jimmer

Dozier spent 3 seasons in the minors before he was promoted. Brought to the majors to play a position he could't play, like Plouffe. The system missed the mark on both of them. But he bounced back quickly when moved to 2B and that was that. Twins had to decide between former 1st round pick Plouffe and Luke Hughes when both were out of options.

that's why you get a player for now and the future. Someone like Tulo :-) Postseason probability for Twins right now, around 38%

I don't think they are either. Their May was nice but that doesn't make them a playoff caliber team. It shouldn't make us act as if we are.

And offenses across the league have been in a steady decline (in part due to the ever expanding called strike zone). Even if his numbers this year were exactly the same as 2012, his numbers would be more impressive this year than in 2012. And BTW, when comparing 2012 and 2015, his 2015 BA is 25 points higher, his OBP is 18 points higher, and his slg% is and his slg% is 11 points higher. Almost a 30 point increase in overall OPS. That's not stagnation. That's a good improvement as offensive production across the league is declining. Plouffe's wRC+ in 2012 was 105, this year it's 118. Quite an improvement.

Twins are 29th in WAR from the shortstop position and 27th in WAR from the catcher position. If those are low priorities, then WOW :-)

I agree, but they are sharing the score (wOBA ) with the players too, so the players know what it's about when they look at that instead of BA.

Pujols just got called out on strike 3 fastball. The ball was barely above the ankle.

not to mention still using info that is used in creating the WAR stat.

as far as batters go, here's what they say. Said Schebler: “They don’t look at average.” Said fellow Triple-A callup Kiké Hernandez, who has stuck in the majors: “They definitely don’t.” The things the Dodgers look at, the ‘real predictors,’ are exit velocities, weighted Runs Created (wRC+), weighted on-base average (wOBA), strikeout-walk ratios, first-pitch strike percentage, 1-1 count strike percentage, swing percentage on strikes and chase rate on balls.' http://www.ocregister.com/articles/kapler-665814-dodgers-schebler.html apprently they don't care too much about RBI or numbers w/RISP This season, then, has been an experiment in how to break through the resistance. “You’re disappointed because you don’t have a lot of RBI?” Kapler said he and his staff tell Dodgers minor leaguers who rely on old-fashioned numbers as barometers. “Who do you have getting on base in front of you? ‘Well, my batting average with runners in scoring position is blah-blah-blah.’ “Well, look at Allen Craig’s batting average with runners in scoring position two years ago and last year. That’s a number that fluctuates wildly.” The overall point is, a traditional stat like ERA isn't going to be (or shouldn't be)a determining factor. There are more advanced ways of looking at things. The peripherals showed May to be the advanced pitcher by a good margin. Friedman and his crew talked about using FIP during his time in TB. They had moved past ERA. How much FIP was factored compared to other stats unavailable to us (or still is) that's the question. When we debate we can only use stats available to us. And the stats we have to evaluate pitchers when determining whether or not the right decision was made says it was the wrong decision by a good size margin. If we are going to talk about hypothetical stats that we can't see being used by the FO, and assume they always go by them to make their decisions, let's stop debating all stats (traditional and and newer stats) and just defer to the FO and say they always make the right personnel calls. We can say something like, 'Yeah, most or all the peripherals and advanced stats say it was the wrong move, but there are stats I don't know about and can't see that backs up our FO's decision and I'll use that the defend the decision.That would make some very happy. We can only use what's available to us.

You don't think Friedman cares about FIP and WAR? Really? That would be new. Though I agree they have more advanced info we get to see, he certainly does care about what the pitcher himself is responsible for when evaluating pitcher performance. Something FIP does much better than ERA ever could. He certainly isn't caring about what the defense does or blaming the pitcher for extreme BABIP when evaluating pitcher performance. Think they care about Ks and BBs?

Sorry, I need to repost this:When May was demoted out of the rotation, he had the highest WAR of any starter in that rotation (still does. Pelfrey has half of what May has). He had the best FIP of any starter in that rotation (better than Pelfrey by a full run). He also struck out the most per 9IP of any starter in that rotation (3.5 more than Pelfrey per 9IP) while still being 2nd in least amount of BB per 9IP (2nd to Hughes and his .87 walks per 9IP) All this while having still having the worst luck of any pitcher in that rotation on balls in play (.341). We understand how fluky BABIP is right? Danny Santana does. There is certainly evidence to suggest May was the Twins best starter in that rotation at the time of demotion. Got to look past ERA which is dependent on so many things outside a pitchers control. Kind of like in hitting and BA. The Dodgers don't even use BA, as a stand alone stat, to evaluate batters performance anymore according to MLB Network's conversation with team leadership. We have the ability to evaluate players in better ways now. He certainly wasn't the 6th best option.Having him in the rotation was better for now AND the long term.

