jimbo92107

I have a slight advantage here, having actually seen Chris Paddack start games for the Padres. This is an A grade trade. Wait until you see this guy throw a baseball, whoa boy. If Wes Johnson can tweak Paddack's motion to put a bit less stress on the elbow, he could be a great pitcher. I'm talking perennial Cy Young candidate. Flip side, I hate to see Taylor Rogers go. Not just his performance, but he's a great guy, and developed from inside the organization. His twin bro is on the Giants; maybe now they'll get to hang out together a bit more. I wish him all the good luck.

First time I saw Chris Paddack, I was in San Diego, cheering the Pads as my second favorite team. I thought Paddack looked like a right-handed version of Clayton Kershaw. Big, easy motion, looked like he could pump heaters and curves all day long. A couple nasty years later, Paddack's future is a mystery. Does he have recurring elbow issues? Can the Twins famed pitcher whisperer get his mechanics straightened out? If so, Paddack could be huge for the Twins. Losing Rogers hurts, but not as much as some might think. Rogers was close to a sure thing for a long time, but he tended to fade late season. Now the team will need to try out several guys, some of whom have real heat. As mentioned before, if Joe Smith has any gas left, use him for 2 outings, then bring in Alcala. If Alcala looks great, then shift the load his way. Keep Rooker, or Larnach? Good call on that one. Larnach will be a good ballplayer for a long time. Rooker looks to me to be a passable fielder, power bat with strikeout issues. Nick Gordon is on his way to being a super-sub. His bat will play, not for dingers, but for gap hits and clutch. That, his good baserunning and his good glove will keep him employed - somewhere - for a long time in the mlb. Why not here? Celestino over Garlick - another savvy move. These choices happen in a very intense context - every guy in the minors appreciates promotions from within the organization. This shows the FO is looking for reasons to use home-grown talent at least as much as they're looking for deals elsewhere. Even if it doesn't work out, I'd rather see competition between Celestino and Larnach than either of them vs. an outsider.

Excellent performance, Jose. All we ask is one of those per day..!

Secret to a good bull pen is a good starting rotation. If you have a bunch of 5-inning guys, your pen will wear out and starting coughing up a lot of runs. Meanwhile, assuming the starters are okay, I'd platoon Alcala, Duran and Rogers at closer. Rogers looked most comfortable as a setup man. That leaves the two big fastball guys to blow away the opposition in the ninth. Split the emotional load.

Right now, this year, the Twins organization is loaded with more young pitching talent than I have ever seen. At a very minimum they've got six guys that should get a cuppa coffee sometime this season. Given the usual number of injuries and underperforming, we could easily see two of them in the first couple months. I fully expect the Saints pitching staff to rack up some very low-scoring games. In this context, I stop trading. This team won't break another home run record, but this lineup can score runs in bunches, and the defense looks very strong. I want to see this first starting rotation do its thing for a month. With the batsmen on this team, we should seldom worry about getting blanked by anybody. Don't be surprised if 6 to 8 runs per game is fairly common for this group. That means the pitchers won't have to nibble and try to be perfect. Just bring yer best stuff and see who can hit it.

The hardest thing to get about Simeon Wood-Richardson is his name. The easiest thing is to see a guy with stuff like Jordan Balazovic, but with a big, friendly smile for the world. Another easy thing is watching his slow curve bend about a foot, just catching the zone at the end of a pretty little trip through the air. You could just about see the catcher and the ump both smiling at how pretty it was. Then he comes back with that snapping fastball, low in the zone. This guy is a keeper. I want him on my team. Not sure how much more polish he needs after dominating the Red Sox for a couple late innings Monday. One challenge the team will face is figuring out a good nickname. Sim? Woo? Rich? SWR? Not sure what fits, it might not even be part of his name. He seems like the kind of relaxed, friendly guy you wish was your neighbor. I feel like calling him Frank, or Chuck. Anyway, his talent looks very real to me, and it doesn't look like just a couple snuff-out innings. This dude can really pitch.

