I think the first question that needs to be answered is what does RBI stand for? Runs Batted In or Run Batted in?

I maintain that RBI stands for Run Batted in, the singular. You would never say that a player has 1 RBIs or 1 Runs Batted In. But you would say the player had 1 RBI (Run Batted In).

That answers the question of what RBI stands for. Run Batted In. If that were not the case, and RBI stood for Runs Batted In, you could not use the singular. You wouldn’t say, Luis Arraez has 1 Runs Batted In after the season's first game. You would say Luis Arraez has 1 Run Batted In (RBI) after the first game.

With that established, it’s pretty simple. 1 dog, 2 dogs. 1 balloon, 2 balloons. 1 Bicycle, 2 bicycles. And 1 RBI, 2 RBIs, 1 RBI, 50 RBIs, 1 RBI,  75 RBIs.

My opening day lineup breaks with the current conventional thinking but I honestly think the Twins will be better this way. That means Kepler moving to 4th OF and Sano a man without a position.

Here’s how I’d start:

LF Martin - I think Martin is ready and could hit .300 with a lot of doubles. 2nd would be Gordon as I think he will hit better than in 2021 and can steal bases at will, which would help the Twins have more ways to score, especially if Buxton is also stealing bases at will I think Martin could swipe a decent amount of bases as well. 3rd is Larnach and I do still think he’ll be a future star but when last we checked, he was overmatched in the majors and AAA both.

CF Buxton

RF Kirilloff

3B Urshela

SS Correa

2B Polanco

1b Miranda

C Sanchez/Jeffers

DH Conforto//Beckham/Sano/Martin/Gordon

I think Beckham has earned a job.

The rotation would be Gray, Bundy, Ober, Ryan, Winder.

Note: I’m not at all satisfied with that rotation. It’s basically one proven starter and 4 "I hope they pitch up to their ceiling but truly they are question masks"

I would still try to sign for Cueto and maybe send 6 years of Sands for 1 year of Manea.

The Twins are currently 11-17, so 10-6 since the awful start.

Highlights are the seeming permanent emergence of Trevor Larnach, Alex Kirilloff flirting with superstardom. I’ll leave the SS surprise for the box score of game 28.  Jose Miranda has held down 3rd after I traded Donaldson mostly for payroll reasons. I traded for Josh Bell, who is having a monster season. Which means Sano is gone. Study the Box Score and guess where he went! 

I started with no injuries checked but decided that wasn’t a fair measure of how I could cover a Buxton absence. SO I set injuries on and just 3 games later Buxton was injured with a chronic back issue for 4 weeks. Problem is that it’s been probably 5-6 weeks now and he wasn’t hitting at the start. Billy Hamilton and Gabriel Maciel have played most of the cf innings. I traded Ober along with Arraez to get Bassitt from Oakland, certainly my worst trade.

Here’s the box score. If OOTP is a good predictor, there are some exciting things on the horizon for the Twins.

I set the trade slider a little more to the hard side the the easy side.

It seemed to carry over to free agent negotiations but I’m not sure. Prime example: I offered Byron Buxton basically the same deal the Twins signed him for and he came back and said, "I’m only entertaining serious offers"! It seemed he ignored the $8M per year for an MVP award and AB bonuses. He was so tough that to get him signed, I had to average over 20M yr. plus he wanted a 9 year deal. I got away with 8 but I had to have him.

When trying for free agents or making trades, I eschewed any player that I knew had been signed in real life or traded to a new team. I got messages along the way from Jim Pohlad and at one point, he said that I was having such a good offseason that he was raising my allowance from $203M budget (all expenses, not just payroll). At a budget of $203, the player payroll was $160M but he raised the budget to $210M and a player payroll of $170M. He must have seen quickly that I was going to be very aggressive striving to build a 2022 contender.

Some of the trades and signings saw me moving Max Kepler for Taijuan Walker.

Signing Jose Iglesias, attempting to sign Michael Pineda and Danny Duffy over extended negotiations (especially with Pineda) only to be spurned by both.

Trading Bailey Ober and Luis Arraez for Chris Bassit.

Releasing Dylan Bundy.

Signing Billy Hamilton to a very reasonable deal to be insurance for Byron Buxton.

Signing Carlos Rodon, which went surprisingly smoothly. Yes, I did offer him a fair contract.

