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rdehring

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Everything posted by rdehring

  1. rdehring
    Happy Thanksgiving, Seth. And thanks to you and all the guys at TD for your work this past year. Hopefully, 2020 will be even more successful for both TD and the Twins. No questions, just sitting back and waiting for those anticipated Twins moves the next couple months. Enjoy your winter, Seth.
  2. rdehring
    Will be interesting with the new 26 man roster if more players are selected in this year's draft. Maybe baseball should have also changed to a 41-man roster. Agree with Seth that there is a real risk to losing both of Javier and Rijo. Agree with those who think there is a good chance Jax is also lost. However, should the total number of picks stay around 15ish, seriously doubt we would lose three. Maybe one or two.
  3. rdehring
    Like the idea of bringing big Mike back on a one or two year deal. Or maybe two years with a team option for a third. But like several above, I don't see him as the #5 starter. Would pencil him into the #4 slot which after signing one of the top free agents would give the team four solid starters. As for the #5 spot, have no problem with them having an audition between the four rookies from last year (Dobnak, Smeltzer, Thorpe and Graterol) along with a couple comeback guys (or AAAA) signed to minor league contracts. The winner gets the #5 spot and next in line takes Pineda's spot the first six weeks of the season. If the winner hits a rough spot, bring up the next guy. One will get it done.
  4. rdehring
    You may have uncovered their plan, Riverbrian. Garver starts and plays around 100 games. Astudillo focuses on catcher and plays the other 62. They just signed a AAAA type vet for Rochester to go with Telis, who was there last year. That's their depth for the first half of the season. That is followed by two very good prospects who should be pushing to be in Rochester by mid-season, if not sooner. That plan works for me.
  5. rdehring
    Maybe Jeffers put in the same work that Garver did to get much better behind the plate. I recall mention of Rortvedt's arm several times this year. When the robo umps are on the job, maybe shutting down a running game will become the in thing for catchers. But if they keep this juiced ball, who is running...certainly not the Twins.
  6. rdehring
    Thanks, Nick. Will agree that it would be surprising for Rortvedt to make it to the Twins in 2020. What I find equally surprising is all the talk about Jeffers defense. If I recall, when he was drafted he was considered a very good bat with a lot of questions about his defense. Has his defense improved that much? Were the writers wrong when he was drafted? Or is it all because of reports about his pitch framing? There is so much more to being a good catcher than pitch framing, which seems to be all people talk about of late when discussing catchers.
  7. rdehring
    Interesting question, High heat. This isn't the first time Nick has included Jeffers in his short term projections for the position without mentioning Rortvedt. Won't speak for him as I don't know why he has that opinion. Although I am warming in my opinion of Jeffers, I maintain that Rortvedt is an equal, if not slightly better prospect. I base that on the progress he has made since signing out of high school and the fact that he got the AA promotion before Jeffers when it was time to move one of them up last summer. I also see Rortvedt as taking a big step forward with his bat last summer before his injury derailed his season. On a related question. If/when MLB goes to the robo umpire for balls and strikes, pitch framing will become a non issue for catchers. What will that change do to the position insofar as valuing what a good catcher is?
  8. rdehring
    Wasn't aware that he only played third a few times last year. Would agree that raises a question about what they see as his future. Could be a starter at another position, or as a super utility guy like Gonzalez. I doubt that this FO would do to him what they did to Polanco the year before he came up to play short. If not Blankenhorn, who is next in line at third from within the organization? I know Bechtold hit better last year and has been reported to be an excellent defender. Is he next? Or could it be Miranda, although he hasn't improved as much as I had hoped for? Although he battled some injuries last year, didn't he? Expect in 2020, if a third baseman is needed it will come from one of the utility guys on the team, ie, Gonzalez or Adrianza. But there sure isn't anyone else screaming for a promotion, unless Lewis ends up at the hot corner when he comes up next year.
