Do you believe in these Twins?

[cHawk]

One could reasonably claim our favorite baseball team has been horribly inconsistent throughout the first half of the 2023 MLB season. It certainly seems they have the starting rotation to go all the way, but an excruciatingly inconsistent offense and questionable bullpen greatly temper the expectations of many, including myself.

With the roster as it stands right now, what do you see as the ceiling for this Twins team? What trade deadline acquisitions, if any, should Falvine make to put the team over the top? What specific changes do you need to see, if any, in the play of the Twins to instill confidence that they are capable of getting over the hump?

[gunnarthor]

They should make the playoffs b/c the central is really, really bad. But that's it. It's not a fun team to watch right now but, fortunately, they're not on tv so I can't watch them, anyway. 😁

[Richie the Rally Goat]

13 minutes ago, gunnarthor said:

They should make the playoffs b/c the central is really, really bad. But that's it. It's not a fun team to watch right now but, fortunately, they're not on tv so I can't watch them, anyway. 😁

Agreed, they’ll win a terrible central. I think they DFA Pagan, bring up Maeda for a bullpen role, and DFA Kepler to bring up Wallner.

I don’t think they will make a deadline trade, but Correa turns it around, and the youth movement, Julien, Wallner, Larnach, Kiriloff, Lewis lead the way

[wabene]

Yes I said ALCS for this team's ceiling because they could make the playoffs and then anything could happen. Unlikely.

A deadline bullpen arm at minimum and some more decisive roster management to spark this club. Maximize the healthy, performing talent on the field at all times. Some hard decisions must be made. 

[tony&rodney]

The ceiling is always the World Series because it can happen. The description of "horribly inconsistent" is pretty accurate. The All Star game will bring a full evaluation of the roster and I would expect several changes by August at the latest. 

The starting pitching has kept the team in almost every game. Half of the bullpen has been good and the other half is shaky. The defense has been just average, good enough to not be of any huge concern yet a little worrisome at times. An example from the game today was Julien failing on a smooth delivery to Correa, Correa failing to make a good throw when he had time, and Kirilloff failing to dig the ball out at first to bail out the two middle infielders. Of course, Varland made several good pitchers and Chapman looked off balance until Louie grooved a change up that didn't move. Should Vasquez have called for the letter high fastball there? Pretty much going on in a short sequence but the real culprit all season and even in the game today is hitting and moving runners along to score runs. This may seem distant if the offense turns it around after what has mostly been a ten week slump. It may still be too early to know the direction of the team. I'm still thinking that the World Series is the ceiling.

[LastOnePicked]

So hard to tell. I guess, when all of the variables are iffy, the trend is your friend. Twins 2022 trend is fairly strong spring start, summer collapse, hang on by fall, face-plant down the stretch. Too many injury question marks, not enough decisive action by FO early on, the prospect of some truly bad trades again, and too many lost opportunities when the pitching was strong. I predict the Twins will not win the Central, and no playoffs. But, just like the last two years, I'm still waiting to be proven wrong.

[Rod Carews Birthday]

ALCS.   Anything can happen in the playoffs.  Think 1987.  Think White Sox pitching in 2005.  They don’t need to be a 100 game juggernaut (or even 90) to start something if the stars align.  
 

By August they will trade for a relief pitcher and move Maeda to relief full time. They will also DFA Kepler and add a useful bat.   I’m hoping that Buxton gets healthy enough to play CF, as that would effectively add another bat as well.  Correa remembers how to hit as well and the offense looks a lot different.  They’ve gotten this far with a struggling offense.  A little improvement would go a long way.  
 

A top five pitching staff just needs a competent offense to win.  They don’t need to be murderers row.  

[ashbury]

Ceiling remains high. I'm not sure the staff, broadly viewed, it getting the most out of the position players or the bullpen.

[Nashvilletwin]

2 hours ago, Richie the Rally Goat said:

Agreed, they’ll win a terrible central. I think they DFA Pagan, bring up Maeda for a bullpen role, and DFA Kepler to bring up Wallner.

I don’t think they will make a deadline trade, but Correa turns it around, and the youth movement, Julien, Wallner, Larnach, Kiriloff, Lewis lead the way

We can only hope…..this is a good plan

[Squirrel]

7 hours ago, Richie the Rally Goat said:

Agreed, they’ll win a terrible central. I think they DFA Pagan, bring up Maeda for a bullpen role, and DFA Kepler to bring up Wallner.

I don’t think they will make a deadline trade, but Correa turns it around, and the youth movement, Julien, Wallner, Larnach, Kiriloff, Lewis lead the way

I like these moves and feel they should have been done in some manner during the off season. Better late than never, I guess. Has Maeda been working in relief at all? I haven’t been following. And I’d find another BP arm … Thielbar for Winder might be enough. But who goes when Polanco comes back? And when Buxton comes back?

