snap4birds

Proposed trade to the Astros MLB.COM has a trade proposal for Buxton to the Astros for Twins get: OF Chas McCormick, RHP Forrest Whitley (Astros’ No. 5 prospect), OF Colin Barber (Astros’ No. 7 prospect)

Buxton would be a free agent right now if the Twins hadn't kept him in the minors a few years back, right? Would the Twins have given him a QO? If only we could see what that alternate timeline would show (I loved the TV show Community & their alternate timeline episodes).

I'm not sure how BTV calculates those values, but as a Cardinal fan, I can say there is no way they'd trade Flaherty for Arraez. Flaherty produced 5.5 bWAR as a 23 year old and Arraez has 5.9 bWAR in ~2.5 years. The Cardinals won't give him up, he's seen as their young ace. Yes, he was injured, but he came back and pitched at the end of the season so he should be good to go for 2022. Now, if Arraez was a slick fielding SS.......

Maybe the Yankees (kinda) wanted him, but needed to clear a roster spot, and had another deal to do that fall through? There are lots of possibilities, I doubt the Yankees ever really offered anything for him, probably just were in discussions with the Twins.

I only believe in it to the point that you trade away any veteran players for young prospects (and to accumulate high draft picks by losing). I don't believe in it if you're playing bad players when better are available (by hiding good players on the injured list with phantom injuries). I've changed my attitude over the years, now I think a season is wasted if you don't win the World Series (I'm exaggerating a little). So if your front office feels they don't have the players available to win it all in a given year, they need to evaluate whether they can acquire enough talent to win it all (either in the current year or let's say the next 2 years). If the answer to that is "No", then tank. Most teams are probably in the middle somewhere, so there should really only be a couple teams that go tank mode before a season even starts. The Twins have enough young prospects and young veterans that are entering or in their prime years that I don't think they should tank.

Luis Gil already has 1.1 bWAR for the Yankees. I didn't even know he was on their MLB roster yet. I think they sent him down but are planning to bring him back up for his next start. (Story I saw said he was the 27th man on his start last night.)

This is something I've wondered about. Are you referring to the MLB rule that a draftee can't be traded for at least one year? I'm not sure they still have that rule, can anyone confirm? TIA

One thing I was wondering about was the quote before the draft (from scouting director?) that they would be looking to take hitters early. Then they drafted a pitcher first? Then a SS, but followed by mostly pitchers. It doesn't bother me, I know they aren't really going to reveal their strategy, for obvious reasons. It just makes me think, never trust an interview with a coach/manager/GM. I don't think any Twins fan will complain too much about them focusing on pitchers.

Sounds kinda like Jake Cave for Luis Gil . To me, the overall tone of the article was whether or not you trust the Twins front office to make good trades at the deadline this year (based on previous years results). I think in the last few years there were people on here that felt the Twins had fleeced the Diamondbacks, etc. I'm not sure anyone got fleeced.

If I were King of Baseball, I'd move the mound back a foot (or experiment to see what is the proper distance), move the fences back about 10 feet in every park, and ban the shift. Moving the mound back would lead to more singles/doubles/triples and fewer strikeouts. This would mean shorter at-bats (and length of games). There'd still be the chance of an outfielder stealing a homerun (this is why I prefer moving the fences back to just placing a plexiglass addition on top of the fences), and and increased importance on defense. And banning the shift is negotiable. Of course, I realize that not every park could add 10 feet of play (I don't think they can move the Green Monster back). But if I'm King, they have to make it happen or off with their heads!

But Alice doesn't live in the restaurant, she lives in the church nearby the restaurant, in the bell tower with her husband, Ray, and Fasha the dog. So check in the church. And say a quick prayer for the Twins while you're there.

Only 1 of the 6 Brewers runs was an 'earned run'. I'm assuming they treat that runner that starts extra innings at 2nd base as an unearned run? And I've always felt that if the pitcher makes an error to put someone on, it should count as an earned run. ERA is supposed to measure how effective a pitcher is..... I know I know, ERA doesn't count any more, same as RBI's, etc....Hard to teach an old dog new tricks. Do any of the newfangled FIP, ERA+, etc. do this?

The Twins could always acquire someone in July to fit above him in the rotation, if they're in playoff position. So I wonder if that's what the FO is doing here, trying to shore up the rotation and see if they can bring in someone with a bigger impact possibility at a lower cost than now (whether that's trading cost or $ cost).

That story on the Angels clubhouse guy was really interesting. Said that some teams (Astros, of course) were altering the rosin bags in an attempt to improve spin rates. I wonder if Liam's improvement was related to a an improved spin rate?

Meh. Looking at the bWAR from these players after the trade, they each produced 1.5 for their new team in 1988. Next year, Herr was traded away, Bruno produced 1.7 bWAR, then -.5 in 1990 before they traded him for Lee Smith (over 4 WAR the next 3 years). If that's your 'worst move ever' your organization has an exceptional track record for trades.