Four Takeaways From the Minnesota Twins' First Half

[insagt1]

Few complaints and more smiles than anticipated so far. Only reason they won't catch Cleveland is they can't beat at all head to head. Twins need to spend some money to stay competitive at the highest level. They must stop acting like a second tier practically broke franchise. But they must spend prudently.

Buxton playing regularly and regaining his stroke is a huge plus. Only pray it lasts. Correa is money in the bank..Lee has been a surprise plus so far. Lewis is a stud but can't stay healthy...actually though he was slumping when he went on the IL. Wish Kepler would stop being so streaky.  Right now his bat is dead again. Same with Jeffers who started hot and then really cooled. Biggest pitching disappointment hands down has been Pablo. His 1st half was unacceptable.  He has to be better for Twins to have any shot. Overall it has been mostly a fun team to watch

 

[Vanimal46]

58 minutes ago, ashbury said:

The team has shown they can beat the bad teams while running up good offensive numbers.  They haven't convinced me they can keep up with the elite teams yet.  That's my takeaway. 

There's still nearly half a season for them to change my mind about that.

Couldn’t have said it better myself for the macro level takeaway. I’m very intrigued with the upcoming series against the Phillies this month. 

Micro level takeaways:

- I’m shocked Buxton has held up so far playing CF nearly every day.

- Thrilled with SWR’s progression. 

- Thrilled with Miranda’s career resurrection 

- Concerned with Lewis’ increasing number of soft tissue injuries

[mickster]

3 hours ago, srlarson said:

Time to dump the high priced vets and let the "kids" play......Get what you can...but unload the salaries even if only for a 6 pack......  Farmer, Margot........Santana  I am either way on....and would love to see Vazquez gone...but no one is taking that contract.....guys hitting under .200 just don't belong in the majors.....

Would love to see Lewis, Correa, Lee, and Miranda in the infield in the 2nd half

With Lewis and Martin likely out until September, Farmer is needed.   Santana is a key cog.  Margot, I can agree with.

[thelanges5]

8 games left against the Guardos that could decide the Central. 
4 home Aug 9-11

4 away Sept 16-19

[mickster]

4 hours ago, arby58 said:

I'm not as high on Martin (at least so far) as some. Sure, he gives them positional flexibility, but he has looked a little lost at those positions at times. Also, his -0.2 WAR is nothing to write home about. 

I completely agree, and now with him hurt his trade value isn't there.

[mickster]

5 hours ago, William K Johnson said:

The "Core Four" (Lewis, Buxton, Correa and Lee) seem ready for an extended run if not beset by the injury bug.   Kepler is in one of his pop-up runs, Larnach's strike out issue seems to be re-emerging, Miranda may never take a walk again and Castro is in a little bit of a slump.   However, if these guys and Wallner can contribute something daily, the offense will be fine.   Time to move on from Margot, Santana and Farmer.   Martin looks like a solid utility player.    Also need to figure out if Kiriloff is the answer at first or what other options are available there.

No one expected Cleveland to be this good.   David Fry (All-Star), Freeman, Martinez, and even Bo Naylor have been surprising.    You have to tip your hat to their staff, replacing Shane Bieber without a hiccup is a testimony to their front office.   Bullpen is a good as there is, and their Core four (Kwan, Naylor, Ramirez, Gimenez) are consistently good.

On the pitching front, Joe Ryan may be the greatest trade in Twins history.   If he continues progressing the way he is, he could possibly be an ace of this rotation, if not already.   Ober continues to amaze with his consistency, Lopez surely will figure out the problem with his breaking balls, but after that, everything is up in the air.  SMR has been pleasant surprise, but I have a feeling he will eventually hit a wall.    Paddack is still very questionable.

Bullpen seems to be getting better but still could use an additional arm or two.   Stewart and Topia's return should help but more is needed.   A left hander in particular would help, as neither Okert or Funderburk appear to be the answer and how much is left in Thielbar?

All in all, it appears that we should have an interesting second half.

 

I would put the Joe Nathan deal over the Ryan one.

