VOMG

Under a fittingly dark and foreboding sky, the Twins took the field alongside Darth Vader and a gaggle of stormtroopers in honor of Star Wars Night.   From the moment "Obi-wan Kepleroni" and "Buck Skywalker" took the field, the wind was already whipping. Napkins and trash swirled across the field and fans chased hats ripped from their heads. As the first couple innings passed, the sky continued to darken until finally the rain opened up during the bottom of the second inning and sent fans scattering for the overhang and concourse.   "It's watering down my beer!" a guy with a beer near me exclaimed as we both bolted for shelter.   The Astros jumped all over Chris Archer and quickly took a 5-1 lead. The teams continued to play on through the rain and even some lightning (no comment on that one), but once reports of a tornado warning in nearby Eden Prairie came through, it seemed like only a matter of time until the rain and severe weather would continue its eastward march, reach downtown Minneapolis and bring the game to a halt. It was not lost on me that there was a tornado confirmed in Hutchinson, a mere hour west of Minneapolis, and my family and friends in the west metro were sheltered in basements, yet here we were at a baseball game completely exposed to the elements and in the storm's path.    Sure enough, as the Twins took the field to begin the 4th inning, the grounds crew came out to tidy up the infield dirt (a fool's errand with the incoming rain, I thought to myself) and rookie reliever Yennier Cano warmed up on the mound, out came the tarp and into a rain delay the game went- before Cano could throw his first MLB pitch. Interestingly, it will go down as the date of his MLB debut.    The Target Field Grounds Crew visibly struggled in the high winds to get the tarp down on the ground, and it was so windy that they had to weigh down the tarp with nine golf carts parked along its corners and sides.   The Twins PA announcer and the outfield big screen instructed fans to seek shelter on the concourse and displayed an ominous radar graphic showing a giant mass of dark colors headed directly our way.     At first, fans on the 300 level were allowed to stay on the upper concourse, where they mostly mingled and took videos of the torrential rain being blown across the field. I was doing exactly that when a concession worker walked up.    "Do you want to see a really great view of the sky?" he asked.    He motioned me to follow him, and we walked past a concession stand over to a beautiful view of North Loop overlooking the lightrail station. Lighting radiated across the sky and I snapped some pictures as a young man next to me profusely apologized to his date for the terrible game experience. You know the saying, you can't control the weather, but you can check the forecast. Actually, I just made that up.    The concession stand worker stopped by about five minutes later to take another look at the sky.   "You're still here?" he asked me.   Sirens began wailing, and the ushers shepherded us to the lower concourse, which was jam-packed with soggy fans. I found a spot overlooking the field above the first base dugout and watched. I have truly never seen anything like it: the rain was coming down in such thick sheets that you could barely see the outfield video boards. The National Weather Service Twin Cities tweeted that the storm was expecting to bring Minneapolis wind gusts of up to 80 mph. A damage survey conducted the next day on Thursday May 12 concluded that an EF0 tornado touched down in Coon Rapids 15 miles north of Target Field.    Despite the torrential downpour, I was awestruck with how well the Target Field drainage system seemed to be keeping up. While there was rain pooled on top of the tarp, the water on the infield dirt and surrounding grass was largely dissipating.      As time ticked by, Target Field tried to find ways to keep fans entertained. With their tongue in cheek, they played "Rain Is A Good Thing" by Luke Bryan, which fans gleefully sang along to, and the Twins alternated between showing a Marney Gellner interview with Justin Morneau and an apocalyptic warning to stay sheltered. Unfortunately for those looking to dance, Club Rayne did not open today because the Twins cleared fans out of all seats.    Fans appeared to be in good spirits during the delay, though some outwardly questioned why the Twins decided to play the game at all given the evening's forecast.    At one point, a guy took advantage of there being no security on the field and ran onto the field. He ran across the tarp (without slipping, somehow) before he was apprehended near the third base dugout in a somewhat anticlimactic fashion- no tackling or chasing, he simply stopped running and walked into the loving, open arms of Target Field security.    Though the severe weather had blown through by about 8:40 p.m., it continued to rain steadily, and it looked like it would continue until midnight. The concourse started to empty out.    Then at 9:17 p.m., 1 hour and 20 minutes after they first rolled out the tarp, the Twins officially announced they were suspending the game until the following day, Thursday May 12 at 12:10 p.m. The Twins would pick up in the top of the 4th inning down 5-1.   After being almost no-hit by Justin Verlander the day before, it was not the start of the game the Twins were hoping for. Can we get a do-over?   Regardless, to me, Wednesday's game was one of those sporting events that is so bizarre that it rises to the level of being fun.   The remaining fans in the stadium trickled out as "Have You Ever Seen The Rain?" by Creedence Clearwater Revival played overhead. I sloshed back to my car dreaming of sunnier days ahead- both in the forecast and on the baseball diamond.    *** Were you at the game yesterday or watching from somewhere else that got hit by severe weather? What was your experience like? Leave your comments, thoughts, and stories below. 

So far - and understandably so - there has been very little information released on the future mystery player aside from one tweet from Darren “Doogie” Wolfson. 
Anything beyond that is complete speculation. 
But speculation can be fun, so let’s take a closer look at who the Twins might be adding in the next few weeks.
To give me an idea of players who might be included, I plugged the trade into Baseball Trade Values. Obviously, this isn't an exact science, but it’s probably the least biased way to come up with a list of names.
Plugging in the trade as it happened, the simulator had the Twins giving up 4.9 more value points than it received. The potential inclusion of any of the Padres top prospects would tip the scale heavily in the Twins favor, but there are a number of prospects in the next tier who could make sense as this “player to be named later.”
Typically, when a trade like this occurs, the teams agree to a list of players and conditions. It could be as simple as having six names on a list and the Twins get to pick one name off of that list on May 1. It could be something more complex. It could be - and this case might be - something that makes a whole lot of sense.
Let’s take a look at some names that may be on that list. And why the Twins may want them. Ranked from least likely to most likely to be a Twin, in my opinion. 
Joshua Mears, Outfield. Ranked in the system’s Top 10 by both MLB.com and Baseball America, Mears was drafted in 2019. His power is his calling card. He already has two home runs in three games this season in high-A, but has struck out in eight of his twelve at bats. As the top-rated prospect on my list and - in my opinion - the likelihood that the Twins prefer pitching, I think the chances of Mears being the player is small.
Samuel Zavana, Outfield. Zavana checks in on BA’s list at #12, but missed MLB.com’s. Zavala fits the profile of what the Twins like with a scouting report that includes things like “regarded as one of the best pure hitters” in his signing class and having “long possessed a knack for finding the barrel.” The 17-year-old would make a ton of sense. But in trying to sleuth this out, Zavala will be playing in the complex league this year, so the Twins won't even get a chance to scout him between now and then. So if it were to be him, why not just include him in the original deal?
Victor Acosta, Shortstop. Acosta, like Zavana, will be playing in a complex league this summer. Ranked #11 by MLB and #12 by BA, I put Acosta a notch above Zavana because he has more defensive value. But, again, if you can’t see him in the next month, wouldn’t you have wanted to get him into your complex as soon as possible?
Robert Gasser, Pitcher. Gasser is ranked #9 on both sites after being selected in the Competitive Balance, B Round in the 2021 draft. After getting 15 innings of pro ball under his belt last year, Gasser, a lefty, made his High-A debut last week. It was brutal. Four walks, four hits, seven outs. I don’t think a single game is a reason the Twins wouldn’t trade for him though, I think it’s because the Padres would be less likely to include him on the list.
The next guy is a complete wild-card who technically fits Doogie’s profile.
Adrian Morejon, Pitcher. Morejan, 23, is a highly-regarded Cuban left-hander who is recovering from Tommy John surgery. He’s a “non-roster” guy because he’s on the 60-day Injured List, so he wouldn’t require a 40-man move. Morejan has 16 games of MLB experience under his belt and spent the last five seasons ranked in Baseball America’s Top 100. While not expected to return to the mound until later this season, it’s been a year since his surgery. Being a PTBNL could just be a way of giving the Twins a chance to get a greater feel of how his recovery is going. Remember, this trade all came together very quickly.
For what it's worth, even though there are over 100 potential players for this to be, I’d bet on it being one of these three over the field. Full disclosure: I like taking long odds. It’s not often successful.
Victor Lizarraga, Pitcher. Signed out of Mexico last year and ranked #13 by MLB and #15 by BA, Lizarraga is pitching in Low-A ball at 18 this year. He would make a ton of sense as a lottery ticket in a trade such as this. He’s a fastball/curveball/changeup pitcher with shaky command.
Kevin Kopps, Pitcher. Kopps, currently in AA, ranks #14 on BA’s list and  #16 on MLB’s list. Drafted in the 3rd round last year, Kopps spread his 14 ⅔ innings over three levels, striking out 22 and notching three saves. Kopps is serving as a closer using one big weapon: a breaking ball that has been nearly unhittable. Some call it a cutter, some call it a slider. Baseball America calls it the best slider in the system. The Twins, if I had to guess, would deploy whatever it is in the same way they used Sergio Romo’s and Tyler Clippard’s sliders. Kopps, who turns 25 soon, has Tommy John in his rearview and could soon be a bullpen option for whatever team he is on.
Jarlin Susana, Pitcher. Susana is ranked #18 by MLB.com and the just-turned-18-year-old has an impressive and imposing 6’ 6”, 235-pound frame. Signed in January by the Padres for $1.7 million, Susana has a big-time fastball that can touch 100 and a slider that is next best pitch (among the four he throws). So what separates him from the other complex league pitchers? Because of when he signed, he can’t be traded until later this month. ? Maybe it’s a coincidence. Or maybe Susana is the player to be named later.
(The Padres also added many other international free agents in mid-January who become eligible to be traded later this month. Among them are two 16-year-old infielders, Yendry Rojas and Rosman Verdugo. Neither are as highly regarded as Susana, though. Rojas, from Cuba, is a very good hitter with decent size (6' 1", 190) and speed and Verdugo, from Mexico, was considered the top prospect from Mexico.)
What do you think? Who do you prefer?

After a torrid Spring Training, Byron Buxton was back in Minnesota and stepped up to the podium. The weather wasn’t on his mind as Buxton said the club really hadn’t considered the weather until leaving JetBlue yesterday following their game against the Boston Red Sox. “Sano said he didn’t have a coat, and then the rest of us looked around and realized we didn’t either.”
Given his scorching pace this spring, it’s not shocking the weather didn’t deter the Twins centerfielder. While the games don’t factor into the standings, Buxton posted a .469/.514/.1.094 slash line. Talking about what leads to production at that level, he said, “Confidence is pretty high. Knowing I’m here for seven more years as well is a big factor.”
Buxton brought up this point multiple times, and manager Rocco Baldelli later said, “There’s comfort in being able to not worry about your family and just playing the game,”
After signing with the Twins, during his press conference, Carlos Correa brought up how his focus will be turned towards working on perfection. He brings a winning attitude, has been a winner, and wants to win. That seems to have permeated quickly throughout the clubhouse. Buxton said, “We want to win. Obviously, when I signed, that was a big focus.”
He followed up by saying, “It’s very special right now, the things going on in that clubhouse.” Buxton’s confidence isn’t just internal. Knowing the talent of his teammates, he said, “We know we got a great defense. We rake.”
 
As Correa did when meeting the media, Buxton echoed a desire for rings today. This is a team ready to get going, and while Opening Day is delayed by 24 hours, they’re chomping at the bit to show the league what they’re about.
The man leading them once again is Rocco Baldelli. Coming off a disappointing season, it’s evident that the skipper sees his club in the same light as his clubhouse leaders. Despite outsiders' questions regarding the rotation, Baldelli said, “I actually like having youth on our pitching staff. Youth can be a very good thing.”
He gushed about the confidence in arms like Joe Ryan and Bailey Ober, notably professing the work Minnesota’s staff has seen.
In touching on veteran Chris Archer, Baldelli said, “I’ve known Arch for a very long time as a pitcher and as a person. He looked great.” The former Rays starter stayed an extra day in Fort Myers to work another outing with pitching coach Wes Johnson, in which he got in 50-55 pitches.
 
Minnesota is looking to replace a leadership presence in Nelson Cruz, but Correa has stepped in. While Baldelli said each team has a different feel, he came away impressed by “the number of very particular conversations he had with people on day one…he had the charisma and confidence wanting to talk about the Twins, the way we operate, what we need from him, what he needs from us, and how it all comes together.”
Carrying over from the Twins time down in Fort Myers, everything about this club continues to be about winning. The Minnesota clubhouse is filled with guys singularly focused on the ultimate goal. “The talk and feel of every guy in our clubhouse revolve around the right things. The number one thing being winning baseball games, winning a World Series.”
 
A couple of additional positives came from Baldelli as he wrapped up his press conference before the players hit the field. Nick Gordon is all systems go after his collision with Max Kepler in the outfield earlier this week. The medical staff hasn’t alerted Baldelli of anything new, and Gordon himself hasn’t suggested there have been any setbacks.
That clean bill of health also applies to Alex Kirilloff. Baldelli did say that Kirilloff will play plenty of outfield and first base, “even switching between the two mid-game at times.” Asked about the lack of time in left field, Baldelli said Kirilloff has consistently been rotated through both corner spots, and they are confident with him in either role.
This evening, Minnesota is looking to set their Opening Day 28-man roster, likely featuring 16 pitchers. Baldelli said, “one decision will impact a couple of guys,” so the front office and coaching staff continue to work through that.
 
Following today's workout, the Twins will have a quiet day tomorrow before kicking off their 2022 regular season at 3:10 pm on Friday.

