tony&rodney

Ty France is the kind of infielder that the front office favors. Look around and count the number of glove challenged types on the roster. The Bader signing was actually a surprise to me except that we had an inkling due to the previous trades for Taylor and Margot. Bader was a decent hopeful addition, depending on how he is used. Royce Lewis should be a first baseman and this year should determine whether he can progress at third. Brooks Lee projects as a decent third baseman but is too slow for second base. Can Lee hit? Willie Castro has a clear best position - utility player. That leaves Martin, Miranda and Julien who all have demons for gloves. Interestingly and amazingly so, Julien may be the key for the 2025 Twins. This seems impossible but at his best in 2023 and in April of 2024 Julien was more or less fine in the batter's box and at least the equal of the other choices at second base. If Julien cannot be his best self, I'm looking for hope in the fashion of totally unproven guys such as Austin Martin, Payton Eeles, or Luke Keaschall. To the point of the article, yes this infield could be very difficult to watch and more depressing for the pitchers. Last October, nearly every consideration of change to the 2025 roster for me was focused on improving the defense and athleticism of the team. It is late February and time to hope for the best. Let us all chant together, "Ty France is a good first baseman."

He lost it last season.

The contract/option as a significant or even important part of this conversation is counter to a goal of winning games. The best players should receive roster spots and what a player did LAST season should count. I wonder if the Yankees are going option Luis Gil or Clarke Schmidt because of the presence of Marcus Stroman? That led me to wondering how the Yankees could get away with giving a starting position to Anthony Volpe two years ago and then letting him play again last year? Didn't any of their front office personnel know that Volpe was a rookie, young, and inexperienced. Which players give the team a chance to win games? Who shows the talent and skills needed to put a team in a position to win games? Last season Lopez, Ober, Ryan, and Woods Richardson were the top four starters who put the Twins in a position to win games. If SWR is healthy and not one of the five starting pitchers in April a message will resonate across the organization.

Signing Ty France for $1M doesn't interfere with the budget and his production will determine whether it is a mistake. If he repeats his work from the last two years, not good. If he puts up a 4.4 WAR, good. Earlier, it was noted that there isn't really a $10M FA out there that makes much of a difference and thus the additions of Bader, Coulombe, and France are fine. Makes sense. Then again, the Twins are close, depending on source, to a $150M payroll after thousands of angst-filled comments. The question France raises for me is the same question that has existed for several years - what is the plan? Is there a plan that anyone can identify? I don't need to repeat words that Riverbrain has articulated on numerous occasions regarding roster construction. I will only add that I am very much waiting for a new ownership group for the Twins and my interest has nothing whatsoever to do with the Pohlads.

Watching batting practice is my idea of fun. That was true when I was young and still is, whether playing or coaching or managing or now as an old retired fan of the game. The two best bunters I ever saw were Rod Carew and Barry Bonds. I marveled at Rod and his routine but it was in the late 1960s and then in the 1970s, so I cannot precisely remember all of the details except that Carew took his time. Bonds did something I never saw another player do. He grabbed some orange traffic cones and placed them at specific places on the field and then proceeded to bunt to each cone with the idea of the ball stopping as close to the cone as possible without hitting it. It was pure artistry. I know for a fact that there are players who do not practice bunting and without practicing a skill it is pointless to attempt in a game against MLB pitching. I have heard and read the idea that bunting against velocity and "today's pitchers" is too difficult. I can unequivocally state that this is complete nonsense. Of course not every player will be accomplished at bunting even with practice any more than practice will make every player a great hitter or gold glove fielder. A team or player that wants to win should be really interested in learning how to bunt. The last time I saw Bonds in batting practice was in Arizona in 2002. This guy had 10 seasons greater than the year that Shohei Ohtani had last season and yet there he was out there with his cones playing darts, 5 bunts to each of 5 cones all perfectly dropped as if it was nothing. Talent needs practice to develop a skill. By the way, I watched Ohtani beat out a bunt for a base hit last season and I wondered whether he had a specific routine.

