rv78

Yep, Add in the fact that Pablo could easily regress a bit and Ober being the same with Paddack and now DeSclafani not really being able to be counted on and the rotation is anything but solid. I heard the other day that KC is going to be in contention for the division. That looks to be a huge stretch but if there is some talk of them improving that much, the division won't be that easy to win this year. Let's see how the rotation looks June 1. I'll be willing to bet it won't be the starting 5 that everyone is predicting.

If DeSclafani isn't an option to go at the start of the season they better have a Plan B ready. After the first 9 days of their schedule where they have 3 days off in those 9 days, they'll play 25 games in 26 days. A 5 man rotation will be needed. 1 slip up by another one of their 4 starters and they'll be dipping pretty deep into the well almost immediately. How many bullpen games can they put together to save the rotation if 1 of the main 4 starters goes down too? Seems they are banking on Pablo being as good as last year, Ryan and Ober being better and Paddack being able to pitch an entire season with only having the #5 spot to worry about, when in reality is..... Pablo might regress from last year. Ryan and Ober may never get any better, Paddack might not last a month or two and #5 is already in question. Good luck boys!

Unfortunately pretty much anyone can contribute. Even Joey Gallo..... Did he make the Twins better or did he take at bats away from someone (Wallner) who could have helped them even more. Not to mention that his $11M salary could have been spent on something better. I liken the efforts of this FO to dumpster diving in hopes of catching lightning in a bottle. In case anyone hasn't noticed, Carlos Santana is NOT an average hitter anymore. The last 3 seasons he's hit .222. Is that really someone you want taking at bats away from Kirilloff who hit .270 last year. Everyone knows Rocco will platoon those two guys every chance he gets. Santana is just Joey Gallo/version 2. And the bullpen arms they added are either one year wonders (Topa, Jackson, Staumont) or HR prone (Okert). Nothing like taking chances there. Margot will be fine if he is just a backup to Buck but if he ends up having to cover for him everyday due to another Buck injury, it will be a step backward as well. Last but not least is DeSclafani and Paddack in for Gray and Maeda. That is not even close to being a better situation.

Pretty sure he won't be in CF more than 80 times. Rocco will see to that. That means if he's healthy he'll be at DH and we know how productive he is there. Pfffft. He says he's finally without pain in his knee. He's played about 7 other seasons without that same knee pain and he couldn't stay on the field in most of them either. It's just a matter of time before the injury bug bites him again. He attracts that bug like flies to a manure pile.

Plantar fasciitis can be a chronic issue that reoccurs. There's no quarantee that his ankle will remain durable. The Giants and Mets didn't want to take the chance. Year 1 of the 6 year mega deal wasn't a win for the Twins. Years 2-6 are still TBD. If and only when he performs like a superstar will I get on the Correa Kool-Aid. I haven't seen it yet.

This team pays 2 players (Correa and Buxton) a 3rd of their payroll. Add in the raises Correa and Pablo Lopez get in 2025 and those 3 will get more than half of the current payroll. Start adding players like Lewis, Jeffers, Duran, Ryan, Ober, Jax and you have a serious payroll situation coming. You could say they are in trouble. Add in guys like Wallner, Miranda and Julien and some big decisions need to be made about the future of this club. Yes, Kepler will likely be gone as well as Vazquez, two $10M contracts, but $20M doesn't cover the 9 young guys I listed very well and the big 3 will still be here taking the cream of the pie. With the way this club operates it is very likely that 4 or 5 of the 9 young players I listed will be traded or lost via free agency and the next core of players in the minors will need to step up. All of this means the FO will NOT be handing out any more Correa type contracts to any type of Free Agent until he is off the books and the FO had better start getting creative in dealing with the likes of Lewis, Jeffers, Duran, and do it soon, or they'll be too late.

I say get MAT. We need his .220 BA and .278 OBP bat in the lineup. We don't have anyone in AAA that is nearly that good.

Why not? A Base salary with incentives would reward the player when he plays a lot and does well and pays him an average salary when he doesn't. Nothing wrong with that for the team or the player. It's a win, win. If a player doesn't like it to the point he won't sign, that would be a red flag to me and I wouldn't want him on my team. It's simple and fair to both. Do you really think Correa was worth $33M last year? I bet if you ask him he'd even tell you he wasn't.

Unfortunately todays game doesn't resemble anything of the past. The game has become too analytic. Every pitch, throw, hit, run, walk, stolen base, HR, error, hotdog and bag of peanuts is looked at and broken down into analytics. Players are playing a different game now. It has become more specialized. Starters are not expected to pitch a game "as long as they can". Now give me 5 or 6 and as soon as you have 2 guys get on base in the 5th or 6th inning the Manager thinks they are done and they get pulled, especially if you are near the 100 pitch count. Qualifications for the Hall need to be different just as the game is, "now different". The Hall is about representing the best players of their time, it is not nor should it be comparing players of present day to players from the past.

