sftwinsfan

At least Balazovic has only had one bad year thus far, so I have a little more hope for him. The other two haven't shown much of any sign of being productive since they've been drafted. Another you could add to the list could have been Blayne Enlow, but maybe he's where these guys would be after another rough year given he was outrighted. Still around though, so all hope is not lost for him either.

Interesting trade, it appears the Twins got the better part of the deal, but a little weary. Lopez is a solid pitcher, but last year was the first time he's gone above around 111 innings and jumped all the way to 180 innings. I really hope we don't see a scenario where he makes 5 starts then suddenly is largely done until he's a free agent. Risk you largely have to take with pitching I guess. The rotation looks the deepest it's been for quite some time. With the huge layoff and prior experience as a bullpen weapon I wonder if they'll consider moving Maeda to the bullpen which could really shore that group up. Only issue now is this lineup seems pretty iffy to me. Arraez was one of the few guys that took good at bats and could deliver a hit when they needed it. They could be hard to watch outside of the top of the lineup. Of course, maybe this means they're confident Kirilloff's wrist issue may be behind him now? He could be a guy that if healthy, could make up for the loss of Arraez in the lineup. At least this roster is looking a lot better than it did a few weeks ago.

Outside of trades my guess would have Gray, Ryan and Ober as locks. Mahle would be, but I'm not overly optimistic he'll be healthy. Pattern on these recurring mystery pitching injuries (at least when the Twins are concerned) seem to usually end up with surgery. Hope that hunch is wrong. Maeda, if healthy, will probably be given a shot. Probably Winder. Hard to say when Paddack will be back, not right away anyways. Varland and SWR as depth to start the year. If everyone is miraculously healthy starting the year with Gray, Mahle, Ryan, Maeda and Ober or Winder. Would keep them in most games, but as others have pointed out these guys are mostly 3-4's. Slightly more worried about the lineup at this point, likely without Correa, Buxton's health, Kirilloff's health.

I was wondering if any other players have had this done before, but that pretty much answers that. To break a bone is one thing but shortening a bone and needing plates and screws in there could have some impact on things. Hopefully this will not only solve his pain issues but that he can regain full range of motion and not have his swing impacted. Between the prior Tommy John surgery (as an OF/1B) and this he could sure use some luck to go his way.

Is Pagan warming up yet or is he saving him for the 9th? ?

To me Lewis and Lee are clearly the top 2. System is pretty weak on higher-end talent after that outside of maybe some lower-level younger guys. Based off Lewis' surprisingly strong performance in AAA and with the big-league club I'd put him #1 yet. Shocked at how well he came back after all that time off better than he was prior and at a higher level of competition. Lee is likely the only other player that will be in top 100 lists unless someone sneaks in at the bottom. Martin, honestly, I've never liked. Repeating AA and actually going downhill, not a good sign. Looks like a possible utility player, hopefully way off on that.

Great draft so far! Great value to get a potential top-10 talent at 48 due to injury. Obviously high-risk but potential seems to be there, and he's already had TJ surgery and throwing again.

I'll take it, like the pick. Pleasantly surprised he lasted this long.

Better not get cute here and reach, they've gotten some talented players that have fallen into their laps here.

I could maybe see it if IKF had more years of control left, but he has the same 2 as Garver, so this being a move that strengthens the future can't really be argued. He's a band-aid at SS for a team that will probably lose 90+ games anyways. They've taken an asset in Garver and traded him for a relatively short-term fix at SS on a bad team plus a fringe prospect with a live arm. Nor would he be the type of player I would be interested in signing long-term. He's a glove-first player with well below average offense. I would have rather had a couple more lotto ticket pitching prospects.

I expect a couple changes but probably nothing too drastic. Bauer has sworn in the past he will only sign 1-year deals so there is a possibility there. Management is still going to see Maeda, Berrios and Pineda leading the rotation and a solid lineup. That's enough to sell their fair share of tickets and compete. Rosario will be gone, likely for a C-level prospect or not offered arbitration. They didn't seem to get much offered for him last offseason, a year later won't improve things. Other teams know who is he and also can see the Twins probably won't bring him back. If a team is willing to overpay on Buxton you talk to them. If not, you don't repeat the Hicks-type trade. I could see Kepler or Polanco bringing back something. Both are signed to affordable deals, both could be replaced in the next couple years by Larnach and Lewis. Both also seem a bit lackadaisical at times. I think they're likely stuck with Sano. Hopefully he can turn things around a bit. Let Garver and Jeffers battle it out for playing time. If they're both hitting, the other can spell Sano at 1st if he's struggling.

Still TBD at this point, we'll see how those 2 turn out. Alcala could be pretty good if he can improve his command. I liked the Escobar return better at the time, still do so far.

