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especially after Arraez won a Gold Glove for his work at the position. Arraez did not win the GG, or any other awards, for his work at 1B. Vlad Guerrero Jr. won the GG at 1B and Nathaniel Lowe won the SS. Arraez got his SS for the created this season Utility Player position.

Be honest: who had Nick Gordon and Jose Miranda on their bingo cards as the meat & potatoes of the Twins lineup for the 2nd half of the '22 season? Give them credit, when everyone else went down and the team was spiraling, they went out there every day and gave it their all. Both have spent their entire careers within the organization and both are great examples of the talent the Twins can produce from the farm system. Seem like great people as well. Looking forward to seeing a lot of both of them in '23. Bold prediction: Gordon is going to grab that starting RF job in Spring Training.

The Twins finished 78-84, 3rd in the division and 14 games back of Cleveland. This year however I believe enough has changed for the Twins to win the division and get past the Guardians and White Sox. Now I'm way to optimistic of a Twins fan and usually come up disappointed but as always "this year is different." Below is a list of 5 reasons of why this team is a winning one. DIFFERENT TEAM The first and biggest reason is this team is a lot different from last season. We picked up Joey Gallo who I am very skeptical of but also understand the value he can provide if he can be even a glimpse of what he used to be. We added Christian Vasquez who should anchor most of the games behind the plate. Kyle Farmer was the first acquisition of the off-season and initially looked like a sorry answer to losing Carlos Correa. However this move has turned into a trade for a solid utility player. Michael A. Taylor was another trade that didn't require much but is an upgrade to the defense and a right handed bat to platoon against lefties. Finally we acquired Pablo Lopez to sure up a rotation and potentially make it the best Twins rotation in years. DEPTH The next reason is the depth this Twins lineup has. Last year the injury bug never stopped and got worse as the season went on. The addition of Farmer, Gallo, and Taylor provides solid option when players especially Buxton get hurt. With these guys it should ensure we don't have any situations like last season getting stuck with guys like Gilberto Celetino, Sandy Leon, Caleb Hamilton, Jermaine Palacios, Tim Beckham, Mark Contreas, etc. getting playtime despite not performing. ADDITION BY SUBTRACTION Keeping on the topic of bad players. The Twins should get more wins this season based off of addition by subtraction specifically in the pitching department. Guys like Dylan Bundy, Chris Archer, Josh Winder, Emilio Pagan, Cole Sands. All of these guys lost games for the Twins. Guys like Winder and Sands are still on the team but should hopefully stay down in AAA. Pagan will sadly probably make the team but at least have a shorter leash before the Twins let him blow up this bullpen. Anyway, Dylan Buddy while he did win 8 games for us still lost 8 as well and didn't go deep into games costing our bullpen. Chris Archer lost 8 games as well and only won 2. Josh Winder lost 6 although I really like him I just think he needs more time to get healthy and develop. Pagan lost 6 games as well and half of those were the heart wrenching ones against Cleveland. Cole Sands didn't pitch a lot but he still lost 3 games for the Twins. Now I know wins and losses aren't always a good stat to describe pitchers but I think everyone can agree these pitchers hurt the Twins way more than helping them. Thankfully the way the roster is shaping out this year with the starting 5 basically already a lock we don't have to sign this bargain bin starting pitchers. Made coming back from injury whether he starts or pitches from the bullpen will be a big help too. This leads me into the next reason. GETTING HEALTHY The Twins struggled with injuries all year last and it was hard to watch especially after the Twins were projected to win the division. I saw somewhere that Twins players missed a total of 1,410 days due to injury. That was the most in the MLB by about 250 days. Thankfully going into 2023 spring training guys are finally getting healthy. I believe this year will be different for a few reasons. With last year being such a horrible year for injuries it will now be high on the Twins radar. We are already seeing this with the Twins firing the old trainer. Guys like Kenta Maeda, Trevor Larnach, Alex Kirilloff, Ryan Jeffers, Jorge Alcala, and Tyler Mahle who missed a lot of time last year should be able to positively impact this team. Buxton as always is a huge question mark but if he can stay healthy he has true MVP potential. POTENTIAL Now I definitely have some hard Twins bias and way too much optimism but I think this Twins team is criminally underrated. Joey Gallo has the potential to get back to his Ranger days hitting 40 homers a season while hitting 450 foot bombs. Guys like Trevor Larnach and Alex Kirilloff have dealt with injuries early on in their career and we still haven't seen what they can do with a full season. Guys like Jose Miranda and Nick Gordon broke out and showed they belong on this team. The biggest potential however is the starting rotation. Joe Ryan has been a star but I think he still has room to grow. The 6' 7 giant Bailey Ober also looks to improve after his rookie year. Tyler Mahle fought shoulder issues and we haven't even been close to seeing the value we thought we were getting when we traded for him. Sonny Gray has been pretty solid and looks to continue his success hopefully with less injuries. Finally newest Twin Pablo Lopez is still only 27 and some tweaks to his pitch selection and change of scenery could help him be even more successful than he was in Miami. Now a stronger and healthier rotation should help the bullpen as well. The Twins bullpen pitched a total of 654 innings in 2022. That's the fourth most in the MLB. Compare that to the 2022 World Series Champions, the Astros bullpen threw 159 less innings. If Rocco actually manages well and lets the starting rotation got longer we should not have to watch as many bullpen meltdowns in 2023.

