Aerodeliria

He's only one year recovered from TJ surgery, including a tweaked arm problem in the middle of last season. He'll have a full off-season to strengthen his arm even more, so I think Maeda is well worth the risk. Yeah, I'm biased as well, but this one seems like a no-brainer to me.

He's the most moveable piece. I think he's one of the better hitters on the Twins, so that's a plus, but he is also the candidate with an upside who can be traded to make way for the younger generation, so I want to move him not to first base but in a trade. (Defensively, he is a liablity wherever he is put, but 2nd is tolerable and 1st base would probable be tolerable as well. With that said, I think Julien will become a much better 2nd baseman in the field and will learn to hit lefthanders better as time progresses. (I mean Julien only has had a couple of months hitting against elite lefthanders. Arraez had the same troubles when he came up, but this year he raked. I would like to see Baldelli let Julien struggle against lefties for awhile just so he gets used to hitting against them, The Marlins basically said to Arraez, you will be in the game no matter who is pitching, and he begin hitting lefties just fine. Maybe this is a mental thing as well...I'll stop rambling.)

Catchers with a WAR of above 50 should be in the HOF. That is what the 'books' show, so JM should get in...at least at some point if he is treated fairly.

Any reference to Wimpy (it used to be a hamburger chain in the UK...is it still?) has my vote for creating a snicker or two.

I really agree with the positions taken in this post...except that I am not so sure about Paddack's sustainability and I haven't really been wowed by Ober. I think Ryan will be better than both and Maeda will be a much better pitcher if he can stay healthy (TJ surgery takes a bigger toll on the body than we would care to admit, so I would fully expect him to be full-strength by next spring), but I would still try to land a pitcher if Seattle is willing to deal.

I don't think Julien has peaked. He's only played half a season with the big boys. I expect his hitting against lefties to improve dramatically in the next year and I believe, he will become a bit more aggressive as a leadoff hitter. He will also improve as fielder. He started showing signs of his potential skills in the field as the season progressed. To me, it is he who is untouchable, or if he is traded, we ask a ton for him.

I think Polanco is the most expendible trade piece. Teams know what they are getting and the Twins have second base pretty much locked down. I would never give up Julien, who will be a +.290 hitter with a high OBP as he matures. He is also has better upside on defense as well, so that is who I would start with. I think Polanco plus one potential (Larnach, Wallner, Kirilloff) and one lower level prospect to bring a good pitcher our way would do the trick.

Anyone who throws a knuckleball has my vote for MVP.

Correa wins games in the playoffs and uses his defensive skills when it matters the most...that's all I really care about. I knew why we got Simmons. I never complained about him, but others were a big let down. (I didn't think Vasquez was anything spectacular behind the plate, so IMHO, he was a complete bust.) Cruz was a great sign. I thought the change of scenery made Gallo worth the risk--I was completely wrong. Bottom-feeding for pitchers from the scrap heap simply doesn't work.

'OK, OK, this time it's different!' Just kidding; he's Jacoby Ellsbury and will never put in a full season with the Twins--that's the sad reality. It's hard to swallow, but in private conversations at the water cooler it comes to light that everyone actually thinks it but doesn't want it to be true, so we pretend it will be different this time around.

IMHO, 1st base is the easiest position to cover, so I am not worried about chasing down a first-baseman. CF is far more important, so for position players, that is the only one I would be concerned about. As for the other infield positions, the Twins should be more than covered. Julien was starting to play much better at 2nd as the season progressed. He actually made a couple of fine plays against Toronto. He'll also start to hit lefties better if he's given the chance IMHO. That's a natural progression for hitters with his approach. 3rd is also covered by Lewis and Castro can back up any of the infield positions with more than adequate play. To me, that makes Polanco expendible. I would think that his trade value is pretty good--better now than at the deadline because anything can happen, so I would go after a centerfielder, and, as I have often said, how about Nootbar? He's not a homerun hitter but he gets on base. As for pitching, sure the three aforementioned pitchers would be great to land, but I wonder how many folks really think the Twins are going to go all in on the open market. I suspect that even the estimates for salary are low, so that puts the Twins out of play. I'd be happy to be wrong, but I just don't see it. Maybe trading for a lefthander like Kikuchi is something the Twins could do, but chasing down a big money pitcher? I'll believe it only after the mystery pitcher has signed on the dotted line.

