jud6312

Overall, I'm not terribly disappointed or surprised by many of the guys included. The 3 I would've like to see included: - Jake Reed. I feel he's earned a shot, but for whatever reason he doesn't seem destined to get it in this organization. - Wander Javier. Taking a full season off will likely not further his development and getting more instruction and being around guys that are closer to "making it" than he is could have been beneficial. - Jordan Balazovic. I genuinely think he could help the team at some point - even if it was as a pen arm down the stretch. Maybe the Canada thing has something to do with it?

But do any of those veterans actually help the team if it comes to that? If it gets to the point that Tovar or Adams is actually needed, things have gone south in a hurry.

Did Jake Reed run over someone's dog or what?

Well, at least it's a pitcher.

Not as good a hitter as Willie Calhoun isn't exactly a resounding endorsement. I mean, it could be a worse comp, but I hope that's not his ceiling.

I mean, that's obvious, isn't it? True fans are never critical of any move.

So, pitching next year then? Maybe when mentioning drafting guys earlier than expected we forget about Landon until he clears rookie ball.

At this point I just assume their 1st round pick is going to be someone they hope to sign under slot so they can "go big" later on. It's like clockwork. Hopefully it pays off down the road.

Um, I think they made this pick once before. https://collection.baseballhall.org/PASTIME/matt-lecroy-scouting-report-1997-february-28

I'm not sure how I feel about this one. Bat-only 1B-DH type when there's other guys that are kind of limited to or will shift to those positions? The power better be legit or this could be bad back-to-back 1st round picks.

Sandy Koufax is overrated?

Colabello also got popped for a PED during his time in Toronto. It's entirely possible that his performance was assisted by increased strength just as much, if not more, by that than by his new approach.

I think the Twins will be a better team than the Astros this year, but it all comes down to health and the starting pitching as to whether they can overtake the Yankees. Berrios has to step it up yet another notch and become a true #1.Odorizzi has to prove that 2019 was his new norm and not the anomaly to his previous years.Pineda has to come back from his suspension and stay healthy and as productive as he was in the second half of last season.No hiccups from Maeda switching leagues and he shows he wasn't moved to the pen the last two years for performance reasons.Homer Bailey has to prove that the 2+ months of improved pitching (which still only produced a league average ERA+) is the real Homer Bailey, rather than the previous 4+ years.Rich Hill, at age 40, will have to come back and do something that is seemingly impossible for him - stay healthy. That's a lot of things that have to break right. I think two or three are likely to happen, with the last two being long shots. That means that some combination of Chacin, Thorpe, Smeltzer, Dobnak, Balazovic, Duran, et al. is going to have to step up in a big way. And it's probably too soon to ask that of some of those guys and too late for another. That doesn't even account for possible regression on the offensive side. There will likely be some, but from whom and to what extent is hard to say. The other thing that I think gets glossed over is the amount of depth the Yankees built up through the freakish amount of injuries they had last year - they won 103 games while only having 4 "regulars" with more than 125 games played. They've got some pitching questions, too, with Severino's forearm, German's suspension, and Paxton's back. But if we're assuming all of the Twins guys come back healthy then we have to assume the Yankees will, too, when making predictions. And if that's the case, I'll take Cole, Severino, German, Paxton over Berrios, Odorizzi, Maeda, Pineda in a playoff series.

You don't think he is who he is at this point? I'm guessing somebody, somewhere in the last 11 years told him he needed to be more selective at the plate and it hasn't happened yet. Why is this year going to be any different?

I cringe at the idea of Astudillo breaking camp with the club. I'd rather give TC Bear a glove and put him out there.

The Capps trade, or any other trade, honestly never crossed my mind with the Maeda deal. I wasn't - and still am not - sold on Maeda being a proper acquisition for what could prove to be an elite arm. It felt like a knee jerk reaction to not getting a top-of-the-rotation arm through free agency. Hopefully I'm wrong, but I don't see a #3 or #4 starter as the piece to get them to the next level. That, however, has nothing to do with Capps/Ramos or any other trade.

The problem with his "flexibility" is that he's not actually good at any position. He can simply occupy space in an area. I'm not sure how many more times I can take watching him flare a soft liner right at someone because he couldn't lay off of an ankle-high heater.

Let's pump the brakes a bit and let the guy get more than 100 games under his belt before predicting a batting title.

Adrianza and Gonzalez are absolutely making the team, barring injury or if Marwin's 2017 causes a locker room rift. If they go 13 and 13, it's coming down to Cave and Turtle for the last spot. Although it shouldn't because Cave is absolutely the better player of the two.

I would like to see younger/better guys over Chacin and Wisler, but aside from that I like it. Any Opening Day roster that has Astudillo in Rochester is a good Opening Day roster.

But how do they compare when you just look at his starts? His numbers out of the pen are significantly better than as a starter. The bigger concern, IMO, is the home-road splits. Numbers looked a whole lot better in the pitcher-friendly Dodger Stadium than pretty much everywhere else.

I think it all depends on what they do with the money. If they use it if/when the time to fill a hole on the big league team, then it's a better move. If they sit on the cash (my guess as to what they do), it'll be the same thing with unnecessary moving parts.

Maybe they'll finally be able to pry Yadier Alvarez away from the Dodgers. Not saying that would be a great get, but I remember his name being pretty popular around here.

A "win now" move for a team that's bringing water balloons to a machete fight. Can't wait to watch Maeda vs. Cole in the playoffs. What a barn burner.

How many #3 starters does one rotation need?