h2oface

"Crain in his worst year" means his career to you? (I believe I never brought up the reliever's won-lost record, either, but referred to the pitcher that was pulled that took a loss. I did enjoy the aside summary take on Crain's Twins' career, though.) I agree, the human memory is selective and often irrational. Thanks for your permission.

I respect the advanced stat trend and trying to make an argument about them, and I do not discount them. And I applaud the arguments. I still like inherited runners scored, and think it is very telling about the pitcher, and it tells me a lot. So do other things that have been brought up to convince one to disregard it. This originally started with me saying that I like it (and I still do and will) and the curiosity that it is hard to find it, if at all, on many sources pitchers' stats. As far as small samples, one can only take what they can get - ever. I see that according to spycake, Tonkin was at 36% last year, and 6% over the team and league average. Since I am never really happy with a league average player anyway (sure, it could be worse, but still not "happy"), that only solidifies my lack of love (in fact I cringe) for seeing Tonkin come into the game, and watching that "Crain in his worst year" straight fastball get crushed and empty the bases, and lose the game, and give a loss to the pitcher he was supposed to provide relief for, and that probably could have done better than Tonkin if he had been given the chance. I wish inherited runners scored was easier to find, and found a home in all pitchers' stat lines from all sources. I don't ever see a stat as "broken". It is only ever a record of what happened.

Inherited runners scored means a lot to me! It is not relief if the pitcher comes in and lets the runners on base score. If he needs a strikeout and a double play to get out of a bases loaded with no outs jam, that is relief. If the pitcher comes in and there is two outs and the bases loaded, and he gives up a bases clearing double and then gets a strikeout, his line looks pretty good while he lays three runs on the teammate he was supposed to offer relief to. I get FIP/xFIP, but inherited runners scored tells me a lot more about a pitchers moxy and guts and whether he can do his job as a relief pitcher, and that job is to shut the other team down, no matter what it takes. That is why they call it relief.

To me, the most important stat that is compiled about a reliever is inherited runners scored. It always amazes me that even though it is in every box score, it is hard to find it in a lot of the sites' individual stats. Tonkin's good at letting inherited runners score. That fast ball is so straight, it doesn't matter what speed it is thrown at. We will see. He gets another chance.

With Park in the mix with Sano and Dozier and the rest of the lineup..... this could be a team that certainly sets the new strikeout record for the team, and might be pushing the MLB record before they are done. (Buxton, Plouffe, Rosario that swings at everything, Arcia.....) I certainly hope not, but it sure looks like it on paper.

Santana sure is heating up this last week. I hope he keeps it up.

"The downside could be losing a few more games." A straight fastball gets rocked in the show. That few more games cost the Twins a wildcard slot last year. I am not a fan of either decision here, especially putting Tonkin in the MLB pen.

There is that reference to a rebuild again. I could swear that those in charge have told us over and over again that there was no rebuild........

...... and a homer and 3 hits and 3 RBI today...... he is more than ready.

This team will need a lot of luck and a lot of upside showing to come out of April above .500. The pen seems a mess to me.... and I really believed it would be addressed as promised. A new cast off in Abad, but I never liked O'Rourke and his 5.00 plus ERA in Rochester, and he seems to have to face far too many righthanded bats when he is put in the game. Tonkin and a fastball that is so straight it is no trouble to hit, and I fear both Fien and Perkins will be on the way down. High hopes for Pressly and the misplaced May, and for Jepson (but not as much as he regresses to his career stats). Santana has found the ball with his bat at the right time. Sano is slumping a bit this last week, and in right field, but I really look forward to seeing what he can do for a full season. Murphy only knows a slump with the Twins so far, yikes. Plouffe, Dozier, Suzuki, seem ready. Mauer seems like the Mauer of the last two years. Happy to see Buxton in center, no matter what happens. Rosario seems ready. Arcia is a total crap-shoot without options. Park looks great and I hope blows us all away. I have no idea why Nunez is still around. Escobar looks ready but not in the form I hope he can continue to perform at. I have high hopes for dreaded Santana and Gibson, but cringe at watching Hughes in April when he has always (except one year in his career) tanked, and doesn't get going, if he does get going, until May. I can't believe we all have to see Nolasco set records on scratching himself on the mound between pitches and hope he doesn't pitch batting practice for the third year in Minnesota, and Milone could surprise, and should keep us in the game 4 out of 7 outings. I really thought I would have higher hopes and the bullpen would have really been addressed, Sano would have been at third, Kepler in the outfield, and Berrios on the starting staff, but it is a long season and a lot can happen. At least Jordan Shafer is not starting in center this year (he was signed by the Dodgers to start pitching in the minors!). I hope we see a lot different team by June, and the march to 90+ wins is picking up momentum. All future and no past. Here we go again.