Every contract, especially long-term ones, should be loaded with incentives based on games played and performance. I'm sick of watching players getting paid like superstars and performing like average joes or worse.

I will admit there is some truth in what you say, such as "but he wouldn't have come to MN for that money, he wants to win." If you are going to pay 2 players superstar money even if it is part-time superstar money because Buxton only plays part-time, ($15M for a player that plays about half the time equates into $30M full-time) they need to perform when they are on the field. You can look at any of the players you mention and compare them to Correa and Buxton, dollar wise and performance/production wise, also look at how many All-Star games they have been named to, or times they were in consideration/vote for the MVP. Big difference. How many seasons has Correa and Buxton even hit .300? Compare that to the guys you named. Big Difference. Unfortunately C4 and Buck only compare in the dollar catagory, nothing else. I'd gladly live with a player being injured once or twice if they performed like the guys you mentioned. Throw in the injury issue and it makes expensive contracts to highly paid players even more expensive. I realize Buxton is an extreme example but having to have a full-time backup player for a starter is bad, but it is even worse when it is every year. It isn't just the cost of the extra salary but it also takes up a roster spot. Tell me how many times "depth" has won a Championship and how many times "performance" has won it? It's obvious which way this FO is trying to make the team better and it isn't with good talented players that perform. I wonder how willing Correa would have been to sign that $200M contract, knowing the Twins were not going to go "all in" when they finally end their playoff fiasco. Maybe that's why guys like Freeman "don't want to come here", they want to win. They want to play for a team that is committed. A team that looks for players that aren't injured and actually perform when they play. A team that doesn't have to trade away a batting Champion for a good pitcher. Wouldn't signing a good free agent pitcher and keeping your best hitter be a better plan? Why not strengthen your team instead of sacrificing one thing to gain another. That's the type of move you make because you are failing at the thing you need or are too stubborn to admit your approach is wrong and change it. Would it kill this organization to sign a top Free Agent pitcher just once and keep their good players instead of trading away one to get another? At the start of the off-season we were told they are cutting payroll yet there is plenty of money to sign washed up veterans and depth type players but little to no money to sign really good players that can make a difference. Maybe it is only because those players don't want to come here. Why? I'll tell you why... no commitment to winning. That first statement from the FO at the start of the off-season proves it just as much as the type of players they bring in.

And no replacement for Sonny. If depth wins Championships then the Twins are getting close. Now if they would only get some really good players that make a difference, we might have something to crow about.

Questions for you to consider..... instead of the Twins spending the dollars on older veterans to provide depth, they would spend it on 1 or 2 really good players in their prime, difference makers. Wouldn't they be a better team? Wouldn't those dollars be put to better use? Instead of investing in pitchers with injuries, like Mahle, Paddack, now DeSclafani, rewarding an always and forever injured Buxton with a $15M per year extension and so on.... Do you really think this organization does a good job allocating their payroll dollars? I think they could do a lot better, a whole lot better. This FO takes a lot of chances on injured players. Too many to my liking. How many times does that decision have to fail before they change their ways. Or won't they ever? Sure there are injuries to players all the time, but when you continually invest in players that are that way, you are only asking for failure.

I am not OK with how they spent the dollars. There are too many decline phase veterans I fear they will not release if they drop any further. I would not have tendered Farmer. I would not have signed Santana. I would not have taken whatever they are paying for DeSclafani’s contract. I would have taken those dollars and spent it on one single player preferably a starter but an everyday bat would fit also. A bat or stater that would push others down in the line up or rotation. The remaining holes would be filled from within. This! Exactly. I understand the need for depth but spending dollars for depth instead of spending dollars to make your team better is a choice. Maybe the injury plagued season of 2021 has this FO going too far in the direction of depth and they are now over-looking the path to get better.

The cat that is still in the bag is also Paddack. Most everyone here considers him to be a lock in the rotation this season. He's got one of the 5 slots locked up, Right? He's not going to show any ill effects of his TJ surgery. He's never thrown more than 140 innings in his 5 year career and that was 5 years ago. His 5.40 ERA last year with the Twins in his limited time back does NOT represent something to "bank" on. You are correct in questioning DeSclafani and his health, but he isn't being counted on as much as Paddack, who is just as much in question.

González's calling card is his bat, so don't be surprised if he can unlock a new gear with the Twins' player development staff, who are known to accentuate hitting prospects' strengths. Yes, that's why we have so many players at the major league level who hit .230 or less.

