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After a lockout and frenzy of Big Time Deals, MLB is back. With all of the rapid player movement just before the lockout and in the weeks after, it's time for us to figure out who the hell is on these teams. 2022 CHICAGO CUBS: TANKING BUT BEING KIND OF FANCY ABOUT IT Overview The 2021 season represented the end of the World Series era for the Cubs, as the front office signaled that they would not re-sign any of Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant, or Javy Baez, and the entire season became about waiting for them to get traded. And get traded they did. In two days, alongside pretty much any relief pitcher of worth, the Cubs unloaded their stars like they were the loving Oakland A's and brought up a bunch of minor league scrubs. Three of these wayward 30 year olds ended up having insane seasons, especially formerly anonymous first baseman Frank Schwindel, who was one of the best hitters in the National League for the next two months. But while the Cubs did shore up their rotation a bit and bring in two big money star players in Marcus Stroman and Japanese superstar Seiya Suzuki, the rest of the roster pretty much sucks and it is clear they are just trying to be slightly more respectable as they wait to see if any of their prospects are worth anything. Expect another sell-off of anyone having a decent season again and the debut of star prospect Brennan Davis. Manager  David Ross, who parlayed two years as the poo poo-hitting personal catcher for Jon Lester into minor celebrity when he became a beloved clubhouse leader known as "Grandpa Rossy," hit a dinger in Game 7 of the World Series, and then retired to be a mediocre ESPN talking head and go on the dancing show that grandparents like. He started with the Cubs during the awful Covid Season and the results are mixed. The Cubs won the division in 2020 before getting swept out of the playoffs by the goddamn Marlins, and last year oversaw a rough situation where everyone knew they were getting traded and then managed one of the worst rosters in the major leagues. Brought in partially for his relationship with the World Series Guys, he only has Willson Contreras and Jason Heyward left. I have no idea if he is a good manager, but the owners and front office love him, and hopefully we'll get a full, relatively normal year of him although let's face it no one knows what baseball managers do and it's basically whether he does annoying pitching substitutions and has good or bad vibes. Key Losses Anthony Rizzo (Yankees) The most beloved Cub since Sammy Sosa who I thought would play here for the rest of his career got unloaded to the Yankees at the trade deadline and re-signed there. Kris Bryant (Rockies) You would think that if you were a team that makes as much money as the Cubs you would do whatever you can to sign the phenom who won rookie of the year and was the NL MVP in the year that the team won its first world series since 1908, but the Cubs poisoned the well by manipulating his service time and now KB is making a poo poo load of money to retire in Denver. I went to his return game after the trade and he was crying on the field. What the gently caress is wrong with this team. Javy Baez (Tigers) I am not prepared to discuss this. Craig Kimbrel (White Sox) lol The Romine Brothers (Parts Unknown) WHO IS ON THE CUBS NOW LET'S FIND OUT  Frank Schwindel, 1B Frank "The Tank" started as a meme, a seemingly made-up guy with a goofy name replacing Rizzo and then he proceeded to absolutely annihilate the ball, hitting .342/.389/.613 with 19 doubles and 13 dingers in only 239 ABs as a 30 year-old rookie. That is an insane line. Schwindel instantly became a fan favorite thanks to his rise from nowhere and the fact that he is a jug-eared goof who makes silly faces. Anyone expecting Schwindel to do that over a full season is insane. In fact, it would be a shock for Frank to be an even average major leaguer, but the Cubs are going to at least give him a well-deserved shot for for being the only tolerable part of a terrible second half when everyone was pissed at the Cubs. IMPORTANT FRANK SCHWINDEL FACT: His walk-up music is Self Esteem by the Offspring, which is not only a tremendous walk-up song but came out in 1994 which is when Frank was 2 years old, thanks for representing for the Olds, Frank.  Nick Madrigal, 2B "Nicky Two Strikes" is one of the weirdest players in baseball, a tiny slap hitter with no power who almost never strikes out. A beloved prospect on the White Sox who came over in a rare crosstown trade, Madrigal is the exact dude who should be on the 2022 Cubs as an extremely fun guy to root for who might not be very good.  Nico Hoerner, SS Hoerner, at the time the only good prospect in the Cubs' system, came up in 2019 as an emergency replacement for an injured Javier Baez, stuck on the 2020 Cubs, and was good last year when he was healthy, which was rarely. The big issue for Hoerner has been staying on the field. When he did play, he was a solid contact hitter with no power who played gold glove caliber defense at second. We'll have to see if he can hold up at short, but the Cubs have talked about trying to use him as a super utility player.  Patrick Wisdom, 3B Nobody beats the Wiz! Another one of the Cubs' gallery of 30 year-old rookies, Wisdom enjoyed an early season surge where he hit at a torrid, Roy Hobbesian pace before getting worse and worse as the season wore on. Wisdom has an enormous amount of power and hits the absolute poo poo out of the ball; he broke Kris Bryant's rookie home run record last year. Unfortunately he rarely hits the ball-- he strikes out an astonishing 40% of the time he was up, and probably will continue to do so. That's how a guy with light tower power, a slick glove, and an absolute cannon of an arm never got regular MLB at bats until he was 30 years old. I would be shocked if Jonathan Villar is not the everyday third baseman by July.  Willson Contreras, C Willson can hit, he made himself into a good defensive catcher, and he throws out a ton of dudes dumb enough to try to steal on him. Willson came up as a rookie during 2016 and was the starting catcher in the World Series. He has a huge personality and is always doing crazy backpick throws. You might think that a team would want to lock up a guy like this who just turned 30 but the Ricketts family needs to try to buy a few more buildings in Wrigleyville so it is almost certain that he will be traded this season, which is heartbreaking. Willson rules, and will be instantly beloved by any team that gets him at the deadline unless he does a "Thumbs Down" at the fans.  Ian Happ, LF Happ, the Cubs' last high first rounder from their tank era, came up as a second baseman/outfielder, and the Cubs hoped he could take over for Ben Zobrist as the super utility guy. That didn't really work. Happ has stuck in the outfield and while he's had his moments (the first-pitch opening day dinger from 2018), he has not really played great. Last year he hit like absolute poo poo for months, but rebounded late in the season, so we'll see. With Brennan Davis on his way up, Happ might be on his way out of the team if he hits well enough to be of any value to anyone. He is also a spokesman for the Brian Urlacher Hair Company.  Jason Heyward, CF The Cubs signed Heyward to a massive contract in 2016 as one of the final pieces for the World Series roster and the dude just forgot how to hit. It's been six years, and despite tinkering with his swing and having some hot stretches, he is still weakly grounding into the shift for a double play constantly. J-Hey is still a good right fielder, but is not really a center fielder and is still on the roster only because he makes way too much money to be traded. It's a shame about Heyward, who is a respected clubhouse leader and has spent a bunch of money on charitable causes in Chicago, but he doesn't really have a place on the roster anymore. He's still only 32, hopefully he will have some meaningful baseball in him after he is inevitably traded or even cut next year.  SEIYA SUZUKI, RF Here he is, the star of the Hiroshima Carp and a puzzling addition to a clearly tanking team who still lavished a long and large contract on the NBP superstar. It is ridiculous to think he will replicate his insane numbers in MLB, but the Cubs clearly believe Seiya can be an excellent player, and he is easily the best part of the Cubs this year. He also seems to have a goofy, effervescent personality and I love him. The Cubs think he can be a cornerstone of the eventually Less lovely Cubs, but it will be fascinating to see how he adjusts to major league pitching. Seiya rules. Bench: Yan Gomes, C: After the Cubs found themselves in Backup Catcher Hell last year after trading away longtime backup Victor Caratinini and with Willson Contreras hurt much of the season, the Cubs got a starting-caliber catcher. The Cubs can use Gomes and Contreras together by letting them DH, but most fans took this signing as an indication that the Cubs will trade Willson and not be left with Austin Romine. Clint Frazier, OF/DH: Frazier could start the season as a DH, which seems to be the best place for this stone-gloved former Yankee. Frazier is coming off an awful year where he says he suffered from concussions. Hopefully, he'll be healthy and thrive in Chicago without the pressure of Yankees Fans doing yankeesfans.gif faces at him. Could also be flipped. Andrelton Simmons, SS: Anthropomorphic baseball glove who cannot hit even a little, has insanely weird Covid-related conspiracy theories Jonthan Villar, INF: A perfectly normal major-leauge switch-hitting infielder whom I believe will be starting at third by July, this dude absolutely smoked the Cubs when he was on Milwaukee. Rafael Ortega, OF: Another 30-year-old who was surprisingly good in his first sustained major league ball, I have no expectations for him but he was a cool story. STARTING PITCHERS  Kyle Hendricks, RHP "Cool" Kyle Hendricks, AKA The Professor had the worst year of his career last year. Batters knocked the absolute poo poo out of him, and he gave up home runs like crazy. Hendricks is my favorite pitcher in baseball, the prototypical crafty guy who relies on location and a deadly changeup to survive and, until last year, thrive pitching in a league ruled by velocity. I hope last year was a blip and not part of a decline for Hendricks, and he goes back to bamboozling people with his junk for another year.  