mac098

I got ya. Maybe it was just play on words that got me confused as well. It's all good.

I have a feeling he is our next Brent Rooker. Mashed at the college level for a school that typically has a solid baseball team year in and year out. But he just can't seem to put it together at the professional level. Now I hope I'm wrong and he can turn it around because he also reminds of Sano in that when he makes contact, EVERYONE turns their heads because it just sounds that good coming off the bat. If he start to put it together, I think we'll have a good platoon at 1B with Sabato and Kirilloff.

How can you see Lee is Busted or Bust? The kid has only spent half a season in our organization since being drafted...in 2022. He literally moved from Rookie ball to High A to AA in that short time. Baseball is not like football or basketball, where rookies/1st year players are expected to make an impact almost immediately. Very rarely do 18 yr olds or college drafted kids make it to The Show the same year they get drafted, let alone the year after they get drafted. Yes, are there outliers? Of course there are. But I wouldn't call Lee a Bust. Now Martin is starting to get to that point of Bust. He took a step backward last year, but maybe it was a step backward to take a huge leap forward. Kinda like a running start if you will. I hope that he can take off on our team, whether its somewhere in the IF or the OF. Heck maybe he's gotta be out UTIL guy until a spot opens up. Personally, I think he might be a better choice for OF than Celestino. After this season, quite a bit of contracts are up and we may be a few players short so that will open up some opening for the these young players to step up.

It is really nice to see young pitchers care about themselves and the team. Yes this helps the team as they develop better pitches and better mechanics. It shows everyone that our young pitchers are hungry and want to succeed. Joe Ryan reminds of Jake Odorizzi the first year we had him. Nothing overpowering, he just knows how to pitch and where to throw those pitches. If he can continue to work on the that slider and the split-change I think we'll see a very good #2/3 for many years to come. Just watching that video I was able to pick out that the release point was within a few inches of each other and that is going to look deceptive to a batter, regardless of which side of the plate they hit from. BUT he is going to have to establish that fastball early in the game to set up those other pitches. Mahle, if he can play with either of those sliders (the vertical break and the horizontal break) depending on the handedness of the batter, I think we just found our future #1. He's been shown he's lights out against lefty's but as was stated in article, he's struggled against righty's. I foresee solid things from both of these young men this coming year.

I think this, if it is what is happening, is allowing AK to work on getting healthy and make sure his swing is there and not hurting. AK might be out of options and this is just to platoon 1st. But if he does have options available, this might be a move to send him to AAA where the Twins staff can monitor his swing a little more. Of course, we will have to see come ST and end of ST.

Personally, I believe that day of "Aces" are over. There just aren't those with the will or drive to finish the game when they start. There are a few players that have that drive anymore (Verlander, Scherzer, DeGrom). Those pitchers are literally game changers when they take the mound. The refuse to come out of the game, they make sure their team is in it all the way, and most importantly, they have that knack to be able to work out of jams when it comes to it. They're able to dig deep down and find that extra level when needed. But it's also extremely hard to define an "Ace" with words. It's more or less something that you can see (kind of like a balk). There really is no true definition, but more or less of a visual queue. Now onto Sonny. Is he Ace material? No. Is he a solid top of the of rotation starter? Yes. He seems like he has a safe ceiling of being a really good #2, with a floor of a #3. And if we had an entire rotation like that, I would take it in a heartbeat over having a true "Ace" and a rotation of #5's or middling arms. He just needs to step up and claim that head of the rotation for himself. Make it undisputed that he belongs there compared to the rest of our rotation.

I see what you mean. I thought you were talking about those that struggled or didn't live up to expectations in NY. My bad. Makes sense when you put it that way.

I don't know. I would say we've had decent success working with former NYY players. Sonny Gray, Gio Urshela, Phil Hughes, Michael Pineda, and Jake Cave (albeit, it was only a partial year), I think getting out of the Big Apple has helped some of those players regain some of what got them to the Majors.

Like the old saying is said, "The season can't be won in April, but it can certainly be lost." Look at the 2021 Twins. That was a prime example of losing the season in April. If we can come out looking at a .500 record, I think we'll be sitting pretty good in a weak division. But I do think we need to look at the series against those top teams. If we can split or look at a 3-7/4-6 that will give us a really good idea of where we stand relative to some powerhouse teams. Heck, it might actually help us find where we need to improve.

