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nicksaviking

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Everything posted by nicksaviking

  1. nicksaviking
    The Chiefs have to pay Patrick Mahomes in the next year or so, I don't think you can afford to waste the cap space. Why don't you just let the Twins have him?
  2. nicksaviking
    Forgive me for what’s surely going to be an error in physics, but I’d guess exit velocity tends to be lower on off speed pitches? If so, since he’s the rare starter that rarely throws one, he has a lot more batted balls that are in that sub-100-MPH-but-still-capable-of-clearing-the-fence range than most pitchers. And without a sinker, he’s got way more balls that carry 380 feet as well. It’s probably more about volume than anything; his repertoire encourages a smaller assortment of outcomes than most.
  3. nicksaviking
    I’m only surprised Blankenhorn was added, not because he shouldn’t have been, but because he was the only guy added that this front office didn’t acquire; I might have guessed Rjio instead. I’m not worried about Jax, if he can’t strike out AA batters he’s probably not going to be terribly attractive. The TD community would lose it’s collective mind if the Twins added someone like him.
  4. nicksaviking
    That's fair. But as long as it's possible that some pitchers can be "fixed" and turned into good if not great arms, I'd still like to see our team continue to attempt to do so.
  5. nicksaviking
    I'm not sure if Atlanta is on to something, or if they've just got their blinders on. Free agent relievers bombed like never before last year, which seemed odd because at first glance there seemed to be so many good ams available AND nearly every team seemed mostly disinterested. It seemed to me that most clubs had picked up on something with these bullpen guys. I'd like to see the Twins get some free agents early, but after last year the bullpen is the last place I hope that happens. I don't think much about Atlanta's front office but I guess we'll have to wait to see if these were smart moves.
  6. nicksaviking
    I want them to spend on free agents, but I think there's still a need to get cute. There are a lot of free agent pitchers who can help the team get to the playoffs, but only a couple, at least in my view, that can help the Twins win in the playoffs. Guys like Keuchel, Ryu and Hamels would certainly help solidify a rotation, but at this point in their careers I don't think any of them could logically turn into a front line starter. If you rank those guys with Archer based on floor, Archer would likely be at the bottom, but he's still got the velocity and the wipe-out slider, he'd still have the highest ceiling of any of those guys, I don't think it's even close.
  7. nicksaviking
    Cole wasn't a stud, he'd come off of two average seasons which was extremely disappointing considering his pedigree, his velocity and his movement. I get the Archer comp, but from a bit of a different angle. The guy had never thrown a sinker before, but that's the Pittsburgh staple and as soon as he got there they had him throwing this new pitch at the expense of his superior four seamer and slider. Houston had Cole do the exact opposite and he took off. For what it's worth, I think Archer clearly knows that was an issue because the last two months of the season he stopped throwing the sinker. Yeah, I'd take a flyer on him. But that wasn't going to be the pitcher I thought Nick was going to bring up. I thought it was going to be Jon Gray, another top draft pick with elite velocity, and good but not great results that may or may not be heavily influenced by his organization and environment.
  8. nicksaviking
    I want Boyd. But only after he’s non-tendered. He is or at least should be a slider/FB bullpen guy and I think he’ll be lights out when he finally makes that move. No interest as a starter though; minimizing his poor off speed pitches worked for about two months last year until everyone caught on.
  9. nicksaviking
    Polanco is a DH playing the outfield in the NL and still guaranteed 24M while only once being an above average batter. I think Pittsburgh would give him away if someone would take his whole salary.
  10. nicksaviking
    They may have changed or they may have been a fib to keep their intentions of trading for starting pitching, not trading away, was kept obscure.
  11. nicksaviking
    I hope not, Graterol is the only guy who makes me think good thoughts about the future. I want them to sign free agents this year as there is a hole in the rotation, but I guess to more concisely state my point, I don't think it was unreasonable for the front office to think one or two other rotation spots for 2020 would have been filled internally. Unfortunately most options disappointed last year. Also, while I'll take Bumgarner or Wheeler, I'm not a big fan of the typical 2nd tier starting pitching free agents. The Santana/Nolasco/Hughes/Lynn type deals don't really seem to work out any better than the third or fourth tier free agent pitchers. There's rarely any real talent difference while there is minimal upside to these types of arms and the contract length more often than not has an inherent risk. I'd rather go year to year with the bounce back pitcher du jour. Or L' annee I guess, I'd hope he's good for more than one day.
