Comments on: Top 40 Minnesota Twins: #18 Rick Aguilera

By: Karl

Karl — Sun, 22 May 2011 15:14:00 +0000

I am setting the over/under on comments on tommorrows post at 28.

I’m sure it will another uplifting piece with lots of patient fan support.

Place your wagers.

By: WalterSolbcheck

WalterSolbcheck — Sat, 21 May 2011 18:11:12 +0000

That inherited runners stat was insane.

“the Twins sent him to the Red Sox for Frankie Rodriguez, a 22-year-old right-hander Baseball America ranked as the No. 36 prospect in baseball. Rodriguez was a bust”

Understatement of the year? Rodriguez embodied just how awful those mid-90s teams were. I hated him so, so much.

By: Tom

Tom — Fri, 20 May 2011 18:57:02 +0000

I had never realized before just what valuable trade bait Aggie was over the years. He fetched them quite a haul over those three trades.

By: Dave

Dave — Fri, 20 May 2011 16:21:51 +0000

One more thing, the way Gardy uses closers is actually far less of a “high-pressure situation” than he puts our setup and even middle relief guys in. Its proven out by the runners in inherited by Nathan.

By: Dave

Dave — Fri, 20 May 2011 16:19:49 +0000

“Rauch was in a tailspin”

He may have had a few bad outings, but its been proven over and over again that Rauch and Capps have the same effectiveness. Taking a small sampling to base a large decision on is silly-and one the Twins should be regretting (and hopefully learning from). Rauch is performing just fine for the Blue Jays and would have been a much more economical closer for the twins, allowing for resigning of other RP’s or free agents than Capps is. Not to mention getting something of actual worth for an elite prospect cather-or heck even having Ramos as our catcher currently.

By: Dave T

Dave T — Fri, 20 May 2011 16:06:02 +0000

Closing is a high-pressure situation. Many pitchers crumble under the pressure. Most recent example: Rausch was in a tailspin when Gardy pulled him out of the closer role. What you want to know is, can this guy take the heat?

By: Jason w

Jason w — Fri, 20 May 2011 14:12:32 +0000

Aguilera was the obvious choice to replace Reardon as closer. “He’s the most experienced we’ve got, the most capable strikeout pitcher,” pitching coach Dick Such told the Associated Press in March of 1990. “He fits the bill.”

Damn those MLB managers and their insistence on “experienced” closers!

By: pk

pk — Fri, 20 May 2011 13:41:26 +0000

– After looking it up Nathan is currently at 250 with 249 saves as a Twin. Aguilera had a career total of 318 saves with 254 as a Twin.

It’ll be interesting to see if Nathan gets another save this year as a Twin.

I’m really starting to enjoy this list.

My only question to you or others is if Saves are such an overrated stat then why is Aguilera ranked so high on the Top 40?

I think AG tried to answer this with his runners inherited stat which by it self is very impressive but the reason Aguilera is ranked so high is primarily due to his record number of saves.
I had forgoten how bad the Twins were in the early ’90′s. geesh.

Also, I’m assuming Nathan is still to come on this list? Top 10? Better numbers. Better teams.

By: mike wants WINS

mike wants WINS — Fri, 20 May 2011 13:07:23 +0000

That stat on how many runners Nathan has inherited is mind blowing. It certainly reinforces my belief about the value of closers and high leverage situations.