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Is that you, Jason Kornhaber? @RandBalls Stu

This feels like a more well-rounded team than other of recent vintage. The starting rotation is easily the deepest it's been in a long time, and while it might not have the high-end of say, the Johan days, it has playoff-caliber starters going much deeper. the bullpen at least one elite performer and several quality options. the lineup looks to be fairly deep with an array of options: not relying on a purely Bomba Squad or Piranas methodology to get get runs. With some of the platoon/bench players they've added, it looks to have better R-L balance than last season (even if they got there in an odd way), and there's much more depth for if/when injuries strike. There's definitely top-end talent on this team: Buxton and Correa are both capable of MVP seasons, and while it's maybe stretching it a little to use Maeda's short pandemic year run to Cy Young contention as a true benchmark, every starter in the rotation is capable of having an all-star season if things go their way. We've seen it before that when a couple of guys have the big year at the same time it can get very interesting. (1991 Scott Erickson and Kevin Tapani had their best years as a pro at the same time that Jack Morris had a return to a classic Jack Morris season; twins have only had 3 starters all achieve an ERA+ of 125 at the same time once since 1991, and that was the pandemic year of 2020...and two of those guys made less than 10 starts. Mahle, Gray, Lopez, and Maeda have all hit that level before and all but Maeda have done it multiple times. Could Ryan join that club?) Duran is a monster at the back end of the bullpen. It's spring, so hope is eternal. I choose to look on the positive side (especially since there's not a lot that can be changed at this point. Why not look for the better possible outcomes?)

As for being "cheap", I follow a lot of baseball. The Pohlads are 100% mediocre, middle of the pack owners. They're neither great nor awful. In an offseason that saw the Twins bring back Correa, I don't feel I have a lot to complain about. Are they as good as, say, Milwaukee? I'd argue no but realize there's a huge contingent of Brewers fans that hate Attanasio for being "cheap" despite the Brewers having a payroll $10-15m less than the Twins in a vastly smaller market. On the other hand, the Pohlads are miles better than the Nuttings and Ricketts of the world, who are just awful.

I just banged on my laptop and tried new ear buds until I read the comments.....😅

All this indignation over a man's indignation? That kind of thing kind of riles me up. Almost to the point of indignation. Almost. Almost? Nah, let's be honest. I'm indignant. I'm all in.

Simply the fact that we are not penciling in Dylan Bundy and Chris Archer as our 3/4 starters tells you a lot about the changes from last season to this season. The up the middle defense should be very good, the outfield should be top 3 at worst and we have two very good hitters and with unknown ful season fielding at the two-infield corner positions. I like the makeup of this team a lot. Sure, there is some uncertainty with Maeda/Mahle/Lopez and yes Pagan as well as some health uncertainty with the position players. I don't care what the prediction sites are saying, this team is winning the Central easily if they regress back to the norm when it comes to WAR lost due to injuries.

I umpired Brooks' games from Youth Ball, into Babe Ruth and through high school. When he went to college, I got behind the plate during Fall Ball. Brooks has an incredible eye and command of the strike zone. In high school he just overpowered the opposing pitcher. In college he became a very disciplined hitter. Can't wait to see what he does next. Twins are now my favorite team...right behind my Giants. In my opinion, you drafted a really good player and a great person.

Great to see Pagan in midseason form!

Jim Pohlad was a businessman who inherited the role of Twin Chair from his father. Joe has been groomed for his role as chairman since graduating from Boston College in the early 2000's. Between graduation and joining the Twins in 2007, Joe was working at the League offices in New York. I am not aware of what his job/responsibilites were while with the League, but it certainly provided valuable experience and contacts when moving back to the Twin Cities. With 15 years of experience the Pohlad who is now in charge is a 'baseball man.'

This article should come with an Edourd Julien botched name variation Bingo card!

I don't know but you also need to realize 28 teams are asking the same question. Literally the only two owners in baseball who are throwing caution to the wind are Cohen and Siedler. Would it be fun to be a Padres fan right now? YES, because I'm an actual Padres fan (went to high school in SD). It's wildly fun! I love it! But I'm also pragmatic enough to realize the Padres are an outlier. If every team behaved that way, it only sets the bar further for teams to operate in a financially viable way. And objectively speaking, the Pohlads are middle of the pack. They're fine. They're not amazingly delightful but they're fine.

