The reason I'm not posting as much this Twins' season is not because they suck. They are a far more interesting team this season than last and I'm actually enjoying this more than any season in a while. The reason I'm not posting as much is some combination of laziness and apathy and alcoholism. I'm not sure those last two seasons make all that much sense together but neither does your face so shut it. Anyway, here's a bunch of Twins thoughts. I'll try to make up for low quantity of posting with a sheer overwhelming number of words. Goal is 2,000. I've got some Andy Capp Hot Fries, some Jefferson's bourbon, and nothing better to do with my time right now. I can do this. I know it. Let us begin.
- Since reaching the age of reason I have purchased three Twins "jersey shirts." Not jerseys, because I'm not a weirdo, but those shirts with the name on number on them. I've had Denard Span, Jason Kubel, and Oswaldo Arcia. Granted the Arcia call was risky because he was in his rookie season and could have gone either way, but it's now starting to pay off because he's been white hot since getting recalled. He's just killing the ball, putting up an ISO of .250 which would put him just outside the Top 10 in the majors if he had enough at-bats. He's basically just decided to stop hitting groundballs because they're boring. Arcia only puts the ball on the ground 32% of the time (4th lowest in the majors) and smacks it into the air knowing that it's more exciting that way. He's still got a ways to go and it wouldn't kill him to learn the strikezone a little bit, but he's improved his fielding this year and is on his way to developing into a legit power hitter. Now just stop being hurt all the time. I'd like to be wearing my Arcia shirt for many more years. No flame outs please.
- This Twins signing of Kendrys Morales is weird. Not that they can't use him. The offense has started to teeter a bit after starting off hot and he's a career .280/.333/.480 hitter which gives him a career OPS+ of 120 - no doubt the guy's a big bat and he was 5th in the MVP voting in 2009. It's just for this team to pony up $7.5 million for a guy who is half-year rental and whose defensive "skills" are redundant with a bunch of other guys is so far out of character I had trouble believing the news when I read it. IF, and this is a giant IF, they're doing this to see if they can contend, and when they realize the Wild Card is a pipe dream this year they figure they'll flip him for a prospect at the deadline, then I'll tip my cap. That, however, is a decidedly un-Twins like move. Wait and see.
- The Twins draft, however, was more Twins-like simply because it was incredibly perplexing. The first pick was great - SS Nick Gordon - a toolsy high school shortstop with an excellent pedigree (Tom Gordon's son and Dee Gordon's brother) who was no doubt one of the best (potential) players in the draft. I even saw one writer call Gordon the best pick of the draft. The next pick was fine - RP Nick Burdi out of Louisville. Thought to be the best relief pitcher in the draft. I'm not a huge fan of taking relievers, but he's supposed to be the best, he's a college guy so his track to the bigs could be short, and it gives the Twins something to point to if they decide to deal Glen Perkins when his value is at its highest, something that needs to be explored. So ok, fine. But then it gets crazy.
Next they took a college reliever with control issues who doesn't have a secondary pitch. Then they went with a college reliever with control problems. Next up was a college reliever who was a complete failure when he was a starter. Then they took a college reliever who has already had Tommy John surgery and had a rib removed for something something words. Following that they went with some pitcher who MLB doesn't have a scouting report for so I can't bitch about anything, and then finished up their first 8 picks with another college reliever who led Missouri in both saves and home runs who moved into the rotation at the end of the season and could be a big league starter someday if he learns a change-up. So that's 1 position player and 7 relievers.
Does that strike anybody else as completely bizarre? Three of these guys are definite relievers with only Burdi sounding like a big league closer. I know relievers are important of course, but generally they're failed starters who have failed in the minor or major leagues, not already having failed in college, which is the case with two of their picks. I know that's a simplistic view, but I can't get over this drafting sequence. Taking college relievers and converting to starters is also dicey, but it sounds like that will likely be the Twins plan with four of these guys, all of whom either need to learn or master another pitch or two or need help with their command. Sounds to me like a bunch of guys who are going to be converted to pitch to contact.
I mean, I know the scouting team for the Twins knows a whole lot more than me, I'm not dumb or arrogant enough to suggest differently, it just seems really, really weird to me to use this many early picks and similar types of gambles. What about a high upside high school arm? How about mix in a position player somewhere? I don't know, maybe college relievers are the new market inefficiency and the Twins are playing their own version of Moneyball. Hey, after the Morales signing we may be off in all new territory here. I'm willing to give the benefit of the doubt, but I am less than confident that we'll look back on this draft and be like, oh damn that was sweet.
- He probably deserves his own post at this point after spinning another gem today, but how good has Phil Hughes been? If you want to know nothing else about Hughes this year, just know that he has 72 strikeouts versus 8 walks on the season. That 9-1 ratio is insane and it's really all you need to know that yes, this Phil Hughes cat is for real. That ratio is second in the majors behind only David Price and would be the best in any full season since Cliff Lee in 2010. Seriously impressive.
Hughes refining his control has not come at the expense of his getting pounded, which can sometimes happen when you're throwing more balls over the plate. His line drive/ground ball/fly ball splits are pretty much identical to his career norms, and as a result his BABIP is about where it's always been. His LOB % is right where it should be too, so it's unlikely luck is playing a major role here. One of Hughes's biggest issues has been home runs, and although his HRs allowed per 9 innings pitched has been slashed by nearly half off his 2012-2013 rate. He's done that because his HR/FB rate is drastically down at about half what it was from 2012-2013. Considering his ratio so far this year would put him in the top 6 last season he's probably due for some regression, but the combination of better command and control and the move to a more manageable Target Field vs. Yankee Stadium make an improvement here likely.
Advanced metrics (FIP ranks him 11th, XFIP 30th) say Hughes is a legit #1 pitcher (assuming we go with the theory that there are 30 true #1s, just some teams might have more than one). I'm not ready to go that far, not by a long shot, but something like a #2? That just might be.
- Danny Santana and Brian Dozier are staying hot, and perhaps we've got our keystone combo for the next five years or more sitting right in front of us. Since my post after Santana's call-up he's justified my probably overhype, batting .372/.407/.500, showing the power I hoped/questioned/doubted he'd have with 2 homers and 5 doubles so far for an ISO of .128 which isn't Troy Tulowitzki-like but would rank him in the top half of all MLB shortstops and his overall performance at the plate has been unreal with a weighted on-base average of .400, second in the majors at short. Of course Eduardo Escobar's breakout (more later) and Aaron Hicks's continued struggles have pushed Santana to center field, though the two positions are pretty much a wash as to offensive expectations (though it seems harder to find a good SS who can hit). Though Santana has been a meh shortstop so far, he's actually been an excellent center fielder which seems hard to believe considering how little time he spent in the outfield before this year. Ideally he'll get more time at short and field it credibly enough to play there full-time. More on this later.
Since my post on Dozier he's put up an OPS of .871 (would be a top 20 number for all positions over the entire season) with 3 homers and 6 doubles in 15 games. Simply put he's a power monster. I am absolutely in love with this guy. See my last post linked above and just the improvements and refinements he's made in his approach and how they've paid off - how can you not love him? He's sporting the #1 walk rate in the bigs among second basemen and the #4 OBP, #2 SLG, #2 wOBA, #1 ISO, and #2 OPS - that's an all-star. Of course he's fourth in AL balloting with no hope of closing the gap which means he'll get snubbed by some combination of Robinson Cano, Ian Kinsler, and Dustin Pedroia because the Twins will get one rep and it'll be Glen Perkins, but he really should make it - he's that good. Big, big fan and if I'm right, and I usually am, he should get plenty of other chances.
- Ok so Escobar. Total breakout season. OPS by year: .571, .537, .628, and .790 this year. The interesting notes are the natural type progression towards a breakout and that he's already within 10 of his career high in plate appearances so he's got a lot of that whole "never had a chance" thing to him. The question is, does this pass the smell test and Escobar is the kind of hitter who ranks , or is he a fraud? In the latter case that's awesome! Suddenly the Twins have hitters to build around in Dozier, Escobar, Santana, Arcia (hopefully) and maybe Trevor Plouffe (I may be too tired to get to him). Great. But if he's a fraud it might be even better as long as the Twins recognize it (I know but let's stick with the new Moneyball thing - for me). In that case you capitalize on his success and flip him at the trade deadline, move Santana back to your SS of the future (he's going to be moved somewhere once Byron Buxton arrives anyway) and we move on. So let's investigate like Scooby Doo.
First thing to check is always BABIP, and Escobar is at .383 this year against a career number of .315. Yikes. Bad start for the "he's for realsies" crowd. That number is fourth in the majors. Hard to believe it's real, but let's check line drive rate. 27.3%! That's good! That's 7th best in the majors and a nice improvement over last season! Even better is that those extra percentage points towards line drives are coming from fly balls, which for a non home run hitter like Escobar is a move in the right direction. Ok, so more liners, great. Any reason for this?
Well his walk rate is still horrible and his K rate is up a little - neither of which say fluke but neither of which suggest growth either. What does suggest some growth is making more contact (and clearly better contact) on balls he swings at in the strikezone. He's also swinging at more pitches outside the zone, but making less contact, which I'm struggling to interpret (thanks booze. and obama) but I choose to believe he's taking better swings instead of that weak crap where he used to basically swing just to make contact and hit a shitty ball (the slight uptick in K rate might be evidence of this). Though the nerd stats are kind of mixed bag of evidence and perhaps luck here, one thing that looks very good is that other than the change-up Escobar is hitting better against every type of pitch this year than in his career, including punishing fastballs.
So the jury is still out on Escobar, but I admit things look better than I thought they would. No matter what the case he still rates as one of the better defensive shortstops in the game and that has value either way. Escobar may be the most interesting case on the team, simply because if they decide to move him there's a pretty clear plan in place (if you believe in Santana like I do and if you don't you're probably a terrible person who roots for Europe in the World Cup). I'll be watching this one with much interest. Or some interest. At least a little interest.
Showing posts with label MLB Draft. Show all posts
Showing posts with label MLB Draft. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 11, 2014
Wednesday, July 3, 2013
So Who Did the Twins Actually Get in the Draft?
As a follow-up to my preview where I said the Twins would land Kohl Stewart at #4 (nailed it), here's a look at the rest of the players the Twins selected. Looking at the early rounds, the Twins continued to pursue pitching and nabbed a bunch of catchers, which is definitely a weak spot in the system. After that they went all over the board grabbing some outfielders and even more pitching. They took a number of players near the end that are either high-schoolers that will go on to college or college juniors that might choose to go back for a final year of college ball to improve their draft status.
#4 Kohl Stewart - RHP - R/R - 6'3", 205 - St. Pius X HS (TX)
Texas A&M QB recruit that can already hit 95mph on the radar gun was the top high school pitcher selected in the draft. The Twins have already signed Stewart, so unless he flops in the minors there is no heading back for football. Stewart signed for the slot amount of $4,544,400. Stewart also sports a power slider to go with that heater and has some room to add on some weight to his 6'3" frame. As a high school starter Kohl pitched 40 innings, struck out 59 and had a 0.18 ERA. Opponents hit .099 off of him.
