Squirrel

Topic suggestion: managerial impact on individual games

We will be ramping up the debates once the post-season is over. If you are interested in being a participant and/or have a topic suggestion, please PM Squirrel and Otto in a joint PM! Now that we had our test run last season, we are looking forward to getting this moving forward soon!

I do not agree with needing an ace before a great SS … see my post above. The Twins will simply not spend on an ace. They won’t. And we are a bad team in a bad division, so … what are you saying, don’t spend the money at all? If we aren’t spending it on a SS, we aren’t spending it on anyone. And my guess is that’s what they do. We will go with a stopgap at SS followed by whoever we have in house who is ready and let the chips fall where they may which is likely 3rd or worse in a bad division. Get the SS, a couple of great BP arms, followed by a quality backup catcher who can split time with Jeffers, and maybe we will have ourselves a team. That’s our only hope, imo.

They far, far, far are less likely to pay for great starting pitching than a position player. So if we have a staff of mediocre to good with no great pitching, then we need to pay for a great SS, followed by great BP arms. Especially with the ban of the shift it is even more important to have a great SS. Even if you have to move that SS to 2nd or 3rd in 6, 7 or 8 years. We are never paying for an ace pitcher. Get the SS. Preferably the one who is better than Bogaerts, but get the SS.

That much under I think they could afford Rodon, too

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Waaaaa, not fair! <pout> I had no interest in this series at all. Now I want the Astros to win. Then I’ll cheer on either the Padres or Phillies (but hope Padres) in the WS

Glad you said ‘as a whole’ because some will complain no matter what. Every strike out, win or lose, will be waaaaa, waaaaaa, waaaaaa. I’m not sure if it’s a Minnesota thing or what, but some will say no one is worth it. I mean Minnesota modesty is a thing. Or, if the Twins do manage to make a big splash with anyone, it will be the wrong someone. Because it always has to be something. At some point I think you do have to push it all in and just go for it, mid-market or not. We keep waiting for Lewis or Lee or whichever prospect shows promise, and we will be waiting for never.

Okay … I added an ‘I don’t know option’ but not exactly as you put it because it’s my poll ?

Okay, so then what is your answer to the question of the OP? Will the shift help, no change, I don’t know?

Then we will never win. Honestly, that’s what I believe. Realistic for the Twins means “also-ran” is the best we could ever be. This is a Sisyphusian endeavor with this team.

I’ve been wondering, how much effect (if any) will the shift ban have on Kepler’s offensive output next season? I would think that it should help some. Thoughts?

With the defensive shift going away next year, we are going to need a real SS, not a stop gap, and not a prospect who might be great

This is why gold glove awards are a joke. Arraez is a fine player and I'm glad he's on our team, but he is not the best fielder out there.

This is not a Twins philosophy. Rays, Guardians, Pirates, Orioles all come to mind off the top of my head. And some of those teams are even worse than the Twins, even though they have managed to be more competitive than the Twins (Rays and Guardians), and I credit superior scouting and analytics for that. But they still have ownerships that are counting pennies and that sell off assets when they become too expensive and/or could get them high end prospects in return. And the Guardians have yet to win a WS in how long? Are we more forgiving of them because of late they've gotten to the playoffs and have a manager that everyone likes? Their business practices are still the same, and sometimes worse. Even the Cubs are all about the money and business. I really dislike what the ownership there is about. And then you have teams who go out and spend, and do it poorly or to inconsistent results. White Sox and Rangers come to mind there. That said, I am frustrated with this ownership and how they manage their business. But there is little I can do about it except manage my own expectations, or, perhaps, just stop following the team for now. They have ROOM to spend and won't.

The Twins talk forum is thataway ... ---> https://twinsdaily.com/forums/forum/6-minnesota-twins-talk/ Start a topic who you think the Twins should be in on so they can say we were in on them when we don't get them.

I'd say Mauer was a mega-contract. And, at the time, Kirby was. This team has done that, just rarely. It's time. We have the flexibility, we should get it done.

First off, one albatross contract to another? Are you talking about the one year deal? A one-year deal is not an albatross contract. And it didn't deter us from doing anything, getting anyone else. That's all on the FO and their inactivity before the Correa signing. And, we signed Correa very late in the game. He wasn't the plan, it just 'dropped' in our laps. This time around, I want them to truly go for it. This is a business. I'm not sure where you are getting 'we are supposed to feel grateful' ... I mean, what? We have the flexibility, right now. This is the time to go for it. Right now.

Wow, New York really should have put a roof on their stadium.

I think Martin in a utility role is perfect ... that's what I'd do ... and get him outfield and infield reps. Weren't you the one who was a strong advocate for him in the outfield? And I'd be signing Correa

This is a general comment not specific to yours alone, but I am surprised by the number of these that have little to no changes to the bullpen from last season. I’m not sure who I would trade for or sign, and who I’d move out to make room, why I haven’t built a roster myself, but it seemed most everyone on TD had issues with the BP, yet I’m seeing little changes to it in these roster creations. Why is that? Do you and others think the BP will be completely turned around just by removing Pagan?

I love it when the underdogs win!

Good job … I assume your other attempts can be deleted, now that you finally got what you wanted in this version?

Well, I’m not sure I’m completely on Brian’s page but I don’t disagree, in theory. I’m more a ‘one size does not fit all’ person and we need to roll with that because we do not have the Scherzer type pitchers. We could get a pitcher or two that could fulfill a traditional starter role, but then that will leave us with 3 or 4 who don’t. But my main bugaboo has always been, if this is how it is going to be, fill your roster with mediocre adequate or slightly above they have to construct a better BP. That said, yeah ,,, I don’t have an answer to how, then, to construct a pitcher’s contract. And could we potentially be hurting their potential earnings? I come back to Sonny Gray, who complained about coming out too soon after one outing, and then blew up the next outing and basically said, ‘yeah, okay, I get it and I need to do better.’ Bottom line is great pitchers will be paid like great pitchers and so on. And if the Twins don’t want to pay for it, or their philosophy becomes a huge detraction, then yeah, the FO will need to adjust.

If we had a Scherzer or two my guess is they would let him pitch however long they want. We certainly didn’t this past season. And it’s highly unlikely we are ever going to pay for a Scherzer so we work with what we have. Sonny Gray did not pitch well enough to get more innings. Once or twice they could have let him go longer, imo, but the rest of the time, no. He complained about this after one start being taken out, then the next start he pitched horribly and then threw out a mea culpa saying he had to do better. The problem with how the Twins managed their pitchers wasn’t that they pulled their starters too soon to please the fans, but that they didn’t construct a very good BP to withstand their philosophy. There was one notable time I would have let Ryan go deeper, and I still would have, but I also understand the reasoning behind why not, plus he was a rookie and spent time on the IL and was very up and down for several starts following, But I hope he gets more innings next season and will be a pitcher who will command more innings. But when your starting staff is filled with two decent middle pitchers (Ryan and Gray) and then Bundy, Archer and the injured crew, and an inadequate BP, the FO either needs to reconsider its philosophy, or needs to do a much better job at constructing a pitching staff that can get through 9 innings each and every game without falling apart.