Is it an injury, a new approach, or is he simply a streaky player? Or all 3? He's always been streaky, so my hope is a cold spell in Sept, a hot streak in Oct.
I don't disagree with you, but I do question if a player who hasn't thrown an MLB pitch is really the best option. Sometimes, yes. Always, definitely not. I'm not enough of a scout or prospect hound to make that call so I'm not getting personally worked up about it. I 100% agree that it's different this year (pennant race) than last year (lost season), even though I made the original comparison to not recalling Buxton last Sept.
Don't they burn an option year if they add players to the 40 man in September? After Buxton last year, I don't see them taking service years lightly and adding Graterol or Alcala.
I'm on board with 2 years. As I just said, his injury history is a concern. But no way I'd go over 2 years without some kind of insurance, option, or incentives.
Agreed on both accounts. Though I question if Pineda can stay healthy. Even before TJ, that was his issue. I'd offer Odo a qualifying offer. It's overpaying, but they have room in the books next year and he'd be foolish not to take it given the FA market the past 2 years.
I know it's just that people have different philosophies about bunting, but I agree in that situation. In a 1-run game, I'd advance the runners to prevent a double play every time. When he tried to put it down, I thought "this will go over well on the game thread."
If the Twins go on another run and take the division easily he's got a chance. He needs media attention to outpace Vlad Jr. Though, compared to MVP and the like, I feel like ROY might be one of the few non-market driven awards.
Reading this thread, people have already appointed him the 2001 KRod, when he's more likely to be the 2019 Fernando Romero at this point. I hope he gets called up and I hope he makes an impact. But it's foolish to assume he'll be Chapman when he's never thrown an MLB pitch.
The multi-innings use is an interesting twist on this. As long as he doesn't end up another Neftali Feliz, I'm fine with shifting him back and forth. I'm more concerned about his injury history at this point.
I love that wall collisions are part of his game. But there's a way to do it. Watching the monthly highlights on ESPN today, I saw Hamilton plant his feet and climb. Buxton just runs straight into it. It's reckless. He makes great plays and it's a game changer, but he need to find a sustainable way to do it. Hunter, for example, ran into walls too. But he only really hit the IL for it once and that was partly because Fenway is...old.
It's a novel idea but I don't see it happened. Once a player has been in the pen more than 2-3 weeks, teams don't seem to re-stretch them out. Instead, when 4-5 innings are needed, they turn to a just called up 26th man. I could see Thorpe going 60 pitches now and then, but not beyond (if he stays in MLB).
I think you specifically mean trade risks. I'd say relying on resurgences or growth from Schoop, Sano, Buxton, Perez, Castro, Kepler, and that Cruz would stay consistent at age 39 was a pretty big risk.