MGX

He fits as an insurance policy for Polanco, as Seth mentioned they plan to bring Polanco back slowly. Also, he's a good platoon option for Polanco & Kiriloff. Against LHP both Solano & Farmer may get a lot of work. This likely means Larnach is playing in St. Paul until we need him due to injury/underperformance/trade. Can't imagine they'll go with more than 13 position players. Infield - Jeffers, Vazquez, Kiriloff, Polanco, Miranda, Correa, Farmer & Solano Outfield - Buxton, Taylor, Kepler, Gallo & Gordon

If we're already saying what he does now is likely impossible then who cares what his stats are in the Minors. You're post is exactly what I was referring to. Getting lost in the numbers when we're talking about a prospect developing while playing in the minors. OPS is slanted towards power, it's doubtful Martin will ever be much of a power hitter so his OPS numbers won't be that great. His value lies in his ability to get on base & being a good base runner. In todays game that doesn't make you an MVP candidate, but you can be an effective offensive player.

It seems in todays world with the never ending amount of data we have access to people have very little patience with prospects/players in general. In Martin's case he supposedly had one bad year - '22 in the minors & dropped in the prospect rankings. In his "disappointing" season he played the year at AA & had a .368 OBP with 35 SB's. Then he went on to play in the Arizona Fall league & hit .374 with a .936 OPS in 97 PA's, he also added 10 more SB's. In AA his BA was only .241 & his OPS only .683 so I guess that is what is being called disappointing. For a guy who is known for getting on base & being a very good base runner I'm not sure I see it as a disappointing season. IMO seems he's on track to be a good ballplayer.

I guess we see things differently. Rodriguez, Lewis & Julien are a major part of the pipeline IMO. You're right on the Brewers - there is no reason for them to trade Burnes as there staff alone should keep them competitive. For my taste big trades for pitchers are too risky. We need to develop pitching from within.

No way! How will we ever have a good prospect pipeline if we drain it every time we think a SP might be available.

Tend to agree with the consensus that he is a good defensive player who isn't what we expected offensively. With that said it's Spring Training & there are reasons to believe he'll be better than last year at least.

It'd be great to see a bounce back season from Kepler!

Fair enough - valid points, but to me that's a part of any young hitters maturation process.

'21 was Gordon's 1st season in MLB & he was used everywhere except C & 1B so he was learning many positions while at the same time adapting to MLB pitching. In '22 he was again used all over, but this time he had a year of experience in the field and at the plate. He showed a dramatic improvement at the plate going from an OPS+ of 79 to 113. His wOBA was .321 & est wOBA .333. I see nothing that indicates we should be worried about his production going forward. Also, with a young player I'm far more concerned that they are showing improvement & by any measure as I said earlier, Gordon showed a dramatic improvement in '22.

It's a good overall comparison between Sano & Gallo, The issue is offensively speaking Sano has been slightly better than Gallo in his career. Miguel Sano isn't in MLB currently and a player who it seems will be our primary LF (a position where offensive production is more important than Defense) compares similarly to him from an offensive standpoint. That's the issue. Miguel Sano - Career - 2859 PA's BA .234 - OPS .808 - OPS+ 116 - oWAR 12.3 Joey Gallo - Career - 2811 PA's BA .199 - OPS .794 - OPS+ 109 - oWAR 10.8

Good article My feeling is the bullpen is in good shape & if an issue arises during the season it can be addressed by the deadline. As the author noted the consistent short starts (at least partially falls on Baldelli, some was caused by who was in the rotation) put added strain on the bullpen. I agree that should be better in '23. I have a bigger concern with the offense - if this great defensive OF fails to produce at the plate that could put a strain on the staff as a whole. On the bright side we do have a lot of young guys who look like they could take a step forward if they get the opportunity. If Correa & Buxton give us what we expect & we get a positive step from Miranda, Gordon, Larnach & Kiriloff & maybe a small bounce back from Kepler, this could be a fun year.

It's valid point that he needs to be more effective VS quality lineups. It should also be noted that in the 4.80 ERA VS the better teams is a 10 run meltdown VS the Padres. Just that one game makes his stats look a lot worse. He also had 10 starts vs quality lineups where he surrendered 2 earned runs or less. Again, agree with your point, but he has shown the capability to produce vs quality opponents. Hope he continues to develop & deliver more quality outings VS everyone this season.

We have to remember Gordon is just getting started. He didn't play much in '21 & last year when he did get in he was thrown into 5 different positions on the field and that doesn't include his appearance as a Pitcher. I think it's a little early to pigeon hole him as subpar defender. How about we give him a chance to prove himself in the field like he did with the bat last year. Especially considering the names (in the corner OF) being talked about starting ahead of him didn't produce at all last year.

Agree 100%. Larnach is the only one I would consider.

Agree with Indiana Twin on the rotation - Gray-Ryan-Mahle-Lopez-Maeda. If we come out of ST with all 5 available this would be a good rotation.