diehardtwinsfan

the article isn't wrong...

well... 0 fWAR = replacement player... 1.2 is above that.. and yes I know that a replacement player isn't exactly 0. I also know said player is somewhat mythical. We had no one in our system this year that would have out produced Eddie.

How good is Encarnacion's 1B? If it's decent, he'd be an upgrade over Cron with the bat, and possibly at a cheaper price... I hope they aim higher for pitching. I don't want them to go sign a #3/4 type. Not with this offense.

In what world is Rosario a replacement player? He's not a star, but he has had a pretty good career thus far. I'd likely go year to year with him. I've defended him in other places, but there's a decent chance a replacement may be available at some point this or next year. I doubt Buxton, Berrios, or Sano sign one. Rodgers makes good sense. I could see extending Garver, but given his age, it's likely simply to lock in his arb values and give the team an option year or two. Tyler Duffey's emergence in the pen might make him a candidate as well.

The Odorizzi trade was a good one, but let's not forget that he wasn't the same Jake in his first season here. It took 2/3rds of that season for him to figure it out. This is my big problem with any "project" or buy low guy. You're going to have to give him innings. There's a lot of risk there that it doesn't pan out for several months, like Odorizzi, or once MLB hitters adjust, like Perez... Those games cost wins, and just because the windows is open doesn't mean that we should sleep on Cleveland or Chicago. They really need to spend some cash and get some difference makers.

interesting gamble... it's worth noting his results came in the NL.. I guess the question I have is how much a team with a window wide open is willing to take on reclamation projects. Those guys will give you some losses before they are fixed, and there's no guarantee they get fixed.

He's also been around long enough to know that may mean sitting out most of next season... I do think a long term deal makes sense, so hopefully it doesn't come to that.

I personally find it odd that the college ranks have out done MLB in this area... For all the talk about money ball and finding advantages, this one is strange... Good move by Falvine... I also wonder if perhaps that's why they went heavy on college pitching in the draft this year despite experts saying it was pretty weak for college pitching... hope they say something, because their ptiching class in the 2019 draft was pretty uninspiring.

Not sure I agree with you on Chalmers and Celestino... Celestino is a bat in high A, and not even a stand out bat. I know with the 26 man, bad teams may try and poach a bit more, but that's a guy you cannot hide for a year. Chalmers has pitched a bit higher, but walking 6 batters per 9 innings, even with the sexy K rate will likely have a tough time in MLB... A tanking team my want him, but he's going to havea tough time sticking... On the other hand,I have to think Tyler WElls gets added.

Graterol's problem to date is durability. I don't see him pitching a full season. He's going to get shut down at some point in 2020... He can either start or finish in the pen to make it work, but that's probably the big issue there. I'm not sure I'd pencil him into a spot for 2020 unless they've resigned Pineda.

the more important question... Can the robot eject Gardy?

Cave in 2 albeit limited seasons has an MLB OPS of .801. He plays mostly CF, and while I think we all agree his CF defense is a bit subpar, I think you're being a bit harsh on him, since his corner defense should be average to above. The guy will be entering his 27 age season and has shown he can hit MLB pitching well above the average CF and above the average MLBer as well... He is a very good 4th OF who can provide an adequate replacement for short stints when someone goes on the DL.. If he keeps that up, he's going to be here for a an arb season or two as well, as he should be. If he improves, we have a nice situation on our hands. That said, starting him for 3 months until one of our minor leaguers is ready is a bit risky. I'm not personally sure that's a good idea. I think the article implying Rosario is down trending is well... not a reasonable picture at all to put it nicely. I'm not sure Cave could fill in for Rosie, nor am I sure that we should be counting on Rooker, AK, Weil, or Raley to be ready at some point this summer. That's asking for trouble. Rosie is a known commodity. Flawed, yes. But he can also perform at an MVP level for prolonged stints. I don't think the value he'd return in pitching (which I suspect is little) would be worth the risk of opening up that spot. Edit: side note, but Rosario was one of the few guys hitting the ball in the playoffs. SSS I know, but I don't think it's smart to dump the guy who showed up against NY.

