rv78

Losing Lee for an extended period of time won't hurt a team that is going to finish in 4th place anyway.

If the Twins need to decenter themselves from Lewis then they should have done so with Buxton at least 5 years ago and Correa after last season.

My optimism for this team was completely lost a long time ago. You can start anywhere you want. How about overall at the top.... MLB is broken. When the Dodgers can spend unlimited amounts of money to the tune of having hundreds of millions of dollars in deferred salary that is the definition of a broken system. And the fact that other clubs are NOT up in arms over it shows that they are idiots for letting something like that happen. On the other hand the Pohlads led us to believe they were all in by adding payroll in 2023 only to pull the plug in 2024. Was that their definition of "going for it"? A 1 year attempt? The FO continually, year after year, tries to improve the team by adding floor type players, when all it has done is maintain the status quo. The superstars can't stay on the field and the FO knows it so they double-down on rosters spots to cover their positions instead of actually improving the weak areas of the team. Their great farm system and pitching pipeline has produced zero hitters that have proven themselves to be everyday top caliber talents and 1 front-line starting pitcher (Ober) in their tenure. If the pitching pipeline is there, and coming, they have yet to prove it so don't believe it until it happens. We've heard it before. The Manager doesn't trust his players to play everyday or hit against opposite handed pitchers and uses a piece of paper to make decisions. He's proven he can win when his team sets a major league record for HR in a season but has proven he can't win when he actually has to manage games and make decisions that affect the outcome. The thinking that almost every player needs to play multiple positions produces mediocre results instead of being really good at one position. Young players coming up get moved around the field like they are pieces of a chess board almost daily and then everyone questions their fielding ability and wonder why mistakes are made. He plays SS, let's move him to 2B, no 3B, no 1B, no he's only good enough to DH. Everything they do is wrong and reason for less optimism. I have lost a lot of interest in MLB due to the inequality of rosters that continually widens every year and I definitely won't watch this team until there are new owners, a new Front Office, and a new Manager.

"In terms of how a full-time move to third base for Lee would affect Lewis, it’s more of a hypothetical question. Unfortunately, at this point, it’s difficult to ask where he will play when he comes back and is 100% healthy, because there’s no telling when that will be—or, more importantly, how long it will last. It’s a harsh reality that the Twins may have to begin planning for, as a competing team can’t continue to have to patch together a premium position for more than half of every season. " And yet they have been doing that in CF with Buck for what? 9 years now?

This team is comical at best. Had Rocco only rested him today he wouldn't have gotten hurt. But wait, he didn't play yesterday so he should have been well rested. According to Rocco rest prevents injuries so what happened? I've never seen so many players get hurt just playing a game, running or swinging a bat as the Twins have. It's just a matter of time before Buck joins him on the DL. Do these guys even prep themselves with the necessary stretching and conditioning before a game? It's a joke. Sorry, but at this point all I can do is laugh.

There are a lot of players that deserve an everyday spot in the lineup. Unfortunately with Rocco that isn't going to happen unless your name is Correa. Every other hitter on the roster will come to the ball park everyday not knowing IF they are playing, WHERE they are playing or WHEN they are playing. We can only hope so!

Gray had similar if not worse seasons in 2016 and 2018 as he did in 2021, the year before he came to the Twins. Yes he improved by a full run in ERA but it was hardly a FIX when he previously had good seasons in 2014, 2015, 2017, and 2019. He didn't need fixing, he just needed a reset. Ryan had as good or even better stats in all of his college and minor league seasons than he does in the majors. Again, didn't need fixing. Stewart hasn't proven anything other than that he could throw 27 good innings in 2023, That's one season or should I say, half a season. That makes him no better than a Jorge Lopez and we all know how that turned out. As for Castro, he isn't better now with the Twins than he was with the Tigers. In his 4 years with the Tigers he hit .272 overall. With the Twins he's hit .251. Has he really been fixed or maybe overused would be a better term..

True!

Once again we are led to believe that the Twins can FIX a player that another club couldn't. Hasn't worked in the past and my bet is it won't work this time either, But let's keep trying...... Maybe they'll be lucky that this guy is the one out of a thousand when it happens.

Reading all of the comments says this team is a mess. Seriously. Yet the writer suggests the Twins are a playoff contender. They have an "elite" starting staff. Some say Lopez is NOT an Ace. Ober and Ryan are good but not without their occasional hiccups. SWR is only 1 year in and Paddack has proven he can't be relied on. They have tremendous depth in the minors. (Uh, how can you consider minor leaguers that are unproven in the majors as depth?) Other articles say the Twins have the "best bullpen in baseball". We heard that last year too and learned that wasn't the case. Their best hitters they rely on are injury prone. Larnach and Wallner can't play defense. If Buck is out, as usual, then all three outfield spots are not worth a hoot. Correa and Lewis are suddenly considered in the same catagory as Buck when it comes to being injury prone, leaving the left side of the infield suspect as well. No one seems to have the ability to play 2nd base either offensively or defensively, and 1B seems to have been given (by Rocco) to a veteran (France) who was brought in on a prove it or lose it opportunity. That makes the right side of the infield a problem as well. Now add a catching combo that is inconsistant and we have an entire roster on the field that almost no one can trust to perform or even be on the field. Good job Falvey.