According to this article, Maeda pitched two scoreless innings today despite the Rays knowing what each pitch would be due to the catcher's earpiece volume being set too loud. When a player in any sport goes on a roll, they can become unstoppable without any explanation. And it's possible that's where Maeda may be heading this season. Sometimes a player just can't do anything wrong. That's just the way that some cookies crumble! Just enjoy it and don't fight it because Kenta's got game! I don't care about his stats as long as he's effective enough to get the outs. The rest will take care of itself. If you ask me I think that he'll be as good as ever because he has the mojo thing going on! Call it Karma or whatever you want. As long as Rocco pulls him out in time and doesn't push him any harder then need be, he will do just fine & will finish the season with a win loss record of about .600 - .650. BTW, afterward when Kenta found out about the earpiece volume he just laughed! The Twins need to get ready to show him the money! I think he's hungry for it! https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/mlb/twins-kenta-maeda-pitched-around-big-issue-during-spring-start/ar-AA1890gR

Interesting to speculate but like the rest of you I have no idea

Nice writeup! I agree with the others above. Just need solid production and eat innings if possible. Holding out hope the arm lasts the year but they probably should give him IL stint mid year to let the arm bounce back toward the end of the year. I am excited to have him back as I love his mentality on the field and personality off of it.

While the Twins have established a sad record of playoff futility for twenty years now, they have a record of remarkable accomplishment in another area: they have conditioned their most devoted fans to accept that the team will operate in a way that is likely to perpetuate that futility. That is, the Twins will continue to be cheap spenders. I already know well the eye-roll this complaint elicits among many of the Twins’ most devoted and intelligent fans: How can anyone say that now? Look at the money the Twins shelled out to bring Carlos Correa back (with more than a little help from some extraordinarily bizarre events). Look at the other big name free agents the Twins have brought in in recent years: Nelson Cruz and Josh Donaldson, for example. Look at how they secured Byron Buxton through the prime of his career. Carl Pohlad is not with us anymore. This isn’t 2000. Thank your lucky stars the current Pohlads aren’t the cheap hucksters like those who currently run the Pirates, Athletics, or Orioles, to name a few of the truly poor unfortunate souls. Certainly I’m glad the Twins aren’t being run like those ponzi schemes, but if we love this team, we shouldn’t let being better than the absolute worst be our standard for satisfaction. Right now the poster child for small-market teams spending like high rollers is the San Diego Padres. They are stacking their roster with talent by writing checks so large that even the late George Steinbrenner might’ve hyperventilated to write them. This is despite San Diego being ranked by Sports Media Watch as one of the smallest markets in Major League baseball, with only three markets (Kansas City, Cincinnati, and Milwaukee) being ranked as smaller. San Diego ranks 30th of all sports markets. Minneapolis ranks #15, But San Diego is not actually a brand new outlier and unique case in this. According to Spotrac.com, in 2012 the 5th-highest payroll in baseball belonged to the Detroit Tigers. Detroit is ranked as the #14-sized U.S. sports market, just ahead of Minneapolis. Do you know what else the 2012 Detroit Tigers did? They made the World Series. Check any sources about MLB payroll history and you’ll find other examples of teams in markets close to the size of Minneapolis or smaller making appearances among the highest spenders. The St. Louis Cardinals are in a much smaller market than the Twins and they consistently outspend the Twins and are very often in or near the top 10. They are also consistently making the postseason, with two World Series victories and two other World Series appearances in the span of time that the Twins’ playoff losing streak covers. This brings up another favorite rebuttal for Twins commentators who defend the Twins’ spending habits as reasonable: spending guarantees nothing. This is certainly true. Until Mets owner Steve Cohen came along, the Yankees were the poster-children of big-market big-spenders, yet they haven’t reached the World Series since 2009. Spending is never a guarantee of anything, but being among the bigger spenders is a bigger advantage than most fans seem to realize. Take a look at recent history (information I compiled using payroll information from Spotrac.com): Looking at these trends (and going back at least until the mid-90s shows similar correlations), it’s not much of an oversimplification to divide MLB teams into two tiers: the Top 12 spenders and the Bottom 18 spenders. The large majority of playoff game victories and World Series game victories- the kinds of things that produce the most fan excitement- tend to go to the teams in the Top 12 club. The teams in the Bottom 18 club are generally fighting for scraps. And before you get too starry-eyed that MLB’s expanded playoffs will change this dynamic, you should know that last year’s World Series teams were 2022’s #4-spending Phillies and #8-spending Astros. Every season, the Twins and most of their fans seem to hold this idea that since the Twins play in the weak AL Central, all they have to do is win the division and then get to the playoffs where it’s all a crapshoot and anything can happen. Well, look at that table again. The World Series is the last round of the playoffs, and World Series game victories are still heavily clustered in the Top 12 club. In fact, from 2016 through 2022, the only team to win the World Series that was not among that season’s top 12 spenders? The 2017 Houston Astros. Know anything about them? Maybe the playoffs are a crapshoot but going deep in the playoffs still tends to be reserved for the high rollers. There are exceptions to this, of course. The Cleveland Baseball Team famously reached that classic 2016 World Series against the Cubs and the notoriously cheap-but-scrappy Tampa Bay Rays have been perpetual contenders since they reached