tony&rodney

Ok. Can't watch, only seeing dots on Gameday. Two innings and Fried has retired the Twins on pitches that show Farmer taking a strike and everything else not worth swinging at? What's going on here?

The Polanco trade was Falvey's worst moment because he panicked. Winokur is developing and it will be incremental but he has real athleticism and could be special. There are so many moving parts because of his size. I have tuned into a ton of his at bats.

Under the new guidelines, leading teams have to be up by 10 or more runs in the ninth inning in order to let a position player pitch while trailing teams can use a position player anytime it's down by eight or more runs. Position players are also allowed to pitch anytime in extra innings. The Twins could use Farmer for 7 innings tomorrow.

Can't hurt for Lewis to play in the field. Right now he is mostly a DH.

The Twins have a better team (IMHO), but the Royals have Junior, Salvy, and Pasquatino above any of our gang. Still picking Twins.

How many runs behind before the Twins have a position player pitch the remainder of the game?

Yes. Manfredball.

Don't be surprised if the game is resumed tomorrow, 1-9. No worries though because there is a ton of baseball left in the season and Salvy just hit a Grand Slam to follow up his HR in his last at bat. The Royals are going to see how the Guardians respond to a sweep.

I was under the impression that 2023 was nearly $20M more than the next highest payroll, in large part due to Correa. I may be mistaken. It seems that 2023 was higher than previous years by a decent amount. As far as acquiring players, we are not likely to agree on who was the best guy(s) to add at the trade deadline. I mentioned Puk. The only other reliever I was really interested in was Erceg. KC gave up three players for him, two rated as middle prospects and an unranked guy. Yes, the Twins would have had to part with a potential future piece (players in the #15-30 range) for Erceg, but that is the cost of a big arm. I was not interested in Tanner Scott at the same price and San Diego paid more. Puk cost about the same as Erceg. So I preferred both Erceg and Puk, but others disagree. Salary was not what I was looking at. Juan Soto is not available. Falvey didn't like the idea of trading his prospects so he held on to the team he put together because he still believes that team will win the AL Central or at least gain the playoffs. Does anyone believe that ownership is familiar with all of the Twins prospects? I don't, but I believe Falvey does.

Good lord. 2023 was an anomaly and an expectation for same or more was never any part of reality. I could care less about the Pohlads or the budget. If you are looking for big spending you are a fan of the wrong team. A trade for A. J. Puk could have been made, easily. He wasn't a player the Twins had an interest in acquiring. Instead the team traded for Richards. Falvey said on several occasions that trades for other players were not made specifically because the cost in prospects was too dear. Actually, I agreed with Falvey on not trading players like Lee, Matthews, Festa, EmRod, Jenkins, or other highly thought of prospects. Choices get made.

I doubt that is a concern. Tonkin was a Twin earlier this season. He is known. Varland should be in uniform in the bullpen no later than September 16. Until then the offense needs to pick it up. So much discussion on blown saves but the offense has been very erratic.

I guess I never believed that payroll for 2024 would be above $130 million. When John Bonnes suggested $170M and TD set it at $150M, it seemed unbelievable. I set one at TD price but set my second chart at what I originally believed ($120M). Whereas other sports have spending floors and ceilings, baseball is almost exclusively tied to market, attendance, and media money. The Twins have to swim in Milwaukee range as far as spending for the most part. It's just a reality. Of course, ownership and FO have a price/budget in mind. I don't believe ownership has anything to do with which players are added, traded for, etc. The basic numbers are set and then Falvey+ puts together the team. The players available last winter for a higher salary or via trade were not particularly attractive to me, except for Juan Soto. That wasn't going to happen but at a $150M budget I put it down. He doesn't make the team at $120M. I'm wondering who the Twins would have added with another year at $150M? The top choice on TD was Jordan Montgomery. Anyway that's a moot point. Perhaps I cannot see past what I saw as an egregious bungling of the trade of Polanco for nothing. Everyone seemed to believe/know Polanco was going to be cut loose somehow. They saved something like $5.5M but also kept Farmer at $6.6M. Tough to see how this saved money. So, while I'm adding nonsense items I just think that the team we have is what Falvey put together. It's a good team and I'm not complaining but the realism of budgets means there would be a limit. Count me as one person who did not understand how the Twins could spend at 2023 levels or higher because I saw it as an outlier that would have a short life. Did Falvey know that 18+ months ago? Probably. It's his team in the sense that PBO/GMs put the roster together. My expectation/guess is that 2025 will see a budget from $125-135 million. Falvey knows well ahead of time what he has to work with and gets to choose how he goes about putting the pieces together.

