Brandon

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).

The game probably seems a lot slower to him in AAA. He was probably so amped up in the majors trying to compete that when he was sent down everything slowed down for him and he is now used to the faster paced MLB.

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.

Maeda is a great opportunity for the Twins to show Japanese players that Minnesota is a great place to play. The 2B we had didn't do us any favors. So if Maeda is able to pitch and wants to he will. He will go back to Japan and let others know we valued him and gave him all opportunities when others didn't.

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.

I would think the Twins refer to have Ryan pitch in 4 or 5 games first. Injuries could change that. But I would imagine that would be there preference. Albers was called up because the prospect pitchers are not ready for the call yet. And I know that is frustrating since this is a great season to have pitchers making their debuts.

Is this where you get your handle? sampleSizeOfOne

If other factors are taken into consideration like a Buxton extension then this. If its just an either or ? you sign the SS who can help on a daily basis. not someone who pitches every 5th day and is more prone to long term injuries.

I would say the Twins go 27-14 to finish 81-81 or 28-13 to have a winning season. Won on the last game of the season to complete an improbable comeback from 18 games below .500.

I figured Nick was here for a veteran presence. I guess it was just to give him a showcase so another team can get him. He did his job here. That was fast.

I'll bite. I think if we sign a star SS, then we likely wouldn"t be resigning Buxton and would have a hole in CF. Austin Martin would have first crack at that spot but you want to keep Lewis around to compete for it or be available in case of injury. He could become the best 4th OF of all time for us with some IF to keep him in the line up. If Miranda doesn't end up at third, could Lewis handle 3B? Lewis has the talent to be a difference maker. If his opportunity here gets diminished, it would make sense to see what we could get in a trade. I wouldn't be opposed to trading him in certain situations for a good return. But I don't believe it will come to that.

I like that the younger pitchers are being given a chance. I also like that they have done a solid job is far. Credit development teams for that.

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.

Depends on when the pitcher was signed? He was in the minors and may be promoting him to show others in his class that the Twins are the team of opportunity so when we are in contention and looking to build our depth they can sell those relievers on their history and really improve our depth in competetive seasons. It costs us 20 to 30 innings. We will find opportunities for Moran. I think the other thing to consider is how many rookies do you want up at a time? We have 3 likely soon 4 rookies in the rotation. Several bad days in a row will burn out the pen. Better to have a pitcher you can push in terms of work like Vincent vs chancing an injury on a rookie pitcher throwing too much. Or at least you want someone who can get outs in case the bullpen rookies are imploding at the same time as the starter rookies.

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.