diehardtwinsfan

Joe Ryan... wow... 2 games over .500 If we can get Sano and the pen on track, watch out.

we're over .500!

We all know that April games only count half as much, so it's OK, right?

No. That's the only answer to this premise. He's the best CF in baseball. His bat is still good at a DH, but you lose a crap ton of value with him not in the field. The team needs to figure out how to keep him healthy, and that is not going to be done by wrapping him in bubble wrap.

If he played a full season and healthy? He'd be a legend. He'd likely lead the team in SB, HR, 2B, OBP, and SLG... you could make a case for a few other categories too.

It's worth noting that Donaldson is not the only member of last year's team missing this season.

the deal didn't look that bad in my opinion without the ptbnl. I didn't realize there's one there, but I like it more now that I see that. We're kind of top heavy in the farm right now, so a non roster player with some talent in the lower minors would be really nice.

Two on and no outs... and nothing to show for it. TwinsBaseball

I'll take that 4 pitch walk

speaking of whom...

Spring training is over. You're not allowed to use that phrase until next spring.

Urshela at cleanup? Did I miss something?

I'm not up on the new rules. Is it a 28 man roster or 26?

Tomorrow last I checked.

I gave it a B. Makes the rotation a bit better at the expense of the pen. I wasn't counting a ton on Rooker. Given his swing and miss tendencies, he may not ever really amount to much in the majors. Wish him the best though.

The deal seems fine on paper at least, but... My only question is if we're expecting complete games from all of our starters this season. The bullpen is going to be weak. Am I overthinking this?

It's interesting that the FO went with two bats that had success in the past. I'm guessing they saw something they thought was fixable. I hope that's the case, because that's the only way this trade works. No question Donaldson/Garver were better (when healthy). I realize health matters, which is important, but simply getting a healthy, higher floor, isn't going to make up the win totals we need to make a solid post season run.

well, went out late last year, so I don't expect him to do anything this season. He should be ready to go next spring, and hopefully his old self.

Some of the "ifs" will pan out. Some won't unfortunately. That's how it works. I tend to agree. Way too much uncertainty. That's what bothers me about the new CBA. For teams like the Twins, the only way they can win it is with the "ifs" all lining up.

I hope so, but I were wagering on it, I'd take the under.

One thing that is clear is that this FO is going to hang on to players past their prime while they still have value. You saw that with Cruz. We got to witness it again with Donaldson and Garver. Ultimately, I'm not sure how much I like what they've done so far. This is not looking good from where I stand. Perhaps they go out and get Story and then get one of the A's pitchers, who knows. But even then, their depth is looking shaky with a lot of counting on guys like Jeffers and Miranda.

You need to add Ronnie Henriquez into this. Don't know much about him, but he dominated A+ at 21 last year and was promoted midseason to AA. That's not a bad prospect, though I'm not sure how well he is regarded. That said, in general, I'm not liking this. We're worse at C and 3B now. The FO is assuming Jeffers and Miranda can really step up with Sanchez backing up Jeffers doing the DH/C thing. Gray is an upgrade at SP. But there's a lot of hope and not much depth should things go south.

From the looks of it, we're a lot worse right now than we were last year. Not good for a team that supposedly has a window. I get that they aren't done... but I'd like to see the rest I guess. They must really believe in Miranda. I get that Donaldson had trouble staying on the field, which is a big part of why he's gone, but so far this we're looking weaker.

well to be fair, he just needs sway with the negotiators. It never hit the 1200 for a vote. Kind of a like a congressional bill never getting out of committee. It might pass when put up for a vote, but it never gets there b/c the committee insures it won't. Edit: I'd add that if the other negotiators all fall under that "high priced" category, they don't really need to talk to Boras either. Most will happily fall in line because it's best for their own bottom line. That is a huge problem with the MLBPA if that's how they're negotiating. Their negotiators don't accurately represent the union's population.

It certainly wouldn't surprise me if this was true. Disappointing if that's the case. MLBPA needs to be smarter about that if their negotiators are only high priced players. That's not a fair representation of their group, but it makes sense given how the CBA directions consistently go... MLBPA has always only cared about the expensive players. Large market teams have always cared little about revenue sharing that would lead to competitive balance. And well, here we are.