chw42

Bartolo Colon...from 2003. For realz though, I'd like to have Sweeney and Carter back. Those guys are going to be helping the A's a lot in the near future.

Kenny does hate prospects, I must agree.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Feb 17, 2010 -> 01:11 AM) I don't think we're getting Damon and frankly I don't really want him. If our team can't hit, maybe they'll make some other move during the season. Having Damon for a whole year brings about as much value (probably a bit more actually) as having Adrian Gonzalez for 2 months this season. Plus, you're not giving up any of your prospects.

I wonder what source Rosenthal got his initial (the wrong one) report from about the Sox making a second offer.

QUOTE (flavum @ Feb 16, 2010 -> 02:22 PM) http://twitter.com/beckjason/status/9199767130 I think we should just all forget it.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Feb 16, 2010 -> 11:16 AM) Last year: 1st half - 14 HR 50 RBI 2nd half - 9 HR 27 RBI That's kind of unfair since the first half for Thome was 3 months last year. His second half was a month and a half.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Feb 16, 2010 -> 11:13 AM) What about HRs and RBIs? That's what he was getting paid to do. OPS already accounts for home runs, so eh. RBI is something I can care less for, even in this situation.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Feb 16, 2010 -> 10:58 AM) We're paying Mark Kotsay as much money as the Twins are paying Jim Thome. A guy that would have solved these problems, and rid me of my concerns. 1.5 million bucks, that's all that it would have cost. That's chump change in the pocket of Mr. Reinsdorf. If 1.5 million bucks proves to be the difference between us winning the divison, and us failing to do so. I am going to be furious. We need this Damon signing like crazy. And then we can blame Brian Anderson for bringing us Mark Kotsay, making Ozzie fall in love with him. I do have to say though, Kotsay hit pretty well with us last season, it probably will not continue, but at least it's something to be optimistic about.

QUOTE (DBAHO @ Feb 15, 2010 -> 10:11 PM) I look at Mark's history, and he's basically gone through stretches in a season (some call it a dead arm period because of all of the IP he's thrown over the years) where he's struggled, the back end of 2009 being one of those times (albeit an ERA of 4.06 post ASB is still pretty good). There were just a couple of worrying signs for me with his numbers last season, giving up 5 more HR's in 09 than 08, his K rate decreasing signifcantly (albeit he's not a strikeout pitcher), while his BABIP will a bit lower than what is was over the seasons before, which may me thinks his numbers were a little lucky possibly. Both CHONE and Marcel predict he'll have an ERA just over 4 for 2010 FWIW. Which isn't all that bad since projections usually don't favor Mark.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 15, 2010 -> 04:49 PM) You're comfortable with that? Let me put it another way. If the end of the season came, and I told you that there were 5 games over the course of the season where we wound up having 2 infielders hurt, would you say "That's it, our season's gone" or would you say "Well, that's not half bad, I'm glad we didn't suffer too many major injuries". There have been times in the last few years where we've had as many as 3 IF's go down or get tossed during a single game. THat's how JD wound up playing SS in 2005. I'm just not sure I buy that you can count on a 44 year old to be your only backup IF. I think you have to go with an 11 man pitching staff and keep the extra IF if you bring in Damon and still hold onto Kotsay. Well if two of our middle infielders are hurt, we're screwed anyways. That means Gordon and Alexei are done. If either Teahen or Gordon/Alexei are hurt, we're also pretty much screwed. Having Jayson Nix there isn't going to change much of anything. Vizquel's old, but he's also pretty durable. As long as Ozzie doesn't over-use him, he's a fine defensive replacement at SS, 2B, and 3B. I see nothing wrong with keeping him as the only backup IF. And you're right about the pitcher thing, we don't need Randy Williams. Ozzie never uses LOOGYs correctly anyways.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 15, 2010 -> 02:19 PM) A general question I was thinking about Re: Damon. Hypothetically let's assume the Sox sign him. That makes our bench/DH rotation Vizquel, Kotsay, Jones, Damon, and Castro, if they go with 12 pitchers. (12 pitchers, 8 everyday players, 5 man bench/DH rotation). Are people comfortable with a 44 year old Omar Vizquel being our only backup IF for 3 separate positions? At least to my eyes, we're pretty much required to carry either CJ or Nix just so we have 2 backups to cover the IF. That limits us to an 11 man pitching staff, and I'm not sure the org would be thrilled about that. Anyway, you don't avoid signing Damon because of that, but I'd say it ought to be something they think about beforehand. I certainly am.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Feb 15, 2010 -> 01:12 PM) Welcome aboard! As ye be a Tiger fan, this'd be your colors. Anyway, yes, Prior and Wood blew out their arms, but neither had near the workload he had last year. He pitched a Buehrlesque amount of innings last year, but he's a different type of pitcher. Buehrle is built to be a workhorse, since he doesn't throw hard at all. Verlander tops 100 more than anyone else, and he pitched a lot of innings. I should rephrase what I said earlier, he won't pitch as badly as he did in 2008, but he won't pitch as well as he did last year. I'd peg him for something like 3.75 ERA, 16 wins. I wouldn't be shocked if he did better though. Verlander's 08 season was a perfect example of why he could blow up next year. The amount of innings he threw the two previous years dropped his velocity down by around 2-3 MPH.

