Never a bad thing to have a farm system ranked in the top ten. I would prefer to have the Twins ranked as a top ten team. I would really like it if the farm system and the MLB team were ranked in the top ten.

Prospects are the most unknown of any teams assets.  I have been a Red Sox fan much of my life and we always had that next great player.  Guess what, the vast majority never came close to meeting the hype and our expectations.  Some languished in the minors, some came up for a cup of coffee, but most will only be names we recall as part of our hope for the future.

On the other hand, since following the Twins, their prospects seem to be real.  Besides the Lewis, Julian, Wallner, etc., you can also include Miranda and the players traded to the Reds in those recent starting pitcher acquisitions.  All seem to be players that have matched their hype and ranking within our Top 10 prospects.

Good job, Twins!

17 hours ago, tony&rodney said:

Never a bad thing to have a farm system ranked in the top ten. I would prefer to have the Twins ranked as a top ten team. I would really like it if the farm system and the MLB team were ranked in the top ten.

If I were the GM, being top 10 consistently in both categories would be the goal. The be a prolific horse trader, a constant “seller” from strength and surplus. MLB players for prospects, minor leaguers to solve deficiencies and to stick the farm when that opportunity comes along.

3 hours ago, bird said:

If I were the GM, being top 10 consistently in both categories would be the goal. The be a prolific horse trader, a constant “seller” from strength and surplus. MLB players for prospects, minor leaguers to solve deficiencies and to stick the farm when that opportunity comes along.

I believe our ‘23 MLB roster was ranked #6 after the season and will likely be top 10 entering ‘24. 

On 2/2/2024 at 6:57 PM, Paul D said:

Prospects are the most unknown of any teams assets.  I have been a Red Sox fan much of my life and we always had that next great player.  Guess what, the vast majority never came close to meeting the hype and our expectations.  Some languished in the minors, some came up for a cup of coffee, but most will only be names we recall as part of our hope for the future.

On the other hand, since following the Twins, their prospects seem to be real.  Besides the Lewis, Julian, Wallner, etc., you can also include Miranda and the players traded to the Reds in those recent starting pitcher acquisitions.  All seem to be players that have matched their hype and ranking within our Top 10 prospects.

Good job, Twins!

Well, you did have Mookie, Pedroia, Nomar, X, Youk, Devers, Ellsbury, JBJ, etc come up through the Red Sox farm system and win a bunch of world series, so I would say it worked out pretty well for Boston...

You are correct, but most of them were not early picks except for JBJ. I'm thinking more about #1 picks: Jay Groome, Michael Chavis, Mike Kopech, Trey Ball, Pat Light, Devon Marrero, Blake Swihart and Bruce Bentz.

They have had better success with later rounds and international signings.

On 2/3/2024 at 12:36 PM, Fatbat said:

I believe our ‘23 MLB roster was ranked #6 after the season and will likely be top 10 entering ‘24. 

This isn’t a top 10 roster in the MLB, IMO.  We lost two significant rotation pieces (Gray and Maeda), one of which was the Cy Young runner-up, one of the best defensive CFs in the game (Taylor, for now), we’re replacing Polanco and Solano with Santana, who is much less defensively versatile, and we have some heavy regression candidates (Wallner, Julien, Lewis, Jeffers).

This could be offset somewhat by bounce back seasons from Buxton, Correa, and Miranda.

This team was borderline top 10 last year, and the roster is significantly worse this year.  Just in the AL, Seattle, Texas, Houston, New York, Baltimore, and Toronto are clearly better rosters.  Tampa is always right there.  If Boston trades for Cease, they have an argument (and let’s be honest, would likely win the Central).  Detroit keeps getting better and is knocking on the door.  We’re not that far off from falling out of the top 10 in the AL.  That’s not considering the Braves, Dodgers, Phillies, Reds, Giants, D Backs, and likely a couple more better rosters in the NL.

There’s a lot of work to before this is a top 10 roster in the MLB.

Edit:  We are #17 on the MLB.com 2024 power rankings, behind teams like the Cubs, Mets, Brewers.  One spot ahead of the Cards, which is debatable.  At this point, that ranking is largely based on perceived quality of the roster.

1 hour ago, Beast said:

This isn’t a top 10 roster in the MLB, IMO.  We lost two significant rotation pieces (Gray and Maeda), one of which was the Cy Young runner-up, one of the best defensive CFs in the game (Taylor, for now), we’re replacing Polanco and Solano with Santana, who is much less defensively versatile, and we have some heavy regression candidates (Wallner, Julien, Lewis, Jeffers).

This could be offset somewhat by bounce back seasons from Buxton, Correa, and Miranda.

This team was borderline top 10 last year, and the roster is significantly worse this year.  Just in the AL, Seattle, Texas, Houston, New York, Baltimore, and Toronto are clearly better rosters.  Tampa is always right there.  If Boston trades for Cease, they have an argument (and let’s be honest, would likely win the Central).  Detroit keeps getting better and is knocking on the door.  We’re not that far off from falling out of the top 10 in the AL.  That’s not considering the Braves, Dodgers, Phillies, Reds, Giants, D Backs, and likely a couple more better rosters in the NL.

