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nicksaviking

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Everything posted by nicksaviking

  1. nicksaviking
    That would be an interesting twist if the deal with the Mariners turned out to only be provisional upon them signing Ohtani or that the Twins would simply re-swap the funds should they fail in their pursuit. Between the two players, the no-hit catcher would have been my vote to return anyway.
  2. nicksaviking
    Do you have a link with the specifics? As far as I could tell even after the trades the Twins still had over a million left to spend from last year's pool.
  3. nicksaviking
    Both valid points; it seems to me the only fair thing to do to settle this debate is do both.
  4. nicksaviking
    So Drew Hutchison or Jacob Turner then? 28-year-old free agents starters are rare. Useful ones are even more rare.
  5. nicksaviking
    If it was a positive result, then maybe it was an astute move? If not astute, than perhaps just dumb luck? The bullpen improved once Kintzler was gone, but it doesn't much matter. We can argue about the Twins deadline moves all off season but I don't see how they made a lick of difference. The Twins were heading into the playoffs with a high contact, homer-prone Ervin Santana leading the way while the other clubs were leading off with Sale, Verlander, Severino and Kluber. Getting upset about Kintzler and Garcia is like getting into a car accident because you ran a red light and the cop at the scene says, "Hey, your tail light is out too." No matter how it's sliced, Kintzler, Garcia and the tail light had nothing to do with the wreck of the post season.
  6. nicksaviking
    The relievers were just fine in that game it was Santana and Berrios that gave up seven runs in five innings. Adding a veteran bat and a solid reliever wouldn't have helped, they needed a front of the rotation starter, and unless it was truly possibly to get Justin Verlander to waive his no trade clause to go to Minnesota when he knew that he could go to a better spot in Houston, there didn't appear to be any options for the Twins. Early exits will continue to happen if the team doesn't significantly beef up the front of the rotation. If they don't do it this off season I'm going to be disappointed, but it did not appear possible to do what was necessary last July to actually win a championship.
  7. nicksaviking
    Is there a word for being disappointed, reassured and understanding at the same time? The French probably have something for that. Just good to know that the Twins only fault in this matter was having too many good SS prospects. It's pretty much been confirmed that the Twins chased hard for Maitan and Ohtani, it's hard to believe their interest in Darvish then too isn't legit. Let's not swing through strike three, knock this next one out of the park.
  8. nicksaviking
    Under normal situations I'd agree, but if the players association has the same understanding that we fans do; that Mauer will not be able to drum up any kind of bidding war because he won't play anywhere but Minnesota or possibly TB, they might come to the conclusion that Mauer really only has any kind of leverage over his next contract while he's still playing out his current contract. Not that I'm in favor of an extension, I'm ready to move on. Nothing against Joe.
  9. nicksaviking
    All of those pitchers have one thing in common, they're sinkerballers. Their repertoire is going to always put them near the bottom of any kind of strikeout category. Like Kyle Gibson, the sinker is Chatwood's worst pitch, probably mandated by his similarly old school club due to the fact that conventional wisdom says you need to keep the ball on the ground in Colorado. Outside of Coors Field, with his really good velocity, good cutter and good curve, I'd bet a club that gets him to reduce his sinker usage has a good shot at making a real pitcher out of him.
  10. nicksaviking
    The Marte situation reminds me of the Brady Aiken situation a few years ago when everyone was ripping on the Astros for trying to screw over the #1 pick and making him take a minimum deal due to "bogus" medical evaluations, then they turned out to be right as he quickly blew out his elbow.
  11. nicksaviking
    Considering the past front office lived and died by pitch-to-contact methods and made little attempt to intentionally increase MLB strikeout numbers, I seriously doubt they sent out any memos telling Gibson to lessen his sinker usage.
  12. nicksaviking
    So looking at the prospects returned, does this mean the Mariners are really good at negotiation? Or that the Angels are really bad at it?
  13. nicksaviking
    I'm not giving up Gordon just to lose the Hughes contract, the Twins can absorb that one just fine.
  14. nicksaviking
    Nick Gordon+ for two years of a reliever? I don't trust any Padres pitchers anyway.