Stewart is also a type 1 diabetic which I think means he needs insulin shots and lots of Quaker Oats.
Looking at the video below you can see the mechanics need a lot of work. He's sometimes falling off to the first base side, sometimes not. He also sometimes over-rotates his hips; especially out of the wind-up. And he's throwing with a lot of arm as it really whips through on pitches. Even his front foot landing spot isn't consistent. He doesn't tip the slider very much at all that I can see, which really makes it effective. And holy crap does he pop the mitt on that fastball. He's wild, but better mechanics should improve that quite a bit.
#43 Ryan Eades - RHP- S/R - 6'3", 200 - LSU (LA)
As a Junior, Eades was LSU's Saturday starter in 2013. Eades uses three pitches: a curve, a change and a fastball that can run up to the mid-90s. He had 78 Ks in 100 innings and a 2.79 ERA last season. Some have concerns about his injury history - he had a labrum tear in high school. I'm more in the camp that everyone tears something eventually and he already got the labrum out of the way.
Looking at his mechanics from 2012 it seemed like he got a little tangled with arms and knees when he goes with a full windup. There's also a lot of up and down action with this hands in both the windup and stretch position. He's since corrected that quite a bit, which is nice to see. Today, he's pretty smooth and repeatable. Keith Law mentions in the video below that he expected Eades to go between 21-30, so this seems like good value. Eades has already signed with the Twins for $1.29MM.
#78 Stuart Turner - C- R/R - 6'2", 220 - Ole Miss (MS)
Turner was the Johnny Bench Award winner for the best catcher in college baseball this year. He hit .374 with 20 extra base hits and threw out 51% of would-be base stealers. He's considered a good to great defender with just an ok bat at this point. The one vid I found out him showed him getting fooled badly on sliders and change-ups, so I'll just post a pic instead.
#110 Stephen Gonsalves - LHP - L/L - 6'5", 190 - Cathedral Catholic HS (CA)
Fastball has been clocked anywhere from 88-93. He also throws a solid change and has a slurve thing. He went 10-0 with a 1.91 ERA last year. He's got an old school split hand pump type of windup that will have to go. He's long and lanky and has an easy stride and arm action. He could definitely add some weight.
#140 Aaron Slegers - RHP - R/R - 6'10", 250 - Indiana (IN)
6'10" staff ace at Indiana. Throws around 90, but can get it up higher on occasion. Deron Johnson describes him as a sinkerballer and lord knows we love those guys. Slegers was the Big 10 pitcher of the year and will be joined by fellow Hoosier roommates Dustin Demuth and Ryan Halstead. Slegers threw 106 innings, striking 59 and had a 2.04 ERA. Opposing hitters hit .260 off of him.
#170 Brian Navarreto - C - R/R - 6'2", 200 - Arlington Country Day School (FL)
Navarretto projects to be a good hitter with a big arm behind the plate. His defense may need some work as evidenced by his passed ball, error and 2 stolen bases in his only game at catcher in the Gulf Coast League. Four teammates of Navarreto's were also drafted in 2013...not bad! Navarreto was also involved in a brawl with a Norman, Oklahoma team that was using racial slurs.
#200 Brian Gilbert - RHP - R/R - 6'1", 215 - Seton Hall (NJ)
After starting in prior seasons for the Pirates, Gilbert was converted to closer for this year. Gilbert logged 48.2 innings, striking out 49. The walks were a bit high (22), but he only allowed 1 homerun and a .198 opposing batting average. He also hit 8 dudes.
Deron Johnson says that he was up to 96mph in the Big East tournament. He has good size and I like the delivery for a reliever.
#230 Dustin DeMuth - 3B - L/R - 6'2", 190 - Indiana (IN)
DeMuth was the only third baseman that the Twins took in the draft. DeMuth hit .377 for the Hoosiers and hit 5 homers and 24 doubles in 65 games. He had his worst season of the three as a fielder, committing 19 errors playing 2B, 3B and SS.
Here's a video of Demuth playing the Cape Cod league.
#260 Mitchell Garver - C - L/R - 6'1", 200 - New Mexico (NM)
Senior Garver was an all-american as a Junior, but was not drafted. He's another guy that is a better hitter than he is a catcher at this point. Garver was a finalist for the Johnny Bench award won by Turner. Posted a 377/438/612 with 10 homeruns in 61 games. Threw out 39.6% of baserunners from behind the plate. The video below is a year old. His swing doesn't blow me away as he flies open too early, but you can see he has some pop.
#290 Charles Irby - RHP - R/R - 6'1", 200 - Samford University (AL)
Brings it in the mid-90s as a reliever and has a good curveball. In 91 innings he struck out 90 and walked 33. He allowed a .241 opponents' average. He also hit .383 as a DH.
#320 Nelson Molina - SS - L/R - 6'3", 175 - Antonio Lucchetti HS (Puerto Rico)
Puerto-rican left-handed hitting shortstop. Deron Johnson says, "He's got a nice body." He's 0-14 in the GCL so far.
#350 Ethan Mildren - RHP - R/R - 6'4", 215 - Pitt (PA)
Fastball sits around 90. Struck out 76 in 114 innings at Pitt.
#380 Brandon Peterson - RHP - R/R - 6'1", 190 - Wichita State (KS)
Shockers' closer has a low 90s fastball and a slider. Peterson is originally from Savage, MN.
#410 Zack Granite - CF - L/L - 6'0", 175 - Seton Hall (NJ)
Lead-off man started all 156 games in his career at The Hall. Stole 35 bases, hit .304 and led the team with 32 walks. Height ranges from 5'9" to 6' depending on where you look. Weird.
#440 Derrick Penilla - LHP - L/L - 6'2", 180 - Mt San Antonio Col (CA)
Penilla, hee hee. Lefty throwing in the high 80s to 90mph. Ruled at his community college, though.
#470 Brandon Bixler - LHP - R/L - 5'11", 170 - Florida Gulf Coast University (FL)
#500 Tanner Mendonca - RHP - R/R - 6'4", 215 - Sacramento State (CA)
Sucky 4.75 ERA last year, but has a big body and throws hard.
#530 Ryan Walker - SS - L/R - 6'0", 165 - University of Texas - Arlington (TX)Hit .304 for the Mustangs and hit .360 a year prior.
#560 Jared Wilson - RHP - R/R - 6'4", 210 - University of California - Santa Barbara (CA)Drafted by MN two years in a row. Reliever has a fastball that gets up to the mid-90s. Struck out 10.72 per 9 innings last year.
#590 Jason Kanzler - CF - R/R - 6'0", 190 - University of Buffalo (NY)Mid-American Conference player of the year. Hit .330 with 12 homers and 53 RBI in 57 games that year. Also a good defender in CF.
#620 Tyler Stirewalt - RHP - R/R - 6'3", 210 - Fresno State (CA)The fourth of five Fresno State Bulldogs selected in the draft. Also was a QB for the Bulldogs.
#650 Alex Swim - C - L/R - 6'0", 185 - Elon University (NC)Led team to Southern Conf championship. Hit .303 in 4 years at Elon. Struck out 8 times in two years in HS varsity level.
#680 Zach Hayden - RHP - R/R - 6'1", 220 - U South Carolina Aiken (SC)
RP with a 6.00 ERA, but had 41 K in 21 IP and has a good breaking ball and fastball.
#710 Brandon Easton - 1B - L/L - 6'4", 200 - Lakeland CC (OH)MLB lists him as a 1B, but my research shows he's a hard-throwing lefty pitcher that had 78 Ks last year.
#740 Chad Christiansen - OF - R/R - 6'3", 190 - Nebraska (NE)
Chad is from Cedar Rapids, so he could be playing in his home town next year in low A. Hit .364 and has had time at short and in the OF.
#770 Ryan Halstead - RHP - L/R - 6'4", 215 - Indiana (IN)The third Indiana roommate selected by the Twins. Deron Johnson says the reliever has a "big fastball". That doesn't sound legal.
#800 Taylor Blatch - RHP - R/R - 5'11", 165 - Jensen Beach HS (FL)FSU signee has 3 pitches including a 95mph fastball. Unlikely to sign with the Twins.
#830 Chris Erwin - LHP - L/L - 6'0", 167 - Grayson HS (GA)
Kennesaw State signee. High 80s fastball.
#860 Logan Shore - RHP - R/R - 6'2", 200 - Coon Rapids Sr HS (MN)
Coon Rapids star is unlikely to sign and will opt to go to Florida.
#890 Tanner Vavra - 2B - R/R - 5'11", 190 - Valparaiso (IN)
Joe Vavra's kid has no vision in his right eye, but still hit .333.
#920 AJ Bogucki - RHP - R/R - 6'3", 187 - Boyertown Senior HS (PA)
UNC commit has a low 90s heater.
#950 Carlos Avila - SS - R/R - 5'11", 172 - Cal State - Dominguez Hills (CA)
Hit .287 last year with one homer.
#980 Steven Sensley - OF - L/L - 6'1", 205 - University HS (LA)
Louisiana State-Eunice signee. Has projectable power.
#1010 Ivory Thomas - CF - R/R - 5'9", 180 - Cal State - Dominguez Hills (CA)
Avila's teammate hit .388 and led the conference. Stole 19 bases as well.
#1040 Nick Lemoncelli - LHP - L/L - 6'4", 210 - Lower Columbia College (WA)
#1070 Joseph Greenfield - RHP - R/R - 6'4", 220 - Eastern Illinois (IL)
Posted a 3.66 ERA in 93 IP.
#1100 Julien Service - OF - R/R - 6'3", 190 - Northeast Texas CC (TX)
#1130 Javier Salas - RHP - R/R - 6'4", 225 - Miami (FL)
#1160 Seth Wagner - LHP - L/L - 6'8", 220 - Mifflin County HS (PA)
Penn State signee. He's tall.
#1190 Kelly Starnes - CF - R/R - 6'1", 190 - Los Medanos Col (CA)
#4 Kohl Stewart - RHP - R/R - 6'3", 205 - St. Pius X HS (TX)
Texas A&M QB recruit that can already hit 95mph on the radar gun was the top high school pitcher selected in the draft. The Twins have already signed Stewart, so unless he flops in the minors there is no heading back for football. Stewart signed for the slot amount of $4,544,400. Stewart also sports a power slider to go with that heater and has some room to add on some weight to his 6'3" frame. As a high school starter Kohl pitched 40 innings, struck out 59 and had a 0.18 ERA. Opponents hit .099 off of him.
Stewart is also a type 1 diabetic which I think means he needs insulin shots and lots of Quaker Oats.
