TwinsAce

Good to know that we already have complaints of having too deep of a bench and too deep of a rotation. Can you imagine a scenario instead where Celestino was our planned backup CF and Gordon was our only main INF and OF backup with the hopes that Martin would be up soon? Taylor, Farmer, and Solano all raise the floor substantially. Same for Lopez in the rotation. I'd much rather have Lopez pushing out a stud prospect instead of having Archer or Bundy in the rotation. I'm also excited knowing that Ober, SWR, Varland, etc. are all ready to fill in WHEN injuries happen. A lot better than relying on 10 year minor league veterans too as our second wave of reinforcements.

This is what I was going to say. The Twins expected Archer to add more innings after the first month or two, but it never came. Maeda should be handled similarly, with the hope for better results. Maeda will start, if only as an opener or 2-5 inning type guy early on. I think his elbow was also a problem long before the surgery, so I anticipate this results will be solid. The Twins need to have a contingency plan. Both for the shorter starts (Ober piggybacking?) and the potential risk for an Archer type season if he does struggle.

Helps that Arraez was a gold glove finalists with at least a few metrics that pointed he was decent to good there. Miranda seems like the perfect Gio replacement with a slightly lower floor and arguably a slightly higher ceiling.

I'm all for a big contract for Correa and going over $300 million. (After all, not my money. ? ) I think one thing to keep in mind though is that the Cubs would probably have to overpay for Correa, which is probably reflected in Matthew's original 9 year deal of $333 million. Hard to know though. I expect the Twins to have some sort of opt out feature though in the next few years and to push hard for an early decision. Kylo turned 1 in November. Carlos, who has mentioned how important his family is in choosing his contract, should probably aim to move to a new market by the time Kylo is going into school, so roughly 4 years from now. ?‍♂️

I don't think Gallo makes sense unless somehow cheaper than 8 million. That said, one could argue that they would prefer a strikeout with more power potential over a grounder to 2nd base. Gallo also might have a higher ceiling than Kepler at this point. I think the argument for Gallo is also under the assumption trading Kepler brings back a player of need...backup SS, RH OF, backup C, RP... (Which remains to be seen.) Gallo would provide better defense than our current non-Kepler corner OF players. But like you said, this seems like treading water in many ways.

I guess I'm in the minority, but I for one would love to see Trevor May back on the Twins next year. Isn't any pitcher a health risk? I guess I don't see May as a crazy health risk and it sure seems like he'd be better than Fulmer if not Alcala.

I don't think they were an upgrade in 2022 and might not even be in 2023, especially in Sean's case. 86 and 75 ERA+ respectively with 114 and 158 innings. Bundy had a 79 ERA+ (and 140 innings). Archer and Winder were 85 and 82 ERA+. Please FO, aim higher. Or be realllyyyy confident Clevinger is fully back. (Sure - Mike is an upgrade if he goes back to his pre surgery numbers of roughly 140 ERA+. His SO/9, FIP, etc aren't kind to him though.)

Larnach showed pretty good defense in LF last year. He might not be able to cover a ton of ground, but he isn't slow. And his arm is accurate and he seems to make good decisions.

Having too many top prospects at SS as well as a star player at shortstop can be a good problem. It can turn into the solution for many things, whether someone going to 3B and moving from good to elite defense or going to the outfield or 2nd. And not to mention, top prospects at SS do in fact bring back top trade targets, including top pitchers. IMO - there is a lot more risk in signing a 28 year old pitcher to a 6 year contract vs. a 28 year old star SS to a 8-10 year contract. I love the fact that Correa has taken to helping the players around him, like Miranda, even though he might not be here next year.

Agreed - I am hoping they go for it. Maybe the albatross contract was in reference to Donaldson?

That's it - I think the Twins offseason is a failure if we don't sign Correa, Judge, and Rodon. Anything less than this is a complete system breakdown and failure. (Any top bullpen names too?) Judge can play RF, provide an upgrade over Garlick, and provide an upgrade over Celestino too by being Buxton's main CF backup. And I can't wait for Judge to be the first player to steal a RF homerun at Target Field when he reaches over the flowerboxes to steal one back. WS championship or bust!

Forgot it was Friday and didn't notice the author at first...lol But even after figuring that out, it still seemed pretty accurate.

Yes - this, plus what @jmlease1 said. And it would have been even worse if they hadn't made the trades. Sometimes a FO does everything fans are begging for and it doesn't work out. Still have 2 of the 3 for next year too.

Agreed with your post. If for some reason not Correa, I think I need Rodon instead. But I'd love Correa to be back so we could have a long term left side of the infield of Correa/Lewis and/or Lee. And for the BP, it would be encouraging if they also struck early in the offseason, getting the top target of their choosing.

This seems like a more accurate list...At the very least, swap out the Chicago teams. And STL and SF seem to have at least decent odds. It will definitely be interesting to see what happens with Correa and the other big name shortstops.