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tony&rodney

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Everything posted by tony&rodney

  1. tony&rodney
    Woods Richardson is a decent #5 starting pitcher. He finished last year on a strong note and seemed like a sell high player. Didn't happen - the Twins don't move many players on the sell high platform. For now, SWR gets the rotation spot. It remains very difficult, for me, to harshly judge the pitching when the defense is so porous. I thought Arizona, a team with good gloves, might be interested in Woods Richardson for a gamble. I'm going to go with Sim until the All Star Game unless he just totally crashes. The Twins do have some interesting options: Ober, Bradley, Prielipp, Abel, Morris, Matthews, and Rojas come to mind. Plenty of inexperience behind Ober.
  2. tony&rodney
    Agree with this take. The tricky thing is to identify what players are going to be capable of a MLB career. Are there players who fans love who can be traded for talent which makes the traded player replaceable in the hearts and minds of fans? Think Arraez for Lopez. To me Byron Buxton is a guy to keep despite missing so many games through the years. Buxton doesn't return star statistics on a full time basis but his electricity is real. I never felt Lewis or Julien or Miranda or Wallner or Larnach were that type of player. Luke Keaschall gets a pass for a few months but it does look more and more like a position change is needed, maybe to DH. I do think that trading Lopez and Ryan may have returned a player or two apiece worth the risk of another lost connection. We are currently in the process of watching to see if Mick Abel (and later on-2 years?) can replace Jhoan Duran and it seems like Taj Bradley is capable of replacing Griffin Jax. Tricky thing to maintain connections but keep a team relevant.
  3. tony&rodney
    Totally agree that the Twins had a real opportunity to make some dynamic trades last October and November. What none of us can know is whether any teams made any offers worth listening to. How did the front offices around MLB view the Twins front office and players? While I made a number of suggested trades using various players, nothing was done and I have moved on. Any time one of us makes a trade suggestion, we are just goofing around. There is very little realism to our thoughts. Cheap internal entertainment. Often these don't actually even work out and at other times various Twins Daily members respond harshly to ideas as well. I'm not reliving Derek Falvey any more. While the opportunities available in my eyes in October 2023 were interesting and promising, we still have most of the players I was willing and wanted to trade. Time to hope that the next group steps forward sooner than later.
  4. tony&rodney
    All Twins fans are hoping the Twins win every game. I'm enjoying this team more than I did the last two versions (2024 & 2025). Nevertheless, talent is a real thing. The Twins were picked to win 72 or 73 games. That was before Pablo Lopez went down. Joe Ryan is going to go on the IL for at least a couple of weeks, if one thinks best case scenario. While I'm thinking quite positive about the top minor league prospects and young pitchers, experience takes time. Winning 81 games would make Derek Shelton manager of the year, which I hope he reaches. In the meantime I'm looking for small improvements, some promotions in June, and growth of our young and inexperienced pitchers. When a few top prospects push forward the defense will be greatly improved, which will be a huge boost to the pitchers. This will take time. Because the front office felt that the roster was "good enough" the last three years, the team stood still. Then came the unforeseen late July trades, which were followed up by ..... nothing. The future will be better and I'm not going to get angry at the slow roster movement. Hope for 77 wins in 2026 to beat Las Vegas.
  5. tony&rodney
    The crux of the offseason - finish the rebuild with some 4-5 speculative gambling trades of players or believe that Lopez, Ryan, and Ober can lead the team to relevance. The Twins took Option B and it doesn't make much sense to second guess it now. Standing still was the habit and there was a hint that the pitchers could deliver while the bats were counted on to come around. The unbalanced roster continues to leak due to a poor defense and until the young bucks in AAA prove they have polished their skills this shortcoming is going to be ongoing. The good news of fewer mental mistakes in 2026 took a few days off but we should expect that to improve this week. Somehow, some bodies need to step forward in the bullpen. I'm holding out hope for Orze, Rogers, and Funderburk while believing guys like Klein, Morris, Matthews, Festa, and Rojas could hold the line. The Twins have been leaning on their starting pitching and while many of the arms are pretty raw, there is talent. To some degree the decent work of Bradley, Abel, Prielipp, and Morris are worth retaining hope for the Twins team. Matthews, Festa, and Rojas could also play important roles soon enough. Ober has been pretty good. Woods Richardson has struggled to be sure but the gloves have really hurt him as well. Look for Simeon to turn it around. The next week could be interesting.