  12. nicksaviking
    The team had and still has a bunch of pitchers under team control for more than 1 year. Most are still under team control for up to seven. Presumably they planned last year for some young guys to step up eventually. It can be debated whether or not that was a good plan, but aside from Berrios, Perez's 2020 option and the possibility of Gibson, Pineda and/or Odorizzi becoming worthy of a QO, it probably wasn't terribly out of line to think that one or two of Gonsalves, Thorpe, Romero, Graterol, Stewart, Smeltzer or Dobnak would have taken the steps needed to compete for a rotation spot in 2020. I agree that most teams don't have three open rotation spots at the conclusion of a season, but most teams also don't have a rotation that is 4/5ths free agents. Most teams do expect to produce enough of their own starters so they don't have to blow their free agent budget on starters every year, which this team has had to do more often than not due to about two decades of poor pitching development, which finally appears to be on the upswing.
  13. nicksaviking
    Not according to the article. Sounds like many of them were mortified that the team was asking them to do this.
  14. nicksaviking
    Whether it's based on market size or revenue wasn't the point. Teams, even the Twins in 2010, used to stray out of their market size/revenue lane when they were competitive. The last two years not so much, with only St. Louis, who almost every year jumps a weight class or two, going above where they fit into the natural order of things. But if St. Louis is willing to kick sand in the face of the rest of the league, I hope the Twins are willing to do so as well.
  15. nicksaviking
    Judging by what free agents have gotten paid the last two years, I don't know that the budget is based on revenue so much as it's based on a silently acknowledged league-wide "stay in your lane" agreement based on perceived market size. If that's the case, I hope the Twins take into account their current state of competitiveness and interpret their lane as being a freeway.
  16. nicksaviking
    Over if they can get Wheeler or Bumgarner (or someone even more impressive) under if they don't. But I'd still expect rotation improvements, so if they don't get those two but instead trade for a starting pitcher(s) who happens to be less expensive, I'm not going to be upset. Presuming it's a pitcher(s) I like that is.
  17. nicksaviking
    I think we will get a pretty fair estimation of his value once we start hearing contract offers for Marcel Ozuna and Nick Castellanos.
  18. nicksaviking
    This could also indicate that at least as far as Odorizzi’s research goes, free agent pitchers may not be getting paid as much was the pundits expect. Which is also good for the Twins.
  19. nicksaviking
    Seems odd that Danny Farquhar would complain about it if his team was doing it too.
  20. nicksaviking
    I'd think the assumption being made is that Hamels + Odorizzi more likely means the Twins don't get Wheeler or Bumgarner.
  21. nicksaviking
    Older pitchers with good velocity seem to have the best staying power, with Verlander, Scherzer, Morton and Lynn being the best examples from last year. And it's starting to seem like holding your velocity is something guys are better at doing these days.
  22. nicksaviking
    If Odorizzi does accept the QO, and if the rumors that his agent had already met with Toronto are true (they may not have been, his agent also represents Randall Grichuck), then it probably means Odorizzi already had a feel that at best Toronto's hypothetical offer would be only a minimal improvement to the QO salary. If so, that probably is a pretty good indicator that salaries, particularly to pitchers, are going to be lower than expected once again this offseason. Which probably means the Twins can be in play for anyone with mutual interest, but also probably means there won't be much free agent action until 2020.
  23. nicksaviking
    Especially because there's a good chance most of the top tier don't sign until late in the winter, at which point if you don't get one, you're left with nothing.
  24. nicksaviking
    I'd take Wheeler or Bumgarner and I really like the idea of Wheeler, but no one has been talking about Ryu. The initial internal thought that pops into my mind when thinking about him typically is "Eh", but the guy has been very consistent. He can throw every pitch and he's a lefty, while I don't like the idea of him leading the rotation like I would Wheeler, Ryu doesn't seem like a poor option either.
  25. nicksaviking
    I think Hamels' lower innings per outing was likely a product of being in the NL and/or game planning by the Cubs. At least last year, he was an uncommon pitcher and actually pitched BETTER to batters the third time he faced them holding them to a .706 OPS as opposed to the .896 OPS the 2nd time through the order. My interest in Hamels is minimal, but it's not because I think he'd tax the bullpen any more than most other pitchers. Though, going forward it's very possible the Twins intentionally restrict a starters innings.
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