stringer bell

I think the Twins need improvement from the shortstop position on offense, but the defense at short has to be acceptable. Simmons was more than acceptable in the field, but the numbers show how bad he was with the bat. If the brain trust believes either Martin or Lewis can seize short it might make sense to save some money and sign a stopgap. I don’t want to see Simmons with the Twins any more. Considerable capital needs to be expended on a starting pitcher or two (one acquired by trade, one free agent?). Finally, no on Cruz. He’ll be 42 at midseason and he hasn’t torn it up for Tampa. But the real reason he’s no longer a fit is that they have several guys who can rotate as DHs and really can’t afford to carry a DH only IMHO.

Refsnyder had a moment where he hit, but his numbers for his time with the Twins were more of the same for his career. He doesn't have any skill that jumps off the page and he's over 30. I don't think it's a tough choice to take him off the roster.

I don’t think most teams have much work to do. The Twins had a full 40-man, nine on the 60-day IL and only two free agents.

Does the team have to be down to 40 men on the roster, including the reinstatement of the guys on the 60-day IL? They are at 42 IIRC, and Simmons and Pineda will be free agents, putting them at 40. Other teams would have to do the same.

To get better fast, the Twins will have to move a couple of players who had good seasons in 2021 (and thus high value). The next consideration is if they are replaceable from within. Polanco and Garver meet those criteria (also perhaps Donaldson). Those are the players to move and get a big return. Arraez would seem to be replaceable as well. He will hit and I don't think his defense is poor. Miranda plays the same positions as Arraez and offers some power potential. My final thought on this topic is in reference to Alex Kirilloff. I do think he will become an All-Star and he might win batting championships. However, he only had a couple hundred plate appearances and he's been dogged by a bad wrist. I think the injury problems take away from labeling him a sure thing and writing his name in the proposed starting lineup in ink. As a first baseman/corner outfielder he has to hit well above average to be a star. I think there's a chance of that, but I don't think we have any guarantees.

All pretty easy cuts. All but Gibaut are over 30 and the upside is very limited. I would think the Twins can't afford more than one out-of-options reliever who didn't spend the whole season in the majors (Minaya?) to stay on the 40-man. I was previously wrong about Garza Jr. (he has options), but that might not save him either. Derek Law has elected to become a free agent. I believe he had been outrighted off the 40-man already. I also noted that JaCoby Jones is a free agent. A possible minor league signing who could fill center if Buxton went on the shelf. Never much of a hitter.

Agree with this, Ash. I am wondering how much confidence the Twins have in that famed 50s comedy team of Martin and Lewis. If Buxton were to go down for more than a week, would the most ready of the top two position player prospects be stationed in CF? We know that Martin played more center field than shortstop in Wichita and he is in the top three of prospects for the team and he isn't real young (24?). Lewis taking over in center is a longer shot. He hasn't played since 2019 and is coming off knee surgery. He'll need quite a bit of time (I think) before he's ready to advance. I would not be so sure that Martin is not on the radar.

With one significant difference. Austin had very good splits against left handers. Rooker never has, in the minors or in his time with the Twins.

I'll start by pointing out that hindsight is 20-20. Particularly among position players, things usually even out in the course of a full year. Baldelli started the season with Donaldson injured in the first inning and a bunch of experienced position players not hitting including Garver, Sanó, Polanco and Kepler, as well as Cave, who due to injuries got a lot of playing time in the crucial first six weeks. Rocco stuck with all of them, which makes sense. Some guys came out of it, a couple namely Kepler and Cave, did not. Simmons was so anemic on offense, that his very good defense was negated by being a black hole at the bottom of the order. On the pitching side, Columé was dreadful, but guys like Duffey, Alcala and Thielbar weren't getting crucial outs. All four of those guys came out of it to a degree, although Columé was barely passable all season as a bullpen arm. In the rotation, Happ and Shoemaker started April with better than acceptable numbers, but both were beyond bad after their first few starts. The expected starting pitcher depth didn't develop as planned--Dobnak got knocked around and was injured, Duran wasn't great in AAA and got injured, Balazavic was injured immediately and inconsistent at Double A and so starts were given to Ober (success!) Barnes, Jax and Albers, none of whom were expected to contribute this year or maybe ever. Canterino, Winder and Enlow were all injured along with the aforementioned Duran so the high ceiling guys did not move up the ladder as anticipated. I think those things were largely out of Baldelli's control. Add in injuries to Buxton, who missed 100 games, and Garver, who missed more than 50, and it can be understood that maybe they wouldn't win the division or make the playoffs. I didn't like some of Rocco's decisions, but he had a roster with no real backup shortstop and bench players who are bat-first and mostly slow. As far as pitching decisions go, I would have liked to see the starters challenged to pitch a sixth or seventh inning more often, but I understand the concern that there isn't much in the tank after facing 18-20 hitters with max-effort fastballs and breaking balls and the possibility of injury does go up at some point. If I am grading the manager, I'd give him a C, which is average. I think the front office deserves a worse mark in providing talent for the major league team.