Marcus Stroman, RHP A shocking signing for the Cubs seconds before the lockout, Stroman arrives as a desperately-needed ace on what was an absolutely awful pitching staff last year. Stroman, a rare Short King power pitcher, is a big personality on a team bereft of them. He's only signed for three years, so I'm not sure why the Cubs are wasting him on this roster, but he is immediately the best pitcher on the team and leader of the staff. Almost certain to get into a twitter dustup with the city's dumbest sports columnist.  Wade Miley, RHP Wade Miley was snatched up by the Cubs as part of the Reds' shameful selloff. He's not a great pitcher, but he is an identifiable major league pitcher, which the Cubs lacked all of last year, so hopefully he'll throw some cromulent innings and not fall apart. He hasn't really pitched in spring training yet, so we'll see if he's ready for the season. While writing this up, I kept confusing him with former Cub Wade Miller, who was acquired in 2007 and made three starts.  Alec Mills, RHP A pale Hendricks imitator with doofy goggles, Mills also throws slow junk. In 2020, it seemed like he was onto something, becoming one of the least distinguished pitchers to ever throw a no-hitter. Last year, he was not very good, and in my opinion does not belong in a rotation with Hendricks under a belief that a modern rotation can only support one Slow Boy. Coomer loves to call him "Millsy" and I am very disappointed I don't get to watch his dumpy, goggle face attempt to bat anymore. Bullpen: Honestly, the Cubs don't really have anyone of note. Cody Heuer is hurt, they traded all of their decent setup guys last year, and brought in a ton of dudes that they hope will catch fire and be able to be flipped at the deadline. Look for a battle between lefties Drew Smyly and Justin Steele for the fifth starter spot. Season Outlook The NL Central might actually be lovely enough to buoy the Cubs to pretend like they are contending for one of the 35 wild card spots, but this looks like a 70-75 win team that is about how cool Seiya is, about rooting for Frank The Tank, and for waiting for Davis to debut. Hopefully tickets are still cheap on the secondary market. R.D. Mangles fucked around with this message at 05:40 on Mar 27, 2022 |
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Mar 27, 2022 00:23
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R.D. Mangles posted:Frank Schwindel, 1B I too would be shocked if Schwindel is only average and doesn't win the triple crown and NL MVP.
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Mar 27, 2022 00:51
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Clearly you should have named it "Meet the TeamS"
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Mar 28, 2022 16:38
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let's just turn this into the cubs thread. nobody tell hand knit my favorite cub is (checks roster) Scott Effross
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Mar 28, 2022 16:39
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Seiya Suzuki is a bust, batting .000 in Spring Training.
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Mar 28, 2022 17:18
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The St. Louis cardinals responded to a late season 17 game winning streak that landed them in the wildcard game by firing their manager out of nowhere, signing Steven Matz to a deal right before the lockout, then doing absolutely nothing of note in free agency until late last night. Let’s get it Our new manager is one Oli Marmol. He is younger than our most noteworthy free agency signing which is fun. He will be replacing Mike Schildt who posted three winning records and a trip to the playoffs in all three seasons he helmed the team. The only comment on why he was fired is some vague hemming and hawing from our team president about wanting everyone on the same page. Who knows! It’s dumb!  1b is good old Paul Goldschmidt. He will probably have a slow first month of the season and by august be hitting the ball so frequently and so hard that you will think he cannot not get a hit.  2b is Tommy Edman, the devil magic recipient from a couple years back and our lead off hitter. Hits a ton of doubles and triples, good defender at 2nd. I love him.  Our shortstop situation is tenuous. Paul Dejong is ostensibly the main dude here but he has sucked poo poo the last two seasons. I’m fond of anybody who spent any time at the AA affiliate where I live so I want Pauly D to do well but he’s on his last chance here with the depth beneath him. Edmundo Sosa played a lot at SS last season but is kind of just a guy.  Nolan arenado plays third base for the cardinals. He is very good and cool. He was not great offensively last year but nobody is in our giant nightmare ballpark. The Rockies are stupid as poo poo for trading him in the fashion they did.  Our lf is Tyler O’Neill. A big slab of Canadian bacon. Last season was the first one he was good in. He is a golden glover in LF which a lot of homers want to pretend is worth talking about. Hits ball hard. Successfully petitioned the league to let him play shirtless.  Our center fielder is Harrison Bader. He had a vanity plate that said BDRTOTZ while he played at AA. Not a great hitter but he’s very fast and a fantastic defensive player.  Dylan Carlson is our right fielder. He was our big intriguing prospect callup last season and he was pretty good. Played a lot of cf when Bader was out too.  Our catcher is Still Yadi. This is probably his last season. I am hoping he can spark one more problem with the bum rear end reds. I’ll talk about the rest of the team later, I have to go back to work now. Bye
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Mar 28, 2022 18:05
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You come into the Cubs thread with this??????? I totally forgot that the Cards signed Matz. And also that Shildt got canned, what a joke. That dude was weird but an excellent fit. the Cards are an irritatingly cool team and I'm gonna die mad about it
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Mar 28, 2022 18:32
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MEET THE TIGERS Catcher: Tucker Barnhart  First Base: Spencer Torkelson  Second Base: Jonathan Schoop  Shortstop: Javy Baez  Third Base: Jeimer Candelario  Left Field: Akil Baddoo  Center Field: Riley Greene  Right Field: Robbie Grossman  DH: Miguel Cabrera  Rotation: Eduardo Rodriguez, Casey Mize, Tarik Skubal, Michael Pineda, Matt Manning      Bullpen: Gregory Soto, Michael Fulmer, Andrew Chafin    It's been a while since the Tigers have been decent, falling from four consecutive AL Central titles into irrelevancy through the end of the last decade. The Tigers are starting to cycle upward though, and have another crop of good young players to help make a run at what is admittedly a pretty weak division. After an awful April in 2021, the Tigers were actually over .500 from May 1 through the end of the season, so there's already a base to build on. The biggest problem the Tigers had in 2021 was defense, and especially up the middle defense. Giving 450 at-bats to Willi Castro was just a disaster, Niko Goodrum was maybe even worse, and when Jake Rogers got hurt, the Tigers' catcher situation fell apart. The Tigers addressed that head-on over the winter, trading for Tucker Barnhart to platoon with Eric Haase, and, after making a run at Carlos Correa and failing, signing Javy Baez to play shortstop. Baez is still going to strike out way too much, but he'll provide the defense the Tigers' pitchers didn't get in 2021. On the home front, The Tigers have two of the top 10 prospects in all of baseball, and both may actually break camp with the big club. Riley Greene will be a huge upgrade over Derek Hill in center, and Spencer Torkelson solves issues at multiple positions - he'll hit at 1B, and his presence there allows Jonathan Schoop to move back to 2B. Akil Baddoo is another guy who's fun to watch, and is only 22 entering his second year in the bigs. He's also the batflip king now that Tatis is hurt. The 500-pound gorilla in the room will be what to do with Miguel Cabrera. He's Hall-of-Famer and was a huge part of the last good Tigers team, but he's clearly not the hitter he once was. He's 13 hits short of 3000 for his career, and there will be a big push to get him there, but after that we'll see if he can accept a lesser role in order to get more offense into the DH slot. The Tigers pitching got a shot in the arm when they signed Eduardo Rodriguez from the Red Sox, but the future depends on the homegrown talent. Casey Mize and Tarik Skubal look like ace caliber starters, but the other young pitchers have been shaky, to the point where the Tigers signed Michael Pineda (yes, *that* Michael Pineda) to fill one of the rotation slots. If the Tigers get a lead, the combination of Gregory Soto, Michael Fulmer, and Andrew Chafin should be able to convert a bunch of those leads into wins. Soto especially is just filthy when he's on. Realistically it's still probably going to be a couple years before this team gels into a consistent contender, but the talent is there, and it's gonna be fun to watch.