Tuesday evening saw the St. Paul Saints kick off their season against the Louisville Bats down in Kentucky, and it’s hard not to drool at the top of their lineup that started with Jose Miranda, Royce Lewis, and Trevor Larnach. They've got pitching too, with Jordan Balazovic (though he's on the IL to start the year), Cole Sands, Jovani Moran, and Drew Strotman some of the names to watch or that you already know.
The biggest story in this one is, without a doubt, the return of Lewis to official game action. The last time he was seen on a minor-league diamond, was all the way back in 2019 when he ended the year mashing in the Arizona Fall League to the tune of a Most Valuable Player award. He definitely made his presence known in this one, and in each phase of the game, which we will get to.
TRANSACTIONS

With it being Opening Day in Triple-A and the other affiliates kicking off their seasons on Friday, there will likely be a lot of roster movement in the next few days, so be sure to check out this section moving forward. Outfielder Elijah Greene, who was signed this spring, was released.  SAINTS SENTINEL
St. Paul 3, Louisville 2
Box Score

Taking the mound for the Saints to start the year, was offseason signee Mario Sanchez and he was solid for the first four innings, allowing just one hit, one walk, and striking out one. He threw 59 pitches, with a whopping 42 of them going for strikes (71%). Up to that point he was matched by Bats starter Ben Lively, who had held the St. Paul lineup hitless through the first four frames.
Outfielder Derek Fisher changed that with a leadoff double to start the fifth inning and would later score the first run of the season for Twins affiliates on an RBI groundout from catcher David Banuelos.
After a nice play at shortstop to end a threat from the Bats in the bottom of the inning, Lewis led off the top of the sixth with a single through the hole into left field. After a Trevor Larnach flyout, Lewis then demonstrated he still has his speed, taking second base for his first steal of the season. He would then come around to score on a Jake Cave single and 2-0 lead for the Saints. 
Wladimir Pinto was the first reliever for St. Paul, pitching the fifth and sixth innings. He gave up one hit, walked one, and struck out four. Trevor Megill then came on and worked around a leadoff single for a scoreless seventh inning, before serving up a home run to JT Riddle in the bottom of the eighth to make the score 2-1 and before it was said and done Yennier Cano would be summoned to end a two-out threat to tie the score. He got a flyout to keep the Saints out front heading into the ninth. Megill went 1 2/3 innings total, allowing three hits, walking one, and striking out two.
In the top of the ninth, catcher David Banuelos added a needed insurance run with the first home run of the 2022 season, a 431-foot blast to left-center:
Cano stayed in the game with a chance at his first save of the year, and it got interesting. A check swing led to a leadoff infield single and was followed by a double into the right-field corner that put the tying run in scoring position. An awkward passed ball led to a run (I could swear it was a foul tip, and Cano complained about it…), before he got a big strikeout and a lineout into left field for two outs. With the game on the line, Louisville brought on a pinch hitter, and Jose Miranda proceeded to make a game-saving play diving to his left to get the final out, and secure the first win of the 2022 minor league season!
The Saints lineup managed just five hits, were 1-for-13 with runners in scoring position, and left eight men on base for the game. Miranda went 0-for-5 with a pair of strikeouts, Trevor Larnach was 0-for-3 with a walk and one K, and as a team, they struck out twelve times.
In his first action since the 2019 season, Royce Lewis finished 1-for-4 with a single, walk, run scored, and a stolen base. He also struck out twice, but what stood out to me was there are no ill-effects from his knee surgery. He made a couple of nice plays in the field, showed his speed on the base paths, and there wasn’t any type of leg kick I’d call even remotely excessive in his swing. Most of all, I am sure it felt great for him to be back in action!
Be sure to take a look at the Saints Roster Preview.  
WIND SURGE WISDOM

The Wind Surge will begin their season on Friday at home against the Tulsa Drillers. While the Wind Surge have yet to name their opening day starter, the Tulsa Drillers have a prospect named Gus Varland scheduled for them. This is notable, as he’s the older brother of Twins Daily’s #14 Prospect Louie Varland, who is on the Wind Surge roster to start the year. If Wichita and Twins brass know what’s good for them, they’ll make this brotherly battle happen to start the year! In the meantime, be sure to check out the Wind Surge roster preview.
KERNELS NUGGETS

The Kernels open their season at home as well, facing off against a former Twins affiliate, the Beloit Snappers. You can also get a look at the Cedar Rapids roster in advance of their opener on Friday.
MUSSEL MATTERS

Fort Myers hits the road to Clearwater to open their 2022 season against the Threshers on Friday. There should be quite a few of the Twins 2021 draft picks on their roster, which has yet to be officially announced.
TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY

Pitcher of the Day - Wladimir Pinto, St. Paul Saints (W, 2 IP, H, BB, 4 K)
Hitter of the Day - David Banuelos, St. Paul Saints (1-for-3, HR, 2 RBI, BB)
PROSPECT SUMMARY

#2 - Royce Lewis (St. Paul) - 1-for-4, R, BB, SB (1), 2 K
#3 - Jose Miranda (St. Paul) - 0-for-5, 2 K
#4 - Jordan Balazovic (St. Paul) - Injured List (knee strain)
#11 - Gilberto Celestino (St. Paul) - 0-for-2, 2 BB, 2 K
WEDNESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

St. Paul @ Louisville (5:35 PM CST) - RHP Daniel Gossett
        Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Tuesday’s game!

The Twins need their roster for Opening Day to be at 28. As of this moment, it is now down to 30 players following a flurry of roster moves on Monday morning. 
First, congratulations to lefty reliever Danny Coulombe. The 32-year-old veteran has worked 5 2/3 scoreless innings this spring. he's given up just two hits, walked two and struck out six. When he makes his first pitch in 2022, he will have pitched in eight major-league seasons. Over the past two seasons, he has worked in 31 games for the Twins including 29 games in 2021. From 2016-2018, he pitched in 134 games for the Oakland A's. He has also pitched for the Dodgers in his career. 
To make room for Coulombe on the 40-man roster, the team designated catcher Jose Godoy for assignment. The move seemed strange at the time as the Twins will only have two catchers on the 40-man roster, one of which is Gary Sanchez. The 27-year-old made his MLB debut a year ago for the Mariners, but this will be his third DFA since the end of last season. 
However, soon after, the team announced that they have signed catcher Chance Sisco to a minor-league deal. He will report to St. Paul shortly. The 27-year-old backstop was a Top 100 catching prospect in 2017 and 2018. He played in the 2016 and 2017 Futures Games. He debuted with the Orioles in 2017 and has since been a part-timer in the big leagues. In 196 career games, he has hit .197/.317/337 (.654) with 24 doubles and 16 homers. So, basically, he is Jose Godoy. But, he does provide depth behind the plate. 
In addition, RHP Jake Faria and infielder Daniel Robertson were also assigned to minor-league camp. They will head to the Saints as well, maybe in time for their season-opener on Tuesday in Louisville. 
That leaves the Twins with 30 players on their active camp roster. There are 17 pitchers. There are now just two catchers. They have six infielders and five outfielders. The lone non-roster player remaining in camp is outfielder Kyle Garlick. 
So, what does it all mean? 
Well, basically it means that the biggest decision remaining is whether to add Kyle Garlick to the 40-man roster or just roll with Brent Rooker. It isn't an easy decision. Garlick crushes left-handed pitching, and that is an important trait for a fourth-outfielder. While not great defensively, he can play both corners adequately. Rooker is on the 40-man roster, but he has been slowed by a shoulder injury. On Saturday, he returned to the Twins lineup. He is in the Twins spring lineup for Monday. It is very possible that the decision has been made and they will just wait until after today's game to announce it. The interesting piece will be who would get DFAd to make room for Garlick on the roster. 
In addition, the Twins will have to decide whether they want to start the season with 15 or 16 pitchers on the roster. if they want 16, they will need to option one pitcher to St. Paul. If they decide to take just 15 pitchers, that would leave possible the idea of keeping both Garlick and Rooker on the active roster, though a roster move would still be needed. 
How is this going to shape out over the next few days? Will the team make any trades before the season to add another pitcher, or a player from another position? What do you think? 

In 2021, the Wind Surge joined the Twins family of affiliates and had a really strong roster. The team had the league’s best record during the regular season and finished second in the postseason tournament. 
Several return to Ramon Borrego’s roster from last year, and this should again be a very strong roster. His coaching staff is different, but starting a roster with seven top prospects and some other very intriguing prospects is a great place to start. 
Here we will introduce you to the 2022 Wichita Wind Surge Opening Day roster with a tweet-length bio. For much more on each player, click the hyperlink with the name and see all of the Twins Daily stories in which each player is tagged. There are some terrific prospect on this roster, and there are some great stories as well. 
COACHING STAFF 
Manager: Ramon Borrego 
Hitting Coach: Derek Shomon 
Pitching Coaches: Pete Larson, Dan Urbina 
Catcher Coach: Joe Mangiameli
PITCHERS 
RHP Argenis Angulo (28) - signed as free agent this offseason after posting a 7.33 ERA in 43 innings at AAA Las Vegas (A’s). Spent 2014-2020 with the Cleveland organization.  RHP Matt Canterino (24) - Twins Daily’s #6 prospect may have the best pure stuff. Healthy after throwing in just five games at Cedar Rapids in 2022. Could move quickly.  RHP Steven Cruz (22) - Young. Hits 100 at times. Control questionable at times. Probably a bullpen arm, pitched at Ft. Myers last year and just two games at High-A Cedar Rapids.  LHP Zach Featherstone (26) - drafted as a hitter, and then had Tommy John. Came back last year and was strong as Kernels closer. Pitcher in Arizona Fall League in 2021.  LHP Kody Funderburk (25) - another college two-way player, Funderburk has spent time as a starter and reliever.  RHP Ben Gross (24) - 10th round pick in 2019 from Duke. Graduated from Princeton in three years. Also has a nice three-pitch mix and throws strikes.  RHP Steven Klimek (28) - Pitched in Orioles’ system since drafted in 2015. Spent 2021 at AA Bowie. Bullpen depth.  RHP Brandon Lawson (27) - Has pitched in Rays, Giants and Astros organizations. Last season at Astros’ AA affiliate in Corpus Christi. Can eat innings.  LHP Bryan Sammons (26) - 8th round pick in 2017, Sammons split the 2021 season between Wichita (3-4, 6.44 ERA) and St. Paul (1-3, 6.61 ERA). Very starter with four pitches.  RHP Alex Scherff (24) - Came to Twins from Red Sox organization in deadline deal of Hansel Robles. Rehabbed the rest of 2021. Former prospect slowed by injuries. Has a chance.  RHP Austin Schulfer (26) - 19th round pick in 2018, he led Twins minor leaguers with 110 innings pitched in 2021, all for Wichita. He went 6-8 with a 4.34 ERA. 105 strikeouts.  LHP Evan Sisk (24) - Came to Twins at 2021 deadline in the J.A. Happ / John Gant trade. Lefty reliever pitched in the AFL after the 2021 season.  RHP Chris Vallimont (25) - Hard-thrower came to Twins in the Lewin Diaz / Sergio Romo trade in 2019. Struggled to 6.03 ERA in 21 Wichita starts last season, but struck out 130 batters in 91 innings (also 61 walks). Added to Twins 40-man roster after season.  RHP Louie Varland (24)- Twins Daily’s #14 prospect was the Twins and Twins Daily’s Minor League Pitcher of the year in 2021 after dominant numbers in Ft. Myers and Cedar Rapids. St. Paul native struck out 142 batters in 103 innings.  RHP Tyler Viza (27) - Signed with Twins just last week. He spent 2013-2019 in Phillies organization, reaching AAA. Last year, started for Independent Kane County before ending season with five starts for AA San Antonio (Padres).  RHP Simeon Woods Richardson (21) - Twins Daily’s #8 prospect came to the team in the 2021 deadline deal from Toronto with Austin Martin for Jose Berrios. Hard thrower has a strong repertoire of pitches. Last year was strange, started at AA, went to the Olympics but didn’t pitch, traded, and came to the Twins. Will get a chance to start fresh in 2022.  CATCHERS 
Alex Isola (23) - 29th round pick in 2019, he spent 2021 with the Kernels where he showed a good approach at the plate and some power. Good defensive catcher.  Dennis Ortega (24) - Venezuelan backstop joined the Twins this spring after spending 2014-2021 with the Cardinals organization. Reached AAA in 2021 and hit .231 over 57 games.  Chris Williams (25) - 8th round pick in 2018 from Clemson, Williams struggled at the season’s start in Cedar Rapids. Moved up to Wichita and produced nine extra base hits in 28 games.  INFIELDERS 
Andrew Bechtold (25) - 5th round pick in 2017, Bechtold broke out with the Wind Surge in 2021. He hit .239/.328/.459 (.786) with 23 doubles and 18 homers. Corner infielder also did work behind the plate and hopes to add that versatility to his game.  Michael Helman (25) - 11th round pick in 2018 from Texas A&M. In Cedar Rapids last year, he hit .246/.336/462 (.798) with 21 doubles, four triples and 19 home runs. Went to Arizona Fall League. The infielder also played all three outfield spots (and well) in 2021.   Edouard Julien (22) - Twins Daily’s #19 prospect, Julien led minor league baseball in walks in 2021. In Ft. Myers, he showed a great eye and plate discipline while rediscovering base stealing. In Cedar Rapids, he added the power that made him an intriguing draft prospect.  Austin Martin (23) - Martin was the #5 overall pick in the 2020 draft out of Vanderbilt. He came to the Twins in the Jose Berrios deal. He played 37 games for the Wind Surge in 2021 and returns in 2022, likely to play some shortstop and see if his offseason work will help him add power to his game. He ranked as the Twins #1 prospect heading into this season.   Spencer Steer (24) - The Twins 18th-ranked prospect, Steer busted out with 24 home runs between Cedar Rapids (10) and Wichita (14) in 2021. Able to play three infield positions, Steer is an intriguing prospect heading into 2022.  OUTFIELDERS 
Leobaldo Cabrera (24) - The Twins signed Cabrera last spring out of the Empire League. He was known for a strong arm and some power potential. After getting part-time play in Ft. yers and Cedar Rapids, he moved up to Wichita and hit 11 home runs in 52 games. Still young enough to be intriguing.  DaShawn Keirsey (24) - 4th round pick in 2018 from Utah, Keirsey played 45 games in Cedar Rapids in 2021. He had several stints on the Injured List and was unable to get into a flow. However, he had four doubles, four triples and seven home runs. He is a terrific defensive center fielder and incredibly fast and athletic. Here’s to his health in 2022!  Cole Sturgeon (30) - former 10th round pick of the Red Sox in 2014, he remained in their organization through 2019. He has played for three independent teams over the past two seasons. The Twins signed him in the offseason and he provides quality depth.  Matt Wallner (24)  - Another Minnesotan, Wallner in the #12 prospect at Twins Daily heading into the season. He got off to a fast start in Cedar Rapids, but he lost two months with a broken hamate bone. Finished the season with 15 homers in 66 Kernels games. Went to AFL and hit six homers in 18 games.   What are your thoughts on this roster? Who will move up quick? Who will jump up the prospect rankings?
 

