laloesch

"My biggest strength would have to be the way I attack the strike zone, and I'm not afraid to face anybody." Love that statement. We need more guys like this in the system. No more nibblers.

I don't understand the relevance of this post but okay....i guess.

never say never. None of us can make that assertion definitively.

The good news is that he's ARB-1 this season and technically not a free agent until 2020. That said he's gonna start getting real expensive soon. He better step up.

Ideally I'd like to see management let Santiago and Gibson go. Santiago is consistently mediocre. Gibson crashed last season. The good news is that they are not tied to them long term (yet). So I don't take too big of an issue to tendering them contracts as long as they don't block other prospects.

As much as i love Johan Santana especially during his years with Minnesota he's old now. I just don't see a spot for him on the roster.

I'm not impressed with this signing. I see it as a stop gap measure. There's a reason the Astros didn't spend the money to resign him. Will his defense be better than Suzuki? Probably. However, from what I've been reading about him he does allow quite a few "pb" and has a relatively weak throwing arm. While pitch framing is important I think it's been over hyped here as the "be all end all stat." It's also a lot less relevant right now in Minnesota considering much of the pitching staff has major control issues. I just don't think the "pitch framing" makes up for his hideous offensive stats (most notably his BA) the past three years. The guy can't hit left handed pitching at all. In 2016 he batted .150 against lefties and .231 against righties. Not exactly anything to get excited about. I think the Twins can do better long term.

This clubhouse needs some fire and Hunter brings that dynamic no doubt (albeit controversial at times). Cuddyer is apparently a leader and Hawkins is a standup guy as well. Do i think they will be difference makers? No, not really. Mentors? Perhaps.

I don't think the Dodgers are going to give up De Leon or Julio Urias. They would likely be willing to part ways with Frankie Montas and Grant Holmes.

My mistake to not double check. The Houston source was quoting Hank Conger stats alongside Castro's.

Quote away. blow me away with stats chief. I don't really care what his other offensive stats are. Managing no better than a .222 batting average in three seasons is bad any way you look at it.

Three straight seasons of sub .220 hitting. Will have their work cut out for them.

That's about how i feel as well. This is a meh signing. I'm not excited about this signing for a number of reasons and let's stop sugar coating Castro as something he's not. First of all, his bat is bad, not mediocre... bad. The last two seasons he's failed to hit higher than .211. That atrocious even for a catcher. On defense it doesn't get a whole lot better either. I've seen a ton of hype here about pitch framing this, pitch framing that. In 2015 base runners stole 42 out of 43 attempts and his weak arm is well document in Astros territory. So was this signing ONLY for pitch framing because he doesn't do a whole lot else particularly well? Too me this is spending money for the sake of spending money on mediocre talent when we could have just rolled with Murphy and Garver or signed Drew Butera as a stop gap measure for two years 4 mil and gotten comparable results.

I'd love to see a statistic of this "turned close strikes into balls."

Hopefully that happens this year at the major league level. May has good velocity and 4 pitches. Too me it makes too much sense. We weren't close to contention last year but they insisted on keeping him in the pen all season even when it became completely apparent that this was going to be losing campaign and EVEN after the starters bottomed out. One really does have to question the coaches in addition to GM.

This might be more evidence of the lack of analytics and statistics under the previous GM. Just what feels good.

Note: As i mentioned before Duffey rarely throws the Changeup.

Exactly. Couldn't agree more. This is why swapping Duffey and May makes sense. For all intensive purposes Tyler is a two pitch pitcher (fastball and curve). Once he goes through the order initially he really struggles getting guys out. Pitch tracker illustrates it quite well. He has two VERY distinct Zones in which he he throws. Its basically the curve or the fastball zones. Easy to predict for a hitter with a decent eye. While 2015 was a good debut for him, opposing teams & hitters caught on to his repertoire fairly quickly and realized that the down and away curve is his out pitch and the middle to inside 4 seam and 2 seam fastballs are very hittable. He does occasionally throw a change up but only like 2% of his totals. Until he develops the changeup and throws it without tipping off hitters he's a reliever in my opinion. Now that stubborn Terry is gone, why not swap May and Tyler to start 2017. If May can't handle it after an extended shot at the rotation (say mid season) then you can always go back to Tyler or Mejia. Hopefully Gonsalves will be available later in the season as well. This all assuming that Derek Falvey and Thad Levine makes no acquisitions.

The Twins are going to try and use him as a starter in 2017. What more needs to be said? He is not the next Andrew Miller.

It depends on how much money and years they have to commit to him to get him here. If it's 3 + years, no way. If it's 10+ million a year, absolutely not! He's not good enough to commit starting dollars to IMO. Unless they have given up on Murphy and are so desperate that they are willing to sign him at all costs even if he ends up a backup to Garver. Those are my two cents. LIke i said, I just don't see the logic at this point given how bad the starters are.

