  5. Alex
    Need a save stat for fielders.
  6. Alex
    Jays making Target Field look like a hitters park.
  7. Alex
    Blackburn looks pretty good,tonight. Nice to see. Edit: Oops.
  8. Alex
    I actually think it was a hit and run, and even if it wasn't, I disagree with the logic here. It evened up the count on Dozier, when it would have been 2-0 to a pitcher throwing poorly (horrible pitch). I also don't think you're looking at it quite the right way. Base stealing typically considered risky for little gain in general with a drastic cost if caught. This was even more risky. Look at the numbers. If he is safe, he doesn't gain much. However, being caught means he essentially loses the chance for a run. A basestealer needing to be successful 71% of the time for the steal to be worthwhile is a poor play.
  9. Alex
    Then they make it easy on Drabek to get out of the inning. Hit and run on 1-0 on terrible pitch would have been 2-0 but is a CS instead and gets the count back to even. Poor play calling there, especially woth a runner on 3rd. I liked the 3-2 hit and run but this one's on the manager.
  10. Alex
    Day off and it's his birthday.
  11. Alex
    I agree. He has been one of the best players in baseball, especially in terms of value, in a couple of different seasons. I'd like us to give him at least one season (or most of one) where he isn't hurt, though, too, before we start judging the contract and it's actual value.
  12. Alex
    Part of my point was "that guy" you'd like to have back was actually worth the new contract. If he were actually paid for the 2009 year, they would have had to pay him a lot more. I don't think anyone wants to set the bar low, but that it's unrealistic to think that because he's being paid 23M/year he's magically going to develop into vocal leader and a guy who hits 30HR a season. He was never the former and had one great season where he was the latter, but that season was just that -- one season. Yeah, WAR and Value are contingent on position played. I think that some people feel that Mauer ripped them off, which I think is a bit unfair and the reason I posted the value numbers. He was easily worth the amount of his contract at the time the deal was made. In hindsight, obviously, he certainly hasn't been worth $23M since signing. However, he wasn't healthy last year and this year he hasn't been the same since taking the ball off the knee. He was hitting pretty well until that point. As Parker laid out, there are pretty clear indicators he's hurt or that they're at least trying to give him some rest. Thanks to the problems last year he's now pretty much damned if he doesn't play (hurt or not) and damned if he plays while injured and his numbers suffer because of it.
  13. Alex
    This is exactly correct. Mauer was worth 35M in 2009 while in 2008 and 2010 were in the mid 20s. If he plays less catcher that would change, obviously.
  14. Alex
    Most multi-year 20 million plus contracts aren't going to be good, especially for their entire duration. Some of the best players in baseball have signed contracts like Mauer's (A Rod, Pujols) and no one really thought they were good contracts to start, but it's what the demand was for that player. Interestingly, according to Fangraphs player value, Mauer has been worth 22.2M or more in 4 seasons 2006, 2007, 2009, and 2010. For comparison, only Morneau's 2010 reached even 20M in value while a hitter like Pujols, ie the best in baseball, had several seasons in the 30M range.
  15. Alex
    I've mentioned this elsewhere, but I'm highly concerned that last year the organization's awful communication about his injuries as well as the media's criticism of him last season led to the fanbase turning against him. That monster is now well out of control and has led to unreal expectations for him regarding reasonable playing time and playing while hurt. Additionally, from those same areas there have been expectations about power hitting and leadership that just don't seem to be who Joe Mauer is, but is expected to develop into simply because the Twins gave him a big contract, as if money were wishes. This environment, including the the team losing, may likely be leading both the Twins an Mauer Into making poor decisions that aren't going to help him be as effective as he can be.
  16. Alex
    Or the lack of power in the Twins lineup? Both have to be accounted for and comparisons need to be made between how hitters perform there as well as at home (edit: and it appears they do). Willingham, for instance has almost all his HR at Target Field if I remember correctly. Point is, though I'll have to check how ESPN does it's calculations, any park at which the Twins take half the at bats, it's going to be low....
  17. Alex
    I actually think Morneau is going to be playing there more often, and I think one reason they decided to keep Parmelee was because Morneau was set to DH. If they keep Butera and use Doumit and Mauer as you describe, I understand the reasoning behind 3 catchers, but my point was that that's even more reason to drop that 13th pitcher.
  18. Alex
    The only way the Twins are going to get any value out of Liriano is if he becomes an effective reliever. If he can actually thrive in that role, teams may forget about him starting, or better yet, they might think that he could be an effective reliever eventually become a starter for them. I think they need to waive/demote another pitcher, or maybe trade one of them. I can't believe they are still carrying 13. 3 catchers is fine, if Mauer's still being bothered by that knee. If he's not, well, then with the rest of the roster set up the way it is, it's inexcusable.
  19. Alex
    Even if Revere were playing as well as Mastroianni for Rochester, you don't Revere up playing every third day. He's better off getting at bats everyday in AAA.
  20. Alex
    I don't see Span getting a starting pitcher of any high quality back, and I also don't see their franchise returning to the top for a couple years anyway. I'm actually going to be optimistic regarding Scott Diamond, Gibson, and maybe Hendriks (after more time in the minors) in that timeframe, which would be an interesting pitching nucleus. On the other hand, nabbing a couple more starting pitching prospects other ways would allow them to hedge their bets. Not sure or not if teams will trade that for Span.
  21. Alex
    I agree in general. I'd like to see him gain more at-bats and confidence at AAA so that potential is maximized rather than having him slumping in the majors and then sitting on the bench.
  22. Alex
    They won six. I think that actually makes it more sad.
  23. Alex
    The Twins are the Washington Generals of the MLB. I hope that changes.
  24. Alex
    I understand the point about another hole to fill, but as for his expected performance, I don't see the evidence. In the high minors he hit .280 in general and .290 in 2010. He hit low double digits in HR in almost every level of the minors. However, his combined AAA OPS was .743, and in general, his plate discipline has not been all that good at any level. In essence, I think that what we saw from Valencia last year is probably what could be expected in terms of career, a high .600s OPS hitter. I'd like to see Plouffe get some chances at 3B or would have liked to Burroughs get more opportunities there, at least until he "proved" he couldn't hit either. To be clear, I'm not saying that we have great options to replace him, but at this point, anything is worth trying.
  25. Alex
    Especially odd for a team that didn't want to spend another $1M-$2M on a backup bat or reliever.
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