Hrbowski

What does Melky Cabrera's mother say when she is mad at him?

http://s3.amazonaws.com/vnn-aws-sites/8161/files/2015/08/7dbd9321d5e32c89-image-600x338.jpg Joshua Lowe is a 6'4", 190 lb. two way player who is committed to Florida State University. Lowe will likely be drafted as a position player because he will hit for power as he physically matures, is an above average runner, and plays good defense. Josh will play third if he is drafted as a position player, and his great arm and quickness makes him the best defensive third baseman at the top of this year's class. As a hitter he uses a slight open stance and short stroke that helps him barrel up the ball well, with most scouts believing he will be an average big league hitter. The Georgia native is also getting some consideration as a pitcher, but his inconsistent secondary offerings limit his ceiling. The right handed thrower sits in the 91-93 miles per hour range with his fastball and tops out at 95. The Minnesota Twins are big fans of Lowe, who has a high ceiling as an offensive player, yet if he does not work out as a hitter they can always move him to the mound.

Hicks could end up better than Rosario, so I don't think that Hicks would have been a guaranteed bench player.

It doesn't make a difference if they don't add wins to the team. Hicks had over 400 plate appearances, which is definitely enough to judge a season. Murphy is being blocked anyways, and now just got sent down.

Two player trades that involve a prospect would fall under adding future value. Leo Cardenas for Jim Merrit was an ok trade, but Cardenas probably added only two wins to the team.

http://www.geeksandcleats.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/brian-cashman-geeksandcleats.jpg Throughout the offseason and up until July 31st of the regular season, Major League Baseball teams can freely trade any player who does not have a no trade clause in his contract, making trading an aspect that is very much focused upon. In the last decade, trades have had a huge effect on the baseball seasons, bringing key players to championship teams like the Kansas City Royals, or loosening payroll, which then allows teams like the Boston Red Sox to spend big during the offseason, enabling them to bring in star players. Trades involve professional players of all ages and capabilities, whether it is the San Francisco Giants trading for a veteran Marco Scutaro to help fuel a postseason run, or the Kansas City Royals trading their star pitcher Zack Greinke for prospects that will guide them to a World Series title five years down the road. Trades like these are a traditional part of baseball, and as long as they remain legal they will continue to be. Today I will look at the impact that two player trades have on a team’s value, including the Aaron Hicks for John Ryan Murphy trade, trades that do not have an effect on how many games you win, and swapping problems. The Minnesota Twins made headlines on November 11th, 2015, when they struck a deal with the New York Yankees, giving up center fielder Aaron Hicks in exchange for catcher John Ryan Murphy. At the time the trade did not bother me, yet looking back half a year later it makes me wonder why this trade ever happened, not because Aaron Hicks is having a breakout year for the Yankees, but because it did not add to or take away value from the team. Clearly both teams were well aware that it would not change their value, as the plan for both players was to have them spend the 2016 season on the bench, and they have essentially the same hitting skills. On the defensive side of the ball Hicks has a slight advantage, but the trade leveled out because of the Twins’ need for a young catcher, thanks in part to the trade of Wilson Ramos, who has not hit much, but has become one of the best defensive catchers in the game. As I mentioned earlier, Hicks and Murphy are pretty much the same kind of hitter; as can be seen in the graphs below, their batted ball and plate discipline numbers for the year 2015 are nearly identical. Hicks Batted Ball: Murphy Batted Ball: Hicks Plate Discipline: Murphy Plate Discipline: With these statistics in my mind, I started wondering why teams would trade two hitters who provided equal value with their bats because they could go out and grab a minor league player who would provide the same amount of value sitting on the bench that the player they were trading for had and still keep their original player. After expounding on this, I began wondering why teams would make trades that only involved two players as you would not be buying or selling; instead, you would only be making a trade that would have little effect on how many games you win. When teams are performing well enough to make a postseason run, they look at their weak spots and search for solutions to help upgrade, and when they make a trade to add immediate value, it is called buying. Meanwhile, when a team is performing poorly and is out of contention, they will look at their strong spots and try to trade away from them, helping them to accumulate value to dip into down the road. With this constant shifting of talent, we generally see waves of teams that will be good for a few years, bad for a few years, and then become competitive ball clubs again, but these changes in the standings are logical since there are thirty teams fighting for a trophy, yet it seems unreasonable to make trades that do not add immediate or future value. An analogy would be someone selling something they had and then buying an upgrade or a downgrade, whether it was a house, car, or even a lawn mower. A house, car, or lawn mower have significantly different value from each other, similar to Clayton Kershaw, Michael Wacha, and Tom Koehler. Also, there would be no point in selling something and then buying a replacement that had exactly the same value. Although you could be selling a house in Minnesota to get away from the cold and then buying a house with the same value in Florida, similar to the Twins trading a center fielder for a catcher that had approximately the same value, you would still end up with problems they have in Florida, which could be extreme heat, hurricanes, or sinkholes. The Twins and Yankees have had the same issues with the Hicks/Murphy trade, both ending up with hitters who have done relatively nothing at the plate so far this year, yet they do provide improvements in a few areas such as depth, but nothing you could not find elsewhere. To sum it up, trades that do not add either immediate or future value to a team are pointless because it does not matter which position is contributing to the team as long as you are benefiting equally. Some people will argue that trades involving two players that supposedly need a change of scenery would give both teams an upgrade over their previous roster, but even though you get rid of a problem, you just end up bringing in another one. Another common scenario is when a team has depth at one position yet is thin at another, they will trade from their depth to fill their need, but when you are still getting the same kind of production from your new player, it does not improve your team. Several of the trades the Twins have made would fall into this category, with the Carlos Gomez for JJ Hardy being the most famous, but also the Sam Fuld for Tommy Milone trade. These trades have no merit, and just end up with teams wondering why they chose hurricanes over blizzards.

