Greglw3

I was thinking he could still float and dh a little. It’s worked so far! And thanks!

I’d like to present a vision for the Twins incorporating prospects, post 2021 free agents, a possible trade target, and a potential look for the Twins with a philosophical change for the Twins post trade deadline and looking to 2022. A primary component in my vision is adding speed. To that end, assuming Simmons is traded (which he should be IMO), I’d like to see Aaron Whitefield and his .304/.372/.410 slash line with 15/21 SB in CF until Buxton comes back. Secondly, I’d like to see Gordon given the full time 2nd base job as he’s hit at AAA and the majors this year and is 10/10 in SB combined. Ultimately, I think the combination of Buxton, Whitefield and Gordon could add a dynamic new speed element to the team and make the team’s offense more balanced. Next, I’d like to look at the prospects that I think can help, especially if the Twins sell well at the deadline. Part of the plan assumes that we have outfield prospects that implore the moving of the long slumping Max Kepler either to another team or as the 4th outfielder. Let’s look at two pitching prospects who I think might be able to help in 2021 and going forward. As a starter, Josh Winder has a 1.98 ERA, 0.93 WHIP and .208 BA allowed. He could possibly fill that 5th starting position with Pineda #3 and Ober #4. I’d like to see if he’s a better solution than Dobnak. It’s an open competition but it seems Winder deserves to be in it. As a reliever, Jovani Moran has totally dominated AA with a 1.98 ERA, 0.77 WHIP and .121 BA against in 15 relief appearances encompassing 27.1 IP. It doesn’t look like anybody is ready at AAA right now. At Cedar Rapids, Matt Canterino could come fast once back from injury with his 35 K in 18 IP. Then there are the two major pitching prospects Jhoan Duran and Jordan Balazovic who, while neither seems ready, it’s still possible they could contribute in 2021. Next, I’ll look at the hitters ready to make an impact and how things might be juggled to make it happen. I’d like to see three hitters currently at Wichita promoted to the Twins. Those would be the aforementioned Aaron Whitefield who when up with the Twins last year was purported to have world class speed. Second would be Jose Miranda who has had a breakthrough season of stunning proportions slashing .349/.414/.586. I see Miranda as a cornerstone going forward. That could mean trading Josh Donaldson (whose trade value is increasing) for the best starting pitching prospect they could get. Third is Ernie De La Trinidad who could spend time in RF with Kepler (.200/.293/.394) being moved to 4th OF or traded (as I mentioned earlier), at least until De La Trinidad has had a full chance to prove himself. De La Trinidad has earned his opportunity with his own breakthrough season, slashing .323/.406/.526. This would yield an OF of Larnach, Whitefield, De La Trinidad with Kepler 4th OF and when Buxton comes back Larnach, Buxton, Whitefield with Kepler and De La Trinidad as 4th and 5th outfielders or DH. With Simmons and Donaldson traded, the Twins can vault into the future with an infield of 3B Miranda, SS Polanco, 2B Gordon and 1B Kirilloff. I don’t envision the catching situation changing. At Designated Hitter, the Twins have a big decision to make. I feel torn because Nelson Cruz has added so much to the Twins franchise and is still an elite hitter, so part of me wants to see him retire as a Twin, possibly at the end of 2022. However, if the Twins can give such prospects as Winder, Moran, Miranda, De La Trinidad and Whitefield a long look and get maybe a pitching prospect in the 8-15 range for Donaldson and the 8-12 range for Cruz, then that might well be the way to go. So far, the elevation of Larnach, Kirilloff and Gordon has worked out very well. I’d like to think that adding Winder, Moran, Miranda, Whitefield and De La Trinidad would yield the Twins at least two more cornerstones to move forward with. Next, I have 5 free agents, one or more of whom I’d like to see the Twins be very aggressive in their pursuit, with a goal of landing one. The master plan would involve re-signing Michael Pineda and adding one of the following 5: Marcus Stroman 2.32 ERA 1.055 WHIP and .219 BA allowed. Kevin Gausman 1.49 ERA 0.766 WHIP and .157 BA allowed. Robbie Ray 3.35 ERA 1. 1.165128 WHIP and .230 BA allowed. Zack Greinke 3.56 ERA. 1.115 WHIP and .245 BA allowed. Lance Lynn 2.14 ERA 1.004 WHIP and .195 BA allowed. Last, I have a trade possibility in Zac Gallen of the Diamondbacks. He has a 3.67 ERA 1.165 WHIP and .195 BA allowed. What do you think it would take to get Gallen in a trade?