I feel bad for those individuals that continue to be pessimistic about the Twins chances in 2023. - The roster is, AT WORST, a push compared to last year's roster. By default, improved health will greatly improve this team. - With all of the injuries last year, they were still in contention until September. - The roster floor is higher. - Correa is now an asset, not a rental. - We have added a quality SP, C, and OF depth/flexibility really only losing Arrea. (Urshela's loss is debatable). - The AL Central is still pretty weak.

"Nobody truly loves this trade," Speak for yourself here. I love the trade that brought in Lopez.

This is why the Twins should start Buxton for all home games unless he's hurt. If they want rest him do it on the road!

I kind of agree with this. I would move him to 6th, but that's just picking nits. Future value being equal, I tend to rank the non-pitcher and proximity to the majors higher. That drops Raya and Prielipp down to 7 & 8. Regardless, while the system is lacking high end prospects, it is deeply stocked with 50-55 FV players.

Gallo has played a LOT of 1st base, and if Royce or Brooks are ready by mid season, look for Miranda to be moved to 1st. I'll miss Arraez bat, but we have several good options at 1st.

I read where there is also some discontent with Marlins fans regarding this trade. To me that means it must be a fair trade for both teams.

Personally, I would not want to deal too much of our farm system for a guy that will be here 2 years. The main reason, is we will have several in our rotation all leaving at the same time. If they all leave, then we will need to fill those spots with someone. You would hope we will have a few ready to step in, but we would run into the, untested guys again. I also am hesitant to trade our top SS prospects, mainly because they can move to other positions at MLB level, and as long as they can hit, which most have shown they can, I do not see a point in giving them up. I am not one that believes that either Gallon or Burns will make the full difference between losing in first round or not. Yes, it would increase our chances most likely, but how much better are they than what we can put out there? As long as we have health, we should have a decent 5 man rotation, and I do not think either Gallon or Burns will improve enough to be worth what we would need to give up. I would agree that with a top pitcher pitching top of their game can help carry a team in playoffs. However, just having the best pitcher in the matchup will not mean you win. We had Santana for several post season runs, but never won a series. The year we beat Oakland, many years ago, every one of the starting pitcher match ups very much went to Oakland. I mean our best pitcher, Radke would not have been slotted better than any of the top 3 for Oakland, but yet we still won. Yankees have had Cole last few years, but still no ship for them. I believe raising the overall floor is better than having 1 top guy. Dealing away all your assets to improve a little just does not seem worth it. Sure if you could get Gallon for Ober, Salas or Martin, and a third lower level guy, I would jump at that, but my guess it will take much more. I do not even think Burns could be had for that. I bet not 1 trade starts without Lee or Lewis being talked about, and most likely both, and more.

IMO, they need to be careful trading away the youth. While we have some depth, things can change so fast. And what will happen when it comes time to sign some of these guys? Are the funds going to be there? I do applaud what has been done so far, but there are some guys that are either going to have to be extended, traded, or they will be free agents in the next few seasons. If you trade your youth who will you have to replace them? I wonder if they could work out a way to trade Rocco? LOL

I think Lee will be ready for MLB well before Correa is ready to move off SS so he may end up manning 3B for a couple years. And honestly I expect him to slide in nicely there, so over the next 3-4 years I expect an infield of Lee, Correa, Polanco/Lewis/Julien and Miranda/Kirriloff. They should be good, and when the time comes to move Correa the parts may move in ways we wouldn't expect today. There may be another younger, better SS ready to go, someone like Salas, and then who knows what happens next. Don't get too far ahead, just let it unfold and enjoy the ride.