Your plan worked perfectly :-) Not sure what gets a faster response. the one you said about needing a backup catchers or A:if someone said we need more poor fielding corner OF B: more DH types C: More back end SPs.

I think we need to bring in a starting catcher.I think backup catcher is well filled. Our cup overflows with backup catcher talent.

'MLBtradederumors mentioned the availability of some Tampa Bay relievers in Boxberger and McGee that could both be great for bolstering our bullpen both this year and in the future.They might cost a bit more than we'd prefer to give up but might be worth it to solidify the backend of the bullpen.' never trade quality position player prospects for relievers, especially middle relievers. And don;t trade with Tampa. Or the Nats.

True about Pelfrey and B-level prospect return. The part about Shark is because Shark is a FA next year and going to make a ton of money. Also, any team trading for him couldn't make him a QO either. So it's just two months of pitching and he's gone. Trading for Pelfrey has almost all the same issues, except the part where he's going to make a ton of money next year. Not much at all to do with Shark's talent more to do with Shark definitely testing the FA market when he reaches FA and getting paid big.

When May was demoted out of the rotation, he had the highest WAR of any starter in that rotation (still does). He had the best FIP of any starter in that rotation. He also struck out the most per 9IP of any starter in that rotation while still being 2nd in least amount of BB per 9IP (2nd to Hughes and his .87 walks per 9IP) All this while having still having the worst luck of any pitcher in that rotation on balls in play. We understand how fluky BABIP is right? Danny Santana does. There is certainly evidence to suggest he was the Twins best starter in that rotation at the time of demotion. I can't imagine an argument that would suggest he was the worst starter we had that wouldn't make me laugh my head clean off :-)

doesn't 0% equal chance equal 0% chance? :-)

Does it matter that prior to 2015, Santana was worth 18M or more in three of the previous four seasons? Most probably don't think it does and maybe it doesn't. Point really is this: There is a reason no one else signed him. No one was desperate enough to overpay him. That hasn't changed after getting nabbed with a PED suspension and him not being able to pitch in the post season. Certainly no contending time would trade for him during this season.

IMO, the talent level this team has doesn't warrant the amount of wins we have now. Seems very good sequencing (or luck, if you will) led us to win more than we should have and we've started falling back down. We had a losing record in Mar/Apr, and June. We're sliding towards a losing month in July. We've had one glorious month which, of course, counts for overall record, but it's not like we had a winning month in every month and the losing has just started. Our win total has exceeded our base runs and pythag. I've enjoyed it. Should we expect that to continue to the level it has the season so far? Probably not. When looking at anything, it's best to take extreme outliers with a grain of salt. They count, of course, but extremes levels of performance one way or the other may give us pause. Our May record and or June record are good examples of extreme outliers (one amazingly awesome, the other below 40% wins). Our Mar/Apr and July win totals say we are right around a .500 team. Base runs says we should probably have a 42-53 record right now. Pythag says we should be 48-47. Nothing suggests we should have 51 wins even though we do. So I'll enjoy that we do.

I read the same article. I'm not sure anyone discounts mentorship. I think most people get that, in the end, it's way more about the talent and the players' ability along with the dedication to apply all forms of coaching(whether it's from a vet or a coach) and the dedication and hard work to implement those things. These articles make it seem Hunter was a major contributor to success of these guys and it discounts all the other contributors to the players' success throughout his professional career,and before, by focusing just on one mentor. Think about how many contribute the success of players in their careers.The same kind of over-praising has happened with many mentors throughout the game. Too much credit given to one guy minimizing the work of all the others who have contributed and the player's actual ability to apply what they learn from all those mentors.

Torii Hunter magic spreads far and wide. Trout wouldn't be a great player without him, Hicks is getting better now because of Torii. Thanks goodness for Torii.

Rockies leadership is clueless. After the stunt they pulled with their W Series tickets, they showed they also don;t care much about their fans. That may extend to keeping Tulo just to make money.

Twins would deserve a beating if they moved Dozier off 2B.

Trevor Story, 22 years old, in AAA. .898 OPS. Baez is trade bait. He has no future on that team. Too much young IF talent there.

Don't have to sell me on Kepler. I'm buying.