Hunter McCall

Exactly! Low-risk, high-reward!

Hello, just want to clear a couple things up. I didn't compare BA to OBP. I said OPS was a more reliable statistic because it combines a players OBP with their SLUG. This is a far more accurate way to assess who is helping your team than batting average. There is so much more to the game of baseball than batting average. I understand getting hits is important and obviously helps. The main point of my article was to explain that Joey Gallo has his flaws (low BA, high SO rate), but he also does a lot really good. Just give him a chance is all I am saying.

There's no doubt Gallo will be what he has shown to be in the past. I think the average will get a slight boost with the banning of the shift, but for the most part, he is what he is. I think I would hesitate to compare Gallo to Bundy and Archer. Both Bundy and Archer were well past their prime when the Twins took a shot on them. Gallo isn't. He is coming off one bad season in a volatile environment in New York. He isn't even 30 years old yet. This is why I think it's reasonable to expect a productive season out of Gallo. Again, if he is not good, they have options to replace him.

I get it! Batting average is still a stat we staple to every player for better or worse. I understand the obvious positives of putting the ball in play. As I stated before, Joey Gallo is going to come with some downsides attached to him. The low batting average and high strike out rate have been consistent throughout his career. However, my main point is, try to at least appreciate the things he does well!

I really appreciate it! I'm glad I could have a positive impact on the way you perceive the game! There are many ways a player can bring value to a team. If you are trying to learn more about the advanced stats, Fangraphs offers a ton of different analytical stats and a quick description to what all of them mean. My favorite page to view is BaseballSavant. It's very easy to view and understand. This is the page that Carlos Correa eluded to a few times in interviews throughout the season. I encourage you to check them out if you're interested! Thanks again for the comment!

I hear you. I'm just hoping we also get to witness 40 home runs, and plenty of game saving plays by him to make up for his flaws! Like I said, if he's terrible, the Twins have the depth to replace him.

Not trying to be condescending, for that I apologize. I just don't agree with criticizing him before he even plays a game for the team. My point throughout the article remains, there are many ways to contribute to success besides batting average and a low strikeout rate.

I hear you. As I mentioned, there will be an appalling number of strikeouts. It might be frustrating at times, but when the guy is good, he's among the best in the league. The amazing thing is, he contributes great numbers over the course of a full season all while batting .200. I will beg the question, was a Sano strikeout more or less infuriating than a Gio Urshela ground ball double play? Neither are ideal, but I grew to love Gio despite consistently ending rallies with his inning ending double plays. Just like with any player, you take the good with the bad, but the Twins got Gallo for a marginal price, so the low-risk, high-reward aspect makes it worth while imo.

As mentioned, Gallo's batting average will be very low. I could see it going up a bit with the banning of the shift, but try not to focus on the batting average. Try to focus on the power, productive at bats, and defense. Joey Gallo does a lot of stuff really well, one thing he has never done is hit for average. Don't expect that to change.

That's great then! In 2021, Joey Gallo had a wOBA of .354, and a wRC+ of 122. We can again compare these numbers to Luis Arraez's 2022 numbers since he was the batting average king. In 2022, Arraez had a wOBA of .350 and a wRC+ of 131. My point remains, consider changing the way you view players just because you don't like the way they provide production. All stats confirm that Gallo is capable of providing a large impact for a modest price. Not a lot to gripe about.

Maybe you need to consider changing your book. Look at OPS and WAR instead of BA. Batting average just doesn't tell enough of the story. Joey Gallo is a good player capable of producing for the Twins, but you have to give the guy a chance and understand what he does well.

Why is batting average the only stat that matters? As highlighted above, Joey Gallo will do a lot of good things for this baseball team. In 2021, Gallo contributed 4.2 WAR, which is just 0.2 WAR less than AL batting champion Luis Arraez had in 2022, all while hitting .199. His excellent plate approach, power, and defense will all help the Twins win in 2023. All I ask is that you give him a chance to at least play baseball before you decide you hate him.

I think it was possible that they considered him as an option to fill in at 1B to give AK a rest, but I have no doubt that the plan all along has been to play Gallo nearly every day and play him in the outfield often. I think that remains the plan, and even if AK goes down, I think they find a way to keep him out there as much as possible. His defense is just too valuable to not play him out there often. I definitely think Gallo plays games at 1B this season. We'll probably also see Miranda and possibly Kepler over there as well at times. There's enough defensive flexibility on this team for them to adjust to an injury should one arise. You are right though. Every time I hear about Kirilloff's wrist I cringe. I sure hope they can get it figured out sooner rather than later because when he's healthy, he is a phenomenal talent!

