Fire Dan Gladden

I think they will bring Fullmer back, but at a slightly lesser rate. Something like 2/$10 would be fine. I like Rogers on a semi make-good contract. Bring him back to where he had success. Something like 1/$5 with a team option of 1/$10 on the back. I like May as well on another make good contract. 1/$4 with appearances incentives that could push it to $6. We aren't necessarily looking for top end guys here, we need upper middle depth. These three could easily provide that

I have zero concerns about a Sonny Gray "trade demand". This isnt the NBA or the NFL. A follow up question: Other than his one comment to the media about pitching longer into games mid-season, has there been any news about him not wanting to pitch in MInnesota? I do not recall seeing or hearing anything other than that comment. Assuming he would want to come back, I would look at an incentive laden contract extension. Something along the lines of 2/$24 with 3rd year option and incentives based on starts made. If they are paying him $15-18 per year, he is probably earning it.

Going to be awfully hard for anybody to say moving Arraez off first would be a plus move for the Twins. He has earned the right to be there next Spring. Correa probably got votes more for his historical defense than actual work for this year.

I don't think shortening the basepaths 4.5" (which is what the bigger bases will do) is going to have any affect on stealing bases. What is going to affect base stealing is limiting the throws over to first. The issues with this rule change won't pop up next year, but in 4-5 years I think we are going to see a slew of unintended consequences. An increase in pitchouts, intentional walks with runners on first, managers looking for ways to circumvent the letter of the law, These types of micro-managing rules always seem to backfire at some point. I am not a huge fan of these changes. All they really need to do is enforce the rules in place: - Call the balks on all left-handers that step home and throw to first (the Buerhle rule) - Call the balks on all the pitchers that do not come to a demonstrable set - Call all of the blocking/hindering attempts by the 1B on pickoff attempts Stop giving the pitchers all of the advantages. Call the rules in place.

A young, cost controlled, two way catcher... I don't think people realize how high the cost would be to trade for him. We are probably talking two top-five prospects (pitchers) plus another starter or two (Ushela, Polanco, Arraez). His bat would keep him in the lineup, but he would still probably only catch 100 games.

1) The assumption is that newer is better, which isn't always true. Many pitchers have attributed injuries to excessive weightlifting, which has become a staple over the last few years. Many areas have improved, but that does not mean they are better physically prepared to pitch. I have yet to find any information that says that pitching is less injury prone now than it was 20 years ago. 2) Both pitchers and batters have better access to information. But a more generalized acceptance of the use of that information for batters (especially the self evaluation part), has excelled over the years. Pitchers have spin rates, batters have exit velocities, exit angles. 3) Change Bad! I guarantee you if said coach had this information available to him at the time he would have used it. Or he would have been the only coach not using all tools at his disposal to win. 4) Sure, he can improve. Everybody can. Doesn't mean you should chance it. Twins are up 6-0 in the 6th? Give him 15 more pitches.... If it is close, take him out. Sonny Gray's success this year is 100% based on how he was used. The Twins played to his strengths and pulled him out when they did because of his history. He should be worshiping the ground they walk on because he will get paid after 2023. 5) I keep seeing this argument. It is totally wrong. The Twins saw an average spike in attendance of about 6500 per home game this year over last. (FWIW, the Twins, and all of baseball really, need to attract the younger generation. The fans from the 60's and 70's are dwindling and not being replaced by younger ones)

So many things I disagree with here: 1) You are assuming that a pitcher conditioned in today's era can last better than a pitcher conditioned 20 years ago. There is no data to support that. Pitching is inherently violent on the pitcher's body. Many things factor in to their ability pitch longer, including genetics. On one end. you have guys like Chris Archer that basically need the entire day to get their body to pitch and on the other hand you have Terry Mullholland that would take 5 pitches to warm up and could throw 75 pitches every day with no ill effects. There are many arguments being made that today's pitchers are over-conditioned, putting more stress on their bodies. 2) You are forgetting that today's batters are also different. More informed, better prepared. Knowledge and strategy play a much bigger part in today's game. Throwing more pitches in a game is predicated on those being SUCCESSFUL pitches. 3) Not knowing which coach you are speaking with, but it sounds a little like sour grapes. Times constantly change. If he truly believes that people who have never played the game can't adequately diagnose and strategize players and situations, then he shouldn't be coaching. Use every tool at your disposal to gain the advantage. This includes computers and personal experience. 4) Even the worst reliever has an ERA around 5.00. You are saying you would take Sonny Gray's 10.00 ERA over that? I thought you wanted to win...

There are parts of this problem that we, the ignorant public, will never be privy to: Like many things on sports club, this issue can't really be traced back to one individual. Not just the decisioning by the trainer, but how aggressive is the upper brass pushing return to work? How much money is being spent on equipment? How are the players acting towards trainer messaging? Are they taking care of their bodies? Eating right? Not coming to work hungover? Are they putting in the work for injury prevention and injury rehabilitation? Expectations: Are players letting staff know about "minor" injuries or are they expected to play through them? The Head Trainer matters, but culture probably matters more. Would be interesting to know how teams handle things down to these levels

Depends on your definition of catcher. Much like the SP throwing 300 innings, I believe the days of the catcher catching 150 games a year are over. Of course another catcher will win the batting crown. He may only catch 90 games and play the other 60 at DH or 1B. But with the inevitable arrival of automated balls and strikes and the slow death of the stolen base, the defensive side of the catcher becomes less important. At some point we will see a Luis Arraez type behind the plate. It will happen, AJ. Pierzynski, Mike Redmond, Jason Kendall... Catchers that have shown the ability to hit for average.