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Mar 28, 2022 19:20
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Javier Baez, Spencer Torkelson and Akil Baddoo. Tigers have such a fun core.
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Mar 28, 2022 19:52
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my coworker took a job with the Tigers and suddenly they sign javy baez. curious
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Mar 28, 2022 19:54
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Bismack Billabongo posted:
Now that we’re done talking about the part of the team that will be good, let’s talk about all the bad stuff. The cardinals rotation is, to put it nicely, a pile of poo poo. Our day one starter is 55 years old. Our top young guy is out for a shoulder issue. Our next young guy who was going to be moving into the rotation is on the dl. Our front office has addressed this by doing nothing and they’re all out of ideas.  Adam Wainwright is the aforementioned old dude. He was a stud last season and has come back for one last rodeo. Our front office thinks it is totally sensible to count on a forty year old pitcher to carry our bullpen for a second season in a row. I’m thrilled he’s back but honestly he was so good last year that I fear any amount of diminishing returns and he’s gonna get shelled.  Miles mikolas is an older dude who spent almost all of last year injured. Our front office thinks it is totally sensible to count on him and has done nothing to bolster our rotation. This is why we had to bring in rotting JA Happ and Jon Lester last year. Mikolas and Dakota Hudson were both hurt in spring training. We’ll revisit this shortly. Mikolas had one really good season for us and we immediately ponies up for him. He has been average or hurt since his payday.  Me too, man. This is Steven matz, the new guy. I know that he played for the jays because I googled and found him wearing their shirt in this picture. Hopefully he will be good but it seems like not a great signing.  Dakota Hudson was hurt all year last year due to tommyjohn or whatever. His advanced stats suggest that he has been lucky and is not actually good. Who knows. Definitely seems like a guy we should be relying on for a lot of innings. Finally our last rotational guy will be…..uhhhh…..nobody knows. Our front office has opted to do nothing about multiple injuries to our rotation in spring training just like last season! Probably Jake woodford, best known for this.   Jack flaherty is hurt. Probably short term. He hates our front office. Another thing we have in common! He should be back by late April I think but dudes got one foot out the door. Our extremely progressive fan base loves how outspoken he is about social justice and homers are itching to complain about how he’s not a team guy since he wants to get paid, probably elsewhere. I still love you Jack.  Alex Reyes was our closer for a lot of last year, kind of fell apart and blew a bunch of closes, got moved to setup, then was abruptly thrown into a bad situation in our playoff game where he gave up the most predictable first pitch dinger in history. He was going to be moving to the rotation this year but he’s hurt. I doubt we see him before the ASG. He is currently on the sixty day DL. The bullpen solidified at the end of last season and we’ve retained a lot of the dudes on it. Jordan hicks is back and allegedly healthy which is very exciting. https://twitter.com/PitchingNinja/status/1508516035846189057?s=20&t=V_gZNJucDU8T5NbI_ILYKQ Ok let’s talk about what you’re all here for. DADDYS BACK BITCHES https://twitter.com/BallySportsMW/status/1508496318787956747?s=20&t=9DbqXtQxcfaTvsHZ-uVyJA Albert pujols has resigned a one year deal to be our DH. It is laughable that this is our big splash but people are fuckin pumped. It almost doesn’t matter what he actually ends up doing. Finally I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that bane of my existence Carlos Martinez has finally left the organization. gently caress you carlos. Overall my expectations are about where they were last year. The pirates Cubs and reds are all disasters. I think the brewers are still better than us but a wildcard spot should be easily attainable. Our rotation needs another guy but it’s not gonna happen. I am not interested in watching a tankfest but there is no sense of urgency from our front office. We have some stud prospects in Nolan Gorman, Matt Liberatore, and Ivan Herrera. I expect to definitely see the first two this season for a cup of coffee at minimum. Herrera is the heir apparent when yadi retires. Prediction: 89-73, lose in divisional round.
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Mar 28, 2022 20:26
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the Oakland A's https://www.sfgate.com/athletics/article/Who-is-John-Fisher-Inside-the-world-and-16315323.php the guy profiled in that article is the owner and is throwing a fit due to the city of Oakland not rolling over to all his stadium demands and now the mandate is get to a 50m payroll, but also maybe 50 wins. seriously read that article and look at the returns on the Chapman and Bassitt trades (the Braves could have given up wayyyyyy less for Olson it turns out) and you're armed with all the knowledge you need for this A's season prediction - still do better than expectations for fielding an above average AAA club and all top performers traded by deadline gently caress edit: A's got the payroll down to sub one year of Carlos Correa. They did it. They're going to lose 100 games. maffew buildings fucked around with this message at 19:44 on Apr 5, 2022 |
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Mar 28, 2022 20:28
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i hardly ever follow offseason stuff/drama in general, why does flaherty hate the front office?
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Mar 28, 2022 20:56
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Doctor Teeth posted:i hardly ever follow offseason stuff/drama in general, why does flaherty hate the front office? He’s not been thrilled about the arbitration process and has been extremely vocal about it. Honestly I’m exaggerating a bit but it seems like he is very intent on getting paid what he deserves, justifiably, and the last dude who spoke publicly about that was Tommy Pham who immediately got traded. He would be displeased with the arbitration stuff anywhere but the vibe has kind of been that he is wanting to go west and he hasn’t done much to push back on that. None of our worthless beat reporters every have any real insight into anything going on with the team so it could just be a bunch of hot air. I shouldn’t say all of our beat people are worthless. Katie Woo has been covering the cards for the athletic since last year and she’s great. But the longtime guys like Derrick goold etc don’t ever break anything and are very hesitant to say anything negative or really to offer any opinion. Of course that isn’t inherently a bad thing, nobody wants to see hot take bullshit but it’s all very milk toast. Bismack Billabongo fucked around with this message at 21:10 on Mar 28, 2022 |
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Mar 28, 2022 21:07
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Bismack Billabongo posted:
As a jays fan, I don’t think he’s a bad signing. He’s not great either, he’s an average pitcher that you won’t mind throwing out there every 5 days. If he’s your 4-5, you’re probably going to be happy with him. If he’s near the top of your rotation and needs to carry the team, not so much.
