2016 MLB Regular-Season Thread

After he came to Boston, Ortiz complained that the Twins made him try to hit like a 'little bitch' and focus on small ball type of stuff. He claimed that he wasn't allowed to be the type of hitter he should have been.

 

I don't understand why the couldn't trade him rather than release him.

 

When he was with the Twins, I recall distinctly Ortiz had significant holes in his swing. He became a better hitter in Boston, IMO because adapting use of the inside-out swing so effective for lefty batters in Fenway improved all aspects of his hitting

 

And also, the drugs.

 

Who would give up anything for a guy the Twins were going to release?

 

Kind of misread what you were saying about winning the division. But do you think he was untradeable if he went through arbitration?

 

Ted Williams at 42 (1960) vs. David Ortiz at 40 (2016):

Average: Ortiz .318, Williams .316

OBP: Williams .451, Ortiz .407

Slugging: Williams .645, Ortiz .632

OPS: Williams 1.096, Ortiz 1.038.

Williams had 29 homers, 72 RBIs in 113 games. Ortiz has 31 HR, 101 RBI through 122 games. Williams also played 87 games in the OF in 1960 although not always as hard as he could have played because even he admits he didn't care that much about defense.

Today would be TW's 98th birthday. He had a lifetime .482 OBP and 1.116 OPS. Incredible.

 

The Twins had a pretty smart run there around the time they had Ortiz at the end.

Dreadful in 2000 but they got dramatically better in 2001 and made their playoff runs starting in 2002. This was also when the economics were very difficult for them.

I covered them at the time and those 01-04 teams were damn fun. Hunter, Pierzynski, Koskie. Looking back, not loaded on talent but they played well together.

 

No, but the Yankees should have known what they had in Buhner. It was symptomatic of the time that they weren't patient with a talented young player. They did the same thing with Doug Drabek, who was only 24 when they dealt him to the Pirates.

 

Yep. Taking chances on middling guys hasn't worked out. Tillman is a No. 2, at best, yet he's asked to carry the staff. I'm not ready to give up on Gausman yet. He's still young and has shown flashes. Not sure what's out there on the market next year, but the O's don't have a lot in the system to play with in terms of trades.

(PS - I'm not one of those O's fans who is pissed about the Arrieta trade. He was never going to succeed in Baltimore. That switch flipped when he left town.)

 

Report out that someone made a waiver claim on Puig. Dodgers can pull him back or agree to a trade, but if they are fed up enough to let him and his contract walk, this is their out.