I agree with a lot of what you say. I think Donaldson’s trade value is increasing and Miranda definitely deserves a look and could become the long term fixture at 3B. I’d like to keep Arraez, Polanco and Gordon and trade Simmons. Play Gordon for the rest of the season at 2B. Polanco at SS and Arraez still floating. I like your idea of trading Kepler or at least making him the 4th OF and giving De La Trinidad a chance, The other option when Buxton’s out would be Larnach, Whitefield and Kirilloff. I envision injecting a speed element into this team and Whitefield, Gordon and eventually Buxton could give the Twins offense an additional dimension for scoring runs. If Kirilloff plays 1B, then an OF of Larnach, Whitefield, De La Trinidad may be the way to go with Buxton retaking CF when he returns but Whitefield and De La Trinidad staying on 26 man roster. Whitefield 15 SB in 21 attempts and Gordon 10 for 10 including SPS and Twins would really make a difference, IMO.

Jim Holt was a favorite of mine when he played in the early to mid 70s. A really fine hitter. I also liked Steve Braun, Doug Corbett, Dave Engle. Bill Soupy Campbell was a fave. Glenn Adams who recorded 8 RBIs on June 26, 1977 and hit .338 that year! And Lyman Bostock was a treasure. Was probably headed for a HOF career. I, too, was mad at Calvin Griffith for letting him walk. I would also add Big Mark Funderburk who was a super masher. Check out his stats, especially HR. He had over 200 HR for his career including minor leagues! Year Age Tm Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG 2 Yr 2 Yr 2 Yr 2 Yr 31 85 9 25 8 1 2 15 0 1 7 13 .294 .337 .482 162 162 162 162 162 444 47 131 42 5 10 78 0 5 37 68 .294 .337 .482 1976 19 MIN-min Rk 61 225 25 53 7 4 7 33 1 0 21 63 .236 .304 .396 1977 20 MIN-min Rk,A 85 301 37 82 9 4 10 48 3 4 19 58 .272 .318 .429 1978 21 MIN-min A 132 497 76 128 19 1 25 78 14 6 46 129 .258 .324 .451 1979 22 MIN-min A 128 484 106 150 20 1 31 109 11 3 56 101 .310 .384 .548 1980 23 MIN-min AA 139 525 70 131 21 2 26 87 8 5 46 150 .250 .317 .446 1981 24 MIN-min AAA 119 394 47 88 14 1 18 52 2 1 27 71 .223 .278 .401 1981 24 MIN AL 8 15 2 3 1 0 0 2 0 0 2 1 .200 .278 .267 1982 25 MIN-min AA 121 402 80 106 23 1 23 85 9 3 54 71 .264 .355 .498 1983 26 KCR-min AAA 17 59 4 10 0 0 2 4 0 1 1 7 .169 .210 .271 1985 28 MIN-min AA 140 523 70 148 20 1 34 116 0 3 40 63 .283 .343 .520 1985 28 MIN AL 23 70 7 22 7 1 2 13 0 1 5 12 .314 .351 .529 1986 29 MIN-min AAA,AA 87 297 31 56 10 0 10 38 1 1 29 56 .189 .263 .323 1987 30 MIN-min AA 118 412 56 103 12 3 28 68 2 1 28 82 .250 .306 .498

Terry Ryan had an odd tenure in that, IMO, he was fairly effective in his first term (although he wouldn’t go after the finishing pieces, thereby, in effect wasting the value of Mauer and Morneau’s careers to the Twins. However his second term after Bill Smith was thoroughly awful with bad trade after bad trade, standing pat at trade deadlines. He always thought everything was all right when it clearly wasn’t. It reminded me of Jerry Krause I and II with the Bulls. Very effective then his second term was horrific!