Opening paragraph: "With the trade of Luis Arraez to the Marlins, the Twins are taking a risk by swapping a critical bat in their line up in the hope of pitching depth. But as many analysts here have shown, the trade leaves quite a few questions. So is it possible the Twins know something about the health of their players that we currently do not?" Uh, yeah. Of course they know more about player health than we do.

There’s a lot of talk in the various Twins Daily posts regarding Miranda not being good enough at 3B nor Gordon being good enough to play every day. Already taking two big success stories from ‘22 & predicting failure for ‘23. Always looking for the next guys to come up and the grass that’s greener on other side of the hill. Miranda will be fine at 3rd and should hit in the line-up playing 3B 60% of the time. There will be opportunities for him at 1B & DH as well. Gordon was the 2nd best bat in the line-up over the course of the year. .272 BA - 28 doubles with limited AB’s. Solid OF defense - durable. I see these guys being a real important part of our core in Minneapolis going forward!!!!! Everyday starters!

Nice article. I too am an optimist about the 2023 Twins team.

Frank Viola and Brad Radke were also changeup masters. Approaching any of the three would be a great achievement and a huge asset.

The Twins pitching staff on paper is MUCH stronger than it was a year ago and it's not even close. That's in both the staff and in the pen. I don't even know how anyone can even think it's a push with how much it should be improved.

We are taking a big risk on the arreaz trade ... Who will be our sparkplug at the top of the order , the twins offense only had 5 players that hit Over a acceptable 270 average and now 2 of those hitters are gone ... If there is no offense and run producers , all the pitchers have to pitch like an ace ... Let's hope the offense can improve at clutch hitting and string together some walks , hits , singles , doubles , not just solo homeruns ....

The weight being placed on the shoulders of Alex Kirilloff is off the charts. I hope everyone is right and I am able to watch him be what we hope he will be.

I'm optimistic because the FO has responded to a year with unheard of injury with a level of unheard of depth.

I would hope that the Twins don’t put the expectation of All-Star performance on what (I hope) is his first full season. Making up for Arraez’ contribution should come from improvements from Buxton, Polanco, Gallo, Kepler who are coming off disappointing seasons mostly due to injury.

I don't know if we can draw any conclusions from this off-season other than the FO wants MUCH better depth at SP and OF. They never want a number five or AAAA starting pitcher pitching this year. They don't want to use their sixth thru eighth OF at the same time. Everything else is a guess.

is it, though? they're giving him first shot at 1B, but it's not like the Twins don't have other options to slide in there. Miranda, Kepler, Gallo are all options to play 1B if Kirilloff struggles at the plate or can't stay on the field. I think the pressure on him is more about "we love you mah dude, but if that wrist means you're just a slap-hitting 1B who misses a lot of time every season, then you don't have much of a future." The injury is it's own kind of weight: he's missed significant time on it each of the last 2 seasons and in the minors. If you have an injury that takes you off the field 3 seasons in a row, it's hard to say it's not a chronic issue that will impact your whole career, sadly. because I'm a big fan of Kirilloff. I think if he gets healthy he will be a force at the plate (.280/.330/.475 slash line) ripping line drives and playing an excellent 1B.

I believe Gordon will get plenty of playing time in 2023, but I don't think he is an everyday player at any position. He played almost everyday in Sep & Oct last year and his numbers, when compared to his overall numbers, were way down. For the season he finished with a slash line of .272/.316/.427, but his Sep/Oct slash line was .252/.298/.396. There are many reasons for numbers falling off, and over-exposure is one of them. He will be better suited to 2 or 3 starts a week and some late inning PH/defensive replacement appearances, about 100 games overall.

All he needs to do is hit and that air might over inflate him.

Oh my gosh, I hadn't even thought about how much fun Saints baseball is going to be this year.

My understanding when the new FO was put in place is we were going to try to build our pitching from within ala Cleveland. We have some guys that have had success and have some pretty good stuff. Ober has shown that he can not only pitch but pitch well at this level. At some point we have to let these guys move into rotation spots. Are they aces ... maybe not but.. maybe if given the opportunity. I do like Gallan and Burnes but is going to take a TON to get those guys.