[Mike Sixel]

I don't think I'd trade for a RP at this point.

In the post season (hopefully sooner) they will add Varland to the bullpen, and if Stewart is healthy, you 100% don't need a RH RP. I could maybe be talked into a LH RP, but is there one we trust? I'm not sure.

As for SP depth, I'm not sure what people expect. Outside a team or two, there aren't teams with even 4 good pitchers in the majors, let alone backups ready to take their place. 

[wabene]

I think it was Tom F who tipped me off on this. The Twins have seemed remarkably streaky, but have been very consistent month by month.

[JD-TWINS]

So the first 93 have gone about as well as could be expected. 

11-5 in SWR’s starts

11-6 in Paddack’s starts

11-8 in Lopez’ starts

9-9 in Ober’s starts

10-8 in Ryan’s starts

Top 3 guys are starting against tougher competition & Team is 30-25 in their games…not bad!

The Maeda/Gray replacements have a Team record of 22–11 in their starts…..better than excellent!

Festa/Varland have 7 combined starts and Team has won only 2 of those 7 games ….., ouch!

Stewart - Topa seem to both be coming over next 2-4 weeks. Thielbar has had 6 straight decent outings.

All I see are the comments about how the Team should assemble a perfect roster ….”need a lefty” …..”need a starter or else” …………..”need a starter and 2 relievers”…. I get this is a discussion forum but it’s not Fantasy Baseball.

Only need 4 starters in Playoffs…..with health, SWR is at least an Opener as the 4th starter.

Dodgers - Orioles - Red Sox - Guardians - Mets - Milwaukee - etc. etc. “need starting pitching & a little bullpen help for the stretch”……..good luck acquiring the Twin’s needs v. these other organizations.

Playoff Pen:

Thielbar or Okert - Alcala - Paddack - Varland - Staumont - Stewart - Jax - Duran ……how much better can a Pen get??? Are these guys flawless ….. nobody is, but I sure like this group! As a group, they have to have the best collective “stuff” in the game come October 1st.

[arby58]

35 minutes ago, mickster said:

I would put the Joe Nathan deal over the Ryan one.

It's an interesting comparison. The Twins also got Liriano and Bonzer plus Nathan. They did have to give up a very good catcher in A.J. Pierzynski, but they had Joe Mauer waiting in the wings. The thing that made the Ryan trade so valuable is they gave up next to nothing to get him. I'd probably also rate the Nathan trade slightly higher.

I'd go back even further in history for what I thought as a kid was the best trade the Twins made - getting Caesar Tovar for Gerry Arrigo. Arrigo never really matched his performance after the trade, with a 2.2 career WAR - and Tovar's positional flexibility was unmatched, along with a career WAR of 28.3. That's a darn good trade!

[Mike Sixel]

4 minutes ago, arby58 said:

It's an interesting comparison. The Twins also got Liriano and Bonzer plus Nathan. They did have to give up a very good catcher in A.J. Pierzynski, but they had Joe Mauer waiting in the wings. The thing that made the Ryan trade so valuable is they gave up next to nothing to get him. I'd probably also rate the Nathan trade slightly higher.

I'd go back even further in history for what I thought as a kid was the best trade the Twins made - getting Caesar Tovar for Gerry Arrigo. Arrigo never really matched his performance after the trade, with a 2.2 career WAR - and Tovar's positional flexibility was unmatched, along with a career WAR of 28.3. That's a darn good trade!

I mean, I'd rather get Liriano and Nathan (let alone also a number 5 starter) rather than Ryan alone any day of the year. 

[JD-TWINS]

Offense is & has been rolling since late April - enough to pull the yearly totals up into very respectable level!

28 straight games with a HR is a nice roll.

Lewis - Lee - Wallner all seem to be probable contributors in the last 70 games ……,,much bigger than in the first half.

A not very popular move I’d like to see to help enable ALL good bats into the line-up would be Lewis to LF - can play every day and eliminate the Margot spot on the roster. Maybe worth a shot …..seems better than shifting to 2B in August? Lee is at 3B!!