the 2008 World Series. But note one thing about those two small-spending scrappy organizations: they haven’t actually won a World Series in recent history (or ever, in the Rays’ case). Same thing was true for the much-revered Moneyball A’s of the aughts. This is not to say a cheap team can’t win the World Series. The 2003 Marlins ranked around #22 in payroll that year. You might also have stopped reading this already to tell me about the 2014 & 2015 Kansas City Royals. Well the Royals were out of the Top 12 club both seasons but even they- the microscopic-market Royals- bumped up to #13 in MLB payroll the year they won their World Series in 2015. Just one spot out of the Top 12. So it can happen, but the odds are stacked heavily against any team trying to win a ring while spending with Bottom 18 club. A person with weights strapped to their ankles can also still win a race. The Twins have been in the Bottom 18 every season this century save for the first two seasons in Target Field, and even in those years they were near the bottom of the Top 12 club (around #9-#11 depending on your source). Looking at the success trends in that table, it really should be no surprise that a team consistently in the Bottom 18 club would be the team to suffer a record playoff losing streak. They perfectly fit the spending profile of a team whose ceiling is an early-round exit in the playoffs. For 2023, I think the Twins have put together a roster that could win the AL Central. I also think their absolute ceiling looks like a divisional round exit, much like last season’s AL Central champs. I also don’t think anyone should be surprised if the Twins miss the playoffs for a 3rd straight season. Their offense needs a lot of things to go right and very little to go wrong. And Emilio Frickin’ Pagan is likely to be on the team. If the Twins want to get past the likes of the Astros or Yankees or any team of a similar caliber, they need a lineup that can put up a couple big innings against elite aces. But the Twins lineup only has two truly established elite bats, and both of them have well-publicized injury risk. While nearly every other bat has potential, it’s just not the kind of established potency that a team can rely on to deliver in October. I am more hopeful about the Twins pitching, but still think they would have to be regarded as underdogs against the elite lineups they would see in the playoffs. The Twins have an outline in place to build a deep-run contender. Every dimension of the team only looks one or two pieces away from looking very formidable. And I mean playoff formidable, not AL Central formidable. Maybe just one true-ace kind of starting pitcher, like a Justin Verlander, Jacob DeGrom, or Carlos Rodon. Maybe two more established, reliable bats in the lineup like Josh Bell and Mitch Haniger (whom Nash Walker of Locked On Twins said would’ve been a “perfect match”). All those players I named were free agents this past winter. Let’s imagine the Twins had outbid the teams that signed Rodon, Haniger, and Bell and landed those three. That probably adds about $60 million to the Twins payroll. Sounds absurd, but it would still only place the Twins around #8 in 2023 MLB payrolls. And it sounds even less egregious when you consider that the Twins are dropping $19 million on just Max Kepler and Joey Gallo in 2023, two much bigger gambles even with less money at stake. Even if you have quibbles with Bell, Haniger, and/or Rodon, the point is that spending some money on three or four more big pieces could take them from looking like a 2nd-tier playoff team at best to a much more serious contender. And the Twins don’t even have to spend like the much-smaller-market San Diego Padres to get there. They don’t even necessarily need to spend like the 2012 Tigers did. Given that the Twins have now locked up Carlos Correa and Byron Buxton for the rest of their prime ages, that they have 6 or more potential quality starting pitchers on their roster, an improved bullpen, and a lot of young offensive talent potentially on the rise like Jose Miranda, Royce Lewis, Edouard Joulien, Alex Kiriloff, Brooks Lee, and Matt Wallner, the time to make a big push for a World Series is very soon, Twins fans should not be content with starting the next 4 or 5 seasons thinking “we have a decent shot to win the AL Central.” They should take Carlos Correa’s mindset about building a championship culture seriously and demand that mindset be adopted all the way up to the Pohlad family. In a superb article for The Ringer in November, 2022, which I highly encourage you to read in full, Dan Moore wrote: “Over the past 40 years or so, every single team in all four of the United States’ major sports has increased exponentially in value—inexorably through all manner of catastrophe, and at an average rate that far outpaces that of both inflation and the S&P 500… Today pro sports teams rank among the most reliably lucrative, rabidly coveted investment opportunities there are. They’ve proved practically impervious to the busts, recessions, foreclosure crises, and plagues that have at the very least stalled growth in other industries.” The Pohlad family, like all owners, are sitting on a gold mine. All major sports teams, even the crappy ones, have continuously grown exponentially in value for decades, and Moore’s excellent article goes into great detail about the many conditions that make it likely that teams will continue to grow in value for the foreseeable future. I’m not even saying the Twins need to be a top 5 spender for decades to come. But I am definitely saying that they should be making a strong push for the World Series for the next 5-6 years and at minimum that probably means pressing into the top 10 spenders to make it happen. Twins fans should be content with no less. It is certainly a risk to spend so much money on a handful of players. If one or two suffers a serious injury that is a lot of resources flushed away. It could very well fail. But you know what else is a pretty well-established risk if your goal is to make it back to the World Series for the first time in over 30 years? Being in MLB’s Bottom 18 spenders club. The Twins have been trying that for over two decades now. An entire generation of Twins fans have now reached adulthood with no memory of their team even winning a playoff game. It’s time to take some different risks.

