bird

Any prognosticator who thinks the winner of the division does so with 83 wins is less than credible IMO. While I agree that the Guardians are less likely to show improvement over last year's win total, I wouldn't predict a fall-off. First, they're young and have many players with room to grow. Additionally, they have more depth, and more minor league reinforcements at the ready than many think. That includes some real talent at catcher, middle infield, outfield, starters, and relievers in AAA. Injuries may be the deciding factor between the two teams, but from what I can see, the Guardians aren't taking much of a back seat to the Twins when it comes to quality depth, either on the big club or in the upper minors.

And the relevance of this is...?

My bet is on Winder or Sands occupying the final spot, and with the idea that they spot start a game or three, avoiding those Aaron Sanchez/Derek Rodriguez starts. The first long-term replacement spot, and there WILL be one, would perhaps go to Ober if he sustains his effectiveness in St. Paul. And i have a hunch that Ronny Henriquez ends up as a bullpen stud as an injury replacement, probably by mid-season. (BTW, without an ounce of expertise, I predict Jovani Moran, Jorge Alcala, and Ronny Henriquez shock us with how good they are). It's good to have quality depth, isn't it?. While we can take Falvine to task for a lot of things, they deserve at least SOME credit for generating some impressive quality depth all around the field.

Does Number 3 represent the number of minutes you spent getting caught up on things? I have yet to find a single source who is not predicting an improved record for the Twins in 2023. You clearly don't know what you're talking about, my friend.

Like others, I didn't like the pick, simply because, aesthetically, big lumbering base-clogging whiffers to me are truly unpleasant to watch except for the 30 AB's where the ball goes a mile. In a very mild defense of the pick, however, my sense is the 2020 draft was neither strong nor deep. If two years from now I see that prospects picked in the same vicinity are making it and he's not? Then I'll agree that it was a bad pick and not just one I don't like.

At Lewis's peak as a prospect, Fangraphs had him as a 65FV guy IIRC. Steer is peaking in 2023 at 50FV, which is up from 2022's 40+ value. His upgrade, if I'm interpreting Longhagen's comments correctly, mostly stems from his belief in the sustainability of Steer's power surge and a shoulder shrug regarding his defensive flaws. We'll see, but MLB may expose Steer over time. Previous reported flaws: inaccurate throws, lousy range, trouble with high fastballs, prowess limited to middle-middle pitches, and a propensity to chase sliders off the plate. Maybe he overcomes all of this, and maybe not. But we know Royce Lewis, Mr. Steer, and you're no Royce Lewis.

Pretty much exactly how I see it. I mean, think about what we've heard so far. Granted, some of it fits into the standard "best condition" category. Gray, Lopez, and maybe even Maeda fit in that category. Mahle, (my pick as well), and Ryan both appear to be sporting improved pitches/skills. It's spring training. Therefore I choose to believe that all five of them reported in the absolute best conditions of their lives.

Five weeks is plenty of time for the field staff and the training/medical group to determine things. They'll pretty much know the status injury-wise, but also skill improvement, mental/emotional readiness, etc. My fear is that the addition of Donovan Solaris portends something we don't want to hear. It's not just some sort of handedness thing.

Very much has the feel of a cheap insurance policy against two things: 1) Injury issues with Polanco, or maybe Kirilloff, AND ALSO possibly Miranda flopping on defense at 3B, with expectations that he can be let go when one of Lewis, Martin, Julien, or Lee hopefully explodes onto the scene. 2) The very nightmarish possibility that none of Lewis, Martin, Lee, or Julien explode onto the scene. My guess is we forget about Mr. Solano before the 4th of July, probably much much earlier.

Great picks.

I'm forced to conclude that, despite the impressive improvements, the Twins will place 3rd behind both Cleveland and Chicago. What would vault them over one or both? 1) Start with health up the middle, especially Buxton, but also the catchers, but not excluding Polanco and Correa. While we have replacements, there's a steep falloff. 2) Just as important is production from the corners, defensively and offensively. So Kirilloff, Larnach, Kepler, Miranda, and eventually Lewis at 3B I hope. Gallo does little for me. I'm hopeful regarding the others, especially Larnach and Kirilloff, but including Kepler. 3)Help from the minor leagues will certainly be a wild card. We'll probably need all 5 starters at some point, and perhaps for lots of starts, and this might be a good thing in reality, who knows? My bet is on Josh Winder in particular. We'll need a couple-four relievers too. But at least we HAVE talent in AAA, which is more than CWS can say. Bad news: the Guardians are loaded with fine prospects. 4) Not relevant to this season, but I really like the off-season trades of Luis Arraez that brought us Jose Salas, and Byron Chourio may surprise. And the prospect we got for Gio (Alejandro Hidalgo) is probably a similar talent quality to Jovani Moran, or Ronny Henriquez even.

I take issue with the idea that Pagan was a polarizing figure. I believe the revulsion was universal.

Oh, I like this pick. Especially if he's anything like Jackson Chourio (Milwaukee) or Jaison Chourio (Cleveland). Unfortunately they are not Byron's siblings I'm told.

P2C: Danny De Andrade

I'm personally uninterested in the details. Either the guy is capable of responding to a wake-up call, or he's not. And even if he's not, I'll wish him well, as it would perhaps be a sign of a deeper issue for the man. As for his baseball career, I'm even less optimistic than before, given the possibility that his problem runs deeper than a singlular lapse in judgment.