Greglw3

I’m a big believer in Nick Gordon’s talent and his goodness as a fit for being a Twins asset for several years.

I like your thinking, especially on the starting rotation. We couldn’t be more in sync about that. Duffy and Ray would be a fantastic get and could be #1 and #2 and Pineda #3.

I agree. They need to sign him for sure!

#1 I think Lewis could be a guy to come fast based on him being a little older and judged to have big talent. If he could play SS, that would be great! Thinking about it, I think he’d play better than Simmons did, considering offense and defense both. He’d be a nice backup for Buxton in CF and he could be used in LF also. Possibly even some RF. I’m really down on Kepler and don’t think they can depend on him. My answer to #2 is that I think they can contend and should sign Pineda and two more upper tier starting pitchers. With injuries and the two open spots, there will plenty of room for the pipeline to keep moving. I see room for Ober, Ryan, Sands, maybe Duran as a callup, health permitting. Possibly even Varland. I don’t think Balazovich is ready. #3 I would count on Rogers as the closer but make sure we have a setup man that could step up as closer. I’m not so sure that would be Colome. That’s a tough call. #4 I have the most faith in Rogers, Thielbar, Duffy, Alcala, Minaya. Coulombe, I think is a borderline guy to be a steady lefty. So they’ll need to sign a couple of relievers. #5 I have a vision for the DH slot and it revolves around the fact that I want to get Miranda 500-550 AB next year. So Donaldson plays maybe 70-85 games at 3B. Arraez plays some 3B, a little 2B and maybe some OF depending on injuries, then he DHs some. Miranda should be pegged for at least 70 games at 3B, maybe 20-25 at 1B when Sano is slumping or needs rest and then the balance at DH. Sano could DH a little with Kirilloff sliding from a corner OF spot to 1B for those games. I’d like Kirilloff to play the bulk of his games in RF as, in my mind, Kepler's slumps and poor plate approach in pulling the ball stubbornly into the shift time after time is not sufficient for a contender. The Twins also need to sign a free agent outfielder although I think Jimmy Kerrigan or one of Contreras or Cabbage might be able to handle it. I think Larnach needs a good half season in AAA. Schwarber would probably be the top target for LF but may be the target of a richer team. #6 Buxton has to be signed. And I think he will be. Like you said, Nick, you simply can’t let a generational player get away. Jim Pohlad has made it clear that they won’t be rebuilding. It’s probably because I followed the Twins when Calvin Griffith was one of the most penurious owners ever and then Carl Pohlad was so cheap and Terry Ryan part II was cheap even when it seemed he had the green light from Jim Pohlad. From that background dating back to 1975-6, I don’t like to hear that the Twins can’t afford a good team and keep it. In my opinion, based on his public comments, I think Jim Pohlad would carry a payroll of 150-160 million. That’s where the Twins should be and he’ll get a nice return in attendance with a good team. If they need to trade Donaldson to afford a good LF and starters in the Ray, Duffy, Syndergaard category and sign Buxton then it sure looks like Miranda could handle 3B.

The reference to most talented Twins team of the all should specify "greatest offensive team of all"

I wanted to relay my experience about what I consider to be the greatest Twins regular season game of them all. I was 21 and listened to the game from Toledo, Ohio on WMAQ in Chicago. I kept score and had the scoresheet for many years after! Harry Carey announced and possibly Jimmy Piersall. The game took place June 26, 1977 with what I consider to be the most talented Twins team ever with the Great tactician/strategist Gene Mauch as manager and his nephew, Roy Smalley playing SS. The Twins didn't have much pitching that year but made up for it with the bats of Lyman Bostock (.336 avg, 14 triples), Rod Carew (.388, 30+ 2b, 16 triples, 14 homers) and Larry Hisle (119 RBIs). I’m pulling in the boxscore from Baseball Reference. Your eyes will pop out when you look at the Twins offensive performances. What stands out to you about this game after viewing the box score? By the way, with basically ONE starting pitcher, the Twins went 84-77, 4th in the AL West and Rod Carew’s season was so great that he won the MVP award!

I would say the most likely is that Kirilloff develops into a force. But I want him in RF. Kepler’s ultra low batting averages won’t do and he’s had plenty of time to adjust that pull first mentality. The second most likely is that Miranda steps in and plays a lot. I would then sign a solid hitting LF for and OF of new sign in LF, Buxton in CF and Kirilloff in RF. I hope Ryan is like his starts save the last one, which was frightening. I don’t know what to expect there. Falvey and Levine can turn their grade from F to A if they can sign Robbie Ray and Danny Duffy. And re-sign Pineda.

My first choice was Nick Gordon but the arguments made by the reps and the judge’s analysis were all on point and I agree with the judge that Ober is the correct choice!

