Monday, December 12, 2011

What do the Twins care less about, winning or you?



The Twins had three free agents going into the winter meetings, and if I were to rank them in order of fan popularity, it would look like this:
Cuddyer
Kubel
Capps.
Those same three in order of how much they would help the Twins next year:
Kubel
Cuddyer
Capps
And lastly, the value in those three signing with another team (because of the draft pick to value ratio):
Capps
Cuddyer
Kubel

So basically, there was, in my opinion, no good reason for the Twins to re-sign Matt Capps. He was not popular with fans, and the draft picks he would have garnered would likely have been more important than having a closer. Michael Cuddyer is extraordinarily popular, and has a few tools in his toolbox. I can't understand why, if the Twins were dead set on sacrificing draft compensation, they did it for Capps to little advantage instead of Cuddyer. Of course, Cuddyer hasn't made his decision yet, but the Twins actually have a back up plan and a lowball offer, so the Twins have made it clear he isn't a priority.
I have no comment yet on Kubel, because I can't get a feel for the market for him, or the Twins intentions. But so far, the Twins are confusing me.

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Wednesday, July 06, 2011

The Twins crowd is bipolar

Matt Capps comes in... BOOOOOOO
Minnesota Nice overwhelms.... YAAAAAAAY
Matt Capps gives up a homer to BJ Upton.... BOOOOOOOO
Line out to center .... .YAAAAAAAY
Ball...... BOOOOOOOO
Strike.....YAAAAAAAY
Ball....BOOOOO
Capps removed.... YAAAAAAY

So, the moral: The fans hate Capps, but really try to be polite.

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Monday, July 04, 2011

A total Cappshoot

A couple of rough outings against Milwaukee have many Twins fans doubting the decision to keep Matt Capps in the closer role this season. For once, I have to agree with Gardenhire on this decision. Let me tell you why.
There are three people that you could envision in the closer's role: Capps, Joe Nathan and Glenn Perkins. Starting with Perkins, he has undoubtedly been the best pitcher out of the pen this year. I am of the opinion if that you can't pitch effectively in the 9th inning, because it's the 9th inning, you have no business playing Major League Baseball. With that assumption aside, I would rather have bad Capps (pitching his worst season of his career) confined to one inning in ultra specific situations than to have Perkins, as I said, the best pitcher in the pen, restricted like that. And as much as Capps has struggled, even if he converts all of his saves, the team is still decidedly below .500.
As for Nathan, it comes down to trade value. Nathan's probably wouldn't improve if he was dropped in the closer's role, and he wouldn't be any more effective than Capps. The fact that he has a reputation as an excellent closer may be enough as the deadline approaches. Capps can only improve his worth at this point, proving that he is a capable closer, or at the very least, a benefit in the bullpen (of course with as bad as the Twins' pen is, he IS a benefit in the pen).
I will never complain about a bad pitcher in the closer position, because I am of the opinion that you are wasting a good pitcher, using them for but one inning in super specific situations, and I am not about to disagree with Capps keeping his job.

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