Open Windows

When you glorify championships, this is what you get.

No question the Twins should be able to take advantage of a weaker division to pad their bid for the WC. That's a talking point that often goes unmentioned.

I'm not sure how ripe the division is for the taking this season though. You're right, Cleveland hasn't done much this offseason. Swapping Alonso for Santana might be a slight downgrade, and losing Shaw didn't help either but IMO the only thing keeping the Indians from coasting to the Central title is health. If they're healthy that pitching staff is one of the best in baseball. Add to that a good bullpen and tons of positional talent and it's hard to see MN taking the division from them. 

The window is absolutely open this year. But the team needs reinforcements. Houston stared at the window for two seasons (2015, 2016) before coming to terms with the fact that it is not enough to count on your young corps. It has to be augmented with veteran leaders.

They need to sign a front-end starter and a veteran bat, and then probably need to double down on those same efforts at the trade deadline. 

I would go so far as to say that, in order for the Twins to be playing in the World Series this year, it will take a roster that has on it 5-7 players who right now are not even in the organization.  

The window is certainly open.  I'd argue that if the White Sox had ripped it down to the studs, they'd be in the perfect position to compete with a young veteran club that includes the rare and perhaps mythical True Ace.  The Royals took their shot and it paid off.  The Tigers swung for the fences and came short.  Good for them.

The tanking thing (at least in its current iteration) will run its course, but in the meantime, the Twins should be bold and take advantage in a buyers market.

With the current pitching staff I don't think the Window is open.  The FO would need to spend about 30 - 40 MM more on 2 FA pitchers to have an "on paper" shot at the title this year.  Also the White Sox have a stacked minor league system.  If their prospects come on they could compete this year.

'People ask me what I do in winter when there’s no baseball. I’ll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring.'

They still need pitching. We should be careful about where we think the Twins are -- last year was a down year for the AL. Yes they are in a good position but the front office has work to do. They probably won't finish where they did next year without a little more pitching help.

"This puts the Twins in a seriously advantageous position"

 

This "advantageous position" made the Twins looks like a great team when they really weren't in the 2000's. I'm sorry but doing well in the regular season and getting swept in the playoffs doesn't do anything for me. It's easy to have a good record when 3/5 of your division is not interested in competing. That is 35% of your schedule is against teams that are battling for the rights to draft Nick Lodolo or Bobby Witt, Jr instead of the rights to hoist the World Series trophy.

 

Don't get me wrong...I am excited to see what the Twins are going to do with the talent they have over the next few years. This squad definitely has more raw talent and a higher ceiling than most of the 2000 teams did. Nonetheless, I won't be impressed until I see some postseason success.

Why is this subject so important? Winning the division? It is certainly nice to see the progress lately after the four very bad years but winning the division in perhaps (says the article) the weakest division is not a definition of a great team is it? A deep playoff run, ie the championship series should be the minimum goal in my estimation. Again, I am not meaning to downplay the progress this team has made lately and I love the youth, we have the formations of a very strong roster for some years to come. I just believe expectations should be higher.

I guess I'd make the distinction between expectation and aspiration. If Falvey gets us a #2 type starter, and if Santana and Berrios give us a bit better that #3 production, and if the back end of the rotation...you get the point...if things come together, then this team can be EXPECTED to compete for the wild card again, even have a shot at the division if Cleveland has a rash of injuries and we don't.

Of course Falvey and gang aspire to more, as do fans. I don't think anyone is well-advised to expect that until we see a few more exciting additions and start to see peak performances from the core.

Fortunately, that other window, the window that says the organization has the capacity to make the required moves, has also opened. They have the trifecta of cash, a decent talent pipeline, and the start of some surplus of truly valuable assets that can be traded for assets of like value in areas of deficiency. 

We'll just have to see if Falvine is up to the challenge. Right now, there's good reason most of our discussions still center on the wild card and the division title. 

When using a deep playoff run, not just a one and done second WC as a bench mark, I think that window is open, but not as far as I had thought it would be a few years ago. The failure of so many of the high velocity BP arms to produce, the continuing lack of a legitimate #1 starter, and a fairly mediocre level of defense in the IF makes this a far more difficult project than I had anticipated. Spring training will flesh out the roster issues somewhat but it seems the SP issue will go unresolved, some due to options, and some due to indecisiveness. And the Sano issue could be an all season problem for any of several reasons. If the division is as weak as it seems we may pad our win total to allow a second WC appearance. Yawn.

To me, it goes without saying that summers are more fun when they win. Obviously, watching a winning team (in any sport you enjoy) is fun. Heck, I love baseball. I think it's fun watching baseball. Period. But, I will be expecting the Twins to win 90+ games this year if not even 95+. Now if they go and win 100+ I will probably be more optimistic about their chances in the postseason. But when other teams are putting up the same or more wins in a season and playing better competition...then how was our schedule "advantageous"?

Margin of error. Buxton could go down for a month. Santana for 4 starts and we cam still finish first or second in the division. Rougher to do so in the east.

Why even follow the team? Click on for the playoffs. There are 162 regular season games. It's a lot more fun when they win. I'm frustrated with playoff losses. But I've always said that summer itself is a lot more fun when the Twins are relevant.

That's right. Deeper playoff runs would have been nice, but the 00s were a great run for this team even without them.

The window is open, but the Twins still need a rotation piece or two to get to the next level, if not to make the playoffs.  It is possible to catch the Indians if we upgrade our rotation to even somewhat like 80% of Cleveland. At 40% we have little chance.

Twins even with their current ballclub should be able to go about 37-20 against the 3 weak teams in the division.  A better starting rotation could up that victory total to 40 or 41.  That is a huge edge for making the playoffs.  Let's get some decent starting pitching.