Initially, I was excited about the Twins receiving a catcher via trade. After losing Mitch Garver via trade, receiving a catcher in a later trade made sense. That excitement cooled when looking at Gary Sanchez's offensive and defensive numbers. I quickly realized that he has not been good.
He has had some moments of improvement and growth, but overall, nothing shows he is worth hanging onto. With everything he's had stacked against him, a change of scenery, moving from the Bronx Bombers to the Twins, maybe just what revives his career. As I break down his defensive and offensive woes, I also found that his hard work ethic, along with fresh hitting and catching coaches, maybe just what Sanchez needs to make a comeback.
Replacing a fan favorite
When news broke of Mitch Garver's trade to the Texas Rangers, there was a collective shock and sadness from Minnesota baseball fans. The trade was hard to digest, but the Twins had an everyday shortstop and still had Ryan Jeffers and Ben Rortvedt behind the plate. Just as fans were coming to terms with that trade, and then excited by the Sonny Gray trade, an even more shocking trade came to light. 
Late Sunday night, the Twins sent Josh Donaldson, Ben Rortvedt, and the newest acquisition Isiah Kiner-Falefa to the Yankees in exchange for Gary Sanchez and Gio Urshela. The initial assumption was that the Twins might use Sanchez in a trade for pitching, but with Garver and Rortvedt on new teams, Gary Sanchez will likely be one of the Twins' catchers. 
There is no doubt that Garver showed big improvements over his time with the Twins, both offensively and defensively. Because of that, as well as his presence in the media and on Twitter, he became a fan favorite, The idea that Gary Sanchez of the hated Yankees is replacing a fan favorite may not be sitting well with many Twins fans. 
Defensive Struggles
It will take a lot of change for Twins fans (or coaches or pitchers) to be comfortable with Sanchez behind the plate. His defensive metrics show that he struggles with pitch presentation. The numbers tend to improve and improve more as he works on his positioning and framing. They will have to improve for him to keep playing. 

https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/savant-player/gary-sanchez-596142?stats=statcast-r-fielding-mlb

The 6'2", 230-pound catcher has been tagged "The Worst Catcher in Baseball," and we can see why if you go solely on his defensive metrics. Watching the video helps as well.
Gary Sanchez's pitch framing and balance issues have been the bane of his existence in New York. A catcher's success is based on his positioning behind the plate in an effort to effectively frame a pitch, which seems to be Sanchez's biggest downfall. He has consistently had a problem maintaining his balance on his left side, leading to dropping down to his knees, which has allowed a lot of passed balls. With framing and receiving, he sits back on his heels with his seat below knee level, and he's moving to the ball with his whole body. 
Gary Sanchez Catching Problems Dissected
Because of his positioning, Sanchez catches the ball with large swiping motions instead of small movements receiving the ball. There is no thought that he will ever win any Gold Gloves behind the plate. Last season, he spent time in on the New York bench, including during the playoffs. The Yankees invested in help for Sanchez that may have helped him get started in the right direction, even if it was too little too late. 
Offensive Struggles
Even though he wasn't what the Yankees were hoping for after his rookie season in 2017, the team continued to give him chances because of his offensive performance early in his career. Gary Sanchez is fantastic offensively, he is an All-Star, but the past two seasons, on top of his defensive struggles, he has still struggled offensively. 
The one-time All-Star has slumped recently in numbers. The one thing that Sanchez is very capable of is hitting home runs. Last year Sanchez hit 23 home runs, one of them being a clutch grand-slam to win the game on September 5th, 2021, to beat the Orioles. 
I hope that Sanchez is willing to do whatever it takes to improve and give the Twins the edge they are deserving. The Yankees saw enough potential in Sanchez to invest time and coaching to improve his skills and get back to where he was before his injuries in 2018.
Willingness to do the work
The Yankees hired a catching coach, Tanner Swanson (the former Twins minor league catching coordinator), specifically to work with Sanchez. Swanson previously helped Mitch Garver improve, and it seems that the catcher whisperer had done it again. While working with Swanson, Sanchez had a vast improvement cutting down on passed balls based on changing his position behind the plate. 
Sanchez does have an impressive pop time of 1.93 seconds (League average is 2.01 seconds) and a cannon for an arm. When he is set right, and in a good rhythm, Sanchez quickly gets people out almost anywhere on the field, which is a defensive dream.
After working with Sanchez for some time, Tanner Swanson told AP News, "I think overall just a much more confident version of the Gary Sánchez than we saw in 2020," Swanson said. "He has attacked the offseason and been accountable for his performance in 2020. I think he's in a perfect place, and his process is sound. I've been pleased."
With Swanson at the helm, Sanchez learned how to use minimal glove movement to improve his strike count by reaching from below the strike zone and making small quick movements to steal the 'low-strike,' a technique Swanson also worked on with Mitch Garver, Ben Rortvedt, and other catchers in the Twins organization. As Sanchez continued to work on his defense, it was clear that he was not improving much. When he stopped being productive with the bat too, he needed to move on from the Yankees. 
Gary Sanchez is not a lost cause yet; perhaps a change of scenery by moving to Minnesota, a new catching coach, and a second chance would benefit the catcher. 
Why I Believe Gary Sanchez Can Have a Big Comeback Season
The Twins have hired several new coaches in the offseason, but two will be especially instrumental in working with Sanchez. David Popkins is the new hitting coach, and on December 10th, the Minnesota Twins hired a new coach, former big-league catcher Hank Conger who has been coaching in KBO since before the pandemic.
Hank Conger is a former MLB catcher who bounced around as a coach in the minors for three seasons after his 2015 season with the Astros. He has spent the past two years as a coach in Korea for the Lotte Giants. While this will be his MLB debut as a coach, the resounding applause of his hire is promising for the Twins and, hopefully, the catcher core. 
Conger has seen a lot of change from when he was drafted and began in professional baseball to now. Pitch framing is his most significant focus. All of his managers were former catchers; Conger was able to get many perspectives that he credits with who he was as a catcher and how he is now as a catcher's coach. 
When it comes to pitchers and hitters that come up, Conger's focus is on how he can help the catchers have all the information on his pitchers and the opponent's hitters. Information comes from scouting reports or in-game information. The relationship with the pitchers is just as crucial to Conger as it should be to the catcher. 
The catcher-pitcher relationship is the most important relationship on the field; from game management to communication, there must be trust between the two players and, most importantly, hard work. 
Sanchez is no stranger to hard work with pitchers; in fact, he's previously worked with Sonny Gray, the most recent Twins pitching acquisition from the Cincinnati Reds, and they have a history. Both players played for the Yankees in 2018, but the relationship was not productive. Gray had Sanchez as a catcher, but after a string of miscommunication and inconsistent tempo between the two, Gray opted for Austin Romine as his catcher. That did not stop Sanchez from wanting to improve. 
Gary Sanchez spent a lot of time watching Gray and Romine from the dugout, learning the pitcher and catcher's pitches, personality, and tempo. The hope is that the reunion in a new environment will work together with the help of the pitching and catching staff to create the tempo they couldn't find in 2018. 
Be ready for a big season
Sanchez is no stranger to powerful hitting and elite catching. The past two seasons, he certainly has struggled to find his stride. Whether it was a case of being in his head or his mechanics, there is an opportunity here in Minnesota for Sanchez to start fresh. 
If Sanchez can improve his form behind the plate and framing, he just might become a dangerous weapon for the Twins, both defensive and offensively. He already possesses the power at the plate with his swing to be a part of the beloved "bomba-squad." Whether as the DH or behind the plate, he has the potential to be a significant asset on this squad.
The Twins organization is set up for players to succeed. They are finding the coaches and players to grow a successful team, and if he puts in the work to be successful, and with the new rotation of pitchers and coaching staff, Sanchez will have a chance to shine.  
 