Last season I only watched Morris pitch 5 times. My take was that he was living a charmed life at times and yet he set down batter after batter including any number of batters who are ranked as consensus top 100 players. I'm looking forward to watching him pitch at AAA where Andrew will face some veterans and stiffer competition. He was quietly dominant when I saw him, but I noticed from his game logs that he was cuffed around a few times. For some reason he reminds me of a few Cleveland pitchers who carved out a niche for themselves after getting some experience. Sometimes it can be hard to tell who can manage at the MLB level and who cannot. We should learn more this year about Andrew Morris. If nothing else he is quite a contrast in size from Zebby Matthews, David Festa, and Simeon Woods Richardson.

Certainly Simeon Woods Richardson has earned the right to claim one of the 5 starting pitcher slots based on last year. We should also agree to say that Pablo Lopez, Bailey Ober, and Joe Ryan have earned a slot as well. The answer for the final rotation spot depends on a couple of factors. First would be general health and how each of the pitchers aiming to be starters this year look come the end of March. There is the statement we always hear - "these things have a way of sorting themselves out". If all look fine we go to a second idea - do the Twins play to win from Opening Day. If the players take the field based on their contract status, as in who is going to earn more money in 2025, we are certain right now of the decision. A few have mentioned merit. Do we have any evidence that this is important to the team's roster decisions? Are options so important that they must be used unless or until an injury requires a promotion? Consider that since the current front office came aboard there have been two Twins to receive a vote for Rookie of the Year. We might suggest that this means it is difficult to break into a lineup or gain a roster position when the team is so competitive and clearly has so many superior players. Except, what about Cleveland? Other teams? Based purely on performance from last season we know that Woods Richardson started 28 games and allowed fewer hits than innings pitched in all but 10 games with 4 of the last games of the year accounting for his double digit number. Paddack started 17 games and had 9 games where the hits exceeded the innings pitched. David Festa started 13 games and allowed more hits than innings on 4 occasions. Looking over the numbers, whether using ERA, WHIP, BA, OPS, etc., the data lines up pretty much the same way. From a visual standpoint Festa has the best stuff, Woods Richardson is confounding to hit, and Paddack is good at times but inconsistent. Woods Richardson entered his final start of the year with an ERA of 4.00 and he was below a 4.00 ERA all season until mid September. Festa bombed his first two starts, but was below a 4.00 ERA collectively in his next 12 outings. Paddack had a number of excellent starts spaced throughout the season and in his final start on July 14 he managed to bring his ERA below 5.00 for the year (4.99). The final decision rests with the front office and we can be pretty sure that something comes up in the next 5 weeks that directs the final rotation choices and eliminates all conversation on what to do. However, based strictly on a choice to win games, the merit system is still the best idea and as of right now Paddack comes in third in nearly any type of analysis of performance directed to helping a team win games. Of course ..... options ..... for later in the season .... young guys should wait .... blah, blah, blah.

You should go back to October 31 and build your team with a $150 million 26 person payroll.

Opening FWIW, Falvey and his idea of roster construction, talent evaluation, and offseason moves as part of a plan completely escapes me. I can't make any sense out of what he is doing. I suspect his career in baseball is tied to the outcome of the 2025 season if the Pohlads have indeed sold the team by July. It is interesting to me that Luis Urias would be a person of interest as reported by Hayes. Urias is pretty much beyond a player signed before a season begins. Seattle ditched him because his skills are in the past. Paul DeYong still can hit the long ball against poor pitching and he is still ok as a shortstop. I'm more concerned about what this says about all of Correa, Lee, Lewis, Eeles, Martin, and Julien if the Twins brain trust feels a necessity to add one of the above. Either of these guys could be added during the season in an emergency. The offseason is closing soon and the Twins are still looking for their big bat. A fair amount of money is tied up in Vazquez, Castro, Bader, and Paddack ($30M+). I hope these players plus Urias or DeJong if added lift the team from its expected 84-86 win window. It has been a confusing offseason and the Twins are still several trades away from where it seems they need to be. Closing FWIW ... once upon a time I joined TD (in its first week or month) and participated. Previously I had contributed to a friend's site for another team and wrote regular articles. I read all of the Twins sites that proliferated about 25 years ago along with others about baseball. Sickels was my favorite. I used a totally different name, email, and byline than now. For a host of reasons, I stepped away as many others have. I joined again about five plus years ago as tony&rodney. I try to be rational but am off the wall at times. The writers do a good job given the challenges of putting out content for what is now a much bigger product and the difficulties of creating for a site about the Twins. Despite frustrations that all might have for each other, differences remain important in a world that is trying to crush exactly that. Enjoy the entertainment of baseball and the obscure community of this online conversational site. While breaks are needed from time to time, participation is necessary or the site dies.