Imagine these Twins (with Lennon's Imagine in the background) Imagine a healthy, confident Byron Buxton batting leadoff, all five tools intact and working. Imagine Carlos Correa batting right after Buxton, driving balls into the gaps, over the fences.... Imagine Jorge Polanco batting third, causing more havoc with two fast men ahead of him. Imagine sweet Luis Arraez, bat magician, knocking in the first three. Then steps up a towering doom of a man, grinning. Unleash the Sano! Then the shotgun bat of Kirilloff, spraying baseballs all over the outfield. Then Ryan Jeffers, seeking to prove he can hit it as hard as Sano. Then Kepler, trying to regain the old magic, from two years ago. Finally, that pesky little guy, Nick Gordon, doing whatever needs to be done. If he gets on base before Buxton, watch out. Imagine you're a starting pitcher, having to deal with that buzz saw of a lineup. You better not make a mistake... heh-heh... I think this Twins team is going to tear some pitching staffs to pieces. If their pitching staff is reasonably stingy, they could win a lot of games.

Effective, but not elite. If Devin Smelzer (down your pants) can be effective...hey, what are we talking about? This is the Minnesota Twins, they don't care if a guy looks fancy. If he can toss the ball underhanded and gets guys out, hand him the ball on Opening Day. Smeltzer intrigues me. He says he finally is truly healthy, even dealing with side-effect of chemo treatments he had as a kid. Why not give him a try? When 'healthy,' Smelt was pretty close to an average mlb pitcher. If he can't do it, then fine, at least now you know.

Twins appear to be starting the season with Urshela at 3B, Kirilloff LF, and Sano 1B. That means there's not much room for Rooker or Larnach, especially since Gordon is much faster than either guy and is now showing a better hit tool. First month of the season will be consequential. If Urshela isn't raking, then you might as well bring up Miranda. If Killer is hitting, then package Urshela, Larnach and Rooker in trades. Seriously, whom would you rather have waiting for IF and OF spots, the guys now, or Celestino, Martin and Lewis? These decisions will be easier if the young guys are tearing it up in AA and AAA, of course. Frankly, the Saints should be terrifying their league with both hitting and pitching.

Agree with goulik. Josh Winder opened up my eyes with some very solid looking pitching. I have little doubt that he would fit right in a major league rotation and eat a ton of innings. If anybody falters or gets hurt, get Winder up, pronto.

Heck, if Archer pitches just okay for half a season (4.3 ERA?), that might be the bridge to one of the young prospects to emerge as another good starter. Suppose Balazovic blows away the competition in St Paul, like a 2.00 ERA for half a season. Then if Archer's arm fails, Twins call up Blaze to fill the gap. Almost every season is a cobble job for this team. Just so happens that this year, they've got some pretty good stones for cobbling.

Premature judgement. Celestino is quite young, still emerging from the minor leagues. Cave is a veteran, so we know what to expect from him. The book is not yet written on Celestino's bat. Remember Tori Hunter? He was an easy out until he learned to lay off the outside curve. Twins sent him down at least three times to learn that lesson. Lots of people were ready to give up on him, because we all know if they don't explode right out of the gate, you might as well give up early. For some unknown reason, the Twins stuck with him. He was pretty good on defense... ?

Jovani Moran could be a surprise. The Padres once had a great closer in Trevor Hoffman, a guy with a 88-90 mph fastball, but a great change-up. Watching Moran's change drop off the table just before it gets to the plate, that reminds me of Hoffman's change. Hoffman threw his mild heater high, his change low, with the exact same motion. Hitters were helpless. Best part was, Hoffman lasted for years and years, never tearing his arm up with 100 mph heat or an arm-twisting slider.

Winder should stay. Larnach should play in St Paul. Boy, are the Saints going to be a stacked team this season! Come to think of it, I said that last year. Oddly, they didn't fare that well...

