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gagu

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Everything posted by gagu

  1. gagu
    I don't see his 2019 value being an issue if he stays in the same form as last season. He will then project as a clear asset to the team. While that remains to be seen, he is doing fine in ST, .304 average, with only 2 K's in 23 at bats. If things go well, the question for me would be what he would ask for and what role he would play. Just speculation on my part here, I can see him enjoying another season of competing and not being too proud to take an $8 million contract with no guarantee of playing time. IMO, if he is in true form, playing time wouldn't be an issue as long as the team is in contention. I believe him when he says that he isn't going to leave in free agency and I'm not particularly worried about his past injuries. Point is, if he still has it, does he still have the motivation. If he does, he'll play for affordable pay.
  2. gagu
    mikelink45, on 09 Mar 2018 - 10:46 AM, said: This was a good recap, but without Royce Lewis in the conversation it misses a key component of the plan. Nick Nelson Today, 11:34 AM IMO Lewis will end up at either SS or CF. I don't see second base in his future. Could be wrong. I think Mike was referring to Lewis taking over at short which would result in Gordon and Polanco both ending up at 2B. That's my take at least. It's a mix of the present and the future, but if Lewis is on the fast-track and stays at short, he becomes a key component and Polanco becomes part of the equation at 2B. I know that this is a big factor in my thinking in regards to Dozier's future with the Twins. That's why I'm on the fence now and will probably stay there until way into the season. Will Polanco continue to improve his defense at SS; will Lewis continue to move up quickly; does Gordon more potential of being a better than average second baseman, etc. Anyway, it is still a good read.
  3. gagu
    You beat me to it, Tom. LaMarre started strong and hasn't cooled off in the least. He's been the first name I look for in the box score each day since early on. He's probably facing the weaker pitchers and very probably won't make the cut, but he's clearly the fun story of spring training for me.
  4. gagu
    Santana was originally was selected by the Marlins from Houston with the second pick of the 1999 Rule V draft. The Marlins arranged for the Twins to select RH pitcher Jared Camp with the first pick from Cleveland and then trade him to the Twins. The Marlins got the pitcher they wanted, and all it cost them was $25,000 -and Santana. Yikes!
  5. gagu
    I honestly don´t have a strong feeling about what the Twins should do about Dozier. I read and value most of the articles and comments here recently but I've yet to be swayed one way or the other. Its pretty much the same for me with the Vikings QB situation. But while the Vikes have to make a firm plan now, maybe it´s best for the Twins to let the coming months play out before committing to anything. I see the progress of both Gordon and Polanco as wild cards this spring. As someone mentioned earlier, if Lewis keeps advancing at a rapid pace, he becomes a factor in this. I love Dozier and think he has a couple of outstanding seasons left in the tank and the team can be contenders for a couple of seasons. Balance that with the potential damage of locking Dozier into a reasonably hefty 5-year contract that could negatively affect the team in the last couple of years when they could be stronger contenders. Best case scenario for me is that the young guys step up this summer and show that they can close the clear gap in production and provide solid middle infield defense in 2019. Until then, I´m on the fence.
  6. gagu
    Yup. He has had better stats vs RHB´s for the last five seasons.
  7. gagu
    Mauer also has better post-season numbers than HOFer Carew over only 40 and 50 at-bats, respectively. Mauer has a .275 DA, with a .341 OBP. Underrating a career for near average production in just a handful of post-season games is overrated. That said, clutch hitting in the post-season is certainly a big positive. For that reason, Puckett has to be right there with Mauer, Puckett, and Killebrew.
  8. gagu
    Thanks for doing the research on age, 2wins. I was going to do the same thing after reading the comments. You saved me a good hour.
  9. gagu
    You may be right about managers not wanting to play both catchers in the same game, but I don´t see a problem with it. I definitely believe that managers are hesitant to pinch hit for or pull a catcher from a game. If Castro got hurt, Garver would move behind the plate and Sano or Kepler could fill in at first. The Giants have regularly given Posey thirty or so starts at first with only two catchers on the roster. The difference is that they're giving Posey a break from catching, whereas the Twins would be resting Mauer. My question would be whether Garver hits well enough to merit the move. It could be a good way to get Garver more at-bats as he develops as a major leaguer. It´s an interesting idea, SF.
