Greglw3

I’m really happy for him and I like him a lot. His speed could add a new dimension to the team. At least he looks to be a 2nd legitimate stolen base option next to Buxton. I would like to see him get a lot of time at 2nd base and Polanco at SS. Despite the errors, I thought Polanco had nice range at SS when healthy. Arraez can still play the Marcin role but probably better.

They got a name for the winners in the world. Me, I need a name when I lose. They call Alabama the Crimson Tide. Call me Deacon Blues. Great article. You had me for most of it. Loved the Larnach quote!

I agree wholeheartedly on Polanco and Gordon for balance of 2021. I’d play Polanco at SS and Gordon at 2b.

I like your net roster much better than Falvey’s You covered some needed areas where they failed to act. Cave in LF was something I didn’t want but the ascension of Larnach and Kirilloff and the improvements in Buxton and Refsnyder have made it a moot point. However, I think the Twins record would be better with a competent MLB OF like Michael Brantley in LF before Larnach took over.

I would trade any and all of the players that you mentioned except I would try to resign Michael Pineda so as not to further weaken a weak pitching staff and I’d like to keep Trevor Rogers. I think the Twins would be surprised at how little Kepler returns but they should find out his value.

I don’t want to trade our #1 pitching commodity on a pitching deprived Twins team already. If they just can’t sign him, then I guess they would have to. They need to step up on both Buxton and Berrios.

I agree with you. Those defensive metrics are dubious to me! Simmons doesn’t remind me of any of the great SSs, not even Greg Gagne and afar cry from Ozzie Smith.

I'd like to see him traded with Polanco moved back to SS and Nick Gordon manning 2B plus Arraez as super utility. I think that both offensively and defensively, Polanco is a premeir SS when healthy. And he’s starting to look healthy again!

This is definitely a well thought out concept and article!

I’d want to make a major push to sign him before I thought about trading him. I still think at his young age and the stuff he has, that he can be a solid #1 sometime not too far down the line. I’d rather them dump Donaldson’s contract and use the money on Berrios. For me, a top 100 prospect would not be nearly enough for the Twins best pitcher, who has not reached that magic age of 27 which is a good guess at a peak season. I would sign him for 6 years 120 MM, less than Mauer cost. The Twins do have a talented 3B at Wichita in Jose Miranda. He’s only 22 and can play SS too (like he did tonight) and has a great slash line counting tonight (went 2 for 5 with a HR and 4 RBI. Current average .311, current OPS .934!

I agree wholeheartedly on Gordon. Why the Twins aren’t using him more is a big mystery and source of frustration to me.

Great article Nick! It’s nice to see Larnach and Kirilloff in the same outfield and Refsnyder has me encouraged as well. I think you’re right, some definite encouraging signs, including Farrell’s 2 innings, showing off a very nice curveball! Dobnak’s outing was a breath of very fresh air. I remain a Nick Gordon fan. I’d love to see him get a stretch of significant playing time at 2B. With Polanco’s one festering injury, the door is open. As far as Simmons goes, I don’t think he should factor into any equation blocking Gordon. He’s been disappointing defensively although better lately and he hasn't hit much. I think the healthy Polanco was sufficient at short due to very good range mitigated by too many errors. But when will we truly see a healthy Polanco again? I’ve been one of his biggest fans. I still think, if he can put this injury behind him, that he has a lot go very good baseball left. That may be a very big if, though. Duran’s return is exciting. I’d like to see Whitefield with a role if he keeps it up. And one eye is on Miranda. All the stellar prospects are mitigating the Twins MLB play for me a bit. That last happened when Gaetti, Laudner, Bush, Hrbek, Gagne were all blossoming and making a 100 loss season actually encouraging to me.

That stretch of ball throwing in a very critical situation was driving me nuts too! Oh for the days of Joe Nathan!

I like your ideas!!!

I thought that he showed the game changing dimension he can bring to the team in his game with the Twins. I was honestly surprised that, having seen a glimpse of offense, defense and speed that Gordon offers on a last place, bitterly disappointing team, they sent him back down. I’m the first to admit, I’m high on Gordon and think the Twins would be making a mistake not to give him a real shot at 2B.

But the practical result was exit Rosario and Cave taking over the playing time. Kirilloff may yet be the replacement for Rosario and then things will be better!

It’s a classic stat, one of the most important for 150+ years. Some hitters just perform better in the clutch. Rosario was one such player.

I agree with you 100% It was a very poor personnel decision. One of the player changes but only one, that’s resulted in a 101 win team gasping for air.

