Omardog

Adding smart executive talent in the front office that can do better at evaluating pitching talent in the draft would be an enormous help. The Twins seem unwilling and incapable of drafting high end pitching talent.

In a word: absolutely not.

So $11M for one year of Gallo makes sense, but two year deals at a total of $15M for established bullpen pitchers are beyond reach? What am I missing?

Not even the executioner currently employed as third base coach?? He's gotta go!

To Sherry: are you no longer mentioning the name "Emilio Pagan"? Many of us Twins fans would love to rinse him out of our hair and baseball lives, but you're obliged to tell the game story. Pagan gagged again.

Sano is "no big loss"? I can't think of a loss that wears a larger uniform....

And the point of this list of "Five Most Tradeable" is what, exactly? Only Kepler is likely to be moved, the other four are essential pieces of whatever it is the Twins think they can do. It must be a slow news day if you're running filler like this...

Teams have stolen bases with impunity against the Twins for the past couple years, it's not a new problem with Jeffers this season. The catcher position is like shortstop--defense is the priority, not hitting. We'd love Jeffers to reach and exceed the Mendoza line but the observation regarding the team ERA is telling. Stick with Jeffers for the moment, use Sanchez primarily as a DH.

No team can expect good things if Sanchez is your number one catcher. I'm a Twins fan in Brooklyn and I've seen Sanchez behind the plate a lot--it is a no win proposition.

Moving Polanco back to shortstop is not "reasonable." We learned he cannot play the position in a reliable way, and after repairing his ankles he moved to second base and had excellent results last season. Why mess that up and return him to a position where he will disappoint?

There is no reason to look back at 1998 "fondly"--the McGwire/Sosa home run derby was a bad joke, and many baseball fans recognized it as such. There was nothing real about those two visibly juiced-up freaks blowing past Ruth and Maris on their way to obscene, farcical home run totals for the season. If that sort of home run race excited you, I bet you're now a fan of monster trucks.

That would be "Happ"

This article is so dispiriting...like many Twins fans I'm completely fed up with Falvey/Levine bottom feeding for a starting rotation. We will need to trade for front line starters, but it should be for a couple Maeda-level starters and will necessitate giving up Brustar-level talent. Stop with the Shoemakers and Happy, already!!

If this front office is averse to seven-year deals for premium players age 27, we are doomed to mediocrity.

There is no way on Jah's green earth that Rodriguez signs for a mere $12M. The qualifying offer for the Red Sox is $18M and they sure seem likely to make that offer at a minimum. Signing Big Mike Pineda is a no brainer--get it done. But please: SPEND WHAT IS REQUIRED FOR A CREDIBLE COUPLE FRONT LINE STARTERS. We do not want more Shoemaker or Happ reclamation projects!

The Twins starting pitching makes me want to slit my wrists. Falvey/Levine should be fcking ashamed of themselves.

Falvey and Levine should be ashamed of themselves for what the Twins put on the field last night. The pitching was nowhere near MLB caliber--isn't a bullpen game like Thursday night meant to set up starting pitching for the following night? And the Twins don't even have a major league starter available?? I was at the game and it was thoroughly embarrassing, I can't bring myself to listen to whatever Hallmark card sentiments Baldelli came up with afterwards.

Max couldn't hit LH pitchers at all, we feared he was destined to be a career mediocrity as a platoon player, then he seemed to figure it out more than a little bit. He flourished for a season, we signed him to a five year extension that is easy, and since then he's struggled for various reasons. He is athletic, he's a legitimate backup to Buxton in CF when the need inevitably arises, and if healthy he can potentially blossom as the player we hoped for when the extension was accomplished. All of the foregoing does or does not happen under a contract that is easy to handle. I say do NOT trade Kepler, I say stay the course and look for the upside that made for the five year deal in the first place. There's nothing about the young talent we have that suggests Kepler is expendable. He's got more going on than the young fellas by reason of his short career to date, and I think he's an important part of the plan going forward.

In some ways it's hard to accept but Baldelli has earned a shot to turn this around in 2022. His lah-dee-dah approach to the horrors of the current season can be infuriating, but two division titles carry weight. That said, he's on a short leash next season. Falvey and Levine are also under scrutiny. This year's club wasn't "dealt bad luck"--it was instead plagued with horrible personnel decisions, starting with the worthless Colome and the other bullpen additions. There had better be a top to bottom analysis of the Twins scouting/player evaluation process, and an inquiry into whether analytics are compromising us at the expense of actual, in person talent evaluation. (Question: how did the White Sox know Liam Hendricks was the guy, and not MLB's worst pitcher Colome?). Also: the Mets signing May for two years at $15M was a no brainer--where were we on that blind spot? There are at least a half-dozen top tier shortstops in the coming free agent pool; the Twins damn well better pay for oe of them to start turning this around.

We want to do better than this.

Watching the Rooker HR video makes one think: the Rochester TV guy might want to work on his HR call....what a bore.....

Castro is not a solution to the Twins dodgy catching situation--he cannot hit with any regularity. In critical situations with runners in scoring position he is virtually an automatic out, usually by strike out. The Twins have got to do better than Castro to be a serious contender in the division, much less the post season.

I'm a Twins fan living in NYC. I must disabuse readers of this excellent blog of one misapprehension: Tyler Austin is not a full-time player; he's not even a reliable part-time player. The Yankees gave him multiple opportunities to prosper and it didn't happen. Serious planning for the Twins 2019 season should not put any material import on Tyler Austin. I dare say there's more likelihood of a healthy Logan Morrison having an impact than with Austin. I believe we must let Joe Mauer ride into the sunset after a splendid career. He can still hit singles and doubles (particularly with runners in scoring position) and play first base, but he cannot deliver the power numbers required of a corner infielder...and that is a major problem. In the current style of baseball we must have power production at first and third. I believe Joe means to retire and all cheers for him--I say he's a HOF'er. I like the idea of signing Esobar; three years at $40M or so is reasonable in light of the history. I do NOT want to hear about the big lug Adams, that's not interesting. If Sabathia doesn't sign a short term deal with NY by all means let him know there are two guaranteed years with the Twins at a reasonable salary. The guy had a solid year for NY and is a clubhouse presence the team desperately needs. And now...c'mon Oakland!!

If Turley has the highest O.R.T.I.Z. score then the front office has done its job well.