Twins Players Most Hurt by a Lockout

[Ted Schwerzler]

As things have dragged on and MLB continues to insist on keeping its players locked out, it’s becoming increasingly likely that we won’t have baseball as scheduled. Spring Training is almost assuredly not happening next week, but which Twins are hurt most by this reality?

With the lockout impacting only Major League Baseball, the minor-league baseball season can go off without a hitch. It was recently announced that Triple-A teams will play 150 games after adding six more to their schedule. Many minor leaguers are already down in Fort Myers, preparing for the 2022 season. Unfortunately, a handful of top prospects will start the year on the farm but can’t join their teammates.
 
In my opinion, the guys hurt most by Major League Baseball’s lockout are those recently-added to the 40-man roster but not yet big-league mainstays. Not only do they not get a traditional Spring Training, but they can’t start the minor league season on time and are not allowed access to club facilities either. For Minnesota, that group includes some pretty big names:
 
Jordan Balazovic
Balazovic is currently the Twins top pitching prospect. He was at Double-A in 2021 and should be expected to reach Triple-A this season quickly. He’s a hard thrower that can push 97-mph and has the chops to be a top-of-the-rotation arm. Balazovic missed time last year due to injury so being delayed out of the gate is sub-optimal.

Cole Sands
Like Balazovic above, Sands missed time on the Injured List in 2021. He was dominant at Double-A and should jump up to Triple-A quickly. He still needs to reign in the walks, but this is a rotation arm with plenty of strikeout ability. Sands will be 25 midway through the 2022 campaign.
 
Drew Strotman
Half of the return in the Nelson Cruz trade, Strotman spent all season at Triple-A. He walked way too many batters, and the ERA is a testament to that, but he’s got strikeout ability and should be an option for the Twins shortly. Continued acclimation to the new organization and a spring training showing on the big league side would’ve been ideal.
 
Chris Vallimont
Arguably the pitcher needing the most refinement from this group, Vallimont has massive strikeout stuff with significant command issues. Working on the big-league side during a traditional spring training would have been invaluable. He’s probably a relief arm, but it would have been great to see what he could have done in March.
 
Josh Winder
Maybe Minnesota’s most slept-on pitching prospect, Winder looks the part of a difference-maker. He doesn’t give up free passes, and he mows down plenty of batters. Home runs burnt him in three of four starts at Triple-A, but he too should settle in as a nice option for the Twins soon.

Jose Miranda
Last season’s prospect darling, Miranda went from off-the-radar to top-100 prospect in the blink of an eye. He crushed at Double-A and then continued doing so at Triple-A. He’s probably sniffing a roster spot on Opening Day, but that gets much tougher without a traditional spring training and lack of runway to make his case.
 
Royce Lewis
After missing two seasons of games due to Covid and a torn ACL, Lewis not being able to immediately be back on the diamond isn’t good. Having him prove it in game action is where all parties want him to be, so sitting idle on the 40-man is disappointing. This is a big year for the former top prospect, and getting him going quickly is a must.
 
Trevor Larnach
Dealing with injury last season, Larnach found himself struggling and sent back to Triple-A. He was soon hurt, prematurely ending his season He should be a significant contributor in Minnesota’s lineup this year, but we’ll have to wait on what a healthy version looks like.

It’s disappointing that these guys, and a few others with youth on their side, won’t get to hit the ground running in 2022. We all want baseball back, and I’m sure they’re itching for it the most.

MORE FROM TWINS DAILY
— Latest Twins coverage from our writers
— Recent Twins discussion in our forums
— Follow Twins Daily via Twitter, Facebook, or email

View full article

[bean5302]

I'm not sure that's true. The players I think the lockout hurts most are those on the fringe. The 40 man guys who cannot play or get a shot in the MLB. Meanwhile, the minor league players can continue to advance and those appearantly fringey guys may never get their chance at the big show as a result. 

[Rosterman]

Most all of these guys would be reporting to spring training right now and getting a jump on getting in shape with hopeful early game action. The fact that they can't even play in minor league games will hurt them. And that they have to go thru spring training before they can report to AAA/AA ball. 

 

[Dman]

And Lewis misses even more time.  He has an uncanny ability to miss seasons. Well hopefully we see at some point this year and he gets on track.

[RJA]

I agree it hurts the recent additions to the 40 man as they are hoping that a strong spring training performance will earn them a roster spot or early call up.  I think this is especially true of our young pitchers.  This is clearly a year when there are spots available (as of now anyway) and if spring training is truncated, they will have much less of a chance to earn a roster spot.  Actually, the current labor dispute is the worst possible situation for the Twins as a whole, with no clear starting rotation, no shortstop, loads of young prospects who need a chance to show what they can do, and no ability to make trades until what looks like will be the very last minute this spring.  Not doing anything last fall in the free agent or trade market might very well come back and bite the Twins this spring.

