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spinowner

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Everything posted by spinowner

  1. spinowner
    I don't know if there are any statistics regarding reviews of calls on check swings. I've seen statistics that the best umpires are about 90% correct on balls and strikes compared to automated systems and I would guess that corner base umpires are better at judging check swings than home plate umpires are at judging balls and strikes.
  2. spinowner
    Proof: Don Mattingly won 10 in a row during the time that Kent Hrbek played first base for the Twins. Don Mattingly handled first base fine, but Hrbek made many plays Mattingly could not have because of the difference in height. And no-one was better than Hrbek at catching those foul pops.
  3. spinowner
    I don't dislike the Astros. I can't say that about the other three teams.
  4. spinowner
    Ish.
  5. spinowner
    The Hate-watch thread made me start to think about this--who is my second-favorite team? (No, my second-favorite team, not my second-favorite first baseman.) I haven't come up with an answer to this question for myself yet. My younger son has generally also liked the Cardinals, partly because he was a fan of Albert Pujols back when Albert Pujols was Albert Pujols. Feel free to comment, saying who and, if possible, why.
  6. spinowner
    The Red Sox were my second favorite team until Doug Mientkiewicz caught the ball to end the 2004 WS. Once they had won their long-sought championship I had no reason to like them any more. Now they are just the Yankees with beards.
  7. spinowner
    As stupid as this is, it will be helpful to his chances that he had a resurgence offensively this year too. I suppose that helps to make voters more aware of him.
  8. spinowner
    Mauer has nearly as much arm as Sano, and more than most 3B's. It's one of the things that made him one of the best catchers in baseball.
  9. spinowner
    I posted on the other thread that's basically the same as this one.
  10. spinowner
    Here are the solutions, IM not-so-H O: 1. One minute between half innings. The players hustle in, hustle out. Fielders need to be ready to take their positions. Pitcher gets 15 seconds to get to the mound then another 45 seconds to get his 8 warm-ups in then play ball. That's how it was up until about the 1970's. Double the price of a 30-second advertising spot and your revenue would stay the same. Advertisers will be willing to pay. The same for pitching changes. Get the reliever to the mound as quickly as possible using a golf cart or something. He has 45 seconds to get his 8 warmups in. 2. Pitch clock and batter clock, but only when the bases are empty. 3a. Larger strike zone. 3b. Lower pitcher's mound. Pitchers will be able to throw strikes more easily and batters will be less likely to try to work the count because there will be more strikes. The lower mound will reduce K's because the balls will be easier to hit, however this will be offset by the larger zone resulting in fewer strikes being hit well. Fewer deep counts, more balls in play, fewer K's, fewer BB's, fewer HR's. With these changes it will not be necessary to ruin the game by limiting pitcher changes or trips to the mound.
  11. spinowner
    It's hard to believe that anyone who knew anything about baseball EVER hired Bobby Valentine. As for Gardy, I would think he probably could do pretty well managing the Red Sox.
  12. spinowner
    Five teams left, ranked in order for me from hate to like: Yankees Cubs Dodgers Astros = Nats
  13. spinowner
    Because we needed a first baseman more than we needed a third baseman at the time that he quit catching.
  14. spinowner
    Yes. Playing him at third base makes the best use of his talents. He's got the arm to play third. (Keep in mind he was a shortstop as a young teenager, probably because of that.) His glove work improved this year over last year. His range will be acceptable if he keeps his weight down. And the glove and range should improve with coaching, experience, and hard work.
  15. spinowner
    It's not just fielding. FA pitchers will want to go to teams that excel at everything but pitching. They get lots of playing time because they are needed and they get lots of support. Locking up a roster with good hitters, good fielders, and good baserunners means that pitchers will want to come here, which means they'll be more likely to sign at a lower salary level here than elsewhere.
  16. spinowner
    I've said this before--the three mentioned in the OP plus Berrios, Kepler and Polanco. All are candidates for long term deals at some point in the next 2-3 years. I'd love it if they were all locked in, but it's easy for me to say what Mr. Pohlad should do with his money. As expensive as Mauer was, the organization would have been worse off not paying him the money. And I think the team got very good value from Dozier's mid-length deal. Same with Ervin. But there's always risk as we found out with Phil Hughes, and that's why it's a gamble. These six players all show signs of being valuable players, and for that reason it's probably in the best long-term interest of the team to pay long-term money. And don't forget that teams usually insure contracts to give the team relief in case of player injury.
  17. spinowner
    This post captures the essence of the situation. Falvey still has a lot of work ahead of him to build the Minnesota Twins. I say build instead of rebuild because he is really starting from scratch on the project of assembling an organization from top to bottom in his vision. He knows what he wants to do but he can't neglect what's in place in the meantime. I think he decided that Molitor will be satisfactory in handling the current major league team but as his vision becomes reality and he identifies someone who will better fit what he wants in a manager he'll thank Molitor for his service and make a change.
  18. spinowner
    I would not be surprised if this offense is the best offense in baseball in 2018. Excepting Mauer and Dozier the players are young enough that they reasonably can be expected to improve, in some cases significantly. Mauer and Dozier reasonably can be expected to regress slightly. I'm guessing that there will be a net improvement next year.
  19. spinowner
    No.
  20. spinowner
    I am not surprised by this, and it will be interesting to see whom Molitor and Falvine pursue and eventually sign. However, I think minor league pitching coaching is more important than major league pitching coaching. With a few rare exceptions like Bert Blyleven or Dwight Gooden that's where pitchers become pitchers. It's in the minor leagues where the approach to developing pitchers really needs to change in this organization. The goal would be to have the major league coach doing little more than making fine-tuning adjustments.
  21. spinowner
    I hadn't really thought of this, but how much of an increase following how much of a decrease is required for a comeback award? And if there's that much of an increase then shouldn't a player be both a comeback and a most improved?
  22. spinowner
    Rosario is older, I think he has more service time, and I think he'll be arb-eligible sooner. Not sure about the last two but I think that will factor in. I hope that he, Buxton, Sano and Berrios all get locked up long term during the next 2-3 years.
  23. spinowner
    Yes. It can be done.
  24. spinowner
    I'm a Rosario fan. I've mentioned before that his inducement of a balk against the Brewers in July was my favorite play of the year and reveals an instinct for baseball that can't be taught. Other unteachable skills are the wrists and bat speed that Brock mentioned. I think that with maturity and experience his occasional confounding defensive plays and swings at unhittable pitches will decrease and he will be an improved player offensively and defensively. I will predict he'll be the first of our emerging young players to receive a long term contract extension.
  25. spinowner
    Falvine and Pohlad also have to consider organization-wide expenses. There is still much work to be done to rebuild what I call the infrastructure of this organization, meaning scouting and player development. I don't know what expenses will be incurred during this process but it's not going to cost less than what has been spent in past regimes. I would argue that even though the dollar amount of infrastructure costs will presumably be lower than major league payroll those matters may be as high a priority or maybe even a higher priority than the 2018 payroll. I believe that the front office has a goal of having a major league team that can contend for a world championship every year, a difficult but attainable goal, especially for a mid-market budget. It's a difficult balancing act to allocate resources properly but we must not lose sight of that goal.
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