SomeGuy

It would be interesting to see a full list of players from the 2015 draft that are in the majors let alone "starring." 3.5 years in the minors is not that long. Tyler Jay was still below the average age for AA last year. Considering that he only threw 11 innings in 2017, we shouldn't really be concerned about him being a bust yet. He is just not ready to be on a 25 man roster so there isn't the need to protect him. From the first round, 8 of the top 20 selections have MLB experience....Alex Bregman, Walker Buehler, Andrew Benintendi, and Dansby Swanson are actually contributing.

I don't think of either of them as "not worth stashing". I think of them as unlikely to be drafted or highly unlikely to succeed on another team if drafted (returned). Its clear Jay isn't ready for MLB time and needs more time to develop.

I don't think anyone else will be added for the final 2 spots but would like to see Jake Reed added. Arraez doesn't seem likely to be selected.

I'm okay with signing someone without MLB experience. Every time I hear so and so has experience with Team X I think "but wasn't he fired for not getting results? What will be different this time?" Sounds like we were one of at least 3 teams interested in signing Wes Johnson.

I have a hunch that Rob Manfred is not thrilled with this strategy. Personally I like it but I am curious if wider usage throughout the league would eventually lead to a shift in pitching contracts. Would starting pitchers get premium contracts if they were implemented in this strategy? Would any players/agents flat out reject this strategy? For example, an agent hesitates to negotiate his players with the Twins because they might want to use them as a primary pitcher and possibly affect their long term earning power. Would relievers expect more money if they are going to sign with a team that uses this strategy since it is likely they will see more innings? It does seem that a team needs to build around this strategy if they want to use it, it would be interesting what affect that would have on the landscape if more than just a couple teams were doing it.

This is kind of funny, according to Baseball reference's WAR metrics, Kepler had a higher 2018 WAR than Bryce Harper, 2.8 to 1.3 Fangraphs brings some sanity to the situation with Max at 2.6 and Harper at 3.5. Kepler is average and Rosario is solid... Comes down to if we value Buxton's defense enough to give him the center field job (I do). Then we have Cave and Grossman in the mix as 4th OF. I say cut ties with Robbie but he does have the OBP thing going for him. Another funny fact, Grossman's average dWAR over the last 3 years is worse than Miguel Sano's was the year he played right field (baseballreference dWAR).

In my opinion outfield is one of the only positions we don't need to sign someone in. Our priorities should lie in Relief pitching, Middle Infield, and a DH that can back up 1st or 3rd.

That's what I am saying, he will be exposed at some point.

Waiting might increase our odds of keeping him since now is when teams have the most free roster spaces.

We will need to expose him to waivers again if he is going to be in AAA, he is out of options. If there isn't an injury in Spring training or a move to clear some space we could easily lose him before he gets an AB, I don't think he is ahead of any of our current OF Rosario, Cave, Kepler, Buxton, or Grossman. His high AA/AAA average was driven by a crazy BABIP of .426 and .477. For reference Vlad Jr had a lower BABIP and higher Average. Reed found a hole nearly 50% of the time he put it in play, that doesn't seem realistic. .477 is more than 100 points better than his next best season at any level. But I do like the pick up, especially if he passes thru waivers. I am not opposed to freeing up some space either. Grossman does not field well at all and it seems like a waste to have our everyday DH be an OBP minded player.