Looking at the video below you can see the mechanics need a lot of work. He's sometimes falling off to the first base side, sometimes not. He also sometimes over-rotates his hips; especially out of the wind-up. And he's throwing with a lot of arm as it really whips through on pitches. Even his front foot landing spot isn't consistent. He doesn't tip the slider very much at all that I can see, which really makes it effective. And holy crap does he pop the mitt on that fastball. He's wild, but better mechanics should improve that quite a bit.
#43 Ryan Eades - RHP- S/R - 6'3", 200 - LSU (LA)
As a Junior, Eades was LSU's Saturday starter in 2013. Eades uses three pitches: a curve, a change and a fastball that can run up to the mid-90s. He had 78 Ks in 100 innings and a 2.79 ERA last season. Some have concerns about his injury history - he had a labrum tear in high school. I'm more in the camp that everyone tears something eventually and he already got the labrum out of the way.
Looking at his mechanics from 2012 it seemed like he got a little tangled with arms and knees when he goes with a full windup. There's also a lot of up and down action with this hands in both the windup and stretch position. He's since corrected that quite a bit, which is nice to see. Today, he's pretty smooth and repeatable. Keith Law mentions in the video below that he expected Eades to go between 21-30, so this seems like good value. Eades has already signed with the Twins for $1.29MM.
#78 Stuart Turner - C- R/R - 6'2", 220 - Ole Miss (MS)
Turner was the Johnny Bench Award winner for the best catcher in college baseball this year. He hit .374 with 20 extra base hits and threw out 51% of would-be base stealers. He's considered a good to great defender with just an ok bat at this point. The one vid I found out him showed him getting fooled badly on sliders and change-ups, so I'll just post a pic instead.
#110 Stephen Gonsalves - LHP - L/L - 6'5", 190 - Cathedral Catholic HS (CA)
Fastball has been clocked anywhere from 88-93. He also throws a solid change and has a slurve thing. He went 10-0 with a 1.91 ERA last year. He's got an old school split hand pump type of windup that will have to go. He's long and lanky and has an easy stride and arm action. He could definitely add some weight.
#140 Aaron Slegers - RHP - R/R - 6'10", 250 - Indiana (IN)
6'10" staff ace at Indiana. Throws around 90, but can get it up higher on occasion. Deron Johnson describes him as a sinkerballer and lord knows we love those guys. Slegers was the Big 10 pitcher of the year and will be joined by fellow Hoosier roommates Dustin Demuth and Ryan Halstead. Slegers threw 106 innings, striking 59 and had a 2.04 ERA. Opposing hitters hit .260 off of him.
#170 Brian Navarreto - C - R/R - 6'2", 200 - Arlington Country Day School (FL)
Navarretto projects to be a good hitter with a big arm behind the plate. His defense may need some work as evidenced by his passed ball, error and 2 stolen bases in his only game at catcher in the Gulf Coast League. Four teammates of Navarreto's were also drafted in 2013...not bad! Navarreto was also involved in a brawl with a Norman, Oklahoma team that was using racial slurs.
Arlington coach Ron Dickerson told the Pensacola News-Journal that he asked the umpires to address racial slurs earlier in the game. Dickerson claimed the taunts were targeted at his players, many of whom are of Dominican heritage. When the umps warned the Norman bench in the fourth inning, Dickerson claimed someone from the opposing bench said “‘Whiny. Whiny. You’re too big of a black guy to whine like that.’ “
Two innings later, Norman’s D.J. Gasso attempted to score from third base after Arlington pitcher Jonathan Rodriguez threw a wild pitch. Arlington catcher Brian Navarreto tossed the ball back to Rodriguez, who slapped a late tag on Gasso even though the runner had easily beaten the play. After the home plate umpire ejected Rodriguez for the emphatic tag, Navarreto punched Gasso in the face, which caused both benches to empty and more punches to be thrown.
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| That's Navaretto in the middle with the grimace I think. |
#200 Brian Gilbert - RHP - R/R - 6'1", 215 - Seton Hall (NJ)
After starting in prior seasons for the Pirates, Gilbert was converted to closer for this year. Gilbert logged 48.2 innings, striking out 49. The walks were a bit high (22), but he only allowed 1 homerun and a .198 opposing batting average. He also hit 8 dudes.
Deron Johnson says that he was up to 96mph in the Big East tournament. He has good size and I like the delivery for a reliever.
#230 Dustin DeMuth - 3B - L/R - 6'2", 190 - Indiana (IN)
DeMuth was the only third baseman that the Twins took in the draft. DeMuth hit .377 for the Hoosiers and hit 5 homers and 24 doubles in 65 games. He had his worst season of the three as a fielder, committing 19 errors playing 2B, 3B and SS.
Here's a video of Demuth playing the Cape Cod league.
#260 Mitchell Garver - C - L/R - 6'1", 200 - New Mexico (NM)
Senior Garver was an all-american as a Junior, but was not drafted. He's another guy that is a better hitter than he is a catcher at this point. Garver was a finalist for the Johnny Bench award won by Turner. Posted a 377/438/612 with 10 homeruns in 61 games. Threw out 39.6% of baserunners from behind the plate. The video below is a year old. His swing doesn't blow me away as he flies open too early, but you can see he has some pop.
#290 Charles Irby - RHP - R/R - 6'1", 200 - Samford University (AL)
Brings it in the mid-90s as a reliever and has a good curveball. In 91 innings he struck out 90 and walked 33. He allowed a .241 opponents' average. He also hit .383 as a DH.
#320 Nelson Molina - SS - L/R - 6'3", 175 - Antonio Lucchetti HS (Puerto Rico)
Puerto-rican left-handed hitting shortstop. Deron Johnson says, "He's got a nice body." He's 0-14 in the GCL so far.
#350 Ethan Mildren - RHP - R/R - 6'4", 215 - Pitt (PA)
Fastball sits around 90. Struck out 76 in 114 innings at Pitt.
#380 Brandon Peterson - RHP - R/R - 6'1", 190 - Wichita State (KS)
Shockers' closer has a low 90s fastball and a slider. Peterson is originally from Savage, MN.
#410 Zack Granite - CF - L/L - 6'0", 175 - Seton Hall (NJ)
Lead-off man started all 156 games in his career at The Hall. Stole 35 bases, hit .304 and led the team with 32 walks. Height ranges from 5'9" to 6' depending on where you look. Weird.
#440 Derrick Penilla - LHP - L/L - 6'2", 180 - Mt San Antonio Col (CA)
Penilla, hee hee. Lefty throwing in the high 80s to 90mph. Ruled at his community college, though.
#470 Brandon Bixler - LHP - R/L - 5'11", 170 - Florida Gulf Coast University (FL)
#500 Tanner Mendonca - RHP - R/R - 6'4", 215 - Sacramento State (CA)
Sucky 4.75 ERA last year, but has a big body and throws hard.
#530 Ryan Walker - SS - L/R - 6'0", 165 - University of Texas - Arlington (TX)Hit .304 for the Mustangs and hit .360 a year prior.
#560 Jared Wilson - RHP - R/R - 6'4", 210 - University of California - Santa Barbara (CA)Drafted by MN two years in a row. Reliever has a fastball that gets up to the mid-90s. Struck out 10.72 per 9 innings last year.
#590 Jason Kanzler - CF - R/R - 6'0", 190 - University of Buffalo (NY)Mid-American Conference player of the year. Hit .330 with 12 homers and 53 RBI in 57 games that year. Also a good defender in CF.
#620 Tyler Stirewalt - RHP - R/R - 6'3", 210 - Fresno State (CA)The fourth of five Fresno State Bulldogs selected in the draft. Also was a QB for the Bulldogs.
#650 Alex Swim - C - L/R - 6'0", 185 - Elon University (NC)Led team to Southern Conf championship. Hit .303 in 4 years at Elon. Struck out 8 times in two years in HS varsity level.
#680 Zach Hayden - RHP - R/R - 6'1", 220 - U South Carolina Aiken (SC)
RP with a 6.00 ERA, but had 41 K in 21 IP and has a good breaking ball and fastball.
#710 Brandon Easton - 1B - L/L - 6'4", 200 - Lakeland CC (OH)MLB lists him as a 1B, but my research shows he's a hard-throwing lefty pitcher that had 78 Ks last year.
#740 Chad Christiansen - OF - R/R - 6'3", 190 - Nebraska (NE)
Chad is from Cedar Rapids, so he could be playing in his home town next year in low A. Hit .364 and has had time at short and in the OF.
#770 Ryan Halstead - RHP - L/R - 6'4", 215 - Indiana (IN)The third Indiana roommate selected by the Twins. Deron Johnson says the reliever has a "big fastball". That doesn't sound legal.
#800 Taylor Blatch - RHP - R/R - 5'11", 165 - Jensen Beach HS (FL)FSU signee has 3 pitches including a 95mph fastball. Unlikely to sign with the Twins.
#830 Chris Erwin - LHP - L/L - 6'0", 167 - Grayson HS (GA)
Kennesaw State signee. High 80s fastball.
#860 Logan Shore - RHP - R/R - 6'2", 200 - Coon Rapids Sr HS (MN)
Coon Rapids star is unlikely to sign and will opt to go to Florida.
#890 Tanner Vavra - 2B - R/R - 5'11", 190 - Valparaiso (IN)
Joe Vavra's kid has no vision in his right eye, but still hit .333.
#920 AJ Bogucki - RHP - R/R - 6'3", 187 - Boyertown Senior HS (PA)
UNC commit has a low 90s heater.
#950 Carlos Avila - SS - R/R - 5'11", 172 - Cal State - Dominguez Hills (CA)
Hit .287 last year with one homer.
#980 Steven Sensley - OF - L/L - 6'1", 205 - University HS (LA)
Louisiana State-Eunice signee. Has projectable power.
#1010 Ivory Thomas - CF - R/R - 5'9", 180 - Cal State - Dominguez Hills (CA)
Avila's teammate hit .388 and led the conference. Stole 19 bases as well.
#1040 Nick Lemoncelli - LHP - L/L - 6'4", 210 - Lower Columbia College (WA)
#1070 Joseph Greenfield - RHP - R/R - 6'4", 220 - Eastern Illinois (IL)
Posted a 3.66 ERA in 93 IP.
#1100 Julien Service - OF - R/R - 6'3", 190 - Northeast Texas CC (TX)
#1130 Javier Salas - RHP - R/R - 6'4", 225 - Miami (FL)
#1160 Seth Wagner - LHP - L/L - 6'8", 220 - Mifflin County HS (PA)
Penn State signee. He's tall.
#1190 Kelly Starnes - CF - R/R - 6'1", 190 - Los Medanos Col (CA)
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
More Draft Recappage?
Since DWG hates you and doesn't want you to have any more draft info because the Twins are likely up to their same old tricks that have left them with a mostly devoid minor league system I thought I'd tack on a few notes.