  6. tony&rodney
    Plenty of notice that Simeon doesn't strike everyone out, but if the gloves turn batted balls into outs maybe things turn out differently. Hard to look critically at the pitchers as long as the defense is so poor. The Twins also had a rough night with the bats, with some weak plans. Worse, a few mental mistakes returned after the Twins had managed to stay away from them recently. I'll lay blame on pitchers once they don'y have to strike everyone out to gain an out.
  7. tony&rodney
    Top of 2nd inning and five plays not made. Let's not comment on pitchers for a while.
  8. tony&rodney
    Soon the Twins should see how Festa looks and then we might see some movement in the bullpen. Seems like Festa could be a tough guy in the pen. Still think that hitting and fielding are the top two problems for the team.
  9. tony&rodney
    May 1 with more than two months to go before the draft, but it is looking like three players are separating themselves from the pack. Fortunately the Twins pick one of those three players. Plenty can still occur between now and July though. My current guess is Lackey but Tampa Bay may favor a catcher over the prep shortstop. Do the Twins have angst about picking a high school shortstop high in the draft and go for Flora?
  10. tony&rodney
    Love these minor league reports every time. Sorry to hear about the issues with MLB/Twins.TV. I can go to milb.com and instantly get Gameday and Video to watch teams or specific players. I watch a ton of action. However, every single time I log into mlb.com I have to sign in fresh each time. It is annoying. I think MLB just doesn't have their %^&* together. We get spoiled with technology. Last night I watched the Wild on the TV, while watching the Twins on the computer. Most days, I'll have a Twins game and a minor league game on at the same time. It is super convenient to stream late at night after the games are over but when I have the time. I'm usually up until midnight anyway. Retirement is a luxury. Most people cannot do so many games. I get a ton of work done around my property but would never have had this luxury during the nearly fifty years I worked 12 hours per day. I'm totally spoiled now and love the minor leagues ..... and the Twins. Thank you for the recap and hope MLB fixes your issues.
  11. tony&rodney
    Apparently the answer is no for many. I was merely wondering since I cannot make the exchanges myself.
  12. tony&rodney
    They are trying him there, which means he is taking ground balls and throws in practice. Same with Gonzalez. I was not labeling but merely suggesting that the Twins are trying to see where players can play. They have almost certainly hit ground balls to Wallner and Larnach as well at some point. It didn't work so those practice experiments ended.
  13. tony&rodney
    Time gives players games for experience before a plunge into MLB.
  14. tony&rodney
    Give the guys fifty games? Can you hold on?
  15. tony&rodney
    This gets mentioned from time to time with Wallner and Larnach. The Twins are using Fedko and Gonzalez at 1B for the Saints and Mendez at 1B for the Wind Surge. Teams try players everywhere pretty much to create usefulness. Both Larnach and Wallner have stood at first base in practices and there are real life reasons they cannot be used at the position. For those who want to move Wallner or Larnach to a new position they would both be safer at shortstop. I'm guessing we can all agree that nobody wants to see that, so let us all retire all thoughts of seeing them injured badly at first base.
  16. tony&rodney
    Pitching is still the same - keep the ball out of the hitting zone. Bailey Ober needs a strong defense behind him to be his best self. He prayed all winter to be traded to Arizona. He has done pretty well thus far. Hitting, defense, and the bullpen (in that order) are the problem. Hopefully Ober can be consistent.
  17. tony&rodney
    Slow down a bit. Maybe May 12 or June 1 is possible if Wallner continues to struggle. Lewis too, but the front office might be loathe to ship him down or out. Outman does not require playing time. The Twins call up a players like Rodriguez, Gonzalez, Culpepper, Fedko, or Jenkins but they need to be in the lineup every day if and when they get a shot. Ryan Kreidler is a guy who can be called up if that is what is needed. Changes are coming but not for a couple of weeks or months. Fifty games is normally a check point.