Reminds me of an Arena league football game, annoying music from the whistle to about 10 seconds before the snap. I attended one and never again.

Definitely one of my favorite Twins in the recent era. Always seemed like a good guy and having fun. Was great to go from kind of a sneaky prospect to an all-star. He, Radke and probably Garver looking like some great late Twins steals in the draft. I wish him well.

10 cent beer night was always an interesting Wikipedia read, along with disco demolition night and in general Ty Cobb's page. Plenty of crazy stuff. Because he grew up in Germany, although not Bavaria the team could maybe jokingly throw out a Max Kepler Lederhosen night. Maybe a commercial for it with Max showing up at the ballpark wearing Lederhosen like that's his everyday dress. I guess I kind of miss those old Twins commercials that had a little goofiness to them.

It seems pretty obvious the prior agreement was to discuss things further if there were no fans, there's a clause in the agreement, the emails point to it being discussed with the player's rep as well. Either their negotiator didn't bother to inform them of this or they're not being completely genuine in their argument that they seem to know nothing about it. Still some regardless of what's out there will be anti-owner, I just don't care one side or the other. It seems like getting emotionally involved in a salary dispute between a group of Executive VP's and the CEO. Both sides will be fine either way and neither side cares about the average guy/gal making $50k/year. I think players and owners should agree to a 3rd party accounting firm to go over the books, that way nothing is leaked specifically. Get a rough estimate of what revenue will be expected to be for this year based on those figures. Then use the ratios vs what it would have been with fans and agree to a percentage of the player's salaries being paid. Maybe that ratio points to paying the players 60% of their 82 game salaries, start there and maybe up the minimum salary a player will receive and juice the number up a bit say the players will receive 65-70% as a good faith measure. Provide enough documentation and establish good faith to show that if true, with no changes, they will lose less with no baseball and then the players get nothing.

Depends how bad they want to play. Its something they should be talking about now, if they can figure it out with both the owners and players willing to do it then why not. Some my get hysterical about that, but of course I'm not suggesting they take away resources from doctors/nurses, etc. This would be planned with the assumption that the supply chain by say a 4th of July start would be much stronger and ramped up by that time. Maybe they could work something out like a team take over an entire hotel (assuming most aren't getting much use now anyways) and if willing family could stay there as well. Things appear to have peaked and hopefully by July things will be looking better-not back to normal but better. Maybe plan on a mid-June 2-week spring training and July start. Could always cancel or postpone as it approaches if things don't look like they're going well.

I think we could really use something like this,.Would be nice to focus people's attention if only for a few hours a night on something besides how many people died that day, job losses, and how pathetic their 401k is looking. People could use the distraction. It would be good for baseball if they are willing to do it and take precautions.

Figured Dozier and Thome would be 1-2. Those are the most memorable by far to me. Wasn't a walkoff I don't think but one of the other more memorable HR's for me was Kubel at the dome with what I think was a grand slam to complete the cycle and cap a big rally against the Angels. That game and the Dozier game above are the best comebacks I remember.

Nice to have a guy like that, he can play multiple positions well if you need to give someone a rest or to cover a short-term injury. Plus he's got a pretty good bat. Outside of the rough start to the year he was pretty good in the middle, had some big hits.

Would be great to see him put it all together and stay healthy all season. I have my doubts whether he'll ever be able to put it all together offensively but he could still be a very good player if he can just stay on the field and produce some value offensively. Definitely an exciting guy to watch.

I'd probably move Catcher to #7, but that would be an issue with most teams. There's no reasonable replacement if something happens to Garver. I don't think Avila is more than a decent backup catcher and Astudillo having to get significant playing time back there would be a disaster.

I'm fine if Chacin regains some of his old form, but if not I think Dobnak deserves first crack at the rotation spot. I don't know quite what to think of him long-term but he gave them some quality innings last year down the stretch. In the bullpen I'd love to see Romero figure things out. You can see the talent in that arm when he throws, he could be quite the weapon if they ever get him straightened out.

There's always the exception to the rule, like Brian Dozier in his prime was much better in MLB than his minor leage career. But, while I think Garver is somewhat like Dozier in that he will be a better MLB player than MILB, I think there's definitely some regression coming. Especially if the ball doesn't carry like it did last year. I think he'll still be good and I'd be more than happy with a catcher with a .800+ OPS.

I don't like this regime has essentially sold a draft pick for cash for the 2nd time now. Good that it seems like its getting done now. I'm weary of how Maeda will translate to the AL and the mileage on his arm but I think it makes the Twins the clear favorite in the division this year. If Graterol's health holds up I think the Twins will regret this trade, sad to see an arm like that go.