Nashvilletwin

If the FO had recognized their pursuit of CC as the pipe dream it was, they basically could have had Anderson and Bassitt (or close equivalents) on minimum three year deals for the price of CC and Gallo. With ‘23 looking grim, this is how you build for the future. Instead of trying to kick save the Maeda, Mahle, and Gray ‘23 strategy, it would have been smarter to invest in the Bassitt, Anderson plus one (or two) extension(s) of the three ‘24-25 strategy. You start Maeda in the pen in ‘23 and wait for Mahle and Gray to break down to give Ober, Winder, SWR starter innings. At the deadline you move any or all of the three (Gray, Maeda, Mahle) who will not be extended. This not only positioned the rotation for a more open window in ‘24-25, but also would actually have significantly increased the probability of contending in ‘23. This FO is like the woman who backed into the airplane propellor: a disaster.

This x 100.

Ok, we can stop putting the blame for Correa squarely on the shoulders of the FO. But what about an off season that has produced Vasquez (an A in my book), Farmer as the starting SS, and Gallo? Who shoulders the blame for that?

There is absolutely no way I would trade anyone in our organization that has a reasonable chance to contribute to this team over the 2024-2027 time frame for any player who would a) impede the development of any of our top prospects; b) is not demonstrably a step up from what our future can provide; c) is nothing more than a temporary kick save attempt by the FO to resurrect their Mahle, Maeda and Gray strategy, or d) won’t be here for the next window. Guillorme may be a perfectly reasonable utility infielder for a couple years. But a platoon with Farmer will not save this season, and Guillorme is not going to be part of the long-term solution. As such, any acquisition of Guillorme should not compromise our future in any way, even if it is for a “couple of lottery tickets” - lottery tickets that may actually be more valuable to us.

You are absolutely correct. A small/mid-market team can compete if they are well run and do certain things very well. These things include: 1. Developing players through the system and continuing that development once the players make the majors. 2. Play sound fundamental baseball in all aspects - which “steals” a handful of net wins per year. 3. Have a manager and coaching staff that is both tactically above average (again, resulting in a handful of net wins per season) and works well with younger players. 4. When a key trade or FA is required, have a front office that is savvy enough to “win” more often than “loses”. The FO must additionally be able to put together and stick to a cogent long-term strategic plan, while avoiding the dogmatism to make necessary occasional pivots. 5. Have an ownership willing to step up when the opportunity presents itself and has the courage to make the tough, difficult decisions when needed. This is essentially how smaller market teams can create some sort of competitive advantage in a no salary cap environment. Some teams do this better and more consistently than others. How would you rate the Twins organization, particularly recently?

Assuming they even show up, of course. Lol

Rec this. Don’t worry - this strategy will in all likelihood be implemented come early June. The FO will do the best they can to see what the team with Mahle, Gray and Maeda can produce. Fair enough. If, or when, it becomes clear that won’t be successful - along with a healed Lewis and more seasoning for Lee, Julien, Martin, SWR, Varland, etc. - the rebuild toward a new multi year window will begin.

Whom would you move - someone in whom the Mets might realistically have an interest - to effect this trade for this budding utility infielder?

Baseball is broken. This is a horrible signing for the future of the league - particularly if the Mets, or any other of the dwindling number of franchises that can compete in this “arms race”, wins the Pennant or WS. This portends even greater loss of interest in professional baseball outside of a few major franchises. For the current and future fans of most of the MLB’s teams, there is very little reason to commit the time and money over years and years to a futile dream. Better just wait to jump on the bandwagon for that one season, if it ever comes, when lightning strikes and the team truly competes. As I have said in many of my posts, I am a “super fan” watching over 150 Twins games each year. Not this year. I have really no interest in prioritising my summer days and nights to watch our current team in this current MLB environment. My love of the game only goes so far. Assuming I reup for the MLB package this season, maybe I’ll tune in more often later in the season when our prospects show up. This is how this super fan feels. It’s not just the CC signing. It’s the direction of MLB and the direction of the Twins within that dynamic. Imagine how the less committed fans will feel over time. For many franchises, the Twins most certainly included, baseball fandom will become primarily a bandwagon phenomenon.

Didn’t even think about that. Wow, I guess it could be, but I hope not, Baseball does not need that. On the other hand, once a cheater….. Maybe the drs. had a hard time identifying the buzzer implanted below his shoulder. Enough silliness - let’s just hope he’s ok and can continue his career.

Let’s pray he is ok and this not some serious medical issue. He’s got a beautiful young family.

Dumpster diving. Zzzzzzzzz…

I write a lot of long posts (I know, I know, I apologise). If I were to try to answer this question, I’d probably break the site. So let me be short for once: I’ve been wrong about almost everything (but I’m a great second guesser).

What did the old lady say at the restaurant in When Harry Met Sally? “I’ll have what she’s having”. Lol. Rec this!

To be honest, the miracle for which I’m praying is that the Nephew wakes up and sacks Falvey and Levine before they completely decimate the future of the franchise with their wild-eyed commitment to not wasting the one season of having (through their - in the own mind - ingenious FO machinations) Gray, Mahle, and Maeda together. Yep, I’m just waiting for this brain trust who has generated zero playoff wins in their tenure and are still living off a magical season based on the juiced ball to trade our last fan favorite (and All Star) and several more top prospects to try to kick save a season based on three pitchers, none of whom will likely exceed 100-120 innings and all of whom will not be back next year, let alone be here after the trade deadline. For some reason this past week I can’t get the theme song from the original Poseidon Adventure, There’s Got to be a Morning After out of my head. As a “Super Fan” I’m having nightmares that I’m going to wake up on Opening Day to the Twins facing a left handed starter and our batting order includes Gallo, Farmer, Garlick, Celestino, Kepler and Polanco. I then spend hours on the phone with a customer service rep from DirectTv trying to get my money back for the MLB package. The nightmare ends when my wife and I take our dog on a two hour walk on a beautiful evening instead of watching the Twins throw it around the diamond and Rocco make another bonehead decision based on the “analytics”. I wonder why I would ever have thought to waste so much time and money on these Twins and I thank God that I was able to wake up to realise that.