Joey Gallo hasn't even taken a swing for the Minnesota Twins yet, but he is already among their most criticized players. Image courtesy of © Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports This criticism is strange, considering Joey Gallo has provided elite-level talent as recently as two years ago. Fans need to give Gallo a chance before calling for his head. Gallo started the 2021 season with the Texas Rangers. Coming off a disappointing shortened season in 2020 in which he had an OPS under .700, he looked to prove that he was still a competent hitter. Gallo started the year having an excellent campaign, making the All-Star Game, and going into the trade deadline with a .869 OPS and 25 home runs. The struggling Rangers decided to capitalize on Gallo's value by trading him to the New York Yankees for four top-30 prospects. Before the Yankee trade, despite having a consistently low batting average, Gallo put up eye-popping numbers. Since the trade, however, he has been a different man. His batting average has dipped from its already low baseline, and his strikeout rate is among the highest in baseball. Due to the underperformance and the amount of capital the Yankees gave up to acquire Gallo, Yankee fans quickly turned on the slugger. (Remember, this is the same fanbase that booed Aaron Judge in a playoff game the same year he hit an American League record 62 home runs.) In a post-game interview, Gallo was quoted saying the Yankee's fans "make me feel like a piece of s—t." As Gallo's frustration built, his performance continued to spiral. At the 2022 trade deadline, the Yankees moved on from Gallo, trading him to the Dodgers. Gallo had his moments as a Dodger but wasn't an everyday player on a loaded roster. He finished the season with an OPS under .700 and entered free agency looking for a change of scenery. He found that in the Minnesota Twins. The Twins signed Gallo to a one-year prove-it deal worth $12M. It's a low-risk, high-reward deal for a Twins team looking to get back into the playoffs. If Gallo continues to underperform, they can plug Trevor Larnach in the corner and move on from Gallo at the end of the year. If he returns to the first half of 2021 form, they have a hitter capable of being a 5 WAR player. When they acquired Gallo, Yankees fans failed to realize that he is what he has always been. He will strike out an appalling number of times and hit in the low .200s on a good year. Banning the shift could help boost Gallo's batting average, but expecting him to hit .270 is an unrealistic expectation for him in 2023. His flaws should be understood ahead of time, but there are many ways to contribute value to a baseball team. Joey Gallo has as much, if not more, raw power as anyone in the league. He is a slugging machine when he is playing well. In addition to the power production, he draws walks at a rate higher than 90% of the league. He strikes out a ton, but his at-bats are almost always quality. Did you know Gallo sees more pitches per at-bat than former Twin and contact savant Luis Arraez ? In 2022, Gallo saw 4.2 pitches per plate appearance compared to Arraez's 4.0. Gallo's ability to produce long, quality at-bats can be very beneficial for the Twins in 2023, as it shortens the game life of opposing starting pitchers and gives his teammates ample opportunity to see different pitch sequences thrown on any given day. Lastly, Gallo provides great defense to an already stellar defensive outfield. Since 2020, Gallo has contributed 32 DRS, the second-best in the MLB, and collected two Gold Glove awards. He will fit in nicely in left field beside the rangy Byron Buxton and bring back the old "Nothing falls but range drops" mentality in the outfield. For those already flooding Twitter and the comment section of Twins Daily with posts about how horrible Joey Gallo is and that he's "the next Miguel Sano ," give the guy a chance. Go into the season understanding that Joey Gallo isn't Luis Arraez. He won't contend for a batting title. That's not his strength. However, if you were to let him play his style of baseball, his strengths could be a significant asset to the Minnesota Twins. View full article

I love the lineup! A lot of proven talent mixed with potential! You have your superstars in Byron Buxton and Carlos Correa, and a deep, flexible roster that can compliment them very well. Every player you mentioned has hit at the MLB level. Kirilloff and Larnach have injury concerns, but the talent has never been questioned. Christian Vasquez will do everything you can hope for out of a catcher in today's game, play excellent defense and produce a .700+ OPS. In 2021, Joey Gallo was an all-star and gold glove winner. He produced 4.2 WAR that year, and prior to being traded to the Yankees at the deadline, had a .869 OPS. I think there's enough reason to believe that he didn't mesh well in New York, and is due for a bounce back year. Even in a year that people call a disaster, he produced +0.2 WAR, which looks pretty terrific next to a player like Eddie Rosario who produced -1.6 WAR. The last name you mentioned was Max Kepler. Whether you like it or not, Max Kepler helps the Twins win. He should benefit from the shift ban, and plays excellent defense. He won't be asked to hit in the heart of the order anymore, and probably also won't hit against lefties. This will make him a much more pleasant player to watch! All I'm saying is the Twins have put together a very solid baseball team. I really look forward seeing what happens and rooting for them this summer, you should as well!