I have been watching baseball for as long as I can remember. I have always loved everything about baseball; the sounds of the park, the food, and every play on the field. I learned a lot watching what happens on the field, in the dugout, and the bullpen, but one thing that I had yet to learn was that the struggle to get to that place meant putting a lot of stuff on hold, including relationships. Since they were in high school, Allie and Sarah have been with their husbands, Brent Rooker and Mitchell Garver, respectively. While the couples have been together for over ten years, "together" is a relative term when you're in a baseball family.
The term "grind" was mentioned frequently in the interview because that's what being a baseball player is. When the guys aren't playing, they are training. There is never a time when they aren't getting ready for the next game. Because the guys are always on the go, independence has always been important to the wives. All women have their own lives, careers, and individuality, which is empowering. At the same time, they are proud to be Mrs. Cave, Mrs. Garver, and Mrs. Rooker. Saige, Sarah, and Allie are friends, daughters, career women, and mothers. 
The time they spent growing up while they supported their spouses, Allie and Sarah didn't know in high school or even early into college that the guys would play baseball outside of college. Contrary to popular belief, the women with their spouses from an early age genuinely don't rely on their spouses "being drafted ." The reality of players making it into the majors is that Less than eleven in 100, or about 10.5 percent, of NCAA senior male baseball players, will get drafted by a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. Approximately one in 200 or roughly 0.5 percent of high school senior boys playing interscholastic baseball will eventually be drafted by an MLB team. 
Allie and Sarah knew that their individuality and success were just as crucial as their husband's baseball careers.
Allie and Brent Rooker went to different colleges out of high school, and long-distance didn't stop until after the Minnesota Twins drafted Brent in the 1st round (35th overall pick) of the 2017 amateur draft. Along with Brent being drafted, he and Allie got engaged in 2017. Still, there was no time to get into family mode because Allie graduated as an RN and started working in her field after college. And for Brent, the grind toward the majors began immediately.
When the Minnesota Twins drafted Mitch Garver in the 9th round of the 2013 amateur draft, Sarah was in the middle of Veterinary School. They spent more time apart as Mitch found himself playing minor league ball with the Twins and Sarah finished her degree in Oregon. They had been together at the University of New Mexico, but Sarah had goals of becoming a vet, and she knew that would mean more time apart to attend school in Oregon, so while Mitch went off to play baseball in Florida, Sarah went to OSU to complete Vet school and graduated in 2018 with her Doctorate. Even though she graduated, she couldn’t join Mitch yet on the road as she started working in New Mexico. She officially joined Mitch in 2020, just in time for the pandemic. 
Saige and Jake Cave met when they were a little bit older. Saige had just graduated from college in Florida, and Jake was playing in the New York Yankees minor league system in Tampa. Saige was out walking her dog when they crossed paths, and that is the story. The simplicity of the story is as genuine as they are. She had already graduated college and was a nanny full-time. As a former D2 athlete, Saige vowed that she would never marry an athlete because she knows the grind and the demand, but she couldn't say no to Jake's charm, and the rest is history. They spent a lot of time as a new couple bouncing back and forth in Pennsylvania in the minor-league system. The travel was arduous, but luckily, Saige is from Pennsylvania and had family there.
Their lives collided together in 2018 when Jake was traded from New York to Minnesota. The three women were very close and confided in me when I asked, "How important is this circle?" 
"It's incredibly important." Says Sarah. 
"I don't know what I would have done without these two," says Saige. "They literally are so welcoming and loving, and we spend all day texting and snap chatting back and forth. Allie sends the funniest stuff."
"It's nice to know that someone gets it," Allie says, "Jake and Brent are also really close, and there is a picture of them from Brent's first day on the field smiling and Jake congratulating Brent." 
The women genuinely care for each other and look out for each other.
None of the wives got the opportunity to travel with their husbands to games in 2020, which subsequently was the pandemic year, making 2021 their first full-time travel year. It blew my mind to think about that. These couples put their heart and soul into not only themselves but also grinding through rookie-ball, minor league ball, trades, and finally landing on your feet with a team, and life throws you a literal curve-ball. 
Their lives aren't all glam and cash-flow, which is how some people think it happens. It's not. The three of them, while they show their strong sides, show concern for what happens on the field. Sarah said that baseball is a day-to-day job. There is no guarantee, as demonstrated by the pandemic and the current lockout. If they don't have their careers, when baseball stops, so does the income, and that's a terrifying idea. 
All three wives recall their husbands having scary, possibly career-ending injuries and the fear that went into those moments. Brent suffered a displaced fracture of his right forearm on September 13th, 2020, when a pitch hit him against Cleveland. Jake played with a broken back in 2021 and ended up on the sixty-day injured list for rehab. And Mitch took a foul tip to the groin on June 1st, 2021, during a game with Baltimore and ended up on the injured list after emergency surgery late that night. 
Sarah and Allie both told me that the scariest thing for them was that they were not only not at the games where their husbands were injured, but their phones were blowing up with people asking if their husbands were okay. Having to take in that emotion and sort through the truth and what is being said in the media is very frustrating. 
"I am already VERY pregnant at this point and very emotional," says Sarah, "and I can't do anything for him right now, and that got to me. Thank God for the medical team."
"Yes! The trainers, the Twins medical staff, they are our best friends," pipes in Allie, "They are there waiting for the guys in the waiting room to give us updates and reassure us."
"They are literal lifelines," Says Saige, beyond thankful for the staff who helped bring Jake back from a broken back. "He broke his back giving himself to baseball, and it was reassuring that they were dedicated to helping him get better." 
Between the pandemic and injuries, 2020 and 2021 were stressful, and 2022 isn't any less stressful.
While Sarah and Allie have their jobs to help cover the bills. The guys must stay in shape and ready to go to spring training at a moment's notice. Staying in baseball shape and baseball-ready means putting in eight to ten-hour days. 
It's bad enough when your husband is amid a lockout that threatens his career, but during the season, there are also bad days, bad games, and bad plays that haunt the guys when they come home. While the wives say they certainly need their space after a bad day, they are never petulant, maybe just a little in their head or a little off. What cures their post-game blues? 
Babies. 
The adorable babies that they come home to after a game. The kids, Gamble (Sarah and Mitch) and Blair (Allie and Brent), are close together in age and are rumored to be betrothed later in life. The oldest of the crew is Sloane, Jake and Saige's daughter, and she had the job of entertaining us and did a great job! That morning we talked; we were all in our sweats, hair up, kids and dogs everywhere. It was the most laid back conversation, and I realized that these are moms, just like me, like the other women baseball fans. Their main priorities are their families, the kids, and keeping life as simple as possible in a chaotic role. 
Finding the balance between being an individual, friend, daughter, wife, and mom is not easy. But they do it. And they do it with grace, messy buns, and a smile. Having a solid community is essential because the outside world can be cruel. Their husbands have a bad day at work, and everyone knows about it. 
What makes it harder about bad games and injuries is what people say about their husbands online. Talking to the women about what they go through, reading, and seeing those things changed my life and outlook on baseball. These three baseball players are not millionaires, as people have been screaming about on Twitter for the past six weeks. But they do fall into the 65% of MLB players who make under $1MM. The lockout is not easy on the families. Mitch is in his second year of arbitration, and makes more than league minimum, but that doesn’t change the impact of the lock out. They may make more than the average Joe, but the average Joe has one home, one State to live in, and a job he can drive to every day. These families have to be prepared for the season with housing for spring training, a house or apartment in the State where they play ball full time, and their place in their home state. Their paychecks ensure that they can afford to play next season and take care of their family in the off-season. 
Even with all the stress, crazy schedules, the current lockout, I have never seen stronger, happier women. These women not only empower their husbands, but they also empower each other. As a baseball fan, I was shocked that they wouldn't watch baseball without their husbands playing. But, watching their husbands play is one of the most endearing, exciting things they experience. Their first at-bats stick out as core memories for the wives. "Don't strike out" is the only thing Sarah is thinking as Mitch takes the plate for the first time on August 19th, 2017, knowing that is a genuine possibility. 
They laugh about their passion for the game and how it never leaves their minds. On off-days, any of them can ask their husband, "What are you thinking about?" Saige says, "Usually Jake says, 'my hitting,'" as she laughs. The players are either thinking about training for baseball, their last game, their upcoming game, or their swing. While they don't know specifics about their game day routines or superstitions, one thing they do know is the smiles on their husband's faces as they play the game they grew up loving.
As dedicated as the players are to their craft, they are devoted equally at home. All three women talked about how amazing the guys are with the kids. The lockout has left the families stressed, but the ability to have more time together, which none take for granted. Already following in dad's footsteps is Sloane Cave. Sloane loves to play baseball, and Jake loves to help her play. Sloane talks about going on the field with dad and watching him play, but some of her fondest memories she will have with dad allow her to play on her youth team with dad being the coach and the mentor. She loves that one-on-one quality time with Jake. 
The kids have a unique advantage that many kids don't, and that's watching dad play baseball, going on the field, in the dugout, and hanging out with the other major-league players and their families. 
When it comes to strength, baseball players are some of the strongest athletes I have encountered. Mentally and physically, players have to be ready for quite literally anything that happens in a game, from injury to a long stretch or dive to get the ball or to be fast enough to round the bases when a line drive hugs the foul line deep into left field. But, what's more, vital to the players are the families that stand behind them. 
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During Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) negotiations, the MLB Players Association reportedly agreed to allow MLB to ban shifts, to implement a pitch clock, and to make bases larger (not XL pizza box size- from 15” to 18”) effective the 2023 season, subject to those agreements fitting into a total deal. Though the MLBPA appears to be on board with these changes, baseball fans as a whole are not known as being a particularly flexible folk that is eager to embrace change. Needless to say, these potential changes have sparked some conversation. 
Regarding a pitch clock, in particular, there has been serious talk surrounding adding one for years now (since 2014 specifically), but it was ultimately not adopted in 2018 when the MLB implemented a host of other rule changes with the goal to increase the pace of play. MLB's plan is to implement a 14-second pitch clock with the bases empty and a 19-second clock with runners on base.
Here are the pros and cons of each side of the pitch clock argument as well as my personal take: 
PROS

It will speed up games and increase excitement
The paramount objective of the MLB adding a pitch clock is to improve the pace of play, and there seems to be clear evidence that adding one would accomplish this goal. In 2021, a pitch clock experiment in Low-A cut game times by 20 minutes using 15-second and 17-second clocks. In case you question if time in between pitches actually is the long game culprit here, a 2014 study found it was. A 2014 study found that the primary reason for the longer games was time in between pitches.
A number of extra seconds here and there for a pitcher to do his best Joe Nathan horse exhale doesn’t seem like much, but when around 280-300 pitches are thrown per game, it adds up. These days, games are 20 minutes longer than they were a decade ago, when the average game length was 2:50. That’s a lot of time to be buying ballpark beers. The MLB clearly thinks the ever-increasing game length is a problem, wants to keep its fanbase engaged, and desires to reel in some of its younger fans (not that canceling games exactly accomplishes these goals, but that’s a separate matter entirely). The MLB has the oldest fans among the major sports, with an average age of 57, according to a 2017 survey by Sports Business Journal. (The average NBA, NHL, and NFL fans are 42, 49, and 50, respectively). Recapturing this younger demographic is crucial to the sport's vitality and despite what baseball purists would like to admit, these young fans are the future of the game. It’s the MLB’s hope that increased game speed might also make games more action-packed; games will theoretically be cramming more offense and more action into a lot less time. At the minor-league level, albeit with small sample size, they have seen more runs, higher batting averages, more home runs, fewer strikeouts, and fewer pitchers throwing ball four After this lockout, an increase in-game action might be just what the MLB needs to return to relevance (or maybe they’ll just juice the balls again).
Existing pace of play measures are already in place 
Adding a pitch clock isn’t exactly new territory in the MLB- there are already time parameters set up by the MLB for warmup pitches, inning changes, and limiting mound visits, so adding a pitch clock is the logical next step. In the minor leagues, pitch clocks of some sort have been in place for the last seven seasons- it had only been in Double-A and Triple-A before the 2021 season- and minor leaguers didn’t seem to think it was that big of a deal. In addition, because pitch clocks have already been around in some form for more than a handful of years, the number of MLB hitters who have never played in one of those leagues with a clock is now down to slightly more than two per team. The number of pitchers who have never pitched with a clock is around three per team. Of course, though there are a number of veterans who have never stared down a clock, and they are vocal, but the times are a-changin'.  
14/19 seconds is enough time for a pitcher to begin his delivery 
Assuming the MLB keeps with what was implemented in the minor leagues, the pitch clock will not begin to run until the pitcher has the ball on the mound. That should be enough time to check the count and outs, communicate with his catcher, and otherwise go through his established routine.
CONS

Decline in pitching statistics?
I’ll be curious to see what the effect of an MLB pitch clock is on pitching statistics. According to The Athletic, the average fastball velocity without a 15-second clock is 92.3 mph which is nearly the same as with one at 92.4 mph. However, this data comes from a relatively small sample size of minor league play. There’s also more to pitches than just speed- movement and quality of a pitch. Even if fastball velocity with the clock is the same, which in the MLB it very well might not be, it makes theoretical sense the break or movement of a pitch could be affected because of less recovery time and less time for pitchers to get set. After all, the minor leagues have already seen increased batting statistics like batting average and home runs. Despite initial findings that velocity might not be greatly affected, clearly, something is going on, unless all those statistics are flukes. Could a pitch clock lead to increased arm fatigue in pitchers or the need for pitchers with greater stamina?  All of these thoughts are cons if you’re ya know, a pitcher, or love a good pitcher’s duel. 
Hitters and pitchers shouldn’t be rushed 
In the major leagues, every pitch matters, and the pitch type is selected based on the batter and the current game situation. A catcher needs time to work through the current game situation, put down a sign, and potentially put down another sign if the pitcher shakes it off. It’s a chess match, and there is a lot to process. Minor leaguers report hitters too are impacted by pitch clock. Hitters are aware that every at-bat is significant. Big leaguers, especially older veterans, have been raised with the idea that when you’re at the plate, it’s your time; they have established and ingrained routines which yes, might involve messing with their batting gloves between every pitch. Being held to a time clock would be a big mindset switch.
Pitch clocks are antithetical to baseball 
Baseball is an inherently slower-paced sport. There isn’t nonstop action and movement and an incessant flurry of scoring- try basketball or hockey. The fact that it is the only North American sport to be played without a clock is one of the things that makes baseball unique. And is 2 hours and 50 minutes that much different than 3 hours and 10 minutes? Because it’s inherently a slower-paced sport, might the people who are bored at 3:10 still be bored at 2:50? Does shaving off 20 minutes justify potentially altering the feel of the game with its ebbs and flows of suspense? Arguably, it’s a case of the MLB adding more unnecessary rules to further regulate the game. Going to the ballpark is an experience, and people who go plan on spending their entire afternoon or evening there anyway. Also, it may sound petty, but installing big blinking pitch blocks where batters and pitchers can each see them sounds like an eyesore.  
MY TAKE
I am such a devout baseball fan that I don’t mind the current length of games or pace of play. I enjoy the relaxed nature of the sport and how there isn’t an omnipresent clock incessantly ticking down like a football play clock. There are other pace of play measures in place and I’m of the opinion that those are enough. The MLB sure isn’t interested in cutting down commercial breaks to shorten game length, that’s for sure. However, now that the MLBPA is on board, I’m curious to see what effect it has on games once implemented, and maybe we won't even notice the change before too long. And besides, it *was* kind of nice walking out of Target Field at 9:30 p.m. on April 23, 2021 (2:17 game duration) when J.A. Happ had a no-hitter going into the 8th inning, and thus caused the game to go hyper-speed.
So what is your opinion of a pitch clock going in effect? Leave a COMMENT, join the discussion.  

