rv78

I would not have a problem with signing Bogaerts. At least the guy can hit. What we don't need is a defense only SS. Any additions to the field also need to be able to HIT. With a stable full of young developing arms for the rotation already here I don't see them signing much when it comes to new pitching. Depending on what they do with Urshela, Kepler, Polanco a good bat at SS is the only way to go.

August 2022 Update The Twins were the benefactors when Brooks Lee fell out of the Top 5 and into the Twins’ lap at pick #8 in the 2022 draft. Well-regarded out of high school, Lee instead signed to play for his day, Larry, at Cal Poly. His college career got off to a terrible start when he sustained a major leg injury to his knee and hamstring while running. His leg injury was the reason a couple of other teams passed on him. If you didn't see it then you missed it. Maybe it wasn't as wide of a report as I thought but it was out there at the time.

It was widely reported that Lee fell out of the top 5 in the draft due to his significant leg injury he sustained in college.

When was the last time the Twins produced a legit full-time major league talent that was good on both sides of the ball? Mauer? Morneau? As you say, Buxton can't stay on the field. Sano was a defensive liability from day 1. Kepler can't hit. Polanco wasn't the shortstop they hoped for. Arraez can hit but his defense is suspect wherever he goes. Miranda hasn't played 3rd-base, his main position, enough to know if he's going to be decent there or not and with no 1st-baseman on the roster that may become his position due to default. Gordon looks to be a utility guy with no clear position that he is stellar at either. They say Lewis and Martin, both SS, probably won't be good enough to play there in the majors at least not long-term. It kind of looks like the Twins are drafting specialists all over the board. That's not a recipe for success and shows a real weakness in the Teams scouting department. Even Brooks Lee fell to them due to injury. Another thing they over-look that other teams seem to find important, but not the Twins. It's as if injuries are their door to a talent that they think they can steal. Then when it comes back to bite them it becomes their excuse to losing. It look to me like the FO is wearing their underwear on their heads because at times it looks like they have their head up their a$$.

If they don't go big, I'd prefer they don't go at all. My instincts tell me since they let Palacios walk they are planning a trade or FA signing to be a fill in instead. Palacios would have made a good stop-gap player to get to Lewis. Now if that is there plan they will have to look elsewhere unless however, I see no harm in using a combo of Gordon, Polanco, Urshela until one of Lewis/Martin/Lee can take over. This team is going no where in 2023 anyway.

The problem is they are being praised for their accomplishments by St Peter who oversees the entire organization. Why deviate from the "Plan" when your boss thinks it is working. The only person who can bring this whole mess to a halt is the OWNER and he seems to either be 1. On board with their decisions or 2. MIA.

Not surprising he was let go. The Twins have tried him as a starter multiple times and while he has shown a few really good outings he could never put it together over the long haul. As a bullpen guy, even though it wasn't many times, he was worse. I think his time to move on was here and the right decision was made for both him and the Twins. It's time to let guys like Varland, and Woods-Richardson have a chance.

Regardless if Rocco is making these decisions on his own or not, the FO has his back. They are joined at the hip. Just like the FO bringing in the washed-up pitchers that they stick with even when they are bad, they are doing the same with Rocco. It'll take the FO to be fired for Rocco to be fired. St Peter has already said that they have done a really good job and will run this organization for many years to come. When the head of your operations can't see how bad they've been there is little hope for change near term. Unfortunately it'll take another season or two or three or who the H E double LL toothpicks knows of failed expectations before any changes are made in the FO or management and coaching.

The Derek Falvey-led front office of the Minnesota Twins has repeatedly shown an affinity for signing aging middle-tier pitchers and a hesitancy to move on from those veteran pitchers, even when those pitchers are performing especially poorly. This one sentence says it all. At first I thought too that they didn't move on soon enough because they didn't want to have it look like they were admitting they made mistakes, but that really doesn't hold true since the longer you hold on the worst your mistake looks. Anyone looking at the outcomes of these acquisitions at just about any point of the season shows they were mistakes. Everyone starts with a Plan. The Plan for the Twins 99 times out of 100 is, to buy low and hope for the best. Now, as Matthew says in his article, I hope they have learned from their mistakes. They have a stable full of young pitchers ready to contribute. Maybe they have done their job building up a pitching staff that will be really good going forward. Time will tell. If they sign any veteran pitchers in the off-season make it a stud pitcher. If not, then let the young guys take over. Don't waste anymore innings and games on the washed up veteran pitchers. If you are going to lose anyway, which is what you get with those types of pitchers, then just give it to the young guys so they learn at the same time.