I think we do tend to overrate Twins' prospects, but this is a head-scratcher. I also believe this says something about 40-man roster decisions happening in the offseason. There is a lot of cutting to be done, by my count there were 40 on the 40-man plus nine on the 60-day IL and the only certain free agents are Pineda and Simmons. If they want to protect five minor leaguers and leave space to sign some free agents, there are a lot of cuts to be made. Some are easy--Albers, Maggi, Refsnyder, probably Charlie Barnes--but others were or have the potential to be pretty good and I'll put Colina in that category.

Bullpen options: Minaya was very good. He throws 95-96 with the fastball and has developed trust in his changeup. I think he might have earned a spot on the 40-man. Garza's last outing was perhaps his worst as a Twin, but in his audition, he was pretty good, as well. He's under 30, but out of options. I guess I'd like to see if the Twins can sign him to a minor league contract. As noted, there will be guys added to the 60-day IL as soon as eligible, so a couple of guys on minor league contracts will be able to be added by Opening Day 2022.

Not to bag on Rooker, but what he brings to the table is exactly what the Twins already have too much of--a bat-first corner guy whose biggest strength is plus power. What the Twins need from their position players is more guys who can run and make contact and also play defense. I was thinking that combining the strengths or Arraez and Gordon would make a wonderful tenth starter--Gordon's speed and ability to play some shortstop and center field combined with Arraez' OBP and bat-to-ball skills (plus some defensive versatility) make for a fine player who could fill in at several positions. Rooker hit nine homers in 213 plate appearances and somehow only drove in 16 runs. I know that RBI is an opportunity stat, but that number seems incredibly inefficient. There is probably some market for him and I would urge the team to trade him.

I haven't seen Mayfield that much, but was the poorest performance I've seen. He had no touch around the end zone and made some bad throws. Still, he didn't have any turnovers and managed the game well enough to come away with a win.

Looking at run differential and where they ended in most team stats, I think the Twins pretty much got the record they deserved. I'll repeat my observation that just about anything that could have gone wrong did and at the worst possible moment early in the season. But over the course of the year, it seemed that things evened out. There is a lot of work to be done. The club needs to rebuild their starting rotation, fill about half of the bullpen and find a shortstop who can make the plays in the field and isn't at the bottom of hitting statistics. Moreover, I think the club has way to many guys whose calling card is hitting homers and too few that are good at making contact and being as asset in the field and on the bases. With a little tweaking, I think the Twins can be at or above .500, but in order to challenge for post season play, they need to augment their pitching staff and add quality at shortstop.

Sox score two in the ninth to take the lead. I don’t hate them as much as NY and I’m glad they would host the Yankees if they win.

And the Nats are ahead in the 6th. Except for Twins-Yankees, you never know in baseball.

Also the Gigantes are poised to clinch the NL West, up 7-1.

Jays way up, Sox down 2-1, TB & NY no score and Mariners down 4-2.

Here we go! Everyone starts at the same time.

Most likely scenario is Yankees and Red Sox win today and clinch their spots. New York would then go to Fenway for the wild card game. I'd love to see a three-way or four-way playoff for the last spot or spots. Go Jays, Mariners, Nats and Rays.

Both players changed teams at the trade deadline, why didn't you include the entire year for both? If you want to make an argument to bring either player in maybe they should be considered for the same period of time.

Outstanding play by Donaldson.

Niko likes facing Ryan.

Really nice play by both Sano and Polanco.

Career high in home runs for Buxton, and in only 58 games.