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Mar 28, 2022 21:26
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Yeah if Matz is healthy he's fine, the bigger problem is that his elbow has historically been made of glass
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Mar 28, 2022 21:29
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The Astros are the best and everyone's favorite team and due to their success over the last 7 years everyone knows all the players so we're good.
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Mar 29, 2022 00:23
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Sab0921 posted:The Astros are the best and everyone's favorite team and due to their success over the last 7 years everyone knows all the players so we're good. they banged the cans
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Mar 29, 2022 00:34
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2022 Dodgers: Failure is not an option, though it is the most likely outcome. The expectations and quality of recent Dodgers teams can be summarized by their 2021 outcome: they won a franchise-best 106 games (tying the record they set just 2 years prior), survived the gauntlet of a wild card game against Cardinals Devil Magic followed by a 5-game series vs the 107-win Giants, only to flame out against an 88-win Atlanta team. Anything short of a World Series win is a disappointment for this team now, and failure to win the NL Pennant is a disaster. And yet this is baseball, where even though PECOTA thinks they're a lock for 100 wins, there's at least an 80% chance they'll fall short of their ultimate goal. Each of the last 5 years, the Dodgers have either won the World Series, or been eliminated by the team that did. This team is stacked, just like they've been pretty much all of the last 5 years over which they averaged 103 wins a year (pro-rating 2020). Their assumed lineup contains 8 All Stars plus Will Smith who's the best catcher in the league and should also be an All Star. There are 4 former MVP winners on this roster. There are two guys with Cy Youngs plus an insufferable piece of poo poo who deserves to be shot into the sun. And they have prospect depth to cash in at the deadline for reinforcements, which they'll inevitably need. Welcome to the team that merges Goliath and Sisyphus. Welcome to Dodger Baseball. LINEUP  RF - Literally Mookie Betts - The 2018 AL MVP who Boston famously traded a year later because John Henry is just a smol bean poor boy. Elite defense, elite bat, elite baserunner, elite bowler. He's the full package, just an amazing complete player. Last year he struggled with some injuries which slowed him down to "only" 4.2 bWAR. Hopefully he's healthy this year and for the next decade cause he's signed through 2032. By far the coolest guy on this team.  1B/DH - Freddie Freeman - Local Boy Returns Home to Make Good. The 2020 NL MVP was cynically abandoned by the Atlanta Baseball REIT and graciously taken in by his home town team just this spring. OPS'd over 1.000 in the last two NLCS's against the Dodgers, it will be cool when he's doing that FOR the Dodgers now.  SS - Trea Turner - Acquired at the deadline last summer from Washington as insurance against the departure of Corey Seager, he'll be eligible for free agency this fall. Fast as gently caress, led the NL in Hits, Steals, AVG, and Total Bases(!!) last year. Disappears every October but I don't believe in the predictive power of that sort of thing.   3B/DH - Justin Turner - The first and most famous of the Dodgers miraculous scrap heap pickups, JT grew up a Dodgers fan in Long Beach and transformed himself into an All Star when he came home to LA. Long considered the leader (non-pitching division) of the clubhouse, JT is nearing the end of the road at 37. Still put up 3.7 bWAR last year. His defense at the hot corner has slipped from elite in recent years to just average, but he's still a disciplined hitter and owner of an .846 postseason OPS along with a bunch of Dodgers franchise postseason records and clutch bombs. Beloved by the fanbase, probably wants to take Dave Roberts' job eventually.  2B/1B/DH - Max Muncy - Another infamous Dodgers transformation project, Muncy had a career 70 OPS+ with Oakland before he came to LA and immediately started annihilating baseballs four years ago. Despite his extremely rectangular appearance, he's a plus defender at 2B and will easily slide right over to make room for Freeman at first. An underrated batflipper, Muncy is one of only two white guys to make Madison Bumgarner Extremely Not Mad. Suffered a season-ending elbow injury on the last day of regular season in 2021, so prayers up he's healthy and back to mashing this year. Maybe he'll never be the same, who's to say!  C - Will Smith - The most underrated catcher in the game, Will Smith owns a career .262/.365/.527 line in over 800 PAs but has never been an All Star because Yadier Molina still exists/Dodger fans just dgaf about voting idk. Patient hitter, the Dodgers have been known to DH him in AL games to keep his bat in the lineup on "off" days. Empirically proven to be the best Will Smith.  LF/CF/2B/SS/3B - Chris Taylor - The third infamous career resurrection in this lineup, Chris Taylor went from afterthought on the Mariners to 2017 NLCS MVP and perennial postseason hero for the Dodgers. He was a free agent this winter but the Dodgers retained him for a probably below-market 4 years and $60M. For many of the last five years, he embodied what made this team so elite, putting up 4-WAR seasons as a super-utility player, starting and subbing all over the infield and outfield with plus defense nearly everywhere. Taylor's excellent hitting paired with extreme defensive versatility made the Dodgers lineup dangerous regardless of who had a day off or was pulled late in games. Now he's more of a regular and the bench is a bit thinner than it was in say 2017.  CF - Cody Bellinger - The 2019 NL MVP looks high af all the time but probably isn't. He had a down year in the shortened 2020, punctuated by some extremely clutch postseason heroics and a dislocated shoulder requiring offseason surgery. Then last year he suffered a broken leg on a weird play in the 5th game of the year, missed the better part of two months, and was truly awful at the plate upon his return, hitting .165/.240/.302 in 350 PA and relegating himself to a late inning defensive replacement. But he looked like he figured something out late, OPS'ing over .900 in October. Don't look at his spring numbers right now if you want to believe he's poised for a bounce back year. His defense was still great even when he looked like a wreck at the plate.  DH/LF - AJ Pollock - One of my personal least favorite signings when acquired by the Dodgers in 2019, Pollock hit for a career-best .892 OPS last year. He's boringly above average at the plate and pretty meh in the outfield these days. Has a player option for next year which he will probably exercise unless he really goes off this summer. Bench In years past this was a huge strength for the Dodgers, with All-Star caliber guys like Chris Taylor and Enrique Hernandez technically coming off the bench to play plus defense at 5 different positions while crushing dingers. Now it's a bit thinner, but Austin Barnes is a pretty classic glove-first backup catcher and maybe Edwin Rios will be healthy and mashing. Relegated to this section now is Gavin Lux, one time top prospect who's still only 24 but waiting to figure it out at the big league level after OPS'ing .900 and 1.000 in his final two minor league seasons. Pitchers  Clayton loving Kershaw - What can I say, he's a living legend. The 2014 NL MVP, 3x Cy Young winner, future first-ballot Hall of Famer, and yes World Series Champion was the most important winter signing for these Dodgers. Not because he's the ace of this staff (that title belongs to the next guy now) but because he's the heart and soul of this team, the Dodgers all-time WAR leader, and the greatest Dodger player any of us are likely to see in our lifetimes. Kershaw has been in a protracted battle with his body for at least 6 years now, missing starts to injury in every season going back to 2016 (plus during his MVP campaign in 2014). It's mostly been his back, (insert jokes about carrying the Dodgers for a decade here), but last year his season ended in September with "forearm inflammation" and "elbow soreness." He avoided surgery this winter but no one knows how many more pitches are left in that arm. My personal hope is that he's got another 330 strikeouts in the tank over the course of the next couple years to reach 3000, and that he never suits up for any other team.  