Brandon

I thought I read Maeda time table to return is 9 to 12 months. Hopefully he will be ready to go by next year's trade deadline so he can build up for 2023.though I wonder if we could be contenders next season. Ober seems certain to be solid. If we can sign 2 starters and Ryan proves he belongs we would need 1 average starter to be a contender with lots of prospects to try out.

You are absolutely right that the front office has their work cut out for them this offseason in determining who should be kept on the 40 man and who can be retained as a minor league free agent. As an arm chair GM veteran myself.... I would think the Twins will keep a few of the relievers for depth. You pose a great thought in what to do with Dobnak. I think you are correct that they should take him off the 40 man in the offseason. I see them keeping Gant, Jax and possibly Garcia. Astudillo is also a possibility since he plays several positions, hits league average and is well liked in the clubhouse....isn't that what a bench player is? I can see them trying to sign Gordon to a minor league deal. He is not a horrible bench option. (Key word is bench). On your list of relievers above I can see the Twins keeping a few of them for the back of the pen for depth. I doubt they want to blow up the pen again. so I see them keeping Theilbar, Minaya, and Coulombe. But you are correct in that even if kept we do not know if these guys will help move the needle enough. Again my premise of the post is that right now the pen seems to be performing well and there may be a few keepers in the bunch. This is also at a time when we are starting our rotation over from scratch where only Ober seems to be a lock for next season's rotation. He is pitching at a solid #3-4 starter...even a level 2 in his last start....Its nice knowing our bullpen isn't quite as out of whack during this tryout period.

On Gibaut, I knew nothing of his minor league stats just saw a scoreless outing and decided to use that as a plus at the end. My other point of this, was to point out we may not need a bullpen overhaul just adding another strong arm or two as we seem to have a decent 5-7 guys who are contributing and may be able to sustain it into next year.

Well, Lookey there. It looks like we have the makings of a solid bullpen again. WHAT!. Here is what we have, granted we can still use some upgrades. Duffey has been solid with a few hiccups earlier in the year and has a 3.61 ERA. Thielbar has a 3.71 era and is striking out 11.3 per 9 innings. Alcala is back off the DL and pitched 2 scoreless innings and while his era is high this year due to giving up lots of homers, He didn’t give them up last year and I would expect him to normalize. Minaya and Couloumbe have been solid with a 3.20 and 3.04 ERA in 25.1 and 23.3 innings. Garza is still getting some time in here but has an ERA in the 3’s including his time in Houston in over 20 innings and Gibaut has only 1 game so far but has promise. I am not saying by any means that we have a great pen but our pen has seemed to settle into providing good performances more often then not lately and with a large number of relievers too. (Note I am not including Colome because that guy is the 2nd coming of Ron Davis this year). Duffey 3.71 ERA in 47.1 innings Thielbar 3.61 ERA in 51 innings Alcala 5.00 ERA in 45 innings and 4.08 career ERA in 70.2 innings Minaya 3.20 ERA in 25.1 innings (does anyone know if we have control for next season with Minaya)? Coulombe 3.04 ERA in 23.2 innings Garza has 1.93 ERA in 9.1 innings and 3.10 ERA in 20.1 innings season to date Colome had a 4.35 ERA with lots of unearned runs and blown saves. (I don't trust him in pressure situations at this point but he could prove to be serviceable to just get innings). Rogers will be back next season and hopefully we can find another reliever Gibaut maybe or Farrell or Dobnak when they come back from the DL, who can step up and help keep runs off the board the rest of this year. Also Moran should be up at some point. While I am sure that our pen is not where we want it to be, I am glad they are performing at a solid rate as we go through growing pains with the shattered rotation.

I don't know that I would put that much pressure on one prospect. We have several of them coming up within the next year or so who are starting pitchers. It looks like we can bank on Ober to be one of our starters moving forward. I imagine we will sign at least 2 starting pitchers in FA. maybe Pineda and likely a solid #2 or 3 starter who can pitch close to 200 innings. I almost forgot we have Gant available should we need a starter. That leaves 2 more spots with insurance in Gant ad possibly Albers if he is still with the organization next year, with Dobnak, Jax, Barnes, and then Ryan, Winder, Balazovich, and Richardson-Woods. I left out some like Thorpe and Smeltzer as I am sure their time may be up if we need the 40 man roster spot.

yes but the results are so similar.

i.if it helps Terry Ryan was let go after arguably the best draft in our organizations history.