MLB averages, BA is .242 & OPS is .702 …….,2024 Twins:

Larnach .238 & .723

Santana .242 & .737

Jeffers .239 & .798

Castro .268 & .784

Buxton .281 & .827

Martin .265 & .702

Kepler .253 & .704

Margot .231 & .627

Vazquez and Farmer are bad as we know

Wallner .222 & .911   (BA .080 5 games ago)

Lewis .292 & 1.039

Lee .364 & .947

Correa .310 & .905

Miranda .325 & .888

Farmer & possibly Margot are gone with Lewis & Martin becoming available in early/mid August.

Don’t see any spots where additions are needed - nor do I see issues with the length of the line-up as some elude to above.

 

[arby58]

12 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

I mean, I'd rather get Liriano and Nathan (let alone also a number 5 starter) rather than Ryan alone any day of the year. 

I hear you - but AJ was a very good player at a premium position, whereas Cruz was a short-term rental. Liriano really only had the one super-outstanding year with the Twins - otherwise he was up and down. Bonzer was -0.5 WAR for his career, nearly all with Minnesota, so he's not really a factor. It's also a situation where we are assessing the entirety of Nathan's (outstanding) career with the Twins - if Ryan keeps pitching the way he has the first part of this year, that might flip thinking as well. Maybe the right grade is 'incomplete.'

[Fire Dan Gladden]

3 hours ago, bean5302 said:

Who are these 3 playoff caliber starters you're referencing?
Joe Ryan (who has collapsed every 2nd half in his career),
Simeon Woods Richardson (117 IP last year on pace for 160 IP this year)... and?
Lopez = 5.11 ERA
Ober = 4.14 ERA
Paddack = 5.18 ERA

I think the Twins are looking pretty dicey at those playoff caliber starters right now.
 

The truth is frowned upon in these parts...

[Doctor Gast]

IMO we started out the off-season very badly. Made some bonehead moves & ingrained the "all or nothing" approach that was doomed to fail.

We started out great with Lewis  but w/o Lewis, later Correa & Buxton & the league had the book to counter our hitting, we took an awful gut punch. To give Baldelli credit he changed course on our hitting approach (which SEA is still trying to figure out), we slowly improved our offense. Castro has been our anchor especially during the absence of Lewis, Correa & Buxton. Correa has been playing like an all-star, the Buck Truck is making deliveries more frequently, Miranda after having some playing time, he has shifted into another gear, Martin has been valuable & like Miranda he needs more playing time to hit that other gear. Lee as expected hit ground running much like Lewis did. Wallner returned from AAA a better hitter & fielder & Julien isn't far behind. I have great faith in our young core & advocated not picking up inferior veteran roadblocks that have set us back. For our superior young players to develop properly for the postseason we need to get rid those roadblocks.

The rotation helped get us through the rough patch. SWR has been a nice surprise, Lopez is going through his readjustment but expect him to get on top of it. Everybody else is doing about what is expected. These guys can get us to the dance but it'd be nice to have another top tier SP to advance in  the postseason.  

The new acquisitions have done pretty much what I expected which is not much. Except Staumont I expected the TOS to be a non factor because we can expect at least one good inning but not any more or with frequency with Staumont. Jax has been steady, Duran & Thielbar have regressed. I have hope that Duran will rebound but I don't expect Thielbar no more than serviceable. Once managed correctly Alcala has proven valuable. Varland has not been taken advantaged of in the pen yet. Because of my doubt with Thielbar IMO we need a LHRP set up man.

I like where we are sitting but CLE is having a great season because they had faith in their young players & kept a good hitting philosophy. It's expected that CLE will pick up a SP. We need to add to our needs finally if we want to win the division.

 

[Shaitan]

1) April stats are overrated

2) This team needs at least one everyday corner outfielder (especially going into 2025)

3) Prospects are fun!

4) This team has positional player depth and, dare I say, health? Two years in a row with fewer than 10 pitchers starting games is relatively unheard of in today's MLB. Which is quite fortunate, as the SP depth is less this year.

