Wizard11

Tyler Wells is pitching well for a lousy Baltimore team. I had mentioned 3 players in an earlier thread that seem like the type this FO won’t audition. Palacios, Cano, and Moran. All 3 should be at AAA right now. IMO They are all better than their counterparts at STP. There are other names such Miranda & De la Trinidad that fit the criteria of being better than much of the STP roster. The Twins have a reputation for promoting their players slowly which is often described as “conservative”. I can think of other descriptions for that. Let the kids play! Give your top minor league club with which you share a market the best available minor league talent. Who knows, maybe it would be synergistic and help local fans overcome the malaise induced by the mlb squad. Might even provide a better setup for the FO to evaluate possible LT pieces…(smacks forehead)… I will sit back and wait for the chorus of “that’s not how it is done” that will come from some quarters

I started this thread saying Moran and Cano would be examples of pitchers that we should look at. Just noticed that you wrote a piece on those exact 2 players as players to watch. Guess you are coming around Seth. The actual start of this convo was not what internal options should be brought up now but rather why we let promising pitchers go in the offseason only to replace them with some one else’s castoffs. Add Tyler Wells to the list I started with. Not sure why this view needs to be corrected, rebutted, or deconstructed. It was just my opinion

Rogers, Duffy, and Stashak were products of a prior FO. In a sense though this reinforces my point that internal development could be a stronger component of our bullpen composition. All of the pitchers above were allowed extended auditions and rewarded the organization with high upside, cost certainty, and years of control. In the case of Duffey his combined first 4 years were pretty forgettable. I am not sure why Law, Waddell, Anderson, etc warrant an opportunity over internal candidates. This is not a rant about the FO. I like much of what they have done.

I would hope we would take a look at Palacios at AAA. Relievers Cano & Moran should be promoted to see how they do against better competition. It would be frustrating to continue to add to the list of relievers that we simply gave away such as Nick Anderson, Curtiss, Chargois, Littell, etc. It stands in stark contrast to the “has beens” such as Colome, Robles, Minaya, Waddell, Law, etc. that populate our bullpen annually. We somehow seem to have roster space as well as perceive (imagine) some upside for these type of reclamation projects. It would be refreshing to see the organization actually vet more of their own young relievers. They would be cheap, controllable, and still have some upside projection. It can’t be worse than the annual squander of $10-$12mm on retreads to try to fill out a bullpen that has become a winter tradition with this front office.

Seems too soon for this convo. For my part I would like to see how we do with Chicago in the upcoming series. I understand we may well get to this situation but I am finding it emotionally difficult to go there yet. I am still shell shocked by our heinous start

Could someone enlighten me as to Happ’s absence? I must have missed something explaining why he did not pitch when it was his turn.

I like the Dobber as our 6th starter and durable long reliever. Either way he is going to pitch some meaningful innings this year. The Twins will be a better team if they prioritize a 5th starter that can successfully get thru a major league lineup 2-3 times. IMO this requires a higher strikeout skill set than the Dobber presents

It would appear to me that Happ has outpitched Odorizzi for the past 5 seasons. My opinion is this signing does improve the team. Plenty of time left in the offseason for more constructive roster moves. It may seem right now that we are “losing” the off-season to the White Sox. Perhaps we will. I trust this front office and I respect that they play the “long game” rather than reacting to other team’s moves.

This is just what I needed to read today. Corey Koskie rocks!

My vote would be for LaTroy Hawkins. He seems to understand entertainment as well as baseball. To me he brings a fresh perspective and does not lean on old yarns and outdated baseball philosophy. To me by far the worst is Smalley. I have to mute him when is sharing his smug and often dreary commentary. His style reminds me of Joe Morgan. Boring know it alls. Blech

Andrew?

Love this trade! Maeda is not a 3rd or 4th starter. He is more of a #2. The Dodgers used him differently but it does not define his talents or results. Graterol is a pitching prospect which is an oxymoron. He has barely pitched above AA. He may be great or he may not even have a MLB career.

2nd largest FA contract in Baseball History for a player his age

Anybody else feel like they are rewatching this scene?

I don’t understand the complaints about this front office. They have been very successful by any rational comparison. The team just won a 101 games last year. The critics asked for and got change and improvement in virtually every area of the organization from where it was 3 years ago. It is the burden of some Twins fans to believe that their is some nefarious lineage that flowed from Carl and TR and lives on today. Perhaps the critics should consider altering their perennial skeptical expectations. Things change sometimes for the better. We have our best shot since 1991 to win a WS. I am interested in that not in complaining about the offseason or PR battle for who can sign the most famous player for the most exorbitant amount of money. This is a strong organization that will be in the thick of the races for the next several years. They are doing well and the critics need to find some way to deal with that.

And the Corvette beats the Maserati on any track...every time

Mike Minor would be a quality addition and potentially affordable. Kirilloff not in tonight’s lineup...he is a Pittsburgh kid...Could it be? Reality is so un-fun.

I would welcome this move. I see his performance last year as pretty emblematic of a pitcher recovering from TJ surgery. We have seen a similar recovery path with many TJ pitchers including Joe Nathan and Michael Pineda. Control and command gradually improve. I think it would be a mistake to rule him out. If you remove the month of April last year his results with the Twins improve dramatically. Dude is 300#’s of stoic and less emotive than most Scandinavians. I don’t read an attitude so much as a personality. Other than commenters on TD I have not seen it reported anywhere that he was a malcontent. Just my .02$

It is kind of stunning to read so many withering criticisms of current ownership. Most of the “supporting” examples reference Carl Pohlad’s ownership. They do not appear relevant as the Twins have clearly been run differently since Jim took over. To me it seems as if virtually every unproductive philosophy the “old Twins regime” had has been thrown out. Hard to believe all of the negativity when we are watching one of the best Twins teams ever, brought to you by people hired by current ownership.

For my part I have been really pleased with Falvey and Lavine. I think they have done a great job hiring through out baseball operations. They gave us a very fun and competitive team this year. They have done a great job restocking our farm system and bringing in new systems and technologies. The picking of nits seems almost compulsive for some and it seems fair to give credit to the Twins leadership. I have not agreed with every decision from the front office but they have certainly got a lot right.

Shun the Unbeliever! The spawn of Shrek and a Leprechaun is just getting rolling.

Kimbrel

My request was primarily for actionable ideas. To paraphrase you, “this website is littered with complaining posts, but a bit short on actionable ideas”. I too am frustrated and not trying to defend the status quo as you have implied in a few posts. I get that you are wondering what the FO’s strategy is. My question was what specifically should it be?

As stated above, I would love to hear specific plans. Sign “who” for multi year deals? Addison Reed and Jason Castro were multi year commitments by this front office. They didn’t seem to fare any better than the one year players. I understand your frustration and share it. I would just really like to hear some actionable ideas if not a 3 year plan

Given the amount of discontent shared, I am curious what the critics would do differently? All paths that I can see are fraught with seemingly highly volatile potential outcomes. I get the frustration as the losing gets old. So does the endless griping. I would love it if those harboring the better solutions would generously share with the rest of us the “right” way to go about this offseason.