I think with our pitching implosion this season we are looking for answers and we see how multiple pitching prospects from the Terry Ryan regime finding success. Hnoa and Gil as starters and Anderson, Chagois, and now Rees and we are wondering what could have been? Basically the new regime and came in making changes to put their own stamp on the organization. Hnoa was traded for a chance to compete and then for a prospect we still have, Gil for Cave. Chagois and Reed were victims of a roster crunch if I remember correctly. And Nick Anderson was just inexcusable as far as I can see. The guy is local. He should have been called up here. (It would be cool if we had Brad Hand, Anderson and Theilbar all in the pen....a Minnesota shutdown pen). Back to the subject at hand which is fixing the pitching. I hope the guys we lost all have excellent careers expect while playing for the Yankees. And Over seems to be settling in as a starter to count on. Ryan has 17 strikeouts in 9 innings in AAA. I expect a call up for him after another 2 starts if he keeps this up. We have available funds to spend in the offseason. Minaya and Coulombe (not the one blowing saves) seem solid. If they are both back next year with Rogers, Duffey, and Theilbar we would just need 1 or 2 more solid relievers. Need 2 starters after Ober, Maeda if he doesn't require surgury and Ryan. I am not sold on Jax or Barnes. Maybe Jax in the pen. (I think I just went off topic so I will stop here).

I was going through baseball reference and landed on former Twin Ryan Pressley. The pitcher most similar too him in terms of results was Nick Vincent who we just let go. Also there were 4 former Twins as his best comp. (Burton, Dyson, Guerrier, and Vincent) The Twins definitely like a certain type of relief pitcher. Or at least a certain type of result.... No meaning to this just thought it was a fun with numbers thing and fun to stroll down memory lane.

Wait till there is 3 weeks left in the season. Then it makes sense to promote him and let him play 1B, DH, and 3B 4 starts a week maybe 5 and a few pinch hitting opportunities. now You can find time as he won't be digging into too much playing time as Sano, JD, and Rooker each get a day off and can rotate so once during the three week period they each get 2. and really I can see Miranda getting 2 or 3 starts at 3rd and JD Dhing a day or two and Rooker getting the extra day off or get a start or two in the OF. Miranda would get around 45-60 plate appearances in that time but at least a chance to get some time to see what it is like in MLB.

Is this where you get your handle? sampleSizeOfOne

Probably need to add an honorable mention or a 31rst prospect since Rooker is about to graduate from the list.

I listed quite a few options for the bench. I don't think they will all be kept. Just that we have control on all of them beyond this season and can make an effective bench from what we already have. I agree with you on those in the minors. Some players will get exposed to the rule 5 draft. I hope the one who get picked do well. I just want our team to do better.

I would expect the Twins to go out and sign and trade players this offseason. We have lots of depth and some prospect capital as well. I could see the Twins either extending Buxton or signing an All Star SS (We have prospects for the other position). If we sign a SS, expect to see Buxton dealt to open a spot. I can also see the Twins signing a starting pitcher possibly 2. They won't sign a top of the rotation arm though. and I can see the Twins signing a bullpen arm or two. I think management wants to see a few rookies at a time to prevent a situation where too many rookies could fail at the same time decimating the pitching staff with too many short outings both in the rotation and pen.

I think Garlick and Luke are 2 of those 6 and they are accounted for above. who are the other 4 on the 60 day DL? were they accounted for above too?

I wanted to add they are or were playing both Lewis and Austin at both SS and CF so 1 of those positions have to give for the upcoming prospects when they are ready. That would make this about resigning Buxton. Resign Buxton you sign a cheap SS and let Austin and Lewis replace him when they come up. Or you trade Buxton and sign an expensive SS and use Lewis and Austin in CF. Good inexpensive SS could be Story but I Think Simmons could be a great teacher and backup player when Lewis and Austin are ready. I am sure there are other SS options for most of a season.