[Brandon]

Several observations

1.  The Twins are 10 runs scored away from being tied for top scoring team in the league.  
2. Our bullpen is currently 6 deep in terms of competence from the relievers,  Staumont, Duran, Jax, Sands, Alcala, and barely Okert.  Stewart is 7 and he should be back soon, probably after the all-star break.  and we still have depth and Varland (I think we may acquire a reliever at the deadline but what do I know).  

3.  I think our defense has been better too.  I don't hear too many negatives about it

4.  Festa pitched better than his record shows.  He only walked one and made it through 5 innings in both of his starts.  He had 4 bad pitches that resulted in HRs against him which is a lot in 10 innings.  otherwise, he likely would have given up less than half the runs he did.  This tells me he is close.

5.  Woods-Richardson has been a rotation savior.   Ober and Paddacks ERA is slighted by a few bad starts.  They have pitched mostly better.  we just have to hope we get the good results in the playoffs.  I am surprised by Lopez pitching so poorly this year.  

6.  Our deficit with Cleveland is from the 7-13 start when we had several injuries and slumps at the same time.  Cleveland will likely go through a patch like this too.  NY is now.  It will be fun to watch the rest of the season.  

[bean5302]

4 hours ago, USAFChief said:

If you get past the wild card round you'll use 4 starters, minimum.

Yeah, but the odds the other team has 4 playoff caliber starters is also at a minimum so your back end guy vs. their back end guy. Evens the odds most of the time, haha.

[bean5302]

1 hour ago, arby58 said:

I hear you - but AJ was a very good player at a premium position, whereas Cruz was a short-term rental. Liriano really only had the one super-outstanding year with the Twins - otherwise he was up and down. Bonzer was -0.5 WAR for his career, nearly all with Minnesota, so he's not really a factor. It's also a situation where we are assessing the entirety of Nathan's (outstanding) career with the Twins - if Ryan keeps pitching the way he has the first part of this year, that might flip thinking as well. Maybe the right grade is 'incomplete.'

I'm in the minority who thinks trades should be viewed retrospectively vs. what actually happened (barring unforeseen injury). It doesn't really matter if a company's leadership is consistently explaining "it should have worked!" They get shown the door.

In terms of actual value, it's unreal how successful the A.J. Pierzynski trade was. In fact, it indirectly even led to Jhoan Duran.
Pierzynski -> Nathan + Liriano + Bonser
Bonser -> Chris Province (end of story)
Liriano -> Escobar + Pedro Hernandez
Escobar -> Duran + Ernie De La Trinidad + Gabriel Maciel

Nathan was a HoF caliber closer. No reason he shouldn't be in there. He was arguably the most dominant closer in all of baseball (including Mariano Rivera) for several years, and even with anybody over a 7 year peak. Liriano was a upper/mid rotation arm in his prime (better than Joe Ryan), and Bonser was serviceable as a back end starter. Like many fans... if only. If only Radke wasn't trying to pitch with a broken shoulder. If only Liriano hadn't torn his UCL. The Twins would be World Series Champions in 2006.

[Hubie29]

4 hours ago, bean5302 said:

Who are these 3 playoff caliber starters you're referencing?
Joe Ryan (who has collapsed every 2nd half in his career),
Simeon Woods Richardson (117 IP last year on pace for 160 IP this year)... and?
Lopez = 5.11 ERA
Ober = 4.14 ERA
Paddack = 5.18 ERA

I think the Twins are looking pretty dicey at those playoff caliber starters right now.
 

Couldn't agree more

[Hubie29]

We do not have 3 quality playoff starters on this rostor.  You need shut down pitchers in the playoffs, because you will be facing better 1 and 2 starters than what we have. 

[Riverbrian]

6 hours ago, JD-TWINS said:

Agree that Margot isn’t turning into some fabulous run producer as of June 1. Regressing back toward his norm……per the 2800 AB’s.

What I don’t get is all the angst about how many games he’s played “outside of the platoon” and how he has too many AB’s v. RH pitching? He’s a poor option v. RH pitching - everyone knows that. Rocco knows that.

Does “forced into action” mean anything?

