Twins Roster Built on Defense and Rule Changes

Very interesting, thanks.

Count me among those who are in favor of the pitch clock.  Recall that first game Varland pitched last fall in Yankee stadium.  Seemed like each half inning was over shortly after it began.  Loved that pace.  Better yet, if 6:40 weeknight games are over by 9 and before dark, some of us old timers may think about seeing a couple rather than just Thursday afternoons.

I'm excited about this defense. Though, I'm curious what the range numbers will look like now that Carlos can't start a play on the grass and leverage his big arm. Hopefully that doesn't hurt him too much. (Thankfully we're out of the dome, where a shortstop, like Gagne, was best setting up behind the infield line in shallow left-center.)

3 minutes ago, nicksaviking said:

The defense wasn't a problem last year, I think they way overcompensated with the free agents and trades. This team struggled on offense last year. That should have been a higher priority. 

While I don't disagree the offense was a problem, when you rely on someone like Celestino as a primary backup at multiple positions, you have a defensive problem as well.

The Twins aren't the Yankees or Dodgers and, thus, will not be able to afford as much pitching, offense, and defense as they want. They have to make a plan and move the chips where they can to back the plan up. I'm sure poor hitting defensive studs are much cheaper than awesome hitting but poor defending players. I don't know if the plan will work, but as much as I wished they had more average hitters, I'm glad they are trying something new and sticking with it.  The rotation looks to be one of the best I've ever seen. Perhaps they have no Nolan Ryan-style aces, but they have 5 or 6 number 2s. Even Ober, who looks to be the cast-off would have been the team ace in the Nolasco years. They could use better middle relievers and better hitters, but they very well might have the best rotation and all-around defense in the MLB. 

"Now that shortstops can't swing to the other side of second base, we will see Carlos Correa (aka C4) ranging to his left and making that spin throw on the right side of second base a couple of times this year. I'm excited to see shortstops limited in their shifting ability and see some of the most impressive athletes in the world be able to show it off. The Twins get to be, arguably, the biggest beneficiary."

That's what I say, IMO Correa was bored with the shift. I'm looking forward this season to see more spectacular plays at SS. Also 2B will be a ton more difficult with the ban shift.

Hope they make use of Molitor's session on base running & will be interesting to see how teams will capitalize on Jeffers arm and seems everybody has adapted to the pitch clock.

Seems like Kepler & Gallo are taking advantage of shift ban already.

1 minute ago, nicksaviking said:

Celestino's bat was a bigger problem than Celestino's glove.

Geez, people. I'm not arguing that the offense (or Celestino's bat) wasn't bad. Just saying that without depth, defense wasn't stellar either.

Hopefully when our bullpen enters the game, the opposing hitter's moonshots won't make our defense irrelevant.

25 minutes ago, Missbuhoke03 said:

I cannot wait to watch some amazing defense this year! In my opinion, there is nothing better than watching superior defense in the game of baseball! 😍

 

I second that quote.

Another great article, Alex. Thank you. I'm looking forward to your next article.

1 hour ago, tarheeltwinsfan said:

Another great article, Alex. Thank you. I'm looking forward to your next article.

I concur.  I've always loved to hear what the guys who play or have played the game (especially at a really high level) think and how they process what is going on. 

Really appreciate the great work Alex.

Gallo has a "wide stance", you say... 😜

Is Target Field a Pitcher's Park?  Not saying it's not, but would like to see some stats to back up that statement.  As an old-timer myself, I'm looking forward to seeing how these rule changes impact the game, hopefully for the better.

I was expecting some sort of statistical support for the idea that the Twins stand to benefit "more than any other team"

Instead this article just rehashes a litany of previous, more specific articles that actually do provide some statistical analysis of defense, the shift limitations, Gallo, the pitch clock, etc.

I completely agree they stand to benefit, but I don't have the context of the 29 other teams and was hoping some of that would be provided here. I'm disappointed there was 0 statistical support provided for the main assertion of the article, and that there was little context given for how they benefit more than other teams.

I liked your article even though it turned out to be pretty much just an opinion column.  But it was a very interesting read.  I too am excited for the start of the season now less than 3 weeks away; even though I'm one of the thousands of fans that still cannot see the team on tv.  Anyway, if the team stays relatively injury free and if the players live up to all their hype,  it could be an interesting one.  It will be fun to see if Baldelli can actually manage a healthy major league team with a record payroll.  He may not be on the hot seat this year but on the warm seat especially if we don't see great improvement over the past two seasons of boring and undisciplined baseball.  Come on Rocco we are pulling for you.

For all the people attacking the lack of offense last year, I feel like they forget how our expect top offensive guys were hurt the second half of the season.  Buck and Polanco were expected to be 2 of our best hitters, and both missed a lot of time.  AK and Larnach who we had some counting on missed most of season.  I think part of the hope is that just greater health should improve the offense. 

I appreciate and want good defense to help my pitching staff, and shorten innings. But, if I had to choose between big offense and great defense, I think I'd still choose the big offense. That being said, there is a difference between average defense and a poor defense that just gives away too many outs. 

I don't think the defense was bad last year until all the injuries hit and the field was being taken by too many AAAA level players. And to be fair, that was a big problem with the offense last year as well. And yes, better health can greatly affect both this year. But Gallo, Taylor, Vazquez, Farmer, and Solano all offer solid to very good defense, and should raise the bar defensively, while providing just better overall roster construction and flexibility.

I am mostly in favor of the limited shift rules. I'm not a complete traditionalist by any means, but the overshifting felt boring to me. But I'm not convinced the changes are going to be huge. The SS can still play pretty much even with 2B. An OF can still shade and even bring a man to play a rover type position in a short OF role. Will there be an affect? I believe so, but remain unconvinced it will show major results.

For the record, I DON'T LIKE the SS and 2B having to stay on the dirt. MLB wants to limit the extreme shifts and return to more traditional alignments with 2 INF on each side of the 2B? Fine. But infielders have sometimes played on the grass since the game was invented. The dirt rule I'm not crazy about.

*Love the pitch clock. The game will move better and be more exciting and just like their milb bretheren, ML players will adjust and this won't even be talked about in a few months.

*I like the larger bases for player safety. Not sure it will make a major difference in SB when all is said and done. Might make it a bit easier to avoid a tag or over-sliding a base, but will a combined 3" shorter distance between bases make that much of a difference? Remember, the defender can potentially be an 1 1/2" closer to tagging the runner on a good throw.

*I'm uncertain about the limited throws to 1B. 4-5-6 tosses to 1B is BORING and slows the game down insufferably. But is 2 throws "fair"? I think this rule might increase SB attempts more than the larger bags. And that just might be a good change.

10 hours ago, Alex Boxwell said:

Aww man, my high school English teacher is here.

Are you trying to make a point?

Opinion articles are great, but when you use the framing of "the Twins are more positioned to benefit than any other team in baseball" in the first paragraph, it's not unreasonable to expect that assertion to be supported in some fashion.

Here's hoping you'll take the criticism constructively as it's meant, rather than making light of it for whatever reason.