Signing Ken Giles was exciting, knowing how it would solidify the bullpen.

The toughest one was attempting to sign Kris Bryant. I think he had me up to $173M and strung me along, then said the Cubs had a better offer. I ended up cutting it off but after a decent period of time passed, he came back and I was able to sign him at a bargain $15M yr for 5 yrs.

After spring training had ended, Johnny Cueto, having cut off negotiations, came back to me on the eve of the season opener and said he’d like to try again. I offered him more than he asked for 1 yr plus an option year and he signed in time for the season opener. After all the moves, I decided to promote Cole Sands to work out of the bullpen, a job he earned in OOTP baseball’s spring training.

Here are some graphics on your new, shiny, division contending 2022 Minnesota Twins!

I would be strongly in favor of the Twins signing him to a 2 year deal, the first year at a minimum rate to pitch as a lefty out of the bullpen from sometime in July to the end of the season. Then a higher salary a/la Dylan Bundy in the second year for him to pitch out of the rotation.

And sign Michael Pineda for sure plus trade for a pitcher, possibly from Oakland. Jon Gray would be okay too.

With the pitching staff they’re going to have, they’ll have to beef up last year’s shaky offense. Castellanos would be be good and if both parties are amenable, Eddie Rosario would be my second choice. 

Hopefully the second-half Sano shows up next year. I’m optimistic about that.

I chose Iglesias as the SS for good D and his .271 average, much better than Simmons but for the same price.

I chose Mark Canha for LF, liking his prior 26, 17, and 16 HR seasons. And last year walking 77 times, stealing 12/14 bases, scoring 93 runs. Even with a .231 average, he had a .358 OBP. In any case, he should be much better than Cave, Larnach in 2021. 

Like Nick I’m signing Byron Buxton with an escalating deal and incentives.

I’m banking on Jose Miranda to log 500-550 ABs.

I like the Saint’s Mark Contreras as the 4th OF with Jimmy Kerrigan as an alternative at AAA.

For the rotation, I’m signing Robbie Ray as the ace with Danny Duffy as the #2 starter. That’s a significant part of my 142.1 million dollar payroll. I think Jim Pohlad will go for that. If they can’t get Ray, then Syndergaard and Verlander are other ace options. I’m bringing back the steady Michael Pineda, his 9-8 record and 3.62 ERA. Both sides want a reunion, so it’s just a great fit.

Ober and Ryan start as #4 and #5 starter. I’m one who thinks Charlie Barnes will eventually be a solid major league pitcher but maybe not next year. Cole Sands could be another guy getting some starts for the Twins.  Duran has a lot to prove. He would be a bonus.

I filled out the BP with some of the most talented AAA relievers and Ralph Garza Jr. who did a good job. Alcala’s continued growth will be a big and important factor.

I really like Nick Gordon and hope Rocco steals with Buxton, Canha and Gordon so the offense is more balanced.

Celestino also provides depth and could easily be up with the inevitable injuries. I like Kerrigan’s 19 HR and 10/12 SB.

I also want to emphasize that I do think that once Rooker gets the requisite amount of ABs at the ML level, he should hit 30 HR with a .240 -.270 average. So, he’s in play also depending on injuries.

Harry Carey announced and possibly Jimmy Piersall. The game took place June 26, 1977 with what I consider to be the most talented Twins team ever with the Great tactician/strategist Gene Mauch as manager and his nephew, Roy Smalley playing SS. 

The Twins didn't have much pitching that year but made up for it with the bats of Lyman Bostock (.336 avg, 14 triples), Rod Carew (.388, 30+ 2b, 16 triples, 14 homers) and Larry Hisle (119 RBIs).

I’m pulling in the boxscore from Baseball Reference. Your eyes will pop out when you look at the Twins offensive performances.

What stands out to you about this game after viewing the box score? By the way, with basically ONE starting pitcher, the Twins went 84-77, 4th in the AL West and Rod Carew’s season was so great that he won the MVP award!

Does what Viola says surprise you? Does it carry weight with you? Do you agree? It rings far too true to me.