Huge factor for Martin will be how his defense is considered. The Twins are working him at SS right now, but that does not tell us how well he is playing defensively. I think they may be hedging their bets on Lewis here. If Lewis pans out at SS, you may be looking at the next super-sub in Martin. Viable trade candidate, but would not get a great return at this time.

I am really wondering why the Twins are getting whacked for not letting their starters pitch late into games? In 2022, the average start lasted 5.22 IP. Seems to me this is not a Twins issue, but a baseball issue. Are there pitchers that are allowed to go longer into games? Sure. But those are quality names, higher-end pitchers. The Twins have no one on their roster proven to handle that workload. Sonny Gray? His 10.00 ERA the third time through the lineup should squash any discussion there. Dylan Bundy, Chris Archer, et. al.? Do we really want more innings from them? Joe Ryan (or any Twins system guy)? Came up through the system pitching 5-6 innings per start. It is what they know and are used to... We really need to chill out on this topic and realize that this is the new norm in baseball. Seven inning guys are now the outlier.

HOT TAKE! [Insert team here] is showing interest in signing Carlos Correa! Updates to follow!

One of the few players in baseball that is worth every dollar he is paid. His unique skillset, his personality, plus the Japanese coverage... Probably truly worth $50m per year. Probably would return the value of just about any package the Twins could put together, but the high injury risk of SP just makes it not worth it IMO. Fun to think about though...

I think now that they have hired him, they should just preemptively fire him now, save everyone the headache.

I strongly disagree with not going after Crash Davis. He brings proven power (all-time minor league HR leader) and a heady, no-nonsense approach to the game. He would temper the some of the staff (thinking Sonny Gray). He reminds me a lot of Mike Scioscia... He could be a short-term veteran answer. Go get him now! Along those same lines, they should strongly consider bringing back Lou Collins to play RF. They did retire his number after all (this is true. His jersey is hanging in the owners office in Major League III).

I posted this elsewhere, but I think it is relevant here: This is from an Analyst article in August 2022. Kepler should see some improvement. It basically says Kepler's avg would go from 2020 to today would go from .220 to .270, a 50 point increase. If that were the case, we would be talking extension, not trade bait. You have to keep him to see if he rebounds. https://theanalyst.com/na/2022/08/who-figures-to-benefit-the-most-if-the-defensive-shift-is-banned/

I have seen similar comments elsewhere here. It really doesn't matter if Gray wants to leave or not, This isn't the NBA, the Twins are not required to trade him. If Gray wants out and the Twins decline to move him, it is in his best interest to go out pitch his best anyways. The combination of disgruntled player, poor play, and a walk year results in poor contract offers. If Gray doesn't like his situation, he really just needs to stay quiet, pitch his butt off, and get a better deal next year somewhere else.

I am just going to copy and paste my responses from the previous two (excuse me, 3) articles about the Twins spending on SP...

Not sure why he would be a trade candidate. He epitomizes everything the Twins want: - productive - cost controlled - not a cancer Considering there is no immediate backup in the wings (Arraez was at first to protect his knees, Gordon is still a huge question) this would be pretty foolish. There is no way they would receive plus value on a trade here.

Considering the rest of the team around them wasn't good, we know the answer there. I am not saying this is the only route we should go. I am saying that we have had success with some of these players in the past. They can be useful pieces to the bigger puzzle.

I don't know... feels like a little bit of cherry picking here. Within the last 10 years, the Twins have also signed: Kevin Correia Caleb Thielbar Blayne Boyer Phil Hughes Tommy Milone Ricky Nolasco Erv Santana Michael Pineada Heck, even RIch Hill Even Carlos Correa was signed on a "make good" contract (albeit a pricey one). I would consider all of these to be "reclamation" projects that had various levels of success with the Twins, definitely more plus than minus. There are reasons why teams, and the Twins specifically, go after these guys. Some teams believe they can be fixed, some hope to "squeeze every last drop of baseball they have left". To me, it isn't necessarily going to after these guys, it is being more stringent on the leashes they are given and coming to terms on what is "sunk money" The Twins will not sign the big names. Given the equal offers, players will typically choose a bigger market team, a no-income-tax state, or warmer weather. Successful reclamation projects can go a long way.

So basically, for the purposes of this article, we are talking about spending more money for a pitchers that provide no discernable upgrade over the pitchers we currently have... The only name I would consider for SP is Walker, but not at that price. Some of these guys COULD provide some depth in the BP. I would look at Stripling or Kluber (if they were willing to take that role). Kluber especially could flourish if he knew he was only going to throw 30 pitches per outing. I would also be willing to take the incentive laden flier on Miley. Still effective when healthy.

Apologies, I was actually referring to Gray not seeing the forest, not you. No mocking intended. I meant that it was Gray who was not seeing the bigger picture. The Twins were doing him a huge favor by limiting his innings and not going through the lineup the third time. Gray's ERA is something like 10.00 the third time through. By allowing him to be effective, they have raised his value should he wish to leave. Tell him to keep his head down, do what he is told, produce another strong year, then he can go out and test the market

Not sure about all the hate. You have a player that is outplaying his value on a relatively inexpensive contract. He may not be the offensive player we would all like him to be, but he still is a valuable piece. Two big things people are overlooking: 1) The change in shift rules will benefit him greatly. 2) It is basically a walk year for him, as he is playing for the team to pick up his option. I would like to see them give RF to a more offensive player, and use Kepler as the OF super sub / Byron Buxton insurance in CF.

Thanks for the article, I always find these types of lists interesting. The general discussion always seems to be about how strong a team's system is now. It would be cool to spend more time on these types of hindsight articles to see how these groups ultimately progress. Not just for the Twins, but for organizations in general. Would help to provide a clearer picture of organizational strength.