In 2019, Edouard Julien was set to go back to Auburn University. He had just helped the team to the College World Series and had two years of eligibility remaining. The Twins took a flyer on him in the 18th round of the draft. When they had some extra draft dollars available, they offered him fourth-round money, and Julien decided to sign. 
Soon after, he left Twins camp with Jordan Balazovic to participate in the Pan-Am Games in Lima, Peru. In a Twins Daily interview last May, he said, “First practice there, we were doing cuts-and-relays. I cut a ball from right field and tried to throw it to home plate. It just flew to the right, and I heard a pop in my elbow. I knew something happened to my arm.”
When he got back to Florida, an MRI showed a tear in his UCL. He quickly had Tommy John surgery and started the rehab process. He may have made his pro debut sometime in the middle of the 2020 season, but as we know, the pandemic caused the cancellation of the minor league season. 
So it wasn’t until 2021 that Edouard Julien was able to make his professional debut. “It was special. I had goosebumps. I was stressed. I wasn’t sure what to expect. But I was ready to go and attack and play the best baseball I can.”
Julien has had a chance to look back at that 2021 debut season and realize just how well he played. 
The Quebec native started the season with 47 games in Ft. Myers. He hit .299/.490/.456 (.946) with 12 doubles and three homers. He also stole 21 bases in 23 attempts after stealing just ten bases in two seasons and 127 games. 
He was then promoted to Cedar Rapids, where he played in 65 games and hit .247/.397/.494 (.891) with 16 doubles, 15 home runs, and 13 stolen bases. 
In 112 total games, he led all minor league baseball with 110 walks. 
“It's always been part of my game to have a good eye and to swing at good pitches and not chase out of the strike zone. But I'd say this year I took it to another step. I was more focused on what I wanted, and my approach was more defined. I knew what I wanted to hit and what I didn't want to hit. I knew my strength a little bit more.”
In the Low-A Southeast Division (formerly the Florida State League), they used the electronic strike zone in 2021. There were certainly mixed reviews on it by those involved in those games. Julien didn’t seem to mind it. 
“It was the first time playing with a strike zone that's consistent like that. You know, with the umpires sometimes, they give calls to the pitcher, or they give calls to you. So it's different. And with the automatic strike zone, you get the same thing every day. So I kind of liked it for me.”
Offensively, Julien is filled with potential. He had a strong approach. He knows the strike zone well. He can hit for power, and he uses the whole field. Yes, he will want to strike out less (144 K in 2021), but that’s what this whole player development thing is for, right? 
Defense is where there are some question marks, but he is self-aware and spent the offseason working on it. “I'd say over this offseason, I worked a lot on my defense because I think that's one of my weaknesses here. I try to be a little more consistent defensively. I try to add on to everything. I try to have more power, have more contact, be faster, I try to be a little bit of everything. But like I said, I worked mainly on my defense and my arm."
Between Ft. Myers and Cedar Rapids in 2021, Julien played 39 games at second base, 23 at third base, 21 at first base, and 18 at left field. 
“I'd say my natural position is second base. I'm starting to learn left field. I think I'm more of a second baseman and left fielder, and I can play some first and third. I can fill in a little bit everywhere, but I'd say I'm more natural at second and in left field.”
Don’t worry, though. Julien is still working on offense, and his approach, something he thinks will be important as he moves up the minor-league ladder. 
“Sometimes, I was getting caught up during the season of being too patient and letting good pitches go. I think that's one of the adjustments I'm trying to make this year to be more aggressive early and challenge, and when I get my pitch, to go for it. Whenever you go up a level, the pitching gets better, and the mistakes, they don't (make as many), and I'm aware of that. And so I'm going to be a little bit more aggressive,”
UNIQUE PATH 
Julien grew up in Quebec City. Not exactly a baseball hotbed. 
He said, “It's hard because in Canada, the biggest sport is hockey, and in the summer, it's soccer now. There's not a lot of baseball players. There's not a lot of people that come back home to watch us play. We only play two months of the year, so it's pretty hard to get visibility.”
But Julien joined the likes of fellow Twins prospects such as Landon Leach and LaRon Smith on the Canadian junior team. They would head to the States regularly for tournaments and other events. That is where he gained his visibility. He was the Phillies 37th round pick in the 2017 draft. 
Instead of signing, he accepted a scholarship to Auburn. He was headed to the SEC. For Julien, it was a significant adjustment on so many levels. 
“It's been a pretty big adjustment. I'd say the biggest one was the different language because back home, I don't speak English. So I got to Alabama. I couldn't speak English, only French. So it was pretty hard at first in my classes. And the food's different. How people act is different. So I had to acclimate to everyone. And it was a big, big change.”
So aside from the ‘normal’ educational opportunities, Julien learned a lot more with the help of his teammates and roommates. “I learned my English from them, and I went to them every day. They taught me everything, like what to eat what not to eat in Alabama. The food was different. I had to acclimate to that because we eat very differently back home. And how you talk, too, because I used what my friends were saying to me. So it's not always the best word to say around coaches. So I had to learn a lot. I learned a lot in Alabama.”
But jumping from Canadian secondary school, even with his time on the junior national team, to the SEC, the best conference in college baseball is a huge undertaking. It was a big adjustment for Julien too. 
“I saw a little bit of pitching and some velocity, but I'd say the biggest step for me when I got to college is that the guys are so much more polished. They throw a lot of offspeed and a lot of offspeed in the zone. They have plans against you. It's not just to go out there and play. They play to win. They try to get you out. I think that was the biggest adjustment I had to make -- to make adjustments against pitchers, to read what they're trying to do with me.”
Like his adjustment to college life in Alabama, Julien made the adjustments on the diamond look easy too. In 62 games played as a freshman, he hit .275/.398/.556 (.954) with seven doubles and 17 home runs. His 69 RBI broke the freshman record previously set by Frank Thomas. 
He came back for his sophomore season in 2019. In 65 games, he hit .259/.388/.453 (.841) with 14 doubles and ten homers. It was a bit of a drop-off, but he (along with fellow Twins prospect Will Holland) led the Auburn Tigers to the College World Series. 
Then pro ball. “And to go pro ball was a different world, too. And everybody's trying to make it to the highest level, and it's fun to be around here and to be part of that.”
When he signed with the Twins, he was one of few that spoke French. By that point, his English was approaching, if not fluent. Spanish? 
“I used to go to a high school where it was Spanish. Since I came here with all of the Latin players, I picked it up pretty quick. I understand a lot of Spanish, and I speak a lot of it. I'm not trilingual, but I'm close to it.”
Well-rounded offensive game. Development of potential defensive versatility. What are you looking for from Eduardo “Eddy” Julien in 2022, and what do you think his future potential can be? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

In March of 2020, Twins minor leaguers had just reported to Ft. Myers for spring training. Then the Covid pandemic showed up, minor leaguers were sent home, and eventually, the minor league season was canceled. Players scrambled, not knowing if or when they could get back to southwest Florida. The minor league coaches and coordinators were trying to work with the minor league players, checking in on their work each week, zoom calls to have conversations on how to progress. Sure, some top prospects got to do some work at the Twins alternate site in St. Paul that summer, but very few. 
There was no Arizona Fall League, but fortunately, at least some of the team’s prospects were able to travel to Ft. Myers for an instructional league camp. 
Let’s jump to February of 2021. Major League spring training started on time, but there were no guarantees of a minor league season. Big league camp was comprised of those on the 40-man roster, the non-roster invitees, and a group at “development camp.” Those players worked just like usual, and they were the players brought to spring training games to work the innings and get the at-bats after the starters got their work in. 
The minor league season was delayed. Instead of reporting to Ft. Myers and officially starting camp in early March, they reported by April 1st. That allowed the major-league players and team to vacate the facilities and the minor leaguers to enter. Again, there was an “alternate” site in St. Paul, so several minor league veterans and players could be called up to the Twins on short notice (and many were because of injuries and a mini-Covid situation in April). 
The minor league season started on May 5th, but even that had a completely different feel. MLB spent the previous offseason eliminating several minor league teams from affiliated status. The PDCs (Player Development Contracts) were essentially torn up, and new affiliations were made. Those teams each signed 10-year PDCs. 
After two decades in Rochester, New York, the Twins' new Triple-A affiliate was the St. Paul Saints. It was an excellent move for the Twins and the players who often found themselves (and their families) moving up and down from Triple-A to the big leagues.  
After a year with the Pensacola Blue Wahoos as their Double-A affiliate, the Twins now call the Wichita Wind Surge their new Double-A affiliate. The city had just completed a state-of-the-art stadium and facilities on the river, and it was a great situation for the Twins. 
Now the Twins maintained the Cedar Rapids Kernels and Ft. Myers Mighty Mussels as their A-Ball affiliates. However, they switched places. Cedar Rapids was “promoted’ to High-A while the Mighty Mussels were now the team’s Low-A affiliate. 
Cedar Rapids has been a terrific affiliate for the Twins. They are in close proximity to the Twin Cities but also reasonably close to Wichita. With the Twins minor league and spring training complex in Ft. Myers, it made sense to have the Mighty Mussels be the next rung up as there are several promotions and demotions at that level. 
However, the Twins lost their affiliation with the Advanced-Rookie level Elizabethton Twins. The Appalachian League was changed to a college wood bat league, and the team changed it's name from the Twins to the River Riders. It was disappointing for several reasons, none more than that they had been a Twins affiliate for 45 seasons. 
But that did create some challenges. Elizabethton was where high school picks or international signings would usually go in their second pro season after playing in the GCL. It was also an excellent place for players drafted out of college to make their professional debut. 
Without Elizabethton, the next step up the organizational ladder was Ft. Myers. And while that “jump” is just across the parking lot in Ft. Myers, the quality of play can be vastly different. It is a lost level for development. While college players can more easily make that jump, it is a giant leap for a high school player like Keoni Cavaco or a top international signing like Misael Urbina. 
Recently, Twins Director of Player Development Alex Hassan discussed how the loss of Elizabethton altered what was done in 2021, and they will likely take what they learned a year ago into the 2022 season. 
“It's certainly changed the dynamic, especially how you think about that level. Misael Urbina is probably a good example of that, too, where he went last year, and it felt like a stretch, but he didn't have other options. I think it has really re-framed the way we're looking at some of those things. In terms of the Low-A level, in terms of guys in that class that are high school players, in some ways, you might think about that as a two-year (level) depending upon performance, but more of a two-year level than you probably have in the past where if guys performed OK or at a decent level, you've gone year to year moving up each level. I do think that's one way we're trying to think about it. If a guy repeats that level, it maybe will become more of the norm than not for that class of player.”
If you are wondering, I think it is fair to say that Misael Urbina will repeat at Low-A. 
It is also a challenge in the Florida Complex League (FCL, formerly the GCL). There are all the players who have remained at “Extended Spring Training.” They bring over several players from the Dominican Republic. Additionally, the players drafted that summer report and filled up roster spots. In other words, it can be challenging to get enough at-bats or innings pitched for all of those players. 
“I think it has just forced us to think about those levels a tick differently and trying to get creative in the ways that we can get guys work and not overreact to performance in the short term.”
This brings us to 2022, a third straight weird season for minor leaguers and player development staff. With the lockout, and the inability for 40-man roster players to participate in minor league spring training, the organization has had to add players. But Hassan takes it all in stride, noting it’s much easier than wondering if you were going to even have a season. 
Twins' former Minor League Director, Brad Steil, is now the team's Director of Player Procurement. He works with the pro scouts. The information his group gathers can be used in trade discussions, but in the offseason, signing minor league free agents based on their feedback is essential. 
Understanding that several players on the 40-man roster would start the season in Double-A or Triple-A, they have added a few extra veteran minor league free agents for needed depth. 
Hassan said, “We certainly have plans throughout the offseason for bringing additional depth. There are still opportunities where we can continue to build our depth across our organization, and some of that will just continue as we go into Spring Training. I think just having clarity on the fact that we're going to start the Minor League season has been helpful and allowed us to plan a little bit further ahead than we were able to last year.”
When spring training games start, the Twins can pull up players from the Complex roster to play at other levels or generally shift people around to fill rosters for those games. However, as the season approaches, they will have to continue to monitor their rosters and the lockout situation to determine if they need to sign more players. 
This issue is certainly not limited to the Twins. All 30 teams will have to work through their roster needs, particularly Triple-A. 
Rule 5 Draft? 
Potentially the strangest situation that player development staffs around the league face this year involves the Rule 5 draft. 
“I hope they just cancel it. That would be the best case. Maybe not. But yeah, it is weird. We have some eligible players, and they’re here, and we’re working with them to develop them as best we can. I don’t know what the plan is for that. But yeah, it’s weird. because normally it’s resolved, and you know who’s here and who’s not here.” Hassan continued, “Hope for the guys we have here, continue to work with those guys and develop those guys.”
This feels like a good place to post a William Parmeter photo from spring training. Recently, Jordan Gore, who would be eligible for the Rule 5 draft was working a session on the Hammond Stadium mound. That is some impressive flow! 

Minor League Housing
Maybe the best news to come out of the offseason relates to the minor leagues is that players will no longer have to pay for housing at minor league sites. 
Alex Hassan spent eight seasons in professional baseball, so he understands that struggle and stress. 
He said, “That’s something, first and foremost, that I am personally thrilled about. I couldn’t possibly be happier, taking that burden off the players. I remember back when I was playing, it was always an area of stress. Your lease. Short-term lease, first and foremost, which is tougher to find. Having to potentially break the lease and find new roommates. I think those are real challenges. And I couldn’t be happier that we’re taking that step.”
Hasson praised the Complex and dorms in Ft. Myers. They have 54 rooms and three meals each day for the players and staff. That helps the FCL and the players on the Complete roster. 
The Cedar Rapids Kernels have long had a very strong host-family program to help its players. “Within the policy, you can use host families. There are certain criteria that have to meet in order to qualify for host family housing. In Cedar Rapids, I think we have one of the best host family programs in minor league baseball. We’re very fortunate on that front that players will continue to be able to use that opportunity in Cedar Rapids.”
In both Wichita and St. Paul, the Twins have apartments for players. 
“Wichita is fully furnished, and it’s actually right across the street from the stadium. So it’s a really good setup in Wichita. And we have an apartment complex that we’re working with in St. Paul. The team is responsible for basically everything that goes into the apartment, providing bed and furniture and tables, forks and knives and linens, and cable and internet. The team provides all that stuff, and the players are not signing leases anywhere they’re staying.”
A third straight “weird” year in the minor leagues and with player development is upon us. But we will have full schedules for the team’s four full-season affiliates. Players received a bump in pay a couple of years ago, but that still needs to improve significantly to put players above the poverty line. At this point, most minor league players are nowhere near that low floor. But getting their housing paid for is a big help as well. Conditions have improved some, and hopefully, improvements will continue.
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Through 2018, Jorge Polanco had played 288 games for the Twins. He owned a career .272/.329/.420 slash line and was still trying to find himself as a hitter. Polanco has never played in more than 133 games during a season and topped 80 just once. He wasn’t a big strikeout problem, but his on-base prowess wasn’t exactly pronounced either.
 
Having come through the system as a shortstop, Polanco played three infield positions for Minnesota in 2016 before assuming shortstop full-time each of the next two years. His .773 OPS in 2018 seemed to indicate a breakout may be coming, and while there were concerns of his ability to stick at short, the bat was where hope resided.
We all remember how 2019 went as the Bomba Squad came on the scene, and Polanco was right in the center of that. His career-best .841 OPS was the offensive explosion Falvey banked on, and his 22 home runs were nearly double his previous career-high. Arguably one of the best offensive teams in Twins history, Polanco helped bolster a lineup with much bigger bats around him.
 