The last sentence of his Tweet is the most significant one "Wrong leadership equals no chance to succeed." That sounds like a call for change to me. I would argue that the failure of Falvey, Levine and Baldelli has been so spectacular that the Twins would be better off replacing Falvey, Levine and Baldelli with the best GM, Manager and and President of baseball operations that they can find. This is a judgement that is probably analogous to the Twins releasing a player that they really like as a person and had high hopes for. It’s a business and winning is the paramount goal.

There are way too many baseball moves that they’ve butchered to mention but the sequence that lead to Cave playing a significant role and still starting as we approach September is perhaps the most egregious of all. Not acquiring a better option for Buxton’s backup and a better replacement for Rosario cost the Twins wins. Happ and Shoemaker didn’t help.

A primary component in my vision is adding speed. To that end, assuming Simmons is traded (which he should be IMO), I’d like to see Aaron Whitefield and his .304/.372/.410 slash line with 15/21 SB in CF until Buxton comes back. Secondly, I’d like to see Gordon given the full time 2nd base job as he’s hit at AAA and the majors this year and is 10/10 in SB combined. Ultimately, I think the combination of Buxton, Whitefield and Gordon could add a dynamic new speed element to the team and make the team’s offense more balanced.

Next, I’d like to look at the prospects that I think can help, especially if the Twins sell well at the deadline. Part of the plan assumes that we have outfield prospects that implore the moving of the long slumping Max Kepler either to another team or as the 4th outfielder.

Let’s look at two pitching prospects who I think might be able to help in 2021 and going forward.

As a starter, Josh Winder has a 1.98 ERA, 0.93 WHIP and .208 BA allowed. He could possibly fill that 5th starting position with Pineda #3 and Ober #4. I’d like to see if he’s a better solution than Dobnak. It’s an open competition but it seems Winder deserves to be in it.

As a reliever, Jovani Moran has totally dominated AA with a 1.98 ERA, 0.77 WHIP and .121 BA against in 15 relief appearances encompassing 27.1 IP.

It doesn’t look like anybody is ready at AAA right now. At Cedar Rapids, Matt Canterino could come fast once back from injury with his 35 K in 18 IP.

Then there are the two major pitching prospects Jhoan Duran and Jordan Balazovic who, while neither seems ready, it’s still possible they could contribute in 2021.

Next, I’ll look at the hitters ready to make an impact and how things might be juggled to make it happen. 

I’d like to see three hitters currently at Wichita promoted to the Twins. Those would be the aforementioned Aaron Whitefield who when up with the Twins last year was purported to have world class speed. 

Second would be Jose Miranda who has had a breakthrough season of stunning proportions slashing .349/.414/.586. I see Miranda as a cornerstone going forward. That could mean trading Josh Donaldson (whose trade value is increasing) for the best starting pitching prospect they could get. 

Third is Ernie De La Trinidad who could spend time in RF with Kepler (.200/.293/.394) being moved to 4th OF or traded (as I mentioned earlier), at least until De La Trinidad has had a full chance to prove himself. De La Trinidad has earned his opportunity with his own breakthrough season, slashing .323/.406/.526.

This would yield an OF of Larnach, Whitefield, De La Trinidad with Kepler 4th OF and when Buxton comes back Larnach, Buxton, Whitefield with Kepler and De La Trinidad as 4th and 5th outfielders or DH.

With Simmons and Donaldson traded, the Twins can vault into the future with an infield of 3B Miranda, SS Polanco, 2B Gordon and 1B Kirilloff.

I don’t envision the catching situation changing.

At Designated Hitter, the Twins have a big decision to make. I feel torn because Nelson Cruz has added so much to the Twins franchise and is still an elite hitter, so part of me wants to see him retire as a Twin, possibly at the end of 2022. However, if the Twins can give such prospects as Winder, Moran, Miranda, De La Trinidad and Whitefield a long look and get maybe a pitching prospect in the 8-15 range for Donaldson and the 8-12 range for Cruz, then that might well be the way to go.

So far, the elevation of Larnach, Kirilloff and Gordon has worked out very well. I’d like to think that adding Winder, Moran, Miranda, Whitefield and De La Trinidad would yield the Twins at least two more cornerstones to move forward with.

Next, I have 5 free agents, one or more of whom I’d like to see the Twins be very aggressive in their pursuit, with a goal of landing one. The master plan would involve re-signing Michael Pineda and adding one of the following 5:

Marcus Stroman 2.32 ERA 1.055 WHIP and .219 BA allowed.