[Richie the Rally Goat]

49 minutes ago, Squirrel said:

I like these moves and feel they should have been done in some manner during the off season. Better late than never, I guess. Has Maeda been working in relief at all? I haven’t been following. And I’d find another BP arm … Thielbar for Winder might be enough. But who goes when Polanco comes back? And when Buxton comes back?

Garlick for Buck is a no-brainer 

Polanco is a tougher decision, but he’s been so bitten by the injury bug this season, I wonder how much he’ll contribute this year.

Maeda’s been starting on his rehab assignment, so alas, he won’t be relieving immediately 

[wsnydes]

I picked postseason appearance.  I think they're pretty much what I expected at the beginning of the season.  Soild starting pitching, suspect at times bullpen and an offense that will struggle to score runs.  Even with that, I figured that they'd fight for a playoff spot.  I do think a few tweaks can help considerably with the bullpen, but the bats are still a big concern.  And ultimately, I think that's what'll hold them back.

And I'm still a firm believer that the youth will be what determines their fate.  If Lewis, Larnach, Kirilloff and Wallner can get going with the bats, this team could surprise us.  But that's a big if, and they still probably need to get healthy in order for it to happen.

[Squirrel]

20 minutes ago, Richie the Rally Goat said:

Garlick for Buck is a no-brainer 

Polanco is a tougher decision, but he’s been so bitten by the injury bug this season, I wonder how much he’ll contribute this year.

Maeda’s been starting on his rehab assignment, so alas, he won’t be relieving immediately 

What about Gallo? Sounds like Gallo will come off the IL first and that will be the swap there. DFA Kep for Buxton then. But how do you get Wallner up? Trade Gallo? Not sure I want an OF of Wallner, Taylor and Larnach … but maybe? Send Castro down? Trade or release Solano?

[TwinsDr2021]

With the talent on this team, IMO this team could compete with anybody if healthy and playing up to their potential.

But as the saying goes, your only a strong as your weakest link (or something like that), this team has 3 weak links. Kepler, Pagen and Rocco. You cut two and fire the other one, bring some else and see if that shake up gets this team back to were they should be.

[Doctor Wu]

I'm not feeling very optimistic at this point. Sure, due to the week division, we MAY be able to coast into a playoff spot. But unless the bats come alive I don't see this team advancing past the first round. Trades? I don't think that it's worth giving up anymore assets at this point just for another piece that may or may not help us. Keep what we have, roll the dice, and hope for another miracle. 

[dxpavelka]

9 hours ago, gunnarthor said:

They should make the playoffs b/c the central is really, really bad. But that's it. It's not a fun team to watch right now but, fortunately, they're not on tv so I can't watch them, anyway. 😁

Tough to be a fun team to watch when the most entertaining player you've developed in a generation, who has hit 30 home runs in his last 600 plate appearances, is sitting in San Pedro de Macoris.

 

[Richie the Rally Goat]

23 minutes ago, Squirrel said:

What about Gallo? Sounds like Gallo will come off the IL first and that will be the swap there. DFA Kep for Buxton then. But how do you get Wallner up? Trade Gallo? Not sure I want an OF of Wallner, Taylor and Larnach … but maybe? Send Castro down? Trade or release Solano?

MAT and Larnach are both good outfielders, I wouldn’t have any issue with them and Wallner

in order,

Wallner up, DFA Solano, Gallo up, DFA Kepler (or vice verse), Buxton return, there’ll be an injury somewhere else, or a difficult demotion of Wallner or Larnach

[Riverbrian]

Why would anyone stop believing in a first place team in June? 

I'll be here until the end. 

Fix the offense please. 

 

[Craig Arko]

I do, I do, I do, believe in spooks. I believe in magic in a young girl's heart.

I also believe in the Twins. Although I don't think this is the year.

[Squirrel]

33 minutes ago, Craig Arko said:

I do, I do, I do, believe in spooks.

Lol! Great reference … if we were still playing in the Metrodome, I’d give you the comeback of ‘There’s no place like Dome’

[HawksNest]

This team could win a playoff series if they were healthy and had a different manager.

Instead, the team appears to my eye to be extremely flat, generally unprepared, and unable to maximize the talent they have on the roster.

Just my two cents.

[USAFChief]

They're a .500-ish team. Too little offense, and too little bullpen, to be much more, even if the starters maintain this pace all year, which isn't a given.

The question is, will that win the ALC?

