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nicksaviking

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Everything posted by nicksaviking

  1. nicksaviking
    If I was a wiseacre I'd point to their record last year. They're only getting a pass from me through the offseason. The new personnel hires have me hopeful, but if they fail to get Darvish inked and/or make a huge trade to make the front of the rotation able to match the big boys of the AL, I'm not going to be happy.
  2. nicksaviking
    No idea how this Kinley business will play out, my guess is not successfully, but fingers crossed. If I had to guess why the Twins were turned on to Kinley, my money would be on the idea that the new guy, Josh Kalk, turned them on to him. He's the Pitch FX/analytics/injury prevention wiz kid the Twins stole from Tampa. Conventional data isn't giving this guy the thumbs up, it has to be something found on a deep dive.
  3. nicksaviking
    I think Ohtani held things up a bit and Darvish looks like he's holding up the SP market. The top three relievers haven't signed but most of the other usable bullpen arms have. There's not much in the way of good up the middle talent this year. Everyone's waiting on guys like Hosmer, Moustakas, Martinez and Frazier but we've see the last several years that teams these days are only luke warm on corner bats. I'd guess the top bats and agents are waiting to be presented big contracts like the prior top bats from years past but these guys are playing positions that holds much less interest than before. I think the offensive inactivity is largely due to there not being much to covet on the open market. Pitching? Well I just hope that market is being held up by Darvish who is coming to Minnesota.
  4. nicksaviking
    Craig Edwards at Fangraphs had his take: https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/four-deserving-hall-of-famers-omar-vizquel-new-to-ballot/ It caught my eye what he said about Johan Santana. Basically his claim is that the Sandy Koufax argument doesn't work because Koufax was much better than Santana. I could go either way on Santana objectively, while hoping he gets in some day based on my fandom, but his Koufax argument is just terrible. Koufax was one of the game's greatest pitchers ever, in context, perhaps the greatest, he's not the cutoff line for admission. His argument would be like saying Ken Griffey Jr. doesn't belong in the HOF because he's no Willie Mays.
  5. nicksaviking
    Any team that trades for him and let's the Dodgers off the hook for any of his contract is foolish. Make them eat the money. I can't imagine with his reputation that he's going to have too many sizable free agent bids for his services.
  6. nicksaviking
    I like the idea of an Escobar extension. Not only is he a pretty good player, but giving him an extension makes any and all future plans regarding resigning, trading or extending Dozier, Polanco, Gordon and even Sano very, very flexible, and he wouldn't be so expensive that if he ended up as a bench bat that it would ever be regrettable.
  7. nicksaviking
    Right, I'm mostly skeptical about his attitude as well; his bat still looks like it might help a team. I'd like to say I don't want him due to his reported clubhouse issues but then again I've been saying for years that I don't want boy scouts on this team so I guess I'll leave those judgments off of my critique at the moment.
  8. nicksaviking
    I'm more on board with a good defensive OF than I was a couple of years ago, but it looks like both Kemp's and Bautista's defensive woes stem from a lack of range (duh, they're old and slow). That was the same issue that plagued Torii Hunter in Detroit, then he came to Minnesota and his range issues up and disappeared within the cozy confines of Target Field's RF corner. But Kemp isn't terribly high on my list. I'd be curious but not jubilant.
  9. nicksaviking
    Man you're way off! Mostly Nick Blackburn and Mike Pelfrey.
  10. nicksaviking
    Perhaps if someone points out to his agent that he's hit 14 HR at Target Field in 25 games he might get the idea that there perhaps is a chance Bautista could secure one last decent contract if he only finds a destination that provides him a shot at a rebound season.
  11. nicksaviking
    If this team wanted a past-his-prime vet to DH I think I'd rather give Jose Bautista a shot. Kemp's rep isn't great and his defense is even worse. Bautista isn't great but he still plays passable defense, he might be a nice player to give Kepler a breather against lefties.
  12. nicksaviking
    Personally I'd do the trade (still, I want my pitchers first) but Realmuto only has three years of control left.
  13. nicksaviking
    I'd be interested if the Twins still have the pieces after trading for an arm; starting pitching is still my #1 and #2 priority. That said, perhaps it's just me, but the front office seems to be awfully fond of Castro.