Can’t find this elsewhere on TD, Celestino has a thumb injury and will be out 6-8 weeks. As I understand, since he is on the 40-man roster and hasn’t been optioned, he will be on the major league IL (big league pay and service time). It would seem to me that Celestino could be placed on the 60-day IL and create a space for a non-roster invitee.

Here's the thing....he can languish in AAA as a starter, or make real money in the majors as a reliever

Be jealous … be very jealous … 🙂

Yeah, so this one I don't think needs the sarcasm header. :)

I am pretty high on Maeda, his covid year was awesome to witness. He was just eating hitters alive at 91 with pin point control and spinning the ball. He probably won't reach that peak again but he can be a good 3 borderline 2 going forward. He is not an ace and will never throw a ton of innings but he is one of the few pitchers in recent Twins history I would have actually had confidence in going into a playoff start. I hope he can stay healthy and get right by the end of the year, maybe he can be extended with somewhat of a discount because the team stuck with him through injury. Ryan/ Maeda/ Paddock could be a decent start to a rotation for next year.

San Diego isn't doing it with TV revenue. Their TV contract isn't very good. They're doing it by: Siedler is a crazy person in a delightful way He bought up a ton of real estate around Petco and then developed the hell out of it Why do you think San Diego is 60% the size of Minneapolis? The San Diego and Twin Cities markets are damned near identical in population size.

