25 thoughts on “November 8, 2019: Inauspicious”

1. Was watching the Silver Slugger announcements while visiting with the LCS owner and browsing stacks of baseball cards; it was pointed out that (in regards to Nelson Cruz' performance as a 39+ yr old) it's a good thing when you're compared to other ballplayers and their photos are in black and white.

2. Wilin Rosario and Brandon Barnes are apparently no longer part of the Twins' organization, as they are no longer listed among the Twins players in winter ball. That leaves Jonathan Cheshire as the only Twin currently playing winter ball. He did not play yesterday.

   1. Jonathan Cheshire pitched a perfect inning Friday, striking out one, as Escogido defeated Aguilas 4-3. He was credited with the win. Cheshire is 2-0, 1.36, 0.60 WHIP with 7 strikeouts and 2 walks in 6.2 innings.

3. I don't know what you're referring to when you say "deep into the heart of crappy MN winters", the Vikings are going to be playing in February!

   1. It doesn’t count when they’re playing golf.

4. Should the Twins move Garver to first base? I will take dumb internet take for $500 Alex. Garver's value to the team decreases quite a bit as a first baseman... obviously! Wouldn't it be quite apparent that a line up with a replacement level catcher and Garver as a slightly above average first baseman would not be nearly as good as a line up with one of the best hitting catchers in the league and (hopefully) a league average to above average hitting first baseman?

   I prefer Rocco's approach of getting the guy plenty of rest and a few games at first base or DH. I can deal with some silly suggestions like this in comment sections (I have been guilty of it), but people who write "articles" like this drive me crazy.

   1. Yeah, it's not like we're rolling in catchers right now, or that there are a plethora on the market available.

   2. Ranking the options I see based on personal preference:

      1) Sign or acquire an everyday 3b with pop, move Sanó to 1b, trade Rosario, sign a short-term corner OF until Kirilloff is ready
      2) Retain Cron or acquire a similar first baseman on a short, inexpensive commitment until Kirilloff is ready for 1b, preserve Marwin’s value as a super-sub
      3) Waive Cron, rotate Garver & Marwin through 1b, keep Sanó at third to provide consistent reps, use Adrianza as primary super-sub

      1. Twins don't need to sign a corner OF. Jake Cave actually outhit Rosario by OPS and OPS+. Granted, Cave saw a lot less LF pitching than Rosario, but still. Plus Marwin Gonzalez and LaMonte Wade are capable backups. Plus, before he got hurt, Brent Rooker lit up AAA, batting .281/.398/.535. There's been questions about his defense, but he's played almost exclusively LF in AAA. He could also be an option at first base.

         1. Jake Cave also can't catch a cold

            1. "The football like a one man cold for Clifford Franklin. Clifford Franklin the only one catching it. Clifford Franklin only one coming down with it."

            2. He was miscast as a CF. He's been average to slightly above in the corners. He has really good metrics in left field, but he's played there the least. At least Baldelli got him out of CF for the most part.

               1. Right. It's funny to see complaining about Cave's satisfactory corner OF defense when Rosario was Ibanez-esque out there this year.

                  1. I think we all have it stuck in our minds of his attempts to dive and catch a ball and ending up 6 ft shy of the catch.

                     1. Yeah, he really does struggle going in on the ball sometimes. But not on the lazy fly balls #Rosario

                  2. Being as competent as Rosario is damning with faint praise. Cave can't go in on a ball. He gets terrible jumps. He aggressively throws to the wrong base (much like Rosario). Cave is incredibly replaceable.

                     1. My points are these: it's an overstatement to say Cave "can't catch a cold" when Rosario was measurably worse; and I agree with the notion that Cave would be an acceptable fill-in if they found a way to move Rosario until Kirilloff or someone else is ready. Or I wouldn't mind getting a guy like Avisail Garcia as a short-timer, either. I kind of doubt they'll be able to get much interest in Rosario, though, so he'll probably still be there and Cave will stay a backup.

5. Twins promote two more to AGM. They had one assistant GM before, Rob Antony.

   The @Twins have announced the following baseball operations staff promotions:

   Daniel Adler promoted to Assistant GM
   Jeremy Zoll promoted to Assistant GM
   Alex Hassan promoted to Director of Player Development
   Jeremy Raadt promoted to Director of Baseball Systems#MNTwins

   — Dustin Morse (@morsecode) November 8, 2019

6. Random thought of the day:

   Given the rise in prominence of the opener/bullpen start, would it make any sense to bring back scheduled double-headers? It probably wouldn’t work from an MBA perspective, but the players might prefer it to some of the ridiculous travel hours they have now. It might also be better health-wise to have some full days off.

   1. As long as it was followed by a day off, it would probably be seriously considered, especially if they were day-night DHs or they could charge more for one ticket for both games.

7. Watching Wiggins this year makes me realize just how bad Thibs was as a coach.

   1. I dont miss the ICEICEICE yelling during the games.

8. Andrew Wiggins in clutchtime is good. Didnt see that coming.

   1. His VORP before tonight's game was 0.1. He's never been positive for a full season. He's shooting over 50% on 2-pointers, which is much better than his career. He's also averaging a career high in 3-pointer attempts. If this keeps up and Wiggins becomes an actual good NBA player, Ryan Saunders for NBA Coach of the Year on that alone.

   2. Is it possible that Wiggins was not used properly? Ok, maybe that is not fair phrasing, but it could be that Sanders has finally gotten through to him on shot selection.

Comments are closed.