Value is a relative measure, you are correct about that. Every team uses a different metric for deciding player's worth. I would also imagine though if you were to poll the 30 MLB teams on which side received more value, 29 of them (and maybe even the Marlins) would agree that the Twins received more value. This was a necessary trade for the Marlins because they had arms to give, prospects ready to play, and a need for a hitter in the lineup. For these same reasons, it was necessary for the Twins. That doesn't change the fact that the Twins made their major league team better while also bolstering their farm system, which is a feat very rarely accomplished in the league. This is why it was a good trade. All of this of course is rather beside the point. The point of the whole article was to talk about the possibility of trading from the wealth of middle infield prospects the Twins have acquired to land an ace at the deadline. I simply used the Arraez trade as the latest example of Falvey seemingly getting teams to overpay.

Every single trade value metric says the Marlins overpaid by an outrageously high margin. When you are the recipient of the more valuable side in a trade this lopsided, I consider it master-class. Also, if you have read any of my blogs over the course of the last couple months, I have been advocating for trading Arraez for Lopez for quite some time. The original thought was that the Twins would have to give up Arraez plus a prospect for Lopez, so the fact that Falvey managed to get Lopez plus two prospects for Arraez alone is a phenomenal effort by what I consider a very good general manager. Falvey stuck to his guns and got the Marlins to overpay. This is fact.

Trading for Pablo Lopez to add to the front of the rotation was a great move, but it doesn't mean the Twins should stop pursuing options to improve the unit. Image courtesy of © Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports Derek Falvey pulled off another master-class trade last Friday in which he flipped Luis Arraez for Pablo Lopez with two prospects. One of those prospects, Jose Salas, was a top five prospect in the Marlins organization. The 19-year-old Salas was an international signing in 2019 by the Marlins and now gives the Twins another middle infield prospect with a ton of upside. Falvey has shown to be very patient on the trade market, sticking to his guns and getting teams to overpay. Just as he did when he traded Jose Berrios for Austin Martin and Simeon Woods-Richardson at the 2021 trade deadline, Falvey has a knack for getting the most out of every trade he has his hand in. The Twins were insistent they wouldn't trade Arraez for Lopez in a 1-for-1 deal, but the fact that the front office convinced the Marlins to throw in a top prospect provides the Twins with a good amount of middle infield depth in the minor leagues. Salas joins Royce Lewis, Brooks Lee, and Austin Martin as top prospects in the Twins organization and potential future shortstop options to take over for Carlos Correa when he inevitably moves to 3rd base. The consensus is that Lee and Martin will almost certainly move positions by the time they arrive at the majors, but Lewis proved he can play short in his limited time there last year. While Salas is young, early accounts suggest that he may stick at short. The depth the Twins have built is excellent. After this trade, the Twins have acquired enough top-tier minor-league talent to make a swing for a pitcher even more impactful than Lopez. The Twins currently have six pitchers worthy of a look at a rotation spot, and while all of them are very good, none of them would be considered an "ace." The rotation the Twins have built is better than any rotation they've had in a while, but adding a top-of-the-line pitcher would put this team from contenders in the AL Central to contenders in the American League. Whether they move to push for a trade now or at the trade deadline in July, the Twins could cash in on the depth of minor-league talent they have accumulated just as they cashed in on the depth of MLB-level hitters in the Arraez trade. This offseason, a couple of pitchers' names have been thrown around that would be considered by most in the "ace" status of starting pitchers. The two names mentioned most frequently are Arizona Diamondback's Zac Gallen and Milwaukee Brewer's Corbin Burnes . Gallen is under team control through 2025, while Burnes is under team control through the 2024 season. Trading Burnes when your team is a contender in its division would be weird, but that's how the Brewers have operated in recent years. Despite being in the thick of the playoff race, they traded Josh Hader to San Diego at last year's deadline. Zac Gallen has more control than Burnes and plays on a bad team, so Gallen remains the more likely option to get moved at some point this year. The package for either of these two players would not be cheap, but after adding Salas, the Twins could have enough assets to complete a trade and not deplete the farm too much. They also have the #5 overall pick in the upcoming MLB Draft this July. Plus, they have young talent on the major league roster. For instance, if the Twins were to strap Bailey Ober , under team control through 2027, to one of their top infield prospects, they could put themselves in a position where they would be close to pulling off a deal. Coupling the assets the Twins have to give with Falvey's recent ability to get teams to overpay leaves trading for an ace well within the realm of possibilities. While it is unlikely that the Twins will pull off a trade for an ace before the offseason ends, it remains a possibility of something to look forward to at the trade deadline. If the Twins can stay healthy and competitive, there is no reason they can't use their depth of infield talent at the minor-league level to make one more massive move in an attempt to bring the Commissioner's Trophy back to Minnesota. What are your thoughts? Should the Twins dip into their minor-league talent to put together a package that would entice a team to send back their ace? Let me know! As always, Go, Twins! View full article

This answer may not be a popular one, but before Gallo was traded to the Yankees just a little over a year ago, he was among the best OBP players in the MLB. On top of that, he actually averages more pitches per AB than Luis Arraez. There's a lot of hope for a ton of positive regression from Gallo, which is why he is one of my favorite moves of the off-season thus far.