  9. rdehring
    Add me to the list of those that believe he should be brought back, assuming the reports on the condition of his thumb are positive. My opinion doesn't matter, however, and we will see what the Twins opinion is next Monday. Wouldn't surprise me if they are having contract discussions this week in an attempt to sign him to a reasonable one year contract...whatever reasonable means in his case. I do recall seeing a player who appeared to me to be very good defensively during the first half last year. I also recall being surprised when that defense went south later in the year when he was battling that injury. I am a bit surprised that an injury to his right thumb affected his glovework at first, but expect anything can happen when his right thumb was barking.
  10. rdehring
    Another excellent read, Nick, thanks! Have several questions. First, do you believe that this FO was a tad bit prejudiced towards the players they brought into the organization when making 40-man decisions last week? Second are a couple questions about defensive ability. Saw that the Twins played Raley in center a few times in spring training last year. Although primarily a corner outfielder, is he serviceable in center? You also mention first base which was a bit of a surprise to me. How good is his defense at first? Serviceable? Average? Better than average? On a related note, who is the better first baseman, Raley or Kirilloff? If I recall, Blankenhorn is often referred to as very athletic. I see he has had some success stealing bases. Does he have good speed? I believe he was drafted as a third baseman. Is his defense adequate at the hot corner? Better than Sano? Or only serviceable as a utility player. He seems to have turned the corner last year, hopefully, he will be the answer for the Twins when Sano moves to first, DH or on in either a trade or as a free agent. Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't Blankenhorn now the top third base prospect in the organization...other than Lewis whom we don't know where he will end up?
  11. rdehring
    I think you missed one prospect, Nash. As we saw in the AFL, Royce Lewis not only can play center field, but is pretty good out there. As the MVP of the AFL, it is likely he will debut in 2020. Although it could be in the infield, thus not relevant to this post, I will be surprised if he doesn't start in center when/if Buxton is injured.
  12. rdehring
    When I read Seth's article Wednesday evening, the first thing that hit me was that 4 of the 5 added were acquired by trade during the 2018 season. As I thought about that, I remembered that Smeltzer and Alcala were two more players acquired in 2018 who were already on the 40-man. So that meant that 6 of the 37 currently on the 40-man were acquired in that flurry of trades. Also stated that I wasn't certain if they were prejudiced in keeping their guys, but found this to be both interesting and exciting. I don't recall Gunnarthor as being overly negative about management and the owner. Perhaps I am mistaken. But rather than commenting about several points I disagree with, I think it best to leave it at being surprised at the tone of his comment.
  13. rdehring
    Thanks Seth, that's what I thought. What is more exciting is that none of Lewis, Rooker, Kirilloff, Larnach, and Balazovic have been around long enough so that they needed to be added this year. Heck, wouldn't surprise me if all of them get added during the season next year because they have played their way onto the team.
  14. rdehring
    Got a couple questions, Seth, and thought I would ask about your opinion to them. The Twins weren't able to find a spot to protect Anderson last year and he was traded. Was that done prior to the final date to be added to the 40-man (yesterday) or was it between then and the draft? Based on your experience, is it likely the Twins could pull off a trade for one of these players before the draft in three weeks? I assume I know the answer (no), but could a team acquire someone like Jax in a trade next week and put him on their 40-man, thus, protecting him from the draft?
  15. rdehring
    Excellent article, Seth. Thanks. Don't have a clue who it will be, but I will be disappointed if the Twins don't fill one of the three remaining openings in the rotation by a trade. Hopefully, it will be something like this with a player who will join Berrios and Odorizzi at the top of the rotation.
  16. rdehring
    Expect Smeltzer, Thorpe, Graterol and Dobnak will continue to be the 8th man in the pen via the Rochester shuttle. That is unless one of them becomes the 5th starter, which would be good as that would reduce the number of roster spots they need to find. The one need I see is for a good lefty as long as Rogers remains the go to man at the end of games. Should be a good vet out there who can fill this role without breaking the bank. Assuming they find him, adding Romo would mean someone else would need to be jettisoned from the 40-man.