Over on MLBtrade rumors, we actually got a report on the public-held Braves revenue stream. Of course, would like to see a better breakdown, and would like to know what they get for TV money et al. But a good example of how much money a franchise generates, and still manages to lose money. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2023/03/liberty-media-releases-braves-financials-for-2022.html You realize that a baseball team spends much beyond their player payroll. Take into considering signing draft choices, paying minor league players and facilities, front office costs, stadium maintenance, any foreign training camps. Yes, we do consider the Twins cheap. But, I think, they are doing a record payroll this year. And last season they were right in the middle, 15th according to some listings (with perhaps $10 million keeping them from being a bit higher or much lower on either side of their payroll). Still consider baseball coming out of some tough times. The Twins did pay all minor league players and staff for the COVID year. Attendance was down. Advertising dollars had to be pro-rated, and now they can sell - finally again - 2023 correct costs for signage, jumbotron advertising, yearbook ads and all. Of course, the worth of a franchise continues to grow. And, looking ahead, the Twins still have a young roster, and a line of players that could replace (internally) up to 75% of the roster itself in the next two seasons, if need be (which I hope doesn't happen and the Kirilloffs, Larnachs, Lewis, Ryan, Duran, Wallners and more continue with the organization for 4-5-6 or mroe seasons.)

Question of clarification -- with spring training injuries, does 60 days start from the time the player is put on the IL or on Opening Day? Edit to answer my own question... From the MLBTR article linked above: "Players are eligible to be moved to the 60-day IL now but the clock doesn’t start counting down until Opening Day, which is March 30." So, unless they are willing to commit to Celestino being unavailable until Memorial Day, which is well beyond the 6-8 weeks projected, that 40-man roster spot isn't yet available.

Welcome to Twins Daily. The post has some fair points. The article was well done for what it wanted to say. A couple of quick reactions came to mind. The fans do speak through their attendance and viewing numbers. The Twins reaction this recent offseason was an attempt to address the foundational issues, whether that is better baseball or winning. The Pohlads and Dave St. Peter hope for much better numbers this season. Also, it feels like this post belongs to a November discussion related to spending and which players should be potentially added to the team. March is a time to speculate on the best hopes for the coming year and discussions of roster, playing time, and the typical anticipation of the coming games.

If he can come back Syndergaard like with a sub 4 ERA, 120+ innings, and 1.50 or better WAR I will be a happy camper enjoying a Happy Camper.

No audio. I think this was a test by John to see who is really listening to his reports.

No chance he should be a starter. Zero.

It’s hard to believe they are down to pay Pagan $3.5M… and yet wouldn’t offer Fulmer $4M. And a couple years back they wouldn’t take Wisler for $1M.

About a year ago it seems like the organization made a large pivot in strategy and seemingly are addressing several of the long held valid gripes dedicated fans have had. I'm split on how much can be attributed to the new owner in charge, our new assistant GM Correa or the combination of the two. A strong voice in a new ear is very persuasive. Boras is also giving good advise to help his clients. I don't count the first Correa signing as the change seems to have followed that. They were still trying Archer and Bundy at the time after all. It really started with being aggressive with prospects at the deadline. Even though it didn't work perfectly the moves were exactly what was needed for the season. While the offseason felt like a meandering walk in the woods at times they got their guy at every turn somehow. They deserve massive credit for that even if you want to poke holes in how they did it. I have a very different opinion of the Mets situation that can't be discussed in open media but the Twins nailed the value of the player from the start. They won an awkward situation with their approach. I struggle to see how anyone gives the offseason less than an A. In game changes remain to be seen but they are openly talking about adjusting the approach. Brooks Lee will see MLB action in the Bregman role if he stays on track. They have flipped to embrace trading value they have developed (hitters) to fill holes, mainly starting pitching. The #5 pick this year has a chance to be an ace that we could see in September or early next year. I expect them to draft several more college shortstop types after that not to being waiting in the wings but to trade to fill needs. We have roster debates where the winner will have to be playing well rather than options available. Old Twins do none of this, even under this front office. I will readily admit that they have been lucky in a few areas. The draft with Lee falling in our laps and the 5th pick this year were very fortunate. The Correa situation involved a lot of good luck and karma. Having all the injured assets seemingly past the worst of it at the same time is fortunate. None of that matters when evaluating the front office. In business, we are judged only superficiality by results. The proper judgement and evaluation is in the process and doing the right things to position yourselves when luck strikes and take advantage. The Skor North season preview did a pretty good job of laying out why they are so pessimistic about the organization but failed to mention or realize that the team had made a meaningful significant change in nearly every item they mentioned. It felt like Mackey wants in but Buy stock in this organization. They are hitting the peak of the competence/luck curve and are positioned as well as anyone for the next 5 years.

