rv78

With better management of the pitching staff the bullpen wouldn't be depleted. No reason why Varland couldn't have been long man out of the pen for the first 2 weeks of the season. The fifth spot in the rotation isn't needed until the 12th of April, the 2nd game against Detroit. Again, poor managing!

So Varland pitched today, Paddack tomorrow. That gives Pablo 6 days rest. My guess....the ONLY reason...... it is more important for him to pitch opening day in Minnesota than it is to win a game in Milwaukee. It amounts to more games being thrown away by the Manager. No reason why Lopez couldn't have pitched today or tomorrow improving the chances to win those games, but evidently it's not important. Sorry, but I don't agree with this kind of logic. Is there something wrong with using your best players as often as you can? Even an Ace Pitcher isn't important enough for Rocco to use when he can. Poor managing again.

You don't throw away the present for a "chance" in the future. Which is what they did. Twins fans need to stay away from Target Field this year and show them they don't like what they have done.

LOL. Let's all laugh at those who defend this FO. When you lose 2 good starters, and replace them with 1 broken starter, when they say their priority is to bring in a starter, but their choice is a broken a starter, and lose another good player (Polanco) to get that broken starter, in effect you've lost 3 good players and gotten what in return? A 32 year old 1 year wonder reliever that is just as likely to be bad as good, so you've gotten yourself, basically NOTHING! Every player brought in this off-season is a floor level player that won't improve anything.

Really? That's like throwing in the towel and giving up, NO? That's like saying, well the Royals can score 10 runs in 3 innings but we can't so...., I give. You win. Why not just walk off the field and say we forfeit. Save your bullpen pitchers for another game. No point in showing any confidence in your players to do the same that has just been done to you. Rocco loves to give games away. Has always done it, always will. Late pulling a pitcher and early pulling, supposedly, your best hitters. Evidently when you are down 10 runs after 3 innings there just isn't enough game left to make a comeback. Why try? Off day last Friday another one Monday. Isn't like they needed the rest. Say it continually, Rocco doesn't play his best players as much as he should. If you're scared their going to get hurt why play them at all? Poor Manager, managing poorly.

Whether the Twins can finish as the 2nd seed will be in Rocco's hands just like it was last year. How many throw away games was he responsible for by using a "B" lineup, especially in the last game of a series with another game scheduled the next day? There were a few for sure. A good Manager doesn't throw games away during the season knowing seeding can be very important in the playoffs. Play your best players everyday, every game, if you can. Rocco doesn't do that.

Lost in the equation is Jose Miranda. A good RH bat that fills 3B. Castro can continue to play in the OF if Miranda gets 3B. He only hit .320 this spring and has shown when healthy he's a better hitter than Farmer, Castro or Martin. Maybe he is a step down on defense but that isn't everything. Sometimes a bat can make up the difference, if given the chance.

Yes, let's celebrate.... Buck, Correa and Stewart made it through 1 game looking healthy. Have we really stooped that low that we have to celebrate and make it a story when a player makes it through 1 game looking like they should? Let's wait until June or July to see how they are before we start jumping for joy.

This game against the Braves is more than a bit concerning. Varland got rocked 2nd outing in a row. Hitters scored 9 runs but 7 of them came against Braves minor league pitchers. Have not followed that closely but if the hitters looked good this spring maybe it is because they have been hitting other teams minor leaguers and not their MLB pitchers. Add that to the equation of a 9-19 record and it looks even worse. Meanwhile the bullpen is falling to pieces via injury and will need to be counted on heavily with the decision NOT to add another quality arm in the rotation. I see a disaster coming and it may not take long.

who is delivering? 1 year of Ober and a new kid who won a spot in the rotation because another poor trade didn't work. Yeah, 1 year of a starting pitcher in 6 years of work. Let's give 'em a medal.

Totally disagree. Pitching has always been more important than hitting. As for acquiring said pitching at the deadline, that is the most expensive time to do so. Which top prospect or two are you willing to give away for a short-term pitcher at that time, that you weren't willing to move previously this off-season. On top of that, I don't trust this FO to make the correct move, seeing how they've messed that up in the past with a couple of guys named Mahle and JLopez. Weren't they brought in to develop pitching in house? How are the only two starters that they have developed in the years they've been here doing? Ober is in his 2nd season and Varland wins the #5 spot by default. Hardly worthy accomplishments, I'd say. Maybe it's time to start holding Falvey and Levine accountable for their failures instead of giving them a pass on every bad move they make.

Hope springs eternal in the spring. Reality hits hard in the summer. We'll see how he is then, and know more.