Keep an eye on Prielipp as you mentioned. I think he's the Twins' best chance in the system to blossom into an ace!

It hurts to lose Luis Arraez, but the strategy of trading a bat for an arm is a sound one. Image courtesy of © David Reginek-USA TODAY Sports The 2022 Minnesota Twins team was ravaged by injuries, which ultimately led to the team's demise. One area of the team that was affected as much, if not more, than any other unit was the starting pitching rotation. Kenta Maeda, Bailey Ober, Chris Paddack, and Tyler Mahle all suffered severe injuries that led to minimal availability. Even Sonny Gray found himself banged up more often than the team would've liked. The Twins’ rotation prior to the trade was Gray, Mahle, Joe Ryan, Maeda, Ober. On paper, this rotation looks to be reasonably solid one through five, but with the recent injury history of most of the staff, it left Twins fans, and likely the front office, holding their breath. The Twins also have a few arms close to the majors, such as Josh Winder, Louie Varland, and Simeon Woods Richardson , but they likely want to avoid pivoting to young arms as often as they did in 2022. For depth purposes, the Twins were interested in adding one more top-of-the-rotation pitcher. The problem is, those don't typically grow on trees and can cost a pretty penny to pry one away from a team willing to deal. Luckily for the Twins, they had depth in another area they were willing to dip into to acquire a solid starting pitcher. After signing Carlos Correa, the Twins have put together a pretty impressive list of controllable hitters who gave them leverage on the trade market. I have listed below the Twins hitters on the 40-man roster who are set to compete for limited at-bats this summer. I also included the player's value according to BaseballTradeValues.com in descending order. Baseball Trade Values uses a scale to track every player's worth based on controllability, contract, and production. Jorge Polanco 2B ($34.8M) Luis Arraez 1B/DH ($26.6M) Jose Miranda 3B ($26.4M) Royce Lewis SS/OF ($22.7M) Trevor Larnach OF ($14.6M) Byron Buxton CF ($13.5M) Ryan Jeffers C ($13M) Alex Kirilloff 1B/OF ($11.9M) Max Kepler OF ($7.6M) Matt Wallner OF ($7.3M) Carlos Correa SS ($7M) Nick Gordon UTIL ($6.7M) Gilberto Celestino OF ($1.8M) Joey Gallo OF ($1.2M) Kyle Farmer UTIL ($0.4M) Christian Vázquez C (-14.2M) To put these numbers into perspective, Pablo López has an estimated value of $38.8M. The list above features 16 players who have either played a significant role for the Twins or will play a role this year. As it stands, with this many quality hitters, there are not enough at-bats to go around. The depth is excellent, but the Twins could capitalize on this depth by trading it for a solid starting pitcher. The Twins could have piece together many packages by agreeing to part ways with one or two of these players. Arraez made a lot of sense to move in a large package for a frontline starter. While Arraez brings a fire to the game that is fun to watch, he is not without his flaws. The only defensive position he has shown to be above-average at is first base, and few teams are willing to commit to a first baseman who doesn't exhibit any power. With Arraez's lengthy injury history, there's a good chance his value will never be higher, making him a reasonable trade prospect. There are many ways the Twins could have finished off the off-season, but it was paramount that they do all they could to add to their rotation. With the depth of Major League-ready hitters at their disposal, the Twins were able to turn a somewhat expendable pieces into a frontline starter who adds tremendous value to this team the way it is constructed. What are your thoughts? Should the Twins have traded a bat for an arm? Who would you have parted with? Should they consider doing something similar for a reliever? Let me know! As always, Go, Twins! View full article

The purpose of my blog post was to suggest that by designating Kyle Garlick for assignment the Twins hinted that they were looking to make a move to add a right-handed hitting outfielder. I would be intrigued by a megadeal as you mentioned, but I don't think there's any way the Twins would trade Polanco over Arraez, as Polanco offers durability and defensive flexibility. It is definitely and interesting thought though! I am also a firm believer that trading Gray would be rather counterproductive. As it stands, he is arguably the Twins' best pitcher, so trading him after signing Correa feels like one step forward two steps back in my opinion. I know you outlined gaining two starters from Miami, but the Twins would only net one starter with the loss of Gray plus they would be giving up all those other assets you mentioned. I also don't think Gray fits well in a Miami trade because the reason they are trading starters to begin with is because they have too many. So, for the Marlins, gaining Grey would also be counterproductive.