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Nashvilletwin

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Everything posted by Nashvilletwin

  1. Nashvilletwin
    This 100%. They key to winning in the modern game is a shutdown pen. Especially for a team like the Twins that is projected to struggle scoring runs. And, yes, the predictions that our starters are magically going to be throwing an extra inning plus per game are way overly optimistic. For that to happen: a) Mahle and Maeda will need to be healthy and stay healthy out of the gate; b) we’d need to overly rely on Lopez - which is stupid since he tired at the end of last year and we need him next year; c) we will forgo getting rocked and/or building length when we eventually start our younger guys - Ober, Winder, Varland, and SWR; ; and d) Rocco would need to change his indelible spots. None of those are happening.
  2. Nashvilletwin
    Good for him.
  3. Nashvilletwin
    #7 and #4 were kinda the same deal - could be looked at together. After the Correa signing and Arraez trade were executed, replacing Urshela with Farmer seems like a bad move for a team that is very committed to winning now. IMHO, the Arraez trade was necessary because of a) Mahle’s poor health projection and b) the unlikelihood that any of Mahle, Gray or Maeda will be extended (by our choice or theirs). The fact that the Marlins threw in two upside prospects gives me a sinking feeling about Lopez. Hope I’m wrong. #5 and #6 were just plain dumb. Sisk will turn out to be of much higher value in the future than Taylor.
  4. Nashvilletwin
    I agree that Polanco is probably the key position player this season (assuming Buxton is playing 50% of the games in CF and 30% games as DH). This team offensively could very well go the way of Polanco’s season. You mention Wallner, Julien, Gordon. Those players (and probably Larnach, Lewis, Lee and Martin as well) will need injuries from other players to get meaningful big league innings. The FO and coaching staff seem intent on giving those important innings to Gallo, Kepler, Martin, Farmer and, even, Polanco - all players unlikely to be Twins in 2024. We shall see what the second half of the season brings.
  5. Nashvilletwin
    Agree. Trading Kepler is really the only way the Gallo signing makes any sense. Having Gallo play 1B (which I guess sounds more likely with Arraez gone and more Kiriloff injury rumours) is a complete waste of all this defensive talent everybody keeps extolling as a reason for the signing. It would have been better if we had just gone out and found an actual first basemen in that case.
  6. Nashvilletwin
    This article could have been written about essentially every Twin (Mahle, Maeda, both Lopez’s, Pagan, Buxton, Gallo, Kiriloff, Kepler - just to name a few). “Something to Prove” or “Bounce Back” is essentially the basis of the FO’s entire strategy this season. But re the five highlighted: Ryan will be solid against all teams (new favorite Twin). Polanco will be middling - 0.350s OBP and .250 BA, including while playing the second half of the season on another team, Gordon’s misuse - sitting him behind Gallo, Kepler, and Taylor - will be one of the biggest mistakes of the year. That guy so earned a bigger role. He must be begging for a trade. It’s hard to imagine we are bagging the development of Gordon, Larnach, Wallner and Martin for those three “past their primes”. Maybe that changes by the deadline. Miranda will be serviceable at 3B and at the plate - until he moves to his future more permanent position 1B later in the year and begins to rake. Alcala may be the entire key to pen and will have a super season.
  7. Nashvilletwin
    I get why the FO took the bait in Gallo. Fine, let’s see how he does. But my expectations are low and I have very little interest in developing an emotional fan connection with him, In all likelihood he’s going to perform somewhere between so so and meh and either gone by the trade deadline or by next season. Geez, this team is going to be so frickin’ boring to watch, particularly if Buxton goes down. Kepler, Gallo, Farmer, Taylor, Vasquez, Jeffers, even Polanco - they all are good ballplayers, but it’s all “hope they have bounce back year” and/or just plain meh. CC is a fantastic player to watch, but he’ll never be my fan favorite. Gosh, I hope Miranda, Kiriloff, Larnach and Gordon provide some excitement. Otherwise, I guess I’ll just wait for Lewis, Lee, Julien and Martin…..
  8. Nashvilletwin
    Decent lottery tickets: Chourio, Acuna, De Andrade, Nowlin Likely everyday starter or rotation piece: None Possible utlity player or relief pitcher: Headrick, Sands, Severino
  9. Nashvilletwin
    I get your drift, but the truth is the Twins really only have three pure shortstops in their near- mid term system - Correa, Lewis, and Miller (I don’t count Farmer, our utility short-term rental). Gordon, Martin, Salas, and Lee don’t really project as long-term starters as short.
  10. Nashvilletwin
    Cody Laweryson
  11. Nashvilletwin
    I’m glad someone is keeping things a bit real on the TD. Some moves were great and hopefully have an impact - Correa (his return, so it’s not a net pickup per se), Vasquez and maybe Farmer. We shall see how others turn out - Lopez (for Arraez), Gallo, Taylor, and keeping Kepler (and maybe Polanco). But none of these will matter if Buxton only plays 80 games, the Twins continue to play poor fundamental baseball, and Rocco doesn’t up his game.
