Twins 10, White Sox 1: Twins End Season with a Bang, Arráez is the Batting Champ!

[nicksaviking]

I would have liked to see Varland and SWR get more starts this year, but at least Varland is sitting in pretty much the same spot as Ryan was last year. As disappointing as the pitching was overall, the last several weeks at least seemed to show a much brighter future for the pitching options heading into 2023 than it was during mid season.

[DJL44]

1 hour ago, TwinsAce said:

Still have 2 of the 3 for next year too.

It is interesting that the pitcher who cost the least contributed the most down the stretch.

Focusing on getting years of control of a relief pitcher is kind of dumb given the volatility of relievers. Just find someone who can fill in for the rest of the season. If they want to bring Fulmer back next year it just costs a little bit of money. Having control of Lopez cost them 4 pitching prospects. Fulmer only cost them a pitcher they probably weren't going to protect in the Rule 5 draft.

[mac098]

The positive: Luis Arraez has won a batting title for MN. This was something we needed extremely badly given how poor the team performed down the stretch with some weaker competition. I think if he had not been injured or more specifically, playing through injury in the latter half of the season, he could have really helped more. Also, it was nice not to see a Yankee win the Triple Crown. 

Negatives: Doesn't mean much when the team isn't in the post-season playing for more hardware. It also doesn't help that his stock is probably as high as it going to be from here on out. The only way it could go higher is if he were to win multiple batting titles before free agency. So this might be the off-season we attempt to flip for some prospective pitching and/or some middle of the rotation starters who need a team. 

[Verified Member]

The FO said they were inclined to piggyback starting pitchers this year. Glad to see them follow through in game 182.

[solomon1930]

20 hours ago, Blyleven2011 said:

Major leaguer  ( arraez  ) is definitely a major league allstar player ,,, 

Great bat ( bats like gwynn  and hits like carew  ) and hits do matter as he is more than just a good hitter he is our spark plug that creates excitement  in the game ....

 

Congratulations # 2 Luis arraez  ,  now go knock on the front office door and ask for an extension  ....

I became a switch hitter because Tony O  was my favorite player , I was pretty bad when  I first started hitting left handed but overtime I had a decent swing , I loved every lefthanded hit because of Tony O , 

Major leaguer ( ARRAEZ  )  is my favorite  twins player to watch since he became a major leaguer , 

He does have 3 more years of team control so no extension is likely, but he should get a nice pay raise 

from his 2022 salary of $2,125,000.  I think he deserves a 100% pay raise but it's not my money.

[Aggies7]

14 hours ago, bighat said:

Couldn't agree more. One of the lowest periods for me was the trade deadline. Watching a team that was clearly running on fumes mortgage their future for a washed up reliever and another injury-prone starter was just awful. At the same time, if they didn't make any moves the fan base would be equally outraged. Then Buxton goes down, Mahle breaks, and those series against Cleveland in September - just a bloodbath. Correa waiting until the team was out of contention to start playing like an All-Star was annoying, as was the general apathy on the offensive side of the ball.

But the worst part was watching the team run Emilio Pagan out there week after week in the middle of the summer.

Luis Arraez's .316 BA is the lowest league-winning batting average in 50 years. Might be an answer to a trivia question someday.

Emergence of Duran, Gordon, Miranda were the high spots, and I feel pretty good about Joe Ryan being a solid piece of the rotation moving forward. Not much else stood out on the positive side.

The end for me was the pulling of Joe Ryan in mid September after the 7th inning of his no hitter. A lost season, and the diehards who stuck it out were robbed of a chance to see history because of a pitch count. I think I watched a handful of innings after that the rest of the way.

[Aggies7]

14 hours ago, bighat said:

Couldn't agree more. One of the lowest periods for me was the trade deadline. Watching a team that was clearly running on fumes mortgage their future for a washed up reliever and another injury-prone starter was just awful. At the same time, if they didn't make any moves the fan base would be equally outraged. Then Buxton goes down, Mahle breaks, and those series against Cleveland in September - just a bloodbath. Correa waiting until the team was out of contention to start playing like an All-Star was annoying, as was the general apathy on the offensive side of the ball.

But the worst part was watching the team run Emilio Pagan out there week after week in the middle of the summer.

Luis Arraez's .316 BA is the lowest league-winning batting average in 50 years. Might be an answer to a trivia question someday.

Emergence of Duran, Gordon, Miranda were the high spots, and I feel pretty good about Joe Ryan being a solid piece of the rotation moving forward. Not much else stood out on the positive side.

Sorry double post 

[nicksaviking]

On 10/6/2022 at 6:42 AM, bighat said:

Couldn't agree more. One of the lowest periods for me was the trade deadline. Watching a team that was clearly running on fumes mortgage their future for a washed up reliever and another injury-prone starter was just awful. At the same time, if they didn't make any moves the fan base would be equally outraged. Then Buxton goes down, Mahle breaks, and those series against Cleveland in September - just a bloodbath. Correa waiting until the team was out of contention to start playing like an All-Star was annoying, as was the general apathy on the offensive side of the ball.

Mortgage their future? They gave up quantity, not quality. They traded one low end top 100 prospects and a bunch of lotto tickets for what everyone considered three of the best available pitchers on the trading block.

The effort made at the trade deadline may have been the HIGHLIGHT of the year, even if it didn't pan out.

[Nate Palmer]

On 10/6/2022 at 6:51 AM, bighat said:

@Thiéres Rabelo - I want to thank you for the fantastic game coverage this season. You, along with several other contributors ( @Sherry Cerny@Nate Palmer@Theo Tollefson@Matt Braun@Jamie Cameron, and many more) have done us all a great service.

You guys watched a lot of baseball for us - some good, some not-so-good - so that we didn't have to.

One of the main reasons I like this site is because I can log on at 6am ET every morning and see how the Twins did last night. The reliability is a big part of why many of us continue to log in.

Have a great off-season, and thank you again for everything!

Thanks bighat! Appreciate your support and kind words!