#32 Overall: Jose Orlando Berrios, RHP - Some Puerto Rican HS called Papa Juan's
Any time you can get a Puerto Rican with a whole bunch of names you have to do it, right? Watching on MLBTV their version of Mel Kiper (who looks like a really pale Martian) said this is the part of the draft where teams start drafting high-schoolers with upside. He didn't specifically refer to Berrios, but he fits that mold. Ok, I just looked this draft expert guy up and his name is Jonathan Mayo. I have no idea how he puts his size small t-shirt on over that head.
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| Jonathan Mayo |
#42 Luke Bard, RHP - Georgia Tech
Bard has a low to mid 90s fastball, a power slider and an older brother that just got sent down to AAA Pawtucket by the Red Sox. By most accounts he's destined for the bullpen, which is ok I guess, but it makes me feel like this pick is a reach. DWG has said it, you convert your starters that don't have a second or third quality pitch to relivers. Most of the time you don't start them out as a reliever. Although there are some exceptions like Drew Storen, Huston Street, etc. In his college career Bard made 5 starts in his 55 appearances. He walked 39 in 100 IP and struck out 97. To be fair though, he was shelled as a freshman and his last two years have been pretty stellar. He had a 0.99 ERA in 25 IP in 2012 before his season was cut short due to lat (back) injury.
The biggest problem with Luke is when has a Luke ever been successful? Did I mention his middle name is Francis?
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| Harangody |
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| Hughes |
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| Jackson |
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| Lid Off |
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| I guess it's this guy. |
#63 Mason Melotakis, LHP - Northwestern State School for the Blind
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| LANKY! |
#72 J.T. Chargois, S/R 1B-P - Rice
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| Here he is performing a flying knee. |
Another closer? Oh, give me a break! JT also played first base full time for the Owls. MLB.com says his heater is 95 with movement, so there's that. He hit .323 last year as well, but with no pop at all, so don't expect any Babe Ruth shtick here. 9.08 K/9 and 2.87 BB/9 last year as the closer.
#97 Adam Walker, R/R OF - Jacksonville University
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| BANG |
6'4" 225lb beast-man that is the son of a former Viking RB by the same name. Going for power like this seems outside the Twins' playbook, so I dig it. Walker hit .343 with 12 homers in 55 games and also stole 19 bases (and made 11 errors).
#130 Zack Jones, RHP - San Jose St
Zack was drafted in the 24th round in 2009 by the Royals. Suck it Royals, we have him now! He was primarily a starter, but also led the Spartans in saves. :headslap:
#160 Tyler Duffey, RHP - Rice
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| Slider! |
Rice is usually pretty good at baseball, so I guess we can just draft all of their dudes. Another reliever.
#190 Andre Martinez, LHP - Archbishop Jenny McCarthy HS
Looks like this guy is a FSU signee so we'll have to see how much he likes Florida.
#220 Jorge Fernandez, S/R Catcher - Colegio Hector Urdaneta
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| This is apparently the only picture of Jorge on the interwebs. |
The Twins definitely could use some catching depth in the system. However, even though MLB.com lists him as a catcher, it looks like he's an outfielder and pretty fast (6.7 in the 60) with power upside. He's committed to Alabama State, which is no Florida State, so maybe they sign him.
#250 Christian Powell, RHP - College of Charleston
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| Sweet hat. |
Christian was the Southern Conference player of the year. He has good size at 6'4" and 219 lbs and was drafted in the 47th round in 2009 by the Indians. Wait, are we just copying off of our division rival's old draft lists? His fastball is in the low 90s...so, you know, welcome home.
#280 LJ Mazilli, 2B - UConn
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| Lee |
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| LJ |
Ok, so pretty much the only reason I wanted to follow up was to get to Lee Mazzilli. Lee Junior (assuming) raked at UConn and his dad was a total badass. Lee was kind of a long time utility player type, mostly with the Mets, and he's done a little coaching and managing. This has been happening for awhile now, but it's both cool and kind of sucky because I'm officially old when the sons of players I've seen play are now playing. I've seen some other internet knobs say LJ was projected higher and is a bit of steal. By most accounts his defense and speed are nothing amazing, but this ability to hit for average with a little bit of pop is pretty sweet.
#310 DJ Baxendale, RHP - Arkansas - 91-92mph, #2 starter to a Soph
#340 Taylor Rogers, LHP - Kentucky - 6-3, 4.60 ERA, 71K in 74 IP
#370 Alexander Muren, RHP - Cal State Northridge - Threw a one hitter, doesn't strike anyone out.
#400 Erich Knab, RHP - SC HSer - Signed with Spartanburg Methodist College, I think we can get him. "...they have great players like Joe Mauer" - Knab
#430 Jake Proctor, OF - Cincy - Typical speedy OFer type the Twins love
#460 Jarret Leverett, LHP - Georgia Southern - Favorite name of the Twins' draft so far. I tried friending him on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/jarret.leverett
#490 Will Hurt, SS - KY HSer - Insert your favorite William Hurt joke here. I'll go with "Broadcast News: Twins draft Will Hurt"
#520 Dalton (DJ) Hicks, 1B - Central Florida - 6'5" 230lb lefty 1B. POWER. .316 with 14 homers in 62 games.
#550 William LaMarche, RHP - CA Juco - :shrug:
So, to recap...they have taken one million pitchers, but a lot of the earlier picks were relief pitchers. They also made a couple of power plays, which you have to like. No catchers to date, so you have to think a few are yet to come.
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Twins Draft Recap (post round 1)
TRE already covered the Twins 1st round pick with this post, so I'm going to handle the later picks with a nice little wtf?
I mean, I get it. It's the baseball draft. The majority of these kids won't see the majors at all and the ones who will are at least three years away so it's kind of foolish to put too much stock in these things. With that caveat out of the way I'm still not really sure I like what I'm seeing. After Buxton at #2, they went with Jose Berrios, a high school power arm from Puerto Rico who can get up to 97mph and whose curve ball has been described as "a hammer." Sounds good. I was more of the opinion that I'd prefer a college arm to a high school one, and there were a couple guys available who I highlighted as guys I wanted in this post (Pat Light, Pierce Johnson), but I like what I hear from this Berrios fella so I'm all good with this pick. After this, however, I have some questions.
Like why would you spend the next three picks on yet another soft-tossing nancy and two college relievers? The guy they took at #42, Luke Bard, is a college starter, which is good, but I've read he's more a low-90s type, which is bad. He does have a power slider but to quote ESPN, "most scouts see his future in the bullpen." Great. Then the next two picks were college closers with one or one and a half pitchers at most who both project to be bullpen guys as well, which means the Twins are spending their time with a whole shit ton of high draft picks by filling up the future bullpen. What. The. F?
Your bullpen is supposed to made up of guys who are failed starters in the minors/majors, not guys who weren't even good enough to start on their college team. And I know my emphasis was on college level pitchers, but I meant starters, not relievers. The last college closer I remember the Twins' drafting early on in the draft was Carlos Gutierrez out of Miami and he's now a fringe prospect at best who walks everyone and strikes out less than a batter per inning and he's now 25 years old and on his second tour through triple-A. How many closers are actually drafted as closers, anyway? It's gotta be like, 1% right? You just take a starter with a killer heater who was never able to develop that third pitch and make him your closer. WA LA! Of course, I think I see the problem in that since the Twins traded Billy Bullock they don't have anyone left in the system who throws over 93, so there you go.
I am pretty sure I would have gone completely differently in this draft if I was the Twins. My first three would have been Kevin Gausman, Pat Light, and Pierce Johnson, but then again, I'm much smarter than everybody else. Just remember those three names in about 4 years.
Looking at the other picks:
#97 - Adam Walker - OF - Jacksonville: apparently a monster power machine, but scouts aren't sure if he has this hitting thing quite figured out to make solid contact enough to crush like he could/should. I swear we heard this same thing about Chris Parmalee, but ESPN projected him as a second round pick so I suppose this is kind of a steal.
#130 - Zach Jones - RHP - San Jose State: starting pitcher who throws in the low 90s and had a 3.5-1 K/BB ratio last season. Fucking superb. Guy could have been genetically engineered by Bill Smith.
#160 - Tyler Duffy - RHP - Rice: I can't find any solid info on this guy so I will assume he's the brother of KC's Danny Duffy which means he throws super fast and can't get anybody out.
#190 - Andre Martinez - LHP - High School: Threw a perfect game in high school. Like that's hard.
Jesus do you guys know how hard it is to find information on most of these guys? I'm really kind of sick of looking up info on these guys especially because I could just make shit up and nobody would know the difference and also I'm pretty sure none of these guys are going to get to the big leagues, or if they do, it'll be after the Twins ship them off for the next 89mph fastball all-star who never walks anyone and gives up 2 billion hits per inning. I'm irritated and drunk. Also I hate you. All of you.
I'm watching the MTV movie awards (for some reason) and holy crap Aerosmith guys look like a couple of old lesbians. Not the good kind.
I mean, I get it. It's the baseball draft. The majority of these kids won't see the majors at all and the ones who will are at least three years away so it's kind of foolish to put too much stock in these things. With that caveat out of the way I'm still not really sure I like what I'm seeing. After Buxton at #2, they went with Jose Berrios, a high school power arm from Puerto Rico who can get up to 97mph and whose curve ball has been described as "a hammer." Sounds good. I was more of the opinion that I'd prefer a college arm to a high school one, and there were a couple guys available who I highlighted as guys I wanted in this post (Pat Light, Pierce Johnson), but I like what I hear from this Berrios fella so I'm all good with this pick. After this, however, I have some questions.
Like why would you spend the next three picks on yet another soft-tossing nancy and two college relievers? The guy they took at #42, Luke Bard, is a college starter, which is good, but I've read he's more a low-90s type, which is bad. He does have a power slider but to quote ESPN, "most scouts see his future in the bullpen." Great. Then the next two picks were college closers with one or one and a half pitchers at most who both project to be bullpen guys as well, which means the Twins are spending their time with a whole shit ton of high draft picks by filling up the future bullpen. What. The. F?
Your bullpen is supposed to made up of guys who are failed starters in the minors/majors, not guys who weren't even good enough to start on their college team. And I know my emphasis was on college level pitchers, but I meant starters, not relievers. The last college closer I remember the Twins' drafting early on in the draft was Carlos Gutierrez out of Miami and he's now a fringe prospect at best who walks everyone and strikes out less than a batter per inning and he's now 25 years old and on his second tour through triple-A. How many closers are actually drafted as closers, anyway? It's gotta be like, 1% right? You just take a starter with a killer heater who was never able to develop that third pitch and make him your closer. WA LA! Of course, I think I see the problem in that since the Twins traded Billy Bullock they don't have anyone left in the system who throws over 93, so there you go.
I am pretty sure I would have gone completely differently in this draft if I was the Twins. My first three would have been Kevin Gausman, Pat Light, and Pierce Johnson, but then again, I'm much smarter than everybody else. Just remember those three names in about 4 years.
Looking at the other picks:
#97 - Adam Walker - OF - Jacksonville: apparently a monster power machine, but scouts aren't sure if he has this hitting thing quite figured out to make solid contact enough to crush like he could/should. I swear we heard this same thing about Chris Parmalee, but ESPN projected him as a second round pick so I suppose this is kind of a steal.
