IndyTwinsFan

Sure gives that appearance. May be that some of the COVID-19 related "complications" that were beyond our ability to control, plus some unfortunate injuries, may have blurred our view on the potential incoming pitching pipeline.

Good point. I had forgotten about that. Hope that hire begins paying positive dividends sooner rather than later.

I believe that another necessary thing to address would be overall hitting approach (and discipline) at the plate. In recent seasons, it appeared to this relatively untrained eye that plate discipline and an ability to produce "quality" outs was sorely lacking far more often than not. A lot of times, that hurt us immensely. How to best correcting it in a productive and sustainable manner is something is something I'm not qualified to answer. However, the acquisition of a high quality hitting coach who preaches that philosophy would be a start. I know some of us out here have stated they'd like to see a return of James Rowson to that role. I don't know if that's doable from a contractual standpoint, but there must be someone else out there with a similar pedigree we could get. Now to identify him and get him here. Go Twins 2023!

Entirely possible.

Based on what verifiable evidence? Or is this just an example of very sour grapes coming through?

I couldn't agree more with Doc's comments. I've lived well away from Minnesota since the season of our 1st WS win in 1987 and about all I ever hear about the Pohlad family originates on this site and other Minnesota-centric sources, same as Doc. And I take many of those comments and opinions with a grain (or two) of salt. I've personally never really had any significant issues with how the Pohlads have run the franchise since they bought it from the Griffith family. I know that there are some out there with a dim view of their ownership. They're definitely entitled to there own opinions but I, for one, have never seen or heard verifiable corroborating evidence that supports some of their opinions. Maybe elevating Joe will help elevate the appeal of the team to a younger fan base and maybe some of the more cynical of the older fan base, too. However, only time will tell there. I'm anxious to see how this all plays out.

I would hope to also see greater organizational depth (and skill) throughout the system. While it's clear that injuries were a clear problem this season, what was most telling to me was that it often appeared as though many of "next man up" types were clearly not up to the challenge for any significant stretch of games. In my mind, that also clearly needs to change rather significantly for the better if we want to take major steps forward in the near future.

TBD

Celestino got an RBI hit. How about that!

and I hope he gets it next season.

A spot-on assessment.

"Major league-caliber, at this point in time", might be a more accurate descriptor.

Especially with the roster as it now stands.

I don't know about that, but the roster, as it currently stands, is collectively not major league-caliber. Not even close.