Deduno Abides

Turner is a good comp. Note that his deal with the Dodgers was signed in December. Braves, Phillies and Padres have internal candidates, like Albies, Hernandez, Kingery and Urias. The Reds are hard to figure. The Brewers could be looking, if they don’t think Hiura is ready and they have budget for a 2B. There really isn’t a clear competitor for the Twins at this time. The Twins will at least get a comp pick.

Your premise seems to be dual - first, you disagree with a rule that prohibits behavior you believe is normal and, second, you disagree with enforcing a rule you disagree with. I’m Ok with your first thought, but disagree with your second. If you disagree with a rule, you should seek to change it. However, if it exists, and even if it is ridiculous, you should be prepared for enforcement if you break the rule in a conspicuous manner, like Judge did. BTw, it’s completely OK with me if you see it differently.

Biggest regret? Lyman Bostock signed my friend’s book but didn’t have time to sign mine because he had to get into the dugout.

Mike, you can scoff at the effectiveness of every action taken to prevent behavior that is considered wrong and say, “Why bother.” No preventive measure works 100%. That doesn’t mean that police, regulators and league officials shouldn’t continue taking the best actions they know how to do to prevent wrongful conduct, especially when the conduct is public. Lebron James seems like a good person and a great competitor, but The Decision was one of the most embarrassing things to happen in the NBA in several years, especially after the hints of the players talking. No league wants such an event to happen again.

Have to agree with people posting that Hughes looks cooked. It is hard to believe that today’s pitcher could get MLB starts in April. He looks more prepared for the Home Run Derby. At the same time, it would be good to see Mejia earn a starting spot, instead of getting a battlefield promotion. His spring training was not good, either, and he was mediocre, at best, last year. At this point. I’d rather he establish some value in AAA and then get traded as part of a package for a more capable lefty.

It’s in the league’s interest to prevent a Lebron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh situation.

In the playoffs? Would prefer better contact.

MLB has to do this. If Machado slides easy instead of taking out the Yankees SS on a double play this year, Orioles fans will be upset. The league has to protect the appearance of competition and players know what isn’t right. If not this communication, when should the league do something?

Nick, you omitted this year’s WS Game 7 catcher, Joe Mauer.

Look, I’m not going to go further into a debate about whether Sano or Buxton has worse strike zone control, but I will say that a defense of Sano by saying he was better than Buxton after how Buxton started the year is in itself not a great case for Sano. If you do want to discuss Buxton’s weaknesses, I’ve got a hunch you’ll have a chance soon. Unless the world stops, a centerfield thread should be posted in the next few days.

Of course, but Buxton’s stats in those areas last year were better than Sano’s, even with Buxton’s miserable start. Buxton also adds value as one of the top players in the majors in at least two categories.

In any scenario, it’s hard to see Romero getting more than 80 innings in the majors this year. It is preferable that they come at the end of the year, after he’s refined his pitches further on the farm. Also, if things are going well and he’s going well, he may be a Top 100 chip at the trading deadline.

Total guess: Hildenberger may go to Rochester and Hughes may go to the bullpen if Hildy doesn’t pick it up, especially when Santana returns.

Adrianza is better than Denny Hocking and Matt Tolbert, yet he seems like more of an afterthought than they ever were.

Sano. Do you have a comment about Buxton?

Few other factors: 1. No other 2.0 WAR 1B is available for $5M. 2. No Moustakas/Frazier bargains for 3B, making it economical to move Sano to 1B, regardless of his skill at third. 3. The Twins don’t want to use the money elsewhere.

And if you want to go with OPS, last year 57 players age 25 and younger had at least 400 PAs. Sano had the 12th highest OPS, which is good, but not an omen of a superstar, especially when he really doesn’t add any other value. Further, his K rate in this group was second worst to Joey Gallo. This matters more than you may think, because in playoff baseball, hits are harder to come by. Good regular season stats matter less when every pitcher is good and they all have strikeout pitches. The ability to put the bat on the ball becomes of higher importance. Sano needs to fix his problems.

Mike, these stats may not be on the back of Sano’s baseball card, but they are what other teams are looking at. The inability to hit breaking pitches, control the strike zone and make adjustments as opponents make their book on you are common career limiters. These stats exemplify Sano’s problems in these areas.

Brock, your point is addressed in the paragraph “As to total quantity, . . .”

