Twins stuff from around the Web (Fangraphs, Twitter, Athletic, non-local news sites, etc)

[70charger]

I'm too cheap to pay for access to the Athletic so I'm hoping that there is more nuance to the statement.

 

Because... My God... If Ownership is waiting for Buxton and Sano to hit the organizational go button? That's kinda like saying... I will buy a boat only after I catch a Muskie.

That is both apt and the most Minnesota analogy ever.

[Riverbrian]

 

The Athletic only costs 4 bucks a month, well worth it. Dan Hayes has been doing a really nice job so far on the Twins. 

 

I'd have to give something up and that $4 dollars is my monthly air freshener budget. 

[Riverbrian]

It has to be one of the most "moving" of moving targets. 

 

If you wait for Sano and Buxton to have a big year... that means they had a big year without the "aggressive" support. 

 

So the next year... you provide the "aggressive" support and they don't have such a big year or they get hurt. 

 

Wouldn't it be smarter to just provide the support in case they have the big year? 

 

It seems like any attempt to "time it" would be nearly impossible while causing missed windows unintentionally on the front and back side. 

 

 

 

 

[Riverbrian]

 

From Dan Hayes at the Athletic via Connor Byrne at MLBTradeRumors:

 

"Had those two [sano and Buxton] remained strong contributors last season, Minnesota would’ve been more willing to go “full speed ahead” this winter in an attempt to catch the AL Central rival Indians, Hayes writes."...

 

"If Buxton and Sano do rebound, Twins ownership would give the team’s front office “the green light to take more of an aggressive step forward with this unit of players,” general manager Thad Levine said".

 

I've been skeptical about big things happening in the FA market this year. Seems the FO is reinforcing my attitude. I still believe any changes in the offseason will revolve around trades for young players or one-year FA. 

 

I really hope that the context is: 

 

If Buxton and Sano would have been "strong contributors" we might have gone hard after Bryce Harper. 

 

Since they were not "strong contributors" we will probably sign "Marwin Gonzalez" instead. 

 

That is better but I'm still not comfortable with the message being sent. 

 

I didn't sleep much last night... thinking about this. 

[70charger]

Could the context be "if Buxton and Sano rebound..." in terms of injury recovery, health (e.g. weight issues), offseason training program adherence, etc.?

 

Just a thought. It would make the quote much more palatable than actually waiting for them to perform on the field.

[Riverbrian]

 

Could the context be "if Buxton and Sano rebound..." in terms of injury recovery, health (e.g. weight issues), offseason training program adherence, etc.?

 

Just a thought. It would make the quote much more palatable than actually waiting for them to perform on the field.

 

It could be... But, Wow... if that is the context. I'm still not very happy.

 

It's basically saying... "we had and have everything invested and riding on these two. There is no diversification to protect ourselves at all... it's these two period. 

 

It's like a text was sent to me: Riverbrian, your Twins enjoyment depends Buxton and Sano. 

 

 

[gunnarthor]

 

I'm too cheap to pay for access to the Athletic so I'm hoping that there is more nuance to the statement. 

 

Because... My God... If Ownership is waiting for Buxton and Sano to hit the organizational go button? That's kinda like saying... I will buy a boat only after I catch a Muskie. 

 

Does this mean that ownership will not rely on the management team they hired to find players to rely upon... but will instead rely upon players who have been unreliable thus far? 

 

I'm really hoping that Thad Lavine is easily misunderstood when providing information during interviews.

I called this last year. Ownership says they can't spend now b/c they have to keep the payroll open for longterm contracts for Buxton/Sano etc and now they can't spend until they know if Sano and Buxton are worth building around. 

 

We have 25 years of history to work with. Don't expect ownership to be part of the solution. What was amazing about the Twins in the 2000s was the ability of the players and FO to keep them competitive without help from ownership. Falvey and Levine are going to have to show they can do the same. Expect another season with payroll in the bottom third of the league. 

[nicksaviking]

 

I really hope that the context is: 

 

If Buxton and Sano would have been "strong contributors" we might have gone hard after Bryce Harper. 

 

Since they were not "strong contributors" we will probably sign "Marwin Gonzalez" instead. 