We’ve seen Polanco move off shortstop and deal with some ankle issues in the two years since. After a second surgery in 2020, his 2021 season re-established his place as one of baseball's best up-the-middle hitting infielders. The rebound to an .826 OPS with 33 big flies was truly a remarkable performance. Polanco has played more than 150 games in two of the past three seasons. He experienced his first All-Star game and picked up MVP votes.
 
Signed for $25.75 million over five years, with two vesting/team options in 2024 and 2025, there was very little way for the deal to go pear-shaped on Minnesota. Despite coming off another impressive season, Polanco will make just $5.5 million in 2022 and $7.5 million in 2023. Fangraphs estimates Polanco’s value has been worth $32.7 million in 2019 alone and $70.3 million through just the first three years of his extension. He’s nearly tripled the value paid to him, and there are still two years left on the deal.
 
Tied to Polanco in terms of timing was Kepler. Before doing his deal, Kepler had played in 419 games for Minnesota. He owned a .233/.313/.417 slash line and had recorded 56 homers. With just a 96 OPS+, Kepler was a solid defender that looked to have more in his bat.
 
Like Polanco, the return on investment immediately was realized in 2019 as Kepler posted a career-best .855 OPS backed by 36 dingers for the Bomba Squad. He was a middle-of-the-lineup bat that commanded the zone and generated solid contact. From there, though, the approach has fallen off. The past two seasons, Kepler has posted .760 and .719 OPS marks with a combined 28 homers in 169 games. A guy with good hard hit numbers, he finds himself too often driving the ball into the ground rather than elevating it.
Kepler walks a relatively fine line between a productive contract and unfortunate placement. His hard-hit rate in 2021 (35.6%) wasn’t where it was in 2019 (42.4%), but the flyball rate has also decreased in each of the past two seasons. Kepler is among the best defensive right-fielders in the game, and getting the most out of his bat would be the last segment of his game for the Twins to unlock.
 
Even without the complete package that Polanco has become, Falvey doing Kepler’s deal at $32.13 million over five years with a 2024 team option was never going to get the organization burned either. Fangraphs has Kepler’s 2019 alone being worth $35.6 million, and the total production over his first three years adds up to $58.4 million in value. He’ll likely double the contract value in 2022, and a great season or two could line him up for the payday Minnesota would no doubt love to consider.
 
At the time both deals were struck, neither seemed outlandish. Both players had come up through the system with plenty of projection, and the dollar value was Minnesota’s front office capitalizing on timing before production. These are two of the best contracts in baseball, and there’s only room for each to rise in the returned value.
Where do you think we see Polanco and Kepler go from here?
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Recently, Tracy and I sat down during my lunch break on a Tuesday afternoon. She and I had spoken previously during a chance meeting through a mutual acquaintance, but this was the first time I really had the chance to get to know her and pick her brain. 
When I tell you I went through a full range of emotions during our chat, that would be putting it lightly. It was the most informative, amusing, heartfelt conversation I have had with another baseball fan to this point in my life. Tracy has an infectious personality. She is passionate about baseball, and she is one smart woman. She knows the game. She gets the game. She lights up when you talk to her about not only her job but the players as well. She has created a strong relationship? with players past and present. 
Tracy is everything that Minnesota sports encompass. From a young age, she wore number 6 after her favorite player (Tony Oliva) and today can ask the hard-hitting questions of the players because they respect her. 
Before going to college at the University of Kansas, Tracy had her sights set on being a sports reporter. She had grown up a Minnesota sports fan and was excited at the prospect of reporting on her favorite childhood teams or any teams wherever she landed. However, that all changed when she had her mentorship with Darcy Pohland in 2009 at WCCO. During her internship, she had a chance to see how things were done behind the scenes, the creation of the story, and then bringing it to life. She fell in love instantly with the idea of creating an account of a story that the fans would love. Being a fan herself, she knew that helping the public understand their hometown favorites was vital to the sport and the community as a whole. 
When she completed her degree, she worked a short stint in Kansas City at WDAF-TV (FOX) where she produced morning and weekend newscasts before coming back home to Minnesota. Tracy found herself back at WCCO, where her passion for producing first started. She started working with faces like Don Shelby, Amelia Santanello, Frank Vascellaro, and Mark Rosen. 
She also met Peter Nelson. Peter ran a blog covering the Minnesota Twins. Blogging was a new idea to the sports world; giving people a different perspective of the game outside of highlights and "SportsCenter" moments. The blog was a split from regular sportscasting. The blog was more or less a relaxed version of things that happen at Target Field. Stories like "Eating our way through Target Field" - a piece where they ate every food on the concourse to give the fans their experience and what to expect and how things taste. They undoubtedly brought some laughs and probably stomach aches. 
Tracy loved the blog. Brimming with ideas and armed with her knowledge of the sport from watching it her whole life, and her drive to bring Minnesota the unknown side of sports, Tracy soon found herself on the field, in the dugout, and in the clubhouse. She spent time creating relationships with the players that have solidified not only her spot as a producer for WCCO but also as a friend to the players. They trust her, and sometimes in a media scrum, they will ask her first over reporters if she has any questions. Because she has earned the players' respect, she has also earned the right to ask hard-hitting questions as well.  
Tracy got to spend a whole day with the grounds crew to give fans an inside experience of what game day is like for the guys. It was one of her favorite days spent at Target field. The blog was an opportunity to not only grow in her passion for baseball but professionally as well. Tracy is now the point person for all Twins events for WCCO because she knows what a good experience is for Twins fans and doesn't shy away from an assignment or event. 
Tracy's respect for the players is so apparent. While she understands that getting the news is important, what’s even more important is treating the players as what they are: people. It’s important for her that people see the human side of the game, the people that make the game happen, and the fun the players have off and on the field. When we sat down to talk, there was not a moment when a smile was not on her face talking about our hometown team. She told me her favorite memories, about the players that she caught on the diamond over her years as a producer. 
One of my favorite stories was about Brian Dozier. Dozier learned Spanish in college because he knew that if he was going to play baseball, he would need to know how to not only understand the language himself but speak it for his teammates who couldn't speak or understand  English yet. She loves learning little nuances about the players because it helps her form a story for the nightly news or the blog she helps to oversee. 
Tracy is the producer for sports segments Sunday through Thursday for WCCO. She has also won an Emmy, but I had to find that on google because, in her humility, she didn’t bring that up. She is so humble she makes me rethink my goals for my life in sports and the glory of behind-the-scenes work. She works long hours, but they don't feel long because she does what she loves. We talked about the "behind the scenes" of the stories she gets to hear on the field, see in the dugout, and bullpen. One thing I was not expecting was to hear how excited about Opening Day she was, only to not be able to enjoy it like other fans. 
Opening Day of baseball for Tracy, one of Minnesota's biggest fans and season ticket holders is a little different these days. Instead of watching the game and seeing the guys take the field, she is in the writing room, working on getting out information, editing, and creating footage for the news that evening, making sure she gets the things that fans want. 
As a fan, she knows what resonates with people. She knows that fans want to know: information like new foods at the field, deals for tickets, opening day information, special giveaways, events, and the little surprises that the fan only catches a glimpse of to get them excited for what is coming up next in a game or news story. In the half-hour of news that we see every night, only three minutes of that is set aside for sports. Her job is to write, edit, and organize the sports segment for all sports teams in Minnesota. 
Of those three minutes, if there is a feature story, only one and a half minutes is dedicated to that feature. That is not a lot of time to bring you every single highlight, so she has to know … which is why it's so important to know the who, why viewers would care about the who, and what it means to the community. On TV, the audience sees a three-minute sports segment. Behind the scenes, anywhere from four hours to three days of work went into it.
There are sometimes stories that Tracy doesn't have planned. That happened one day with Twins' favorite Tony Oliva. During a Twins event, Tony grabbed Tracy and said, "Follow me. Record this." Tracy, completely confused, followed Tony because, let's be honest, who wouldn't, and what she saw confused her even more. Tony grabbed a jersey and handed it to a lady who immediately broke down in tears, hugged Tony, and was on her way. Confused, Tracy found out later just what the story was, and the beginning of the story made the two minutes she caught worth everything. 
It is those moments that Tracy lives for. The stolen moments and the respect of the players make them want to come to her with not only their ideas but also their appreciation. Tracy shows up. She doesn't make a scene. Tracy remembers that baseball is a "good ole boys club" and that she is in their space when at Target Field. She keeps in mind that she represents the team, WCCO, herself, young women, and Minnesota whenever she steps into her role at work. She garners respect by carrying her self-confidence, knowledge, kindness, and hard work ethic. She is intelligent, funny, and her laugh is contagious. Tracy may be behind the scenes, but she is in front of the Twins bringing us all the things we want to know as fans, a Queen of the Diamond.
You can follow Tracy on Twitter: @partray. 
 

Prospects come in all shapes and sizes, and players develop at different paces. This list shows that. The player in this group of five that has been around the longest is still very young, but because he signed at 16, he may seem older than he is. In fact, that player is actually younger than players drafted out of college the last couple of seasons. Brent Rooker went to Mississippi State and red-shirted as a freshman. He wasn't yet ready at that time. At 20, he was certainly ready for the SEC and became a top pick, drafted at 22-years-old. 
That really brings up two points about age and prospects. First, age in important to consider when looking at level of competition and stats. However, age really isn't that important when it comes to a potential big leaguer. If he's ready at 22, great. If he's ready at 26, that's OK too. Of course, with the lost 2020 season due to the pandemic, age becomes less important relative to both points. 
With that in mind, this group of five prospects has a few players who signed at 16 or 17 years old, and a couple of powerful college draft picks. Continue reading to see who made today's list. 
#15 SS Wander Javier 
2021 STATS: .225/.280/.413, 15 2B, 10 3B, 12 HR, 53 RBI, 34.3 K%, 6.1 BB%, 1/4 SB

It’s been discussed before, but the Twins prospect most hurt by a lost 2020 season may have been Wander Javier. Signed to the largest international free agent contract in team history in July 2015, he began the trek up the ladder. Unfortunately, He missed much of the DSL season in 2016 with injury. He played well for Elizabethton in 2017. Then a shoulder injury cost him the 2018 season and the first half of the 2019 season. He struggled in Low-A Cedar Rapids, hitting just .177 in 80 games. Then came the missed 2020 season. In 2020, he spent the season with High-A Cedar Rapids. The positive is that he remained healthy until the final weeks of the season. He certainly showed flashes of offensive potential, but overall the batting average was low, and so was the on-base percentage. He continued to strike out a lot. There are still several positives that make me (and many) unwilling to give up on him. Javier is a really good athlete. He is quick and he has good strength. He had 37 extra base hits, showing home run power and triples speed. On the positive is Javier’s shortstop defense. Similar to Jermaine Palacios defensively. He has good range. He’s got a big arm. He just sometimes struggles with routine plays, so he will need to continue working on being more consistent. Javier has one more season in the Twins organization before he can become a minor league free agent. He just turned 23 in late December, so being patient is wise. 
#14 3B Christian Encarnacion-Strand 
2021 STATS: .391/.424/.598, 2 2B, 2 3B, 4 HR, 18 RBI, 28.3 K%, 5.4 BB%, 2/2 SB

The Twins drafted Christian Encarnacion-Strand in the fourth round of the 2021 draft, and it’s fair to say he made a great first impression. As you can see above, he hit for average and showed some of the power that made him intriguing in the draft. He played in 22 games for Ft. Myers and had at least one hit in 21 games. He had at least one hit in the first 20 games. At one point, he had three hits in three straight games and four out of five games. Big and strong, he has a lot of power potential. He didn’t walk a lot with the Mighty Mussels, but he has shown a good approach at the plate.  In his one season at Oklahoma State, he hit .361/.442/.661 (1.103) with 17 doubles and 15 home runs in 56 games. The California native had previously been drafted in 2019 in the 34th round when he was playing at Yavapai College in Arizona. In college, he played almost exclusively at third base. In Ft. Myers, with Jesus Feliz and fellow-2021 draft pick Jake Rucker playing third base, Encarnacion-Strand played 17 games at first base. He will be 22 years old throughout the 2022 season. There is a chance that this ranking is a little high simply due to his first impression on me, so it will be interesting to see what he does in 2022.  
#13 SS Keoni Cavaco 
2021 STATS: .233/.296/.302, 7 2B, 2 HR, 26 RBI, 34.1 K%, 7.0 BB%, 6/8 SB

Javier is the player likely hurt most by the missed 2020 season. It was also unfortunate for Keoni Cavaco. He was the Twins first-round draft pick in the 2019 draft and struggled in 25 games in the GCL that season. Despite limited pro time, the Twins pushed him to Ft. Myers despite having just turned 20 in early June. He started out well and showed glimpses of his immense potential. Unfortunately, he had some rough patches too. He also missed time with a couple of injuries including a concussion. We have seen how playing in Ft. Myers can (and does) negatively impact offense, so despite his numbers, it is far too early to be too worried yet. He is big, strong and quick and should develop doubles and home run power in time. While he played third base in high school because his Eastlake teammate was shortstop Marcelo Mayer who was the fourth overall pick in the 2021 draft. However, he has the size, speed, hands and arm strength to potentially play shortstop so that’s where the Twins played him in 2021 and will continue to do so. He certainly needs to be more consistent, but the tools are there. He won’t be able to legally drink until early June. 
#12 OF Misael Urbina  
2021 STATS: .191/.299/.286, 12 2B, 4 3B, 5 HR,52 RBI, 18.7 K%, 12.3 BB%, 16/22 SB

