Dainir

I don't see why he would be, Gibson has better numbers. Gibson has a much lower ERA. He has pitched 8 less innings and allowed 12 less earned runs. Gibson has pitched 6 games where he has allowed 4 or more earned runs, and Correia has pitched 7 such games. So from just looking at the stats, Gibson would appear to be better. Hughes has pitched more innings and allowed fewer runs than Correia. You can't cherry pick starts and say "Hey, player x struggled here in this one game, he must not be the real deal." Back your claims up with stats and trends not just a one time start. Now if you look at just the stats from June and what's been accomplished so far in July you come up with a much better argument for you claim. Put those pieces together then come back.

Another thing to consider to maybe help your perspective. The #4 first round draft pick is a very different beast depending on if the player is just out of high school or just out of college. Just out of high school won't yet be as good (polished) of players as out of college. The keyword is the yet, the high school players drafted that high project as having higher ceilings. That is the case with Stewart, he was drafted out of high school. He will need more polishing, as expected, and the low walk rate means there is one part about him that we don't need to worry about polishing up for now. The big thing that the low walk rate says to me is that he is not afraid to go after batters, which as the youngest player in the league is huge.

Especially when we are talking about a team that is scoring way more runs than it did before, thanks primarily to unproven players, or players who track record suggests that they are over performing. Basically there is no reason to believe that the twins can sustain this scoring. If they keep it up for a while longer, then they will start taking notice. But right now its to early to say they are the real deal and this isn't just blip on the radar.

If they were both on the same team, I would say player A isn't doing his job very well. Player B is scoring on 53% of his singles and doubles. Whereas player A is scoring on 52% of his singles and doubles.

It is a good thought with Mauer being as athletic as he is, however, there is more to it than just using his athleticism to the max. If you move Mauer from first who fills that void? If you are just shuffling Mauer to fill position X and having that player play first, you aren't doing much of a service to the team. The lineup would be the same, just the defensive capabilities would change. As for the defensive aspect, having a tall left handed first baseman, that digs the ball out of the dirt with the best of them is the ideal first baseman. That description fits Mauer. So, in order to get Mauer to move from first base, we need someone who would look to be an significant improvement offensively compared to the player whose spot Joe would be taking. Not to mention that player coming up would have to be serviceable as a first baseman. I don't think there will be anyone in the minors that will put that pressure on the club But if Colabello starts tearing the covers off balls or Parmelee finally lives up to the potential we saw in his first call up things could get interesting. If either of those events happen I could see Mauer filling in for Plouffe, or Willingham. The other interesting idea, is that Mauer's athleticism does allow for the Twins to consider trading Willingham or Plouffe with out much trouble for the line up.

My only question in this is why don't you see Deduno playing a role in this rotation as he had the best year of any Twin's starting pitcher?

I would rather trade Dozier than Rosario. Also, what is the likely of Rosario transitioning to Shortstop. God knows we need one of those. Do you feel Danny Santana has a lock on that, or Rosario a possibility?

I really like the thought of adding an ace. The Twins definitely have the salary space to do so. Especially if the Twins trade Willingham and Doumit as I truly hope they do. By trading those two and adding in the Justin Morneau trade, the Twins will have roughly 25 million more in payroll available to sign others, and that will only get the Twins back to their current payroll. If I am the Twins I will be taking a nice hard look at Pinto this September. If he continues to tear it up as he has been, I think next year should be the year that Mauer makes the switch to first base while Pinto starts with Herrmann backing him up. This arrangement makes Doumit rather expendable. With the outfield, we will have Arcia coming ready to play. We will still have Presley, Mastroianni, and Thomas available to play the outfield. Hicks can still work things out and make an impact at the major league level next year as well, if not then, then soon. Add to the fact that Buxton is on his way, Willingham should be gone. We should start seeing our future players coming to Target Field next year as well, the only question is if it will be before September. I would also be excited to see a trade featuring Plouffe and Parmelee. We have serviceable third basemen to replace Plouffe until Sano shows up, and Parmelee doesn't seem to be an upgrade to anyone on the club right now. So send them away now as their value will only continue to drop. In these trades I want to see starting pitching, and not just any starting pitcher. Pitchers that will be ready to take the reigns as number 1 or 2 pitcher within the next two years. Those things would be enough to make me excited.

Does your assessment of Doumit change if Josmil Pinto keeps up what he's done in his first couple games in the majors (obviously not the .700 pace, but hitting well above major league average)?

I am going to figure out how to download the data from Deduno's appearances this year, and try analyze it. But just from looking at the images available online I would say he is throwing slowly rotating fastballs consistently. But that is just from quickly looking through them. I hope to have more for you by Tuesday evening. This will be a fun learning process.

Do you view the K/BB stat differently for pitchers that throw the knuckleball? I ask as I just read the Call it What it is post by E. Andrew, that suggests that Deduno is throwing pitches that behave like knuckleballs, at least in terms of their rotation. This also meshes with the unpredictable nature of his pitches. If Deduno is throwing fastballs and change-ups that knuckle, as E. Andrew's post would suggest, does that change how you look at Deduno and analyze his stats? I personally believe what is written in E. Andrew's post the comparisons make sense to me as well as the conclusions drawn from the graphs. I just don't know if that information translates to what the pitch actually does as it comes in on the batter. edit: decided to add the link below Call It What It Is - Blogs - Minnesota Twins News & Rumors Forum

The implication is that Deduno throws 3 pitches (as labeled per graph 3: FF, FC and CH) that have less rotation than R.A Dickey's Knuckleball. For these three pitches here are there numbers: CH: 14 pitches, 12 rotated slower than 935 rpm (9 slower than 400 rpm) FC: 8 pitches, all 8 rotated slower than 935 rpm (6 rotated slower than 400 rpm) FF: 65 pitches, 61 rotated slower than 935 rpm (10 rotated slower than 400 rpm) What I take this to mean is that Deduno has three pitches the at least in terms of rotation speed, are comparable to a knuckleball. Given: 1."The ideal knuckleball makes just 1 to 1.5 rotations (~150 RPM) between release and home plate, causing the drag on the ball to shift significantly mid-flight as the leading seam of the ball rotates slightly, resulting in unpredictable and uniquely sudden movement.” 2. R.A. Dickey is one of the premier knuckleballers in MLB 3. Deduno's fastballs and change-ups on average have less rotation than Dickey's knuckleball. One would expect to make the following conclusion: 1. Deduno's fastballs and change-ups will show "unpredictable and uniquely sudden movement." Behavior similar to that of a knuckleball. Thus implying the answer to admin's question 2 is yes.