 

That is better but I'm still not comfortable with the message being sent. 

 

I didn't sleep much last night... thinking about this. 

 

I don't know where the mix up in context is, as long as there a mix up.

 

No one should need to wait for Sano and Buxton. This is baseball, not the NBA, don't let two players dictate your entire philosophy about building a team. If it helps, they should proceed with this off season as if they've never heard of those two players.

 

Just put a really good team together. If those two come back too life, then you have a great team. 

[bird]

 

It has to be one of the most "moving" of moving targets. 

 

If you wait for Sano and Buxton to have a big year... that means they had a big year without the "aggressive" support. 

 

So the next year... you provide the "aggressive" support and they don't have such a big year or they get hurt. 

 

Wouldn't it be smarter to just provide the support in case they have the big year? 

 

It seems like any attempt to "time it" would be nearly impossible while causing missed windows unintentionally on the front and back side. 

 

 

I'm not sure I'd read too much in to a vague phrase like "aggressive support". Who knows, it might mean staying out of a bidding war for Corbin. 

 

Let's wait to see if they start filling the big holes at MI, 1B/DH/3B, and RP with third tier candidates.

 

Falvine has not asked me to mentor them yet, but I hope they don't need my help in making the assessment that regardless of whatever "aggressive moves" the team makes (within reason, which I arbitrarily set at <$150M payroll and keeping Kirilloff, Grateroal and Lewis), this team is not going anywhere in 2019 if they fail to get meaningful contributions from Sano and Buxton.

 

Let's not start assuming that they received an edict from the FO about spending. It's perhaps inviting to construe this one comment as such. I'm going to reserve judgment myself.

 

That said, my advice to them, when they call, will be to "assume" a turnaround from those two and "aggressively" complete the roster to win it all, not to be "competitive".

[USAFChief]

I'm too cheap to pay for access to the Athletic so I'm hoping that there is more nuance to the statement. 

 

Because... My God... If Ownership is waiting for Buxton and Sano to hit the organizational go button? That's kinda like saying... I will buy a boat only after I catch a Muskie. 

 

Does this mean that ownership will not rely on the management team they hired to find players to rely upon... but will instead rely upon players who have been unreliable thus far? 

 

I'm really hoping that Thad Lavine is easily misunderstood when providing information during interviews.

We see the same thing advocated here all the time. “Don’t spend on free agents until they’re the last piece you need.”

[Ben Noble]

 

I don't know where the mix up in context is, as long as there a mix up.

 

No one should or need to wait for Sano and Buxton. This is baseball, not the NBA, don't let two players dictate your entire philosophy about building a team. If it helps, they should proceed with this off season as if they've never heard of those two players.

 

Just put a really good team together. If those two come back too life, then you have a great team. 

 

Maybe the contextual confusion is along the lines of holding onto prospects and instead focusing on improvement via free agency while the futures of Sano and Buxton are still so hazy...maybe, but likely not.

[amjgt]

Just think how good they could be if there was aggressive support AND those two had good years. WHOA!

[Riverbrian]

 

I don't know where the mix up in context is, as long as there a mix up.

 

No one should or need to wait for Sano and Buxton. This is baseball, not the NBA, don't let two players dictate your entire philosophy about building a team. If it helps, they should proceed with this off season as if they've never heard of those two players.

 

Just put a really good team together. If those two come back too life, then you have a great team. 

 

Exactly! 

 

I see no other way to do it. Sano and Buxton being affordable and still considered "incredible potential" is a gift that shouldn't be squandered. 

 

They are the same price as Adrianaza. Think of them like Adrianaza and go staff your roster around them like they are Adrianaza and when they turn out to be way way way better than Adrianaza... you got yourself a baseball team.   

[Riverbrian]

 

I'm not sure I'd read too much in to a vague phrase like "aggressive support". Who knows, it might mean staying out of a bidding war for Corbin. 

 

Let's wait to see if they start filling the big holes at MI, 1B/DH/3B, and RP with third tier candidates.