The injury excuse certainly has merit - but only for part of the Twins’ problems last year. Poor fundamentals, poor in-game management, spotty situational hitting and pitching, lack of improvement throughout the season, etc. are just as important reasons for the poor finish. As a small/mid-market team, we will never compete for a pennant unless we do all those things well. Never. We can never stack our team so deeply to overcome poor performance in those areas. So it doesn’t matter if we resigned Correa, or any other big name -they’d help, but just adding one or two of them is not sufficient. We’ve had three “big” additions and two “big” subtractions. Re the additions, Vasquez was an excellent pick-up, Farmer will not move the dial, Gallo was a Hail Mary. The losses of Correa and Urshela are much more significant. There is no way this team on a positional player basis is better today than at the end of the year. So the strategy basically is: 1. Get people healthy. 2. Hope people have better seasons or improve. 3. Count on the additions of Mahle and Maeda to make a distinguishable difference. I get the rationale that we can’t waste the last year of Gray, Maeda and Mahle being here (and it’s absolutely the last year for at least two of them). But this roster is not built to compete for a pennant, let alone our miserable division, unless they improve considerable in the little things. I have no confidence that this team has the managerial or veteran leadership to make a big jump in these areas. Also, this team, especially any day Buxton is not playing, will be boring to watch. Farmer, Gallo, Kepler, Polanco? I’m asleep just thinking about it. They will be unbearable to watch if they throw the ball around or continue to struggle with the fundamentals.

Fair enough take. That’s exactly the FO’s thinking and why it’s basically a Hail Mary to take advantage of one year of Gray, Mahle and Maeda. Let’s hope it works (I’ve got the under though). The only caveat is there is also opportunity cost of the third option if we keep him all year (which I think is the least likely scenario if we are not competitive).

1. No chance they trade one of Maeda, Gray or Mahle before the season starts. If that is the FO’s thinking, why the earth shattering Gallo signing? In all seriousness, two of the three have injury concerns so better to bet on proving those concerns wrong and increasing value anyway. 2. The FO will attempt to extend one or two of them no later than the trade deadline based on first half performance and mutual interest from the pitcher (don’t take that for granted - all three may want a change in scenery and/or want to bet on themselves). 3. Unless we are competing (which includes deluding ourselves into think we are) and assuming no extensions, at least two and maybe all three are moved at the deadline. So yes, in all likelihood it will make sense to trade some or all of them at some time, but not now.

I’ve often wondered if the FO and ownership reads the DN, Now I know for sure that they do: only one of them would give this a “B”. Lol

1. Several of us are assuming we are moving Kepler. Seems logical. But let’s make sure that happens. What if the FO moves Lanarch or Wallner? Who knows what they will do. 2. Even so, many of us were assuming Kepler was going to get moved anyway. This would bring something in return (SP or RP most likely) while unclogging the left handed corner OF glut and give valuable ABs and innings to a up and comer. Now we still have the issue. 3. Want to wait until September? What difference does it make if he has a decent season or is a bust? Twins don’t compete (let’s be real here, ok), Gallo leaves anyway, and Wallner, Larnach, Gordon (who is playing better than anyone mentioned in this post), Kiriloff and Martin lose development time. Also, let’s even wait until September to see who has a better year between Gallo and Kepler (as pathetic as Kepler has been at the plate it’s far from a no brainer that Gallo will have a better season than Kepler).

I said the “exchange” of Urshela for Farmer. It was not a trade, rather replacing one infielder with a similar one who could provide a more direct hedge at SS if we were unsuccessful in the SS sweepstakes. At the moment Farmer is our everyday SS and in that role he’s a marginal upgrade over Urshela. Having said that, I personally would much rather have Urshela still on the team than Gallo. To me, maybe not for others, that’s a no brainer.

I have a deep enough affection for the Twins that I’m much more interested in doing what is best for developing a multi year window of true pennant contending opportunity than I am in this FO trying to kick save the last year of Gray, Mahle and Maeda after failing miserably on Correa, et al. Joey Gallo’s one season stop in Minnesota (if he even lasts that long) would appear to possibly delay the former while being a risky, desperate example of the latter. The tenure of The Nephew is off to a rocky start. It’s baseball, so one never knows. But I’ve got the under on 1.5MM attendance in ‘23 if Kyle Farmer is our everyday SS and Mr. Buck Sixty Joey Gallo is our starting RF. I’m what they call in the business a “super fan” and at this point even I have no interest in making watching the current projected lineup a daily priority.

You are correct - there should be no expectation that any player can really single handedly lead a team to the playoffs. Having said that, is there truly any realistic expectation that Gallo with move the dial in that direction in any meaningful way? The FO is nibbling at the edges - Vasquez is strong move, Farmer is a good exchange for Urshela, and Gallo may or may not be an upgrade from Kepler/Larnach/Wallner. Maybe more is to come, but in total do these three moves make the Twins look like a pennant contender in ‘23? Re Gallo, what are the opportunity costs of $11MM and the ABs for someone who almost certainly won’t be here in ‘24, let alone by the trade deadline.

Perfectly stated ??

100% - he is our most reliably producing outfielder at the moment and very fun to watch. After I posted my comment, I thought to myself that Gordon is specifically one of the young guys I’ll tune in for. Sorry Nick - I left you off my list.