I'm going to say "no." It's a close call, but one of Cleveland or Chicago will end up a little better. As noted, though, it's a close call. Neither of those teams are exactly juggernauts either. I do think Chicago is more talented, and Cleveland has Francona, who always seems to squeeze the most out of what he has, vs Rocco who seems to me to get less.

~.500 won't be a wild card. So I hope I'm wrong, but I don't see the Twins in the postseason. 

 

I WILL say, there's certainly potential for better offense than they've shown, One thing is, I wonder if they have the courage to do what needs doing on offense. Julien's bat plays...does he? Primary DH when Polo comes back, with Buxton in CF? Get some offense from RF? Stop letting the opposition manager take Kirilloff out of the lineup?

[CRF]

10 hours ago, Richie the Rally Goat said:

Agreed, they’ll win a terrible central. I think they DFA Pagan, bring up Maeda for a bullpen role, and DFA Kepler to bring up Wallner.

I don’t think they will make a deadline trade, but Correa turns it around, and the youth movement, Julien, Wallner, Larnach, Kiriloff, Lewis lead the way

I really like this take, and I sure hope this is the way it all goes down. 

[chpettit19]

Being in the AL Central gives them a real shot at the playoffs. But it also seems to give the FO the idea that they can sit back and just wait for the players to suddenly morph into who they want them to be, instead of who they are. It'd be a relatively comfortable pick for me to say playoffs (it's what I voted for) if they would start cutting dead weight now, and not wait until August. Pagan is who he is. Kepler is who he is. Garlick is who he is. None of them should wear a Twins uniform ever again. Stop crossing your fingers, and start making moves (not trades, just call up guys with actual chances to be good). 

What to do with Solano and Gallo are the only "hard decisions" I see. Solano has been their most consistent hitter all year so it's tough for me to say he should go when this lineup is in desperate need of all the consistency it can get. Was Gallo's slump due to his hamstring, or is he going to hit .160 the rest of the way? I don't know what the FO is waiting for with Pagan, Kepler, and Garlick, but them slow playing those moves makes me think they won't make any decisions on Solano and Gallo at all. They simply have no ability to shift off their plan coming into a season, and it's threatening to blow this one up, too.

[CRF]

My two cents...the real question is, will the FO do what's needed to get this team playing better overall baseball? Consistent baseball. Will they have the intelligence and courage to make the moves necessary? There are some big decisions to be made. I'm not talking about Rocco here, because all he is, is an extension of whatever Fal-Vine want to do. I'm not a Rocco fan and never will be. There's a few guys that need to go right now...Kepler, Pagan, and Garlick. They are what they are, and they're not going to change or will help down the road. There are "bubble" guys like Castro, Solano, Gordon when he comes back...and even Gallo. What do we do with them? Is Maeda going to help us in the second half? Can Jorge Lopez help us? Or is he Pagan #2? Lastly, I think we HAVE to get the young guys up here, keep them here, and see what they can do. Wallner, Miranda, Julien...and keep Lewis and Larnach in the lineup. It does no good to keep shuttling any of these guys back and forth to StP. None of them can be any worse than the underperforming players we've been sending out there. Maybe also try to get a semblance of a set lineup, instead of changing everything around...every...damn...game! 

[Mike Sixel]

The realistic ceiling? One playoff series win. The pitching is great......

I'm with y'all here. Kepler and pagan need to go. I've lost confidence in this from office though, so I'm not holding my breath.

[Reptevia]

The FO in four short years has managed to move problems around. From one of the best offenses/worst pitching to One of the best starting staffs/worst offenses. Is this progress?  I don’t believe so. Twins should be sellers at the deadline. No disastrous trades that empty our minors for lottery ticket veterans that may/may not help. The 100% nerd approach has failed. Get some actual baseball people in the room. The past four years answers the question: What if we managed a MLB team as if this were a video game?

[Number3]

They may be in the playoffs with a worse record than the last place team in the East. Its all up to the Guardians. I don't think the Twins have much control over how they play from game to game.

[NotAboutWinning]

I believe they can make it to the ALCS. They are not a bad team playing badly, they are a good team playing badly. I have hope they can reach their potential (in spite of the dead weight of their manager/FO).

[wavedog]

I am hopeful Minnesota can win the division but think we have seen this play out before - Cleveland will surpass us in the 2nd half and win the division.    They don't have the bi-weekly Paganning (def.  in baseball a pitcher who is guaranteed to come into the game with their team leading, blow that lead and lose said game)  Minnesota has to overcome.  We may have the better talent but we do not play efficiently,  I trust their bullpen more, they are better managed  and the injury bug will continue to hit our players.   If we do happen to qualify for the playoffs I fear the usual one and done sweep.