The common sense thing to do is let your starting pitcher go as long as he is effective at getting batters out. That is what has been done for a long time because it was the smart thing to do. In todays game Rocco and the FO who have his back, thinks he is smarter by using analytics and ignoring the actually performance of the pitcher that day. It doesn't matter if the guys in the bullpen aren't any better at getting hitters out, He only looks at the starters analytics. When you need 4 or 5 relievers to finish a game, analytics would also tell you that 1 or 2 of them will have an off day. Why are those analytics ignored?

"Derek Falvey and Thad Levine have stressed the importance of keeping the Twins’ winning window open as long as possible. " How are back to back losing seasons part of a winning window? Didn't they give out too long of contracts already to guys like Kepler and Sano? Buxton will join that list. The best player (Correa) is a 1 and done. Yeah, nothing like committing to a winning window. When their version of a winning window is signing or trading for washed up or injured pitchers, you forgot 1 (Paddock) and players (Buxton) for the cheap and letting good players walk away they need to add a screen to that window to filter out the blood-sucking players that they think are butterflies.

The Twins should have/use 12 pitchers total, use 3 per game, each throwing 3 innings, and they all get 3 days rest inbetween games. With all of them throwing 3 innings they should only have to face each batter once or twice depending on how good they are, which eliminates that 3rd time through the order for ALL pitchers, which according to their analytics is the perfect solution for winning games. If they construct their staff next year using this methodology they won't lose a game next year.

Maybe the FO should focus on finding players that can hit AND play defense. The Twins seem to have too many players that are good at one but not the other. To make matters worse, guys that can like Correa are 1 and done, or like Buxton who can't stay on the field. The team is a shadow of being good overall and they expect the fans to support them. Yeah, right!

Lots of question marks going into next year. Shortstop may be the biggest one but isn't the only one. 4 infielders with their primary positions being the same, Urshela and Miranda at 3B and Arraez and Polanco at 2B to me means at least 1 has to go. Unless you're going to continue to play a pair of them at 1B as well, which I don't think is the answer to the problem. You don't trade the AL Batting Champion do you? He's shown he's a better hitter when he's on the field verses playing DH. Do you continue to let Miranda play 1B or trade Urshela and move Miranda to his normal position. Polanco goes where if you put Arraez at 2B? Does fielding take a hit with Miranda at 3B and Arraez at 2B? Will Kirilloff make a comeback and be able to play 1B? Maybe the Twins should look at moving Wallner to 1B and have him play there in AAA for a season to hone his skills defensively or is that completely out of the question? I guess if they think Sano can play RF then anything is possible. Gordon has to stay as a utility guy, he's shown he can play at an average level in the outfield or at 2b and SS. Do the Twins live with another season of Kepler hitting .220 in the middle of the lineup? Hope not. Will Larnach finally become the LFer to replace Eddie? Who backs up Jeffers? The FO will decide if the Twins are actually going to be "Contenders" or just be "Competitive" like they said last year.

Can't say any of the 3 they lost yesterday: Cave, Hamilton or Palacios will be missed. If so then the FO did nothing to improve the club over the winter. Ya gotta quit hanging onto players that don't perform if you want to get better. As for Wallner, the door has been opened. If he doesn't end up being a Clone of Max Kepler offensively he has a chance. My first impression was that he looks pull and HR happy. Hope I'm wrong.

Agree with the above. Carmargo yes, the other 2 with them already being 24 years old, no. The Twins have enough players that hit .220. The bar needs to be raised.

Well, they did sign Bundy before the strike so there's that. Ha Ha. What I see is they don't sign difference makers early. They only got Correa because he didnt get the big long-term contract that he wanted. That's the ONLY reason he was still there. One could argue that Cruz and Donaldson kind of fell to them the same way. If they could afford to pay Correa $35M for one season then why can't they do it for 4 or 6? They won't spend for a front line pitcher. Waiting and being patient has not paid dividends there, despite your Lynn reference. Some say that top pitchers don't want to come to Minnesota. The organization isn't committed to winning. Resigning Correa to a deal he would be happy with would be a good starter to convince other good Free Agents that the committment is changing. I see it as a crossroads, which way or shoud I say which message are the Twins going to send this year? That they'll go get good players (early) or take the left-overs?

Even considering Garlick on the roster is a mistake. If he's there everyone knows he'll start against a LH pitcher, because that's what Rocco's spreadsheet tells him to do. It won't matter if there is someone better in the dugout. We saw it way too often in 2022 when he wasn't hurt. If the Twins can't see past all of the part-time supposed specialists and start fielding a competant lineup of 8 regular guys who can play everyday and hit both right and left handed pitchers they will never get where they need to be. Committing to the 1 outfielder that is going to be a part-time player for the next 6 years is bad enough. The other 2 spots have to be good and productive from both sides of the plate or you'll just see a repeat of this past year with 3 outfielders providing little to nothing. Veteran guys like Garlick and Cave, who provide nothing more than AAA production, need to go. Celestino, Contreras, Wallner should be your starting AAA outfield in 2023. Larnach, Buxton, and a new right-handed hitting outfielder via trade or FA signing should be starting in the majors with Gordon on the bench. Kepler needs to go too.