  10. gagu
    I don't think you can pigeonhole Allison as right fielder. From ´64 thru '70 he played more games in left than in right, and he was primarily a center fielder in his ´59 ROY season. For his career, he appeared in 8 more games in left field than in right. If you subtract his stats in Washington, Allison played 144 more games in left. Hrbek was at worst a pretty good defender. Led the league in fielding in ´90, twice 2nd, along with 3rd and 4th finishes. Hrbek ranks 51st all-time in fielding % at first base. Here is a stunning find; Mauer ranks 4th all-time, Mienkiewicz tied for 6th, and Morneau 9th. Mauer ranks #1 among all among all active players at both 1B and catcher. His Fld% at catcher is 6th all-time, tied with Jason Castro. Mike Redmond ranked 3rd, Pierzynski is ranked 8th, Lenny Webster, 11th, Suzuki 22nd, Ramos 24th. Conclusion: Hell if I know, other than the Twins dominate the statistic at C and at 1B. Gaetti played a career total of 36 innings at SS, 3 innings at 2B, 2 1/3 innings pitched, and 106 innings in the outfield. He didn't play a whole lot at 1b or DH. Gaetti played over 20,000 innings during his 20-year career, with 4 Gold Gloves. I´d give the nod to Gaetti at third over Koskie. End of nitpicking. An enjoyable, thought-provoking article.
  11. gagu
    Vargas Career Splits vs RHP AB 526 HR 26 W 38 SO 171 BA.241 OBP .295 SLG. 439 OPS.735 vs LHP AB 257 HR 14 W 27 SO 80 BA.272 OBP .341 SLG .432 OPS.773 What was the deal with Vargas in 2017? While the sample sizes are small, he torched left-handed pitchers in ´15 and ´16. VS LHP in ´15- .364 .397 .473 .869, VS LHP in ´16- 378 .462 .800 1.262 VS LHP in ´17- .185 .289 .308 .597 His combined MLB/MiLB career splits are more varied but seem to show better numbers as a right-handed batter. Did the opposition find his Achilles heel from the right side, or is there reason to believe that he can once again produce big numbers against lefties?
  12. gagu
    I think that it's conjecture to the extreme. Has it been reported anywhere that the vision problem rules out a potential MLB career? Is the 100/20 vision report false? Is a physical just a charade? As I see it, until facts prove otherwise, a defect was discovered that lowers his value to something less than $3 million dollars. It doesn't mean that he isn't worth signing at all. It just means that his market value has dropped following a customary physical. Due diligence is a good thing.
  13. gagu
    I don't thinjk the contract clause is much of a factor. Santana has logged 200+ innings twice in the past six seasons. If he regresses more than expected I don't see much chance that he locks in. If Ervin is trending 200 in late August, it probably will mean that he still has it. If his arm goes south, shows it's age, late in the season, it would be logical that his workload would decrease. There would be no need pull him early to prevent him from locking in. Point is, Ervin's history shows that he is a steal at $13/14 million when he is able to pitch 200 innings.
  14. gagu
    Note that the previous SEC Triple Crown winner was Rafael Palmeiro. A different style, but it would be nice to see Rooker bringing that kind of production.
  15. gagu
    I worry about Seattle more than NY. Otani grew up during Ichiru's ten All-Star seasons there. Seattle got a ton of coverage in Japan during that time. In 2010, Seattle had a 14% Asian population, though only 1.1% Japanese. The downtown inner harbor zip code is 7.7 % Japanese, a pure downtown area with a small population, but high rent housing and close to Safeco. It's also the closest location to Japan. I think a lot depends on how money hungry Otani is and how much influence his agent carries. His agent is likely pushing NYC. NYC for the hard cash, Seattle for the comfort, and the Twins for the best spot to start his MLB career.