I understand that you have this feeling and most on TD support you, but that is unlikely to be the same viewpoint of the baseball people or he would already be gone, DFA'ed/released.

We could have just brought back Farmer and Margot as added depth. Same, same.

If he were at 2B, it wouldn't be a big deal to slide over once a week. But I mol agree, especially #2. Like I say too often I have zero idea what Falvey has as a plan.

That trade doesn't do anything for the Rays this year. Matthews would be too high a price to pay. Julien gets his score about the same way as anyone else. Might be worthwhile to keep in mind that many people on Twins Daily have repeated their disdain enough that there is a bias tilting far away from how he is viewed in the baseball world. I'm not sure if the Rays are still looking for a catcher and whether the Twins would trade Jeffers. But, like I said I have gone over quite a few players and don't see a fit. Maybe though .... we'll see.

I would do this trade if the Cease deal was completed first. Both would be huge news. Put it at 100-1 odds.

Someone needs to explore or explain why the Twins would trade any of Lopez, Ober, Ryan, Festa, Woods Richardson, or Matthews. I'm not opposed to a deal but how is moving a SP of value going to make the team better? Coby Mayo looks like he could be a really good player and i highly doubt the Orioles are even listening on him. Does he play first base or third base pushing Royce Lewis to first base? I'm interested in thoughts on this and wonder if any Baltimore fans would see a 1% chance of Mayo being traded.

Sure. Henriquez is good but he is out of options. Just to add a note on the Baseball Trade Values site. I looked up Royce Lewis just now and his value is 60.4 and his value at the end of the season was 31.7. Apparently, the offseason conditioning program that Royce has dedicated himself to has created great value or been noticed by someone. I'm hopeful for Lewis but that is quite a jump in value.

Unless the Twins trade for Cease and manage to retain their guys like Woods Richardson, Festa, Matthews, and Morris I cannot imagine a scenario where any SP goes to another team. In the event that Cease is added, I would want more than Mayo for Ober or Ryan. I might consider a trade for Basallo. Mountcastle would be a decent addition for Paddack and Topa, that's about all I can think of right now.

Looking for a shortstop like Urias or DeJong tells me that the Twins may no longer feel Lee can fill in there.

Yandy Diaz would be a strong bat to add and play first base. The question is how do the Twins find an exchange suitable to the Rays in order to complete the idea? I'm at a loss for what Tampa Bay would accept for Diaz.

One of these years all the games will be played via holograms based on WAR and a host of other statistics or is that MLB The Show? Until then I guess we will need to watch each season to see who wins and who loses.

That's the plan.

Look, you don't know anything about this player and I'm not at all understanding what point you are trying to make. Stats are always a poor resort or do you think it was a mistake for the Yankees to allow Aaron Judge MLB time after hitting .224 at AAA in 2015? I'm not God so I don't know how ER will do this year or next anymore than I know next week's winning lottery numbers but if you do let me know so I can buy a ticket.

Falvey has called Andrelton Simmons too.

The title of the article has to be a trigger for Larnach and Wallner. I was just wondering if this was the splash to sell tickets and media subscriptions that Dan Hayes talked about over in The Athletic?

From my side, this is what the Twins should do. I'm not sure what Falvey thinks though and he is the boss and may have totally different ideas ... like Rizzo, which is a yuck even though he is a great guy.