Friday, December 16, 2016

Notes, quotes and comment

Best wishes to Rod Carew, who on Thursday was to receive a double transplant -- heart and kidney.

Visit the Minnesota Twins/Washington Senators "franchise encyclopedia" page  and you'll find that Sir Rodney is second in franchise history (to Walter Johnson) in Wins Above Replacement. This, frankly, surprised me when I first saw it; I would have guessed Harmon Killebrew as the runner up to the Big Train.

(Incidentally, Joe Mauer is likely in 2017 to pass Kirby Puckett for fifth on that list; everybody ahead of Mauer -- Johnson, Carew, Killebrew, Sam Rice and Puckett -- is in the Hall of Fame.)

I assume that Carew's WAR score is enhanced by the fact that he spent the first nine years of his illustrious career playing second base, a premium defensive position. He wasn't a great gloveman, but most managers not named Gene Mauch will overlook a few missed double plays for a .350 hitter.

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The Twins on Thursday announced a bunch of minor league free-agent signings:




The only two that ring any bells with me are Tommy Field, an infielder, and Dan Rohlfing, a catcher I commented on the other day. Minor league depth is what these signings are about.

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Torii Hunter Jr. announced Thursday that he is giving up football (he's a wide receiver at Notre Dame with a year of eligibility remaining) to pursue baseball full-time with the Angels. He hasn't played a lot of baseball in college, but the Angels drafted him last June in the 23rd round and he signed.

Good luck to him.

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