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nicksaviking

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Everything posted by nicksaviking

  1. nicksaviking
    I think his future is in the bullpen, maybe even as soon as this spring. He throws a lot of different pitches, but none of them are standout. His off speed stuff is basically a curve that he rarely uses because it's not good and a splitter which might be even worse. His four-seamer is pretty decent despite it's low velocity though; a move to the pen could make it better. In the pen maybe he could just concentrate on FB/Slider. If the Twins want to extend him with an eye on his long-term spot being in the pen, that's OK by me. I don't really care for him to be a rotation staple going forward though so if an extension encourages that, I'd pass.
  2. nicksaviking
    The Twins didn't retire Blyleven's number until AFTER he got elected into the HOF which always seemed a bit backwards. Kind of like, whelp, I guess we got to do it too. My money is on Johan Santana getting into the HOF with a veteran's committee shortly after he's eligible for their vote, in which case the Twins will feel obligated to retire his number as well.
  3. nicksaviking
    I think Rowson and Kepler made a concerted effort to change his swing last year. in 2017 Kepler had a GB-FB split 43%-39% and in 2018 what flip-flopped to 38%-46%. I'd have to think it was all about achieving better launch angles and sending more balls over the wall, it just didn't happen, which is kind of odd considering that Eddie Rosario had nearly the exact same 2017-18 flip-flop of GB-FB percentages and it did seem to work for him until he slowed down at the end of the year. Their near identical reversals makes me think those two were put on the same re-development plan. Certainly Kepler's BABIP hurt him, but obviously the goal in hitting more flyballs is to avoid balls hit in play. I wonder if despite Kepler having a decent hard-hit percentage if he just doesn't have enough strength. Hopefully along with getting Sano in top shape and keeping everyone healthier, the new strength and conditioning team is able to put a few more pounds of muscle on Kepler to help some of those fly balls carry a bit further.
  4. nicksaviking
    New York?
  5. nicksaviking
    I’m luke-warm on Cruz, but I don’t have Cron or Austin in my long term plans anyway. If those two are casualties I’ll be fine with it.
  6. nicksaviking
    I prefer to get pitchers from Oakland slightly less than getting them from San Diego and slightly more than getting them from the Saints. Which probably isn't fair to the Saints.
  7. nicksaviking
    I think what looks to be an outlier season in 2017 is what is skewing the perception of where the team was and where the team is. They weren't supposed to be good (and frankly, they really weren't very good) and if their record had been poor as expected, all of those short term deals would have looked in line with being a rebuilding club filling positions with stop gap players and reasonable mid-season flips.
  8. nicksaviking
    I don't think they are saying that after every big contract or trade, they implied it once and they probably won't say another word about it again. I'd rather we were just being creative to come up with discussions and ideas to fit within their implied (and bogus) constraints to make the team better than just be angry all year. It's nearly intolerable around here right now and the frustration isn't going to change ownership's behavior.
  9. nicksaviking
    They all but said that was the case. I might think $100M might be high even. I know they won't flat out say it publicly, but it would be nice if they would if only so everyone would vent about it now and come to terms with the fact so our whole off season isn't ruined with simmering animosity. It's going to be a long winter if every free agent signed or big contract traded by another team is met here with anger.
  10. nicksaviking
    It's still just 1B. If people weren't happy paying $23M/year for defensive value at 1B, I can't imagine why people would be happy with $20M.
  11. nicksaviking
    Well Cron did have a higher OPS than the Twins have seen from 1B since 2013. I know I'm on an island, but my intrigue over Cron has grown a bit since his signing. His spray charts look a lot like vintage Brian Dozier. I like the RH power hitters at Target Field, obviously there's no guarantees, but I think he's got a chance to pepper the left field seats like Dozier and Willingham before him. And while I'd like to see Austin get a shot, I don't see him getting a long stint with any team with those kind of strikeout numbers.
  12. nicksaviking
    I'll be happy to take Santana if the Mariners are sweetening the pot with other talent. But as much as I have always liked Santana, Cron, who nearly everyone is dissatisfied with, was a better hitter last year and is younger. At 33 years-old, I wouldn't expect Santana to start trending towards increased productivity.
