tony&rodney

Never doubt yourself. It leads to the wrong path.

When is a player ready? Some teams have no problem bringing a player directly from A+ or AA. Even the mighty NYY put Anthony Volpe at shortstop after 22 games at AAA. Volpe is a good player but hardly an All Star. The service clock is never a reason to lose games playing inferior talent. I'm not expecting anything but it seems radical to never play a rookie until nobody is left as an option.

Aaron Hicks. Yes. Thank you, I missed him. Felt I was missing a player too. I didn't consider players who had played substantially in another country's MLB. Does Aaron Hicks and his failure to star make him responsible for no more chances for rookies? JK.

The number of tools used in the last decade plus to assist pitchers has led to an explosion of talented arms across baseball. Watching a few skinny high school kids throw in the 90s, you know that a college or MLB organization will boost that kid up a notch. Pitching has become almost scary. I was also pleased to see the Twins draft and sign Dasan Hill after reading about him. The placement of his draft position reflects that Hill was seen as a project but also worth going over slot. Health will be a crucial factor in his year as stated in the article.

I'm not in a position to judge who is talented enough or deserves a roster position for an MLB roster, a factual "no duh" comment. Numerous young players, who would qualify as rookies and a few with minimal experience, have quite a bit of skill yet to learn at the minor league levels. Repetitions and regular game action are, IMO, important to the development of any player. Luke Keaschall, Emmanuel Rodriguez, Walker Jenkins, David Festa, Zebby Matthews, Payton Eeles, and others may need further skill development and consistent every day plate appearances to prepare them for the rigors of MLB competition. As a fan I cannot argue that point. However, are they already superior in talent to those holding a position above them and more likely to make a significant impact at the MLB level? When I look over the past 20 years of Twins baseball I couldn't find a single position player who was elevated to the lineup and given a shot to play at the MLB level. Did I miss someone? (Nishioka came over from Japan and had won a batting championship there. I don't consider Japanese baseball as a minor league experience.) That may be true of other teams as well, I simply don't know. The Twins have to go back to Joe Mauer. What does this say about the talent, development, or decision-making of the Twins? Anything? Maybe not. How many plate appearances will Walker Jenkins need? Emmanuel Rodriguez? If Julien needs time at 1B and Brooks Lee needs reps at 2B in St. Paul, how does that impact either Keaschall or Eeles? Jackson Holliday and Jackson Chourio were hyped prospects who received a long run before one succeeded and the other was sent back to AAA. Jackson Merrill had 300 PA at A+, 211 PA at AA, and zero at AAA before he was plopped into CF, a position he had never played, by the San Diego Padres. Merrill was not viewed in the same tier as either Holliday or Chourio (a tier where Jenkins currently resides) but was essentially in the same tier of prospect as Emmanuel Rodriguez and Luke Keaschall. Apparently the Padres saw something in their prospect that the Twins don't ever seem to see in their prospects. While I don't necessarily question any of the specific current decisions related to any specific rookies, I do question why it takes a sure-fire first ballot Hall of Fame player before the Twins take a chance on playing a prospect. I also wonder what some of the coaches believe, but from prior experience know this will never be known.

Leadership on a team is seldom something those outside a team are totally aware of because there are many facets. Puckett stood out whereas many others, including Correa and Buxton, may be identified and serve as go to interviews but not necessarily be completely identified as "leaders" for the entire team. It is complicated. Buxton seems to work hard at being friendly, available, and nonjudgmental. I laud him for those qualities.

The list of Twins core players stops after Byron Buxton and Carlos Correa. The catching tandem is fine and it is hopeful those two can fill the position one more time in 2025. After that it is a fair amount of hope based on promise, expectations, and health. Keaschall has a good shot at being a really good MLB player. The Twins need to find him a position at some point although he could easily just slide along as a DH, 1B, 2B, OF option until his arm and potential fielding skills allow him to settle at one position. One question remains - Can anyone identify the last Twins rookie to be inserted into an Opening Day lineup and given the time and at bats to prove themselves versus patiently waiting for an injury to open a spot?

Hold your to your instincts. Jacque Jones should be the answer. Feet and hands.

Jorge Polanco has bigger hands. I'll guess Jacque Jones.

"The Twins have the pieces to astound a lot of observers. It'll require some luck and unexpected consistency, but there is no reason to believe such an outcome isn't in its grasp. I might be guilty of rose-colored glasses, but I would forever prefer that to any other perspective." This, in a nut shell, is why every team including the Twins has optimism every Spring Training. My guess is the Twins win the World Series because it is possible as of today. As far as any anxiety related to payroll, I have never had a dose of that disease which so widely infected Twins Territory. The way I see it the Twins miraculously escaped signing the two most popular and called for free agent choices from last offseason, Rhys Hoskins and Jordan Montgomery. I guess a trade for Anthony Rendon might have been worse. I'm thinking positively for our guys. Go Twins in 2025.

" .... It fueled us in the front office to think about what we can do to be better." ?

Just to be clear, I have no idea if Falvey has any idea what he is doing because I don't see any consistent actions from him since he was hired in 2017 that points in any direction. I fully understand that the majority of people who visit and/or comment on Twins Daily feel differently and point to the Pohlads as the primary driver of roster deficiencies. I recommend differences of opinion in life. You call out DaShawn Keirsey Jr. and others mention Austin Martin. What organization is responsible for their play. Yesterday, I saw Aaron Sabato both in the field and at the plate. He looks like the poster of what this team desires. It then occurred to me that I wasn't sure who was the last Twin rookie to be put in the starting lineup on Opening Day and named the guy and subsequently given 3 months before judgment. Who was it? I also wondered if the Twins would have been better off the last 8-9 years if the team had operated on a budget that was closer to those of teams like Milwaukee and Tampa Bay. Perhaps then creativity would have been an actual thing. These are just thoughts that occurred to me watching the Twins yesterday. Simply stated I have no idea what is going on but things don't make sense to me. I'm thinking any success will come in spite of instead of because of.

