Minnesota Twins Talk

Seems to me like Buxton and Correa will be top 3. I'd like a bopper in that 4 spot, and as near as I can tell, Miranda? A Cruz-like cleanup would be awesome. What are the Twins planning here?

https://www.mlb.com/news/jorge-lopez-pitches-scoreless-inning-vs-red-sox?partnerID=mlbapp-android_article-share I've said since the beginning of the off-season that Jorge Lopez has a solid bounce back. Hopefully his performance yesterday is a sign of things to come.

Apologies if this already exists and I missed it, but I enjoy this ongoing log each year. I'll start it: Ben Rortvedt out for at least a month. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2023/02/frankie-montas-ben-rortvedt-yankees-shoulder-surgery.html

Who do you think will be the opening day starter? The veteran Sonny Gray? The new guy, Pablo Lopez? Or the young franchise building block, Joe Ryan? Who would you pick and who do you think the Twins will chose? I'd let Joe Ryan have the honor but I think they will go with Sonny Gray.

Do we have a schedule of which games will be radio only vs. televised? Sorry if I am asking something that has already been answered.

He spent a lot of time this offseason doing his homework, getting to know our pitching staff. I think he will be a big upgrade and will help our pitchers succeed. There’s a reason the Twins gave him one of the corner lockers in the clubhouse. “I think he’s, hands down, one of the best catchers in the game,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “He’s a leader. He’s a player that understands what goes into winning games and playing at a high level and he knows the types of things he can do to help our pitching staff.” https://www.twincities.com/2023/02/24/new-twins-catcher-christian-vazquez-here-to-help-everybody-especially-pitchers/

mlbtraderumors.com reports that the Twins have claimed relief pitcher Dennis Santana. He pitched last year for the Rangers. Royce Lewis was placed on the 60-day IL to make room for Santana.

Just finished listening to the latest Inside Twins podcast where they interviewed Pablo. What a well spoken seemingly great guy. It’s worth a listen. He’s one of my new favorites.

Saw this on Twitter yesterday regarding the origins of the current Twins pitchers, and I think it raises some interesting questions. No Major League team can sustain this level of external acquisitions in building a pitching staff. Just last year they shipped off Hajjar, Povich, Encarnacion-Strand, Steer, and others to get Mahle and J. Lopez, and this year it took Arraez to bring in P. Lopez. Brusdar Graterol was exchanged for Maeda, Chase Petty for Gray, and so on. Of course there is a flip side to this, as the Twins have turned Eduardo Escobar into Duran and Ryan Pressly into Celestino and Alcala during years in which the big league club was not competing. Lat…

Today, when I was scrolling through the tickets page on the twins website, I saw that a giveaway for a September 9th game against the Mets was a “ los twins” jersey giveaway. I have seen the “ los Dodgers and los reds” jerseys, but never a twins one. It probably is just a cheap t-shirt for kids, but you never know.

Now that the players have reported to Ft Myers, albeit with some interruption from the WBC, what are you looking for or at the most? Are you looking for the general health of last seasons injured players? Are you looking to see and get to know the new acquisitions and signees? Are you just looking for all things baseball? Vote and opine below!

https://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/270508/Bally-Sports-Parent-Company-Skips-Interest-Payment-Expected-To-File-Bankruptcy I just hope this doesn't affect our ability to watch the Twins this season.

Hope somebody takes charge, don't like the rotation idea. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2023/02/twins-notes-first-base-kirilloff-henriquez-rotation.html

Top 2nd 2 - 1, 1 Out Home Run Robbie Grossman homers (1) on a fly ball to left field. Mitch Garver scores. TEX 2, KC 2 TEXwin probability:47.7%(18%)

Seems like the Twins are just hoping to tread water this year. At least false hopes are not being advertised. No pressure on them whatsoever and the concern about Buxton staying healthy and whether Sano can finally be a consistent major league player are not even a factor. Only hope is Rocco's analytics.

Fangraphs recently released its 2023 top 100 prospects list and three Twins prospects made the list. They were Brooks Lee at 19th Royce Lewis at 55th Edouard Julien at 75th Those rankings are similar to other prospect rankings, so no huge surprises there. One mild surprise may be E.Rod's omission. Fangraphs cited his injury concern and high K% as reasons that he didn't make the list. But what caught my eye was the 47th ranked prospect, former friend Spencer Steer. Yes, Steer was ranked ahead of Royce Lewis. Now, I've looked at several prospect rankings and have never seen Steer anywhere close to 47th, so it's probably safe to say that …

Not sure why, but he is a good player. Does the need exist/ View full rumor

Hearing bits and blurbs from ST, I’m excited about our starting pitching. Maybe I’m a bit too excited but it’s a strong group, imo. And maybe I’m just thinking that because who is no longer here. But hearing that Ryan tweaked his slider and it’s looking good, Gray is strong. Mahle seems to have figured out his shoulder. Maeda has no restrictions. And new acquisition with Lopez. And we can’t discount Ober. While some say we need an ace and won’t win without one, something I don’t necessarily disagree with. But, I don’t think we need that one pitcher who is a career ace. We just need one or two of our pitchers to have a really great year, maybe even an ace-like season. I th…

That is one fine dog!