 

Falvine has not asked me to mentor them yet, but I hope they don't need my help in making the assessment that regardless of whatever "aggressive moves" the team makes (within reason, which I arbitrarily set at <$150M payroll and keeping Kirilloff, Grateroal and Lewis), this team is not going anywhere in 2019 if they fail to get meaningful contributions from Sano and Buxton.

 

Let's not start assuming that they received an edict from the FO about spending. It's perhaps inviting to construe this one comment as such. I'm going to reserve judgment myself.

 

That said, my advice to them, when they call, will be to "assume" a turnaround from those two and "aggressively" complete the roster to win it all, not to be "competitive".

 

I'm usually the guy who cautions over and over again that quotes, tweets or any posting can be easily misunderstood so I'm willing to see how it plays out because it is what I preach over and over again. 

 

However... This quote... I'm having a hard time trying to understand how it could be misunderstood.

 

Other than... We won't be spending money until these two provide something that justifies it. 

 

They haven't consulted with me yet either. Sometimes I wonder if they lost my phone number. 

 

 

[Riverbrian]

 

We see the same thing advocated here all the time. “Don’t spend on free agents until they’re the last piece you need.”

 

Not from me. 

 

In my mind... there are only two paths to take.

 

A. Consistently improve your team from top to bottom at every opportunity using every possible acquisitions path.  

 

B. Tear it down to the studs, start over and then immediately after tearing it down go back to Path A. 

 

There should be no such thing as treading water. Waiting for Buxton and Sano is treading water and we've been treading water for so long that I'm wrinkled and developing gills on both sides of my neck.    

[Mike Sixel]

$/WAR article...

 

https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/the-recent-history-of-free-agent-pricing/

 

For those that think the numbers are too high....you might not want to read this.....

[diehardtwinsfan]

 

Exactly! 

 

I see no other way to do it. Sano and Buxton being affordable and still considered "incredible potential" is a gift that shouldn't be squandered. 

 

They are the same price as Adrianaza. Think of them like Adrianaza and go staff your roster around them like they are Adrianaza and when they turn out to be way way way better than Adrianaza... you got yourself a baseball team.   

 

yeah, with money to spend, they should be looking to fill the gaping holes. I could see avoiding a big contract to a 1B/DH type with Rooker/Weil in the system, but that doesn't mean you have to avoid the Nelson Cruz types or a 3 or more year deal for a player where there's nothing in the system to replace. 

 

If ownership is really saying this, ownership is handcuffing our team badly. If Buxton and Sano break out, this is a playoff team. If they have good pieces around them, they could be a deep into the playoff type team... not this 1 game wildcard runoff. 

[Mike Sixel]

Silver Slugger Nick Markakis
12:36 Did Joe Mauer play enough catcher to get serious HOF consideration?  Or did his last act as an overpaid mediocre 1B doom him?
Dan Szymborski
12:37 I don't think he played enough C to get consideration
crying 1
*I* think his peak is enough and *I* woudl vote for h im.
12:38 But the average voter isn't me or Jay,
And peak value as a thing is essentially dead with BBWAA votes right now.
Johan Santana's peak was like 90% Koufax and he got pretty much ZERO play

[nicksaviking]

If Joe doesn't get in on the traditional ballot, he'll get in with the veterans committee, or whatever it's called now. At some point he's going to have Paul Molitor, Dave Winfield, Jack Morris, Bert Blyleven and/or his peers stumping and voting for him.

 

But yeah, at the moment both Mauer and Santana look to have been Oliva'd. I am surprised Santana got so few votes. Had he not had the one comeback attempt in 2012 and instead his career abruptly ended at the age of 31 due to injury, would he have gotten the same consideration that Koufax and Puckett did? Or even more drastically, what if his season and career had ended when his shoulder was effectively ruined after throwing 134 pitches to get the Mets the franchise's only no hitter? Did those ten or so starts he made after his arm was shot cost him? He had a 2.34 ERA and was striking out a batter an inning at the time.

[Jim Hahn]

 

 

Not from me. 
 
In my mind... there are only two paths to take.
 
A. Consistently improve your team from top to bottom at every opportunity using every possible acquisitions path.  
 
B. Tear it down to the studs, start over and then immediately after tearing it down go back to Path A. 
 
There should be no such thing as treading water. Waiting for Buxton and Sano is treading water and we've been treading water for so long that I'm wrinkled and developing gills on both sides of my neck. 

