stringer bell

I don’t have much information at my fingertips, but was such a list made last year? If so, where was Ober rated? My point is that pitchers seem to be more unpredictable than position players and anyone on this list could boom or bust. What is needed is volume and depth and I think the Twins are in pretty good shape in that regard.

I think the better example is Book, who played at Notre Dame, trying to come in and play against Miami on Monday. No QB besides Cousins is ready to face a division champ on the road, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the Vikings kept it close on Sunday. Green Bay has won a bunch of close games. I’ve thought they were due to lose one (to Minnesota) before this news. Maybe they still will, but the road just got much tougher.

I think as an offensive player, Martin looks like a top of the order guy—high OBP, perhaps not much power and some base stealing speed. He definitely could be somewhere in the middle defensively (center, SS, 2B) or else corner OF. He could perhaps be a replacement for Arraez if he were traded or maybe create a really pesky top of the order if he and Arraez are in the lineup together. As far as a future corner OF is concerned, I wouldn’t rule out or minimize the future of Larnach. I think he’ll adjust and be a solid corner guy with plus power, perhaps as soon as 2022. Behind him, the Twins have several guys who may step up like Walter and Julien. Circling back to the OP, Austin is still a prospect, but he’s close to ready with a high floor. He offers skills the club lacks (speed, OBP) which would seem to make him more valuable to the Twins than most other teams. I guess there are scenarios where he is moved, but I think the price for his services would be quite high.

The pandemic and expanded schedule has led to bad football and so many injuries. Who really wants to see guys signed off the street (Washington and Baltimore) or young QBs who are obviously not ready (Book and Fromm) try to win games in December? To see the long injury lists for every team is truly sad.

After looking at the playoff scenarios, I think at least one 9-8 team will make the playoffs in the NFC. The Vikings apparently have the tiebreaker over both New Orleans and Philly and I believe they’re in with a three- way tie involving SF and either the Eagles or Saints. I don’t see New Orleans winning these last three games or Philadelphia winning out. The Vikings are listed as having an 11% chance to make the playoffs, but that is mostly because they’re big underdogs at Green Bay. If they win at Green Bay, I think they still get the #7 seed.

Without a real rooting interest, but having a fantasy team, it seems to me that talent is really even throughout the league, hence upsets almost every week. Good coaches and good QBs separate teams from the pack, but on any given Sunday………. Zimmer and Cousins don’t separate the Vikings and they don’t have substantially more talent than anyone. They should let Zim go and move on from Cousins.

There are definitely moves to be made. There literally aren’t five arms to man the rotation and there isn’t a major league shortstop on the current roster. Adding the minimum—say Jonathan Villar and Michael Pineda—yields a team that will not be a total embarrassment (IMO) somewhere between 70 and 80 wins. Add tw more dynamic arms than Pineda along with a league average shortstop and I believe the club will flirt with .5000 and maybe more.

Tomas Telis , who was a taxi squad addition to the Twins in May and spent the balance of the year at St. Paul, has signed a minor league contract with the Dodgers.

Harmon is #1 in my book, as well. I think in general this series that the earliest stars should be rated higher--Kaat, Tony-O and Killebrew in particular. Last I looked Harmon had over twice as many lifetime homers for the Twins as the second best on the list, and if his homers were added from his time with the Senators, the margin would be even greater.

I’d like to see Palacios get a chance. He had a nice comeback year at Wichita and if he could hit a little with some power and base running speed while being an average defender, that package would be better than what Simmons achieved. It’s all speculation at this point, but at his age a player goes from prospect to suspect pretty quick.

I don't think the idea of making a trade should be ruled out. From where I sit, the Twins right now have three players yet to make their MLB debut who would profile to being major league regulars as soon as next season (Martin, Lewis, Miranda) with Miranda looking like he could easily break camp with the big club. Add to that, a player without a defined position (Arraez) and there is redundancy at second, third and perhaps corner outfield. If they can trade redundant players for value at positions of need (pitching, shortstop) they should make a move. I don't fault the Twins for making some moves where they traded from perceived oversupply that haven't worked out--Wade for Anderson for example--I do fault them for choosing the wrong players. Hindsight says that they should have traded Cave and kept Wade.

I’d disagree that the position player roster is “solid and complete as is”. There is a gaping hole at SS and left field is unsettled. I think that the assumptions that Miranda and Kirilloff are ready to be big-league regulars are valid. If that is so, then there are extra players at second and third base. One of them could fill left field, at least on a platoon basis, and Kirilloff is passable in left as another option. I’m pretty sure the Twins will rotate several players through the DH role.