  13. nicksaviking
    Yeah, but this is year three with the new front office. The front office that signed the #9, #15, #16 and #49 free agents last year.
  14. nicksaviking
    Signed no one? They signed a lot of guys last year, they probably gave out more free agent contracts than almost any other team including to MLBTR's #9, #15, #16 and #49 top free agents. They didn't work out, but overall by the time March rolled around people tended to be satisfied with the effort made. But that equation is backwards if you look at how championship teams are made up. Overwhelmingly, teams that win have developed their own, then supplemented. For non-big-pocketed teams this has been the case almost without exception, with the 1997 Marlins being that exception because they did spend like a big-pocketed team. The Twins haven't done the develop their own step yet.
  15. nicksaviking
    I disagree about this being a 65-win team, I think the energy from a new young manager is going to do a lot for this club. However, if you think this is a 65-win club there's probably not enough possible moves that could be made to make this team a real competitor. Does the team winning 75 games make the season any more enjoyable than winning 65? Heck, 85 wins doesn't do much for me, I've long lost interest in watching this team act like a cute little underdog. Wake me up when we're talking 95 wins and the team actually is in the conversation for winning the title.
  16. nicksaviking
    Disappointing. Though I'm happy Wolfson got some intel for us.
  17. nicksaviking
    If we don't want one group of posters to be classified as wanting to sell the future, we probably shouldn't be classifying another as wanting all the stars to align.
  18. nicksaviking
    Whatever happens with the Twins, I think the expected Cleveland demise shouldn't be counted on. They still have excellent starters coming out of their ears and two of the best young hitters in the game. The multitudes of excellent bullpen arms are just as available to them as they are to the Twins. If Cleveland swings a trade or finds an unexpected outfielder or two on the free agent market they're going to have few weak spots. To balance it out though, I think the White Sox stink, and will continue to stink.
  19. nicksaviking
    Harmon was a unique case, he sure did move around a lot, so did Carew. I don't know that guys changed positions too greatly back in the day, but I'd say the advent of the DH caused a lot less need for flexibility. With the DH the team didn't need to scramble to plug someone into RF when Oliva's knee was acting up for a month because he had already been penciled into the DH role from the get go. So instead the more flexible player became the "utility" player and "utility" was just a fancy term for bench player. No one wants to be a bench player, everyone wants to be starting. But I'd guess it's not a turn off to many players anymore, they'd have to see how playing multiple positions will increase their value in today's game. My guess is the only thing stopping most players from playing multiple positions (aside from physical limitations of course) is a manger who hasn't asked them to do so.
  20. nicksaviking
    I'd take Tim Beckham as the utility/injury replacement guy. But I'm also the resident "screw defense" guy and I don't think he's particularly good at any position, so I'd guess others are turned off by his glove.
  21. nicksaviking
    I just said in a different thread that I'd be interested in McCutchen or take on another Mariners salary dump to get Mitch Hanigar. With Seattle rebuilding I assume they may further shop newly acquired Carlos Santana? Those two could sure swing the OBP scale quite a bit.
  22. nicksaviking
    The team still has Rosario, Kepler, Polanco and Cave batting lefty and Rosario and Polanco probably will bat toward the top of the lineup, Kepler and Cave may do so as well, depending on how the roster is constructed. I actually prefer a righty-heavy lineup when possible at Target Field, so instead of monkeying with various 1B free agents, I'd rather the team find a good RH corner outfield bat that can allow Kepler to be the LH platoon role; outfield and 1B. I'd be interested in one of the Mariners salary dump packages to get Mitch Hanigar, and Andrew McCutchen works too.
  23. nicksaviking
    I actually thought Cano may be able to age better than most since he has very good on base skills, but Albert Pujols is a good example to the contrary. His lessened bat skills wouldn't be nearly as noticeable if he was still able to work a count to draw a walk. That seems pretty uncommon, but I guess not unheard of.
  24. nicksaviking
    Well whatever it was before, I agree with it now. I think this year's free agent relief class is a goldmine.
  25. nicksaviking
    Well that 9 years part should be a red flag, most ball players don't make it that long. I think Cano can still be useful, but not at that price tag and prospect cost, you could get his production for much less. Jeff McNeil was their 2B down the stretch last year, he hit as well as Cano did and he's ten years younger.
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