TwinsDr2021

If ERod hasn't made it to the Twins by 25, one of two things have happened, bad injury, or he is wildly overrated now. I think the other 4 are pretty good choices with the #5 pick rounding out the top 5.

I hear what you are saying, and I totally get the concept, but I was replying to "this is what smart teams do", and I have looked and haven't seen many teams buying out guys into their early 30's, they generally do it when a guy comes up really young, and want to keep him though his prime years 26-30 at a reduced cost. My thoughts on this is the same when it was brought up for Ryan, I wouldn't do it, they already have these guys on the cheap for their prime. Only a few players debut at these ages and end up being one of the highest paid players at their position.

Are there teams that have extended a 24 year old with very limited experience and twice had ACL surgery? I have been looking for extensions for "young players" and haven't seen many at age 24 let alone his injury history. I am sure I have missed players, anybody have a list?

I have been saying on many threads a bunch of the Twins "prospects" are on the older side, unproven side, or unhealthy side. So a front office that believes, relies, and empathizes data is going to throw that historical data aside to run out a lineup full up mid 20 prospects that are unproven and/or unable to stay injury free is frankly crazy talk or maybe not crazy talk but using emotions instead of logic and data. Imagine for a second they threw caution to the wind and started the year with Larnach, Buxton, Wallner, AK, Polanco, Correa and Miranda. and a couple of guys get hurt and or a couple tank or are just terrible, who do they go to the next wave of guys that are 24 and still in the minors? I am not a fan Gallo but he is the type of guy that can get hot an carry a team, but he is also a guy that could easily get benched if things are not going well and give somebody else a chance, guessing the same with Salano but to be honest never heard of this guy. This is huge year for a bunch of Twins "prospects"

Miranda turns 25 in June, AK just turned 25, Larnach turns 26 in 4 days, Gordon will play the season at 27, Wallner just turned 25, Julien turns 24 in April, Martin turns 24 next month, Lewis turns 24 in June, Lee just turned 22. So I agree the Twins have multiple years of control of these guys, only Lee is young, the others aren't old but generally players this age with little or no experience aren't blocking younger players with more potential. I see Kepler gone after this year unless his is amazing, And I don't see the Club picking up Polanco in 25, so if he isn't back to himself this year and somebody else picks it up he could be moved to the bench. Wallner, AK and Larnach this seems like their last big chance if their play doesn't demand playing time this year, there really is no reason to keep guys this age around. So could there be trades? yes, best case scenario so many play well that they are able to flip a couple for pitcher and a prospect or two. Worst case guys like Martin, Wallner, Larnach, AK don't play great and they will have little to no trade value. I really, really hope for the best case.

💯 - I think he has a chance to be a good relief pitcher, but have to agree there were questions marks going into 22 and there are more going into 23.

Great write up, if salary isn't taken into consideration, I think Stanton is proven, and Miranda is just hope at this point. Who in real life would I want, Miranda because of the cost, but if the Yanks offered Stanton straight up for Miranda and pick up all the cost on Stanton, I am taking Stanton.

Buxton was 21 when he was first called up and his minor league stats are .301 average, OBP of .376 and SLG .507. These two players are nothing like each other, at 24 Martin doesn't have the time to come in the league and hit like Buxton did, if he does his career will be real, real short.

Martin turns 24 on March 23, which is already getting old for a prospects. IMO if he isn't amazing this year and force his way to the big leagues, he probably will just be another prospect that failed to live up to expectations. (Because he probably be passed by other prospects) I believe he can and will become a good major league player for years, but I don't see him becoming an everyday starting player because I belief the next prospects with more upside will slide him out. See Nick Gordon.

Ober will be 28 in July, there is ZERO reason for him to be in the minors, if he isn't good enough to make the opening day roster this year, how can you expect him to be part of the rotation going forward. If I was in charge of this team, I would be go with a 6 man rotation for a couple of starts and tell Ryan, Ober and Maeda, prove to me your deserve one of the top spots, and the other guy would go to to pen.

Lewis (who I give a little break based on his injuries but if he isn't good enough to force his way to the majors this year, well...) turns 24 on June 5, Martin on March 23, and Julien April 30th, Wallner just turned 25, and Helman turns 27 may 23rd. None of these guys can afford another year in the minors if they ever want to be regular starter in the majors. I am not saying they can't be good major league players, guys that can't get to the majors until they are 25 end up with careers like Nick Gordon 27 a utility player or starting for a rebuilding team, sure there are the McNeils, Doziers, Merrifield and but they are few and far between. Lee just turned 22 so he is the one guy that could spend the whole year in the minors and still end up really good, but he better be damn good.

