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nicksaviking

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Everything posted by nicksaviking

  1. nicksaviking
    Garver is the ONLY loss in that situation, and he's been injured basically the entire time. IFK and Rortvedt have no businesses being anything other than emergency, last-man-on-the-bench players and Donaldson is done. The Twins did a great job recognizing Donaldson was finished and getting the equity back so they could use it elsewhere.
  2. nicksaviking
    Nashville, Portland and now Salt Lake City (don't see that happening) are the places with established groups campaigning for a team. Since MLB has four places, including St Pete, vying for only one team now, I'd guess they'd pit them all against each other and make sure the word 'expansion' is verboten from all league talks until they fleece the city with the most generous offer.
  3. nicksaviking
    Seemed inevitable, but sounds like there's no stopping the relocation now. https://www.reviewjournal.com/sports/athletics/major-league-deal-as-to-purchase-land-near-strip-for-new-ballpark-2764701/ In this case the city isn't without some liability I feel as that truly is a wretched stadium that they never had much appetite to fix. However, that ownership group sounds as vile as any in the sport. They have suppressed payroll for decades for the sole purpose of negotiating a better stadium deal, and now this sounds like the A's will fully fund the new Vegas stadium while Vegas is letting them develop the land around it. They were never offering to fully fund or even majority fund the proposed stadium in Oakland. I'd feel bad for Oakland fans but the franchise seems to have made a concerted effort to have no fans at this point.
  4. nicksaviking
    Yeah, I don't think we know the strategy from this distance, but I tend to think it's this one. The Twins would rather save the bullets for when he gets called up. Because while they MAY limit him at the MLB level because they don't want him going through the order three times, I don't think that would be the intention in AAA, I think it would be just an attempt to keep him healthy.
  5. nicksaviking
    With the high hopes we (I) had for Graterol, I'd honestly be pretty disappointed in him had he still been a Twin. He's been OK, but for the most part pretty fungible. That his fastball never translated into dominant strikeout numbers would have been a huge disappointment. MAYBE the Twins front office would have had him drop the sinker for a four seamer, and they probably wouldn't have had him add the cutter since the cutter and sinker are a pretty redundant pitch, but the Dodgers are known for getting the most out of their pitchers, so I'd think they're getting close to the most he has to offer.
  6. nicksaviking
    I know it wasn't a popular move keeping Sands, but I really like how they're using the last spot in the pitching staff. Sands to Varland to Headrick, this flexibility is exactly what they needed this year, and it's a great way to give these guys the experience and audition they need for next year.
  7. nicksaviking
    I don't want to label Gordon a fluke either, but that very poor BB% was not a good omen. Gordon does have the same thing Miranda has going for him in that neither are striking out much this year, the balls just aren't falling in. Still, I'd not be inclined to give Gordon the full year to recover as he doesn't have a terribly high ceiling. I hope the team doesn't shy away from tough decisions like losing a Gordon or Kepler just because they want to stockpile assets. Now is clearly not the time to have to worry about those tough decisions, but it's likely coming in the months ahead.
  8. nicksaviking
    I know this won't go over well, but if everyone was healthy, I'd honestly prefer Garlick to Kepler. Offensively they're a push, maybe Garlick's a bit better, but Garlick's is a righty. I mean, option C is preferable if option C emerges.
  9. nicksaviking
    I'll take his bat even if I get nothing else, because so far half of the team is incapable of hitting.
  10. nicksaviking
    Seems like there's a lot of wanting the cake and eating it too. Everyone complained about all the injuries and missed time last year and now the team is at least trying to control that with Buxton but that's not satisfactory either. Aside from the reconstructed knee, Buxton has also had plenty of soft tissue injuries, so I'd guess having him run as little as possible in the cold months is also part of the plan. I'm not saying I care for any of this, and since I don't know the specific diagnosis, I have no idea if I'd agree with the current plan, but there's little need to explain why they are using significant caution as we are all familiar with the Byron Buxton saga by now.
  11. nicksaviking
    That should have been 3 days ago. Either call up Julien, or make a tough decision on someone else. This is ridiculous.
  12. nicksaviking
    Yeah, Canterino would have to end up being HOF good if you're actually going to worry about paying him during his age 32 season.
  13. nicksaviking
    Why the heck isn't Matt Canterino on the 60 day IL yet? Has this been covered elsewhere? The Twins only have one healthy position player on the 40-man that's not already up at the majors. Shouldn't Canterino be moved ASAP so there's more room for an emergency bat?