Walker Buehler - Wears tight pants. Throws really hard. Is the best pitcher on the Dodgers. Has a 2.94 postseason ERA. Definitely took a step forward last year when he was a Cy Young contender late into the summer, at 27 this year he could be better than ever if he can keep his blisters under control.  Julio Urias - Signed by the Dodgers at 16 while they scouted Puig in Mexico, debuted at 19, he's still just 25 but it feels like he's been a Dodger forever. After a very long road through shoulder surgery, Urias produced the finest season of his career last year posting a sub-3 ERA across 32 starts and leading baseball in ~wins~. Immortal Dodger for closing out both the NLCS and WS in 2020 with multi-inning shutout relief appearances. Like Buehler, he's right in his prime and could set himself a higher bar this year.  Dustin "Waluigi" May - Five starts into what looked like a breakout season, May tore his ACL last April and had TJS. The Dodgers rotation could really use him healthy and effective come late summer, but surgery & recovery is never predictable. After this, the Dodgers starting pitching depth is not what it used to be in recent years. Maybe Friedman has a magic spell to cast on Andrew Heaney & Tyler Anderson, Tony Gonslin will give some quality innings, David Price is still technically on the roster, and then there is a piece of human garbage that may or may not pitch again for this team. The bullpen is recently without the franchise's all-time saves leader, but is otherwise a familiar collection of pretty solid options plus a mountain of Friedman Lotto Tickets, a handful of which always seem to work out each year. Blake Treinen is the resident Q-idiot but at least he strikes out a lot of guys and we haven't seen any proof he was at the Capitol riot. Brusdar Graterol - Throws 100mph and makes hitters mad. Alex Vesia - lefty, extreme TTO guy (51.6%) Victor Gonzalez - the other decent lefty here, doesn't give up as many dingers as Vesia As for the rest, ask again in September.  Manager - Dave Roberts - Recently predicted on a radio show that the Dodgers would win the World Series this year, because he's just the right kind of insane to run this thing. His real answer did neatly summarize the Dodgers' outlook for 2022 however: If they stay healthy, they're the best around. But health is always a big question mark and maybe more of one this year than it's been in awhile for this team, because the depth isn't quite as overwhelming as it once was and there are several key players coming back from significant injuries. If you're a hater looking for a soft underbelly, here is where it lies. bawfuls fucked around with this message at 05:45 on Mar 29, 2022 |
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Mar 29, 2022 05:32
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Years ago the Pitcher List guys labeled Chris Taylor as "Mr. Regression" because they didn't buy into his breakout at all, and then he proceeded to be, you know, Chris Taylor. So my Dodgers fan roommate and I have a running joke where every time Taylor has a great game we go "but you know, he's gonna regress any day now."  I'm extremely jealous of the Dodgers just embracing their role as the modern Yankees and hilariously overspending to make sure they have the best on paper team every year.
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Mar 29, 2022 06:24
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StL also has Lars Nootbar. He started mid-late last season and his name is Noooooootbarrrrr. Larrrrrrssss Noooootbaaaaarrrrr. Also I'm setting the O/U at 75 for pitches thrown by Hicks before he breaks and requires TJ again.
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Mar 30, 2022 00:30
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Lars Nootbar sounds like one of those disgusting boutique health bars.
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Mar 30, 2022 02:38
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Sab0921 posted:The Astros are the best and everyone's favorite team and due to their success over the last 7 years everyone knows all the players so we're good. I don't know Jeremy Peña other than what I've read about him, which is that he's good defensively (maybe not Correa good yet, but hopefully not too much of a drop off) and probably a decent hitter (but with a ceiling well below Correa). I'm glad his defense is highly rated, since that's what I feared the Astros would miss most without Carlos. Obviously they'll miss his bat too, but Altuve, Brantley, Bregman, Yordan, Tucker, Yuli is still probably the best non-Dodgers 1-6 out there. I'm not terribly worried about the offensive numbers dropping too much.
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Apr 5, 2022 04:39
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Popete posted:Lars Nootbar sounds like one of those disgusting boutique health bars. Lars Nootbar probably owns a family style BBQ restaurant on Coruscant in the Star Wars universe.
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Apr 5, 2022 06:37
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The 2022 Tampa Bay Rays of St Petersburg: Keep it 💯 2021 was a season of terrifying Lowes, dizzying highs and creamy middles. The Rays won the AL East with a record 100 games, before losing the ALDS in devastating fashion to the Red Sox. To make matters worse, owner Stuart Sternberg managed to piss off everybody by announcing his intention to split the season between Tampa Bay and Montreal. It was such a dick move that the MLB didn't bother humoring him and rejected the proposal outright. Manager: Kevin Cash  If you’re a nerd who follows baseball, you’re probably aware of this guy. Especially since he just won Manager of the Year for the 2nd time in a row. Armed with one of the best FOs and farm systems in the league, he will send an army of cast-offs, prospects and B-list talent to overcome opponents with over twice their payroll. A Rays player is a cog in a machine, but they are a happy and highly motivated cog. Losses from last year include Austin Meadows, Chris Archer (lol), Mike Brosseau, Joey Wendle, Nelson Cruz, Jordan Luplow and Collin McHugh. RIP Jean Ramirez. C: Mike “Zunibomber” Zunino  Mike was a godawful hitter in his first 2 Tampa seasons, but he finally sorted his swing out and jumped +4.4 offensive WAR between 2019-21. Zunino still strikes out like crazy, but his ability to hit the sweet spot is one of the best in the league. He spams uppercuts like he’s playing Mortal Kombat, but it seems to be working. 1B: Ji-Man "I'm Not Psy" Choi  Ji-Man only played 83 games last year due to various knee, groin and hamstring injuries. I’m not sure if this is because he can do the splits at 6’1” / 260lb, or in spite of. Barely above replacement last year, due to injuries and terrible defense. But everyone loves him anyway. He also makes the team pay for a translator despite speaking fluent English, who he then uses as a personal assistant. 2B: Brandon “Two Wolves’” Lowe Lowe is a land of contrasts. Regular Season Brandon puts up absurdly good numbers for his age. His OPS+ at age 23-26 has been higher than Joe Morgan and Chase Utley at the same age range. Then there’s Postseason Brandon. Postseason Brandon went 0-18 last year. 0 hits, 0 walks and 9 strikeouts. While it’s his worst performance, it’s not an anomaly. His overall postseason slashline: .115 / .167 /.257. He is the anti-Cody Bellinger. Manny Machado seems to be a big fan though.  SS: Wander “El Patron” Franco  Franco achieved the impossible last year; he is such an all-round talent that the tightwad Rays were willing to splurge on a record-breaking contract. $182 mil / 11 years, with less than a year of service time.After a slow start, Franco managed to earn 3.5 WAR in just 70 games while improving his stats month-on-month. A small sample size, but expectations are through the roof for his first full season. In recent news, his Rolls Royce got towed onto the practice field after he parked it in the GM’s spot. 3B/1B: Yandy Diaz  Platoon mates with Ji-Man Choi. With excellent plate discipline and 24 inch pythons, Yandy has teased power fetishists for years as a potential home run machine. Last year he did the opposite, with a .352 OBP and just 13 home runs. Outfielders: Randy Arozarena  Randy loving rules. He’s fast, smart as hell and hits like Mr October in the postseason. Last year he was the first player to ever home run and steal home in the same postseason game. Oh yeah, and he won Rookie of the Year. Just don’t ask about his home life. He’s so good that Jeff Passan wrote him a theme song Kevin “Duchess” Kiermaier  Outfield leader and 3 time GG winner. Came 2nd last year behind Michael Taylor. Often comes across as a smug rear end in a top hat, whether he’s unapologetically stealing catches or stealing scouting reports. The Rays made it very clear