[Trov]

I am not sure how the lockout works with the guys on the 40 man, but not yet called up to MLB level.  I would assume they are still part of the lockout.  For those not on the 40 man, to my understanding they will still report to FL, do their work outs and do the minor league ball thing, just without the guys on the 40 man roster.  

So if they are not on the 40 man, I think they will benefit from the lock out, as they will get more training with the coaches, as 40 less guys will be around during this time of year. 

[wsnydes]

Lewis being unable to get on the field is a pretty big deal at this point.  It's just setback after setback, kinda crazy circumstances.  He's still pretty important to the organization, he needs to get on the field.

[DocBauer]

IF I were the  long-winded type who jumped up on a soapbox once in a while, (wink-wink, nudge-nudge), I'd pause for a moment to just yell out that I'm sick of covid and all that we have lost and all that has transpired over the past couple of years, and then I would rant a bit more specifically about baseball and the lost 2020 milb season and the affect that has had on the game in general, and specifically our beloved Twins and the development of their prospects and their grand plan to build a staff, without leaving out the various position players who have lost so much time as well. And then I'd rant some more about the CBA and both the players and owners further strangling the great game of baseball with their obtuse ways of thinking, especially with how the past couple of years have played out in society in general, and baseball specifically. I might even go so far off the deep end that I might proclaim something to the effect of actually missing Bud Selig as commissioner. Could I really say something like that???

But since I'm NOT that type...(cough-cough)...I will only concentrate on the OP.

One of the great travesties about the ongoing lockout and CBA arguements...is "travesty" too harsh?...is the affect on young prospects on the 40 man rosters who have already missed so much time. Now, if things suddenly get settled over the next couple of weeks, things can get back to normal fairly quickly and ST and the season can get underway. But if it drags on, ST will begin for milb and those players will continue on as normal, preparing for 2022. But all the young talent,for the Twins and everyone else that is less important, (hehe), on the 40 man will be stuck sitting at home and losing further rehab and developmental time.

Already, there are non-union ballplayers in Ft Myers working out, ramping up, and getting ready for 2022. These may be somewhat informal workouts at this point, but you can bet that guys like Balazovic, Strotman and others would already be hard at work getting stretched out and getting prepared. And Lewis is probably the biggest loser of them all if this drags on. No matter his MVP finish in the AFL at the end of 2019. No matter his work and development in 2020 over at St Paul, he lost 2021 due to his unfortunate knee injury. And above probably any prospect, he needs time, rehab, guidance, and time to ramp up and get ready. And that is a HUGE bummer right now.

 

[Trov]

11 hours ago, DocBauer said:

IF I were the  long-winded type who jumped up on a soapbox once in a while, (wink-wink, nudge-nudge), I'd pause for a moment to just yell out that I'm sick of covid and all that we have lost and all that has transpired over the past couple of years, and then I would rant a bit more specifically about baseball and the lost 2020 milb season and the affect that has had on the game in general, and specifically our beloved Twins and the development of their prospects and their grand plan to build a staff, without leaving out the various position players who have lost so much time as well. And then I'd rant some more about the CBA and both the players and owners further strangling the great game of baseball with their obtuse ways of thinking, especially with how the past couple of years have played out in society in general, and baseball specifically. I might even go so far off the deep end that I might proclaim something to the effect of actually missing Bud Selig as commissioner. Could I really say something like that???

But since I'm NOT that type...(cough-cough)...I will only concentrate on the OP.

One of the great travesties about the ongoing lockout and CBA arguements...is "travesty" too harsh?...is the affect on young prospects on the 40 man rosters who have already missed so much time. Now, if things suddenly get settled over the next couple of weeks, things can get back to normal fairly quickly and ST and the season can get underway. But if it drags on, ST will begin for milb and those players will continue on as normal, preparing for 2022. But all the young talent,for the Twins and everyone else that is less important, (hehe), on the 40 man will be stuck sitting at home and losing further rehab and developmental time.

Already, there are non-union ballplayers in Ft Myers working out, ramping up, and getting ready for 2022. These may be somewhat informal workouts at this point, but you can bet that guys like Balazovic, Strotman and others would already be hard at work getting stretched out and getting prepared. And Lewis is probably the biggest loser of them all if this drags on. No matter his MVP finish in the AFL at the end of 2019. No matter his work and development in 2020 over at St Paul, he lost 2021 due to his unfortunate knee injury. And above probably any prospect, he needs time, rehab, guidance, and time to ramp up and get ready. And that is a HUGE bummer right now.