Look at it from the other direction. Teams rarely sign four year deals with free agents because they want to lock them in. Instead, teams sign four year or longer deals because the players insist upon it. Those long deals are usually regretted at the end.

Last year, ten Twins had at least 400 PAs, including Buxton and his terrible first half. Of these ten, Sano was last or near last in the following hitting stats: strikeout rate, hitting sliders, hitting change-ups, hitting cutters, swinging strikes, contact at pitches in the zone (even though his swing rate at pitches in the zone was 0.2% below the most), contact at pitches out of the zone (even though he got the most pitches out of the zone). He was the best at hitting fastballs, but he saw the fewest. That trend will likely continue. Hopefully the negative stats will improve. His talent is not in doubt. His ability to work hard enough to maximize his talent is the question. This isn’t even a weight or fitness issue. It’s whether he can put in the work to become at least a league average hitter against sliders and change-ups and/or learn to lay off of them.

In addition to fitness and conduct concerns, Sano has strikeout and fielding issues. He needs to prioritize his fitness so he can maximize the opportunity to work on those. Sure, he’s got prodigious power, but so does Mark Reynolds. If Sano can’t work on his fitness when he’s injured, then it will be hard for him to work on his fielding and batting eye.

Ryan would sign players like Rodney and Duke. It’s questionable if he would have signed Reed, although he may have recognized the change in value for relievers and the relative bargain Reed offered. It’s hard to know about Odorizzi, Morrison and Lynn. Ryan simply wasn’t faced with similar opportunities, particularly Lynn and Morrison. It would not have been that out of character to trade a mid-tier prospect for a starter like Odorizzi. As to total quantity, it’s hard to know, because the relievers were earlier. Whether Ryan would have stopped then and not gotten the last three under any cost or if he would have recognized the unique opportunities, it’s hard to say.

Great off-season by the front office. May have plugged some holes on an economical basis. Still have to play the games, but there is more reason for optimism this year than there has been for years. However, and I say this as someone who thinks Ryan needed to go and that the new FO is an improvement, this winter’s signings are not an indication that the new FO is superior to Ryan. For one thing, these types of deals were not available to Terry Ryan. Second, it’s impossible to say that he would not have taken the deals if they had been available. Even without a modern grasp of analytics, Ryan knew baseball well enough to know that Morrison, Lynn and Odorizzi are good baseball players and he knew enough about economics to know that their salaries are reasonable. Third, the Darvish negotiations, which represent the one potential deal that was comparable to potential deals during the Ryan era, was lost similarly to how deals didn’t happen under Ryan, where the team would just happen to offer less than the signing team and the explanation for the lower offer didn’t completely make sense. It is likely too that Ryan would have brought in someone like Sanchez, although he may not have cut him as quickly as Falvey did, because Ryan seemed to think he had kind of an odd “a man’s word” obligation to mediocre veteran free agents. There are many reasons why the new FO is better, such as better use of analytics, the way it has filled other front office and player development spots, and openness to skilled coaches from other organizations who haven’t already been recycled a few times. I also prefer how they discuss players publicly. However, it’s hard to see how signing quality free agents at bargain prices is an example of superiority when those deals who were not available to Ryan.

I don’t get the hate for the deals being short-term, especially in contrast to Darvish. The short-term nature is a feature, not a bug. 1. Some good starters in the system may graduate or return to health this year. 2. If Lynn, Odorizzi and Morrison, to pick three, are each 1.5 to 2.0 WAR, they will probably exceed Darvish, who probably has a ceiling this year of 4.0 WAR. 3.Darvish - and most of the veteran signees - is entering the decline phase of his career. If he’s 4.0 WAR this year, he’ll forecast to 3.5 WAR next year and keep declining at that rate. The Twins, however, will be able to sign a new batch next year and perhaps the year after that, and not have the risk of long-term declines. 4. Excellent starters will be available for prospects at the trade deadline, like every year, if needed. 5. It’s preferable not to be locked into long-term deals with relievers, unless they are All Star caliber. 6. The Twins needed to get a staff that should be competitive every day more than they needed to have an ace and some hope at #4 and #5. 7. After what Lance Lynn went through this winter, if he pitches well this year and enjoys himself, the Twins will probably have the inside track to sign him for 2029, if they want him back. 8. Lynn is probably going to give his best this year. In addition to feeling burned and like he has something to prove, i.e., the classic “nobody believes in us (me)” motivation, he’ll be in a contract year.