I've never understood the idea of attempting to change a player's swing to make him more of a power hitter. If he is hitting for AVG and its working, why try to change that? I would take a player that hits .275-.290 w/ a OBP of .360+ over a someone who hits .210 but hits 30 HR's a season. Yes, homeruns are exciting, but so is a player beating out an infield single. Then they steal 2nd and are driven in with a single to the OF. As a team, you need table setters for the big guys to do their damage. It's pretty hard to win games if you're relying on homeruns (ask the 2019 Twins about their playoffs that year). But I think this is a make it or break it year for the Martin. He definitely needs to show us that he belongs in MSP.

This is the death of baseball to the youth of today. As a kid growing up, I was able to watch baseball all summer on FSN, which was provided with our TV package. Now, BSN+ isn't allowing us to watch our local teams w/o a current TV provider that has access to that team. No wonder why kids nowadays only want to play basketball, football, or soccer. They can easily watch those games without having to worry much. A few different options need to happen. 1.) MLB.TV needs to eliminate blackouts for local sports teams. I've been able to see the Saints on TV more than the Twins. 2.) BSN+ needs to allow the local sports teams on there without having a TV subscription. 3.) The Twins/Wolves/Wild need to partner with a local channel to have their games played on there. The Vikings do it, I don't see why the other major sports teams can't do that. 4.) Twins need to make their own network (similar to the Yanks and YES) and have that available on TV packages for people to watch. There is enough history and enough games for them to always have something be playing on that channel. Just my 2 cents.

I would say we are much stronger than last year. Is it going to be one of the best in the league, maybe. I would say over the course of a full season, we'll probably one of the most consistent rotations with a strong anchor in the bullpen. Now if we can convert some of our SP into LRP to take the reigns in the event of a short outing, I believe we'll have a very good staff. Now I agree that we need some pitchers to step up and take the ACE or #2 spot. But that comes down to who has post-season experience and right now, that looks like it isn't too many of our players outside of Gallo and Correa. We've got a very young and inexperienced team (in terms of playoff experience) If we can some of our veteran starters kick it up to another level, we'll have a team that can win a playoff series.

This was a very good move by the FO. Trading Arraez was the best move at the end of the day. Trading a player that was worth the most he may ever be worth right now is the best move we could have done. He's a player without a set position, little power, and no speed. He can play, but his intangibles leave little be desired.

This is well put. If the Twins can maintain a .600 winning percentage at home, there is a good chance they make the playoffs...if they can get a .500 percentage at home (I know its not possible due to the fact that they play 81 home and 81 away, so realistically going 40-41 or 41-40 away we would be okay as long as we get a minimum of 49 wins at home). So that would leave us around 89/90 and 73/72, which TBH, isn't strong enough to make the playoffs most years, but with a weak AL Central, I think we could win the division.

I say trade him. Now is the best time to trade because he is at the highest value right now. It's extremely possible that his knees give out this season. Also, we have Martin, Lewis, and Julien in the waiting to take over. Arraez has no defense, no pop in his bat, no speed, and no true spot on this team. Martin and Lewis at least have the fact that they can play in the OF to help them gain spots on this team. Julien, yes, is weak on defense, but has the bat to back it up.

I'm almost to point of "Get it done." We need some pitching and we have a plethora of LH OF on our team. Gordon, Kepler, or Larnach. Maybe even toss in a minor leaguer that is close to MLB ready. But we need to get something, especially if we've invested at least the next 6 years to CC. We owe him that much. The FO owes their fan-base that much.

I'd say extend him to a very team friendly contract and see what the market would give. If the range is anywhere between 7-11 million/year, I think a lot of teams would be willing to make a trade for the ability to count on him getting on base. Not to mention he will always be in the running for a batting title and potentially a SS, seems almost like a no brainer

At the time, yes. I think it was the best move for our organization. He was telling us he wanted to test the FA market. He had no loyalty to signing back with us.

This team looks like it is starting to get ready to take the next step. We have a good mix of young players and veteran players that will be playing together. Glad to see C4 back as he can be a huge difference make to a lot of our younger players. Especially with his knowledge, experience, and overall atmosphere. I think this is the year some of our younger player show what they've got. I believe Miranda will break out of his shell, meaning we'll see 20+ homers this year with serviceable defense. A healthy Polanco would make a huge difference at the plate and in the field. If AK can stay healthy, 1B is locked down with above avg defense and a solid bat. Now the OF is a still a mystery. We know Gallo can play elite defense along with Kepler, but the issue is with their bats. If Gallo can produce and avg of .220-.240, I'll be happy. With Kepler, I would like to see somewhere around .250 and I'll accept it, as long as he can put a few more balls into the bleachers. With Buck, we need him to stay healthy for 130-145 games. He is a literal game changer out there in both the field and the plate. If we can get a .275 avg out of him, I'll be pleased. The biggest question mark is the starting rotation and potential use of the BP. We need the starters to snag/grab/own 6 innings of QUALITY baseball. I know Quality Starts (QS) are an underrated stat, but having those really alleviates a lot of pressure of the hitters and BP to have to perform later in the game. Just my 2 cents.