that they wanted to offload him, but noone wanted to take on his $12 mil salary. So he seems safe in Tampa for the moment. Manuel “Papa” Margot  Excellent fielder and beloved mentor to his younger Latin teammates. Used to be CF in the Padres, mainly plays RF now. Just signed a 2yr, $19 mil extension. Made one of the greatest catches in baseball history. Brett Maverick Phillips  A golden retriever who turned into a human and started playing baseball. He's corny, but also joyous and friendly in a way that doesn’t seem forced. He barely went above the Mendoza line last year, but still earned 2.4 WAR from fielding and some well-timed slugging. Also keeps a 94mph fastball in his back pocket for blowout games. Bench Francisco Mejia C , Josh Lowe OF, Isaac Paredes 3B, Vidal Brujan 2B/RF, Luke Raley OF, Harold Ramirez OF Pitchers  Shane McClanahan Opening Day leftie starter against the Orioles. Not only does he have a functioning elbow, but he had a great rookie season with 3.43 ERA and a 10-6 record. His 97mph fastball slowed down over the last season, but it’s a fair trade-off to keep his arm intact. Shane “Wizard of Baz” Baz Top prospect stolen from the Pirates (along with Austin Meadows and Tyler Glasnow) in exchange for Chris Archer. Had his baptism by fire last year, logging 2.03 ERA in his Sept callup before getting blitzed by the postseason Red Sox. Will miss a couple of weeks while they dig some loose crud out of his elbow. Corey “Hans” Kluber https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65wdkNtSJeU Hey, a guy you’ve probably heard of! Two Cy Youngs, Three All-Stars and a WS ring. Guardians fans would know his career better than I do. Threw a No Hitter for the Yankees last year at age 35. His high risk of injury should be mitigated by the Rays’ goal to reduce pitcher workload as much as possible. Tyler “Baby Giraffe” Glasnow  Yes, that is a Boosie song tattooed on his lips More like glass elbow amirite. Stolen from the Pirates in exchange for Chris Archer. Inventor of the filthy Slutter pitch. Throws heat and pays the cost for it. When he’s healthy he’s great, but will probably miss all of 2022 due to TJ . Bullpen  “Quantity has a quality of its own” Last year, the Rays used 34 relievers for an overall bullpen ERA of 3.24. With an expanded roster and an uncertain rotation, expect even more this year. I'm not going to even bother listing them all. goodog fucked around with this message at 13:47 on Apr 6, 2022 |
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Apr 6, 2022 13:24
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2022 World Champion Chicago White Sox Overview After undergoing a hideous tank/rebuild, the White Sox built one of the best farm systems in baseball, and now it is bearing fruit. Last season was derailed by injuries to young players expected to become superstars in Luis Robert and Eloy Jimenez, but the Sox still bulldozed through their lovely division, hosted a home playoff game for the first time since 2008 (they made the 2020 wild card), and got absolutely destroyed by the hated Houston Astros. But Sox fans hope that their team develops like their hated rivals on the North Side who made a playoff run with young players before breaking through to a championship the next year. Owner Jerry Reinsdorf, a notorious cheap skate, is running one of the highest payrolls in baseball this year because he is 200 years old and wants to see another championship. Regardless of results, the White Sox should be one of the most fun teams in all of baseball led by guys like Tim Anderson who might be the most fun player in all of baseball, except there is one hitch: Manager  Tony LaRussa This sour old dipshit was already out of managing for years before inexplicably called upon by his good buddy Jerry Reinsdorf, after which he immediately got a DUI where he tried to get out of it by telling the cops that he's a "hall of fame baseball person." No one was sure what would happen when a team whose entire identity and marketing campaign was based on telling old baseball people to go gently caress themselves brought perhaps the crustiest old fart in the game, and there was tension. Most notably, La Russa basically said it was OK for a team to throw at beloved out-of-nowhere minor league guy Yermin Mercedes because he annihilated a 3-0 pitch from Twins catcher Willians Astudillo in a blowout. I will say this for La Russa: the Sox were absolutely destroyed by injuries last year, and La Russa kept plugging guys in and keeping the team going. Even so, his last act as Sox manager last season was grimly litigating hit batsman etiquette as his team got trounced in the playoffs. The Team  Tim Anderson, SS The 2019 MLB batting leader is still an absolute hitting machine. He's a live wire, fast, with a slick glove, but everyone knows about TA because he loves flipping the bat and celebrating and doesn't give a poo poo about dumbass unwritten rules. He walked off the Corn Game last year with Joe Buck talking about how he should be the face of baseball. Anderson will miss opening day as part of a suspension in a dumb fake baseball fight last season, but I can't imagine a more beloved baseball player for a single team than him.  Jose Abreu, 1B The 2020 MVP, Jose Abreu is the heart and soul of the Chicago White Sox. He came up as an old rookie from Cuba and just started mashing, and, while he has stuck around as a mentor for the Sox' Cuban players, he has also continued to whack dingers. I'm not sure how much longer Abreu will be an effective bat (he is not a great fielder, though he hates to DH and to his credit he has gotten better with the glove), but I can't imagine anyone else manning first for this iteration of the Sox.  Yoan Moncada, 3B Came to the Sox as the top prospect in baseball from the Sale trade, Moncada struggled a bit with the glove at second before finding a home at third. Moncada has evolved into a patient hitter with a .375 OBP last year and is a consistent doubles machine. Maybe he's not the absolute superstar he projected as, but he is an excellent player who should have some all star seasons in him. Maintains an offseason singing career specializing in sexy shirt music videos.  Luis Robert, CF Here he is, the most incandescent star on the White Sox who could be one of the best players in all of baseball. There is nothing Robert can't do on the field-- he's lightning fast, he makes contact, he's got power, and he's still only 24. He came up in 2020, robbing fans the of the opportunity to see much of him in person until the end of last year. Robert went down with a hip injury early last season, but still hit a ridiculous .338/.378/.567 when he came back, and with a full healthy season, he might start pushing for the MVP.  Eloy Jimenez, LF Eloy is huge, Eloy hits massive dingers, and, best of all for Sox fans, Eloy came over from the Cubs for a fading Jose Quintana in an absolutely devastating trade for their north side rivals that also brought potential ace Dylan Cease. Eloy also missed much of last season injuring himself while trying to climb a wall in of all things a loving spring training game. Jimenez has legit 40 home run power (he still managed to mash 10 in only 55 regular season games last year), and if he can learn to pepper some more contact in or take a few more walks, he will be an absolute menace. Few people seem to enjoy playing baseball as much as Eloy, and it is an absolute joy to watch this dude.  Yasmani Grandal, C Another White Sox player who spent a large chunk of 2021 on the training table, Grandal came back last year and had an absolutely insane batting line batting only .240 but managing a .420 on base percentage. This dude was incredible at walking last year but still managed 23 dingers. Without Grandal, the Sox struggled with a succession of pretty bad backup catchers cycling between guys who couldn't hit and guys who should probably be a DH.  Andrew Vaughn, DH/OF "Get me Vaughn" is what LaRussa said after Eloy got hurt and the Sox suddenly needed a left fielder. They didn't get one. Vaughn was a high draft pick by the Sox but a somewhat controversial one as guy coming out of college as a first baseman/DH. Instead, Vaughn came up straight from A ball, was put into a position he had never played, and actually managed to do OK. With the acquisition of A.J. Pollock, Vaughn profiles to mainly serve as a platoon DH with Gavin Sheets, but he hurt himself in spring training and is working his way back.  A.J. Pollock, RF Acquired with a last-second trade with the Dodgers to finally rid the White Sox of the hated Craig Kimbrel, Pollock hit for career-high .892 OPS last year. LA is not betting on that repeating for the 34-year-old but, even so Pollock is a career .819 OPS hitter who gives the White Sox a professional outfielder in place of their lummoxy DHs.  