Steve71

Is Wallner hurt?

This dovetails with the Buxton thread, but I would plan to start Kepler in CF against righties, and sit him vs. lefties. DH Buxton against righties, and start Buxton in CF vs. lefties (when he is healthy.) If the Marlins want Kepler, I would listen.

I want the Twins to play Kepler in CF next year and have Buxton DH. Buxton is too darn fragile. If you want to spot start him against lefties, fine, but Kepler should play CF. Gordon has earned a roster spot by playing handsomely and can cover multiple positions. Kiriloff is a complete unknown, can't realistically count on him for anything in planning for 2023. Larnach, to me, is now in prove it mode. I would start him in AAA unless he tears it up in spring training. Celestino seems limited to a defensive replacement, as he is just not hitting. As an aside, the Twins need catching help in the worst way. Is there any hope that someone like Camargo can play at the MLB level?

I would like the FO to explore a shorter, high annual value type deal, say 5 years.

He is a terrific player in his prime. Of course he wants a long-term contract---who wouldn't? The Twins have every opportunity to sign him if they want to. The question is whether they will, and it is their choice to make. I, too, fully expected him to opt out, barring a major injury. He earned his money, but the rest of the team fell apart around him after June 1. He did his job, so there should not be any hard feelings, even if the average fan does not shop at Dior.

MIranda plays virtually every day and is now batting cleanup. "Nuff said.

I really like what the Braves have been doing with their young players. Should/would the Twins offer a similar deal to Miranda at this point, or too early? Mixed results with Kepler, good results with Polanco. Should also consider a deal for Arraez. Take care of your own players first. Twins wont dip their toes into the FA market until Correa makes his decision, as he is 25% of their payroll.

I don't think anyone can objectively look at MLB pay and not acknowledge that young MLB calibre players are underpaid, and older "superstars" end up frequently being overpaid. That distortion needs to stop, but if we have a magic wand that is only a small piece of the overall problem.

Revenue sharing may be at an all time high, but it is still not equitable revenue sharing. Did some digging on the NFL. For 2020 season, the NFL has $9.1B in shared revenue. League expenses were $300M, so $8.8B was shared out by 32 teams, so $274M per team. Individual team revenue that is not shared consists of 60% of ticket sales, concessions and parking, and local corporate partnerships (Like Twin City Ortho and the Vikings). The range of "local", non-shared revenue ranged from the Packers at $203M and the Cowboys at $950M. BUT, the Cowboys cannot spend more on players than the Packers. So this added revenue goes into Jones' pocket and raises the value of that franchise should it ever be sold to new owner, but does not distort league parity. I have zero problem if the Dodgers are the Cowboys of MLB as long as EACH TEAM shares the vast majority of revenue and can only spend the same amount for players salaries. This eliminated the Dodgers and Yankees getting all the good, expensive players and the Rays and others simply pocketing shared revenue from other teams. What is wrong with doing something like that? The players can negotiate a share of the total revenue (NFL players guaranteed 48% of the pie) and that is distributed based on relative merit and value.

Well, Green Bay is hardly a garden spot, yet they have been a highly successful NFL franchise. With all due respect Mr. Beans, I sincerely don't think it is factual that MLB has more parity than the NFL. Teams routinely go from last to first in divisions, and sometimes right back again. The Vikes alternated playoff appearances 6 years in a row under Zimmer. The Jets have sucked for years, and they are a huge market. Kansas City and freakin' Buffalo are super strong right now. That would be like Pittsburgh and Oakland being juggernauts in baseball. The Yankees and the Dodgers are going to be extremely competitive year in, year out. That is not parity. Sorry.

After watching another non-competitive game last night for our local 9, I did some digging to see if the numbers support my growing conviction that this League is broken. The vast gulf between the have and have-not franchises in a league which has refused to embrace parity and revenue sharing, and a players Union that is more concerned about the top 5% than the 95% of the rest of the players has ruined the game. As of this morning, Aug 10, 2022, the top 8 revenue teams have a combined run differential of plus 845. The bottom 8 teams have a combined run differential of minus 310. Our local squad has not faced the Mets, but so far vs. the Dodgers, Yankees, Astros and Padres they are a combined 2-10 with a run differential of minus 48. That is an average run deficit of 4 runs per game on average. The Twins last night statistically had only a 25.1% chance of winning the game, which of course they did not. Think about that. 3-1 odds we were going to lose. That is ridiculous. I can no longer watch the NBA for many reasons. The NFL is the shining example of a league with actual parity. MLB has become a total joke. This breaks my heart, as I grew up playing baseball and it is a life-long passion. It is a beautiful, beautiful game. But they have ruined it by destroying competitive balance. They cannot even agree to an equitable means to administer the international draft. And, PLEASE, don't give me the "Tampa is a plucky franchise" and "Atlanta pulled it out last year" tired examples. Sure, outliers happen, but the dominant advantage the large-market teams have is simply unfair and inimical to the proverbial "even playing field". Rant over.

*sigh*, now we get to watch Duffey implode. I guess the Twins are conceding this game?

Pagan is such an enigma. Great arm, can't get any one out consistently.

I voted A, but I would rate it an A- on a finer scale. Assuming Fulmer continues to deal out of the pen, I would like the Twins to move aggressively to extend him for a couple years. That also improves the trade rating. I love Rondon, but since he would be a rental it makes sense to try and sign him off-season as a FA rather than giving up prospects now. They have room on the payroll to sign him even if Correa opts in (which he wont), and that would give the Twins a very strong rotation on paper for 2023 if the arms can stay healthy.

Fulmer, kinda meh, but an upgrade. SGL goes back.

Sheesh, are the Yankees going to win by depriving all the other teams of any good players? Talk about the rich getting richer, they will have 6 or 7 starters better than anyone on the Twins staff if they land PLopez too. Once again, baseball needs a hard salary cap and floor to keep the field competitive.....

Leon must simply be insurance against injury. They can't seriously expect him to play at the MLB level, can they?

At a minimum the current roster has to feel that the FO is putting them in a much better position to succeed this year. Very aggressive, and supposedly one more move coming. Rondon or PLopez, make it so!

Do not like giving up CES, that may haunt us down the line. Prefer Rodon over Mahle. Also prefer PLopez over Mahle. Hope they get one of them, too. At least we wont have to worry about protecting players from the Rule 5 draft next year!

More Lopez's please. Pablo from Miami. And because I am greedy, Rondon too. That would dramatically improve our outlook.

Bass has gone to Toronto.

Decent move. Don't like throwing in the two DSL prospects, would have preferred to add a bat instead, but the O's probably did not want that for Lopez. Would like them to add Robertson from the Cubs, and the bullpen would become a position of strength. Not sure what that would cost, should be much lower than Lopez's price.

Absolutely would not include Encarnancion-Strand for 2 months, 9-10 starts, of Rondon (plus possible playoffs). I would only be interested in Rondon if we had permission to try and negotiate an extension in advance of trade.

How about Wallner?

What about Kiriloff for Lopez straight up? That would be a tough decision for the Twins.....