I don’t see bad luck as any part of this. Roy Smalley was asked for a win prediction pre-season. He said 90. He was asked, "Why so low?" His answer. The Twins have too many question marks all around the diamond. The FO foolishly gave away Rosario for Cave and failed to acquire players such as Michael Brantley, Springer, Maikel Franco (back up uncertainties at 3B and 1B and he would have played a lot so far!!!), Pillar. Another big mistake was letting so many bullpen arms escape and replacing them with bargain basement types. Previous to that, they could have been super aggressive on Bumgarner, Stroman, Darvish, Ryu and others of that ilk. If you lose these recruiting battles time after time after time, you will certainly lose to a team like the White Sox, who did what our front office could have.

We're in basic agreement. Funny I wrote this Tuesday AM and in the afternoon see that Ober has been called up. They must have read my blog post!

Someone posted here on Twins Daily about a sense of a Twins shakeup. I love the Twins too much not to contribute my ideas for an immediate shakeup. Here’s a basic lineup that would represent a shakeup. Of course, Buxton would take over CF when he’s available. I’ve got a keen eye on St. Paul and Wichita and there are myriad good prospects. Here’s a take on a new lineup and a fresh start: 3B- Jose Miranda SS- Jorge Polanco 2B-Nick Gordon 1B-Josh Donaldson LF-Alex Kirilloff CF-Aaron Whitefield RF-Trevor Larnach C-make a trade DH-Cruz and Kepler Super Utility-Luis Arraez Release Jake Cave Starting pitching: Release Happ and Shoemaker and replace with Dobnak and Ober. Griffin Jax could be recalled as the next option. Bullpen: Bring up Thorpe, Vasquez, Farrell and Yennier Cano, consider Matt Canterino currently with 1.13 ERA in high A Cedar Rapids.. Replace Falvey, Levine and Baldelli. Bring in a competent veteran baseball manager such as Jim Leyland. I think he would be Franconia-like in incisive in game decisions, which have been sorely lacking from Baldelli. Keep an eye on: Balazovic (currently injured), Duran (currently injured), Ernie De La Trinidad (OF, solid start at Wichita), Gilberto Celestino The idea here is to create a more balanced roster. My changes could allow a dynamic base stealing element with Gordon, Buxton and Whitefield. The extra speed could be used to garner the Twins some extra inning wins by pinch running Whitefield when Buxton returns. My overhaul also ushers in the era of what promise to be exciting big league careers for Kirilloff and Larnach! I see a very talented and exciting player in Nick Gordon. He had an electrifying debut with the Twins, stealing two bases! He also leads St. Paul in hitting with a small sample size. Plus his 2019 body of work was deceptively above average for a second baseman, with 29 doubles in 292 AB and he slashed .298/.342/.459. Current slash at St. Paul .333/.429/.611. Fun fact: Gordon’s OPS+ with the Twins is 246. Obviously mitigated by one game sample size. Miranda is off to a sizzling start at Wichita with a .370/.400/.652 slash line. Plus he’s only 22 years old. Sano and Kepler would have to reclaim their jobs. They have had not helped the Twins. Kepler may have been resurgent before his injury, but I would go with my new outfield and find ways to use Kepler where he can actually help the team. Twins Daily is my go to place for information on the Twins. I hope my contribution here gets your juices flowing as a Twins fan. We definitely don’t want to tap into the definition of insanity: keep doing the same thing over and over and expect different results. WIN TWINS!!!

Yes, squirrel, I thought of the famous George Plimpton article for SI when I read this piece - the one about Sidd Finch who could throw 150 MPH!

Hi Roger. I was just trying to get Nick Gordon to 2B because I’m very high on him. He would bring speed on base paths, triples likely and SB (look at that first game 2 clean stolen bases) and a little power (.440+ slg in 2019 in AAA). I do think Arraez has been quite competent in LF. Well, we’re both and all just trying to solve this huge dilemma facing the team we love!!!

Whitefield is very intriguing!!! Imagine the invigorating dimension it would add to the hapless Twins offense if Gordon, Whitefield and Buxton were all given a chance to play together. I remember the amazing lift the Orioles received from rookie callups Al Bumbry and Rich Coggins in the 70’s. Three Twins seriously merit reduced playing time in Kepler, Sano and Cave. I’m also disappointed in Simmons and don’t think he’s added anything to the team. I’d play Polanco at SS again now that he looks healthy and play Gordon at 2B. Outfield could be Arraez, Whitefield or Broxton in cf until Buxton returns and Larnach in RF with Kirilloff at 1B.