The only bipartisan thing about it is the anger.

We got two puppies in 2011 to help cope with the horrible Twins, but now I wish we would have gotten two cats to pair with the two dogs we already had.

I always stay positive away from the internet because there is the draft, but sometimes on the internet I promote the firing of Molitor.

Armenteros is the only one without a deal in place. Vladimir Gutierrez, Lazaro Armenteros, and Randy Arozarena are available, so we should be keeping an eye on them.

The Cubs and Dodgers are. Blue Jays and Giants might be.

Mauer gets on base....

OH YEAH!!

You rarely see Hughes this wild.

Nope... It's Logan Forsythe.

Reminds me of Dee Gordon.

The Astros' announcers are comparing Fiers to Dwight Gooden. LOL!

Remember what Mike Redmond would do when he got in a slump? Maybe Murphy should give it a try.

Things to think about: Texas - Texas is one of the best baseball states in the country, with only California and Florida having more active Major League Baseball players, and compared to Minnesota's measly 6 native born players the 69 from Texas are quite a lot. Baseball is not the most interesting aspect of Texas, because they have rednecks, which by definition is a working class white person, especially a politically reactionary one. Rednecks like things big, and they especially like big guns, which is why big, bullet throwing pitchers come out of Texas. Exciting teams that do bad - This is something that the Twins and Astros both are, so what they should try to do is become boring teams that do good. I actually do not know if there is such a thing, except the Yankees doing good. Unwanted Ramifications - Once upon a time a former Minnesota Twin got mad, and well he was trying to vent his anger he accidentally hurt his star teammate: The moral of the story? Watch your posting. Entropy - Entropy is a thermodynamic quantity representing the unavailability of a system's thermal energy for conversion into mechanical work, often interpreted as the degree of disorder or randomness in the system. This got me wondering, is there anyway to measure disorder in baseball? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmXacL0Uny0 Lineups: TWINS Danny Santana(S) CF Brian Dozier(R ) 2B Joe Mauer(L) DH Miguel Sano(R ) RF Trevor Plouffe(R ) 3B Byung-ho Park(R ) 1B Oswaldo Arcia(L) LF John Ryan Murphy(R ) C Eduardo Nunez(R ) SS Phil Hughes P ASTROS Jose Altuve(R ) 2B George Springer(R ) RF Carlos Correa(R ) SS Colby Rasmus(L) LF Carlos Gomez(R ) CF Preston Tucker(L) DH Marwin Gonzalez(S) 1B Luis Valbuena(L) 3B Jason Castro(L) C Mike Fiers P Game-time forecast: 81 deg F, clear and sunny, no chance of rain, winds from the NW at 10mph.

I will not be a vichy republican, or support Trump like a communist because of the party. GO HILLARY!!

I just am not impressed enough with the college hitting in this year's class other than Lewis and Senzel, and they won't sign underslot. Mickey Moniak might sign slightly underslot, but not enough to grab a prep player who has fallen.

More positivity: The Yankees are riding a six game losing streak!

Positive stat of the day: The Twins are 8-0 in games where they outscored their opponent.

Go ahead.

And also the feelings of men who are not dirty.