I'll put my money on Eddie Rosario every time. He’s infinitely better than Jake Cave and Trevor Larnach combined this year. Just making the point that those who are Eddie detractors can’t depend on him staying down too long. He did a lot of special things for the Twins including 15 triples one year, a high ROY ranking and 2 time all star plus the 32 HR and 109 RBIs which lead the team over Nelson Cruz. But the Twins plod on with Jake Cave hitting .185. Eddie has a career OPS+ of 108, solidly above average. Unlikely Twins can reverse their mistake because the Braves will want to re-sign him. Just one of a multitude of reasons that I gave Falvey and Levine and F.

I’m afraid that for the period from the end of the 2020 season until now, Falvey and Levine get an F and Baldelli gets a D. Baldelli has shown slight improvement in the last 3rd of the season, maybe because getting rid of a lot of the bad relievers and bringing in more effective young ones made it easier to manage the bullpen. I think the Twins can contend next year but Falvey and Levine will have to be much more thorough in their planning and realistic in their talent evaluation. I do not think Max Kepler is a major league starter. He’s way too long in the habit of trying to pull everything usually right into the shift. If he’d use the whole field he could be a good hitter again but he won’t make the adjustment. Justin Morneau has commented on it several times in recent broadcasts, I think one time even using the word stubborn. For all the drafted pitchers, I agree with Tom. WE have exactly one pitcher that has proven he’s ready and that’s Ober. We really don’t know about Ryan because he didn’t get a long enough test but that last start was alarmingly bad. Cave has to go. The big hope would be signing a left fielder and Miranda playing a whole season for the Twins plus Kirilloff staying healthy and putting together a credible season. Lots of work to do.

Oops! My bad. I’ll offer up two alternatives for LF. From baseball reference: or

I think the money needs to go elsewhere if the Twins really want to contend. I’d go with this depth chart: 3B Donaldson/Miranda/Arraez SS Polanco/Gordon/Palacios 2B Gordon/Arraez/Miranda 1B Sano/Kirilloff/Miranda LF Michael Brantley/Larnach CF Buxton/Greg Allen or Billy Hamilton RF Kirilloff/Kepler/Cabbage C Garver/Jeffers/Rortvedt DH Miranda/Donaldson/Sano SP Ray or Syndergaard SP Danny Duffy SP Michael Pineda SP Greinke or Ober SP Joe Ryan If Greinke then Ober 6th in line or he could win a spot in Spring training Depth Cole Sands, Charlie Barnes, maybe at some point Duran RP Rogers RP Thielbar RP Garza RP Alcala RP Juan Minaya Long Relief Gant RP Vincent has to "make good'

I’d like to nominate the drop-off from the nearly 100 game 1970 season to the very disappointing 1971 season, where the Twins were basically a very strong hitting team but a poor team pitching-wise. The high point was Tony Oliva winning his 3rd batting title in 1971. Rod Carew hit .307 before raising his game massively and winning 6 of the next 7 batting titles with a string of staggering batting averages!

Young player with insufficient reps in major leagues to know his true potential. Twins let him go. LaMonte Wade? Brent Rooker? Denard Span? Ben Revere? Akil Badoo? David Ortiz? Luis Gil? Ynoa? I think there’s at least a 50% chance that Rooker hits 30 HR in a major league season. But we have too many outfielders to give LaMonte Wade a chance. He would have been our 1st or 2nd best outfielder for the season.

Fair enough. We’re both just trying to figure out the way the Twins can get better. I did think it was cool last night that Gordon tied for the team lead in stolen bases! Here’s Gordon’s last 15 games (MLB.com) Ya gotta love his defensive versatility and how he’s competent at several position. It strkes me that he’s being groomed as the backup CF if Buxton is hurt next year and backup at 3B, SS, 2B, LF. A better Marwin Gonzalez. For a full season with no improvement he rates as a 30 SB, 15 HR guy,

Gordon has played there lately and he’s shown no matter where you put him, he does a major league worthy job because he’s a very skilled athlete. He’s close to the team lead in SB in very limited time. Palacios is 25 but hit 19 HR at SS and had 18 stolen bases. Polanco won 101 games at SS, 70 at 2B. My point is that Simmons has been awful and should depart. It also was to say that rather than make the same BIG mistake of pouring valuable money into a SS and being cheap in pitching, let’s make the choice to stay put at SS with Internal options and pour the money into 2 of 3 of Syndergaard, Robbie Ray and Danny Duffy. How does Ray, Danny Duffy, Pineda, Joe Ryan and Bailey Ober or Cole Sands sound?