Lewis (24 in June), Rodriguez (20 in a week or do), Winder (26), Julien (24 in April), and Maeda (35) Besides Rodriguez and Lewis to a lesser extent I would hardly classify these players as the pipeline. Julien could become a solid player and Winder is only a couple of years younger than Burnes. With that said I see little to no chance the Brewers making that trade, I see them asking for Ryan and Lee, or Ryan, Lewis, Julien or SWR and a really young pitcher. I would not make any of those trades without a extension, but with an extension, I like the original one and the last one I wrote.

What does this even mean? If he isn't wildly successful in AA he won't be rushed because he isn't even on the 40 man, if he is wildly successful and there is room on the major league roster he should be put on the 40 man and moved up. I like Lee and love that he just turned 22 at the beginning of February, which means he has some time before he just becomes another 24 year old minor league prospect. I believe by mid summer we here on TD will be begging the Twins to bring him up because he is doing so well!

As of today that is a very, very weak offensive/Defensive team. that team is basically filled with completely unproven players at every position except SS and CF (Injury prone) (maybe catcher I guess), that along with Gray, Mahle and less so Maeda being free agents has the look of a rebuilding team. On the other hand if Lee, Lewis, Julien, Martin, Wallner, SWR, and a couple of pitching prospects do well (and AK fully healthy) it has the looks of a very competitive team for 5-7 years. It is good to dream!

At no point should a prospect be rated #2 in any system where he is used as a fill in for a couple of years at the age of 24 (He turns 24 in June). If he is good enough to be ranked #2 (and I believe he is) here is a list of players that should take a back seat to him (Gordon, Miranda, Gallo, Wallner, Larnach, Kepler, AK, and possibly Polanco if he isn't playing well) if he is playing well, you find a spot on the field for a talent like that and currently only Correa and Buxton (and maybe AK if fully healthy) have his level of talent, so you find a spot for him 3B, 2B, 1B, LF, or right field, there is ZERO reason (if playing well) for him to be in the minors or behind the guys I listed above.

I believe there is no reason Rodriguez, Ray, Prielipp couldn't be up before 25, and Canterino will be 27 in 25. If he stays healthy this year and pitches like he has he seems like a guy that could be called up this year.

A 19 year old kid with a 1045 OPS is very impressive at any level.

First besides 8 starts in 2020, I would disagree that Maeda has proven to be better than him. Second I didn't say he had to be in the rotation, What are you preserving a 28 year old pitcher for?

Ober will be 28 in July, there is no reason he should be pitching in the minors, NONE!

Why not the cheaper option Moran (He will 26 in two months, if he isn't good enough he is just taking up a spot on the 40)? or Duran or Theilbar? To me Hand is the type of relief pitcher you go get at the deadline (or before) if you need bullpen help and he has proven he is still good to decent on a bad team.

I like that he going to pitch the season at age 20. Hopefully he stays healthy works on a third pitch and dominants. And he is on the radar for a MLB promotion in 24 or 25 at the latest, To me he is a real prospect, young with I assume great stuff that has a chance to be real good (I also admit that failure is the most likely outcome for this type of prospect)

I would add, Stud pitcher? What has Mahle ever done to be considered a stud pitcher? He has been decent to good (in 2021 he started 33 games and pitched 180 innings, that isn't stud that is durable), and I hope he is amazing this year, but lets stop with the exaggerating of things, please.

I think he should be competing with AK and Larnach for a major league job. The Twins seem to have a bunch of older prospects that people are expecting huge things from, not sure I am so optimistic guys in their mid 20's figuring it out to become solid major players.

He was 8 -0 with a .94 ERA agaisnt KC and Detroit, and 5-8 with a 4.80 ERA against everybody else. He could be a future ace but he must get better against teams that aren't running out an AAA lineup. I hope and think he can but until he does, he will continually have to prove he deserves to be a starting pitcher.

I don't accept that we need to change (or at least me) definition of ace, because that means us fans we are OK with teams taking out pitchers like, Kershaw, Verlander, Santana, Bieber, etc.. after 5/6 innings because of some crazy stats that include pitchers of all ilk. If teams really start taking out the best starting pitchers on the planet and using them the same way teams use pitchers like Bundy for example makes baseball worse off. As a 50 year old imagine if we didn't get to see the greatness of pitchers like Johnson, Maddux, Pedro, Santana, Glavine, Clemens, Verlander, Kershaw and many, many others?