From: Scott Smith on 29 Jul 2010 23:25 I like this deal. Matt Capps is a better closer than Rauch, and the Twins didn't really need Ramos now that Butera is playing well as Joe's backup. They still need to figure out where to find another starter, though.
From: Matt on 30 Jul 2010 00:05 On Jul 29, 10:25 pm, Scott Smith <scott.sm...(a)iphouse.com> wrote: > I like this deal. Matt Capps is a better closer than Rauch, and > the Twins didn't really need Ramos now that Butera is playing > well as Joe's backup. Yeah, the problem with Ramos was that the luster was coming off of him fast. He's having a miserable year in AAA. Hitting like . 241/.280/.345. His value as a prospect was dropping almost daily. To get an all star closer in exchange (even if it's just a Washington Nationals' all star) seems like about as good as the Twins would have hoped for. I think a lot of people saw him as a top prospect entering the year, and early in the year when the Lee stuff started. But his awful performance at AAA this year has really diminished his perceived value amongst other teams. I have a feeling if the Lee talks had started now instead of two months ago, the Mariners would have laughed at a deal centered around Ramos. That's how much his stock has fallen. Matt
From: John Gregory on 30 Jul 2010 11:10 On Thu, 29 Jul 2010, Matt wrote: > On Jul 29, 10:25�pm, Scott Smith <scott.sm...(a)iphouse.com> wrote: >> I like this deal. Matt Capps is a better closer than Rauch, and >> the Twins didn't really need Ramos now that Butera is playing >> well as Joe's backup. > > Yeah, the problem with Ramos was that the luster was coming off of him > fast. He's having a miserable year in AAA. Hitting like . > 241/.280/.345. His value as a prospect was dropping almost daily. To > get an all star closer in exchange (even if it's just a Washington > Nationals' all star) seems like about as good as the Twins would have > hoped for. > > I think a lot of people saw him as a top prospect entering the year, > and early in the year when the Lee stuff started. But his awful > performance at AAA this year has really diminished his perceived value > amongst other teams. I have a feeling if the Lee talks had started now > instead of two months ago, the Mariners would have laughed at a deal > centered around Ramos. That's how much his stock has fallen. Ramos is 22. He's throwing out baserunners at a 50% clip (team mates this year at around 33%) and I know of no reason to think other parts of his defensive game aren't good. He's struggling a little at the plate at the AAA level, hardly "awful", and by age 25 he projects to be a very good major league catcher for someone. Not another Joe Mauer, but those are few and far between. At the same age, Drew Butera was putting up poorer hitting numbers at low-A ball, and Jose Morales didn't play much but at a year older he was putting up poorer hitting numbers at AA. Is there anyone else in the system we want playing a lot of innings if Joe Mauer's chronic health problems get worse? I'm not saying don't trade Ramos, I'm saying he's a valuable property, regardless of his current trade value. Matt Capps is established as a good reliever. Jon Rauch in 2008 had a season for Washington about on a par with Capps in 2010, or arguably better. This year both have WHIPs around 1.3 whereas Joe Nathan had only one season with Minnesota with a WHIP above 1.0 (which is extraordinary). If Capps narrows any of the gap between having a Rauch and having a Nathan, it's not by much. And Capps had a 2009 to forget, for Pittsburgh, so he doesn't have the track record of a Joe Nathan to deliver year after year. If the team and fans think they've acquired the next Joe Nathan, they're mistaken, and the worst case for a closer brought in as a Messiah is Ron Davis, a downward spiral that's pretty horrible to contemplate. At some point in the recent past, before Nathan's injury, there was discussion that Nathan was a reasonable choice to try to trade, that closers are overrated for what they bring to a team. This trade is the kind the Twins should be making, in reverse. That said, now that the trade is done, I hope Matt Capps is lights out and is the difference maker in some critical games. And I trust that the scouts have determined he has the makeup to handle the occasional blown save in a pennant race, given that he's never been nearer than a long distance phone call to one before today. -- John Gregory ashbury at skypoint.com http://www.skypoint.com/ tilde ashbury Baseball quote of the day: I own half of the plate and the batter owns half of the plate. This changes from pitch to pitch and I don't tell the batter which half is mine. - Don Drysdale
From: Matt on 30 Jul 2010 13:07 So short story long, the Twins got an above average reliever for an above average, but FAR from elite, prospect. Ehh. Matt
From: Scott Smith on 30 Jul 2010 13:10 On Fri, 30 Jul 2010 10:07:18 -0700 (PDT), Matt <aceswired(a)gmail.com> wrote: >So short story long, the Twins got an above average reliever for an >above average, but FAR from elite, prospect. Ehh. Sounds about right to me. Not a big impact trade, but acceptable.
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