If they re-sign Andrelton Simmons, that will be a great start to a 3rd consecutive lousy offseason for the FO. With shifts and some defensive decline and bobbling of balls, his defense is not as advertised. And his low offensive profile is a net negative to the team. I’d sign another FA SS or use Gordon, Polanco, Maggi or Palacios there with an outside chance of Royce Lewis. Cave and Simmons are the two highest priorities for release. Possibly Kepler. Without using Kepler’s name, for 3 or 4 days in a row, Justin Morneau has pointed out the hopeless nature of his approach and the stubbornness that is involved. I’d seriously consider trading or releasing him. My 2022 OF would be Michael Brantley, Buxton and Kirilloff with Contreras Kerrigan as the 4th and/or 5th OF.

I’m very excited to see Woods-Richardson have a dominant outing like that finally. Maybe his season can be like Brant Alyea’s 1970 season, hot at the start and end but icy cld in the middle of the season.

I agree that Polanco, Gordon and Arraez could fill the bill and Drew Maggi has had a fine season. I would be amenable to having Gordon play the majority of games at 2B. Ironically Arraez’s best position is 3B but with Donaldson increasingly brittle, that could work out. I’m probably in the minority but think Polanco could go back to SS. After all Twins won 101 games with him at SS in 2019. Miranda also is pounding on the MLB door!

I agree that they can put together a contending staff and I agree that Pineda should be one. I’m pretty sure he’s said he wants to be with the Twins. I also agree with your evaluation of Ober. He looks to have bright future. What I’d like to see Falvey do is rather than sitting back and waiting for players to drop to them, set high goals and go very aggressively for 2 of these 3. Syndergaard, Robby Ray, Danny Duffy. While not a Dobnak fan, I’m open to him in the 5 spot. It remains to be seen if Ryan is a better choice or needs more seasoning. I wish Balazovic could pull it all together because every time I see him, he has really high upside on his breaking stuff. I also don’t think the offense is good enough. Cave should be released. The Twins should try to sign Michael Brantly who could help form a great 1-2 with Arraez. Buxton in cf. Kirilloff in rf. Kepler to 4th OF or traded. They also need to sign an inexpensive defensive stud like Billy Hamilton or me, Greg Allen to fill in when Buxton is down. In the IF, I envision Miranda at 3rd, a SS depending on how much they spend on other players (maybe Polanco). Arraez or Polanco at 2B but Arraez gets his 450-500 AB.. Sano at 1B. Garver/Jeffers and depending on how fast he comes, Rortvedt. His defense could be very very good and I see him hitting eventually. Then, like you said, Winder, Strotaman, Dobnak or Ryan, Canterino, Balazovic hopefully produces a real deal pitcher. Dursn coming back would be a big bonus. I think Contreras and Larnach could help in some role. Possibly even Jimmy Kerrigan. Good analysis. I’m in basic agreement with you that the Twins can contend with the right moves.

All I can say about that rotation is Yuk. They should make an all out play for Robby Ray and as a #2, Danny Duffy. That shouldn’t break the bank but would bring two of the best ERA pitchers to the Twins. Then re-sign Pineda for stability. Final two Joe Ryan and Bailey Ober. Also sign Brantley for LF so the OF is Brantley, Buxton, Kirilloff. Miranda, SS, Arraez, Sano with Donaldson moving further toward the DH told. Jeffers/Garver and Nick Gordon (U). This would all be affordable and show that Twins really want to win. Syndergaard could be a backup for Ray.

I agree, that’s exactly what they have to have, a 1 a 2 and a 3 or 4. My suggestion was Robbie Ray, Danny Duffy and Michael Pineda. Then Ober and Ryan plus improve the offense by signing a LF like Brantley. Kepler is iffy, I think Kirilloff could do a better job. Brantley, Buxton, Kirilloff in the OF and sign Billy Hamilton or Greg Allen to fill in as a defensive stud when and if Buxton is injured, Kepler 4th OF. Cave gone. Miranda, ? (feel like spending? Carlos Correa). Arraez, Sano in the IF with Donaldson at DH. Garver/ Jeffers and please keep Nick Gordon, he has a lot of tools and just needs experience.

Best I can determine the recent White Sox FA signings or extensions to ward off FA are: Adam Eaton Jose Abreau Liam Hendricks Dallas Keuchel Lance Lynn Yasmani Grandal Gio Gonzalez

Yep, time for a change a/la the White Sox of the last 3 years. They have to pay up if they want to win.

I’ll take an optimistic approach. If they can sign two free agent pitchers that both finish with a record 10 games above .500, then Ryan, Ober and maybe Pineda could be .500 as a group. That’s a rotation that’s 20 games above .500. The offense will need new faces ( Michael Brantley, Carlos Correa, Miranda, Kirilloff RF, Buxton) to get those two FA acquisitions to 20 games over .500. I would suggest Robby Ray and Danny Duffy, both with very good ERAs this season. Then if they can significantly improve the bullpen with aggressive FA and trade efforts, they could increase to 25 above .500