Duffey couldn't get batters out and was in the last year of his contract at a cost of 3.8M. Pagan has the exact same problem but has another year of eligibility and was at 2.3M. It appears to me that the FO values "control" of a player so much, especially if he is cheaper than someone else, that they will not DFA them no matter how bad they play or hurt the team unless they are going to lose that player anyway like Duffey. It's almost as if they are thinking: I own you so you will stay here no matter how bad you are. I'd rather the team suffer from your ineptness cause if I Cut you it'll look like I made a mistake and I can't have that. What they don't get is that the fans already know they made a mistake and by keeping said player around they are only making themselves look even more foolish.

This exactly why I asked the question, would keeping him be Weird or getting rid of him. Seems like Ted was playing both sides of the fence so I really didn't see which way he was referring to.

Would the Weird Move be in keeping him or getting rid of him? It seems you are suggesting it would be in keeping him. That wouldn't be weird for this organization. They seem to embrace mediocrity. They also have not moved on, even with a different regime in control, of the Terry Ryan theory of buying low and using the "Hope and a Prayer" for an improved season from most of the cast-offs they do sign. (Shoemaker, Happ, Colome, Archer, Simmons, Garlick, Beckham). Weird would be signing Correa to a long-term contract and also signing a top Free Agent Starting Pitcher during the off-season. Then we'd all be scratching our heads.

That's a really "you know what" comment. I'll give you one in return. I'm sure Byron Buxton wasn't running to first base or trying to score from 3rd for Eden Prairie either. All things considered equal...

Not if they are executed properly. I've seen our high school baseball team win 2 state Championships with properly executed squeeze bunts. Oh, never mind, that's not baseball for the majors, it's only for young people who don't know how to play the game.

And we know that people always tell every reason to reporters. Yeah right. It wouldn't be the first time someone left a job and used an excuse or reason for leaving without revealing the main reason.

1. Correa is gone. If he doesn't get his big contract and wants back in with the Twins at $35M the Twins can still say no.... Right? Once he opts out the Twins are off the hook, I believe. As for a replacement, they'll sign a stop-gap guy for 1 season or use a combination of Palacios, Gordon, Polanco until Lewis can return. 2. No. Twins will give Lee another full year in the minors. 3. I think what you see is what you get for next year. Unless Gray asks to be traded which is not out of the question. He was obviously not happy with the way Rocco pulled him in a lot of his starts. 4. Mahle and Maeda yes but in limited action due to Rocco and the FO being overly-cautious as usual, Paddock No. 5. Just as you have em. 6. Yes, he finished the year strong and will have a breakout season next year. I'm just hoping. 7. Unfortunately yes. However I think the FO will DFA Pagan midway through the season if he doesn't right the ship, just like they did with Duffey this year. 8. Not sure they can. It'll take a different approach than only using 1 inning guys. They'll need at least 2 long relievers. Henriquez and Sands? 9. I think at the start of the season it'll be Larnach, Buxton and Kepler. I'd like to see Kepler get traded and replaced with a better bat but I don;t think they'll move him. 10. No, Sanchez will be gone too. This is one area they need to really make a good off-season acquisition. 11. No, Polanco's value is too low right now, I expect him to have a bounce back season next year. The infield will be a new 1st baseman or a combo of Arraez, Kirilloff, and Miranda, Polanco/Gordon at 2b, SS see #1, Urshela/Miranda at 3rd. 12. No one, it should have been done in the minors so unless they go back there for learning, it won't happen. 13. Maybe Jeffers and Sanchez, they sure seem to miss blocking a lot of pitches especially with runners on base. 14. Doesn't really matter, Rocco doesn't know how to use his pitchers anyway. Pretty sure that is why Wes Johnson left, IMO. 15. I've never really understood the value of a bench coach. If it's just to advise the Manager then Tingler did nothing to help the team unless Rocco didn't listen to him, which means the bench coach isn't important. 16. The only logjam I see is 3rd base with Urshela and Miranda. We don't have a true 1st baseman, Polanco is at 2b, SS will be empty once Correa leaves. Jeffers is the only Catcher returning and the Outfield is full of part-time players. 17. I don't see much change for next year. 18. If the Guardians play like they did this year and the WhiteSox right their ship to the way they were, the Twins will finish 3rd again just slightly above the Royals and Tigers. 82-80.