Yes. I think of all the candidates that Sands makes the most sense to transition to the bullpen. I just don't think his "stuff" is good enough to navigate through a lineup 2 to 3 times a game over the course of the season. He is already 26 and I just don't see him improving enough to be an MLB starter. On the other hand, I think Winder, Varland, SWR, Headrick, and even Dobnak have enough that they can become at least decent mid- rotation starters, maybe Dobnak as a backend guy. I even like to see Henriquez get a little more play in the AAA starting rotation, although I think he winds up in the bullpen eventually. My plan would be to start this season with Aaron Sanchez in the bullpen as a long man/multi-inning guy with Megill in the AAA bullpen as a late inning short man. I would have Sands filling a long man/multi-inning role in AAA to start the season to get him ready to fill that role at the MLB level when the inevitable need arises. This would be more of a transition year with the long-term goal to make Sands a regular bullpen fixture in a multi-inning role.

I'm not hearing any audio for this report. Earlier reports are fine, so it's not me.

Good job disparaging the FO Kornhaber but why no mention of how Baldelli is screwing this up by pulling EJ after 3 at bats? More genius spreadsheet management.

I don't know...my computer screens and spreadsheets are awfully appealing...

The three most important things in baseball are pitching, pitching, and pitching.

Speaking of spending money with no plan; I give you the Los Angeles Angels.

He just sat down in the chair... Go get em Joe. The organization is in pretty solid shape IMO. I believe that they are progressing in the right direction. If the Twins can develop young arms... I think they are and therefore will. The organization will remain in solid shape. I have no expectation that the Twins will ever be Padres like. However, If I was a life long Padres fan... I wouldn't have had the expectation that the Padres would become Padres like either. Go Twins!!!

Whether it's the Pohlads or Falvine or the combination, I like what they have done this year as a whole. The starting staff looks better than we've seen in many years. We have a better than average defense in my opinion, an offense with very good potential. Plus our depth looks very very good. Looking forward to an exciting season. See you at the ballpark.

They can, and likely will, move Canterino to the 60-day, when they can option him to AAA.

Tough break for Gilberto. He really needs to perform this year. The timing couldn't have been worse for him. He will have to come out of these 6 to 8 weeks of recovery strong... real strong. He has one option left and he was overmatched at the plate last season. He really needs to demonstrate 26 man worthiness for any team looking at their 26 man space next off season. He needs to demonstrate this 26 man worthiness at the AAA level because last year at the MLB level was very sub par. This was the last thing that Celestino needed. Larnach, Julien and Wallner should be in front of him for recall at this point. Castro, Garlick may even be ahead of him for recall at this point. Tough break.

2020 shouldn't be any gauge to measure any pitcher's worth. With the greatly shorten season and hitter's having difficulty adjusting to covid regulations, especially with a steady diet of AL & NL Central teams. It'd be hard for Maeda to live up to his hype. I'd be happy if he could pitch over 100 innings with some decent #s.

Because pitchers don't throw that slowly anymore.....not good to great ones. It's a different world than even 5 years ago.

MLB is now All Star Wrestling. Unfortunately, the Twins are Kenny Jay.

You can say this about every single player, so what is your point? Do the few games at AA really mean nothing? if he would have gone hitless and looked overmatch I guarantee those games would have been a hot topic among the naysayers. Those games mean something because it shows that the player is able to adapt easily and immediately to a higher level of baseball, something that might show the ability to continue to advance quickly.

How long have you waited to use that quip?

No matter how the ball is flying, this year's Twins feel fairly well-prepared to handle it. If the ball is flying like 2019, Buxton, Gallo, and Correa are likely to hit 30+ homers and Miranda, Kepler, Polanco, and Kirilloff are likely to hit 20+ homers. If the ball is dead like it has been the last few years, our elite OF of Buxton, Gallo, Kepler, and Taylor will eat up fly balls.

With all the pitchers coming in and adding velo, it's concerning that Alcala's velo is down. It's still early and I'm glad they are taking it easy on Alcala, hoping he can come back 100%.