Sites like TD have served to aggregate information for fans like none other before... but let's not pretend that the front offices around the league have more of it. I'd be willing to bet that the #30 FO in the league in terms of analytics has far more data at their disposal than we do. And given how surprised we are by a lot of FO actions around the league, I'd say we are still lagging behind them.

not a fan, but why not Donaldson if this is what they are thinking?

oh wow... I started laughing the moment I read the title... Well Done...

The answer is always 42.

Corner OFs are pretty cheap right now... so no, I dont' think Rosie brings back pitching... I also think people are being way to hard on him. Defensive metrics are pretty flawed, that's especially true of OFers when you have 2+ defenders, which we do when Buxton and Kepler are on the field. But Rosario has graded well when Buxton is off the field.. I'd add that the eye test doesn't back up that he's a bad defender either, so I'd probably toss all of that given the questionable nature of defensive metrics. His biggest flaw is the occasional boneheaded play, but even that has hardly been a consistent thing. As for the bat, yeah, he needs to be selective. I suspect that guys like him are also going to be more susceptible to "pressing" so to speak since he doesn't naturally lay off pitches, but good Lord when he's on, he's ON... and as others said 1st half Rosario was pretty good. We won't get much for him in a trade. I could be wrong there, and I'd trade him if he was bring back a top shelf starter, but I doubt he does. His replacements will not outperform him... not for now at least. The goal is to improve on 101 wins and advance in the playoffs, not re-arrange the furniture. Rosario should stay. I don't think he's in the long term plans, but he should stay until we have a capable replacement.

I think this speaks to just how bad defensive metrics are...

Chemistry is not a synonym for happiness. The question I'd ask is if you've ever worked in a toxic environment. I certainly have. I know what it's like to absolutely dread Monday morning. Perhaps you're lucky in that you haven't, but I don't think baseball is different in that capacity, and I don't think winning is a simple cure for all of it either. Winning helps sure.. but a good environment also helps winning... Using your examples, do you think a plumber that hates his/her job makes more or less mistakes? Do you think that firefighter who hates his job might lose a bit of that will to save the trapped girl? Do you think that cop might get frustrated and take it out on the perp potentially giving the perp undeserved freedom or a nice payday later on? A good work environment will affect production. The question is how much.

So another question... Are you now a Twins fan? Hope you stick around.

I don't buy baseball savant saying Rosario is one of the worst OFs in baseball. He's got above average range and a cannon for an arm.. yeah, he makes a mistake or two... but not that many.. I'm guessing this is more a shortcoming to defensive metrics that cannot figure out how to deal with 3 above average defenders.

You could argue that Ryne Harper was one of those. Look, I'm really hoping they spend cash on Will Smith, but I have zero problems adding guys like this. As I mentioned before, I suspect this is a means to stash him in AAA. Whether it works or not, who knows. But even if he's at the ML level, they are showing track record of turning some guys that were mostly marginal guys into decent relievers. I think it would be wise of them to keep trying.

I don't know... look at how many guys turned into pretty decent relievers this year. The BP was considered a pretty big weak point going into the season and we fans all hammered them pretty hard for not doing enough... They finished with one of the best pens in the game this season. Were mistakes made? Sure... but their process certainly yielded results.

Woah... you're arguing to spend... I like it I think Cole should be the shot personally, but I wouldn't complain if they got Wheeler. I think I'd rather target MadBum personally as I'm not nearly as confident in Wheeler, but to be fair, I'm guessing the FO has much more data than we do.

yeah, comparring him to Bryant really isn't fair.. there's very little similarities here other than that both were drafted high. Buxton can file that grievance, but I'd be very surprised if he won... He certainly didn't deserve a call up... his play dictated the need to evaluate other outfielders.