Now that we've won, time to start thinking about how we line up the starters for the ALDS. Games 1 and 2 are Saturday and Sunday in Houston, 3 and 4 are Tuesday and Wednesday in MN, and game 5 Friday in Houston. Lopez is able to go Sunday on 4 days rest, Gray not until Tuesday. Ryan would be next man up but hasn't pitched well lately and got bombed when he started in Houston on May 30. I think Ober is a better bet on the road, so is Maeda. Here's what I would do:
Saturday - Ober
Sunda
We need a CF for 2024 and a better RH hitting OF for 2023. I think our highest and best hope in 2024 should be that Buxton plays 80ish games in the OF next year and another 50 at DH. That means we will need another player to be a half to 2/3 time starting CF. I frankly think we have that guy in Max Kepler which would really open things up for OFs because it's easier to find corner OFs that a decent CF. Unfortunately, Kepler apparently doesn't want to play CF on any sort of regular basis. Maybe w
Well, now what do we do with Solano spraining his knee? Hard to believe that's a day to day thing. By the way, "sprained knee" is often the diagnosis until the MRI shows a torn meniscus or ligament damage. So what do we do? God help us if the answer is play Joey Gallo every day.
I say we we cut Lewis' rehab stint in AAA short and get him back up. Lewis plays 3d, Polanco goes to 1B most days, with Gallo there only occasionally. I can already hear the chorus of "move Julien to 1B, he stinks
The current lineup isn't working and hasn't worked for awhile. It's great that Farmer is back but Farmer isn't likely to provide the lineup spark we need. He was 0 for his last 11 with 8 strikeouts before he got hurt. If you look at the lineup/26 man roster realistically, who can be that spark? The only possible answer I see is Gordon - 6 for his last 20 with 2 HRs. Solano can't play defense anywhere on the field so he doesn't have much value if Buxton is the DH. I guess we now know why Solano w
Kyle Farmer is a starting quality MLB SS will fill a bench role for the Twins this year. While he is valuable in that role, his biggest value might have just come in - as a trade chip to the Dodgers to replace Gavin Lux at SS after Lux tore his ACL yesterday. The Dodgers other option is 34-year-old Miguel Rojas who they acquired from the Marlins before spring training. You have to think the Dodgers are looking for a starting caliber SS that's locked into a reserve role on another team, particul
The Angels signed Matt Moore to a 1 year, 7.55m deal for 2023. No options in the deal. Would you pay him that? I would not given our other options.
https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2023/02/angels-nearing-deal-with-matt-moore.html
We're close to a contender. We still need a middle of the order bat and another quality reliever. How do we do this? Here's a radical plan. Four simple steps:
1. Trade Larnach, Ober, and either Salas or Emmanuel Rodriquez to the Pirates for Bryan Reynolds. Add in Martin or Reyes if you have to but then Pittsburg throws in a real A or A+ ball pitching or catching prospect, not filler, especially if you add in Reyes. Reynolds goes to LF every day, hits 3 in the order. The trade for Lopez and
MLB Trade Rumors is reporting that Blayne Enlow passed through waivers and has been outrighted to AA. I thought he might be part of a trade package or get picked up by a lesser team. Guess the FO knew better than I or many of us here did. I don't like everything they do but you have to give them props when they take a calculated risk and it works out.
It was reported this morning that the Marlins signed Johnny Cueto to a one year deal with a club option that guarantees him $8.5 million. Why do the Marlins need starting pitching? They need bats. Add in Enlow's DFA, which doesn't make a lot of sense unless he's going to be traded, and a thought emerges - are the Twins and Marlins about ready to do a deal with hitting going from the Twins for pitching from the Marlins? Maybe Kepler, Larnach, and Enlow for Lopez, Luzardo, or Rogers? Anyone heari
The time to make changes in the starting rotation is coming with Mahle due off the IL in about a week. Mahle, Gray and Ryan are easy picks, everyone else is in play - pick two of Bundy, Archer, Aaron Sanchez, Smeltzer, Louie Varland, SWR for 5, or should we go to a 6 man rotation and pick 3? Who goes into the bullpen?
To me, first choice is obvious - Dylan Bundy, The man has a 2.33 ERA in August and has kept the Twins in every game he's started this month. Rocco needs to try giving him a s
I really like the realignment idea assuming we're going to a universal DH. I made this a comment elsewhere but I also thought I'd also post this as a separate blog. Here's my proposal for realignment. I know it's fantasy but hey, it's the dog days of summer so why not?
5 divisions, not 6. 12 teams in the playoffs, The top 2 in each division plus two remaining teams teams with best records make the playoffs so there is a reward for being a little better than average. Four best records get b
I see Nick Gordon has been sent down and Refsnyder brought up. I understand the logic; Gordon has been hitting around .200 with no walks or power for the last month and Refsnyder was hot earlier before he got hurt. We're evaluating both for 2022.
My question is what does everyone see for Gordon going forward? Given his play this year, do you think the Twins need to keep him on the 40 man roster or could He survive the Rule 5 draft? Do you see a long term future for him with the Twins? We c
We often comment on whether current Twins are good, average or bad hitters by using OPS. The problem I see is we're using a broad average for everyone not broken down by position. I looked around the Internet and found an article in ScoreSheetWiz where the author had taken the average of the top 30 players in each position over the last 3 years and averaged their OPS. That should give you what the average starter in MLB does at that position by taking out emergency fill ins, utility players, et
Got a theory that the Twins trade Duran 1/1 for an OK starter they think they can optimize. He's the Luis Arraez of this offseason. A buzzy fan-favorite at peak value with an amazing skillset that the Twins FO doesn't value too much. They've always treated relievers as fungible. I think they seriously consider flipping him.