I don't believe the FO is going to avoid trying to improve the team. What they are not going to do is make that big splash move like Kansas City did when they traded 2 of their best prospects for James Shields. That move worked in that they won the World Series. They also ended up with only a 2 year window to win the World Series. Now Kansas City is quite a ways from being a competitive team and need a lot of things to go well for that to happen in the short term.

Personally, I want a long term situation where the Twins can be a legitimate contender for the postseason every year. If that happens you should get your shots at the World Series from time to time. If what Levine is saying is that they won't trade 2 of their best prospects for a short term fix at this time, I am ok with that. If he is saying that they won't go after the most expensive free agents this year,I am ok with that. I would expect that shouldn't preclude the Twins from trying to make the team better.

[S.]

We have heard your concerns about the fact that our team has been incapable of competing in the playoffs for almost 30 years, and we understand your frustrations. However, we have decided that we are going to wait until we are a good team before we spend money on good players. We expect the Twins will be competitive as soon as 2030 when we sell the team. Thank you for your money.

 

Sincerely,

 

Twins Ownership

[Thrylos]

Bit of voluted methodology, but fangraphs' Craig Edwards ranks the Twins farm system pretty high

 

https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/post-2018-farm-system-rankings/

 

 

[Mike Sixel]

Mandy (the Movie) is Dandy
2:34 Joe Mauer HOF:  In or Out?
Meg Rowley
2:34 In for me, but I'm a big Hall person

 

https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/meg-rowley-fangraphs-chat-11-13-18/

 

[Thrylos]

Really good story on Griffin Jax from the Cronkite News  (Arizona PBS) :

 

https://cronkitenews.azpbs.org/2018/11/13/jax-throws-for-twins-serves-for-united-states-air-force/

 

[Mike Sixel]

Magglio O
3:02 Where are you on Buxton? Any hope for him?
Eric A Longenhagen
3:02 Yes, but know that I'll go down with that ship

 

Matt
3:04 Twins are reported to hire Wes Johnson from the University of Arkansas. Do you think more teams will/should hire from the collegiate level?
Eric A Longenhagen
3:05 They should but college coaches often make more money and have better job security than anyone in pro ball. Baseball really leverages your passion against you if you wanna work in the industry, which I imagine is true for film, fashion, music, etc.

 

https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/eric-longenhagen-chat-11-15-18/

[Mike Sixel]

Ray Liotta as Shoeless Joe
10:11 If you had to pick one Major League player to defeat Darth Vader, who do you choose? Does bat control equal lightsaber skills?
Jeff Sullivan
10:11 I don't know, but Willians Astudillo
10:12 Astudillo is up to 96 winter league at-bats, with zero strikeouts
10:13 (batting .354. three home runs yesterday)

 

https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/jeff-sullivan-fangraphs-chat-11-16-18/

 

[Vanimal46]

I'm convinced Jeff will name his first born son Willians. He loves him.

[Squirrel]

 

Ray Liotta as Shoeless Joe then Chantix spokesperson
10:11 If you had to pick one Major League player to defeat Darth Vader, who do you choose? Does bat control equal lightsaber skills?
Jeff Sullivan
10:11 I don't know, but Willians Astudillo
10:12 Astudillo is up to 96 winter league at-bats, with zero strikeouts
10:13 (batting .354. three home runs yesterday)

 

https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/jeff-sullivan-fangraphs-chat-11-16-18/

These user names people come up with. I fixed this one.

 

And I love the answer Sullivan gave.

[Vanimal46]

Old friend Kurt Suzuki signs a 2 yr $10 million deal with Washington. Fangraphs posted an article talking about his evolution as a hitter with the axe bat.

 

https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/instagraphs/the-nationals-are-signing-a-new-kurt-suzuki/

[Mike Sixel]

Put Away the Jimmy Gobble Jokes
12:36 What is the Twins plan this offseason?
Dan Szymborski
12:36 I think there's a good chance that the Twins shock with a signing, though not Machado/Harper

 

https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/dan-szymborski-fangraphs-chat-11-26-18/