Doctor Gast

"Now that shortstops can't swing to the other side of second base, we will see Carlos Correa (aka C4) ranging to his left and making that spin throw on the right side of second base a couple of times this year. I'm excited to see shortstops limited in their shifting ability and see some of the most impressive athletes in the world be able to show it off. The Twins get to be, arguably, the biggest beneficiary." That's what I say, IMO Correa was bored with the shift. I'm looking forward this season to see more spectacular plays at SS. Also 2B will be a ton more difficult with the ban shift. Hope they make use of Molitor's session on base running & will be interesting to see how teams will capitalize on Jeffers arm and seems everybody has adapted to the pitch clock. Seems like Kepler & Gallo are taking advantage of shift ban already.

We didn't get rid of Urshela because we thought he wasn't good enough. It was because we needed someone who played a better SS & could play 3B which was Farmer. They also wanted to give Miranda a shot there to raise his asset here. I'm sure Miranda is excited to play 3B, I'm assuming his early shoulder problem could be from over doing it in the offseason. I hope Miranda can quickly get well to move to 3B, where I think he could play better. With Lewis & Lee blocked at SS, Miranda's days at fulltime 3B are numbered. which he'd get more time at 1B/ DH.

I'd normally say wait. But looking at that CLE has done this deal with Clase', I'd lean towards saying yes. CLE is a very economical club and Duran is in the same class as Clase' so it makes sense. If Clase' got this deal, Duran probably expect the same kind of deal. They should sign Duran to keep him happy, as they should have done with Johan Santana early in his career. My feel is that Duran should become our all time greatest RP, surpassing Joe Nathan, Glen Perkins, Taylor Rogers, Jeff Reardon and Rick Aguilera. They'll do everything possible to keep him healthy, I hope.

Everything has came easy for Sano, he figures he doesn't have to work for it. He probably doesn't have a love for the sport to drive him. So he's not going anywhere. Things are bad if he's not on DR WBC roster. Because his old buddy Cruz is running it.

Maybe there is more serious offers for some cOF LH bats. As to take a chance on Stevenson. Besides possible set backs.

"However, he does have less than three years of MLB service time, giving the club the ability to retain him for future seasons via arbitration if he breaks out at the plate." A crap shoot.

Totally agree to have our best arms out there. Ober will be a waste in AAA. Maeda has good stuff but he doesn't the arm to go long even before he got hurt. Now after TJ he should have a shorter leash. If Maeda has a good night & goes 5 innings maybe Ober can finish the game & save short relief or at least go as far as he can. That can take a lot stress off short relief which will take a lot of stress of the rotation. A scheduled Ober/ Maeda keeps both in routine & loose

"The Twins have played with using a long reliever in the bullpen at times in the last few years and found that the role is inconsistent and sometimes not worth the trouble." ** '19 they used Pineda/ Perez piggy-back and it was great until they both were able to go 5 innings and they dropped long relief. Short relief was over used & blew up, the overused the rotation which drained them & they became ineffective. '21 was a disaster from the beginning. Twins wanted Dobnak to focus on his new slider. The pitch was too hard on his middle finger which he quickly hung too many & later really did a number on it. They used Dobnak for only mop up or junk job of using him as guinea pig with the new "ghost runner". With Happ & Shoemaker we had ample situations where they had to or should have been pulled early and long relief should have been used. Maeda was used beyond his profile if they had limited his innings & used long relief, he wouldn't have blown out his arm. '22 we started out with 2 rookies, later Bundy (profiled limited innings) after that Gray (not conditioned) & lastly recuperating Archer (w/ practically no ST). Winder was long relief, he was used sparsely & hardly anything beyond 2 innings. The few times that Winder pitched in this capacity he was very effective.(The last 2 years with our rotation we could keep 2 long RPs busy). As always Baldelli preference is short relief so again his over-reliance on unproven short relief which demanded more innings from the rotation which caused unduly injuries & ineffectiveness. Because of injuries in early March, Winder was pulled from long relief. Thus ending our brief long relief stint. '23 Maeda returning from TJ and Ober who needs to be slowly worked into the rotation; is the same Pineda/ Perez scenario so a piggy-back strategy would be ideal. Ober should be used coming out of the BP in ST, to see how he adapts. When Ober transitions to the rotation, Winder should be able to take over long relief by that time. Any mop up jobs should be delegated to Pagan. I have to admit that this year long relief is less needed but it's still relevant. ** Long relief has been ineffective only when it's not used correctly & inconvenient not because it's not effective but because it's foreign to Baldelli's TB mindset.

This year with the shift ban will greatly effect 2B. So we need more than someone who can field a ball that's hit at him. We need someone with range. That'll lower your candidate list, especially for the long haul. Farmer might be asked to play more often at 3B while subbing SS. Solano might be asked to play 1B more often. Both are viable 2B. I haven't been pleased with Gordon in the INF. I'm not sure Julien can handle the position. If Polanco is held back to start the season, we'd be hard pressed. To the point of putting Castro on the active roster who has had a pretty good ST. I see Lewis as the heir to 2B after Polanco. So to keep his feel for the INF and be in constant mentorship from Correa to step in there when needed. Martin was very impressive there but I'd like to give him more time in the OF. Lee will be a great 3B and SS fill in behind Lewis.

Not at all. We've been deeper at SS & CF the last 2 yrs. than we have been for years. IMO the depth at the corners is over kill. Saying that SS is the 2nd most concerning position, is saying how pleased I am in how well stocked we are. It'd be hard for me to come up with my 3rd weakest position. Catcher is really my only worry, which can be easily remedied if they react quickly.

Thanks Stinger, it's great that Castro, Dobnak and Rosario are having great ST. But most likely they won't head north with the team after ST. due to history & present depth. Sadly to say.

Yes, may it be.

Sounds good to me but I think maybe you might be off on the Gallen trade. Did you see a Kepler bounce back?

You're 100% right gunnarther. Cody asked if we agreed with the rankings. Of course fangraphs spits out their data. I just don't agree that RF, LF & 1B is in worse shape than SS or catcher. CF, SS & catcher are prime positions which need more quality depth than RF,LF & 1B which is the basis of my ranking of our weakest positions

OK, Wallner is 4th in RF. Where's he on the 1B depth? Kiriloff, Gallo, Miranda, Solando, White, Gordon, Julien, Sabato or anyone else on the active roster they may deem worthy to transition there before Wallner. Wallner's bat isn't MLB ready, he SOs too much, He was expected to get a cup of coffee last year but not as much as he did. That won't happen this season. I doubt he'll have much of any time in MLB. Wallner needs to work his butt off to polish up his raw stuff; to get a better feel of RF, his glove and SO less to lock up any chance of playing RF next season as to take advantage of his speed & arm (that's what AAA is for). With Gallo, Taylor and Kepler probably all gone. So you want them leap frog Wallner over those who has more experience and proven bat at 1B this season and jeopardize his chances to start at RF next season, for what?