Greglw3

This is definitely a well thought out concept and article!

As Hosken Bombo Disco you might remember when Gene Mauch pinch hit for 7 consecutive batters. I remember Maury Wills, on the game of the week, saying that Bostock had been outstanding but he saw no reason Powell couldn’t be a .300 hitter also. My recollection is Powell became pull happy and started grounding out to 2B a lot and his average plummeted. The 1977 team was THE TEAM. If Griffith hadn’t let everybody walk and acquired some pitching they could have been unstoppable!

You’ve identified the classic case!

They've (the FO) presided over subtraction of several good players, addition of lesser players and lack of prudent acquisition of plan Bs for a lineup that had a question mark at every position. I had called for Brantley, Jackie Bradley Jr (I know he’s not currently hitting well) and Maikel Franco, Hard to believe they couldn’t acquire any of the top free agent pitching talent and trade talent like Stroman. It might just be me but I think if thy were agressive enough, like the Chisox front office, this debacle would Never have happened. They haven’t gone into a season with anything close to a pitching staff that is World Series caliber in any of Falvey’s seasons. Look to Cleveland. They do it right. Great pitching staffs have always been the answer not hitting.

Fixing it.

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.

I like your humor!!! Do the Twins have a trade in the works for Pineda?

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!!!

You nailed it. They’ve done a lousy job acquiring top pitching talent last 2 offseasons. Didn’t acquire viable MLB options to compete with a lineup that had question marks at every position.

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.

Cave is hitting .167, with a .239 OBP, didn’t hit much last year. Broxton owns a .220 avg. 20 HR, 20 SB MLB season. He would be the fastest guy on the team next to Buxton and play great defense and maybe impact some extra inning wins as pr at 2nd to start the inning. We all saw how Buxton was a net plus because of his defense even when he was hitting .160.

I do like Broxton also. I think he’d be much better use of a roster spot than Cave. Big time speed and defense.

I think Aaron Whitefield for Wichita looks interesting and might be able to help, especially in extra innings for the twins. He’s got a great slash line and world class speed. We’re 0 for 7 in extra innings. He and Gordon could give the Twins another dimension in base stealing along with Buxton when he returns. The team is lacking in dimensions it requires to win. Why not try those two.