Julien sucks, Castro removed from OF play and stationed at 2B - Kirilloff to IL - Wallner can’t hit in April, sent down (biggest issue) - Kepler out most of 3 weeks, IL - Larnach bad toe can’t be brought up, IL - Buxton out with knee problems, IL - Lewis out 58 games, Quad, IL and Castro at 3B many games, no OF play - etc………..often no left handed options for corner OF action or no other option in CF. Martin could have played a bit more, & in hindsight, may have.

The FO & Baldelli brought Margot in, as you (not some) are well aware …….that’s been stretched! ………he pinch hits and the pitcher gets replaced with a RH - good baseball by the opponents.

I don’t really care if/when he gets replaced……I trust the Team to do what they think is best……just seems he & mgmt. get a lot of static for something that became unavoidable with circumstances of other’s health.

"Julien sucks, Castro removed from OF play and stationed at 2B - Kirilloff to IL - Wallner can’t hit in April, sent down (biggest issue) - Kepler out most of 3 weeks, IL - Larnach bad toe can’t be brought up, IL - Buxton out with knee problems, IL - Lewis out 58 games, Quad, IL and Castro at 3B many games, no OF play - etc………..often no left handed options for corner OF action or no other option in CF".

Yes you are right... this is why Margot is getting more AB's against Right Handed Pitching. Nobody could see this coming when it happens every single year without fail? You can't justify off-season planning for these things by saying  "Does “forced into action” mean anything"?

He was fated the minute he was acquired to being forced into action because these things always happen. Forced into action means nothing to me. 

27 minutes ago, JD-TWINS said:

Offense is & has been rolling since late April - enough to pull the yearly totals up into very respectable level!

28 straight games with a HR is a nice roll.

Lewis - Lee - Wallner all seem to be probable contributors in the last 70 games ……,,much bigger than in the first half.

A not very popular move I’d like to see to help enable ALL good bats into the line-up would be Lewis to LF - can play every day and eliminate the Margot spot on the roster. Maybe worth a shot …..seems better than shifting to 2B in August? Lee is at 3B!!

MLB averages, BA is .242 & OPS is .702 …….,2024 Twins:

Larnach .238 & .723

Santana .242 & .737

Jeffers .239 & .798

Castro .268 & .784

Buxton .281 & .827

Martin .265 & .702

Kepler .253 & .704

Margot .231 & .627

Vazquez and Farmer are bad as we know

Wallner .222 & .911   (BA .080 5 games ago)

Lewis .292 & 1.039

Lee .364 & .947

Correa .310 & .905

Miranda .325 & .888

Farmer & possibly Margot are gone with Lewis & Martin becoming available in early/mid August.

Don’t see any spots where additions are needed - nor do I see issues with the length of the line-up as some elude to above.

 

"Don’t see any spots where additions are needed - nor do I see issues with the length of the line-up as some elude to above".

I might be the some you refer to. I know I've been eluding to lengthening the lineup to try and cover for pitching. You are ignoring your own post and not considering stuff like "Julien sucks, Castro removed from OF play and stationed at 2B - Kirilloff to IL - Wallner can’t hit in April, sent down (biggest issue) - Kepler out most of 3 weeks, IL - Larnach bad toe can’t be brought up, IL - Buxton out with knee problems, IL - Lewis out 58 games, Quad, IL and Castro at 3B many games, no OF play - etc………..often no left handed options for corner OF action or no other option in CF".

There are still three months of baseball to be played plus the playoffs. Any chance of these types of things happening during the rest of July, August, September and the playoffs? 

 

[BH67]

3 hours ago, LA VIkes Fan said:

I would like to see a rotation add but it's only likely possible with someone on a lesser contract like Tyler Anderson or Erik Fedde, and the prospect cost is going to be high on both, Not holding my breath. No Kikuchi for me. A bullpen add would really help and it doesn't have to be a high end piece liek Estevez or Tanner Scott They would both be great but again, the prospect cost will be high. I'd be happy with Kirby Yates, Aroldis Chapman, or Lucas Erceg if we don't have to overspend too badly. Heck, even Chafin or Beeks might help. No need to augment the lineup at trade deadline pricing. 

