Minnesota Twins Sign Joey Gallo

Well, the came out of left field .. I didn't see that one coming because well, it shouldn't have come. Need a right handed hitting corner outfield play and get a left hander. Just got rid of Sano's strikeout rate and now we beat it. (guess the good news is you can't hit into a double play as you strike out). I see no justification for this move.

But now we have him the first thing I would do is work with  Joey to level out his swing and try to hit more line drives. This increases his hard contact and batting average and reduces his strike outs. With his power there is no reason many of those line drives will leave the park anyway. On the plus side he seems to walk a lot and has a good on base percentage. Maybe we should bat him leadoff ?

Huh, TwinsFest must be coming up. Gotta show effort....

5 hours ago, beckmt said:

I don't have the hatred of this move that most of you have.  Kepler will probably be traded and maybe packaged for a pitcher.  I tend to like players who work the pitcher and the count, it tends to wear on opponents pitching staffs. 

As has been stated here, Kepler is what he is,  More concerned with the double plays he hit into than the rest.  A few more hits will bleed through,  but his exit velocity is not good, Gallo's is sure to be better, but less contact.  There will not be much difference with the second baseman on the edge of the infield dirt and the SS one step to the left of second base. You still have to hit the ball hard to get it through the holes.

Next, Kirlloff's surgery is an unknown, we have no clue on whether the player will recover from this. We all can hope, but this move seems to be more covering unknowns than a total bust.  Laurach and Wallner still have to prove they can play here, Laurach being healthy.  So for me not a great move, but more of a cover move, just in case.  If the season goes sideways we will have a fire sale, but more likely they will try and extend one of Gray or Mahle (if not both).  

 

So let's cool the angst and let this play out.  You could be right, but I am a long term we shall see.

For the FO bashers, with the pandemic it will have taken this long for the pitching pipeline to be build, we have about two years to see if this works, and cleveland had as many starters acquired in trades as in house developed. 

Well , the FO trades for pitching don't inspire much confidence in me.

18 hours ago, JakeBru3 said:

My only answer to your post is that Gallo has MUCH more upside with his bat than Kepler and yes he will SO but will walk a lot but also has much more power than Kepler. I don't think it's even really that close when comparing the bats?

Not sure what you think Kepler does that makes him a better hitter? Assuming you mean he SO less? But we could then just say Gallo grounds out to second less so between the 2 I'll take the one who hit's HR's every 16-20 AB's and take my chances.

At least with Kepler and the ban on the shift he has a chance to do better.  Gallo strikes out 200 times per year.  I mean with over 600 plate appearances in 2021 Gallo didn't even break 100 hits.  The shift doesnt field strikeouts. 

4 hours ago, Major League Ready said:

When I first saw the announcement, I wondered if the calendar had rolled a head to April 1st.  This deal makes no sense.  There has to be other deals are already in the works.  However, Verlander got a prove it deal after TJ for $25M and Bellinger just got $17.5M.  Gallo once upon a time produced at a level that would pay $30M on a long deal, especially with his defense and flexibility.

I think a big part of this is also Gallo's ability to back-fill CF.

Well, I wouldn't have done the Bellinger deal either. let's see how that turns out. And Verlander is a HOF level pitcher, apples to oranges.

1 minute ago, adorduan said:

Well, I wouldn't have done the Bellinger deal either. let's see how that turns out. And Verlander is a HOF level pitcher, apples to oranges.

I offered no opinion as to the relative merit of the deals.  You stated there was no such thing as an $11M prove it deal.  I simply thought these contracts may suggest otherwise.  Like it or not.  Some of these guys get paid because they once performed at a very high level and teams take a shot hoping they rebound.

This FO can't build a balanced quality roster.  They got lucky in 2019.

26 minutes ago, Major League Ready said:

I offered no opinion as to the relative merit of the deals.  You stated there was no such thing as an $11M prove it deal.  I simply thought these contracts may suggest otherwise.  Like it or not.  Some of these guys get paid because they once performed at a very high level and teams take a shot hoping they rebound.

Well, this organization has the market cornered on these type of signings....LOL

But if you close your eyes
Does it almost feel like nothing changed at all?
And if you close your eyes
Does it almost feel like you've been here before?
How am I gonna be an optimist about this?
How am I gonna be an optimist about this?

Are there any recent reports on how Kiriloff is recovering, or is it wait until Spring training to get a feel for that?

Hey Eric Hosmer is available??

With Sano and Gary Sanchez gone, the Twins must have thought they needed to replace those strike-out machines.   So, they got Joey Gallo to fill the void.   I’m going to need Ernest and Julio Gallo to help get me through the 2023 season. 

14 hours ago, prouster said:

You have to pay players. I don’t know why anyone would be upset about the cost. Players make that much in arbitration. Who cares? Do you want them to pay him the league minimum?

Personally, I'd like them to spend their funds elsewhere as stated.... but if another corner outfielder was really their priority.... they could have waited out the market.... who again were they 'bidding' against for this reclamation product?

Even Boras knows Gallo's future is suspect. Otherwise, he would have cast the Gallo bait into deeper waters... but he knew none of those big market fish wanted anything to do with Gallo. 