Patience. Also, "your guy" comment? I would be perfectly fine with Keirsey Jr. as a fifth outfielder but nowhere have I discussed him. Maybe you confuse me with DoctorGast. My guys are Emmanuel Rodriguez, Luke Keaschall, and David Festa.

Enjoyed watching Twins baseball today (watched parts of various games the last two days). Early and thus unimportant observations - it is ST after all. But still..... Several Twins pitchers looked pretty good, including Festa and Castellano's curve ball. Twins didn't run the bases well, choosing not to steal in a couple of clear spots and ran into an out. A couple of throws to the wrong base, an awkward miss of a ball thrown on a hop, and an unusual cut mixup. Some players looked decent on plate appearances too: McCusker, Keaschall, martin, and Miranda come to mind. Others looked uncomfortable batting. Florida sun will always get somebody on a fly ball. Reading into it being Martin is just funny. Agree totally with Francona's take on ABS. Let the minor league players practice in the minor league games. MLB players can get to it when it is actually adopted. The strike three call on Cartaya was kind of mean by the umpire. The ball was clearly inside and Cartaya has used the last challenge on a previous pitch. It looked like Cartaya, looking into the dugout, was encouraged to challenge a close pitch and he did. No way to know unless someone says something but a guy picked up in trade off of waivers isn't likely to be challenging pitches called by an MLB umpire. A month of practice and games should sharpen the team and I like the Twins pitching.

I agree that everyone has an opinion.

Oh, ok, thank you. I saw that too but since there wasn't any quotes I just attributed it to Cody guessing like we do and not to anything that actually was taking place. I just haven't seen anything reputable put out on an asking or buying price other than the estimated values by Forbes and a bunch of other sites, none of them having any more legitimacy than you and I as sources. Well, you would be better than me as a source since i only know what I read.

I have understood this from the very beginning and stated such. MAYBE use Rube Nation for our national politics but it isn't fair or accurate to lump the many differences found among us on Twins Daily into one piece.

I apparently missed the articles that ran down the haggling over price. Where did you read those?

My mistake. I didn't realize that an organization's depth was restricted to the 40 person roster. The 40 person list could easily have 3-5 changes by the end of March as well. No reason to put Morris or others on the 40 until necessary. Thinking too positively, the Twins may only need 7-8 starters this season (alas, I have Paddack as #8 on my list of SP). Rationally, that number is 7-11 SP. If the Twins make a suitable offer to Philadelphia (essentially a trade) and Castellano is no longer a Rule 5 guy it is my understanding that he can then be optioned. There is also a long, long history of Rule 5 players finding themselves on the IL lists. MLB consistently makes threats about closing this loophole and warns against abuse of it but nothing is ever done. The abuse is widespread. (FWIW, I think the Twins should complete a transaction with Philadelphia if they believe strongly in Eiberson.)

A wild guess here is that folks who click and/or comment on Twins Daily follow sports much more closely than the vast majority of people in the general public or who even attend Twins games. Another guess is that if the Twins play an exciting brand of baseball and win at a reasonable pace, attendance will be up. These two guesses could be wildly wrong. My concerns are more towards the Twins playing baseball in a watchable manner much more than whether the Pohlads do this or that. Either way, I have zero control. I can watch other games, the minor leagues, and go to local baseball games at the VFW, Legion, college, and amateur levels though; all good choices. Lastly, Carl died in 2009 and the current family members have not shown an inclination towards business in the same fashion. I imagine the remaining Pohlads are as eager as their most vociferous critics to be rid of the team, based on how seldom we hear their thoughts or see their faces. There is some responsibility to sell at market value and that should occur in due time. Patience is the tone to adopt.

Really enjoyed watching Marco Raya pitch the last couple of years. This season will be interesting for Marco. I'm going to make the time to watch him on several occasions and hope he has an excellent campaign. I do expect him to be a late inning relief pitcher at some point, maybe next season.

You forgot a player you don't like too much, Andrew Morris. Morris slots above Castellano. If Castellano looks that good, the Twins will keep him, either in the bullpen or in AA via a trade. You also forgot Cory Lewis and C. J. Culpepper. However, I get your point that if Lopez, Ryan, Ober, and a couple of others are injured and miss significant time, the Twins are in trouble.

Good luck with that argument. Maybe you will have better luck, but I have tried that several times and been clobbered. Most recently, the consensus was for Paddack in an article and in another article related to whether Simeon Woods Richardson deserved a starting slot. To sum up the argument opposed to putting together the best team, Spring Training isn't important and options mean that veterans earn first shot. Of course, all ideas need to be considered. I have been quite high on Matthews and Festa and hope they stay healthy and make their next opportunity to pitch in MLB something that solidifies their positions. I'm a fan of talent first team building.

Funny, but that question followed by that exact answer is what got me onto the question. It might be an interesting survey type thing to do at a Twins game.

So, I get that all of us Twins fans want a positive outcome, whatever that means, to this ongoing saga but I was wondering about something. If you walked around various areas, we can just call it downtown, of Rochester, St. Cloud, Duluth, Moorhead, St. Paul, and Minneapolis and asked a couple of hundred people in a random fashion trying to maintain some semblance of balance between age and gender ..... How many people could accurately state the owner(s) of the Twins? Vikings? Wild? Timberwolves?