Twins Daily Table Setter: December 11, 2023

My favorite reaction on MLBTR regarding the big market teams:

Yankees to Acquire two 40-man players from Dodgers

We won't get back what Polo is really worth to us, we'll come to regret it this year and I still don't like Julien at 2B, he's way to overrated at that position. We don't need to cut where it hurts, we mainly can't spend. People say we are short of depth in the OF. Buxton, Castro, Gordon, at some time Martin in premium the position of CF,  at the corners all those mentioned before plus Kepler, Wallner, Larnach & Kiriloff. That's not to mention a possible addition people want.

Our INF; Correa- SS, Lewis- 3B, Polanco- 2B, Farmer- utility, Castro will be very busy in CF but on rare occasion he could fill in & Julien- 2B fill in.

OF depth We have 4 (possibly 5) viable candidates at the premium position of CF we have that position pretty covered, cOF we have 8 (possibly 9), that should cover 2 positions right. (more than likely Buxton & Martin will not be on the field the 1st month/) That seems not being short to me.

INF depth  4 players to fill in 3 demanding positions, with one fill in at 2B & cameo appearances from Castro & don't even think about Gordon. That's walking a thin line. definitely not abundance that people think

With an already sparse INF we trade away our most reliable clutch hitter Polanco plus we'll never get what he's worth to us. & if that's not enough they want to trade away another viable INFer Farmer. That leaves Correa at SS, Lewis at 3B & fill in 2B man Julien as primary 2B man. (I'd rather have Castro as our primary CFer throughout the season than Julien at 2B.) Who do we have as utility? Castro will spread too thin in CF. PLease rethink this out, Think what a depleted INF will do for our pitching which BTW they want to trade Vazquez which will lower our pitching effectiveness further plus reducing the level of our catching. Yet the one that they can afford to lose (Kepler, $10MM) they want to keep. Can you see how fast this team will free fall if this insanity starts, Even though we have a lot of talent we can end up like '22 & '21 because of bad decisions. I warned you in '21 & '22 & I'm warning you now.

Quote

What Merrifield

Second base

A headline reads: "We need to chill" :The offseason is going to take a while to develop. 

All that really means is, the Twins FO will let other teams dictate the market. They are not leaders but followers. It is too much too ask for them to take the initiative and go out and get what this team really needs before other teams take the cream of the crop, Their overwhelming patience will once again mean they will have to take from the leftovers or over-pay with in-house talent or top level prospects to actually improve the major league roster. Of course, maybe "improving" the roster is not a goal, Saving money is the real goal and we should be happy they are being cautious. Amazing what a difference 1 year makes.

No way the Grinch will be able to steal Shohei's Christmas. If he does that will be one rich Grinch.

It's always interesting how we throw prospects names out there like they are superstars.  Be realistic here.  Most of the minor league players mentioned have proven little to nothing to be counted on.  This team had holes last year and won the Central mainly because no other team was interested in competing.  This coming season shows a lot more holes.  We already have teams in the central making moves.  Yes even Kansas City.  Apparently it's not too early for them to add players.  We know the reason is payroll reduction to some degree.  As of now this team has more holes than the perverbial piece of Swiss cheese.  I hope we start filling up those holes with mlb ready talent.  As far as ohatani contract is concerned I think it is very bad for baseball as a whole.  That huge contract will continue to increase the salaries of the mediocre average mlb player.  I think we will again see ticket and concession prices increase making it too expensive for a family to attend a game.

14 minutes ago, Whitey333 said:

As far as ohatani contract is concerned I think it is very bad for baseball as a whole.  That huge contract will continue to increase the salaries of the mediocre average mlb player.  I think we will again see ticket and concession prices increase making it too expensive for a family to attend a game.

You have your economics backwards.