bobs

Thanks Seth. It's articles like this that keep me coming back to Twins Daily. We're all Twins fans on here, so let's be honest with ourselves...people need to get off the Cole/Strasburg train. They simply will not come here and it has nothing do with "Cheap Pohlads". I've always been a huge MadBum fan...ask my sons. That said, I'm always leery of guys coming from NL to AL. Plus, he'll have several suitors and I doubt he comes to Minnesota. Same with Ryu. I think a more realistic rotation for this club entering 2020, and one that would immediately make the Twins the favorite in the Central, would be Berrios, Boyd (trade), Odorizzi, Gausman (I for one like Seth's idea of the team option), Pineda.

I'm drinking the Kool Aid. People will say Cleveland's lineup is diminished from last year and then no Lindor. They DID bring back Santana. BUT, Jose Berrios was completely dominant. Will he pitch like this against a Boston or New York? Likely not, but he gives this team a chance to beat any team with any ace on the mound. Period. Which is humongous if they reach even the Wild Card round. People will say the lineup wasn't as explosive yesterday as we'd hoped. THEY BEAT COREY freaking KLUBER!! The lineup will be top 5 in the AL. Last, how stinking good did Taylor Rogers look?!?! Second half of last season was NOT a fluke people...we should probably give Garvin Alston a little credit for elevating Rogers. There is hope Twins Fans!!!

Kepler. Wade. Kiriloff. Larnach. Rooker. With Kepler signed to the extension, where are they going to go with all of these highly thought of prospects? Only one can move to 1B.

Seems to me the Twins have a number of guys with major league experience and some past success...guys like Duda, Collins, Austin, Torreyes, etc. Do any of them have options left so the Twins could store them in Rochester for depth in case of injury?

Absolutely 100% agree. But at least we wont see Grossman, Shane Robinson etc out there

Since the article is about "Position Analysis", I'll say that if Buxton fails, the big league club is in pretty good hands with some combo of Kepler, Rosario, Cave. Also, if Lewis doesn't stick as a SS, I wonder what the chances are of FO moving him to CF if Buxton can't hack it?

Or, if he doesn't prove himself at least capable offensively, it's just it. I sure hope you're right though! Really like the kid. Seems to have used the September debacle as a motivator.

Would love to see him get an extension similar to the ones Kepler and Polanco signed. Being under contract only adds to his potential trade value if that's the direction Falvine choose to go if guys like Wade, Kiriloff, Baddoo develop. Or, of course, they could trade one of the prospects and just keep Rosario.

They may be better off with Gonzalez anyway?

GOOD. GRIEF.

Who knew...the key to upping my velo 30 years ago was my HS physics teacher. Dang!...lol

Your best bets to have big/bounce back year among...bullpen, rotation, lineup?

Among the many fads in baseball today is the trend toward "positionless" baseball as a way of adding depth. While the Twins have some guys who can play 2 or maybe 3 positions, the addition of Gonzalez definitely increases their versatility. That in itself makes him a great addition. Stat geeks, and I use that term in a complimentary way, can analyze the numbers all they want. One thing that will not show up in any analytics is the fact that this guy has played in, and won, a World Series. I believe adding him brings the grand total of players on this roster who have done so to ONE. He's played in numerous playoff games. To me, that's as valuable as any number he brings to the table.

I would dare say THE most flexible player in MLB. I love the move. I bet Rocco does too.

I LOVE THIS MOVE!!! This guy is Sano protection. This guy can play corner OF if Buxton flops/gets hurt, with Kepler or Rosario sliding to CF. I love the flexibility he gives Baldelli without sacrificing offense. He can cover for so many of the "what ifs" with the everyday lineup. I suspect Adrianza gets DFA'd. I wish him well, but the Twins are better today than they were yesterday and that's a good thing.

I feel like Gonzalez would provide much better insurance for 2019 if Sano and/or Buxton don't work out or get hurt. I do NOT need to see Adrianza in the OF or at 3B for an extended period. Adrianza is better utilized making two starts a week, giving Polanco or Schoop a day off, and truly being used as a utility guy. If no roster space, just release him and eat the contract.

Couldn't agree more. Gordon is....22? 23? We should be a LONG way from giving up on him.

Love the extension for Polanco. I doubt I'm alone in being excited to see what he'll do over a full season in 2019. The organization has both Javier and Lewis (for now) as SS prospects. If, after another year, the FO decides he isn't their SS going forward a move to 2B makes a lot of sense in 2020 or 2021. Dude can flat out hit.

71 extra-base hits in 130 games. SEVENTY-ONE!!!!!

Man, Nolan Ryan's mechanics were about as sound as they get. A hard-throwing freak before hard-throwing freaks were everywhere.

This dates me big time, but he reminds me of a young Bartolo Colon. Not the 40+ year old version we saw in 2017. The young stud from the 90s. Look him up if you're too young to remember him.

Just love everything I've read about this kid. Big part of the "next wave" if the current one (Sano, Kepler, Buxton, etc.) don't pop this year.

I'm getting old(er), so I may be off my rocker, but here's my take. Romero starts the year at Rochester as a starter while they sort out guys like Perez, Gonsalves, Stewart, Mejia, etc.. By June 1, he'll be added to the 25-man as a reliever as Falvine continues to figure out what (if anything) it has in the afore mentioned guys . In 2020, with FA starters gone, he comes to spring training and is given a chance to crack the rotation.

Clearly a guy who is going to have to "pitch". Probably not going to up the velo a lot, hopefully can develop the change/slider combo. Let's hope he's actually a back-end starter and not a "middle relief arm" like Nick says is a possible outcome.