There’s a lot of work to before this is a top 10 roster in the MLB.

Edit:  We are #17 on the MLB.com 2024 power rankings, behind teams like the Cubs, Mets, Brewers.  One spot ahead of the Cards, which is debatable.  At this point, that ranking is largely based on perceived quality of the roster.

I believe our pitching staff has been ranked as #4 in WAR in all of MLB.  Do power rankings mean much before any games have been played? 

8 hours ago, Beast said:

This isn’t a top 10 roster in the MLB, IMO.  We lost two significant rotation pieces (Gray and Maeda), one of which was the Cy Young runner-up, one of the best defensive CFs in the game (Taylor, for now), we’re replacing Polanco and Solano with Santana, who is much less defensively versatile, and we have some heavy regression candidates (Wallner, Julien, Lewis, Jeffers).

This could be offset somewhat by bounce back seasons from Buxton, Correa, and Miranda.

This team was borderline top 10 last year, and the roster is significantly worse this year.  Just in the AL, Seattle, Texas, Houston, New York, Baltimore, and Toronto are clearly better rosters.  Tampa is always right there.  If Boston trades for Cease, they have an argument (and let’s be honest, would likely win the Central).  Detroit keeps getting better and is knocking on the door.  We’re not that far off from falling out of the top 10 in the AL.  That’s not considering the Braves, Dodgers, Phillies, Reds, Giants, D Backs, and likely a couple more better rosters in the NL.

There’s a lot of work to before this is a top 10 roster in the MLB.

Edit:  We are #17 on the MLB.com 2024 power rankings, behind teams like the Cubs, Mets, Brewers.  One spot ahead of the Cards, which is debatable.  At this point, that ranking is largely based on perceived quality of the roster.

The Tigers traded Lorenzen at the deadline & lost Rodriguez to free agency. They were replaced by Maeda & Flaherty……..certainly not a net gain there. They have 2-3 pretty good young guys that are on the come.

Twins were 14-5 against the last 4 teams standing last year. Astros - Rangers - Diamondbacks - Phillies.

Gray’s starts in ‘23, the Team was 15-18. Those were the real outcomes that they need to match or better in ‘24. ERA is great - quality starts are great - they both definitely give a team a better chance to win! However,  between Varland/Festa/DeSclafani slotted in #5 spot, they have a very good chance at going .500 in a combined 36 starts……fair?

Gray picked a guy off 2nd on a terrible base running play by Guerrero to escape a jam. He threw 5 innings for the W. His start v. Astros was sub par. ……….fair?

Paddack needs to be good & needs to hold up. …….if there’s an issue they’ll have to make a move for an arm at the deadline.

Am still holding out some hope for a pitching move over the next 4-5 weeks.

Any reasonable health from Buxton (100 games between CF & DH) a mild rebound from Correa (.265 BA & 20 HR) the 3 young guys at 2B - 3B - LF available from the season’s start all point to a much better offensive year.

Am assuming Kepler & Vazquez will be hitting above .220 at mid-season in ‘24…..this will help as well.

Gotta be a top 6 team in the AL……..can’t control where we sit in the NL. Have potential to win the Pennant with one Starter addition to the Staff.

9 hours ago, JD-TWINS said:

The Tigers traded Lorenzen at the deadline & lost Rodriguez to free agency. They were replaced by Maeda & Flaherty……..certainly not a net gain there. They have 2-3 pretty good young guys that are on the come.

Twins were 14-5 against the last 4 teams standing last year. Astros - Rangers - Diamondbacks - Phillies.

Gray’s starts in ‘23, the Team was 15-18. Those were the real outcomes that they need to match or better in ‘24. ERA is great - quality starts are great - they both definitely give a team a better chance to win! However,  between Varland/Festa/DeSclafani slotted in #5 spot, they have a very good chance at going .500 in a combined 36 starts……fair?

Gray picked a guy off 2nd on a terrible base running play by Guerrero to escape a jam. He threw 5 innings for the W. His start v. Astros was sub par. ……….fair?

Paddack needs to be good & needs to hold up. …….if there’s an issue they’ll have to make a move for an arm at the deadline.

Am still holding out some hope for a pitching move over the next 4-5 weeks.

Any reasonable health from Buxton (100 games between CF & DH) a mild rebound from Correa (.265 BA & 20 HR) the 3 young guys at 2B - 3B - LF available from the season’s start all point to a much better offensive year.

Am assuming Kepler & Vazquez will be hitting above .220 at mid-season in ‘24…..this will help as well.

Gotta be a top 6 team in the AL……..can’t control where we sit in the NL. Have potential to win the Pennant with one Starter addition to the Staff.

Would just point out that it might be fair to expect regression from at least one of the three young guys at 2B / 3B / LF