Link Another Souhan article that's worth checking out. In this article regarding Nick Gordon, he leads this article with an interesting (and true) thought, "Nick Gordon's development into a valuable super-utility player became one of the highlights of the Twins' 2022 season. To reward him, they traded for two players to reduce his role." They added Michael A. Taylor and Kyle Farmer who can be backups at multiple positions too. A big part of the conversation - as it usually does - goes to his weight. He noted that earlier in his career, he was playing at 185. However, his bouts with gastritis had him down to below 160 pounds. They figured it out and …

Sure hope he is there to really put in time with these guys on Base running, Always respected Paul as one of the best base runners and Smartest, Nice pickup front office

https://www.mlb.com/twins/news/rocco-baldelli-expects-deeper-starts-from-twins-pitchers

I think after the Solano signing it is very likely that Trevor Larnach starts the season in St. Paul and Nick Gordon is the opening day DH. If you would have told someone in 2020 that Nick Gordon would be the opening day DH three years later I would have told you you were crazy. Although DH will be a revolving door of players, I think Opening Day will be the A+ lineup. Barring everyone leaves Ft. Myers healthy, this is a great opening day lineup. Buxton CF Polo 2B Correa SS Gallo LF Miranda 3B Kiriloff 1B Gordon DH Vasquez C Kepler RF

If you're looking to find an excuse to watch the World Baseball Classic (WBC), there are some familiar faces to be on the lookout for... Andrew Albers (P) - Canada https://www.mlb.com/world-baseball-classic/roster/canada No sign of Justin Morneau. I was thinking he might join Larry Walker on their coaching staff, but it doesn't look like he's part of the team. Vance Worley (P) - Great Britain YES! The Vanimal! https://www.mlb.com/world-baseball-classic/roster/great-britain Danny Valencia (IF) - Israel https://www.mlb.com/world-baseball-classic/roster/israel Andrelton Simmons (IF) & Jonathan Schoop (IF) - Netherlands https://www.mlb.com/world…

Link Jim Souhan wrote about Matt Wallner's background and got some fun quotes about playing at home. How he gets to the big leagues in 2023 will be interesting. Consider that Max Kepler, Joey Gallo, Byron Buxton, and Michael A. Taylor will be on the roster. Nick Gordon is out of options and broke out in 2022. He'll be on the roster. Trevor Larnach and Alex Kirilloff are in the picture. Matt Wallner, Gilberto Celestino and Mark Contreras will bein St. Paul getting ready to help if needed. As we know, Wallner has struck out a lot and did so in his month in the big leagues last year. But his manager says that he has something that should really help him when he d…

Link Jim Souhan started covering the Twins as a beat writer about 30 years ago. He has covered Kirby Puckett and Torii Hunter. Now, he's writing about Royce Lewis and using those two players for the type of player and leader that Royce Lewis can and will be. It's his personality. It's his joy. It's his work ethic. It's his charisma. It's that he doesn't care where he plays, just that he can help the team win, and win championships. Having known Royce going back to 2018, there's no question he has an "It Factor." He gets it, and he truly loves the game. It was good to see video of him running some sprints. Here are a couple of the quotes from the ar…

As we all know, many rule changes are coming to MLB in 2023, including banning the shift. That could greatly impact players like Max Kepler or Joey Gallo, who are extreme pull hitters. Kepler and Gallo had outstanding 2019 seasons, the year of the juiced ball. But they have both been sub-par since, albeit Kepler has struggled with injures. The twins took a risk on Gallo this off-season, singing him to an 11m$ deal, betting that he would hit for a higher average now that the shift is banned, after hitting only 160 last year. The shift being banned will most likely give Kepler and Gallo a few more hits, but how much will it improve their play?

The first four SP’s for the Twins are thankfully an obvious lock this season in Gray, Lopez, Mahle, Ryan. The question remains, who gets the 5th spot? Not only does this affect the rotation but also the bullpen as whoever doesn’t get the last spot will probably be sent to the bullpen. In Ober’s case he could be sent back to AAA. Maeda SP: Maeda’s 2020 season was amazing although it was in a shortened season. 2021 was a step back but he was dealing with injury before Tommy John hit. He’s shown #1 starter material. The issue is how effective he is two years older and recovering from Tommy John. Ober SP: Ober didn’t have too bad of a season last year but …

Corbin Burnes is upset with Brewers per MLB Trade Rumors. A trade could be incoming, should the Twins jump in on the opportunity? Here is my proposal (it will probably take a lot to get a deal done) Brewers get: Lewis, Rodriguez, Winder, Julien, and Maeda Twins get: Corbin Burnes This trade was listed as a moderate overpay on BTV. However I feel like because of the high level hitting prospects that are being given up could get the deal done. We have a logjam in the infield and corner outfield spots so it makes sense and I would rather have Lee over Lewis or Julien. View full rumor