So it is better to have a veteran who is washed up, aka Gallo, then to give a rookie those at bats. Has Larnach, Miranda, Gordon, even a player like Celestino been given a reasonable chance to succede at the major league level? Not hardly, yet the FO goes out and gets guys like Gallo, and now Santana, who have no future with the club and all it does is hold the young players back from getting the playing time they need. How much better would the Twins have been in 2023 had Wallner been given the playing time that Gallo got? It was a poor decision to sign Gallo and an even more stupid one to give him $11M. With no WS ring in 2023, the better choice would have been to play your young players than to choke out another year with washed up veterans. (Gallo, Beckham, Hamilton, Garlick, Archer, Joe Smith, Bundy, Minaya). If you are going to commit to the now then totally commit and bring in veterans that are good, in their prime, and will make a difference. If you are going to commit to building a roster from within, then commit to using your young players and let them get the experience they need. This FO is trying to do both and will never accomplish either by taking a half-a$$ approach both ways.

If Gallo was worth $11M then Kepler should be worth 15. I can see an extension happening. This FO doesn't look in the rear view mirror. Just look at the players they sign and extend. Most have histories of injuries or just not being very good players on a consistant basis. Sure they maybe had 1 good season in their career or were good 6 years ago before their 4-5 seasons of playing injured half the time, so they are targets for this FO. Kepler fits that narrative also. 1.5 good seasons in his 9 year career is plenty good for these guys. He's perfect.

If a #2 pitcher is not in the works they: 1. Better plan on scoring a lot more runs than they did last year. 2. Hope that Ryan and/or Ober improve over last year 3. Hope the bullpen becomes "lights out" like the Royals had in their WS run in 2015. 4. All of the above.

All players struggle at times. The difference between the veterans and the rookies is the option to send them to AAA. Tom Kelly once said a player needs 1500 at bats at the major league level before you really know if he can hit or not. I think too many times when a young player is struggling they get sent down too soon or don't get enough regular playing time. It doesn't take a genius to figure that if they are playing full-time in AAA and performing well and then get brought up to the bigs and get platooned to death like Rocco does, that they won't play as well. Sure the competition is tougher but it doesn't help if your timing is disrupted by NOT playing every day, confidence slowly slips away and the pressure to perform increases dramatically. Not everyone can handle that and if your Manager doesn't show any confidence in you that makes it even worse. Veterans don't have the pressure. I'm sure Correa isn't losing any sleep at night hitting .230 for the season. His job is about as secure as his contract. That isn't the same for a rookie.

If that is the case then Gallo, Correa, Taylor, Vazquez, Buxton and the 1st half version of Kepler shouldn't have been on the major league roster in 2023.

A LOT of revenue has to do with the product you produce. In 1988, a year after the Twins 1987 World Series title they drew over 3 Million fans. It was a great product on the field to watch and the fans responded. The first 2 years in Target Field they also drew over 3M fans. Why because people wanted to see the new ballpark. Now the Twins have a hard time even drawing 2 million fans. Sometimes you get what you pay for when revenue is to be considered. Let's see, having 1 million more fans come to games wouldn't COST anything extra but it would generate ummm..... $50 per ticket plus another $20 in concessions = $70M a year. Not to mention the extra profits for all of the businesses around Target Field and maybe a TV deal that someone would actually be interested in since they provide that TOP quality product that is required for that type of deal. Is NOT putting the best product on the field that you can really important? You best believe it, but they don't care and it shows.

Santana, who turns 38 in April, showed serious decline in some key hitting metrics last year, going from a .372 xwOBA in 2022 (88th percentile) to .305 in 2023 (23rd percentile). His exit velocity, barrel rate, and hard-hit rate all fell off the table. This is what worries me. It would appear his bat is toast and at 38 he's unlikely to get it back. Some guys need to retire (like Gallo, even tho he hasn't yet) and Santana's time has come. But if there are teams willing to give you 1 more payday I guess I can't blame him, which I don't, I blame the ding-dongs in the Twins FO for signings like this. It has been said, with Roccos penchant for playing matchups Santana will get plenty of at bats, more then he deserves. Just like Gallo. And just like Gallo you don't let an $11M player sit on the bench unless you completely fall off the deep end, and in Santana's case at $5.25M he won't be sitting either. If Kirilloff is hitting well Santana will still get his playing time and Kirilloff may end up in the OF. There you go, there's your other outfielder you've all been clamoring for.

Having really good players makes you a great Manager. Win and you look spectacular, lose and you look terrible. Almost every good Manager you listed had some excellent players that helped lead their teams to Championships. We can even go back to 2019 when the Twins led the league in HR's and won 101 games. The players made that team, not Rocco. But it made Rocco look like a really good Manager in his first season. In 2021 and 2022 you saw how good the team was.... not very. And in 2023 they finally managed to win the division again, due to Sonny Gary and Pablo Lopez. Not Rocco. Most Managers are just along for the ride.

If fixes were easy they'd have been made already in a 33 year old pitcher. I find it comical that when the Twins acquire a player that has issues the writers here at Twins Daily think the Twins can just "fix" their problems and turn them into a player that is better than who they were previously. If that was really the case, their coaches would be so highly sought of that they'd be bought out by other teams. If I remember correctly, the last pitching coach Wes Johnson, went back to coaching in college.