I was gung-ho on getting Fedde until I noticed that he's past 30 and his season ERA is nearly two runs lower than his career average. Getting him for the stretch run reminds me of what the FO hoped to get out of Jorge Lopez.

[JD-TWINS]

1 minute ago, Riverbrian said:

"Julien sucks, Castro removed from OF play and stationed at 2B - Kirilloff to IL - Wallner can’t hit in April, sent down (biggest issue) - Kepler out most of 3 weeks, IL - Larnach bad toe can’t be brought up, IL - Buxton out with knee problems, IL - Lewis out 58 games, Quad, IL and Castro at 3B many games, no OF play - etc………..often no left handed options for corner OF action or no other option in CF".

Yes you are right... this is why Margot is getting more AB's against Right Handed Pitching. Nobody could see this coming when it happens every single year without fail? You can't justify off-season planning for these things by saying  "Does “forced into action” mean anything"?

He was fated the minute he was acquired to being forced into action because these things always happen. Forced into action means nothing to me. 

"Don’t see any spots where additions are needed - nor do I see issues with the length of the line-up as some elude to above".

I might be the some you refer to. I know I've been eluding to lengthening the lineup to try and cover for pitching. You are ignoring your own post and not considering stuff like "Julien sucks, Castro removed from OF play and stationed at 2B - Kirilloff to IL - Wallner can’t hit in April, sent down (biggest issue) - Kepler out most of 3 weeks, IL - Larnach bad toe can’t be brought up, IL - Buxton out with knee problems, IL - Lewis out 58 games, Quad, IL and Castro at 3B many games, no OF play - etc………..often no left handed options for corner OF action or no other option in CF".

There are still three months of baseball to be played plus the playoffs. Any chance of these types of things happening during the rest of July, August, September and the playoffs? 

 

You going to expand the Roster to 45?? There’s only so many options that are real - so many players available. What’s your solution, not your reposting of a paragraph I wrote - 2 different times? If 5 guys get hurt in the first month, a Team is probably going to be forced into playing someone with lesser ability. Seems to be common sense, and as you mention, this type of thing happens every year.

My recollection of history this year was put there for the guys that don’t recall the actual circumstances and think that Baldelli just has some love affair with Margot.

[LA Vikes Fan]

2 minutes ago, BH67 said:

I was gung-ho on getting Fedde until I noticed that he's past 30 and his season ERA is nearly two runs lower than his career average. Getting him for the stretch run reminds me of what the FO hoped to get out of Jorge Lopez.

You very well might be right about that. I wouldn't give up a high end prospect for him. But I would give up a prospect not in the top 15. 

[LA Vikes Fan]

5 hours ago, bean5302 said:

Who are these 3 playoff caliber starters you're referencing?
Joe Ryan (who has collapsed every 2nd half in his career),
Simeon Woods Richardson (117 IP last year on pace for 160 IP this year)... and?
Lopez = 5.11 ERA
Ober = 4.14 ERA
Paddack = 5.18 ERA

I think the Twins are looking pretty dicey at those playoff caliber starters right now.
 

The issue is at the top. Ryan, Ober, and SWR are actually pretty competent 2-4 guys in a playoff rotation IF they continue to pitch as they are now. The issue is who can match up against a true #1 like Gerrit Cole, Corbin Burnes, or even a 2024 Seth Lugo, Luis Castillo, or a healthy Verlander. 

The playoff rotation is a good as Pablo Lopez pitches. I think the rest actually works. Ryan has been a strong #2 this year. He faded last season, but he was hurt. Ober has made a big step up so far this year. If they continue like this, they can be the #2 and #3 guys.  Almost all #4 guys are crapshoots in the playoffs and I like what we've seen so far from SWR. But Pablo, not happening right now. He's the key.  Last year's second half and playoff Pablo would be good enough.  

By the way, Cleveland has the same problem, No established #1. 