One thing I would point out, is those young prospects on the 40 man rosters get votes for contracts and they count just as much as much as the 10 year vets.  I am not saying they should vote for a contract the union is against, as they will have to live with it, but as someone who is in a union right now dealing with contract talks, not everyone has the same motivation for a contract.  

Personally, I think the rank and file lower talent players would care more about league min pay, and getting a salary floor, even if it came with a cap.  If there is a cap, this will not hurt the low level talent getting paid, but only the very top few players that make crazy money.  However, with a floor, some teams will have to spend money, so they will spend more on mid level talent players because it has to be spent.  

What got us to this point is the top players get paid, but the mid level to lower level talent is losing their market share of the money, and they are upset.  It used to be mid level talent was still getting big money, but teams adjusted to not paying them higher money, just because they are the top FA of the season, when the next class has say 10 players better.  Teams learned to not spend big in one year of weak free agents.  

Players think that if allow more spending by rich teams this will help all players make more money from every team, but that makes no sense.  If this lockout lasts well into the season, the players that have just started making mlb level money will start to feel the pressure of no paychecks.  However, if MLB tries to go that route, they will hurt the game as well.  I think we are going that route, as both sides want to beat the other side and win the deal in the fan's eyes as well. It will backfire I believe and they will be in for a rude awaking when the game finally does return. 

[TwinsDr2021]

1 hour ago, Trov said:

What got us to this point is the top players get paid, but the mid level to lower level talent is losing their market share of the money, and they are upset.  It used to be mid level talent was still getting big money, but teams adjusted to not paying them higher money, just because they are the top FA of the season, when the next class has say 10 players better.  Teams learned to not spend big in one year of weak free agents.  

I would add another thing that got MLB to this point is analytics. Take Brian Dozier for example, here is a guy that hit 42 homers at age 29 and 34 at age 30, and has only made 30 million in his career. In the past at 32 he probably would have gotten better than 9 million 1 year contract.

Stuff like this is good for mid to low revenue teams but....

[Major League Ready]

2 hours ago, TwinsDr2021 said:

I would add another thing that got MLB to this point is analytics. Take Brian Dozier for example, here is a guy that hit 42 homers at age 29 and 34 at age 30, and has only made 30 million in his career. In the past at 32 he probably would have gotten better than 9 million 1 year contract.

Stuff like this is good for mid to low revenue teams but....

What's the "but".  Would it  have been good for the Twins, their fans or the game if they would have given him a 3 year $40M deal?

[TwinsDr2021]

1 minute ago, Major League Ready said:

What's the "but".  Would it  have been good for the Twins, their fans or the game if they would have given him a 3 year $40M deal?

No it would have been terrible for the Twins to sign him to that or really any contract. The "but" was now the players aren't getting as much of the overall Revenue because guys like that aren't getting the money and teams are smart enough not to pay somebody like or Rosario/Dozier for example and give those jobs to younger cheaper guys.

For example take Ricky Nolasco for example and what he got, Pineda has been similiar and can't get that. Good for teams bad for players.

 

[Major League Ready]

2 hours ago, TwinsDr2021 said:

No it would have been terrible for the Twins to sign him to that or really any contract. The "but" was now the players aren't getting as much of the overall Revenue because guys like that aren't getting the money and teams are smart enough not to pay somebody like or Rosario/Dozier for example and give those jobs to younger cheaper guys.

For example take Ricky Nolasco for example and what he got, Pineda has been similiar and can't get that. Good for teams bad for players.

 

You are absolutely right but why should we care about anything other than the good of the game as fans.  He still made triple what the average doctor does in 30 years practicing medicine.  Granted, the owners are the wealthiest people on the planet but why should we care if a player "only makes $30M" and retires at age 32-33?  Sign me up for that gig!

[old nurse]

17 hours ago, TwinsDr2021 said:

No it would have been terrible for the Twins to sign him to that or really any contract. The "but" was now the players aren't getting as much of the overall Revenue because guys like that aren't getting the money and teams are smart enough not to pay somebody like or Rosario/Dozier for example and give those jobs to younger cheaper guys.

For example take Ricky Nolasco for example and what he got, Pineda has been similiar and can't get that. Good for teams bad for players.

 

Nolasco pitched fro a couple of years at league average, Pineada has pitched well above league average but now has a 5 year injury history. There is absolutely no similarity in career between these two.