yarnivek1972

It’s hard to say. Yordan Alvarez is the favorite, and he will have about 50-75 fewer PA than Arraez will. Of course, his numbers are considerably better (OPS well north of 1.000). Vlad Jr has more PA than Arraez, but his numbers aren’t as strong.

Not sure I agree that those aren’t unreasonable numbers. Obviously, it’s not apples to apples because Altuve signed a contract as opposed to going to arbitration. But in what would have been his first arb year, he made $1.25 mil. He had already been an all star at that point. But that figure does matter, because salaries of similar players are part of the arbitration equation.

Hard to say. I’d guess no. He didn’t debut until May 18. So, he should have about 130 days MLB service time after the season, give or take a few. It’s impossible to know what the threshold will be in two years. But the range is typically 2.124 to 2.144. So, Arraez is on the low end of that. And that’s if he doesn’t go down again. I wouldn’t expect a prolonged slump, but one could happen.

The owners will lock players out before giving up three years of paying next to nothing for players.

That doesn’t make it better. If he didn’t tell Falvine that he tested positive when they had a chance to do something about it (before July 31) that suggests to me that he cared more about himself than his team.

Not everyone can be an all star. Nor do the Twins need a team of 10 all stars. Sometimes being a contributor is all that is needed. I think of Pat Meares. He didn’t do anything exceptionally well. But he also didn’t do anything poorly. He just showed up everyday, made most of the plays he should have made and every now and then helped his team with the bat. That’s just who he was. I see no reason why Arraez can’t be that type of player.

Great big gobs of greasy, grimy gopher guts...

I’m not sure what his ceiling is, but his floor is incredibly high IMO. In an era where most hitters swing and miss a lot, a guy that does not is not going to struggle finding a job if they competently play a position.

He’s already guaranteed to be on the team the next 6 years (through 2025) and likely for well under $20 mil.

Maybe I have a life that doesn’t allow me to research the 50 or so relief pitchers that are going to be FA.

I’m not sure I would call Romero a better option. Graterol maybe, but he’s got 5 MLB innings under his belt.

Falvey and Levine are supposed to be the pitching gurus. It’s their job to know names, not mine. But, no, I don’t think finding a guy for $8 mil who isn’t coming off an injury that basically cost him two months and who is younger than the 32 Dyson will be next May will be exceedingly difficult. And as I mentioned earlier, I’d rather have a lefty anyway.

The White Sox aren’t trying to clinch a division title.

Edgar Martinez wasn’t a big power guy in the minors either. Moreso than Arraez, but not much compared with his peers in prospect land in the mid 80s. He certainly was never fast or particularly adept defensively either. He did okay.

Given the life expectancy of typical relievers, it isn’t insanity to think he could be done. How many figured Addison Reed was cooked? Dyson is a year OLDER. At the $8 mil arb award he’s likely to get, I would want a little surer bet. I’m guessing some will be available.

Romo is a FA. And I would want to upgrade there anyway. At some point his junk is going to stop fooling hitters. Dyson may or may not be healthy. I would expect him to be non-tendered. So that leaves a core of Rogers, Duffey, May and Littell. A high octane lefty would be my target.

So, now we have a situation where Rogers, Duffey and Romo have all pitched on consecutive days and 3 of the last 4. Littell threw 40 last night. And even Trevor May has thrown 40 over the last 4 days. I would presume all 5 unavailable tonight. Smeltzer, Thorpe and Dobnak all had extended outings over the weekend. Smeltzer MIGHT be available. So, that leaves Romero, Hildenberger, Graterol, Stewart, Harper and Alcala. Score early. Score often.

This post didn’t age very well. 4 bullpen homeruns allowed yesterday.

No. You want a taller first baseman that might have a chance to catch an errant throw. Astudillo is 5’9”.

Too bad the Twins have neither Spahn or Sain.

I don’t think Cave makes the playoff roster. He’s terrible defensively. I think Buxton being out necessitates adding Ian Miller as a pinch runner and late inning replacement. I expect Marwin to start in the outfield and Cron to get the nod at first. That’s what I expect will happen. As for what I would do, my vs RHP lineup would be: 2b Arraez ss Polanco dh Cruz cf Kepler 3b Sano rf Rosario 1b Garver lf Gonzalez c Castro But, of course, the Twins have not used Garver at first base all year, so asking him to do so in the playoffs isn’t going to happen. Then vs LHP: c Garver cf Kepler dh Cruz 3b Sano 1b Cron rf Rosario ss Polanco lf Arraez 2b Schoop

With Adrianza, Buxton, Dyson and Pineda all for sure out, the potential playoff roster is taking shape. With Pineda out and Gibson and Perez scuffling, I think 12 pitchers is pretty likely. C Garver C Castro 1B Cron 2B Schoop 3B Sano SS Polanco IF Arraez OF Kepler OF Rosario OF Gonzalez I think those are the easy ones. The final two spots are between Cave, Miller, Torreyes and Astudillo. I think the Twins will keep Torreyes around in case of injury in the infield, but not on the roster. If Polanco gets hurt, Arraez will have to slide in for the rest of the game. I would expect the “regular” OF to be Gonzalez, Kepler and Rosario. As such, I think Miller’s superior glove puts him on the roster over Cave and Astudillo’s flexibility and contact ability make him the 13th hitter. Pitchers Bullpen is a little easier, so let’s start there. Barting injury (knock on wood), Rogers, Romo, Duffey, May and Littell figure to be in. We’ll come back to the rest. Berrios and Odorizzi are going to start. Gibson probably will. Perez might. Or it could be some combo of the younger guys to keep Perez as a loogy type. That’s probably what I would do. Further, I would probably try to match up the two guys that (hopefully) will get through 5 or 6 innings in a potential game 4. Not just lefty, righty, but style of pitcher tailored to the opponent. If I were a betting man, I would put my money on a Graterol/Smeltzer combo for game four. Depending on the schedule, one of them (and possibly both) would be available for a batter or two in game one. That leaves one more. At this point, I’d say it is a dart toss. The top candidates are likely Harper, Thorpe and Dobnak.

I would say anyone who pitched earlier is unavailable tonight. In fact, based on pitches thrown, everyone who pitched today is likely out for tomorrow other than Romo.

You can hold to that opinion as long as you choose, but it simply isn’t realistic. There were thirteen pitchers with more than 200 IP in 2018 in all of MLB. That’s probably pretty close to what there will be this year as well. At 33 starts that’s barely 6 per start. Even Scherzer who led MLB with 220 IP in 2018 averaged 6 2/3 IP per start.

Roster sizes haven’t kept up with the way pitchers are used. It’s pretty much that simple. This is the first permanent roster increase since World War 2. Owner collusion did reduce rosters to 24 in the late 1980s. Even going back to 1991, the Twins got 1000 IP from their starters, 448 IP from their relievers. Last year, 833 IP from the starters, 610 IP from the relievers.