This is spot on. If Correa and Buck only play half a season and Lewis hits .233 like he did last year the 7, 8, 9 hitters won't matter. I've yet to see a team make it to the playoffs and win because the 7, 8, 9 hitters carried the team. As for Lewis playing 2B,,,, No need, None, Zero, Zilch, Nada. If Julien, Lee or Castro can't man that position then try Keaschall.

Less playing time. Once again the Twins push a young player to the back instead of letting him take over a position and become a full-timer. I wonder how many Championships they would have won if Hrbek, Gaetti and the rest of the players that led the team to the '87 and '91 titles had been treated the same way? Answer=Zero. Let's see........ Rocco can have Miranda play 1B today, 3B tomorrow, DH on Thursday, Off day on Friday and be back at 1B on Saturday. Rest on Sunday, Back to 1B Monday, etc, etc..... Imagine if Hrbek or Gaetti were treated the same way. Then everyone wonders why the Twins are one of the worse fielding teams in the majors and can't hit when they need to. It's a joke.

Can't be much worse than what Thielbar was last year.

Is this sarcasm? Because if you are happy watching a team that prioritizes .500 baseball over a Championship, even just 1, then you will never see that Championship.

Not sure how you can call Kepler "unlucky" when he's only had 1.5 seasons of good baseball in his career. If France is similar, it's a waste of a roster spot.

Constantly bringing in washed up players to maintain a "floor" which takes away playing time from the young players you have in your system does nothing to help those young players reach a "ceiling". If the young players aren't good enough to be everyday players then you have already failed at the FO level and you should be replaced by someone who can actually "raise the floor".

Point on with Bader. Rocco has proven to play his veterans at every point. It doesn't matter who is in front of them on the depth chart or how bad that veteran is playing. Rocco will OVER-use him. I'd be willing to bet that the very first game this year the Twins face a starting Lefty Pitcher, he will be starting over Larnach or Wallner..... unless Buck is hurt already which might be even more likely.

Rocco may not have as many options this year but that doesn't mean he'll abandoned the idea or even tone it back a little. Mentally he doesn't have what it takes to be a Manager. Anyone who can't figure out how to avoid scheduled off-days for Correa and Buxton when they fall on the same day by simply adjusting one of them 1 day in either direction, when he is the one who sets the schedule, doesn't seem to be very intelligent.

You left out one aspect that will also likely make him the wrong player.... and that is HOW Rocco will use him. If it's ONLY as a ''backup'' CFer to Buxton then .... not a problem. But if it's also as a Righty hitter taking at bats away consistantly from Larnach and Wallner then it's a problem. And we all know, with how Rocco loves his reverse splits, what is going to happen.

Those are some pretty safe buyout increases based on Buxtons history of being injured, which is every season and Roccos love to platoon at every wim. Bader or his agent were pretty smart to use plate appearances as the option. I was hoping the added money would be based on performance such as batting average or on base percentage. Nope, now he can be as awful as usual and still make extra money just for being there. Another bonehead move by the FO.

HA! Ha! ...... With Rocco, that's like asking a fish not to swim.

Another laughable weak hitter who can play some defense. Which means he should only be a late inning replacement when the Twins have the lead. How will he be used? With Rocco it'll be every chance he gets against a lefty, plus time in CF to spell Buck, and since he's a veteran he'll take valuable at bats away from the youngsters that need playing time, which means WAY to often. Some day the Twins will realize that the problem for needing this type of player is BUXTON and this problem will only go away when Buxton is gone.

Alcala will be good if Rocco uses him correctly. Making him more than a 1 inning pitcher, which Rocco did multiple times last year, is what messed him up. All Stewart has done is proven he can't stay healthy and Topa has 1 year in the majors. That 1 year was decent but everyone knows you can't judge a pitcher or player by 1 good season. Which the so called experts are doing with him. He wasn't very effective for the Twins in 2024 was he? We can argue that Sands is also unproven. He had a good 2024. How many seasons did he have before that, that can be considered good? Zero. Jax and Duran are very possibly at the top of their game. Both could regress.......... a lot. The best bullpen in baseball is only on paper. Rocco loves his paper analytics. Now will he use his bullpen correctly? I doubt it.

Outside of Duran, Jax, Alcala, and Sands, every other pitcher mentioned in this article either hasn't proven to be anything other than an average replacement level pitcher or a AAA pitcher that hasn't figured it out yet. Add in Brock Stewart not being able to stay on the field and Topa only having 1 season too.. Looks to me like there is plenty of room for Coloumbe. Do you guys even analyze what the Twins have before you write an article with all the fluff?

Yeah, just what the Twins need...... Another injury prone player with defensive liabilities and 1 partial season of success. Why on earth would anyone trade a starting pitcher (Ryan or Ober) that is a solid part of your rotation or your 2 best relievers (Jax and Duran) for another Hope and a Prayer type player? It would be totally different if he had 2 seasons of being a good hitter and fielder but he doesn't even have 1. It would be totally different if the Twins had Festa, Matthews and any other AAA pitcher you want to name that they KNEW they could count on to replace the traded pitcher or if they WERE the traded pitcher. Yes Falvey is known for his stunning blockbuster moves that bring in injured or washed up players that turn into mush. Please stop the rediculousness.