You have The Unknown Comic below your handle, who was on The Gong Show with Gene Gene the Dancing Machine. They were the two main stars next to Chuck Barris, the host.

Unknown comic! Were you close with Gene Gene the Dancing Machine? Chuckie got so excited when he danced!

I agree with you, Tom. I’ve watched seeming offseason apathy too many times to trust this front office. I, too, have lost faith in them. This last offseason was excruciatingly bad. It was probably worse than Miguel Sano hitting .185. They would absolutely have to acquire a #2 or #1 type starter in trade or free agency this off season. The best way to predict someone’s future actions is to look at their past actions. They’ve let White Sox management run circles around them. They’ve fallen short of several other FO’s body of work. They boldly claimed they were shooting for nothing less than a World Series. Not even close. I hate to say it but even though I’ve seen recent improvement in game management from Baldelli, overall I think he’s done a poor job, especially with pitchers. Case in point, this team’s way to frequent sloppy play. Most wouldn’t agree with me probably but I’d rather try to lure Jim Leyland out of retirement so that poor game management didn’t cost x amount of games.

I hope that Cruz retires a Twin. With him, it’s been a good run and if they can get the pitching fixed, he can still help. If I had to choose a deal, it would be the Oakland deal.

Yep. Bostock is my sentimental favorite as well. He played 60 games in LF in his banner 1977 season, one of the best offensive seasons in Twins history. His two full seasons were .323 and .336 with mega extra base hits. I wish Calvin had not been so penurious and I wish he had lived. I think he was so talented that he would have likely been a Hall of Famer. I’m a big time Lyman Bostock fan and a huge fan of that 1977 team. I have a memory of the first time I saw Bostock play with the Twins, in person, probably in Detroit - he hit a scorching liner down the third base line between the third baseman and the bag. I think it was the first at bat I ever saw him in person and I was stunned, thinking or saying, "Wow!".

I think they are both studs! I tend to favor Larnach just a little but essentially they’re equally talented. Their presence is a major bright spot in an otherwise deeply disappointing season.

One of my favorite catches in Twins history is the one that Allison made in the 1965 World Series.

I agree with Roger that we must extend Buxton, Berrios and Rogers. If not, a retool or a rebuild becomes that much more difficult in truly replacing those 3.

Good research! It looks like those 3 years were the only time when he was a regular LF. I had thought of Harmon as a 3B/1B but there it is in black and white!

What a comeback!

Goslin was a triples machine and an RBI machine. Very impressive career!

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I feel like the lineup is missing Arraez and or Gordon even though they are LH.

It did but it’s a pretty sharp picture!

I’m surprisingly blacked out of this series on MLB.TV, living in Nashville! I was still able to watch on my big screen TV on Bally South last night but even though it’s listed as being on the cable today, it isn’t. SO, I’m listening to Corey Provus and Dan Gladden.

I’ll change that to Wheeler. ?

Way to get up a well written article up efficiently after a loooong game, Nate! I thought that was a terrific baseball game! Wonderful to see Shoemaker finding a possible role, a comeback in bottom of 10 and Sano’s HR. Also, I feel like Rocco Baldelli is handling his bullpen a lot better now, being a little more aggressive and not leaving pitchers in too long.

Ashbury Yes! I thought about him but thought his output limited by leaving for Texas. However, I’m a big Gary Ward fan! I lived in Toledo, OH when the Twins were the parent club and saw him play extensively along with Ron Washington (maybe the best 3B I ever saw on a regular basis as a Mud Hen - regular diving stops at 3rd!), Dave Engle, Jesus Vega and Ray Smith, the catcher.