  12. Nashvilletwin
    I hate to be such a Debbie Downer, but I’m just not too fired up about this year’s team. I’m having a hard time putting together a lineup that gets me really wanting to tune in. Maybe I can get more excited about this team as the season develops, but I have very little interest in committing emotional capital to Gallo, Taylor, Kepler, Farmer, and even Polanco - all of whom will likely be one year players on this team, if that. Buxton is really fun to watch (when he plays) and I really respect Correa’s talent (but he will never be my favorite player). I guess I’ll just have to focus on Gordon, Kiriloff and Larnach - when and if they play. It will be fun to get to know Vasquez’s game as well.
  13. Nashvilletwin
    Great, another season with mixing up the batting order and positions every game. Maybe it’s an old school thought, but there might be something to be said about showing up at the park every day knowing where you are going to bat and what position you are going to play. I guess it might be a necessity when you don’t have players who are a good fit for a particular spot in the order or field……
  14. Nashvilletwin
    I love all the posters suggesting Gordon and Julien (and I’m one of those); meanwhile, according to some recent articles on the TD, Gordon will be a utility outfielder (playing behind Gallo, Kepler and Larnach in the corner spots and behind Taylor as backup CF) and Julien may not even make his big league debut this season.
  15. Nashvilletwin
    Agree, if the proposed list above is it, we will have lots of solid prospects clamouring to get traded. Ober, Winder, Varland, SWR, Julien, Wallner, Lewis, Celestino - these guys need to play too to see what we’ve got.
  16. Nashvilletwin
    And so much has to go right, right? Buxton has to play and produce, Gallo needs a rebound year, Polanco needs a rebound year, Kiriloff has to be healthy and produce, Miranda’s production is not set in stone, etc. etc. And we pretty much know the best we can expect from Kepler, Farmer, Vasquez, and Taylor - and that is unexciting (although all are very solid defenders). We got rid of two of our three best hitters (not counting Buxton if he only plays half the games) and replaced them with meh, at best.
  17. Nashvilletwin
    This is going to be a light hitting team and boring to watch at the plate. Just too many ifs for there to be confidence in this lineup. The notion that Gallo would be considered our lead off batter is just so laughable. But there has to be virtually no confidence that he can be a run producer later in the lineup, so who knows. My vote is Gordon or Buxton.
  18. Nashvilletwin
    “Joey Gallo will play a lot of 1B early as Alex Kiriloff is worked back in”. Talk about waking up to a day killer comment….. Re Max, he’s one of my favorites and I’ve cheered hard for him. He makes the occasional great play in the field, but otherwise he’s now a complete snooze fest at the plate. With Taylor and Gallo, his skill base, especially given his cost, is pretty much redundant. There is no reason to turn on the game or show up at the park to watch Max. He will/should be moved and the capital redeployed into the pen. If not, it will be an off-season failure for the FO. Boy, Buxton better play a lot of CF this year and be good doing it - otherwise, we will probably have the lightest hitting OF in the majors.
  19. Nashvilletwin
    Great, thoughtful post with solid insights. Much appreciated.
  20. Nashvilletwin
    Lewis still projects as a SS, no?
  21. Nashvilletwin
    Thanks.
  22. Nashvilletwin
    Agree Ted. In Minnesota, “butts in the seats” is more a function of winning than in a lot of/most other markets. So winning trumps everything. Having said that, losing with a boring team…..well that is the worst possible scenario. If the Twins don’t compete, Lopez, no matter how he pitches, cannot save kick save attendance from the likes of Gallo, Kepler, Taylor, Farmer and an out-of-the-lineup Buxton. As they say, “you pay your money, and you take your chances”.
  23. Nashvilletwin
    Nor Sands, for that matter. If you are of the opinion, like that of many scouting reports, that Lee, Salas, and Martin will never play SS in the majors, then Tanner Schobel (overall #13 ?) is our second highest ranked SS prospect. I admit I don’t know much about him - wasn’t he the substitute teacher in School of Rock?
  24. Nashvilletwin
    Yes - a very possible hypothesis. IMHO, the dogged effort to acquire Lopez, who apparently was the best starter available across the league for the best proven major leaguer position player on the Twins we could trade (Correa and Buxton were not possibilities), was a function of a) injury/production concerns re Mahle, Maeda, and possibly Ober and b) the growing likelihood that none of Mahle, Maeda or Gray would be resigned (for whatever reasons), thereby leaving the rotation needing to be restocked in ‘24. As an aside, I have the under on a combined 375 innings from Mahle, Maeda and Gray this season. If you believe that, acquiring a guy who thru 180 innings last year makes a lot of sense. Btw, I also have the under on 180 innings from Lopez in ‘23 or ‘24. I know, I know, I’m such a Debbie Downer. The Kiriloff side of this hypothesis is way less relevant. Kiriloff, does not just have experimental surgery risk - he also has a lot of “is he actually any good” risk too. So, for him to be a even remotely a good replacement for Arraez, he has to be both healthy and consistently productive (which he has really never been). If not, the type of production expected by Kiriloff at 1B can be on the margin more easily replaced by several players (after all, as we learned from Money Ball, anyone can play 1B, lol).
  25. Nashvilletwin
    Don’t sleep on Martin. Until we see another year or even two out of Salas, Martin > Salas at the moment. That could obviously change this year, but Martin’s strongish second half and raking in the AFL, gives his ranking a boost coming into this year. Once you’ve fallen, it’s hard to move back up, but Martin merits that type of consideration..
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