I don't we have a single player that will qualify for anything. Not sounding negative, but Buck won't be able to stay healthy for 150+ games to garner MVP votes. Arraez doesn't have enough numbers outside OBP and BA to be able to garner votes. Our pitching is going to be about the same as last year. So, in reality, the Twins will NOT win the division, will NOT make the post-season, and will NOT have any individual hardware next year.

To be honest, it is a pretty poor off-season for the Twins. We haven't done much to garner any attention (like we ever do outside of a surprise signing like Correa last year), but this off season has been dreadfully slow for us. As a fan, it looks like the Twins FO are unsure what they want to do. There are times where it looks as if we should start the rebuild, and then there are times where it looks like we might have gotten a missing piece. But this offseason has looked like we have given up. This offseason is looking like we should start to find places for some of these expensive veterans to go and look to the future for a rebuild. I know that we have a lot of young talent on the roster and in the organization, but it is looking more and more like Falvey/Lavine have not been able to live up to expectations. Since they took over, the Twins are 451-421, with one 100 win season, and a shortened COVID season. We've made the playoff 3 times while missing them 3 times. Our supposed pitching "pipeline" has yet to show its face, a lot of our younger players have stalled out in development, either due to injury, new training staff, or just not meeting expectations, and our best player can't even stay on the field. How is this a winning formula for a team that is in a mid-small market and treated like a business? I don't know about you, but I love watching the Twins when we're winning, but its really tough to enjoy the Twins when we're repeatedly putting ourselves at a huge disadvantage by not being aggressive and going after pitching in the offseason. And right now should be our time to open the checkbook and sign some players. We have the space. But we need to take a look at our organization and ask, "Why don't players want to sign here in Minnesota?" Is it the culture we have? Is it the owners? Is it the FO? Is it the reputation of us losing playoff game after playoff game? There are a million different reasons why players don't want to come here. We just need to figure it out and make a change.

This right here is what is wrong with Baseball right now. Teams that can shell out money and be fine with paying the taxes are going to continue doing this until there is a stop. From my understanding, Baseball is the only sport of the 4 major American sports (Hockey, Football, Basketball, and Baseball) that doesn't have a salary cap or max contracts. This getting way outta hand now. Teams like the Twins will never be able to compete with teams that are willing to spend money even if their taxes take them close to $1 Billion. Yes, I understand the Mets are in "Win now" mode because of their severe drought of a WS and Post-season play, but this is getting ridiculous. These are the things that make me not want to watch baseball anymore. Its tough to stomach your team that struggles to get a single All-Star, whereas teams like the Mets, Yankees, Dodgers, Padres, and Astros have an entire team of them only because they purchased those players off the market and were willing to spend $500mil per year for it. Sorry, rant over.

Lets stop with all the opt-outs. This is getting old. I understand thats what Boras wants, but we need to be able to get players that don't want opt outs and a full no trade clause. This is ridiculous. I'm sure with those opt outs, the minute the team starts tanking, he would opt out and decide that the Twins were the wrong fit for him. Correa needs to take a look at the most recent signing of Turner and Bogaerts and think REAL hard. Does he want to opt out, or does he want to be the face of the franchise for a team to build around?

I would be okay with trading Arraez. Of course, we would have to add something or 2 to make it worthwhile for the Marlins. But right now, Arraez is worth the most he has ever been. He is the odd man out on positions for our team. He isn't much for fielding, hits for average, lacks power, and is one IL stint from being a wasted roster spot. He has spent time every year he has been on the ML roster, or at the very least, been injured enough to where he shouldn't be out there playing.

I agree. Bally Sports has severely hurt the entire MN sports fanbase. And I mean across ALL sports. I haven't been able to watch a single MN sports team, outside the Vikings, for over 2 years. Not being able to watch the Twins hurts the future fanbase. If kids don't see the sport, they don't wanna go to the games and don't get to purchase the apparel of the team. Lost revenue right there. As a parent, my son has always asked, "Why don't we get to watch the Twins on TV?" As a coach of the sport, I see my players repping more SD, LA, NYY, PHI, MIA, BOS, and CHI Sox hats than I see MN Twins hats. Why is that? Those teams are on TV. Our team is not on TV.