Not expecting it, but it would certainly be a shock to fandom. I do think including a pitcher (Ober in your example) would be necessary as part of the package. Berrios had an awful year, but managed to stay in the games long enough to get 12 wins. Martin and SWR still have to prove themselves in mlb before we can use the line "getting teams to overpay. Just as he did when he traded Jose Berrios for Austin Martin and Simeon Woods-Richardson at the 2021 trade deadline." I see that statement a lot on TD - but it is not true yet. The potential is there, but we have seen potential fade away before.

I can learn to love a good player received in trade too.

I would start with the fact that Salas is a top 100 prospect. I would likely slot him behind our last top 100 prospect. That would put him 4th in the top 10 rankings. I suppose if you think Prielipp could be ranked higher. But I won’t. Salas is 4th on our list. I wonder how that affects our farm systems ranking with another top 100 prospect. Are we now higher then 15 or even 12 now?

Even though Lee is rated the 10th best SS prospect by MLB, he is rated the best hitting SS prospect. Lewis was mentioned as being just on the fringe of the top 10 SS prospects. Julian is #7 at 2B and rated the fastest riser from where he was in the rankings last year. Miranda was mentioned at 3B as having graduated from the top 10 3B last year. When you consider All World Carlos Correa is at SS and Polanco , a former All star SS is at 2B for the Twins, the future looks bright at the key IF positions. Kirilloff at 1B is at a relatively new position, but if his wrist heals, he should be terrific at 1B and hitting. And the Reds MVP from last year, Farmer can play SS, 2B, and 3B capably, that is one good infield. The OF is the best defensive OF in the major leagues with a platinum glove, 2 gold gloves, and Kep, who should have won a gold glove manning the OF. I really don't see any great fielding prospects ranked by MLB, but Rodriguez, Martin, Larnach and Wallner are all very promising outfielders. The Twins have no highly ranked prospects at catcher, I suggest the Twins trade with the Pirates who have 2 highly ranked catching prospects and I prefer Henry Davis for his strong arm, The Mets also have 2 top catching prospects, but I imagine Alverez is untouchable, since he is the number 1 prospect in the overall rankings. Parada may not be a strong enough defender, but he is a possibility to be traded by a team which has 2 top catching prospects. The position players all look very promising for the Twins. Now ...about those young pitching prospects for the Twins....none are ranked vey high except Raya and he is several years away at best. I'll end on a positive note with 2 words. Jhoan Duran.

For me he is really tough to slot. I would have him anywhere from 4 to 8. It is hard for me to compare pitchers to position players. If you just skip pitchers I would have him at number 4 because I think he can be a solid defender, he has a good eye at the plate, can hit and hopefully hit for power. He was a bit down with the bat at High A so it makes one wonder a bit about the hit tool but he is also only 19 and already at high A so that is a plus as well. If the bat breaks out he is a top 5 prospect for sure whether he sticks at short or not for me. If the bat stalls then he drops. Man he is big for 19 years old.. Happy to have a player with his upside to watch at High A, which will need all the good players they can get.

I would put in him right field and use him in center to cover for Buxton.

IMO if you want to trade Kepler and you want a solid reliever, sign a free agent like Fulmer who costs less than Kepler, and trade Kepler for a prospect. Same result but you get a prospect.

The success of this trade will be based on how two players perform in 2023 and beyond. First, will Lopez be at least a solid #2? And second, how will AK perform as hopefully, their starting first baseman? If finally healthy, he can push the results of this trade onto the positive side of the ledger.

i think you're right. And the really don't want to see 8-10th choice starting in the OF...

I’d have to concur. I understand that it’s a bit more work, but the list should almost be pitchers and fielders (2 lists). I think Seth started to do that some last year, mostly because because we all perceive the two very differently.

Agree Ted. In Minnesota, “butts in the seats” is more a function of winning than in a lot of/most other markets. So winning trumps everything. Having said that, losing with a boring team…..well that is the worst possible scenario. If the Twins don’t compete, Lopez, no matter how he pitches, cannot save kick save attendance from the likes of Gallo, Kepler, Taylor, Farmer and an out-of-the-lineup Buxton. As they say, “you pay your money, and you take your chances”.