Josh Harrison, 2B The long-time Pirate will now be a competent major leaguer playing second base, something the Sox have lacked for awhile after Nick Madrigal got hurt and the Cesar Hernandez trade went belly-up on them last year. Bench Leury Garcia, UTIL: The utility man is a La Russa favorite, playing mainly second base and right field. Do not ask Sox fans about his fielding prowess in the outfield. Gavin Sheets, DH/OF: Another young player, Sheets provides some pop from the right side. Can also play right, but will likely be a platoon option at DH. Adam Engel, OF: Does sick catches. Jake Burger, IF: Is named Jake Burger. Pitchers  Lucas Giolito, RHP Memorably went from being one of the worst pitchers in baseball in 2018 into one of the best in 2019, Giolito remains the top pitcher for the Sox. He has a gnarly changeup.  Lance Lynn, RHP Another potential ace, Lynn finally grew a giant bushy beard and put his game together after several up and down years with the Cardinals. A big, burly dude, Lynn had a fantastic year in 2021 and was re-signed by the Sox. Unfortunately, he got hurt late in spring training.  Michael Kopech, RHP Throws fuckin' gas. Came up and immediately destroyed his arm throwing insane 100+ mph heaters and nasty sliders, opted out of 2020 with some sort of tabloid-adjacent drama attached, and came back in 2021 as a super reliever. Kopech still hasn't managed a full season as a starter, but if he can stay healthy and walk guys a little less he could be another Syndegaard. Sports a very small ponytail.  Dylan Cease, RHP Made his way into the rotation last year and, as expected for a young guy, had some ups and downs, but throws incredibly hard and has really nasty stuff, and if he breaks out this year, the Sox could be terrifying. Dallas Keuchel, LHP The crafty former Astros ace is now a borderline swing guy trying to hold onto the last spot in the Sox rotation and didn't make their playoff roster last year. Bullpen Guys of Note Liam Hendriks, RHP: The boisterous Australian is one of the best closers in baseball. Joe Kelly, RHP: Wears silly goggles, throws gas, made a pouty face at his sworn enemy Carlos Correa who is now in the same division. Season Outlook It's World Series or bust for the White Sox. They're really good, they're really young, and they're ready to take a step forward. Expect them to tool up at the deadline-- Sox fans seem desperate for another high-caliber starter after losing Carlos Rodon to free agency. Gonna be some good ball on the South Side this year. R.D. Mangles fucked around with this message at 02:12 on Apr 8, 2022 |
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Apr 8, 2022 02:06
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Your 2022 Minnesota Twins ...look a bit different from your 2021 Minnesota Twins. 2021 did not go according to plan, with a lot of veteran risks not panning out, injuries to key players, and a general floundering from both sides of the team. A team expected to make a deep playoff run and possibly contend for the World Series instead came in last place in one of the worst divisions in baseball. Rather than tearing it down for a full rebuild, the front office of Derek Falvey and Thad Levine decided to simply cut ties with underperformers, trade away top--but expensive--talent, and make some of the biggest moves in Twins history, all with the goal of plugging holes and retooling for another, hopefully successful run. The team this year consists of veterans from all over the league, young faces brought in with the hopes of living up to their potential, and a fielding and hitting core that looks familiar to most Twins fans. They even addressed pitching, which is possibly the most astonishing part of a franchise that has historically had trouble maintaining a solid starting rotation. (all positions ranked according to the Depth Chart at twinsbaseball.com) Rotation Joe Ryan  Brought to Minnesota in the 2021 trade that sent Nelson Cruz to the Rays, Ryan is the rookie Opening Day starter for the Twins. He has a low-90s fastball that tops out around 95, a slider, changeup, and curve. He's pitched well at every level. During last year's September call-up he had an ERA around 4. The FO is very big on him, and they seem intent on riding him early. Sonny Gray  A name associated for some time as a potential target for the Twins, they finally acquired him this offseason from the Reds. Primarily a sinkerballer, he also has a 4-seamer, a curve, a slider, and the occasional cutter and change. He is very much a Twins-type groundball-inducing pitcher similar, and should benefit from the Twins' improved infield defense. Dylan Bundy  (he had heat stroke and I'm sorry but also not sorry. there are worse images of it.) Not elite in many areas, but very good at inducing weak contact with a high-spin-rate 4-seamer and a mix that doesn't particularly favor one specific secondary pitch. 2021 was not a good year for him, and he's one of the guys on the bevel to be moved when injured guys make their returns. Bailey Ober  The first name on this list drafted by the Twins, he has a standard four-pitch mix of fastball, slider, change, and curve. While not overwhelming, he rarely walks guys and manages to get a lot of guys to chase. The Twins are pinning a lot of hope on him and Ryan. Chris Archer  Onetime phenom for the Tampa Bay Rays and Pittsburgh Pirates, Archer's star has largely faded from his All-Star, Cy Young-courting seasons. His once-incredible slider doesn't break like it used to, and his three-pitch arsenal isn't amazing by any means. A pitcher who relies on movement more than velocity, he's likely slotted as an effective innings-eater, especially with the next few entries. Chris Paddack (late addition)  Paddack has been overshadowed a bit by Padres pitchers Yu Darvish (my beautiful Japanese husband), Joe Musgrove, and Blake Snell, and looks to be an immediate addition to the rotation. Whose slot he takes is up in the air, but it's likely one of Bundy, Ober, or Archer. He sprang out of nowhere in 2019 to shock the NL West with a 3.33 ERA, but his effectiveness waned in an organization with a questionable ability to develop pitching. He only has three pitches: a 4-seamer, a change, and a curve, but the 4FB and curve in particular have perverse levels of movement when he's on. Like a lot of the youngers guys in the rotation, the Twins are hoping he'll sort it out. He also sports a beautiful mane. Other Starters Kenta Maeda After a shortened 2020 that ended with Maeda coming in 2nd in AL Cy Young voting, 2021 was the year his UCL finally gave out in addition to lower-body issues. He is optimistically expected to return late in the 2022 season. Regardless of his playing status, he will likely be in a mentorship role for the very young pitching staff. Randy Dobnak Dobnak was an unusual fan-favorite with his dorky goggle glasses, indie-ball-and-Uber-driver history, and questionable facial hair choices, but ruptured a throwing-hand finger tendon in 2021, not long after signing a $9.25 million extension with the Twins. He is primarily a sinker-slider pitcher, with an occasional change and an even less occasional 4-seamer. His actual use case is uncertain at the moment. He is listed and was most often used as a starter, but I assume much of his time after returning will be out of the bullpen in long relief. Speaking of... Bullpen The biggest loss from 2021 for the Twins is Tayler Rogers, who was traded to the Padres for Paddack. His literal twin brother Tylor is a reliever for the Giants, and if they do not do some Parent Trap shenanigans in the NL West I will be sorely disappointed. Otherwise, the relief corps is largely intact, with their effectiveness largely being reliant on starting pitching not making GBS threads the bed again this year. Emilio Pagan, who arrived in the Rogers trade, will likely end up with an immediate spot, with Twins regulars Tyler Duffey and Caleb Thielbar soaking up a lot of late innings. Josh Winder, a 7th-round pick, made a big impression on the organization in Spring Training after an effective trip through the minors, and made the Active Roster as a rookie with no MLB experience. While his time with the Saints last year was not as good, results-wise, as the lower levels of MiLB, the org is hopeful for him. In general, the Twins bullpen looks to be "good enough." While the loss of Rogers will make an impact to some degree, the larger problem hinges on starting pitching, as is almost always the case for the Twins. Fielders/Batting C - Gary Sanchez  The Twins traded away local favorite and Pretty Good Catcher Mitch Garver for Isiah Kiner-Falefa (who they immediately sent to New York with Josh Donaldson for Sanchez and Gio Urshela) and so now they have The Kraken as starting catcher. Sanchez is another guy who immediately burst on the scene and faded from view quickly. He's a power bat with a low average and hasn't seemed to hit particularly well at Target Field. He will likely split time with the much younger Ryan Jeffers, who is also not particularly good. The Twins seem to believe in him, though, and I guess that counts for something. What, I'm not sure, but something. 