Maybe the Twins can keep this up and average gaining 2.5 to 3 games a week on the Whitesox and set up a tie and a game 163. That's realistic right?

I think it comes down to Buxton. Resign him the resign Simmons or Iglesias to be a defense first SS on the cheap till our prospects are ready. Trade Buxton cause he won't sign. Then sign an expensive SS who will produce. We don't need too many holes in the lineup while we fix the pitching staff.

Yes but how many prospects do we have that should be ready at some point next season. My point was we have our position players down pat with only a few adjustments and while we have lots of holes in the pitching staff we do have lots of prospects to come up who are legit prospects. But I will go ahead and apologize for the name of the article. It should read the position players are almost set and the Pitching at least has legit prospects to fill it out for now....

Remember Greene also missed time with Tommy John. I see both Enlow and Lewis in the majors at some point. How they compare with Greene remain to be seen. McKay, Gore, Kyle Wright, none of these guys have established themselves yet. losing 2020 was big for these guys as they are getting close.

Just a quick rundown of who is available on our roster with team control for next year. It seems next year's team is already close to complete with what we have already. On the offensive side the 2 real ?s are CF and SS can we get Buxton signed to an extension? and do we sign a SS allstar in FA or resign Simmons for another season at a much lower rate and wait for Lewis to come up? of course the other consideration is do we sign Cruz to another 1 year contract? On the Pitching side there is a little more to be done. Do we resign Pineda and for how much and long? do we sign or trade for another starter as well? and do we extend both Rogers and Duffy? Do we sign at least 1 more reliever maybe 2 or go with more young guys. (We have lots of young guys ready to compete here) Here is the breakdown of what we have as far as team control over different players. I included options as exercised as team control years in case you are wondering. lastly I think we have around 50 million in contracts for next season and around 20 million for arbitration raises. Assuming 130 - 140 million payroll next season what do you do? Up for contract extensions CF Buxton 1 year left of team control RP Rogers 1 year left of team control RP Duffy 1 year left of team control SP Pineda impending FA The Graduated with at least 2-4 years of control 1B / DH Sano has 2 years 2B Polanco has 4 seasons RF / CF Kepler has 3 seasons C Garver has 2 seasons Utility Arraez has 4 seasons The Recently graduated with 5 or 6 seasons of Control remaining 1B / LF Alex Killeroff C Jeffers LF Larnarch DH / OF Rooker Top Prospects as AA and AAA SS / OF Lewis SS / 2B / CF Martin 3B Miranda OF Celestino Established bench still under team control Astudillo Cave Gordon (Almost but not quite established) Refsnyder Revordt Garlick With Pitching we have Graduated with 2-4 years of control SP Maeda with 3 seasons RP Theilbar RP Alcala Recently Graduated with 5 or 6 seasons of Control remaining SP Ober SP / RP Dobnak SP/ RP Griffin Jax (Not fully graduated yet but close enough) Top Prospects at AA and AAA SP Woods – Richardson SP Balazovich SP / RP Duran SP Ryan SP Winder SP / RP Strottman SP Sands SP Vallimont RP Moran

I think we signed a few other players for overslot values as well. as I remember (not backed up by actual facts) but I think the Twins spent their bonus pool that draft. I know they didnt get penalized. I think there were some doubts on Greene signing with us as well. I could be wrong too. But I do remember the discussion on the board here and the consensus was they were likely a package deal meaning they used the discount to sign Enlow giving us essentially 2 first round talents. and the other consensus was there was not that much difference in separation in the top 5 or 6 in the draft either. Thus the discount and the ability to sign Enlow away from school was hailed as a genius move at the time.

Don't forget its Lewis and Enlow vs other top picks in that draft. Lewis was willing to take a discount so we could sign Emlow and keep him from going to college too.

With what we gave the Yankees, We gotta see if he can do more to get us closer to kinda sorta evening out the trade.

4th OF looks to be a competition between Cave and Refsnyder. Twinsfans need to get over the Badoo rule 5 pick. That was just a lucky pick for Detroit. No one on this board would have protected him and no one said anything when he was left unprotected and then taken....