#130 - Zach Jones - RHP - San Jose State: starting pitcher who throws in the low 90s and had a 3.5-1 K/BB ratio last season. Fucking superb. Guy could have been genetically engineered by Bill Smith.
#160 - Tyler Duffy - RHP - Rice: I can't find any solid info on this guy so I will assume he's the brother of KC's Danny Duffy which means he throws super fast and can't get anybody out.
#190 - Andre Martinez - LHP - High School: Threw a perfect game in high school. Like that's hard.
Jesus do you guys know how hard it is to find information on most of these guys? I'm really kind of sick of looking up info on these guys especially because I could just make shit up and nobody would know the difference and also I'm pretty sure none of these guys are going to get to the big leagues, or if they do, it'll be after the Twins ship them off for the next 89mph fastball all-star who never walks anyone and gives up 2 billion hits per inning. I'm irritated and drunk. Also I hate you. All of you.
I'm watching the MTV movie awards (for some reason) and holy crap Aerosmith guys look like a couple of old lesbians. Not the good kind.
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Twins MLB Draft Preview
With the MLB Draft coming next week, and TRE's post about the NBA draft spurring me on (it's the one right below this one, genius) I figured we might as well take a look at the MLB draft, particularly since the Twins are so involved. Involved as in they have the #2, #32 (thanks Cuddy), the #42 (thanks Kubes), and the #63. So this is pretty much a really great time to reload the system. Here's what I'm thinking:
The pick at #2 should be either SP Mark Appel from Stanford or SP Kevin Gausman from LSU. My personal preference would be Gausman, a sophomore who put up excellent numbers in the SEC, the best conference in the NCAA. The major difference between Gausman and Appel is that although both throw in the mid-90s and can get up to 99, Gausman has two secondary pitches that rank as "plus" while Appel has just one. There are also concerns about how Stanford treated Appel and what effect that may have had on this arm, such as when he threw 149 pitches against Oregon. I also read somewhere that Appel is super religious and that's pretty annoying, so just another reason to prefer Gausman. I'd actually be pretty happy with either pitcher seeing as how both throw mid-90s and have the stuff to become a #1 or #2 in the majors. Of course, the Twins' brass hates guys who strike batters out, so I'm sure there's some soft-tosser with #4 starter upside they're drooling over.
If they don't go with one of those two pitchers at #2, the only possible acceptable alternative is High School OF Byron Buxton. He's the one guy pretty much every scout is drooling over, has been called "the highest upside prospect in the draft" by ESPN, and is toolsy is as toolsy does. He's fast as the dickens with a tremendous arm (hit 97 on the gun), but he has yet to show a whole lot of power (at age 18 remember, so there's still plenty of time) which does make me a bit nervous, and it's not like he's the first guy to have this kind of "all-around awesome" scouting report. Sometimes it works out and you're set for years (Evan Longoria, Ryan Braun), sometimes it doesn't (Alex Gordon, Delmon Young), and sometimes it REALLY doesn't work out (Scott Moore, Luis Montanez - no I don't know who these guys are either). I strenuously prefer the college arm, but if they take Buxton I'll at least understand. Anybody else and I'm going to fictionally throw things through my window.
As far as their other three top picks, I still prefer pitching since that's what they're going to need to rebuild this shitty organization, and as TRE said in his first post here they need to start looking at pitching differently. Guys like Chris Stratton from Miss State (led the SEC in Ks), Pat Light of Monmouth (mid 90s fastball), Nolan Sanburn of Arkansas (up to 98mph), Pierce Johnson of Missouri State (mid-90s with a "power" curve), and Damien Magnifico of Oklahoma (hit 102 this year and is said to reach triple digits on a regular basis in relief) are guys I hope they'd at least consider. None of them profile as a Radke/Slowey type, but that's got to be considered a positive at this point. Now, they all have question marks - Stratton is already 22, Light is a little more sidearm that you'd like to see from a starter, Sanburn and Johnson have dealt with injuries this year, and Magnifico basically only has one pitch, but don't you want to see some guys with some "stuff" and see if they can develop from there? There's a couple of college pitchers who I can just see the Twins taking (Martin Agosto and Brian Johnson) who are low-90s types and I'm just tired of it.
[NOTE: There's also a guy from a JUCO named Dylan Baker who gets up to 97 and has kind of come out of nowhere. Like Magnifico he profiles as a reliever right now because he doesn't exactly have what you'd call a great repertoire of pitches, but I wouldn't mind him either. Also, how sweet a last name is Magnifico.]
Of course, they could always go position players or HS pitchers, but what am I some kind of scouting service? I can't very well cover every single player here so maybe you should do some of your own legwork once in a while. I'm just saying I want to see some freaking pitchers who can actually strike somebody out, even if they'd probably just get traded away (Matt Garza). I refuse to believe anybody actually enjoys this "pitch-to-contact" garbage. I REFUSE. Change. Now.
The pick at #2 should be either SP Mark Appel from Stanford or SP Kevin Gausman from LSU. My personal preference would be Gausman, a sophomore who put up excellent numbers in the SEC, the best conference in the NCAA. The major difference between Gausman and Appel is that although both throw in the mid-90s and can get up to 99, Gausman has two secondary pitches that rank as "plus" while Appel has just one. There are also concerns about how Stanford treated Appel and what effect that may have had on this arm, such as when he threw 149 pitches against Oregon. I also read somewhere that Appel is super religious and that's pretty annoying, so just another reason to prefer Gausman. I'd actually be pretty happy with either pitcher seeing as how both throw mid-90s and have the stuff to become a #1 or #2 in the majors. Of course, the Twins' brass hates guys who strike batters out, so I'm sure there's some soft-tosser with #4 starter upside they're drooling over.
If they don't go with one of those two pitchers at #2, the only possible acceptable alternative is High School OF Byron Buxton. He's the one guy pretty much every scout is drooling over, has been called "the highest upside prospect in the draft" by ESPN, and is toolsy is as toolsy does. He's fast as the dickens with a tremendous arm (hit 97 on the gun), but he has yet to show a whole lot of power (at age 18 remember, so there's still plenty of time) which does make me a bit nervous, and it's not like he's the first guy to have this kind of "all-around awesome" scouting report. Sometimes it works out and you're set for years (Evan Longoria, Ryan Braun), sometimes it doesn't (Alex Gordon, Delmon Young), and sometimes it REALLY doesn't work out (Scott Moore, Luis Montanez - no I don't know who these guys are either). I strenuously prefer the college arm, but if they take Buxton I'll at least understand. Anybody else and I'm going to fictionally throw things through my window.
As far as their other three top picks, I still prefer pitching since that's what they're going to need to rebuild this shitty organization, and as TRE said in his first post here they need to start looking at pitching differently. Guys like Chris Stratton from Miss State (led the SEC in Ks), Pat Light of Monmouth (mid 90s fastball), Nolan Sanburn of Arkansas (up to 98mph), Pierce Johnson of Missouri State (mid-90s with a "power" curve), and Damien Magnifico of Oklahoma (hit 102 this year and is said to reach triple digits on a regular basis in relief) are guys I hope they'd at least consider. None of them profile as a Radke/Slowey type, but that's got to be considered a positive at this point. Now, they all have question marks - Stratton is already 22, Light is a little more sidearm that you'd like to see from a starter, Sanburn and Johnson have dealt with injuries this year, and Magnifico basically only has one pitch, but don't you want to see some guys with some "stuff" and see if they can develop from there? There's a couple of college pitchers who I can just see the Twins taking (Martin Agosto and Brian Johnson) who are low-90s types and I'm just tired of it.
[NOTE: There's also a guy from a JUCO named Dylan Baker who gets up to 97 and has kind of come out of nowhere. Like Magnifico he profiles as a reliever right now because he doesn't exactly have what you'd call a great repertoire of pitches, but I wouldn't mind him either. Also, how sweet a last name is Magnifico.]
Of course, they could always go position players or HS pitchers, but what am I some kind of scouting service? I can't very well cover every single player here so maybe you should do some of your own legwork once in a while. I'm just saying I want to see some freaking pitchers who can actually strike somebody out, even if they'd probably just get traded away (Matt Garza). I refuse to believe anybody actually enjoys this "pitch-to-contact" garbage. I REFUSE. Change. Now.
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
How to rebuild the Twins
Although the Twins are pretty much hamstrung and stuck with Joe Mauer for the foreseeable future, that doesn't mean there aren't some moves they could make to try to rebuild quickly - which they'll have to do in order to become contenders again before Mauer is completely out of his prime assuming he isn't already. Obviously the #1 priority should be the draft, where the Twins have the 2nd overall pick and three picks in the top 40. I'd like to see them concentrate on high upside, college pitchers who won't have to spend 4-5 years in the minors, and I'd specifically like to see them draft Mark Appel out of Stanford or Kevin Gausman out of LSU with that #2 overall, then look at more pitching with picks 32 and 42. Pitching-Pitching-Pitching.
Beyond that, there are some trades that need to be made. Namely:
1. Justin Morneau. Contenders like the Marlins (who just sent Gaby Sanchez to the minors), Dodgers (who have crappy no power James Loney), Rangers (great offense with wasteland at 1B) and Blue Jays (who have given up on Adam Lind) all could use the power Morneau would provide at first base and all have the money to handle his contract, if they aren't too wary of his health issues. Health issues and the big contract might mean his selling price is down, but a package of 3-4 players centered around one high upside prospect at a position of need would be a good move. The Marlins have 3B Matt Dominguez in AAA and although he's not a great hitter he's supposed to be a plus fielder and let's face it, the Twins are pretty much out of 3B options. The Rangers are loaded, including the minors, and that might make them willing to move future stud starting pitcher Martin Perez, who would give the Twins their first ace type pitcher since Johan. The Dodgers system is loaded with starting pitching (with 8 of their top 10 prospects starters), and the Jays have enough young pitching that they could part with a semi-highly regarded pitching prospect or three without hurting their long term outlook. Morneau is a great trade chip as long as he keeps hitting with power, and he's not going to be around by the time this time turns itself around - they need to use him to get the turnaround started.
2. Denard Span. I like Span and he's a quality leadoff hitter, but Ben Revere is a very similar player with less power, less discipline, and better defense, and the former two can develop with more time - time he's not getting. The Nationals have been sniffing after Span for a couple of years now and were even willing, or close to willing, to give up a real young, real good reliever in Drew Storen last year. I don't know that you can get a blue-chipper like that anymore, but the Nats are contending and are sorely lacking in the leadoff hitter department so they'd still probably love to have Span. With all their young pitching maybe you can get a MLB ready, middle of the rotation type guy who is still young like Ross Detwiler. Given Ramos's injury they need a catcher, so maybe throw-in Doumit and get a prospect back or even whichever second basemen they hate less, Steve Lombardozzi or Danny Espinosa - either would be a better 2b of the future than anything the Twins have right now.