QUOTE (sircaffey @ Feb 15, 2010 -> 11:44 AM) Going from turf to grass (and they'll probably grow it long), is only going to help the pitching staff. With solid infield defense, I think the Twins will end up performing better in this new stadium. The home field advantage won't be nearly as great, but imo, these two factors will probably cancel each other out over the long haul. I think you have to take into account that the batting backdrop in the Metrodome was absolutely atrocious and it was an advantage for Twins pitching. How many series do you remember where we went in there for the first game and couldn't hit anything? The Twins hitters adjust to it more easily since they play half of their games there, but it won't be as easy for the away teams to do so. It takes some time to adjust.

A.J. as known by other teams..."That one douchebag"

Tony Pena: T-Pain-ya Because it hurts so much when he hangs a slider and gives up a lead.

QUOTE (Jimbo's Drinker @ Feb 15, 2010 -> 12:16 AM) The pefect solution for the Tyrus Thomas problem http://statestreetsports.wordpress.com/201...r-tyrus-thomas/ I'd like to be the guy inside that raptor. Oh and a nice game from Derrick. 8 points/4 assists/3 steals isn't bad for only 15 minutes of play.

QUOTE (VAfan @ Feb 14, 2010 -> 09:56 PM) In any discussion of who will win the AL Central this year, I think you have to take into account that the Twins will no longer play 81 games in the Metrodome, and instead will play them outdoors on a grass field. If you look at their grass/turf splits, it doesn't look good for them. But is it all just a road/home split? Or is their team not suited to play as well on grass? I'm looking for some analysis of this issue. Anyone want to weigh in? Well, now that they no longer depend on Carlos Gomez and all those other speed demons, they should be better fitted to play on grass. Still, I think the Metrodome was a pitching advantage for the Twins. We'll see how it evens out.

Damon solves a lot of problems. That's all I have to say.

QUOTE (Felix @ Feb 14, 2010 -> 07:43 PM) If Minneapolis actually was a small market, sure, I might see that logic. But it's not. Add in the fact that the Twins actually get all the revenue out of Target Field (something that wasn't the case in the Metrodome), and I don't see them suddenly pinching pennies again. I don't think they've been pinching pennies, they'll still spend $70-80 million on the team, but you might not see $95 million like this year.

QUOTE (Felix @ Feb 14, 2010 -> 07:05 PM) Why would that be temporary? The Twins have always had the ability to spend this much on their team, but now that Pohlad is gone and they're opening up their new stadium, they'll be able to spend plenty on their team. Add in the fact that Minneapolis isn't a small market like everyone thinks, and there's no reason to assume this spending isn't going to continue. It'll end once the fascination with the new ball park ends. Which is in about 3-4 years.

Joel Sherman's not the brightest one out there... But I do have to agree that the second half of our off-season has been absolute crap. However, the Damon signing could heal all wounds.

QUOTE (SI1020 @ Feb 14, 2010 -> 03:29 PM) That settles it then. He's definitely going to suck this year. No, but it definitely points in the direction that he needs to improve his peripheral skills in order to succeed. Marcel has him at a ERA near 4 BTW.

QUOTE (joeynach @ Feb 14, 2010 -> 03:26 PM) Wasn't Porecello's ERA even over 4 last year. I dont see how u just think between Verlander, Scherezer, and Porcello that 2 of 3 having 4+ ERA makes them awesome. I mean its not bad and better than most, but we have 3 pitches in our rotation who are consistently well below a 4.0 ERA. It was barely below 4. But both his FIP and tERA were almost a run higher.

Do not want.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Feb 14, 2010 -> 01:17 PM) Unless Porcello drastically improves his peripherals the Tigers are going to be in for an unpleasant surprise this year. His lack of them has CHONE projecting him with a 5.10 ERA next year.