  17. rdehring
    Mentioning names like that also points out, Seth, how much the Twins 40-man roster has improved. Isn't it exciting to have this problem. Unfortunately excitement will lead to sadness on draft day when someone is plucked from the organization.
  18. rdehring
    Don't know what I expected, but considering 5 or 6 was all they could protect this seems reasonable. My first observation was that 4 of the 5 joined the Twins via trade during the 2018 season. Don't know if there was a prejudice to protect players they brought into the system. But adding Smeltzer and Alcala earlier means that a year later 6 players on the 40-man were brought in via trade. That's a heck of a success story looking back at those trades. Although there usually are surprises, I see three players who have a real chance of being selected in the draft, Javier, Jax and Rijo. Expect that Rijo could be the one most likely to come back and haunt us. The player I will be most disappointed in losing, however, is Jax. Hopefully, we get lucky and none of them are selected...which I suspect is wishful thinking on my part. When you take a look at the roster it appears to be the strongest roster I have seen since I began following these guys however many years ago. Great position players with reserves that can play AND exciting prospects already on the roster. All that remains is filling out the starting rotation, adding a good lefty for the bullpen and a backup catcher. Considering that could be up to five adds, there could still be another player or two removed from the 40-man or exiting via a trade should one include a current member of the team.
  19. rdehring
    In answer to your question, YES. And so glad that you agree. I expect his rate of swinging at pitches out of the zone will actually decrease. Saw him swing at miss at pitches out of the zone when he had two strikes. And he often got to two strikes because the ump called an earlier pitch a strike that was actually a ball. As the umps become more familiar with him and stop making bad strike calls, or we get the robo ump, he will convert a few of those swings to walks which will increase his OBP and further reduce the number of strikeouts.
  20. rdehring
    Now that we are at zero minus 25 hours, I can't see them adding more than 6. Maybe even only 5. Yet all 8 of the players you mention would be at risk if not added. Hopefully, we will learn of a trade before the deadline when they have either moved one of these players for a younger prospect or included one in a bigger trade which will create extra 40-man space. On the flip side, it is nice having a organization so strong that this would become an annual problem.
  21. rdehring
    No I wouldn't. But I am one of those who doesn't particularly like Boyd all that much. Don't see him as being much better than the foursome we saw pitching a lot last September.
  22. rdehring
    Trade Rosario as part of the right package for a pitcher who makes a difference, yes. Trade him even up for Boyd, no. Trade Larnach even up for Boyd, no. Trade Duran even up for Boyd, yes. Trade all three for Boyd, good way for guys in the Twins FO to be fired!
  23. rdehring
    See Berrios and Odorizzi as a solid #2 and #3, in whichever order they determine next spring. Got to get someone like Wheeler who can come in and be an acceptable #1. The trade I see is something similar to when they got Odorizzi, ie, get someone as #4. Hopefully, they can do this again...get someone none of us are talking about with at least two years of control for a prospect or two outside the top half dozen or top ten. As for who would be coming or going, not a clude. That's what the FO gets the big bucks for.
  24. rdehring
    What a great view of how we are looking at Rosario. The only point you and others hit on that I question is the growing perception that Kepler didn't play when banged up. That is far from what I recall from last year. I remember him running into the wall, I believe against the Angels, and continuing to play much of the rest of the season on a gimpy knee. Yes, he developed an injury in his chest area late in the year that put him on the shelf for a few weeks. But he also played with that injury both before resting and throughout the play offs.
  25. rdehring
    This is likely the best feel good story of the year for the Twins. Getting these two, whom we have waited to perform for a long time, to pitch at a very high level of success is just flat out exciting. Can they keep it up next April? Only time will tell, but if they do the Twins don't need to go out and buy an expensive reliever as the back end of their bullpen is set. Yes, they need a solid veteran lefty who dominates left handed hitters. But that would be a complementary piece for what can be one of the better bullpens in the league. Thanks Mr. May and Mr. Duffey. Is it true that of the three, May, Duffey and Rogers, May is the first to become a free agent? If so, lets get him signed to a reasonable extension before they break camp next March.
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