The Twins FO was just desperate and got played badly on this one. 

We all may 'care' a little more about this 11 million when the bullpen is getting thrashed during the year I suspect

Sounds like sano

5 hours ago, Riverbrian said:

This stuff drives me crazy. 

It's one thing to be disappointed in a front office in comparison with their peers. Or the most often used... They didn't do what I wanted them to do... viewpoint. 

It's another thing to suggest that they would pay 11 million when nobody else is offering anything. 

Would you pay $100 bucks for milk when it's priced at $5. 

The accusations that are made lack the important element of real life perspective.  

 

In 'real life' Boras gets teams to bid against themselves and capitalizes on desperation like any good business person does. 

Were there any rumblings what-so-ever about all the teams that were 'in' on Gallo? Does anyone think that his signing was imminent if we didn't jump in? Was Baltimore going to swoop in and offer 12 million a year out of nostalgia for Davis?

And again, even for the few that think this was a wise move and 11 million makes good sense...... do you really think that money would not have been better spent elsewhere?  Really? 

4 hours ago, chpettit19 said:

Do walks not count? Aren't people on these boards during every game complaining that the Twins don't work the count, walk, or get on base enough?

His OPS in Texas was .833 for his 6+ seasons, and over 2000 PAs, there. That would've put him 20th in baseball in 2022, tied with Xander Bogaerts who just got significantly more than $11 million. Maybe top 20 isn't "elite," but it feels awfully close.

But, again, for the 1 millionth time, I'm not suggesting Joey Gallo is going to come in and be the 20th best hitter in baseball in 2023. I'm simply pointing out that when he was in Texas he showed more upside than any bat in the Twins lineup not named Buxton. Jorge Polanco has a career OPS of .779. .833 is slightly higher than that, no? In fact, Polanco only OPS'd above .833 1 time in his career (2019).

He's a frustrating guy to watch with the Ks and BA. No doubt. Not a huge fan of that. But suggesting that he has no upside is ignoring a whole lot of previous upside. He was awful in NY and LA. Is that because he's fallen off a cliff and is Chris Davis now? Or is that because he couldn't handle the pressure there? The former means this is going to be an awful signing and he's hopefully DFA'd by June. The latter means he's at least useful during 1 regular season, and could possibly then be flipped at the deadline if he's back to OPSing .800+.

If you care about how someone gets their OPS you may not like him because of the lack of BA. If all you care about is that they get their OPS then .833 should be a little intriguing.

The problem is that if he has 'fallen off the cliff' he will NOT be DFA'ed by June. Not when they gave him 11 million and NOT with this front office... I think we can all at least agree that the FO does not cut bait easily on obvious FA mistakes

53 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

Are you suggesting Gallo will play first? 

No, I’m looking for a reason behind this signing. I’d expect Arraez would play first if he’s still here.

2 hours ago, Riverbrian said:

I won't argue with your last paragraph. I would have spent the money elsewhere. 

I will argue your first paragraph. Because if the money could have been spent elsewhere... there is no desperation for Boras to capitalize on. They are not going to pay 11 million for someone they could get for the minimum or on a minor league deal... Nobody is that charming not even Boras. The most likely explanation is the Twins actually wanted Gallo and so did somebody else.

Is it more likely that:

A. The Twins wanted Gallo and signed him for 11 million when they could have had him for the minimum because Boras is charming and they have no way of vetting information because all the people who are in the room are in on the gag. ?

B. The Twins wanted Gallo and signed him for 11 million because another team or teams were also interested. 

2nd Paragraph. People take these 280 character or less rumblings, twist the little crumbs of information to build unbelievable narratives. Apparently, the Twins front office is capable of making decisions that almost nobody over the age of 10 would make. 

The short answer is none of us will ever know and you could be correct.

But I suspect that they overbid because:

1. Teams don't usually share with each other what they are bidding (Boras fosters)

2. The Twins were a bit desperate to save face once they realized that they whiffed on FA (Boras knows)

3. Gallo future is suspect at best, so no true contending team is clamoring to include Gallo as a key member of their 2023 efforts. This leaves a bunch of mid and lower market teams and/or non-contenders as potential 'competitors' at best (Boras knew this; Possibly the Twins did too, but.... see #2)

Therefore at best.... there may have been another 3-8 million offer out there somewhere from KC, or Detroit, or Baltimore... or Pittsburg....

But again... none of us really know and you could absolutely be right Riverbrian!

13 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

Then I don't get the AK question. 

Replacement left-handed power hitter.

I think Gallo is a better player…primarily due to defense…than many here want to give him credit for.

Still, doesn’t seem to materially raise the bar, and the roster fit seems really weird. Couldn’t this money have been better spent elsewhere?

Let's see..... Gallo at $11M, Kepler at $8.5M, and Buxton at $15M. That's only $34.5M for 2 guys that can't hit and 1 that can't stay on the field. What can go wrong? In the meantime, guys that can hit and play everyday are too expensive....... yeah right!

On 12/17/2022 at 2:49 AM, adorduan said:

prove it deals aren't for 11 million dollars...

They are nowadays. You see what Bellinger got?

prove it deals nowadays are large 1 year deals to set the player up for a potential massive deal the next. Rodon got one last year