Frankly, I rather try for Nootbar who hits lefties and righties at about the same clip and who is a very good defender that can play every day.

Nishioka was not a superstar in Japan. He really had only the one good season. He was fast and bounced a bunch of hits off the turf that year, but he really never was able to reproduce those results, so in a sense, he turned out to be quite a gamble for the Twins. There are PLENTY of very good pitchers in Japan. (I was almost willing to make a guarantee that Senga would do well on the Mets. He was so tough with men on base here in Japan.) Due to many factors, I wasn't able to watch all that much Japanese baseball this year, but did see some games from the Tigers/Buffaloes series. There was some very good pitching in that series. (Hanshin Tigers! Fulei, fulei, fulei, fulei!) This is all to say, I agree with you 100%,

Thanks for the information. I agree with most of it, but I would go after Taylor because he more-or-less held the ship together in CF and could be counted on day-in and day-out. If someone else steps up (like Martin...but as you mention, 'D' up the middle needs to be strong), we can think about making some trades at the deadline. Or, let's go out and get a centerfielder who plays good 'D' and can hit (my choice is Nootbar, who I believe could be had for a reasonable exchange). I'm not very worried about Varland. He looks confident and he gets enough movement on his pitches. He looked better than Ober to me albeit with a very limited view. I didn't get a chance to see Paddack. I wish I could have. As for those still in the minors, I am taking TD members' assessments to heart. I want to see Lee and Jenkins because of all the hype.

Well-said!

The Twins might be able to pry Kikuchi loose from the Jays...I'm not sure what the Jays would want in return, but it could be done.

I still think they should try to lure the Nootbar from the Cards. He's an excellent defender; he hits lefties and righties equally well, and he makes more contact than many of other options available....and I want the Pearson Candy Company to offer the Noot Bar as a snack...noughat & nuts (Noot...get it), chocolate and whatever else it takes to make it tasty. Then, we can have Noot Bar night as one of the special events at Target Field. Besides that, he is just a very nice guy. (He's been making glasses commercials here in Japan for quite a spell. He is loved here!!)

The key is of course the learning curve. I just have confidence that he can make adjustments and become better and better. His fastball has good movement (usually). As he gains confidence with his other offerings that will only help him to become better.

He is one of the least of the Twins' problems...

Any pitcher that has undergone TJ has to be given some slack. We simply don't know what we have and it might be tempting to throw in the towel if the 2024 if things start going south; however, it takes more than an off-season to gain back complete arm strength after undergoing TJ. I hope we maintain a bit of patience with Prielipp. As for SWR, his mechanics can be tinkered with in the lab, but he has to be able to put the advice into practice, which is often easier said than done. As for Salas, learning plate discipline is probably one of the hardest nuts to crack. It can be done, but it is a very slow process and some players never turn the corner.

I believe Maeda will be much better (stronger) in 2024 simply because he has had one more year to get his arm stronger. TJ surgery is awfully tough on the arm--many never fully recover, but it appears that Maeda is recovering just fine, but had he returned to the pre-injury form entirely? I doubt it--not completely. At times, he seemed arm weary. I'd like to see one more year of Maeda with a Twins uniform if things work out. I think a little side-bar negotiating would be a good thing. I think you'd be hard-pressed to get a starter of Maeda's potential quality for a similar payday on the open market or in a trade unless you just get extremely lucky. (And, yes, I am also selfish, but that's still my honest opinion.)

The way Arizona has played in the playoffs. Their regular season record. Their manager's in-game management, especially in the playoffs. Their we can overcome any obstacle that is thrown our way attitude, despite the media questioning their legitimacy as a playoff team--all of these things remind me of the 1987 Twins.

I'm curious what was known about Kirilloff's injury. It seems that some folks knew he was injured. Why was he playing if that was the case? His strikeouts of course hurt the team. His play in the field killed the team....

I'd love to get Nootbar. He hits lefties better than righties (almost the same in fact). He also plays very sound defense.

I'm not sure about the odds of the best-case-scenario, but I'd be making kind overtures to Taylor,