3. Carl Pavano. I'd say trade the entire rotation, but I can't really see a team parting with anything other than "cash considerations" for anybody other than Pavano or Liriano, and trading Frankie when his value is at an all time low is probably not the right idea, so that leaves Pavano. He's not exciting, but he's consistent, a decent big league pitcher, and somebody (or multiple somebodies) are going to be looking for that around the trade deadline (not to mention he's affordable). All four AL East contenders have worse than average rotations so as that divisional chase heats up they're all going to be trying to outbid each other for pitching help, so depending on who else would be on the block Pavano could be near the top of their wishlists (although I don't know if the Yankees would be willing to bring him back). He'd bring back less of a return than either Morneau or Span, but getting a mid-tier prospect or even a youngish player who is blocked on one of those teams would be worth looking into.
4. Matt Capps. I really don't know if anybody is stupid enough to "pull a Twins" and give up something of value for a shitty closer who has racked up saves in his career more out of opportunity than talent, but if anybody is willing to trade anything they should jump on it. Same with Glen Perkins or really any other pitcher on the entire team.
Pull all that off, and maybe you're looking at a future of:
C - Mauer
1B - Miguel Sano (I'm guessing this is where he eventually ends up) with Parmalee backing him up
2b - Lombardozzi or Espinosa with Plouffe backing up
3b - Dominguez/Travis Harrison
SS - Levi Michael/Brian Dozier
OF - Revere/Benson/Hicks/Rosario/Arcia/Kepler
with a rotation starting with Kyle Gibson, Appel/Gausman, and Detwiler with Baker/Diamond/Walters (if either of them is real)/other draft pick pitchers/Wimmers/Hudson Boyd/Madison Boer/Adrian Salcedo also in the mix and Deolis Guerra your top bullpen arm.
I dunno. And that's not even counting in any other prospects that come back in trade other than Dominguez and the Nats' guys, although even though Dominguez is a 3b which the team sorely needs I'd still take Martin Perez over him if they have that option.
And yeah, I realize I'm just playing fantasy baseball basically, but the team is in the shitter and going nowhere, and you have exactly four tradeable assets so trade them. None of them are going to be around when this team gets close to contending again, so trade them now while they have value. Anything. Just do something this year rather than sitting around with their thumbs up their asses like they did last year. This is what I'd try to do.
Beyond that, there are some trades that need to be made. Namely:
1. Justin Morneau. Contenders like the Marlins (who just sent Gaby Sanchez to the minors), Dodgers (who have crappy no power James Loney), Rangers (great offense with wasteland at 1B) and Blue Jays (who have given up on Adam Lind) all could use the power Morneau would provide at first base and all have the money to handle his contract, if they aren't too wary of his health issues. Health issues and the big contract might mean his selling price is down, but a package of 3-4 players centered around one high upside prospect at a position of need would be a good move. The Marlins have 3B Matt Dominguez in AAA and although he's not a great hitter he's supposed to be a plus fielder and let's face it, the Twins are pretty much out of 3B options. The Rangers are loaded, including the minors, and that might make them willing to move future stud starting pitcher Martin Perez, who would give the Twins their first ace type pitcher since Johan. The Dodgers system is loaded with starting pitching (with 8 of their top 10 prospects starters), and the Jays have enough young pitching that they could part with a semi-highly regarded pitching prospect or three without hurting their long term outlook. Morneau is a great trade chip as long as he keeps hitting with power, and he's not going to be around by the time this time turns itself around - they need to use him to get the turnaround started.
2. Denard Span. I like Span and he's a quality leadoff hitter, but Ben Revere is a very similar player with less power, less discipline, and better defense, and the former two can develop with more time - time he's not getting. The Nationals have been sniffing after Span for a couple of years now and were even willing, or close to willing, to give up a real young, real good reliever in Drew Storen last year. I don't know that you can get a blue-chipper like that anymore, but the Nats are contending and are sorely lacking in the leadoff hitter department so they'd still probably love to have Span. With all their young pitching maybe you can get a MLB ready, middle of the rotation type guy who is still young like Ross Detwiler. Given Ramos's injury they need a catcher, so maybe throw-in Doumit and get a prospect back or even whichever second basemen they hate less, Steve Lombardozzi or Danny Espinosa - either would be a better 2b of the future than anything the Twins have right now.
3. Carl Pavano. I'd say trade the entire rotation, but I can't really see a team parting with anything other than "cash considerations" for anybody other than Pavano or Liriano, and trading Frankie when his value is at an all time low is probably not the right idea, so that leaves Pavano. He's not exciting, but he's consistent, a decent big league pitcher, and somebody (or multiple somebodies) are going to be looking for that around the trade deadline (not to mention he's affordable). All four AL East contenders have worse than average rotations so as that divisional chase heats up they're all going to be trying to outbid each other for pitching help, so depending on who else would be on the block Pavano could be near the top of their wishlists (although I don't know if the Yankees would be willing to bring him back). He'd bring back less of a return than either Morneau or Span, but getting a mid-tier prospect or even a youngish player who is blocked on one of those teams would be worth looking into.
4. Matt Capps. I really don't know if anybody is stupid enough to "pull a Twins" and give up something of value for a shitty closer who has racked up saves in his career more out of opportunity than talent, but if anybody is willing to trade anything they should jump on it. Same with Glen Perkins or really any other pitcher on the entire team.
Pull all that off, and maybe you're looking at a future of:
C - Mauer
1B - Miguel Sano (I'm guessing this is where he eventually ends up) with Parmalee backing him up
2b - Lombardozzi or Espinosa with Plouffe backing up
3b - Dominguez/Travis Harrison
SS - Levi Michael/Brian Dozier
OF - Revere/Benson/Hicks/Rosario/Arcia/Kepler
with a rotation starting with Kyle Gibson, Appel/Gausman, and Detwiler with Baker/Diamond/Walters (if either of them is real)/other draft pick pitchers/Wimmers/Hudson Boyd/Madison Boer/Adrian Salcedo also in the mix and Deolis Guerra your top bullpen arm.
I dunno. And that's not even counting in any other prospects that come back in trade other than Dominguez and the Nats' guys, although even though Dominguez is a 3b which the team sorely needs I'd still take Martin Perez over him if they have that option.
And yeah, I realize I'm just playing fantasy baseball basically, but the team is in the shitter and going nowhere, and you have exactly four tradeable assets so trade them. None of them are going to be around when this team gets close to contending again, so trade them now while they have value. Anything. Just do something this year rather than sitting around with their thumbs up their asses like they did last year. This is what I'd try to do.
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
MLB Draft Talk
I know what you've been thinking all day today, "What do I need to know about this MLB draft?" It's the most difficult draft to evaluate or care about because nobody watches college baseball, half or so of the players are high schoolers, it's ridiculously long, the majority of players won't reach the majors, and those who do won't impact the league for 3 or so years. To be honest, I didn't even know the draft started yesterday. I mean, I knew it was soon, but I kind of thought it was on a weekend. Oops.
Anyway, here's my attempt to tell you some of the interesting things from the draft, similar to what I did two years ago. Why didn't I do this for last year's draft? I don't know. I think I forgot about it. But I'm going to give it another shot. I will confess that my opinions on players are taken from things I've read not my own eyes since I'm not a weirdo who watches college baseball.
First, the Twins. Actually, first I just want to say that if this Zookeeper movie with King of Queens guy makes any kind of significant money I'm going door to door like Jay and Silent Bob and punching everybody who paid money to see it. Second, the Twins:
- I am thrilled by their first round pick, SS Levi Michael out of North Carolina. It's obviously a huge need both now and in the recent past, and taking a college age shortstop who was a three year starter is a good recipe to get help in a hurry (2013?). Even better, however, is the MLB network and ESPN guys pretty much unanimously called him a first round talent and the best college shortstop in the draft, so it wasn't a reach, and everything I've projects him as a solid everyday SS - maybe not a star, but this draft was short on stars from what I've read. Reading scouting reports he sounds like his potential is like a better hitting J.J. Hardy. I'll take that every time. A+ on this pick.
- Sandwich picks, high school 3B Travis Harrison and high school pitcher Hudson Boyd, are interesting picks mainly because they're so against type for the Twins, who generally prefer to go with toolsy high school outfielders or college pitchers with their early picks. Harrison isn't remotely toolsy, but what he can do is hit and is one of the best HS hitters in the entire draft. Although currently listed as a 3b, he'll end up at 1b or in left field, but no matter where he ends up bringing in a big power bat to a team lacking in exactly that is a nice move. Boyd is a power pitcher, which means the Twins now have 3 in the entire system, with a couple of other decent pitches and projects as a #2 or #3 type in the majors, which would mean he'd be the ace of this crappy staff. Obviously as a high school kid it'll be a while before we see him, but seems like another good pick.
- Of the rest of the picks, of which there are like 100 good lord how many rounds is this thing, there really isn't much notable. It's mostly filled with college pitchers which is good because god knows the team needs help as soon as possible, but really the only pick that stands out is second round pick, rhp Madison Boer. He will probably get too much love because he's a home town kid (from Eden Prairie) and was a bit of a reach, but he was also the Pac-10 pitcher of the year. The bad news is you can't ever trust a pitcher with a stripper's name.
- The only other name that rings any bells or pops up on any kind of top prospect list is Ivan Rodriguez, and that's just because he's Pudge's kid but really who cares? Overall a very good start to the draft, followed by a pretty underwhelming rest of the draft. But to be honest, since it's the NBA draft and there are too many picks and I've heard of almost none of them I'm not exactly sure what it would take for me to be whelmed.
--> A few interesting notes from other teams around the league, and I won't be talking about second generation players getting drafted because everybody slobbers all over that and to be honest I couldn't give two craps about Dante Bichette Jr. or Dwight Smith's kid:
- Seattle made an interesting pick at #2 overall with college pitcher Danny Hultzen. Interesting because he's basically assumed to be guaranteed to end up a major league starter, but his upside is just a #2 or #3 type, he lacks the upside you'd expect from the #2 overall pick. Although sometimes safe is better, just ask Brien Taylor.
- Conversely, the Pirates pick at #1 is interesting in college starter Gerrit Cole (nice first name, ass). Cole is universally hailed as the pitcher with the best stuff in this draft - a heater that can touch 100mph, a good breaking ball, and a plus changeup to go with good control - but his stats this year didn't bear that out, and he was actually outpitched by teammate Trevor Bauer, who went #3 to Arizona, and a couple of other starters on his own team. He's from UCLA and didn't win conference pitcher of the year (went to Twins' guy, remember?). Potential vs. Stats. If they hit, it's a home run. If not, ......