Arraez is okay as leadoff, but batting behind Buck, Po, and Co? Devastating. All three are fast with great bat skills, All three can steal, and Arraez has maybe the best bat-to-ball chops of them all. SMELL. THOSE. RIBBIES! Otherwise, the team looks pretty good, especially up the middle, with the painful exception of Gary Sanchez, who appears to be the Bloody Ball Butcher from a horror film about catchers. I don't know if I've ever seen a professional catcher that lags behind the ball so much. This is NOT the guy you want behind the plate if your pitcher is liable to bounce a curve or a fork in the dirt. How many Twins pitchers do that? Especially if you're a curveball specialist (Smeltzer, Duffy, Rogers, etc.), you are likely to request a catcher change rather than throw a "wild pitch" to a guy that boots at least half the balls in the dirt. I really don't know about Sanchez. Right now he looks like a game-loser behind the plate. I would much rather have a weak-hitting defensive specialist like Ben Rortvedt than a guy whose glove can lose a game at any moment. Now I'm wondering if they can get El Cherubo back.

Thorpe always struck me as a power pitcher, or nada. His secondaries were strictly so-so, nothing really plus. Now he can join the circus in St. Paul, maybe learn to throw a knuckler. Not much left for a power pitcher with no power.

Bye-bye Jake Cave, bring up Gilberto Celestino. His defense is good enough to cover any of the OF positions, taking pressure off Gordon, who should be practicing SS, 2B, and 3B. Nothing against Super Utility guys, but we don't need one. We have Celestino for OF, Gordon for IF. It's a good way to balance the package. Caveat: We all know Celestino looked overmatched by big league pitching. Well, it's time for the young man to come to the plate with a real plan, and execute that plan. That said, if the Twins are thinking of bringing in an older veteran, he better be a good hitter. Otherwise, there's no point. Celestino already is an excellent fielder.

Isn't Archer on the verge of being another "tightrope veteran," that is, a guy whose velo is down around 90 mph, so he has to pitch like an artist to survive? Some guys can do it, but I haven't heard if Archer is one of them. He dominated when he could bring it in the upper 90's, but now he needs to be clever, and the question will hover over his season: Are none of the Twins pitching prospects better than this?

Regardless what production the Twins get from Correa, his incredible technique and work habits will be worth possible future gold gloves for Gordon, Martin, Lewis, Palacios, Miranda, and whoever else gets to take notes and observe this defensive marvel up close. Correa's defensive dive to his left was a perfect example. Not only did he dive and field a rising bounce; he then popped to his feet in perfect position, on balance and ready to deliver an accurate throw. Some guys pop to their feet, but then need to correct their body angle. Other guys pop to their feet, then deliver a wild throw. Correa shows how to do it perfectly. That's how you win a gold glove. That's how you win games.

I'm ready to go with this lot. Bags packed, tank full, coffee guzzled, engine warming up. Where are you guys, still in the shower? Twins have a stout position lineup, a decent starting ro, some good relivers, good coaches, a very nice ballpark (a bit expensive), good hot dogs, overpriced beer... who could ask for more? Oakland smells blood at this late date, so don't fall for a one-year swindle that loses the upper half of the farm's top ten prospects. The guys we have right now look very competitive. Let the kids play, and see which ones become stars.

I like what little I just saw of Cole Sands. Do you see his body language after the pitch? Total lack of concern, like he's sitting in a rocking chair. That's a cool customer on the mound. Like he's been a pitcher since he first started playing baseball. Cool Sands.

What's the problem with Josh Winder? He looked nervous in his first inning, then better in the 2nd. His stuff starts high and ends low. Once he settles in, he could be a very good #5 in the ro. All this talk about needing one more super veteran pitcher... The Twins look pretty set to me. If anything, the weak link appears to be the underwhelming stuff from Dylan Bundy, who seems to be entering the "tightrope walking" phase of his career. Not a whole lot of velo on the old heater, and I thought hitters were looking too comfortable in the box when Bundy was pitching. Luckily, the Twins have Vallimont, Strotman, Sands, Balazovic and Enlow - young strong arms waiting for their first chance to pitch meaningful games. If somebody falters in the first month, bring up whoever is stingiest with walks. Reward discipline, not power.

Gotta get Miranda's bat in that lineup. Twins are gonna need tons of runs.

Sounds like positional flexibility will be more important than ever for these young ballplayers. Advantage, Nick Gordon. With this much talent vying for so few positions, the resolution could come down to trades and injuries. Can any of these guys pitch?

If Dobbs didn't have surgery before, then now it is time. Sounds like that finger has a chronic problem.