Such an odd article that is pure speculation.... Obviously, they know more about their players health than the general public but that doesn't mean there are any serious health issues. They traded Arraez to Miami because he doesn't have a defensive position, he has bad knees / legs, he was at peak value, and they have several options of prospects coming up through the minors who appear to be better overall players. Kiriloff if he can stay health is a much more prototypical 1st baseman. Taller, more athletic, heft handed and hits for more power. Add in Edouard Julien, Brooks Lee and Royce Lewis and the infield is becoming crowded.

It's a real bad look for an org to put somebody with that kind of contract into the pen without giving him a chance to start. Pitchers get TJ all the time now and aren't automatically relegated to the pen. They're almost always just put right back into the rotation. It's not even about re-signing Maeda, but the perception they'd get with future FAs around the league. Those types of contracts aren't super common, but you'd struggle to sign another guy to something with inning or start incentives if you show you'll just throw them in the pen and cost them literally millions of dollars. It would be interesting if they approached him about restructuring his deal, though. Doesn't sound like they have any plan to, but it should certainly be an option if they feel they have enough rotation depth elsewhere. Ober is a really tough guy to figure out a plan for. He's done nothing at all to make anyone believe he can throw a full season's load of starters innings. He's a far bigger injury risk than Maeda is, in my opinion. Is basically established that much more than 100 innings just won't happen. He'd be the guy I'd piggyback off Maeda early. Or just be a general long arm in the pen. Or put him in AAA and cross my fingers he doesn't get hurt before he's needed in the bigs.

If (and that's a BIG if) the Twins really need another pitcher, IMHO I think they should wait until the trade deadline. By July (or even June), the Twins will know what holes they need to fill. The need for a position player might be far greater than the need for a pitcher or possibly the currently assumed starting rotation is over performing and Paddock has made a couple successful starts after his long recovery period. Leave the minor leagues alone for now. However, if a really solid pitcher or position player can be acquired by trading Polanco, Kepler, and Gallo, (along with one good prospect outside our top ten), go for it.

Castillo cost Seattle 2 top 100 prospects and 2 high ceiling prospects. I don’t think the Twins want to give up that kind of prospect capital unless they were moving a starter and another position player for most of that capital

I really like these two players and I think they are key to success of the team. I would trade Farmer before Gordon. I am with JD-Twins as a backer who does not understand the statements that diminish what they contributed.

Devin Smeltzer threw 140 innings for the Minnesota Twins. 9 Wins - 4 Losses Career ERA: 3.99 and he made the major league minimum and was never considered for a spot in the rotation of his own. Meanwhile, Dylan Bundy threw 140 innings for the Minnesota Twins in 2022. 8 Wins - 8 Losses: ERA 4.89. We paid him 4 million plus the 1 million buyout and he was never in danger of losing his spot in the rotation. If I was Devin... It would be hard not to extend a middle finger as I left for Miami.

Not sure. Probably not. But if someone were to offer a front-end starter, I’d listen. Right, I know. I’m playing make believe, so it’s not happening, but that’s kind of my point, and I think the point others are making. I wouldn’t shop him, and I don’t think anyone would, but if someone called with an offer I couldn’t refuse? I’d have to consider it … wouldn’t you? That’s really all I meant. For me, no one is untouchable, but with Lewis, as I said, I wouldn’t be shopping him, but if someone called and made an awesome offer, I’d have to consider it.. Especially since the Twins won’t go out and sign such a pitcher.

Really nice attachment showing the franchise position starters since the beginning. Brings back lots of memories. Back to when I first started loving baseball and the Washington Senators in 1954 visiting my grandparents in Washington. Eddie Yost (the "walking man"), Mickey Vernon, Wayne Terwilliger, Pete Runnels, on and on for 68 summers. Every year I get excited as spring training approaches. And 2 years out of 68, I got to celebrate my team being the world champion. But in all of the 68 years, I have been able to celebrate baseball., except the season of 68 when I was overseas in the army. I'm ready for another season to begin. And hopefully some of you will able to be with me in Ft. Myers to see the Twins play the Tigers and the Orioles and the Dominican all stars. Play ball.

I haven’t seen enough of Julien to see if the walks and plate discipline will transfer to MLB. I am excited to see him first hand in St. Paul and hopefully get a better judgement going forward. I think most are right though that Kiriloff is a better comparison for a Arraez replacement. I hope the fact that they moved him is a signed that Kiriloff is finally healthy and ready to product.

I would move Prielipp down only because he is coming off TJ and no minor league innings yet. For Salas I think that is good placement. Hard to argue with much of it overall though.