Well written Nick. There can be an argument that production was delayed and now we'll see excellent results from the guys listed in the piece and maybe from guys not listed. Baily Ober was not on many people's radar and he looks like a solid starter. To think that a couple of Twins' prospects with higher profiles could come in and contribute as soon as this year would make sense. With all the injuries that occurred last year, there would seem to be a crying need for short-term help to tide the team over in '22. Many of the prospective starters will be on innings limits as Ober was last year, and some will not step forward, that is just the way things go. Bundy is one piece, adding someone else and Pineda or taking a chance on Rodon would still make sense.

Miranda certainly looks like someone who should be looked on as having a very solid chance to be a productive hitter as well as someone capable of playing several positions adequately. If the FO is confident he can perform at that level, I would advocate using Arraez as a trade piece for a shortstop. There is redundancy between Miranda and Arraez in the positions they play while there might be some redundancy with Arraez and Martin (who would figure to break in sometime this year, as well) in their ability to lead off, reach base and play multiple positions. Failing to trade Arraez, it could work out that he would be a platoon left fielder, with Miranda getting the at-bats at third, second and DH.

Cotton is listed on the 40-man roster, so I don't know if this is anything.

I was a youngster in '61 when the Twins arrived from Washington and Harmon was a father figure that I admired. Later, I thought I would like to hang out with Gaetti and Gagne (two very different personalities) who were around my age. Then, I really liked Cuddyer, the kind of guy I would like one of my daughters to bring home from college. Throughout the years, I always pulled hardest for the guys who weren't the best player on the team, but were good players. Amongst the pitchers, my favorite was Nathan, whose story of going from a college shortstop to failed starter to All-Star closer over the years.

Mauro Gozzo, 3 unimpressive outings with the ‘92 Twins. Dietrich Enns (still pitching!), 2 appearances with the 2017 Twins.

I doubt that the Twins will be in the sweepstakes for Story or Correa. The Twins need a relatively sure thing to be at least a placeholder for in-house options Martin and Lewis (perhaps Palacios) and then they need to determine anyone of those candidates profile as an everyday shortstop, starting with what we hope will be some sort of normal spring training. With whoever they have slated for starting at shortstop, it would beneficial if he could transition into a utility player if Lewis/Martin shows he that they are ready. I have thought Jonathan Villar might be a good fit and I imagine there are some trade candidates who would fill the bill for the club.

I was thinking the same thing, but Morris was a Tiger and Blue Jay for longer than his time in Minnesota. Perhaps when I was spelling out the ex-Twin criteria it would also include that they played a majority of their time in the majors with the Twins.

Simmons is still a good defender, but I think his range is diminishing. He really doesn't have much leg speed but gets by with good reactions and good positioning. I really wonder if he will continue to be significantly better than average in the future. I thought his approach at the plate was borderline awful last year and it was really seldom that he hit the ball hard. I don't know if there will be a huge bounceback for him. That said, I don't think there is any in-house candidate that can be trusted to capably fill the shortstop position to start the '22 season. Bringing in Simmons for a season, if he is, in fact, a positive factor in the clubhouse isn't a terrible idea. I have my eye on a couple of displaced shortstops (Kiner-Falefa & Segura) and second-tier options (Villar & Iglesias) who could move in and then perhaps be supplanted by a Martin or Lewis or maybe Palacios.

I wanted to add this somewhere—MLB Trade Rumors has an item on the Buxton signing. Pretty complementary to both the Twins’ FO and Buxton.

I don’t have a first-hand story of a mother of a minor leaguer, but I do have a second-hand story. Several years ago, at the Macy’s parade on Thanksgiving, the woman next to asked about my Twins gear. She told me her son, Aaron Slegers was a minor league pitcher in the Twins system. She told me about his high school and college career and how Aaron had moved up the Twins minor league chain. Also she talked about his off season workouts. Slegers made the majors with the Twins and has since pitched with the Rays and Angels.

How many HOFers does that make for the Twins? I consider them to be ex-Twins if they wouldn't have been elected without their time in Minnesota. There is Harmon, Rodney, Kirby, Bert, and now Tony-O and Kitty. All but Kirby were on the team for all or parts of the seasons from 1970-1973.

The Vikings scored their last touchdown on third-and-goal with 1:50 left. If they ran the ball and kicked the chip shot FG, there would be somewhere between 50 seconds and a minute remaining for the Lions to kick a winning FG. They wouldn't have been able to drain the clock totally. Detroit did all they could to hand the Vikings a win--two ill-advised fourth down attempts and two late turnovers--but Minnesota couldn't stop the vaunted Lion two-minute offense. I do agree about the 17-game season.

This was on the day in 2020 when spring training was canceled. I ran into Tony on my way back to my car when I saw no one was on the fields. Nice man!