  15. nicksaviking
    Nobody is convinced, but if you're seriously asking why there is optimism from 2017 when folks were fooled in 2015 look at the dynamically different pitch usage his last two months of this past year: http://www.brooksbaseball.net/outcome.php?player=502043&b_hand=-1&gFilt=&pFilt=FA|SI|FC|CU|SL|CS|KN|CH|FS|SB&time=month&minmax=ci&var=pcount&s_type=2&startDate=03/30/2007&endDate=12/06/2017 Considering the change coincided with the return from a recent demotion, it looks like he finally got the memo to lay off his bad sinker.
  16. nicksaviking
    I'm always excited about a velocity jump but the effectiveness very well could be due to the secondary pitch. Though I'd think any velocity increase would also benefit a slider and a slider always does seem to be part of the package of starters turned good relievers.
  17. nicksaviking
    Why would they let him go at all? Maybe his last two months were a fluke, but considering the dramatic uptick in usage of his four-seamer and the dramatic reduction of his sinker, it seems like there is at least enough evidence that his strong second half production was due to the fact that he got on board with what the team was preaching and he'll continue to do so. Seems odd he'd be kicked to the curb after he's done what was asked of him and it actually paid off.
  18. nicksaviking
    I don't know, it seems to me the starters who get tossed to the pen thrive or dive with very little forewarning. Glen Perkins, Mike Minor, Wade Davis, (examples only, they were more well known for sure) all had good control but were rather blase at best as starters. They had pedestrian fastballs a slider and an off speed pitch, but they go to the pen and pick up 3 MPH on their fastball and become good relief pieces. Looking at Fangraphs data though, that velocity increase doesn't typically happen until the first full season away from starting. So regardless if it's Slegers or a guy like Tom Koehler who I was a bit interested in, if the team wants to give them a fair shake in the pen, they need to know going in that their roll is to come on in relief.
  19. nicksaviking
    I hope anyone they plan on converting to the bullpen gets the news in the off season. It seems that guys do much better in the pen if they went in to the season as a reliever. With his current low ceiling I'd probably move Slegers to the pen now and see if he gains velocity. Stature and stuff he has a lot in common with Jon Rauch; that wouldn't be a bad bullpen piece.
  20. nicksaviking
    I'm happy to have fresh eyes on an area that hasn't produced enough lately. Honestly though, my first reaction was "Oh crap" as major college programs are notorious for abusing pitchers, but that's probably not fair and that's probably most excusively on the manager.
  21. nicksaviking
    You better watch what you say before you utter something about Jason Tyner you can't take back. I was encouraged by the quick trigger on organizational guys like Santana and Wheeler. I also liked the quick trigger on pickups like Wilk and Heston. Still, it would be nice if those kinds of guys only ever had a chance to pile up negative WAR only because of a rash of injuries and not actually be part of the planned depth.
  22. nicksaviking
    The Twins are still on the sidelines this offseason so my patience is starting to wear thin but some of these arguments seem contradictory. Yes the front office incorrectly believed the team was out of contention at the deadline, nearly everyone did, but I guess it's fair to say they were wrong on that front. But the team improved when Kintzler and Garcia were removed from the club. Why weren't they right on that front then? The bullpen was better after Kintzler was removed, and Kyle Gibson was re-inserted into the rotation after Garcia was dealt and he was the best starter down the stretch and better than Garcia. So the team was an extreme long-shot to make the playoffs and the front office gets demerits for not believing. Also an extreme long-shot was the fact that the team would improve without Kintzler and Garcia, including their direct replacements, but no credit is given on that front? I mean for all we know, this team does not make the playoffs if they DON'T make those now unpopular moves.
  23. nicksaviking
    Yeah, doesn't look like the International bonus funds are important for Ohtani. Beside, teams trading their International cap money aren't exactly getting exciting pieces back in return.
  24. nicksaviking
    The Mariners don't seem to be a very well run team as of late. So I guess if an AL team was going to get him, let him go to a place I don't view as competent enough to win. It was a long shot, I did keep some hopes based on all the various reports that Minnesota was a possibility but I kept those hopes in check so this is still rather emotionless news to me. Doesn't change much, I still think the Twins need to sign one big free agent arm and trade for another. And absolutely nothing has happened league-wide this year which kind of indicates most teams aren't feeling overly motivated. Could be a good year for the Twins to do the unconventional. Also, let's go get a handful of those now free agent former Braves prospects.
  25. nicksaviking
    Yeah, I was surprised he didn't get more strikeouts, his stuff always looked pretty good. Probably more of a case of small sample size. I could see him getting a run as the closer at some point.
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