I think we all can agree that acquiring pitchers that are currently experiencing injury issues is not a good strategy. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to know that. However, if you continually do it like this FO has been doing, then you maybe need to go see a good brain surgeon. Yes, we all know DeSclafani was not going to be a "go to" guy come playoff time. I have no problem with adding depth at a position where you are thin, but first you need quality to fill that spot to start with. The Twins didn't do that. making it look like payroll was the contributing factor, yet there was plenty of money to be spent on more washed up, broken players or 1 year wonders that they always seem willing to take a chance on even though the odds for those players having a comeback type season are terribly bad. Regardless of how CES and Steer do for the Reds the Twins lost that trade cause they got NOTHIN from Mahle. Gray for Petty is yet to be determined and even with Gray being good for the Twins he only won 16 games in 2 seasons and 1 playoff game. I'd prefer they quit trading away prospects and use their payroll dollars much more effectively to fill needs and not backup depth pieces that do little to nothing to improve the team.

1. All pitchers have injury histories (or will have them) It is one thing to have injury histories, it's another thing to target those pitchers for acquisition. The Twins let one of the most durable pitchers in Jose Berrios leave. He'd look pretty good in the rotation right now and his injury history is pretty much zero. Even when he struggled in 2022 he threw 172 innings. So, no not all pitchers fit this narrative. 2. The front office refuses to leverage the farm system for frontline starting pitching The reason for this strategy is their choice, not their only option. Why does it have to be a trade of prospects? They even made such a trade with Polanco but their target was flawed, again. I've posted here several times that trading Polanco and Kepler FOR PROSPECTS to free up payroll to use for a front line FREE AGENT starter like a Montgomery or a Snell would be a better strategy. That $20M from Polanco and Kepler plus the $5M they spent on Santana, plus the $2M-$4M on Margot would go a long way to cover that FA Pitchers contract. Why is taking a chance on an injured starter better than taking a chance on players you already have in your organization like Kirilloff, Larnach, Martin, Miranda, Lee, and Castro to cover 1st base, 2nd base, and any outfield spots? Are they so bad they can't be counted on? The available payroll spent this off-season went to 1 year wonders in the bullpen, an injured starter, a backup 1st baseman and a backup centerfielder, which is a story in itself every year. What most of these young guys need is a chance, and the chance needs to be an everyday chance, not a platoon to death chance that never gives them the opportunity to get into a groove and rythym. If they are so bad that they aren't worthy of that chance then the FO isn't drafting very well either. 3. Giving large contracts to starting pitching doesn’t always work in the team’s favor Most big-name Free Agents don't want to come to Minnesota because of one reason. No committment to winning. When you continually go down the path of acquiring washed up veterans like Happ, Shoemaker, Bundy, Gallo, and broken players like Pineda, Paddack, Mahle and now DeSclafani how does that look? Giving out large contracts works if you are smart about it and give it to the right player. Did Correa come here because the Twins gave him the highest offer or was it because two other teams backed out? He wouldn't be here either had they not. Even his health was in question. You maybe think the current FO doesn't have a "blind spot" but they do need to go get a pair of glasses or better yet, implore a different strategy because the current one, like it or not, is flawed.

For every comment about these guys in the rotation being "good enough" there is an equal chance of them NOT being "good enough". The FO, in my opinion, bringing in ANOTHER injured arm shows they don't know what they are doing. Counting on an injured DeSclafani and Paddack, who has one season barely over 100 innings in the last 4 years, is a huge gamble and if the rotation implodes, they only have themselves to blame. If the fans turn away due to a poor showing then ownership can join them. In a season where the team should have tried to improve on a decent season, they took a step backward. Sure, spring training games mean nothing, so lets not put any stock into the fact that the Twins are 8-15 and the Tigers are 16-8 at this point. Just looks like one team is going thru the motions and the other team is actually trying. Tell me I'm crazy but it wouldn't surprise me to see the Tigers take the division.

If you don't win it all, yes, you can call it a failure. Isn't that why they play? As a fan of any team in any sport I want my team to win it all. Do I expect them to win it every time? No. But I expect my team to try. How many players at the start of a season say to themselves, I hope to finish second? The Twins have failed so many times in the playoffs that fans were ecstatic that they finally won a game and a series. Woopie!! Mission accomplished. Finishing 2nd best accounts for nothing. This organization has lost sight of what the fans want. Instead they are satisfied with just giving them a team that is good, they don't care if it isn't good enough.

And when the Rays prove that strategy wins Championships, then and only then, does it become a good one.

You forgot the 4th way the Twins emulate the Rays. In 1998 Tampa Bay joined MLB. Since that time the Twins have just as many Championships as the Rays. ZERO!