Kevin Gausman 1.49 ERA 0.766 WHIP and .157 BA allowed. 

Robbie Ray 3.35 ERA 1. 1.165128 WHIP and .230 BA allowed. 

Zack Greinke 3.56 ERA. 1.115 WHIP and .245 BA allowed.

Lance Lynn 2.14 ERA 1.004 WHIP and .195 BA allowed.

Last, I have a trade possibility in Zac Gallen of the Diamondbacks. He has a 3.67 ERA 1.165 WHIP and .195 BA allowed. What do you think it would take to get Gallen in a trade?

Then I’ll take a look at how the Twins can get to that level.

First, how did I get to this point of believing pitching is more important than I originally thought?

Although, a Twins fan since 1964, the media and options for following the Twins on a more comprehensive level only opened up to me in the 1970s. I lived in Toledo, Ohio but had discovered the Twins at Tinker Field in Orlando when my Dad took me to a game vs. the Cincinnati Reds. The Twins won and the rest was history for me!

In the 1960s it was linescores in the newspaper and the occasional game of the week with Joe Garagiola and Tony Kubek. 

Then one glorious night in 1973, I thought to myself, "Wouldn’t it be great to be able to pick up Twins games on the radio." I had been twirling the station tuner knob that night pickng up any games I could. Seemingly miraculously, within 10-15 minutes I heard a new voice and paused to see what team(s) I had come across. Imagine my astonishment when I learned that it was the Twins broadcast from WHO in Des Moines, Iowa.

I first heard the voice of Herb Carneal that night and stayed up late listening to Twins baseball as my recollection is that it was a doubleheader, possibly from the west coast. Herb became my constant companion for many years and my love for the Twins grew exponentially. 

I remember annually thnking the the Twins were going to win the AL West this season and the next and the next but it never happened. Why? I couldn’t figure it out as they had such fine hitters as Jim Holt, Steve Braun, Rod Carew,  Bobby Darwin, Mike Cubbage, then Glenn Adams, Lyman Bostock and Larry Hisle. 

The 1977 team brought things into clear focus. The offense, while maybe not as deep as 2019, was at the upper echelon - arguably the greatest offense in Twins history. On June 26, 1977 I listened to and scored from my basement in Ohio, a 19-12 Twins win over the White Sox, listening to Harey Carey from 670 WMAQ in Chicago.

Alas, the Twins had a mediocre to poor pitching staff in 1977. That to go along with possibly the best hitting team in Twins history and, in my opinion, the greatest manager in Twins history - the brilliant tactician and innovator, Gene Mauch. Suffice to say, from 1977 on, I realized that only a team with very strong pitching could hope to be in the playoffs (back them it was only AL East vs. West, then the World Series) or win the World Series.

Let’s take a look at the 1977 Twins. (courtesy of baseball-reference.com)

Next the pitching staff that held the team to an 84-77 record.

Notice that the starting rotation was basically one pitcher deep, their ace, Dave Goltz, he of the knuckle-curve. The staff ERA was 4.36, which is not so much a reflection of the quality of the starting staff but of the superior work of two relievers who ate up 281.1 innings. Tom Johnson was the one most responsible for holding down the team ERA with his 3.13 ERA, 16-7 record and 146.2 innings as the closer! Amazingly, after the Twins had lost Bill Campbell and his 17-5 record in relief in 1976 to free-agency, they were able to plug in Johnson.

It’s pretty plain to see that the top 9 pitchers listed, excepting Goltz and Johnson, are what held back this team with a juggernaut offense from a possible division championship or even World Series victory. Just one quality starter.

Two other major factors influenced my thinking on the value of deep, quality pitching.

