bean5302

Side note, really happy for Steer. What a great first game and he will always have that going forward no matter what happens.

I like the Mahle trade and still do because of the context of the situation. The Twins desperately needed a good starter who could go deep into games and take the pressure off the bullpen for the regular season, but also a starter they wouldn't fear putting on the mound if the team makes the playoffs. In addition, the Twins' farm system had taken a huge hit with their top prospects being traded off, performing poorly or injured. The prospects who have just recently graduated were also not setting the world on fire for various reasons. So, future value in the farm system was limited. Finally, the Twins were blessed with an unexpectedly weak division performance where the White Sox were not running away with the division as expected. There was blood in the water and the Twins were leading the division with a good opportunity to put some distance on before a tough September schedule. When a division looks tough with Cleveland's farm looking pretty outstanding and the White Sox have a payroll near $200MM so they're in it to win it, sometimes you have to take your shots. It may be worth noting that Mahle gave the Twins 2 - 6.0 six inning starts (162 pitches) where his fastball had normal velocities before the game where Mahle got pulled early so it's tough to blame the F.O. for Mahle's fatigue just based on that. Could there be an issue? Maybe. But, the fact Mahle made it to a 3rd start before the problem cropped up makes it tougher.

Both whole strings were provided.

Getting tired of Chief taunting me in private messages he won't make public because he can't perform basic math and doesn't like it when you shove the math down his throat. No, he deletes my posts, and runs off to hide in the private messages taunting me for weeks at a time. I doubt I'm the only one, but I will say it's annoying to be taunted by somebody I can't "Ignore" Some people aren't cut out to be moderators, and Chief is one of them.

He became the first pitcher in MLB history to throw any non-fastball pitch at 100+ mph.

Gordon started off with much less impressive exit velocities as well. He's learned to adapt his swing and approach to make better contact in general, and he's put on weight. A breakdown per 100 plate appearances and how his exit velocity almost immediately jumped up. Gordon has been hitting the ball hard for a very long time. His hard hit rates increased relatively quickly, too. 88.7 93.7 91.5 91.1 90.6 92.5 While Gordon is referred to as "slender" so is Byron Buxton. From my understanding, Gordon is 6'1" and about 180lbs right now. 180lbs is plenty for a lot of strength.

Canterino never pitched more than 99.1 innings for Rice, and he never averaged more than 6.2 innings per start, and less than 6.0 in his rookie year. The innings he pitched and batters he faced was never leading or close to leading the league. It's also been 3 years now.

Gordon's arm should be way stronger than Kepler's. I seriously don't get where this arm complaint on Gordon comes from? He was drafted as a shortstop and at the time he was throwing 90mph off the mound as a pitching prospect and mid 90s across the diamond in the infield. He was graded with a 50+ arm. Kepler has an okay arm for right field, and he's been hesitant to go all out with it since having a tear in his UCL and multiple shoulder issues. He's been below average on arm related statistics for RF his entire career.

I think I'd trade Kepler and make Gordon the starting RF next year. Celestino can handle the 4th outfielder duty. Gordon's been far above average for a hitter since early in the season. His exit velocities are elite and he's found a way to get enough angle on the ball that extra bases have been rolling in.

He had a strained UCL last year. He had a strained UCL this year. The strain he had this year eventually required surgery.

Chase Petty last 4 starts at A+ as a 19yr old = 3.06 ERA, 2.29 FIP, 13.25 K/9 (35.6%), 1.53 BB/9 (4.1%), 0.96 WHIP. He is dominating high A right now, and he's looking like a true potential ace despite his first A+ start hiccup. It's not like anybody can say he'll continue to dominate since sometimes things just don't pan out (Balazovic). The false dilemma is strong on the Gray or Petty choice around here. You could have both. Or you could have Petty and a different starter. I'm sure the Reds didn't say "Petty or NOTHING!!!"

I feel like losing the Wildcard series 2-1 would be like tossing a cracker to a starving person.

It's strange how big of a gap there is between some stadiums based on what I've experienced and how I'd rank them and where you'd put them. I didn't like Petco, at all. Navigating the various areas of the stadium was difficult and the stadium had a hospital-like sterile feel to it. Conversely, the Coliseum has been enjoyable for me, except the lack of fans. Good food and beer options, a stadium which was pretty easy to navigate. Convenient BART Service, friendly fans. Angel Stadium would rank way, way down there for me, too. Fenway is nice, but overrated IMHO.

Yeah, it's crazy. He's been playing with significant back issues this year and even though he's played fewer games than Buxton, Trout still has a lead in fWAR. Trout should hit maybe 110-115 games this year and he'll finish with over 5 WAR. Still, the injuries are seriously threatening the tail end of his career. At this point, I'd expect Trout to finish up at 115-135 career bWAR, putting him way up there, but not with the guys like Mays, Ruth, Bonds, etc.

Well, the MiLB team owners are willing to post millions or even tens of millions of dollars to become an affiliate. No official numbers were released, but the St. Paul Saints supposedly posted something like $20MM. Since MiLB teams do not pay player salaries or benefits, their costs are fairly limited in the grand scheme of things. They still have stadium operating costs and travel costs, etc, but with ticket sales and concessions, I'd imagine they do okay.

Lewis is on a timeline for April/May, not June/July right now.

I think it's fair to criticize me on that adjective. I looked the other day and Rodriguez was at 3.5 fWAR. He could hit 5.0 fWAR just because of how WAR works, but he's on pace for a 4.4 fWAR season. Still, I think you're right about that being worthy of "great." About as good as you could hope for from a Rookie. I guess I meant "great" as in one of the all time great rookie campaigns and that it's not. A 4.5ish fWAR season from a rookie happens just about every year, I think.

A lot depends on this post season. If the Twins make it, win a playoff series or especially the World Series, it will be worth it. A playoff series win would be absolutely huge for this franchise. If the Twins miss the postseason, it's going to be very hard to justify the outflow of talent, especially if the top prospects in the minors don't all take major steps forward down the stretch.

I'd absolutely love to see Maeda back, if he's really ready. I'm sure the Twins will watch him very closely to verify how his command looks, but that'll have to come against AAA guys. The fact they haven't shut him down already is very encouraging about how he's progressing. I think, right now, Maeda returns if the Twins are going to make the playoffs or are highly likely to make them. If the Twins look to be out of it in mid-September, Maeda gets shut down.

While true, I was really addressing the apologist comments for Falvey and Levine. They're well past the grace period for being able to use the excuse of learning on the job or installing the program, etc. It's time for them to sink or swim. This is their team, their draft picks or at the very least, their development system, their trades, their free agent signings.

Looking for a little bright side (like the Twins' fWAR) isn't wrong, and the trade moves were all very good. The reviews were all glowing around here because it was obvious the moves the front office made were good. It's just a question of whether or not it was enough.

I can see it now... 30 years in the future, the front office will still be "learning on the job."

It's not about Maeda's arm strength or professionalism. It's about the track record of UCL repair recipients often being unable to command their pitches until they get enough repetition to get a solid feel for them. It's common to see walk rates increase a lot for at least a short while when pitchers return.

Trout already has more fWAR and he's only 3 bWAR short of Griffey, Jr's career.

Trevor Story is at 2B because the Red Sox still have Boegarts and they promised they'd let him play SS. Xander Boegarts Trea Turner Carlos Correa Dansby Swanson It's arguably an as good or better SS class than last year, but for every elite free agent shortstop, that means a team needs a shortstop to replace the outgoing one.