The last 2 CFers for the Twins that showed any talent remotely comparable to Buxton were Puckett and Torii Hunter. They must have lived in a perfect world that didn't exist. They played everyday. Shame on me for expecting that out of the great Byron Buxton. Between Buck and Sano, they're two of the most highly OVER-RATED and OVER-HYPED players ever to put on a Twins uniform.

Some fans likely won’t be happy unless Buxton is playing every day in center field and performing at an All-Star level. Those aren’t realistic expectations at this point in his career, but there are performance milestones he can accomplish during the 2024 campaign. The Twins are better with a healthy Buxton in the lineup, as he can be one of baseball’s best players on both sides of the ball. Isn't that what one of the best players on both sides of the ball should be doing? Playing everyday? Darn me for expecting that. I'd hate for him to actually earn his $15M and incentives.

What would the offensive lineup of Twins players look like if they all had numbers from their best season? C-Jeffers = 335PA, 14HR, .276BA, .369OBP C-Vazquez = 345PA, .290BA, .330OBP 1B-Kirilloff = 281PA, .270BA, .348OBP 1B-Santana = 686PA, 34HR, .281BA, .397OBP 2B-Julien = 408PA, 16HR, .263BA, .381OBP 3B-Lewis = 239PA, 15HR, .309BA, .372OBP SS-Correa = 640PA, 26HR, .279BA .366OBP or 481PA, 24HR, .315BA, .391OBP OF-Wallner = 254PA, 14HR, .249BA, .370OBP OF-Buxton = 254PA, 19HR, .306BA, .358OBP or 511PA, 16HR, .253BA, .314OBP OF-Kepler = 596PA, 36HR, .252BA, .336OBP UT-Farmer = 529PA, 16HR, .263BA, .316OBP UT-Castro = 409PA, 33SB, .257BA, .339OBP There you have it.... the "best" of each player. Some are almost a guarantee they will never replicate it again, like Santana. There are those highly unlikely to ever do it again like Vazquez and Kepler. 2 players named Buxton and Correa need to perform like it, and the new core of Jeffers, Kirilloff, Julien, Lewis, and Wallner will need to continue with their success from last year. I'm more excited to see the 5 youngsters play and take over this team. What I don't want to see is another season of Buxton, Correa and Kepler drag this team down or hold them back like they did in 2023, and yes, Kepler did that for the first half of the year while Buck and C4 did it all year.

Anytime you load up on chances, you increase your odds that one of them works out in your favor, which has become the "Twins way" with this FO. Most all of their new bullpen arms are one year wonders or HR prone. Looks like clear sailing for a healthy Alcala.

I would be happy with his average yearly production for 162 games, .272BA, 27HR and 98RBI. Unfortunately I doubt he will be that productive considering Rocco will never let him play 162 games even IF he is 100% healthy every day of the season. Now with payroll limitations the Twins have their high priced player. They can only afford one and in a couple of years that might be too many. Add in Buxton at $15M, Pablo at $8M this year and $21.7M in 2025, 2026 and 2027 and a bunch of upcoming young players that will get even more expensive as the years roll by and this team won't be signing ANY $200M dollar Free Agents for quite a while. The more concerning question is..... who are the casualties going to be that they cannot afford to keep?

You may be right about Ortiz. I just remember sports writers talking about how he came to Boston and "learned" how to punish the ball off the green monster. I guess we can agree that if the Twins tried to make him a slap hitter then, and now they try to make everyone a power hitter that isn't, that they should accept what they have and just make them better at what they do best. Trying to make someone something they are not maybe isn't the best approach for the player or the team.

It runs parallel to the theory of swing for the fences, which more often than not results in swings and misses, and weak grounders. Sano could have been a decent hitter had he taken the "swing hard on every pitch" approach and thrown it into the garbage can. Someone as strong as he was could have hit 40 HR a year if he would have toned his swing down a bit and concentrated on just making contact. Austin Martin was pushed into trying to be more of a power hitter by coaches and it cost him a year of development in the minors, finally realizing that he isn't the type of hitter the Twins were trying to make him. He only started to hit decent again when he went back to being a singles/doubles hitter using all fields and not a HomeRun hitter. My guess is if Ortiz had stayed in the Twins organization he wouldn't have learned to hit to the opposite field and would have been a sliver of the hitter he ended up as, being in Boston and punishing the green monster with doubles off of his left handed bat. Compare any good hitter that using the whole field, like an Arraez and then look at a Max Kepler who tries to pull almost everything. Not hard to see which ones are the better hitters.