The first was the astonishing success of the 1972-1974 Oakland A’s, who may have won 5-7 World Series in a row except for the advent of free-agency. Charley Finley waved the white flag of surrender just as much as Calvin Griffith did and the Oakland dynasty was destroyed. Take a look at the pitching staff of a World Champion three years running. The names changed slightly but the prioritization on pitching is the teachable lesson! (courtesy of baseball-reference.com)

Second was playing table top baseball with a good friend who was an avid Orioles fan. We played my Twins team against his Orioles for many games, who while not having the offense of the Twins, kept running out a relentless rotation of Palmer, Flanagan, Dennis Martinez, Scott McGregor. I was defeated more often than not by this pitching staff and got used to being dominated. I was forever changed! This is the kind of staff I’d like to see the Twins aspire to! (courtesy of baseball-reference.com)

Now, let’s compare this year’s Twins staff to, first the 1977 Twins, and then secondly to the 1973 A’s and the 1978 Orioles. (courtesy of baseball-reference.com)

Statistically, this is the worst pitching staff we’ve looked at. This rotation is basically a two man rotation out of 5 where the 1977 Twins were basically one. Staffs like the 1977 and 2021 Twins will never lead to a high quality team featuring one  and two viable starters type rotations. Obvious, right?

My argument would be that Falvey and Levine should be trying to get that to 4 or 5 quality starters and not put resources to players like J.A. Happ, Matt Shoemaker, Alex Colome or even Josh Donaldson. Donaldson has good qualities but one thing he isn’t is a quality pitcher.

What’s the way forward? I think, based on his 3.70 ERA so far and the virtual impossibility of signing 3 FA quality starters, that they need to re-sign Michael Pineda. They also need to re-sign Jose Berrios. That’s only 2 of 5 quality starters. We have to hope that Maeda rounds back into form. Further the FO is going to have to sign a quality free agent pitcher. Then we have to hope that Bailey Ober builds on what he as started so far. And hope that Barnes, Duran or Balazovic make a breakthrough. There are other good arms.

I’ve pictured below the kinds of pitchers we need in at least 3 or 4 spots. It would be nice to have Christy Mathewson as a Twin but, alas, that’s not possible. He’s my favorite pitcher of all time.

Let me know what you think. My motto is pitching, pitching and more pitching!!!

Here’s a basic lineup that would represent a shakeup. Of course, Buxton would take over CF when he’s available. I’ve got a keen eye on St. Paul and Wichita and there are myriad good prospects. Here’s a take on a new lineup and a fresh start:

3B- Jose Miranda

SS- Jorge Polanco

2B-Nick Gordon

1B-Josh Donaldson

LF-Alex Kirilloff

CF-Aaron Whitefield

RF-Trevor Larnach

C-make a trade

DH-Cruz and Kepler

Super Utility-Luis Arraez

Release Jake Cave

Starting pitching: Release Happ and Shoemaker and replace with Dobnak and Ober. Griffin Jax could be recalled as the next option.

Bullpen: Bring up Thorpe, Vasquez, Farrell and Yennier Cano, consider Matt Canterino currently with 1.13 ERA in high A Cedar Rapids..

Replace Falvey, Levine and Baldelli. Bring in a competent veteran baseball manager such as Jim Leyland. I think he would be Franconia-like in incisive in game decisions, which have been sorely lacking from Baldelli.

Keep an eye on: Balazovic (currently injured), Duran (currently injured), Ernie De La Trinidad (OF, solid start at Wichita), Gilberto Celestino

The idea here is to create a more balanced roster. My changes could allow a dynamic base stealing element with Gordon, Buxton and Whitefield. The extra speed could be used to garner the Twins some extra inning wins by pinch running Whitefield when Buxton returns. My overhaul also ushers in the era of what promise to be exciting big league careers for Kirilloff and Larnach!

I see a very talented and exciting player in Nick Gordon. He had an electrifying debut with the Twins, stealing two bases! He also leads St. Paul in hitting with a small sample size. Plus his 2019 body of work was deceptively above average for a second baseman, with 29 doubles in 292 AB and he slashed .298/.342/.459. Current slash at St. Paul .333/.429/.611. Fun fact: Gordon’s OPS+ with the Twins is 246. Obviously mitigated by one game sample size.

Miranda is off to a sizzling start at Wichita with a .370/.400/.652 slash line. Plus he’s only 22 years old. 

Sano and Kepler would have to reclaim their jobs. They have had not helped the Twins. Kepler may have been resurgent before his injury, but I would go with my new outfield and find ways to use Kepler where he can actually help the team.

Twins Daily is my go to place for information on the Twins. I hope my contribution here gets your juices flowing as a Twins fan. We definitely don’t want to tap into the definition of insanity: keep doing the same thing over and over and expect different results. WIN TWINS!!!