  18. tony&rodney
    Another good example. Sale spent two years in the bullpen before he became a starter. Worth thinking/ dreaming about.
  19. tony&rodney
    Rojas can work as a LH arm and Festa may not be too far behind. Perhaps Morris gets used as a 1 inning reliever as well. Maybe even another fellow ...
  20. tony&rodney
    A ball to MLB has happened before but we would all be gobsmacked for it to happen. Garrett Crochet came up as a 1 inning relief pitcher and transitioned later into being a starting pitcher.
  21. tony&rodney
    I'm assuming you are thinking that going beyond 100 pitches is dangerous territory for a starting pitcher. I have stated numerous times in the last few years that the number of pitches thrown should be looked at from a case to case and outing by outing basis. Taj Bradley was still cruising at 114 pitches as he closed out the 7th inning. That is reasonable territory for him. We saw Mick Abel tire a bit as he approached 90 pitches and Joe Ryan seems to lose command around 100 pitches. There are quite a few pitchers who can easily go to 110+ pitches as they are fully built up for that number. The pitching coach and manager are pretty tuned in and not extending anyone at this time. Billy Martin never had much interest in pitchers and regularly believed they could go 125-150 pitches. That was also in a four man rotation. The current iteration of the Twins bullpen is a wreck but help could be on the way in a few weeks. I am more concerned about the defense and hitting.
  22. tony&rodney
    Again, I agree with your thoughts on the trade deadline being the offseason. I did think there were a number of really good opportunities to add talent. The lack of vision hurt though. In December the arrival of Tom Pohlad and then the firing of Falvey certainly brought things to a standstill. It will be interesting to see what the Twins manage to accomplish with Jeffers, Bell, and other. I could see Jeffers being offered a 3 year deal but he is likely to go to free agency. Ryan is important because he can be the Ace for another year before he goes somewhere else. I don't see the Twins offering enough money to keep him. One wonders if any team feels that Wallner, Lewis, or others (not in first two years) have any value.
  23. tony&rodney
    When I saw the article headline, this was exactly my first thought. Toronto is a great city with passionate fans who pack the stadium for every game. Varland is in a good place. The Twins? Rojas has a shot at being a big piece of the future. There is plenty to like about his talent. I'm not as excited by Roden. The trades last July were quite drastic but following up with a few more solid trades would have been my preferred move. It didn't happen though, which slows down the rebuild. It will be interesting to see how the front office moves in the next six months. The Twins have some pieces and there should be opportunities to improve and balance the roster. For now Twins fans will need to be patient. Wins could be tough to come by but the process of improvement has started. Most of us were surprised to see Varland traded. It's done and now we will hope Jojas turns into a valuable player.
  24. tony&rodney
    Agree the bullpen needs to be improved and I have (to the point of being obnoxious) pushed the necessity of better gloves for at least three years. The poor defense has a direct effect on a bullpen that cannot strike out batters out. Despite watching or listening to most games every year, I was pretty down on the Twins the last few years and did not see a team that was ticking up even when the record was decent. For whatever reason I see positives in this 2026 team. There is work to do. It will be interesting to see how the front office moves forward. There was almost no moves last winter. Tough to improve without trading players. Free agency is not a cure-all.
  25. tony&rodney
    I'm feeling more optimistic about the Twins today than I did in late March. The players are busting it and doing what they can to make the plays they are capable of making given their talent. The mental mistakes have been decreased quite a bit from the last two years and even from early in April when they won more games. The starting pitching looks very promising. Taj Bradley was still very good in the 7th inning. Credit to Shelton for letting him pitch. Well conditioned pitchers who throw easy can go past 110 pitches. Taj had great stuff right through the last batter. Give Seattle some credit for hitting (4 hits) and battling a tough arm. Perhaps as sonn as May or June there may be some new players in uniform. A regular playing in the infield and another in the outfield plus maybe three arms could give the Twins a big boost. I can hang in and wait until the troops arrive. This team is more fun than the last two years.
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