  14. nicksaviking
    I'd be very interested in seeing how Archer does when he's getting 47% of his starts against KC, Detroit, CHW and CLE instead of the perennial big boppers in NY, BOS, TOR and BAL. I'd guess the insane lineups the AL East has been running out there for the last decade is why his counting stats are less impressive than the underlying numbers, some of which take into account opponent and park factors. For the same reason, it's probably why I'm just as interested in Odorizzi as I am Gerrit Cole. Anyway, I want a guy who can stare down the Yankees in the playoffs and Archer's got a career 2.96 ERA against them and has given up less than a HR per 9 IP. If he can continue to do that, he'll give you a chance to win.
  15. nicksaviking
    I like Kepler but don't think he's ever going to be more than a league average player, which is still a good player, just not untouchable in my mind. I'm also concerned about his regression against LHP last year, I wouldn't give up on him playing full time yet, but I think the odds are pretty significant that he'll need to be a platoon player starting in the very near future. That said, two of TB's three OF are already left handed, I'd guess getting a third isn't necessarily the perfect scenario for them. Unless they put Kepler at 1B, which isn't the worst thing in the world.
  16. nicksaviking
    Corner OF bats are pretty affordable as far as free agents go, I'd include Kepler to get Archer if this team already has Darvish under contract. I'd include Gordon and Gonsalves as well. If this team is going to go for it, I'd like to see them do everything they can to make a serious run now, not a little bit this year and a little bit next year.
  17. nicksaviking
    Well they've never signed one, if we're talking about contending in 2018 there's no reason not to break the seal now that one appears to be interested.
  18. nicksaviking
    Which teams are selling pre-arbitration aces? Both contenders and rebuilding clubs tend to want to keep those kind of pitchers.
  19. nicksaviking
    I don't think Mauer's contract has hamstrung this club in anyway. This team isn't getting to the World Series without significantly better starters, is there another option? If Darvish is good for the next 3-4 years and the Twins have a shot at winning, I don't care if he isn't living up to his contract at the end of the deal. Got to take a shot sometime and this club might not be another chance to get a front line free agent. They don't tend to WANT to come to Minnesota even if the front office is willing.
  20. nicksaviking
    I don't know, I'd hope the front office gets the pieces they covet right off the bat and then sort out the left over pieces in the aftermath. Personally, Danny Duffey would be my top trade target as he's good and he's a lefty. If the Twins got a reliable lefty Mejia would be more available and probably a pretty decent trade chip. Gibson's got pretty good velocity on his four-seamer, that might play up quite a bit if he were to be moved to the pen.
  21. nicksaviking
    I don't know, a trade and a free agent signing are basically using two different resources, one uses prospects and one uses money, it's not like these two dis-similar moves are going to double down and deplete either of those resources extensively. I guess my view is that if the Twins were to sign a big time free agent (Darvish is the only one I see as big time this year) you'd think it would indicate that the team thinks their window of opportunity is open now. Wouldn't you want to give yourself the best chance to win now? Why waste 2018 and only next year move to shore up the remaining rotation holes? Especially when there is a trend this year where the bottom feeders are open for business. I don't recall a year where this many quality arms are available for trade. The aggressive teams aren't just making one move, they are making them in bunches and for the most part they are working in tandem.
  22. nicksaviking
    I actually think the front office miscalculated the pace of free agency. There doesn't seem to be much reason to leave four open 40-man spots unless they intended to start signing free agents or making trades prior to the draft. Ohtani slowed down all the big ticket free agents and the relievers nearly all waited until the winter meetings to start moving. I'd also guess that there would be a better chance of exposing players to the Rule V and keeping them than adding them to the 40-man and being forced to remove them later exposing them to waivers.
  23. nicksaviking
    Ugh, but it's been stuck on "Ask again later" for nearly 30 years.
  24. nicksaviking
    The Angels and Yankees have done too much to stand pat. Cleveland, Houston and Boston are already loaded, the Twins need to do more to contend; Darvish plus a trade for another big arm is needed at minimum in my opinion if they want to be legit. I agree though, if the team doesn't go for it, and if the rest of the league is tanking so they can go for it at a later date, the Twins are in a dangerous middle ground where they could be perpetually average for a long time. Teams like Minnesota, Milwaukee, Colorado, Toronto and Seattle could be in big trouble if they find themselves to be run by people who aren't absolute in their decisiveness. I sure hope our new guys are decisive, half measures are going to put a team in purgatory. This era of baseball surely would have haunted Terry Ryan.
  25. nicksaviking
    Honestly, that seems encouraging to me, I would have thought that percentage would be much higher. Seeing as gun owners presumably covers anyone with any kind of gun, that probably means the "strictly hunters" may be able to be won over. Which makes sense seeing as most of the folks I know with guns only have rifles and shotguns used for hunting and most of them seem of sane mind and even temperament.
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