Back in July 2018, the Twins signed a 16-year-old Misael Urbina from Venezuela to a $2.75 million signing bonus. He made his professional debut in the DSL where he hit .279/.382/.443 (.825) with 14 doubles, five triples and two homers over 50 games. He also stole 19 bases and walked more than he struck out. After missing the 2020 season, he was set to begin the 2021 season in Extended Spring Training at the Complex. However, less than a week later, he was moved up to the Mighty Mussels and put right into their lineup. As you can see from his stat line, it was a struggle for him. However, he was more than two years younger than league average. He had a low batting average, but he took a lot of walks, showing an ability to control the strike zone (in a league with an electronic strike zone). He also was a good base stealer. He is generally a solid young outfielder who split his time between center field and left field. Urbina would benefit from another season in Ft. Myers to help his tools develop and he can find more success, even if it’s just for a half-season. He won’t even turn 20 until the end of April. 
#11 OF Matt Wallner 
2021 STATS: .265/.350/.504, 14 2B, 2 3B, 15 HR, 47 RBI, 33.3 K%, 9.3 BB%, 0/1 SB

In 2016, Matt Wallner was Mr. Minnesota in baseball and the Twins drafted him in the 32nd round as a pitcher. He didn’t sign and instead headed south to play at Southern Mississippi where he developed into one of the best power hitters in college baseball. In 2019, the Twins drafted him again, this time with the 39th overall pick. He spent that summer in Elizabethton before ending the season in Cedar Rapids. After a lost 2020 season, Wallner returned to Cedar Rapids, now the Twins High-A affiliate. In his first 17 games, he hit .333/.384/.621 (1.005) with nine extra base hits. Unfortunately, he hurt his wrist and ended up having surgery on a broken hamate bone. Two months later, he returned to the Kernels for another 54 games. In that time, he hit just .220, but he walked 10% of the time and hit 11 doubles and 11 home runs. Following the season, he went to the Arizona Fall League where he hit .303 with two doubles and six homers in just 18 games. When he has control of the strike zone, Wallner can be immensely productive. If he can do that, he should hit for average. And when he makes contact, he has as much power as anyone in the Twins system, power to all fields. He’s tall and strong and a pretty good athlete with decent speed once he gets going. Defensively, he is a solid corner outfielder. Since he spent time in college as a closer, you might know that he has a cannon for an arm. He will likely spend most of the 2022 season with the Wichita Wind Surge. He will be 24 throughout the season. 
I think this is a really interesting group of prospects. There are three very high-ceiling, multi-tooled prospects in this group who signed at a very young age. Javier has struggled on the field and staying on the field in his time. Cavaco and Urbina have all the tools, but they struggled. Both would have benefited from being able to play in a league between the Complex League and Low-A. Wallner and Encarnacion-Strand are college draft picks with big-time power potential who could move up the ladder more quickly.   
It should be a fun list to discuss. Discuss these players, their rankings and feel free to ask questions. 
Previous Rankings
Hitters Part 1: 26-30
Hitters Part 2: 21-25
Hitters Part 3: 16-20 
Hitters Part 4: 11-15 

Pitchers Part 1: 26-30  
Pitchers Part 2: 21-25
Pitchers Part 3: 16-20 
Pitchers Part 4: 11-15
 

Before getting started, you can get up to speed on the ground rules, which were covered in the first installment. Here are the players we've ranked so far:
20. Matt Canterino, RHP
19. Josh Winder, RHP
18. Simeon Woods Richardson, RHP
17. Gilberto Celestino, CF
16. Chase Petty, RHP
From there, we dive into the top 15.
Top 20 Twins Assets of 2022: 11 through 15
15. Jose Miranda, 3B/2B
2021 Ranking: NR
The system's shining star of 2021. Since being drafted in the second round back in 2016, Miranda always seemed on the verge of a breakout, and last year it finally came. In 127 games between Double-A and Triple-A, he slashed .344/.401/.572 with 30 homers and 94 RBIs. The infielder's emergence was no accident. 
Similar to former Twin (and fellow Puerto Rican) Eddie Rosario, Miranda is gifted with amazing bat-to-ball skills, which can lead to overly aggressive tendencies. In 2021, the 23-year-old turned a corner that Rosario never really did.
"At instructs last fall, our guys worked with Jose on the value of hard contact, of going deeper into counts if it meant getting a better pitch,” Derek Falvey told Phil Miller. “He saw the advantage of patience.”
That's not to say drawing walks was a strength for Miranda. He's an aggressive hitter who wants to swing, and in 2021 he did damage. So much that it's impossible to dismiss as a one-off outlier from a perennial underperformer. 
The infielder's bat is legit. The question is HOW legit, and where will he settle in defensively. 
14. Jhoan Duran, RHP
2021 Ranking: 12
In the last installment, I talked about the clustered grouping of minor-league pitchers at the back end of this list. As a composite, they're pivotal to the franchise's future, but individually, none have separated all that much. Duran and Jordan Balazovic are the pitching prospects in this system that have separated.
Duran's demonstrated upside may exceed that of Balazovic, but injuries hold him back as an asset. In 2021, Duran was able to throw only 16 total innings, with an elbow strain costing him nearly the whole season. Surgery was not deemed necessary, and that hopeful sign keeps him relatively high on this year's rankings.
With Brusdar Graterol gone, there isn't a more powerful arm in the system. It now seems more likely than ever that Duran will follow Graterol's path and wind up as a flamethrowing reliever, but he can bring huge value in that role. 
13. Jordan Balazovic, RHP
2021 Ranking: 13
While he didn't avoid the injury bug entirely, missing the first month with a back issue, Balazovic held up better than most pitching prospects in 2021's return to action. He set a career high with 97 innings, and threw well at Double-A: 3.62 ERA, 9.5 K/9, 3.5 BB/9, 9 HR allowed in 20 GS. 
The fact that 97 IP marked a new personal record shows how slowly Balazovic has come along from a workload standpoint. Drafted back in 2016, he has accrued only 325 total innings as a pro. 
He's still very much on a starting pitcher track, but it's going to take some time to build his stamina to the level of a traditional SP workload. Maybe that's not what the Twins have in mind.
12. Trevor Larnach, OF
2021 Ranking: 10
Coming into the 2021 season, Larnach was one of the Twins' most outstanding outfield prospects. His debut brought forth both sides of that descriptor: "outstanding" and "prospect." 
During his first few weeks in the big leagues, Larnach looked like a natural, working counts and driving the ball with authority. Before long he was routinely batting third in Rocco Baldelli's lineups. 
Then, we were reminded that Larnach is a 24-year-old whose development was rushed by circumstance. While not quite as out-of-place in the majors as Gilberto Celestino, Larnach was definitely called up out of necessity, having only three Triple-A games under his belt after a lost year. To his credit, he handled it well, for a while.
Through 32 games and 118 PA, Larnach was slashing .273/.390/.434 with a 29% K-rate. In the next 47 games and 183 PA, he'd slash .193/.279/.298 with a 38% K-rate. He further struggled after returning to Triple-A.
It's hard to get a true feel for where he's at, and how heavily we should weigh the flaws that dragged him down after that good start. I tend to lean toward favoring his pedigree, reputation for adjustments, and raw skill. Larnach remains a crux piece for this organization going forward.
11. Luis Arraez, UTIL
2021 Ranking: 11
Many won't like to hear it, but this is a very generous ranking for Arraez. He's extremely popular and beloved among fans – understandably so – but there are a number of factors detracting from his value as an asset.
First, there are the bad knees. They've frequently forced him off the field, and hobbled him while playing. Not a great long-term indicator for a 24-year-old. Then there is the lack of defensive impact. He's not above-average anywhere he plays, maybe not even average. Also, Arraez hasn't hit for any power, having turned in a paltry .376 slugging percentage last year.
It feels necessary to get these drawbacks out of the way, only because anyone who's watched him knows Arraez is special. He has rarefied bat-to-ball skills, and a keen eye at the plate. His on-base proficiency is key to making a power-driven Twins lineup run. Arraez has a .313 average and .374 OBP through three big-league seasons. Those numbers speak for themselves.
Though he's not great defensively at any one position, Arraez's ability to hold his own at several could be viewed as a major strength. I'm just not sure it's one that fits well with the Twins and their current situation. Will they trade him?
Check back in next week for Part 3, where we'll crack into the top 10 of our rankings! 
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It’s a commonly held maxim that 40 fWAR gives you a pretty consistent opportunity for October baseball. It’s a pretty basic tenet of roster construction. Throughout the Falvey era, the Twins have shown an impressive level of flexibility in ‘how’ they go about trying to construct a 40 fWAR roster. In 2021, there was an increased emphasis on defense, highlighted by the addition of Andrelton Simmons as their starting shortstop. Ultimately, none of that mattered, as everything that could go wrong, did go wrong in 2021. In considering roster construction through the lens of assembling a 40 fWAR team, Minnesota has come up woefully short in a critical area so far this offseason.
Before we dig into that. Let’s look at some data from 2021, and projections for 2022. For the sake of this argument, I’ll use fWAR actual totals from 2021 and ZiPS projections for 2022, acknowledging that projections are problematic and often difficult to draw meaningful conclusions from. With those caveats in mind, however, there are some meaningful conclusions to draw from these data:
The scale of the 2021 Twins failure was pretty magnificent. Given that they haven’t made significant roster additions, there’s essentially a gap of 10 fWAR between their 2021 projection and actual performance, that’s staggering. A 2022 Minnesota Twins offense that is close to its projection has the team in contention pretty much by itself. The Twins’ success will live or die with its excellent offensive core. The Twins are not as far as it may feel from a team that can challenge for an AL Central crown in 2022.
It’s equally obvious where the flaws are. The Twins bullpen was horrendous in the first half of 2021, evidenced by a higher projection with the same fungible relievers in 2022. There’s room for improvement there, but only so much from the bullpen. 
The Twins’ biggest mistake this offseason was not tapping into the mid-tier starting pitching free agent market, to raise the floor or the rotation. 
Looking at the Twins’ primary competition in the AL Central tells an interesting tale. The White Sox are as reliant on their rotation as the Twins are on their offense. Their rotation is projected over 14 fWAR in 2022. The up-and-coming Tigers, project 9.7 fWAR from their rotation. A similar mark for the Twins would put them just under a projected 40 fWAR for the 2022 season. Where did the Tigers get this boost to jump their rotation to 10 fWAR? Signing Eduardo Rodriguez.
The Twins 2022 rotation is inherently unstable. Dylan Bundy is returning from an incredibly poor 2021, Joe Ryan and Bailey Ober had hugely promising debut’s, but their 2022 outcomes are less stable and predictable than say, a Casey Mize or Tarik Skubal, simply due to their small sample sizes in 2021. Why did the Twins front office not aggressively pursue at least one stabilizing starting arm who lives in the 2.0-3.0 fWAR range to stabilize the rotation?
A Blueprint for Success
Let’s use the San Francisco Giants as a point of comparison. Upon initial consideration, comparing the Twins to a 107 win team may seem unfair, but I beg to differ. In 2020, the Giants were a sub .500 team in a shortened season, finishing at 29-31. This improvement mirrors (betters) the Twins improvement from 2018 (78-84), to 2019 (101-61). 
The Giants re-upped with three of their starters from 2021. They signed Alex Wood to a two-year, $25 million contract, Alex Cobb to a two-year, $20 million contract, and Anthony De Sclafani to a three-year $36 million contract. These three pitchers combined for 8.0 fWAR in 2021 and project for 7.8 fWAR in 2022. They average, together, $11.5 million per year when considering their contracts cumulatively. Each of these pitchers is likely to accumulate around $16-20 million in value based on their projections for 2022. There is value to be had in the mid-tier starting pitching market, which the Twins chose to ignore. Even signing one pitcher of this profile takes the teams’ projection to just under 39 fWAR in 2022 and does not inhibit your financial flexibility (they’re not spending big on a shortstop anyway, folks).
The Twins front office has built a team that relies on offense and is pre-disposed to take advantage of the value in the mid-tier pitching market. Minnesota is not signing the front of the rotation starting pitchers and has not shown aggression in pursuing pitching upgrades on the trade market. While the lockout has frozen out any additional roster construction since the beginning of December, I’m no closer to understanding their roster construction strategy for pitching, a confounding frustration that may come back to haunt the 2022 Twins.
 

