Comments on: Hot Stove Holiday Break

By: woodsmeister

woodsmeister — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 13:29:22 +0000

I don’t know why I was thinking you had taken on Tatis at some point in the near past. The Twins seem really good at developing pitching but infielders (well, except for Morneau), not so much.

By: Dave

Dave — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 04:42:42 +0000

Thanks for the kind words, Greg, and likewise. Having a kid at school in northern Ohio the past 3.5 years, we’ve hit The Jake/Progressive a few times and it’s fun to see the club from your perspective.

Pavano looks like a pretty cheap gamble that I hope works out really well except, of course, against the Twins. DeRosa’s a nice pickup for the price, too, despite Baseball Reference showing his top comparable is Mike Lamb.

Actually, Hernandez’s early success helped take the pressure off Liriano to make a quick comeback, but had they made the switch a couple of weeks earlier, they may not have needed to face Ozzie’s boys in Game 163.

I kept a “Rondell Watch” on my office window after a co-worker suggested that at $2.75M/yr., he wouldn’t hit a BA point per $10K. He didn’t either year, but was hurt so often it wasn’t terribly time-consuming.

The Twins didn’t have Mr. Tatis, but the left infield combos of Castro/Bautista and Everett/Lamb are examples of the same thing.

By: woodsmeister

woodsmeister — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 14:18:41 +0000

Thanks for reading, Dave. I enjoy reading your blog as well. You might be onto something with this Carl Pavano suggestion. I have been puzzled by the way the Twins continue to develop great talent in their farm system and then overpay to block them with retread stiffs like Ponson and Hernandez (and Rondell White and Fernando Tatis).

By: Dave

Dave — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 04:46:41 +0000

The other free agent options (Randy Wolk, Jon Garland) are not particularly attractive.

Not to mention Carl Pavano, though to be fair he’s far more attractive than, oh, Sidney Ponson or Livan Hernandez.