jeffk

He also seems to be managing third base decently, which is surprising given that it seemed like most of his defensive struggles involved his arm. That's great news, because he's more valuable at 3B than RF, and it fills a hole for the Twins if he keeps it up. Granted there's a hole in RF too, but it's easier to find a serviceable RF than 3B.

I don't see what's the point of playing Darin Mastroianni when you can just play Ben Revere. He's playing well but has not played so many games in a row that he should need a rest. Here's a chance to see if it's for real.

You know, you're probably not serious, but I have wondered if anyone has ever tried this. I don't see an obvious reason why not.

I just can't understand why anyone would draft a projected reliever. Relievers are what you pull off the scrap heap during the rule 5 draft, or what you do with a starter when he doesn't pan out, or what you pay $1M for in free agency. This is confounding. Either they're not even trying, or they have some mysterious secret plan.

Haha... "Frankie" and "trend" in the same sentence.

I think this is a good point. The people who post on this site are smart baseball nerds who play things strictly by the numbers. But to your average fan, your star players have value beyond that and I think sometimes that's forgotten. Mauer and Morneau are all that's left of a strong late-2000s team, and both potentially have years of productivity left in them - modulo, of course, injuries. They could both be around as the veteran part of a better team in two or three years, and if you get rid of them, your average fan is going to lose even more interest. And average fans need to be interested, because they need to show up at games to fund the payroll.

I think the idea is, you can't pull when pitched outside, and hitting to the opposite field is more difficult than pulling the ball. So if a pitcher knows you can't hit to the opposite field, he'll just pitch you outside and let you ground out to second base (if you're a lefty).

The Twins have no rotation to speak of. It would be a much better value for them to try to pick up several average starters than one great one. Otherwise it will be just like this year 4/5 days.

It's important that Mauer catch this series, since with Doumit injured, you don't want Butera and the pitcher batting back to back. Ick.

I've become confused at the idea that BABIP is always supposed to converge around one number, from either the pitching side or the hitting side. If you're the type of pitcher who doesn't have huge strike out numbers and whose goal is to induce weak contact, then your goal is to *maintain* a low BABIP. Surely there are many successful - not dominant but decent - pitchers who make careers out of getting guys to hit weak ground balls. The idea that any pitcher with a below-average BABIP - and any hitter with an above-average one - is lucky does not seem patently obvious. Are there studies that form the basis for this bit of sabermetric lore?

I guess my reading of this has been different. If you had told me on April 1st that given that list, we'd be 6/10 on May 16, I would have been quite happy and expected we'd be in the .500 range. I guess it goes to show (a) just how spectacularly terrible our starting pitching has been and ( not only did the young players not maintain or improve, they have been awful.

Gladden is on his game making fun of the Tigers' fielding. Why does everyone hate him so much? I find his weird sense of humor a nice contrast to Corey's professionalism.

I think the key to winning as a small-market (or even a mid-market) team is quitting while you're ahead and getting the Yankees to pay that free bonus value.

Runs happen sometimes. While the save statistic has its well-document issues, it's worth pointing out that Capps is 7/7. It just feels worse because they never win.

Seems to me we're getting exactly what we expected from Doumit, and I think it was a decent deal.

The thing about having above-average hitting at a tough defensive position is it's only useful if you have a pretty good team. When you're fielding absolute rubbish at one outfield spot and third base, you'd be way better off to find an above average hitter for those spots and an average hitter for catcher. Of course, maybe the Twins couldn't have predicted what would befall them, but Mauer would not be terribly useful on this team even if he were at his best.

Speaking of Doumit, who else has noticed that ridiculously bad-ass mustache he's been rocking?

True MLB top-10 prospects often start their major-league careers at 19 or 20. Why should we be waiting until 2016 or whatever for Sano?

That's interesting, it's something I've wondered about. I guess I always assumed since it was an independent league, nobody in it was ever on the major league radar and that it was generally inferior to any of the official minor league spectrum. Thanks for clarifying that.

Huh. For all the talk about how he's a "mediocre prospect" and to "not get our hopes up", it sure does sound like he has a pretty strong track record all the way through the minors.

There's nothing wrong with having a down, rebuilding year - that's normal for mid-market teams. What is a problem is fielding a team that is so terrible nobody can hardly watch them. While rebuilding you don't need to be above .500, but you do need to play respectable baseball. Once everyone stops watching, then you're out of money anyways, so rebuilding becomes impossible and the whole thing collapses.

Yeah... that's not how WAR works. Anyways, if he plays 140 games his WAR at this pace will be (140/22)*.6 = 3.8.

Because, especially looking at a small sample size, WPA is as much about opportunity and luck as anything (although it a kinda fun statistic). I'm more concerned that guys hit. If they hit, decades of data show that runs will come.

He's always had hot flashes, but maybe it's a good sign this one is happening early in the year, which is unusual for him. Or maybe that's reaching. I'll be curious to see how the season goes for him.

I think the theory the Twins have on this is that there's two possibilties for Revere: 1) he improves his OBP and could be a starting CF - although we already have Span or 2) he can stay as he is and be an above-average 4th OF but not a starter. They sent him down to see if (1) could be achieved with another year of work in the minors. I think that's reasonable.