- Maybe the most interesting pick of the draft is the Nationals getting college 3b Anthony Rendon at #6. Rendon is generally considered the best hitter in the draft and was projected to go #1 or #2 most of the year, but injury concerns pushed him to six. Which means the Nationals last three drafts netted them three players that were consensus #1 prospects (Strasburg (RIP), Brian Harper's kid, and Rendon). Add in Wilson Ramos, the surging Michael Morse, and a couple young middle IFs and Washington is starting to put together a nice nucleus. Too bad their pitching sucks and they'll probably lose Jordan Zimmerman to free agency in a year. Serves 'em right for leaving Montreal.
- Kansas City, already owners of the best minor league system in baseball according to basically everyone, had the #5 pick and went with Bubba Starling, a 6-4 high school centerfielder with tools coming out of his ass - he's ranked as being the best prep hitter, having the best prep arm, and being the best prep outfielder. Yet another potential superstar into their system, keyword being potential. Also a keyword: Nebraska. He has a scholarship waiting at Nebraska to play football, something he's also quite good at ranking as the #119 best football prospect in his class and the #6 "athlete", a designation for someone where they aren't quite sure what position he'll play (though Starling profiles as a QB most likely), in the country. So he'll have some decisions to make, but if KC gets him he hits their "future lineup" well because they don't have a CFer like him. Ready to have your mind blown? After all that I just wrote, guess what? He's white. BOOM. Never saw it comin', did ya?
- The funniest pick of round 1 was without a doubt the Cubs pick of high school shortstop Javier Baez at pick #9. Not because it was as bad pick, on the contrary from what I've read, but because Baez is described in every report I've read as either having "character issues" or "a temper." That's worked out well for the Cubs in the past, right Milton Bradley and Carlos Zambrano?
- Lastly, the Rays had 11 picks due to the compensatory picks they got for losing Carl Crawford, Grant Balfour, Joaquin Benoit, Randy Choate, Brad Hawpe, and Chad Qualls (seriously you get picks for losing Choate and Hawpe? System = broken) and as you'd expect from them the knocked it out of the park. They picked up one of the best prep arms available (although they'll have to get him away from South Carolina), a college OFer who projected in the top 15 but slid to #31, and a whole bunch of high upside, solid (and signable) prospects with really only one reach, but a reach they could afford with that many picks on day 1. Just a solid draft from a solid organization.
--> Finally, assuming anybody is still reading (both this post and this blog) since I've gotten a couple specific questions in the comments here lately let's take it to a mailbag. I've done this once before and it worked out pretty well, so if you have a question you'd like me to answer for you, about literally anything, shoot it over to downwithgoldy@yahoo.com and I'll answer them at some point next week. Don't be shy now.
Anyway, here's my attempt to tell you some of the interesting things from the draft, similar to what I did two years ago. Why didn't I do this for last year's draft? I don't know. I think I forgot about it. But I'm going to give it another shot. I will confess that my opinions on players are taken from things I've read not my own eyes since I'm not a weirdo who watches college baseball.
First, the Twins. Actually, first I just want to say that if this Zookeeper movie with King of Queens guy makes any kind of significant money I'm going door to door like Jay and Silent Bob and punching everybody who paid money to see it. Second, the Twins:
- I am thrilled by their first round pick, SS Levi Michael out of North Carolina. It's obviously a huge need both now and in the recent past, and taking a college age shortstop who was a three year starter is a good recipe to get help in a hurry (2013?). Even better, however, is the MLB network and ESPN guys pretty much unanimously called him a first round talent and the best college shortstop in the draft, so it wasn't a reach, and everything I've projects him as a solid everyday SS - maybe not a star, but this draft was short on stars from what I've read. Reading scouting reports he sounds like his potential is like a better hitting J.J. Hardy. I'll take that every time. A+ on this pick.
- Sandwich picks, high school 3B Travis Harrison and high school pitcher Hudson Boyd, are interesting picks mainly because they're so against type for the Twins, who generally prefer to go with toolsy high school outfielders or college pitchers with their early picks. Harrison isn't remotely toolsy, but what he can do is hit and is one of the best HS hitters in the entire draft. Although currently listed as a 3b, he'll end up at 1b or in left field, but no matter where he ends up bringing in a big power bat to a team lacking in exactly that is a nice move. Boyd is a power pitcher, which means the Twins now have 3 in the entire system, with a couple of other decent pitches and projects as a #2 or #3 type in the majors, which would mean he'd be the ace of this crappy staff. Obviously as a high school kid it'll be a while before we see him, but seems like another good pick.
- Of the rest of the picks, of which there are like 100 good lord how many rounds is this thing, there really isn't much notable. It's mostly filled with college pitchers which is good because god knows the team needs help as soon as possible, but really the only pick that stands out is second round pick, rhp Madison Boer. He will probably get too much love because he's a home town kid (from Eden Prairie) and was a bit of a reach, but he was also the Pac-10 pitcher of the year. The bad news is you can't ever trust a pitcher with a stripper's name.
- The only other name that rings any bells or pops up on any kind of top prospect list is Ivan Rodriguez, and that's just because he's Pudge's kid but really who cares? Overall a very good start to the draft, followed by a pretty underwhelming rest of the draft. But to be honest, since it's the NBA draft and there are too many picks and I've heard of almost none of them I'm not exactly sure what it would take for me to be whelmed.
--> A few interesting notes from other teams around the league, and I won't be talking about second generation players getting drafted because everybody slobbers all over that and to be honest I couldn't give two craps about Dante Bichette Jr. or Dwight Smith's kid:
- Seattle made an interesting pick at #2 overall with college pitcher Danny Hultzen. Interesting because he's basically assumed to be guaranteed to end up a major league starter, but his upside is just a #2 or #3 type, he lacks the upside you'd expect from the #2 overall pick. Although sometimes safe is better, just ask Brien Taylor.
- Conversely, the Pirates pick at #1 is interesting in college starter Gerrit Cole (nice first name, ass). Cole is universally hailed as the pitcher with the best stuff in this draft - a heater that can touch 100mph, a good breaking ball, and a plus changeup to go with good control - but his stats this year didn't bear that out, and he was actually outpitched by teammate Trevor Bauer, who went #3 to Arizona, and a couple of other starters on his own team. He's from UCLA and didn't win conference pitcher of the year (went to Twins' guy, remember?). Potential vs. Stats. If they hit, it's a home run. If not, ......
- Maybe the most interesting pick of the draft is the Nationals getting college 3b Anthony Rendon at #6. Rendon is generally considered the best hitter in the draft and was projected to go #1 or #2 most of the year, but injury concerns pushed him to six. Which means the Nationals last three drafts netted them three players that were consensus #1 prospects (Strasburg (RIP), Brian Harper's kid, and Rendon). Add in Wilson Ramos, the surging Michael Morse, and a couple young middle IFs and Washington is starting to put together a nice nucleus. Too bad their pitching sucks and they'll probably lose Jordan Zimmerman to free agency in a year. Serves 'em right for leaving Montreal.
- Kansas City, already owners of the best minor league system in baseball according to basically everyone, had the #5 pick and went with Bubba Starling, a 6-4 high school centerfielder with tools coming out of his ass - he's ranked as being the best prep hitter, having the best prep arm, and being the best prep outfielder. Yet another potential superstar into their system, keyword being potential. Also a keyword: Nebraska. He has a scholarship waiting at Nebraska to play football, something he's also quite good at ranking as the #119 best football prospect in his class and the #6 "athlete", a designation for someone where they aren't quite sure what position he'll play (though Starling profiles as a QB most likely), in the country. So he'll have some decisions to make, but if KC gets him he hits their "future lineup" well because they don't have a CFer like him. Ready to have your mind blown? After all that I just wrote, guess what? He's white. BOOM. Never saw it comin', did ya?
- The funniest pick of round 1 was without a doubt the Cubs pick of high school shortstop Javier Baez at pick #9. Not because it was as bad pick, on the contrary from what I've read, but because Baez is described in every report I've read as either having "character issues" or "a temper." That's worked out well for the Cubs in the past, right Milton Bradley and Carlos Zambrano?
- Lastly, the Rays had 11 picks due to the compensatory picks they got for losing Carl Crawford, Grant Balfour, Joaquin Benoit, Randy Choate, Brad Hawpe, and Chad Qualls (seriously you get picks for losing Choate and Hawpe? System = broken) and as you'd expect from them the knocked it out of the park. They picked up one of the best prep arms available (although they'll have to get him away from South Carolina), a college OFer who projected in the top 15 but slid to #31, and a whole bunch of high upside, solid (and signable) prospects with really only one reach, but a reach they could afford with that many picks on day 1. Just a solid draft from a solid organization.
--> Finally, assuming anybody is still reading (both this post and this blog) since I've gotten a couple specific questions in the comments here lately let's take it to a mailbag. I've done this once before and it worked out pretty well, so if you have a question you'd like me to answer for you, about literally anything, shoot it over to downwithgoldy@yahoo.com and I'll answer them at some point next week. Don't be shy now.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Twins MLB Draft Review
Last night was the big MLB draft, and even though I know very little about it, I nonetheless feel pretty much just as qualified as most morons who write about sports on mainstream sights, so I'm going to break it down anyway.
- Stephen Strasburg, unreal stud RHP out of San Diego State went first overall to the Nationals in what was apparently a no-brainer. Of course, no brainer pitchers early in the draft are always a guarantee. I mean the last ten first overall picks who were pitchers have been David Price, Luke Hochevar, Brian Bullington, Matt Anderson, Kris Benson, Paul Wilson, Brien Taylor, Ben McDonald, Andy Benes, and Tim Belcher. Not exactly an all-timer list, and Taylor was probably the biggest bust in history - more so even than Ryan Leaf. All the talking head people assure us that he is the real deal and is already all the way polished thanks to his time throwing in college, but I remember hearing the same things about Mark Prior. So everything sounds good, and he was definitely the no-brainer pick at #1 - and could even possibly hit the majors this year, but let's all just settle down and not start handing out Cy Young's just yet.
- The #2 and #3 picks were the only other two people I have heard of in this draft, not counting that one Gopher guy who is good. The Mariners took CF Dustin Ackley out of North Carolina at #2 and the Padres took CF Donavan Tate, a high school kid, with the #3 pick. The only thing I know about these two is that Ackley is that he is pretty much unanimously considered the best pure hitter in the draft but is also coming off of Tommy John surgery and has had to play first base for the Heels because of it. Kind of a big question mark, but if he can hit, I have no doubt a place will be found for him. I know even less about Tate, but he sounds like an incredible athlete who hasn't really learned to hit yet. After watching Gomez for a year and a half, I'd pass on this kid faster than Al Nolen passes on an open jump shot.
- The #4 pick was the Pirates, and they took some kid I've never heard of, a catcher from Boston College the likely made up name Jorge Sanchez, even though I they already have Ryan Doumit, maybe their best player, behind the dish and I had heard they were going to go after some latino shortstop with three names. Whatever. Enough of all these people I haven't heard of and don't care about. On to the Twins.
- Mrs. W just asked if I wanted to get Grey's Anatomy Season One from Netflix. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. No.