[BH67]

3 hours ago, wabene said:

I think it was Tom F who tipped me off on this. The Twins have seemed remarkably streaky, but have been very consistent month by month.

Through the first two games in Pittsburgh, the Twins were streaky in the extreme. From that point on they've been considerably steadier, similar to September last season. I think the current modus operandi is sustainable after the All-Star break, provided that they stay healthy. I'm cautiously optimistic that the Twins in current form can get to the ALCS.

[Riverbrian]

2 minutes ago, JD-TWINS said:

You going to expand the Roster to 45?? There’s only so many options that are real - so many players available. What’s your solution, not your reposting of a paragraph I wrote - 2 different times? If 5 guys get hurt in the first month, a Team is probably going to be forced into playing someone with lesser ability. Seems to be common sense, and as you mention, this type of thing happens every year.

My recollection of history this year was put there for the guys that don’t recall the actual circumstances and think that Baldelli just has some love affair with Margot.

I can't expand the roster to 45. It's set by law at 26 unless there is a doubleheader. 

By asking me if I'm going to expand the roster to 45. You really are not understanding my point.

26 spots with 13 typically held for pitching. 13 spots for position players and 9 need to play in every lineup.

Because there are only 26 roster spots... it kind of suggests that Margot was going to be called upon. 

If the roster is 45... You can keep 3 or 4 Margot's around. I wouldn't complain as much. 

Since it's 26 spots... My solution... I wouldn't have rostered Margot at all. I would have thought to myself, I've only got 26 spots... we are going to need everyone on the 26 man so let's not roster someone who has never been able to hit right handed pitching. 

I understand that if 5 guys get hurt in the first month that the team is probably going to be forced into playing someone with lesser ability so I'd try not to purposely roster players with proven lesser ability like they did with Margot. 

Once you roster a player with lesser ability... you don't have to let them keep demonstrating that they have lesser ability. 

[LA Vikes Fan]

10 minutes ago, BH67 said:

Through the first two games in Pittsburgh, the Twins were streaky in the extreme. From that point on they've been considerably steadier, similar to September last season. I think the current modus operandi is sustainable after the All-Star break, provided that they stay healthy. I'm cautiously optimistic that the Twins in current form can get to the ALCS.

Agree with everything you say except that I think to get to the ALCS the Twins need to win the AL Central and get the #2 seed. That way they would get the AL West winner (Seattle or Houston) if they beat the wild card in the ALDS round. More importantly, they avoid Cleveland, Baltimore, and the Yankees until the ALCS. To do that I think they will need to win 95-97 games.  That means going 44-25 or 42-27 the rest of the way. That's a 60-63% winning percentage. It's possible if they don't have any more major injuries. 

[JD-TWINS]

1 minute ago, Riverbrian said:

I can't expand the roster to 45. It's set by law at 26 unless there is a doubleheader. 

By asking me if I'm going to expand the roster to 45. You really are not understanding my point.

26 spots with 13 typically held for pitching. 13 spots for position players and 9 need to play in every lineup.

Because there are only 26 roster spots... it kind of suggests that Margot was going to be called upon. 

If the roster is 45... You can keep 3 or 4 Margot's around. I wouldn't complain as much. 

Since it's 26 spots... My solution... I wouldn't have rostered Margot at all. I would have thought to myself, I've only got 26 spots... we are going to need everyone on the 26 man so let's not roster someone who has never been able to hit right handed pitching. 

I understand that if 5 guys get hurt in the first month that the team is probably going to be forced into playing someone with lesser ability so I'd try not to purposely roster players with proven lesser ability like they did with Margot. 

Once you roster a player with lesser ability... you don't have to let them keep demonstrating that they have lesser ability. 

2 things:

1) depth comes from the 40-man roster (that’s what I was eluding to with the expansion to 45)

2) Margot’s role entering the season was RH bat to help in a predominantly LH spot in LF or RF, as needed. He has .899 OPS from June 1 to July 3.

I get your criticism of FO in general but you offer no solutions - are there (were there) a bunch of multi faceted hitters out there to bring in on a budget in the offseason?? Who might they be, these players with no faults?