Be Prepared for a New Look Twins Team

[jmlease1]

11 minutes ago, dxpavelka said:

Luckily, this year, we're not at all relying on the guys who couldn't stay on the field last year

And as a result they made sure they had much better, proven depth options as insurance. What exactly do you want them to do? Trade all the guys that were injured last year (i'm sure you'd get great value there) and replace them with...someone?

If Buxton gets hurt, we have Michael A. Taylor. If Kirilloff gets hurt, we have Solano as an option. Larnach clearly isn't being counted on; he's probably starting in AAA. They signed Vazquez so they wouldn't have to rely on Jeffers being healthy all season.

[joefish]

On 3/3/2023 at 8:17 AM, EGFTShaw said:

Pitching/Location, Pitching/Location, Pitching/Location.

😁

Not popcorn, peanuts, and Frosty Malts?

[Cris E]

I thought the New Look was replacing half our roster with Cincinnati Reds and buying up all the remaindered Miami Marlins "M" gear.

[dxpavelka]

1 hour ago, jmlease1 said:

And as a result they made sure they had much better, proven depth options as insurance. What exactly do you want them to do? Trade all the guys that were injured last year (i'm sure you'd get great value there) and replace them with...someone?

If Buxton gets hurt, we have Michael A. Taylor. If Kirilloff gets hurt, we have Solano as an option. Larnach clearly isn't being counted on; he's probably starting in AAA. They signed Vazquez so they wouldn't have to rely on Jeffers being healthy all season.

Pretty sure they thought they had covered all those bases the last two years.

[bighat]

On 3/3/2023 at 12:21 PM, EGFTShaw said:

Simply the fact that we are not penciling in Dylan Bundy and Chris Archer as our 3/4 starters tells you a lot about the changes from last season to this season.

Speaking of Bundy, I can't believe the guy's still unsigned. He went 8-8 with a 4.89 ERA last year, pitched 140 innings and was about as injury-free as pitchers come these days. 

Sure, he's not a strikeout pitcher but he improved between 2021 and 2022, and you'd think the guy should be someone's 5th starter going into '23. 

[ashbury]

1 hour ago, bighat said:

Speaking of Bundy, I can't believe the guy's still unsigned. He went 8-8 with a 4.89 ERA last year, pitched 140 innings and was about as injury-free as pitchers come these days. 

Sure, he's not a strikeout pitcher but he improved between 2021 and 2022, and you'd think the guy should be someone's 5th starter going into '23. 

Maybe just a matter of money.  He might feel he's worth more to some team than the $4M he got from the Twins last season, and no team has met his price yet.  Bottom feeders wouldn't want to pay more than that, and top teams might set their sights higher than him, so it could be a limited market in-between, and he's waiting them out?  Maybe he'd rather retire than come down enough in asking price to attract a team with zero postseason hopes?  Professional pride can sometimes play a factor.

Here's the latest I could find, from a month ago.  Cardinals, White Sox, Red Sox? https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/players/dylan-bundy

[nicksaviking]

4 hours ago, mikelink45 said:

When I see Pagan replaced by a quality pitcher I will have more faith.  I just cannot fathom what the eventual lineup will be at this point.  We do need Miranda.  

Thankfully he has no more years of control. Dumping Pagan if he still stinks should be a much easier decision this year.

I mean, it should have been easy last year too, but this year, it’s a layup.

[ashbury]

9 minutes ago, nicksaviking said:

Thankfully he has no more years of control. Dumping Pagan if he still stinks should be a much easier decision this year.

I mean, it should have been easy last year too, but this year, it’s a layup.

It's like, he has been the party in the arrangement who has control.

[stringer bell]

10 hours ago, jmlease1 said:

And as a result they made sure they had much better, proven depth options as insurance. What exactly do you want them to do? Trade all the guys that were injured last year (i'm sure you'd get great value there) and replace them with...someone?

If Buxton gets hurt, we have Michael A. Taylor. If Kirilloff gets hurt, we have Solano as an option. Larnach clearly isn't being counted on; he's probably starting in AAA. They signed Vazquez so they wouldn't have to rely on Jeffers being healthy all season.

I think it's not really fair to imply that Jeffers is injury-prone. Last year's injury was a rather freak broken bone and he is a catcher. It appears Jeffers will get most of his plate appearances against left handers as long as Vazquez is healthy and it wouldn't surprise me that he thrives in that role.

[RaoulDuke]

13 hours ago, JD-TWINS said:

Health is a gamble for any pro sports team…. nothing special here with the Twins needing better health (significantly) than in ‘22.

Polanco was starting All-Star in ‘21…..he was banged up in ‘22 and only played 65% of the season. Christian Vázquez is as solid as they come…..granted, due to lack of quickness & service time, Miranda might be considered average or just below at 3rd. Don’t see the weaknesses you point out up the middle.

Vazquez - Polanco - CC - Buxton are a really strong group up the middle v. anyone else in baseball.

Health is certainly a gamble for every team but the Twins have targeted players in both free agency and trades that had their price depressed because of health concerns.  Buxton/ Correa/ Mahle at least are not on this team without health concerns.

I mean it more as those are the only real average spots in the defense.  Polanco is a decent 2nd base but his all star bid was all about his bat, Miranda could become average at 3rd but I don't think he is there yet in part to him playing a lot of 1st last year, and Vazquez is solid but I am not sure Jeffers is (outside of framing) and he will get 40% of the playing time there.  The Those being the "weaknesses" should lead to a very good defense.

[weitz41]

Definitely, Imo is going to be a switch this season. I'm reasonably confident in the starters, the depth behind them and 3-4 BP arms. Even with the past injuries. Been a long time since I could say that.

It's the offense that I'm more concerned about. Almost every likely starter in the field we're hoping for better health or a rebound. Correa, Miranda and Vazquez are the only ones that don't fit into one or more of those descriptions. It just seems like a lot to hope for.

[Karbo]

21 hours ago, nicksaviking said:

They’ve brought in free agent vets and traded for vets the past couple of years and they’ve been terrible. You want them to keep doing what hasn’t been working instead of using the internal options, which have worked well?

I would hope the starters can go an inning or 2 deeper so we don't have to use 4 or more guys a game.

[jmlease1]

19 hours ago, dxpavelka said:

Pretty sure they thought they had covered all those bases the last two years.

Ok, you're right. The Twins will be dreadful on offense this year and destined to fail because everyone will get hurt again. Is that what you want to hear?

[dxpavelka]

10 hours ago, jmlease1 said:

Ok, you're right. The Twins will be dreadful on offense this year and destined to fail because everyone will get hurt again. Is that what you want to hear?

Not at all.  But don't assume the moves we've made this off-season will put us over the top.  For the most part we've replaced pieces with other similar, but hopefully better pieces.  HOPE is not a good strategy.

[nicksaviking]

On 3/5/2023 at 7:35 AM, Karbo said:

I would hope the starters can go an inning or 2 deeper so we don't have to use 4 or more guys a game.

Works for me. Though 2 innings deeper would put them levels no team has done since the early 1990s.