  16. gagu
    What's the story on Vargas batting RH vs RH pitchers? 2 of the 3 homers batting right came against right-handers. Baseball Reference lists all of his 2017 and career at-bats vs RH pitchers coming from the left side. Am I missing something? Is baseball Reference missing something? Also, that HR 483' bomb was the only one he hit against a lefty last season. I'm a long way from home, so it's rare to ever see a Twins game. Is Vargas giving up on the left side? His splits from the right side improved greatly from 2015, the opposite result from the left side.
  17. gagu
    I love these articles. Always interesting. My only quibble is that many, if not most of the capsules don't list the age of the player. The stats are hard to evaluate without knowing the age. Marte, for instance, might seem obvious because he was a 16-year-old international signee, but it would be nice if I didn't have to bother doing the math. Anyway, just a request. Either way, the ranking articles always get an A+ from me.
  18. gagu
    Tough crowd this morning. Looking back, I enjoyed a surprising and exciting season. I commented optimistically in mid-June that the team had a chance of going into the All-Star break with a winning record. The assumption by most, if I remember correctly, was that the floor was going to collapse eventually, sooner rather than later. Then came the trade deadline dump. The team became stronger. Anyway, it was a season of many good memories and I'm looking forward to the future.
  19. gagu
    If you use 4 starters, there would never be a need for anyone to pitch with 3 days rest. If every game goes to the limit, there are still 10 off days guaranteed. Slotting the starters by order of preference, the #1 and #2 pitchers would each get 6 starts, the #3 pitcher 5 starts, and #4, 3 starts. Regardless of sweeping, going the limit, or anything in between, if everyone always gets at least 4 days rest, the #4 starter gets called on 3 times. The ALDS is the one series that allows the team to nix the #4 starter completely by having only the #! pitcher go on 3 days rest. That's because there is a day off between games 2 and 3, and another between potential games 4 and 5.
  20. gagu
    "....(even recording a three-out save in a game which the Twins won by 10 runs...." A misprint here. It was a three inning save. The other is impossible to achieve. Nonetheless, a great read. Nathan was lights out, and trading Liriano brought us the joy of Escobar.
  21. gagu
    Trout isn't a third of the way to Ruth if you count the latter's 20.6 WAR he earned as a pitcher. The important thing about that detail isn't the number, but that Ruth didn't become a regular in the field until his age 24 season, a year where he also pitched 133 innings. It wasn't until his age 25 season that he racked up the first of nine WARs of 10 and higher as a batter. Trout needs 110 WAR to beat Bonds and 130 WAR to catch Ruth. Trout has the potential, and he is a truly great player, but besting Ruth is a very tall order.
  22. gagu
    Comparisons to Trout at this point dilute the argument. A few moons ago, Buxton was looked upon by many as a player whose outstanding defensive play outweighed his mediocre offensive production. I think he has broken out as a hitter and put the abysmal hitting in the rear view mirror for good, but whether he can sustain close to the level of hitting he has brought recently over the long term is a very open question. I'm quite pleased that our guy with a.715 OPS looks like a stone All Star.I'll be open to considering MVP talk in 8 or 9 months. Knock on wood.
  23. gagu
    Reusse has been a nasty cheap shot artist for decades. I'll refrain from going further on such an easy target. Souhan also thrives on negativity, but he at least makes some arguments in the process of tearing into people. Sano is a special talent. We need to remember that he's only 24 and he missed the entire 2014 season before breaking in as a regular midway through the following season. He has really impressed me with his ability at third base this season, especially after going through the RF experiment last season. His best days are ahead of him
  24. gagu
    Seth, I see that Rooker is 3-28, with 10 K's, and 2 BB´s in his last six games. Have they found a hole in his swing?
  25. gagu
    The first signability question. pick. Extra allotment $$ may be in play here. From minorleagueball.com: "PROJECTION Enlow projects as a mid-rotation starter, although he could be more than that if his fastball reaches its maximum potential and if the change-up develops into a plus pitch. He’s being mentioned as a late first round or supplemental round possibility on draft day and he’ll definitely need to be selected early due to the signability issues. College becomes increasingly likely if he gets too far past the top of the second round."
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