How do you compare starting pitchers to relievers? It's certainly not easy. For this series, we have separated hitters from pitchers, and yet, maybe in future years we will want the starters and relievers separated too. Who should rank higher? A potential #3 starting pitchers, or a potential late-inning reliever?
On a real baseball team, both roles are important and complement each other. In prospect rankings, relievers often get overlooked. Why? Because over the past couple of decades, relievers may work 70-80 innings in a season whereas a #4 starter could pitch 150-180 innings. 
That may change over time as we see the roles a little less defined. Starters are often asked to go through an order twice, which generally will be less than five innings. As we move forward, there may be a few guys that reach 150 innings, but many starters may top out at 130 innings while many relievers could jump closer to 100 innings. We shall see. 
Today's five prospects include two relievers. Going behind the curtain a bit, this is the range the lefty Charlie Barnes would have fit into. As you know by now, he has signed to play in Korea in 2022. 
Remember, this is a prospect rankings, and it is significantly different than Nick's Twins Top Assets series that is running now too. 
Let's get to Twins pitching prospects that I have ranked 16th through 20th. 
#20 - RHP Osiris German   
2021 STATS: 2-2, 4 saves, 3.34 ERA, 38/0 G/GS, 1.20 WHIP, 90/24 K/BB, 59.1 IP

The Twins signed Osiris German from the Dominican Republic in July of 2016. He has slowly worked his way up the Twins’ organizational ladder. He had not pitched for a full-season affiliate before the 2021 season. He split the year between Low-A Ft. Myers and High-A Cedar Rapids. He has good control. While the 23-year-old sits in the low 90s with his fastball, he has a plus-plus changeup. That is the pitch that is intriguing and could keep him moving up the system, hopefully to the big leagues. He will need to continue to improve and gain confidence in all of his pitches, but there is a lot to work with. 
#19 - RHP Regi Grace 
2021 STATS: 1-0, 2.59 ERA, 9/8 G/GS, 0.99 WHIP, 35/11 K/BB, 31.1 IP

He had a scholarship offer to Mississippi State, but when the Twins made him their 10th round pick in the 2018 draft, Regi Grace signed quickly. A terrific athlete, Grace is very strong. While his velocity sat in the upper-80s and topped out around 90-91 in 2019, he was able to increase his fastball velocity, even touching 95 at times. The main thing holding him back to this point has been health. He missed time in 2021 with a shoulder impingement. However, after he came back, he gave up just three hits and struck out 12 batters over nine scoreless innings. He tossed the first three innings of a combined no hitter in his final start. 
#18 - RHP Chris Vallimont 
2021 STATS: 5-7, 5.84 ERA, 22/22 G/GS, 1.64 WHIP, 136/61 K/BB, 94.0 IP

After coming to the Twins from the Marlins in the July 2019 Lewin Diaz trade, Chris Vallimont made four starts for the Miracle. The former fifth-round pick from Mercyhurst didn’t pitch at all in 2020. He began the 2021 season with a few weeks on the Injured List but still made 21 starts. He certainly had his ups and downs. He had one stretch in which he gave up five or more earned runs in five of six starts. He also had 11 starts in which he gave up two runs or less. He was added to the 40-man roster in November because he has really good stuff. Vallimont sits in the mid-90s, and he’s got good (though inconsistent) secondary stuff. In the past, he has shown good control, but he struggled with that part of the game in 2021. That said, he was consistently able to miss bats. That is why he’s on the 40-man roster. 
#17 - RHP Casey Legumina 
2021 STATS: 4-2, 3.28 ERA, 15/9 G/GS 1.07 WHIP, 63/16 K/BB, 49.1 IP

Casey Legumina was drafted out of high school in Arizona but chose to go to Gonzaga instead. As a sophomore, he became a top closer in college baseball. He was set to be a starter for the ‘Zags in 2019, but after four starts, he needed Tommy John surgery. Still, the Twins had seen enough and selected him in the eighth round of the draft that year. He rehabbed the rest of that summer and into the 2020 season. That means 2021 was his professional debut. He worked 44 2/3 innings for Ft. Myers before ending the season with one start in Cedar Rapids before the playoffs. He throws his fastball in the low-to-mid 90s and has a really good slider. He’s also continuing to work on his changeup. The Twins want to use him as a starter, but obviously they had to be careful with his innings in 2021. He could be a sleeper in 2022.  
#16 - LHP Jovani Moran 
2021 MiLB STATS: 4-2, 2.41 ERA, 35/0 G/GS, 0.89 WHIP, 109/32 K/BB, 67.1 IP
2021 MLB STATS: 0-0, 7.88 ERA, 5/0 G/GS, 2.00 WHIP, 10/7 K/BB, 8.0 IP 

It took some time, but lefty Jovani Moran finally reached the big leagues in September of 2021. The southpaw had been the Twins seventh-round pick back in 2015 out of the Carlos Beltran Baseball Academy in Puerto Rico. When healthy, Moran has been quite successful in the minor leagues. He’s got a low-to-mid 90s fastball that touches 95, but it is his changeup that gets people talking. It is a plus-plus pitch and he gets a lot of swings and misses with it. Maybe sacrilege, but many compare it to Johan Santana’s changeup. He also has a slider that can be plus-plus at times. It was wise to get Moran some innings late in the 2021 season to help the nerves which can get to him at times. If he can throw strikes, Moran has a chance to be a long-term, late-inning, dominant relief option.  
This is another interesting group. There are a couple of relievers with plus-plus changeups, one of whom is ready to shine with the Twins. The other three have development to do, but the potential to be really good if they can stay healthy. 
Previous Rankings
Hitters Part 1: 26-30
Hitters Part 2: 21-25

Pitchers Part 1: 26-30  
Pitchers Part 2: 21-25

The owners of Major League Baseball locked out the players just after midnight on Thursday morning, ensuring baseball’s first work stoppage in over a quarter century. And Shad Browne knows who to blame.
“These players are greedy and entitled, I’m sick of ‘em,” said the Fairmont landscaper. “They get paid money to play a game and sometimes you’ve gotta take a stand.”
The owners, wealthier than the players by a monstrous degree and living lives of unimaginable luxury, do not receive the same level of disdain from Browne.
“Lotta these owners are entrepreneurs who pulled themselves up by their bootstraps to make their money,” said Browne incorrectly. “Meanwhile, the modern player just takes a day off when they feel like it. The way I see it, you don’t play, you don’t get paid.”
Browne, who took PTO last Monday because the Vikings lost and he was “super hungover,” said he sees a lot of himself in owners, despite this being remarkably untrue.
“They’re just trying to run a business same as anyone else,” he said with the steady resolve that only the deeply ignorant possess. “I guess I’d just like to see a little more gratitude and a little less attitude from the millennial generation.”
Browne, who used the word “meritocracy” in reference to a country where you don’t have to work a day in your life if your great-granddad sold mustard gas to Kaiser Wilhelm, dismissed the notion that the owners should take some of the blame for instigating the lockout they instigated.
“At the end of the day, they’ve got a business to run,” said Browne, for whom the concept of generational wealth has never so much as registered for one second of one day. “If the players can’t handle that, they can get a job just like anyone else.
“It’s just not right,” said the cornfed rube.

To the Commissioner:

I first want to ask you why you don’t support the great game of baseball. In this past season, some of the greatest moments in the history of the sport took place. However, there continues to be a long list of issues tied to your time as commissioner. Fans understand that not all commissioners will be loved, but your actions have impacted a generation of fans, and it may be tough to bring these former fans back into the fold. 

Fans list of grievances against the owners and yourself is long. During the unprecedented 2020 season, the owners and your office tried to paint the players as greedy and unwilling to sacrifice enough during a global pandemic. Baseball was lucky to get through the 2020 campaign, but plenty of teams and players were impacted along the way. 

As reported in the Washington Post, “The minute it became apparent this season was going to have to be played in empty stadiums, Manfred and the owners began moaning about their losses, even though the game has never been healthier financially than in recent seasons. New contracts with regional television networks have lined the owners’ pockets, and attendance has been strong.”

Another grievance fans have against your leadership is tied to the Houston Astros cheating scandal. Multiple managers and a general manager were fired in response to the allegations, but how much did they have to do with the scandal? None of the players involved in the scandal were suspended, and two of the three managers were back in baseball after missing a shortened 2020 campaign.

In your letter to fans, you touted the $1.7 million spent on the “broken” free agent system during November. Guess what? Players were willing to strike these deals because of the looming lockout. It’s a fundamental human need to want to know where your family will live and how much income a person can expect. Players want security and to know what the future holds.

Also, you said, “By the end of the offseason, Clubs will have committed more money to players than in any offseason in MLB history.” While that may sound good on paper, this shouldn’t be breaking news. Increasing revenues across baseball should allow teams to spend more money. Every offseason should see a new record amount of money being committed to players. 

Your list of concessions to the players includes some ideas that will fundamentally make the game stronger. There should be a minimum payroll. Teams shouldn’t be able to engage in service time manipulation. Young players should be paid more, including those in the minor leagues. Fans want a universal DH. A new draft system can help to stop teams from trying to be competitive. All of these changes would make baseball more competitive, not less.

There is one thing we can agree on; baseball can not afford to cancel games. Baseball’s popularity continues to decline, and losing any part of the 2022 season will push fans further away from this great game. As you referenced regarding the 1994 season, “We owe you, our fans, better than that.”

Today is a difficult day for baseball fans. You have made questionable leadership decisions throughout your time as commissioner. What is baseball fans’ biggest problem with you? You don’t appear to be a fan of the game.

(Editor's Note: Before we get started, join me in welcoming Sherry to the front page. This is her first promoted article. You have likely seen some of her writing on the Twins Daily blog pages. In her first front page article, she's got some ideas for the Twins front office.)
After an arduous baseball season from the Twins, the fans are left with one question: “what’s next?”.
We have all been asking ourselves that question since the Twins took a nosedive in May. Plagued with injury and ailment, the Twins limped through the summer trying to find their stride while also bringing up and sending down player after player.
There seemed to be no relief. As players such as Josh Donaldson, Byron Buxton, Max Kepler, Luis Arraez, Mitch Garver, and Jorge Polanco healed and made their comeback so did the overall growth, demeanor and mindset of the team to finish out the season strong. While the Twins were nowhere near a run for the playoffs, let alone the Wild Card, they played as if they were and left the fans with a hopeful taste in their mouth as the season closed.
So, what is next? There are a few things I can think of that will instantly make a difference. 
#1 No More Andrelton 
First things first, Andrelton Simmons' contract is officially up as soon as the World Series is complete! Let’s be honest, this was one of the worst Twins acquisitions, maybe not of all time, but for sure in the amount of time that I have been a fan, which is a fairly long time.
I recall when the Twins gave him the contract, I was irate. I got blown to bits on Twitter for my “bad take” and he was a “gold glove winner”. (blah, blah, blah.) I am not an elite baseball mind, but I do have a serious appreciation for usable talent. Simmons was not that. Sure, on paper he looked good. His baseball-reference stats show that from 2016 through 2020 Simmons had a solid batting average. He was hitting .283 on average over those seasons, basically his tenure with the Angels. During those years he stayed above .250. As much as I didn't want to, I did count 2020 in the stats, but it was a shorter season, fewer games, so his batting average is going to look/be a little better.
What caught my eye was his errors, he had 49 errors over four years. This year, Simmons was tied for sixth out of 22 shortstops in errors. I know that shortstops tend to make the most errors on the team, but I am not sure what made the Twins think that he was going to be anything but a train wreck.
What made this even more frustrating was the fact that the Twins have players who could have played shortstop and got paid less. I am not advocating for Billy Beane baseball, but with assets like Jorge Polanco, Luis Arraez and Nick Gordon, it was really disappointing to have someone like Simmons in the line up, especially in the second half. It's a collective sigh of relief that Simmons is becoming a free agent. 
#2 Rebuild the Rotation 
Next... to the mound. The pitching (or lack thereof) has been the biggest thorn in the Twins' side. Thanks to trades and bold moves the Twins acquired some young arms that are going to be around for quite awhile if the front office plays their cards right. Joe Ryan, Bailey Ober, John Gant, Ralph Garza Jr, and Griffin Jax have breathed new life into the rotation, providing solid innings, more strikeouts and confidence that the front office may be actually understanding the assignment.
The one thing that teams in the playoffs have is solid pitching. Having a good starting rotation and bullpen is important. There is less stress, leaving the line up to have enough energy to do their job and hit dingers. While there was a lot of anger due to trading Nelson Cruz, there has been less frustration with the pitching which came as a result of the trade. If there are going to be any changes in the rotation, acquiring at least two or three starters that they will leave in through the sixth inning would be beneficial.
I am not sure what Rocco Baldelli and Wes Johnson thinks they are doing pulling guys in the sixth inning. This isn’t college baseball with a lot of depth. This is the big leagues, where guys are conditioned for longevity. The new guys that were brought in learned in a different system, potentially with different techniques and philosophies. Wes Johnson has not had a chance to  them yet. 
The class of Free Agents looks like a platter for the next season and there is some amazing talent could be acquired, such as Zack Greinke, Clayton Kershaw Marcus Stroman, Noah Syndergaard, and Max Scherzer. While we all have differing opinions on who is less effective, any of these pitchers would be a good buy in a 2 or 3 starter spot while we look in house for our #1 starter.
#3 Bring Back the Boomstick 
The third thing would be bringing back Nelson Cruz to finish beefing up the batting line up. Cruz will be a free agent after his playoff run with Tampa Bay.
That was a trade that sucker-punch to the fan base. While I personally was sad to see him go, the trade was one that the front office could not pass up. The return is exactly what this team needed. I can’t imagine that bringing back Cruz was not brought up in the clubhouse prior to the trade, but the tears, hugs and words spoken by the team surrounding the trade mean his teammates would love for him to come back. He, like the rest of the squad, definitely struggled a bit in the beginning of the season.
The 41-year-old has shown few signs of slowing down or falling apart outside a thumb sprain early in the season. Since being in Tampa Bay, he has continued to soar and could help get the Rays to the World Series. His presence with the bat and in the clubhouse are something you rarely find, and it may be a fight to get him back.
We saw this with Miguel Sano. Nelson Cruz was a guiding force into Sano's performance with the bat, and it's one relationship that has created a life-long bond. In reality, Cruz’s numbers are too good to ignore, as well as his ability to bring a smile and cohesion to the clubhouse. His impact on Sano was so great that the day Cruz was traded, Sano honored him by wearing his pants in that night's game.
“The pants brought Sano a little bit of luck. He went 1-for-3 with a walk, double and run scored in his Minnesota Twins’ 3-2 loss to the Angels” writes Jesse Johnson of USA Today Sports.
One thing is for sure, Nelson Cruz has always been and will always be a class act, even going out of the way to meet the pitcher that took his place in the clubhouse. You can’t replace a person like that. 
These are just a few of the things that would help the team see not only a higher finish in the standings, but also the potential to return to the playoffs.
I love the old adage - “Offense wins games, Defense wins championships." I believe it’s true. If the Twins would be able to get a solid pitching staff, a defense that was less messy, and consider bringing back Nelson Cruz, that would be a start to creating a winning team for the 2022 season.