  14. nicksaviking
    I think the strikeouts will be a problem for Wallner, but I’m happy to give him a chance to prove otherwise.
  15. nicksaviking
    Yeah, probably even more valuable than starting pitchers. My faith in Miller’s bat ever developing is very low, but these are better lotto tickets than corner players.
  16. nicksaviking
    Are there comps of offensively gifted MLB shortstops who struggled as badly as Miller has in Rookie League and low A Ball? I know it's only been two years and he's young, but if we're just looking at a glove-only player, I'm not going to push too hard. You can always sign a Jose Iglesias or Kiner-Falafa type cheaply as free agents. I'd make sure to defer to the higher ceiling prospects.
  17. nicksaviking
    I'm up for trying anything, but I think with Kepler, he'd have to overhaul his entire swing to get new results. His high exit velocity numbers are somehow buoyed by his ground balls: https://www.brooksbaseball.net/h_tend.php?player=596146&gFilt=&&time=year&minmax=ci&var=hitspeed&s_type=13&startDate=03/30/2007&endDate=04/06/2023 Additionally, his heat zones show he hits a high number of ground balls no matter where in the zone the ball is thrown. Somehow, even pitches at the top of the zone and ABOVE the zone he's turning into groundballs 25%+ of the time. Pitches sitting right in the middle of the plate he's still driving into the ground 30-40% of the time. https://www.brooksbaseball.net/h_profile.php?player=596146&gFilt=&pFilt=FA|SI|FC|CU|SL|CS|KN|CH|FS|SB&time=year&minmax=ci&var=gb&s_type=2&startDate=03/30/2007&endDate=04/06/2023&balls=-1&strikes=-1&b_hand=-1 By comparison here's Joey Gallo's: https://www.brooksbaseball.net/h_profile.php?player=608336&gFilt=&pFilt=FA|SI|FC|CU|SL|CS|KN|CH|FS|SB&time=month&minmax=ci&var=gb&s_type=2&startDate=03/30/2007&endDate=04/06/2023&balls=-1&strikes=-1&b_hand=-1 Certainly laying off pitches below the zone will result in fewer groundballs, but Max hits too many balls on the ground no matter where in the zone they are thrown.
  18. nicksaviking
    Looking at Brooks Baseball, Sands was throwing four seemers, two seemers, sliders and splitters yesterday, and he barely threw the slider. That's too many pitches, stop treating him like a starter. Cut out the splitter or two seemer at least, and get that slider usage up.
  19. nicksaviking
    Rarely do the first few picks go as expected, and after getting Lee last year, I have to think the Twins would be happy to pull that trick again and pounce on whatever consensus top player falls into their lap. Of course the few times the consensus top players DO go off the board, the Twins end up with a Tyler Jay or Kohl Stewart.
  20. nicksaviking
    Surprised all the young hitters don't want it. They must not have grown up watching ball and knowing the vets tend to get an extra inch or two shaved off of the strike zone compared to the rookies.
  21. nicksaviking
    Could Larnach end up being the team MVP? He looks like he was hyped up to look like two years ago. An under considered factor about the team having so much 'depth' is that they have absolutely no reason not to be cautious with IL decisions. If Kepler even MAYBE needs to go on the IL, just do it.
  22. nicksaviking
    Particularly when they play the Astros.
  23. nicksaviking
    Wow, only two catchers and Isola being one of them? I was pretty high on his bat last year but everyone seemed pretty sure he couldn't stick at catcher. This says otherwise and I'm back on that bandwagon! Also, Anthony Prato and his excellent on base skills seems highly under-appreciated. I know he's largely an infielder, but this team doesn't have right handed outfielders who can actually hit AND get on base so I think he's going get a look on the MLB team sooner than people expect.
  24. nicksaviking
    Surprised and encouraged that Rodriguez isn't starting in Ft. Myers! I'm kind of torn on what they should do with Nowlin. With Varland and Festa, the Twins have shown to be able to find and/or develop starting pitching prospects lower in the draft, but Nowlin is so slight compared to the other guys and the Twins could use more left handed depth. I might be tempted to put him in the pen and see if he can be fast-tracked. I guess I'd keep him as a starter until any issues arise, but first sign of one, I'd probably make the switch.
  25. nicksaviking
    Very excited to see Winder in the pen. I wouldn't normally hurry to move him from the rotation except for the numerous prospects already ahead of him. I know he's being considered for multiple innings now, but I think he's going to end up being a high leverage guy if not by the end of the season, than by next year.
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