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nicksaviking

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Everything posted by nicksaviking

  1. nicksaviking
    Even if the team didn't want to push payroll, I'd rather have Cole, and Cole only than three or four lower tiered free agents. That said, I agree with Ted that both Cole and Strasburg are most likely to prefer the "more exciting destinations in play". If the Twins can't get either of them, I don't really know where to go from there because while Bumgarner, Wheeler or Hamels look like shiny new toys now, they look pretty rusty when standing next to the top of the rotation of most other contenders. Odorizzi's in the same boat as well. I'm sure the team is going to get a free agent starter, probably a decent one too, but they're almost certainly going to have to get their big prize via trade if they are truly looking to make an upgrade to the front of the rotation.
  2. nicksaviking
    Neither of those players were really elite at the time of the trade though.They both blossomed afterwards. If the Twins used their prospect capital to get say, Mike Foltynewicz and Michael Conforto right now, I'm sure there would be folks who don't like the move because they prefer the prospects. However, I'd also guess that many of the people who DO want to trade prospects for MLB talent would be disappointed because those two players wouldn't be nearly impactful enough and the team should have aimed higher.
  3. nicksaviking
    Atlanta has seemingly had elite pitching prospects constantly for the past 15 years or so, yet just about everyone of them fail to live up to expectations. I've been wondering if perhaps they are just really bad at development, usage or transitioning this talent to the MLB level; I'd be interested in seeing if the Twins could unlock the potential. That said, I'm not a big Teheran fan, his fastball is only sitting at about 89 MPH these days and he's always had control issues. As a righty, I don't think he'd last long in the AL without significant improvements in both of those areas. However, it did seem like Atlanta was getting close to throwing in the towel on Mike Foltynewicz. If they're selling lowish on him, I'd be pretty interested in giving him a whirl. But back to topic, I'd give Hamels a shot but I'd need way better upgrades in addition to him. Encarnacion would be a blast to have (puns are fun!). He'd make the lineup almost completely inflexible, but I could make an exception for an elite bat.
  4. nicksaviking
    Geez. I'd like to hear more about this one. There wasn't a 40-man roster crunch or anything. Though maybe we should have smelled this one coming considering that he was the only pitcher on the 40-man that didn't get a September call up even though he was a lefty and had a bit of MLB experience. The powers that be must have thought his command was never going to come around? Or at least it was enough of a long shot to take the chance removing him form the roster?
  5. nicksaviking
    Cleveland outrighted A.J. Cole? Is there more to his story that I'm missing, because after being a one-time well regarded prospect, I thought he finally looked like he put it together last year with Cleveland now that he became a full-time bullpen arm. He's still got tons of control left too. Is he hurt? Because if not, he's a guy I'd be just fine bringing in for a low risk shot at the pen. Also, they finally cut the cord on Danny Salazar.
  6. nicksaviking
    I like the idea of trading for a pitcher, but I'd rather give up more for a pitcher with more upside than Minor. He's good, but I think they need someone who holds the possibility of becoming elite. I still wouldn't feel good about the above rotation come the playoffs.
  7. nicksaviking
    As much as I enjoyed watching him, I don't think Dobnak is much of a long term answer. But a high end pitching prospect vs. a 30-year-old mid level free agent starter? The odds of the veteran being good is probably higher, but I don't think it's significantly higher.
  8. nicksaviking
    I think unless this team can get Cole or Strasburg, they're going to have question marks in the rotation regardless. We've all seen how unpredictable, volatile and flukey mid-level free agent starting pitchers can be. I'll take Bumgarner and Wheeler, but I'd never put too much certainty in the idea that they'd stabilize a rotation and perform to expectations. My fingers would remain very much crossed with them as well.
  9. nicksaviking
    I'd also need him to show an off speed pitch if he's starting. It doesn't sound like he doesn't have a change up though, just that it wasn't used during his callup to the pen. I wonder if it's truly terrible, or if the team scrapped it upon his callup simply because they were in a a pennant chase and two good pitches for a reliever tends to be a better move than two good pitches and one below average pitch, at least as far as a reliever is concerned.
  10. nicksaviking
    I guess, hypothetically, if they were going to do the firesale, they'd maybe want to shed the big money in the rotation? A year ago Darvish's contract would have been unthinkable to move, they could maybe sell high on him and market him as an alternative to the losers who miss out on Cole/Strasburg. Offer to eat some of the Lester money for a mid-level prospect and put some feelers out to see if any club is interested in Quintana at his option year contract price. Maybe keep Hendricks for now, but do the whole thing where you leak that 'they'd need to be blown away' for an offer for him. Rizzo is going to be 30 but he's still productive, if they were inclined they could probably move him for some decent talent. Finally move Schwarber to an AL club as is rumored every single year. Hang on to Contreras as he still has a lot of team control, but like Mitch Garver, he'll be too old of a catcher to extend by the time his original contract is up. Then maybe look to extend Bryant and Baez. Though, Baez might be a sneaky sell high candidate. If the baseballs do get de-juiced, his high strikeout/low walk profile make him one of those players who will most likely take the biggest hit in production.
  11. nicksaviking
    That’s not guaranteed. The only service time issue I can recall with this team under the current leadership was the Buxton situation. And “service time” and “wins” aren’t mutually exclusive, especially for a pitcher. Missing three April/May starts in your rookie year will get you 30-some starts in a bonus year of control. Presumably you’ll get more production out of 30 starts than three.
