awinter

IF the Twins decided to go all in, this is a great move to make. Adding Rendon to the lineup could make the Twins the best lineup in baseball. Not only that, but filling a positional need through free agency allows the team to trade away some of their top prospects to acquire pitching talent. On the flip side of this, If the Twins are not going to upgrade their pitching through trade, don't make this move.

The 2nd guessing with the benefit of hindsight is fun, but I think it's safe to say in hindsight that the Yankees were a better team.

Thank you all for resisting the temptation to type "Falvine".

Just came across this fun story on ESPN website. http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/24329670/jayson-werth-rails-super-nerds-killing-game I will agree that some of the recent developments in baseball have made the game more boring, but I'm really tired of hearing players, analysts, etc say that these "nerds" don't know anything about baseball. It would be nice to see some credit thrown their way for helping their teams win more games. If games are too long or too boring, don't blame the nerds- blame MLB for not making changes that make the game less boring.

Your 2015 winner

I never said I wanted less bat flips. I apologize for the blatant omission so let me add to my analysis... I want more bat flips so let's reward the behavior of bat flipping please.

I love bat flips. I think the MLB should create a bat flip fund. All teams would contribute $X at the beginning of season. After all the normal awards (MVP, Gold Gloves) are handed out, the bat flip committee would get together to watch and score all of the bat flips that happened throughout the season. Scores would be based on the in-game impact of the home-run, season (or post-season) impact, exuberance/emotion of the player, and of course, flight time of the bat. The bat flip with the highest score gets the biggest chunk of the pool and ALL qualified bat flips would get some kind of payout. I know what you're thinking "what about this problem?" or "what about so-and-so?". I'm not interesting in hearing about any issues stemming from this awesome idea.

100% agree with this statement. Let's all stop combining their names... please.

I actually think deGrom could command the better return out of the two and I think I'd rather have him on my team. He's been very good throughout his career, has a climbing K/9 rate the last few years and he's much more durable than Syndergaard.

Let's not forget about Syndergaard's injury history. He's hurt right now and missed most of last season. I'm not saying I wouldn't want him, but his injuries bring down the asking price (especially if his current injury persists).

Crazy theory coming at ya. The lineup needs it to be August/September. Here's the team OPS by month since 2017: Apr17 .707 May17 .786 Jun17 .705 Jul17 .736 Aug17 .849 Sep17 .804 Apr18 .721 May18 .723

He's just waiting for the weather to warm up here. We should be able to get him to visit by May...

Except that you have a better idea of what you're getting with Johansson and Pitt. No guarantees that Ohtani is as good as advertised. I think he's worth the price for any MLB team to take that risk and he's worth it if he's an average starter, but if that's all he is, we can't be that disappointed.

This thread is getting too pessimistic for my liking. May plays for the Twins, not the Indians, or Dodgers, or Nationals. I would assume May to be better than anyone among the Indians starting 5, but c'mon, I think he can improve the Twins very poor starting staff.

I like this, but where are the Top 10 Moments?

If Mauer can hit a double down the line and have the ump call it fair, they should be able to grab all the momentum and win the game.

Unload Castro? No way- let's not forget how bad Suzuki was defensively- rated at the bottom of MLB in pitch framing, he only threw out 19% of baserunners, and sure he had only 1 passed ball, but he was the catcher for 35 wild pitches. Castro is near the top of the league in pitch framing, he throws out a higher percentage of runners (he's given up around the same combined passed balls/wild pitches). I realize quantifying pitch framing is a difficult thing but I would much rather have one of the best pitch framers than one of the worst. Offensively, 2017 Castro has an OPS of .703, which is pretty solid for a catcher. He also has an OPB of .325, also pretty good for his position. Let's not forget, his contract only takes him through age 32. If you trade him away, who catches? I know everybody wants to see Garver and he's done awesome through his minor league career but you can't assume he's going to be great. Even if he is great, wouldn't you want a guy like Castro as a backup or as insurance?

Great article. We should all enjoy the fact that these players are playing well, regardless of their pedigree or draft slot. There's no guarantee of stardom for any of these guys yet, but I'd rather see them play well than play poorly.

I'm late to the conversation, but are there really people on this site that have a problem with the Pohlads "overspent" by paying $8M/year? I think this is a good move for the team. I like Garver and I hope he succeeds, but we can't count on that happening. If we didn't go out and sign Castro, we'd have to start the year with Murphy and cross our fingers that Garver is ready. Or we offer try to get a catcher on a 1 year deal, but what kind of catcher are the Twins able to lure for a 1 year deal?

Didn't say above average- 13th or 14th in the AL. My point is that I think pitching can improve with a change in organizational philosophy. When the pitching has been this bad for so long, I don't think it's a stretch to think something is wrong with the coaching/training/philosophy. And I'm not asking for much- they just need to be NOT dead last in the AL (had they accomplished that last year, team ERA would have been 0.50 better). This roster won't win because of the starting pitching. If their young core of hitters can improve, that will be what wins them games.

If not for the Billy Butler incident, Valencia's value should be much higher that Plouffe's. Their numbers are close, but over the last 2 seasons, Valencia's stats are way better than Plouffe. Plouffe's lackluster stats and his recent injury problems = very little value to other teams. I say keep him and hope he plays better under the new hitting coach.

I'm with Tom. The Twins were awful last year because their pitching was staff was last in ERA in the AL... by more than half a run. I don't think it's because their pitchers are that much less talented than the rest of the league. I think it has more to do with coaching & organizational philosophy. Let's all hope that with Falvey and Levine now in charge, we start to see a shift in both coaching & philosophy. If the Twins can 1) get their team ERA AL ranking up to 13 or 14, 2) have their young core of position players take the next step (I'm looking at you- Buxton, Sano, Kepler, and even Polanco) and 3) gain some consistency out of their everyday players, then I think they have a chance of winning 80+ games.

2) Hire a pitching coach

Seth- I remember meeting you at the Meltdown a few years back and telling you you're my favorite writer on this site. This exchange only solidifies that for me- just don't tell the other guys...

He's been a valuable contributor for his team every year in his minor league career. I don't want to take away from any of his past accomplishments.However, that strikeout rate just keeps climbing each year- it was over 40% this year and if I'm judging him on his 2016 performance only, I'm not that high on him (I'm an OPS guy- I'm impressed by outfielders that land over .800). I believe there are a few other hitters who I would have ranked ahead of Walker on this list. As far as my ranking of him as a prospect goes, I tie it to this question: How would his strikeout rate translate when he is facing the best of the best? We've all seen the difference between a AAA player and a big league player and I just think at the big league level, his strikeout rate will go up a little further, and there will be fewer mistake pitches to mash. At the end of the day his one glaring weakness looks like too big of a weakness to overcome at the highest level- again, my opinion.