Perkins, for sure. He just is not committed to aging with grace, and definitely is not doing what is needed to keep the edge. I think he will start busting in......April. I hope the flame throwers take over the pen by mid season. Also...... I would add Casey Fien. I was surprised he was resigned. I would have let him go.

I would hope they are not paralyzed by hope, and really don't foresee the outcome being making the team, but are investing in that chance that sudden injuries might give them the cracked door to squeeze in, and they need to be ready and do well to be that guy out of several that gets to go north with the team. In the end, even if they do the best of all the players in camp, they still will not have a job in the show unless a pre-ordained regular goes down with an injury. It is a bit of a dance..... the "pitch" from the team that they will have a true opportunity to compete and the player convincing themselves to have the bit of hope that encourages them to invest in the hope. It sure seems to waste a lot of at bats that could go to the prospects, though. I have never liked that, and it seems like such a waste. Unfortunately for the team, cases like Kubel and Bartlett (recently) got past the screening process, and were proved so totally misguided and the quick failure after all those precious at bats for prospects were now history. It is too bad that Murphy has not earned his roster spot yet (another 0/3 today and now 2/28 and hitting .071). He is getting it just the same, for reasons I understand, even though Hicks and Centeno both have earned the back up spot). Good thing Suzuki is starting to heat up. A bunch of the guys that got cut and are in minor league camp all played today anyway..... Mastroianni showed today what he brings that others don't..... scoring from first on a double after an infield single with two outs. Arcia doesn't give the team a run there. Also his 4th stolen base of the spring. Also a very good defensive replacement for Sano when the Twins are leading in the bottom of the eighth or ninth.

It seems I am terrible at expressing myself. The flaw? I never said that he should make the team. Not once. Nor did I feel I inferred it. I was empathizing with how I assume he felt. The sentence in the post that you responded to was about the fact that there was no chance for him to make the team, no matter what he did in the short spring training, and that the pitch to the players that there might be, is bogus. I read it back. I can't see how it can be missed, especially with the second post (#31) just after the one you responded to clarifying that. But I will work on my delivery. So sorry I have confused you, and any others that seemed to think I was saying Mastroianni should have made the team. He was always signed for injury depth.

Agreed.... and obviously..... but I was referring to the "opportunity", or in reality, "non-opportunity" that spring training actually provides for many. Mastroianni surely did well - .407/.484/.481 with a .965 OPS - compared to others that got jobs, that is what I refer to. There was really no job for him to ever be competing for. If Spring Training is for new starts, and from this day forward, none of the past stats matter anyway, right? It is what one can do now and from this day forward. Except that is never really true even though that is the pitch. Murphy/Hicks/Centeno is another example. Murphy has to make the team, whether he earned it or not, just because Aaron Hicks was traded for him. Spring has not been kind to the three namer.

Thankful the Quentin experiment is over. Now they can quit wasting at bats on him. He is a total joke anywhere in the field now. Maybe he can get a job starting fights and breaking arms somewhere. Mastroianni must wonder what he has to do to get a job (not that any of the hopefuls really had a shot at making the roster, anyway). Tonkin needs to get a job in Korea or Japan, because he cannot play above AAA ball here. O'Rourke? Too bad not everyone bats left handed for him. The future and the present is the youth. Let's get on with it and stop this tired old vet waiting room gambit. Looking back at some opening day rosters in the last years, it is truly amazing. Why just last year... Jordan Schafer started the year in center field! And for real horror....... check out the 2013 starting rotation! http://www.twinkietown.com/2015/4/3/8339303/2015-twins-opening-day-roster