  12. nicksaviking
    Well playing the prediction game isn’t fun if they don’t come out of left field. But if I were to analyze the take further, I guess I’d say their rotation is old, expensive and mediocre; it’s hard to see how that unit can improve and take the next step. They just let go of their WS winning manager. They have some good players who they’re either going to have to extend soon or watch walk away, but probably not enough good young players to make a sustainable run. But mostly, they’re the third best team in their division and have an awful farm system. The two teams ahead of them, Milwaukee and St. Louis also have terrible farms; it might be a good idea to beat those two to the upswing in the ever fluid race to load up on young cheap talent.
  13. nicksaviking
    My prediction: Chicago Cubs firesale.
  14. nicksaviking
    Interesting the disparity between the three pitchers. The Angels surely are #1 for Cole due to hometown geography and their historical willingness to give out big contracts while the Dodgers are likely ONLY on the list due to hometown geography because the Dodgers can't be found on the other two pitchers' lists. The Red Sox need pitching and are a traditional big spender but they only make one of the lists? I suppose they're currently paying the price for taking on these kinds of contracts in years past and may need to take a step back before they go that route again. Still, why Strasburg but not the other two? Meanwhile, the more thrifty (relatively speaking) Braves and Mets find themselves only on Bumgarner's list, which is understandable because he's a clear step down from the other two. However, they find themselves at the TOP of his list ahead of the big spenders. I suppose Atalanta has hometown pull with him being from NC and all, but the Mets?! That rotation is already loaded! I'm not casting doubt on any of this, I'm sure there's some good behind the scenes steam to all of it and I can't wait until us rubes start catching wind of these rumors.
  15. nicksaviking
    I hadn't thought much of Lyles, I only remembered him as a high contact pitcher. Looks like both of his stints in Milwaukee the past two years have seen him at his best. Maybe he likes the air here in the upper mid-west. There's some Mike Minor similarities here.
  16. nicksaviking
    I like Pomeranz as a reliever as well. He was never starter material, if he hadn't had that flukey 2016 in pitchers paradise San Diego, I'd guess he would have been a full time reliever a couple of years ago, and a good one at that. If the team is committed to putting him in the pen full time, I'd do multi years for him. If they want to make him a swing man again, like he has been most of the past two years, I'd probably have next to no interest. I could get behind Rondon, he probably wouldn't be a needle mover but he rarely has a bad season. I don't know what to make of Cingrani, when he was a Red, he was always a guy I wanted the Twins to buy low on, but looking at his stuff, I don't know that I'd trust a guy who only has two pitches, and throws a FB 85% of the time. That seems like it could go pear shaped fast. I'm not a big McHugh fan. I'm all about strikeouts, but man, it's just hard for me to trust a right handed reliever who's only hitting 90 MPH.
  17. nicksaviking
    The list of "dumpster diving" relievers who have become good pitchers is long. Like really, really long. Also, let's stop using that term, these are human beings, equating them to trash is disrespectful which is against posting policies.
  18. nicksaviking
    Wisler went all-in on the slider in 2019 (70.2%) out of the bullpen. Opponents hit .206 with a 41% whiff rate on it. Bad news is opponents hit his sinker to the tune of .451 Brooks Baseball says that Wisler throws a four seamer, not a sinker. I'm never one to advocate for a sinker (yuck) but maybe he's got the wrong fastball pairing. Maybe let's just go with a splitter instead. I do like a nice slider.
  19. nicksaviking
    Call me quaint, but Grandma Moses and Rockwell both fit better with my decor anyway. I’d probably keep them both and use my money on a Gustov Klimt instead. The guy has a real live arm which this team needs as it has a whole wall to fill.
  20. nicksaviking
    He rarely throws off speed stuff, almost certainly because his off speed pitch is a curve and you can't count on a curve not to hang in Colorado. It's an above average pitch for him though and I think a team will see much more improved results from his strong FB and slider if if the new club feels comfortable enough to let whip out off speed pitches more than 10% of the time.
  21. nicksaviking
    I didn't see it mentioned so please clarify; how were they planning on putting the TC mascot outfit onto a live bear?
  22. nicksaviking
    Yeah, aside from what looks to be pretty good stuff, this is always a selling point with me.
  23. nicksaviking
    I'd like Gray quite a bit. I could take a chance on Ray as well, I don't think he's as good as his numbers but I also don't think AZ is the best place to unlock potential, there might still be more to him. No interest in Boyd. Musgrove is interesting though. He doesn't wow anyone, but the guy can and does throw every pitch under the sun, I love that repertoire. Also, I'm interested in the fact that he saw a velocity drop at the beginning of last year but he saw it increase through the season and by September he was averaging 95 MPH on his four seamer. Yeah, I like the idea of Musgrove not yet hitting his peak, I'm in. Also, still get Gray too.
  24. nicksaviking
    This always bothered me, though to be fair, with most innovation there seems to be some bumpy spots and false starts where some theories and procedures show up to not be effective only to be weeded out by trial and error. The delay may have let the Twins bypass those spots directly to a more efficient model. Not that I'd let them off the hook, if any of that occurred it was clearly unintentional.
  25. nicksaviking
    I’m not trying to throw the Twins into the mix specifically, but if there’s a guy who prefers the East Coast, or a large market, or George Costanza or whatever is at the top of his Pro’s list, I don’t see this Twins offer winning out over the Yankees offer in this scenario. And if Twins have to top another team by two years at 30M per to win a bid, well that’s messed up and the game needs a salary cap. We should be talking about 5-10% pay differential tops, not 30%.
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