- The Twins first pick, #22 overall, ended up being RHP Kyle Gibson out of U of Missouri (Arty Johnson U, holla). He's a very interesting pick, and one that LaVelle brought up previously on his blog at the Star Tribune site. According to Mr. Neal, Gibson was ranked as the fourth best prospect in the draft (he neglected to cite his source and I neglected to look one up due to Mr. Vodka), but slipped for two reasons. The first was concerns he would ask for a huge bonus. Knowing the Twins as well as I unfortunately do, I assume they made sure to get this figured out before they drafted him. Second, he's dealing with a stress fracture in his pitching arm - always a positive sign for a pitcher. But apparently the kid is the shit. He hits 94 with his fastball at times, but is more of a sinking fastball type with two other plus pitches in his slider and changeup. If that wasn't enough to convince you he is Twins' material, check out this line from last season: 99 innings, 18 walks (123 strikeouts to boot). Sounds pretty good if the injury checks out. I'm giving this a cautious thumbs up.
- We're watching some weird show about weird religious people with a billion kids right now (well, the Mrs. is, I'm obviously blogging about very important social issues) and this super naive religious guy was talking about taking medicine and he called his wife "The Master of Swallowing." I don't care who you are, that's funny.
- The Twins second pick just came through, their "sandwich pick" for losing Dennis Reyes, which is pretty funny when you think about it - because he's fat, you see. It would probably make me hungry, but I made the World's Greatest ChiliTM tonight so I'm good. What was my point? Oh yeah, with the #46 pick (which seems incredibly generous for getting rid of Reyes) the Twinks took LHP Matthew Bashore out of Indiana U. Seeing as this is a Gopher blog, you'd think I'd be familiar with some of the pitcher's around the Big Ten. Well, you're super wrong. But I CAN tell you what the internet says about him.
Bashore dealt with arm issues in the off-season, being relegated to the bullpen in the Cape Cod League of Summer Catch fame, in what is seemingly a conscious draft theme at this point, but recovered once he got back to the Hoosiers to post five quality starts in his last six outings - I have no idea if that is impressive or not in college. The scouting sounds pretty solid, as Bashore is reported to have four good pitches including a nice splitter and is said to be a very polished college player. So yeah. Go team.
- As we wait for the last Twins pick of the day I think I don't really remember I just remembered the fourth guy I had heard of. His name is Aaron Crow, and he's a pitcher who was actually drafted at #9 last year but didn't sign. He then decided to go play in the independent league for the Fort Worthless Cats which makes me angry all-over again about how much that god forsaken city sucks, but it seems he pitched pretty well for the newest stopover for top prospects, supplanting the Saint Paul Saints (Luke Hochevar and Max Scherzer pitched their previously).
Crow pitched three games, totaling 17 innings with 17 strikeouts and just five walks, while opponents hit just .196 against him resulting in an ERA of 1.06. Pretty solid. What I read had him as the #2 pitcher on the board (after Strasburg), yet he fell all the way #12, the eighth pitcher taken, falling right in Kansas City's lap. With Greinke, Hochevar, and now the potential of Crow, KC is poised to possibly make some noise in a couple of years. Although Hochevar will flame out, Crow will end up as a middle reliever, and Greinke will be a Yankee. Hooray MLB Draft!!!!
- The Magic shot 75% in the first half tonight, and they are up only five at the half. Christ, this garbage is pretty much over.
- Ok, the Twins have taken their next two selections, their last for tonight. They went with another couple of pitchers, this time RHP William Bullock out of Florida and RHP Benjamin Tootle out of Jacksonville State. Tootle has powerful stuff, and although he was a starter in college most scouts see him as a reliever in the pros (is he ready, like, today, by any chance?). He continues a theme of banged up players in the draft for the Twins - he battled some kind of crazy virus (swine flu?) when he was in the Cape League, causing him to slip. Billy Bullock is similar to Tootle, but without the flu problem. He is called the best bullpen guy in the draft from the SEC by Baseball America, and can hit 97 on the radar gun. Given the Twins problems in that area, I am happy with these last two picks.
- Home run #16 for Morneau. I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but Mrs. W always refers to Morneau as "big head" and refuses to refer to him as anything else. That's all.
- Delmon with an RBI already tonight and it's only the fifth. That gives him 15 already on the season. And it's still early.
- Kobe missed a layup. Nice job queer.
- Delmon Young's middle name is Damarcus.
- Kobe misses free throws. Nice job queer.
- I got nothin' left. In penance, I offer up this picture of Alyssa Milano in Twins' gear:
If we aren't square after that, I don't know what else to do.
- Stephen Strasburg, unreal stud RHP out of San Diego State went first overall to the Nationals in what was apparently a no-brainer. Of course, no brainer pitchers early in the draft are always a guarantee. I mean the last ten first overall picks who were pitchers have been David Price, Luke Hochevar, Brian Bullington, Matt Anderson, Kris Benson, Paul Wilson, Brien Taylor, Ben McDonald, Andy Benes, and Tim Belcher. Not exactly an all-timer list, and Taylor was probably the biggest bust in history - more so even than Ryan Leaf. All the talking head people assure us that he is the real deal and is already all the way polished thanks to his time throwing in college, but I remember hearing the same things about Mark Prior. So everything sounds good, and he was definitely the no-brainer pick at #1 - and could even possibly hit the majors this year, but let's all just settle down and not start handing out Cy Young's just yet.
- The #2 and #3 picks were the only other two people I have heard of in this draft, not counting that one Gopher guy who is good. The Mariners took CF Dustin Ackley out of North Carolina at #2 and the Padres took CF Donavan Tate, a high school kid, with the #3 pick. The only thing I know about these two is that Ackley is that he is pretty much unanimously considered the best pure hitter in the draft but is also coming off of Tommy John surgery and has had to play first base for the Heels because of it. Kind of a big question mark, but if he can hit, I have no doubt a place will be found for him. I know even less about Tate, but he sounds like an incredible athlete who hasn't really learned to hit yet. After watching Gomez for a year and a half, I'd pass on this kid faster than Al Nolen passes on an open jump shot.
- The #4 pick was the Pirates, and they took some kid I've never heard of, a catcher from Boston College the likely made up name Jorge Sanchez, even though I they already have Ryan Doumit, maybe their best player, behind the dish and I had heard they were going to go after some latino shortstop with three names. Whatever. Enough of all these people I haven't heard of and don't care about. On to the Twins.
- Mrs. W just asked if I wanted to get Grey's Anatomy Season One from Netflix. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. No.
- The Twins first pick, #22 overall, ended up being RHP Kyle Gibson out of U of Missouri (Arty Johnson U, holla). He's a very interesting pick, and one that LaVelle brought up previously on his blog at the Star Tribune site. According to Mr. Neal, Gibson was ranked as the fourth best prospect in the draft (he neglected to cite his source and I neglected to look one up due to Mr. Vodka), but slipped for two reasons. The first was concerns he would ask for a huge bonus. Knowing the Twins as well as I unfortunately do, I assume they made sure to get this figured out before they drafted him. Second, he's dealing with a stress fracture in his pitching arm - always a positive sign for a pitcher. But apparently the kid is the shit. He hits 94 with his fastball at times, but is more of a sinking fastball type with two other plus pitches in his slider and changeup. If that wasn't enough to convince you he is Twins' material, check out this line from last season: 99 innings, 18 walks (123 strikeouts to boot). Sounds pretty good if the injury checks out. I'm giving this a cautious thumbs up.
- We're watching some weird show about weird religious people with a billion kids right now (well, the Mrs. is, I'm obviously blogging about very important social issues) and this super naive religious guy was talking about taking medicine and he called his wife "The Master of Swallowing." I don't care who you are, that's funny.
- The Twins second pick just came through, their "sandwich pick" for losing Dennis Reyes, which is pretty funny when you think about it - because he's fat, you see. It would probably make me hungry, but I made the World's Greatest ChiliTM tonight so I'm good. What was my point? Oh yeah, with the #46 pick (which seems incredibly generous for getting rid of Reyes) the Twinks took LHP Matthew Bashore out of Indiana U. Seeing as this is a Gopher blog, you'd think I'd be familiar with some of the pitcher's around the Big Ten. Well, you're super wrong. But I CAN tell you what the internet says about him.
Bashore dealt with arm issues in the off-season, being relegated to the bullpen in the Cape Cod League of Summer Catch fame, in what is seemingly a conscious draft theme at this point, but recovered once he got back to the Hoosiers to post five quality starts in his last six outings - I have no idea if that is impressive or not in college. The scouting sounds pretty solid, as Bashore is reported to have four good pitches including a nice splitter and is said to be a very polished college player. So yeah. Go team.
- As we wait for the last Twins pick of the day I think I don't really remember I just remembered the fourth guy I had heard of. His name is Aaron Crow, and he's a pitcher who was actually drafted at #9 last year but didn't sign. He then decided to go play in the independent league for the Fort Worthless Cats which makes me angry all-over again about how much that god forsaken city sucks, but it seems he pitched pretty well for the newest stopover for top prospects, supplanting the Saint Paul Saints (Luke Hochevar and Max Scherzer pitched their previously).
Crow pitched three games, totaling 17 innings with 17 strikeouts and just five walks, while opponents hit just .196 against him resulting in an ERA of 1.06. Pretty solid. What I read had him as the #2 pitcher on the board (after Strasburg), yet he fell all the way #12, the eighth pitcher taken, falling right in Kansas City's lap. With Greinke, Hochevar, and now the potential of Crow, KC is poised to possibly make some noise in a couple of years. Although Hochevar will flame out, Crow will end up as a middle reliever, and Greinke will be a Yankee. Hooray MLB Draft!!!!
- The Magic shot 75% in the first half tonight, and they are up only five at the half. Christ, this garbage is pretty much over.
- Ok, the Twins have taken their next two selections, their last for tonight. They went with another couple of pitchers, this time RHP William Bullock out of Florida and RHP Benjamin Tootle out of Jacksonville State. Tootle has powerful stuff, and although he was a starter in college most scouts see him as a reliever in the pros (is he ready, like, today, by any chance?). He continues a theme of banged up players in the draft for the Twins - he battled some kind of crazy virus (swine flu?) when he was in the Cape League, causing him to slip. Billy Bullock is similar to Tootle, but without the flu problem. He is called the best bullpen guy in the draft from the SEC by Baseball America, and can hit 97 on the radar gun. Given the Twins problems in that area, I am happy with these last two picks.
- Home run #16 for Morneau. I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but Mrs. W always refers to Morneau as "big head" and refuses to refer to him as anything else. That's all.
- Delmon with an RBI already tonight and it's only the fifth. That gives him 15 already on the season. And it's still early.
- Kobe missed a layup. Nice job queer.
- Delmon Young's middle name is Damarcus.
- Kobe misses free throws. Nice job queer.
- I got nothin' left. In penance, I offer up this picture of Alyssa Milano in Twins' gear:
If we aren't square after that, I don't know what else to do.
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