Maybe so. It is just so hard for myself to talk myself into that and treat it as fact - that being a #1 draft pick has an insignificant value. This year, a #1 draft pick is worth a salary of the $15.8 million qualifying offer for the year, or about 15% of the Twins payroll (just a guess without actually knowing the exact Twins' payroll - but you get the point). I understand that that is a bit of a spin on the qualifying. My mind is often not fair with its internal dialogue. It is harder to quantify what Parmelee and Whimmers and Michaeal were worth as the assigned value didn't start until the 2013 season, but now my mind is even more troubled, since you brought that up. And maybe I just shouldn't think that way, and just throw away the whole idea of worth of a #1 pick that MLB has assigned and evaluates and has raised form $13.3 million to $14.1 million to $15.3 million to the present $15.8 over the last 4 years. This trading from position of strength argument my thought process has even more trouble with - a position so strong that a 3rd baseman is now playing out of position in the show without ever playing the outfield before in his development. I continue to doubt, and have trouble joining the club, that might think the evaluations by Rob Anthony and the Twins front office personnel is absolutely or necessarily something I can take to the bank (Chris Parmelee, Alex Wimmers and Levi Michael, say no more). If the Twins want to see Murphy's potential, I would hope that he gets the majority of games behind the plate and in the lineup sooner than later

Quentin should be toast. Right up there with the Bartlett/Kubel experiment of 2014. I hope it doesn't go as far as the Jason Squared debacle. So Paulson made $250K for less than two years of part time work. Not bad.

“I don’t think he’s reached his peak,” said assistant general manager Rob Antony. “I think he has more potential." I sure hope so. I can't stop myself from thinking that he is what the Twins consider a number one draft pick. After all, he is what the Twins felt was worthy of a trade for their #1 draft pick. Add the investment of years in development for Hicks, and Murphy is what they figure is a comparable and worthy talent to be a fair trade? I sure hope he hasn't reached his peak, and has more potential. I hope further that he actually achieves it.

Hy. What a name. I don't think I have ever heard of another Hy. Good thing there was no random testing program back then. A World Series Vet! Impressive. Thanks for the article.

Dozier is in total denial about the second halves of the seasons. Perhaps he did get in better shape this off season and will be able to perform the whole year. The Twins need him to.

And there it is. Paralyzed by hope. That is the problem exactly. Over and over and over and over again. Failing to have the wisdom and courage to make the decision sooner so the player can develop at the position they can play in the majors while in the minors, as it should be. I can understand when a veteran like Mauer has a position switch after years in the show, but all this failing to identify the prospects while they are prospects is hurting the team. The young players, like Plouffe, become a liability in the field for years (being the acceptable third baseman in the field he is now didn't happen over night, eh?) as they hone skills that could have been honed during the 7 years (ok.... maybe less sometimes) the Twins took to develop them. Identification is a great skill.

Accepting Plouffe as a worthy leader of this team is like accepting the pitching staff. The Ryan collection of league average (where even Mauer now resides) bolstered with hopes of all having a breakout year all at once. Hey.... it could happen.

Ouch! Hey..... It kept Plouffe at third base. There is one rare example. Quentin seems like a lose lose to me, and a loose canon. He can't field, and he is a guy that will pick a useless fight and attack a pitcher. A real chump thing to do (the 8 game suspension for fighting and breaking Greinke's arm seemed light to me). I really thought having him around was a total waste of time and wast of at bats for the younger prospects. His fiasco fielding at first the other day was a joke. http://m.mlb.com/video/v26207091/ladsd-scully-calls-the-dodgerspadres-fracas

I love how it is excused that a MLB pitcher can be lit up because A ball players are "aggressive". It seems to be the company line a couple days in a row to explain the poor performances of our starters that were protected from the MLB grapefruit games. Hughes velocity was fine? I wonder what it was. I guess the low A team borrowed the radar gun for May. I see Nolasco is working a minor league game next? Am I the only one that doesn't quite see how this is better for them and the team? Oh well, it is just ST. Thanks for the article!

Well, I for one, thought it was beneficial to be clarified, because "the franchise" did in fact move, and did not, in fact, become an independent league team as the article said. A totally different franchise has moved to New Britian. As I read it, and before I saw the comments, it was therefore confusing and now not clear to me at all, and contradicting what I was previously aware of. I am happy that it was clarified, as it was all the sudden not clear to me at all, but now it is.