1B - Miguel Sano  Showing up to Spring Training in the Best Shape of His Life with a Renewed Focus, Sano and the Twins hope that he can figure out a better approach to fielding and how not to strike out so loving much. Why? Because Miguel Sano hates baseballs and wants them to be as far away from him as possible, ideally in the outfield seats. Sano can hit home runs that are actually awe-inspiring. Alas, of the Three True Outcomes, HRs are by far his lowest result, and he strikes out over a third of the time he comes up to bat. This may be his last chance to prove himself in Minnesota, as next year he has a team option with a team buyout of up to $3 million. 2B - Jorge Polanco  Polanco is an All-Star, let that be said. He's a great second-baseman, a not-so-great shortstop, and a drat fine hitter. Last year the Twins picked up Andrelton Simmons as a shortstop in order to move Jorge to his natural position of 2B, with great results for Polo, marginal results for Simmons, and disasterous results for the team as a whole. (More on that later.) Polanco can be streaky when it comes to hits, but when he's on, he's one of the best in the league. 3B - Luis Arraez/Gio Urshela   Arraez is a super-utility guy that can play literally any position competently and is a slap-hitting machine. He's a solid all-round player, and with Donaldson gone, he looks to platoon with Urshela, who is a major defensive weapon and a capable hitter. While I am personally sad to see Donaldson go, I think we'll have a pretty good and effective Hot Corner without him and his calf. SS - Carlos Correa  The biggest offseason move of the year and possibly in Twins history, at least for a position player, Correa immediatly impacts the offensive and defensive capabilities of the team. The Simmons experiment last year ended horribly: Simmons clearly hated his time in Minnesota, and the fact that he's an antivax nutjob who likely infected a third of the team with COVID didn't help his tenure. His hitting was also loving atrocious and Correa is, well, Correa. While the stain of admitting to Using The Can in 2017 is still with him, he's been a solid player for his entire tenure with the Astros. He also hits well in Target Field (in a tiny sample size.) The biggest question is whether or not he stays with the team beyond July; his contract includes opt-outs after both the first and second season here, and if the season is going poorly at the trade deadline, it's entirely possible the FO tries to get a flock of prospects for him instead. If he's injured for some reason... well, welcome to the Twins, Mr. Correa. LF - Alex Kirilloff  Kirilloff has been a highlight of the Twins organization since being drafted in the first round in 2016. He has, however, had an extremely limited time in the minors, and is being thrown into the bigs pretty much raw. However, his lack of upper-minors PAs hasn't really phased the FO. He had a pretty good spring and should show development in the long-term. CF - Byron Buxton  The devastatingly handsome face of the franchise, 2022 is--like every year before--his chance to break out and stay healthy. He has shown flashes of all five tools in every season previous, but his inability to stay healthy has cost him consistent full seasons. His hitting has matured noticeably, and he still has raw speed on his side. As long as he can avoid the outfield fence and not get hit by pitches, he will undoubtably be one of the best players in the league, if not all of baseball. Fun fact: the Twins now have both the first and second overall picks of the 2012 draft with Correa and Buxton, respectively. LF - Max Kepler  The second MLB player born and developed in Germany and the holder of the title of most home runs by a German national, Max Kepler is an unassuming sort of outfiled guy in the Twins historic mold of Michael Cuddyer, Tom Brunansky, and Matt Lawton. He's just sort of there and the fans love him. I will admit he's darn cute. Statistically, BBRef seems to think he's most comparable to Joc Pederson, which doesn't seem right to me for some reason, but that might just have to do with Joc having two World Series rings and Max having none. DH - Gary Sanchez This is a team that is most likely going to use the DH spot as a place for whomever is in need of rest most. I assume the most regular occupants will be Sanchez and Urshela, but I expect to see Sano in there regularly as well, with others taking the slot as needed, and with Arraez playing their position. We'll have to see how it shakes out. Bench WILLIANS "LA TORTUGA" ASTUDILLO IS NO LONGER WITH THE TWINS, HE IS WITH THE MARLINS NOW Nobody really stands out here, mostly because it's pretty bare. Nick Gordon figures to be the backup middle infielder, Ryan Jeffers and Sanchez will alternate catching duties, and currently Gilberto Celestino is listed as fourth outfielder, while he doesn't appear on the depth chart (that'd be Arraez.) The 40-man has a couple intriguing guys in the form of Trevor Larnach, Royce Lewis, and Jose Miranda, and we'll have to see how the season shakes out on whether or not we'll get to see any of them. Overall There's a lot of questions in the air about the Twins plan for this year, particularly on the pitching side. Another year of piecing together a rotation of collapsing vets and questionable youngsters might absolutely blow up in their faces again, the way it did last year with the spectacular trainwreck of Matt Shoemaker and JA Happ on top of the injuries to Maeda and Pineda. The loss of Jose Berrios still stings. Fielding-wise, if both Correa and Buxton stay healthy, they have enough quality hitters surrounding them to be an offensive juggernaut again. A lot of predictions for the Twins this year are low, especially with the White Sox being such a solid team. Minnesota is a team with a very high ceiling this year, but the floor is unknown. 2021 was the answer to "What's the worst that could happen?" and if they can avoid the worst, then they have a very good shot at the playoffs and maybe even the World Series, but their biggest enemy will be their own roster strategy. It's easiest to slap a big 81-81 on them with a question mark and see what shakes out. So that's what I'm going to do, but with the hope that everything does in fact work out. It might! But then we'll end up losing to the loving Yankees again in the playoffs anyway. edit: I hosed up the drat Rogers twins. rickiep00h fucked around with this message at 17:44 on Apr 8, 2022 |
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Apr 8, 2022 17:39
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rickiep00h posted:Your 2022 Minnesota Twins Awesome writeup! A few fun notes: Ober is an extremely tall human being and prior to gaining 5+ mph during the Pandemic put up legitimately video game numbers in the minors despite only rarely hitting 90 with his fastball. As if Randy Johnson and Jamie Moyer had a baby and it got the latter's talent. Polanco is fuctionally the backup SS. He isn't great there (as is true with most good but not elite defensive 2Bs) but he's passable enough. They like him more than Gordon there and a correa-less lineup likely sees Jorge at SS, Arraez at 2B and Gio at 3B Jose Miranda joins Arraez as "super utility because he's below average everywhere but we love the bat", and was the low level prospect that twins staffers would talk up to prospect guys for the past 5 years. They finally saw why last year as he hit 30 HRs in 127 games across AA and AAA last year, slugging over .560 at each stop despite a strikeout rate under 13%. Him not breaking camp definitely isn't service time manipulation. Trevor Larnach is the Twins LF of the future after they (probably) convert home school phenom Alex Kiriloff to his likely 1B destination. Royce Lewis ended a miserable 2019 with a strong AFL show, looked solid in spring of 2020 and then tore his ACL on the ice before spring training in 2021 which is an occupational hazard of Twins prospects... except it happened in loving Texas. Bullpen prediction is that former high risk starters Acala and Duran (returns for escobar and pressley) end up as the highleverage duo and that Rocco, to save in arbitration, uses them as a closer by committee along with *spins wheel* Thielbar.
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Apr 8, 2022 19:46
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