Not really impressed with his stats especially on offense. Would rather go with Garver and see how it plays out this season.

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No.... i understand your post quite well and read the entirety of it. Much of what you are stating is contradictory and there are plenty of inaccuracies and generalizations backed up by nothing. First of all police do not prosecute ANYTHING. They enforce the law and make arrests based on laws broken. The judicial system prosecutes broken laws whether it's criminal or civil. Domestic violence IS a straight forward crime like DUI's, murder, etc in the eyes of the law. There are clear laws on the books AND criminal penalties for such acts. HOWEVER, in the case of domestic abuse (unless it's made in public in front of witnesses), it's up to the victim (in most cases and most states) to press forward with charges and provide timely proof of the act. Now some may see this as an unreasonable expectation, but the law is written this way to protect the innocent until proven guilty. Without it you have vengeance not justice. Remember, innocent until proven guilty. And what do you mean DV punishments aren't really a solution? Without laws enforced by punishment we have anarchy as a society. On a side note, I realllllyyyy don't understand people who object to capital punishment for serial murderers and people who commit barbaric heinous crimes. You are enabling their behavior because the penalties are not stiff enough. Jail time plus court ordered counseling is very common for such cases that are prosecuted. You obviously haven't been to a court room recently. Counseling is a legitimate treatment method, but obviously not everyone can be cured in every situation and it's not enough in many scenarios. It's also an impossible expectation for the state to cure all of these cases. If there are better solutions by all means state them here. #1 Don't act like the player's union has no blame here. For years if the league even hinted at toughening up on them regarding drug testing or labor conditions Ken Moffett and Donald Fehr had those guys threatening to strike. They are just as to blame as the owners themselves. But that's irrelevant. The league has to choose like any employer what is except able conduct on and off the diamond. If they are stupid like the NFL was with Ray Rice (what he did was absolutely appalling and disgusting), then they will suffer the consequences at the box office. My opinion, he should have been suspended without pay for at least a year as a minimum. In fact given the presence of such damning video evidence i would given him a multi year ban. #2 Actually a "heartless victimize" who violates a restraining order will be found in contempt of court and thrown in jail immediately for such acts. And when a judge issues a restraining ordering is also respects the victims children too. Not sure of your logic here. #3 Look harder. DV is the #1 police dispatch call. #4 What stats say 8 out of 10 never result in charges being filed? Please provide sources saying so. I think you meant to say 8 out of 10 charges filed were not prosecuted because the victim either failed to press charges or the perpetrator made a plea bargain in court with the prosecution. Who ever said that verbal and physical violence are not two different things? Now you are really getting lost in the weeds on this one. I don't think ANYONE here is arguing that "slamming someone's head off the wall" is justified because she was screaming at her significant other.

I don't agree with this post on many levels. Employers punish or terminate employees all the time for such crimes and it's not just because of PR pressure. However, MLB does appear to be the exception though and that is likely due to their obstinate Player's Union. Similar to the long time resistance to drug testing, etc. They are slow to deal with such issues because they feel they don't have to. "We have a logical set of punishments for DUIs but don't for domestic abuse because it's not as black-and-white of a crime. If we send abusers to jail, their families often suffer right alongside them. Mom might have to enter a workforce she is not trained for and children suffer without a parent around. And even if Dad gets out of jail a changed man (doubtful since prison is about punishment, not rehabilitation), he's going to have a hard time finding a job with a blemish on his record. That's a big reason why charges are so rarely pursued - everyone involved has an incentive to keep the abuser out of jail because jail solves nothing and can often create larger or different problems. The system society has set up actively promotes women to stay with abusers because they can't afford not to." I disagree with so many parts of this post. Not only is this a miscaricaturization it's simply not true much of the time. Domestic abuse is a crime clear as night and day. There are plenty of laws on the books including assault charges of various degrees, domestic abuse charges,etc. You can get a restraining order from ANY judge in Minnesota at the drop of a dime if you claim domestic abuse (especially if the perpetrator is male and the victim female). The #1 call that police dispatchers receive is domestic abuse calls. Some of the most commonly hear cases in court is typically domestic abuse or child abuse cases. Unfortunately, shows such as Law & Order romanticize such crimes and create the impression that KNOW ONE presses charges because the abuser is the "bread winner," and that the victim feels they will be left helpless if they pursue. This simply is not true much of the time. Most honest physiologists will also tell you that the relationship of abuser and victim is not always as simple as "black and white" or "right and wrong" as you put it. Often times police receive dozens and dozens of repeat calls from the same address and sometimes repeatedly arrest the perpetrator only to have the victim not press charges. The explanation is often times not a simple one like the "bread winner argument". More often then you think it's two people choosing to CONTINUE to engage / enable a tit for tat abusive relationship. Keep in mind that this is no justification for abusive behavior but it is a common scenario that takes place.

Why bump this thread?