Completely agree. It is really interesting though how many angles one can take/find to quantify events. Analytics (Maths) have been around forever and the publishing of troves of data has bloomed bountifully in this millenium (sp?). This has drawn a new set of people into sports and been a boon for the games in many instances. Who envisioned the quantification of good luck beyond our shrines, charms, and quixotic habits? Watch out for black cats.

I should have quoted your entire post and I know there is a relative roster budget which means money is a reality. We both know that Yankee/Dodger budgets are not a thing for the Twins. The Twins are sitting above the division in spending and well above their attendance ranking in terms of spending. Of course money enters into decisions in life. I like that pretty new Porsche 911 but settle for an Audi 8; hardly a problem. My point, last winter and now, is that the baseball player roster decisions are made by Falvey and his group. I'm not criticizing those decisions even when I disagree (I do), but I also think ownership has no knowledge of whom to add or trade for in order to put a team together. Twins Daily hasn't had a day in forever where a comment didn't put a loss on ownership, which is off base. Falvey chooses the roster and the players play. The wins and losses are on the players.

Perhaps it is you who should stop. The Twins spend above their attendance and above anyone else in their division. Never, since 1984, have I been a fan of the Pohlads. I have disagreed that they saved the franchise. However, the nonstop whining about the roster budget is beyond old. Look around maybe ... at Milwaukee, Kansas City, and Cleveland. The owners do not scout or sign players. They have almost zero knowledge about baseball. The PBO, GM, and other hired hands put the teams together. So, it is Falvey & Sons who put it all together and they had plenty of resources at their disposal, financial or otherwise.

Players with NTC have agreed to go in a trade to another team, yes. I'm not able to recall anyone who did so with significant years and money left on their deals who are vaguely similar to either Buxton or Correa. Big money, the years remaining, and injury prone reduces the field pretty much to zero. Additionally, most players who set aside their NTC also receive some type of extra remuneration. There must be an example of someone agreeing to waive their NTC (big $/ multiple years/ injury history), but I can't think of anyone similar.

Maybe it would be useful to remember there are players with no trade contracts.

Both Buxton and Correa have complete no trade contracts. You (or others) may think it a good idea or a feasible plan to trade these players, but the Twins cannot due to MLB guaranteed contracts.

Once a pitcher comes into the game (umpire signals and writes in his notebook) that pitcher must face a batter (three batter Manfredball now). Managers have always had the ability to pinch hit for the pinch hitter. I have done it myself as a manager in the past and have seen this done from time to time in MLB. It can be easy to miss though because the switch is often done while the pitcher is warming up and missed due to a commercial or storytelling from an announcer.

This is Falvey's team. It is what it is and never had anything to do with money. These are the guys Falvey decided on for 2024. Why? I'm sure we will never really know.

Limitless spending would have seen Sonny Gray returned as a Twin. Focusing on a roster budget from $90-170 million for the next five years (2024-2028) meant that Gray was not in any future plans for the Twins. Most people manage their lives in a similar fashion. Gray is fine in St. Louis and Maeda is fine in Detroit, while the Twins are just fine without either now and going forward.

The best two players that could be added are Byron Buxton and Carlos Correa. I think Varland comes back as a reliever just before the Cleveland series in mid September.

All of Woods Richardson, Festa, Matthews, and Varland (if needed) are more than happy to take the ball. None of these guys are in need of being handled as if they were coming off of surgery or recent signees or 18-22. The opportunity is great for these pitchers and they all have sufficient talent to compete at the MLB level. It's a good thing and I'm sure pleased to watch any of them versus retreads who are operating on a wish and a prayer.

Yes, and the Twins are 18th ($131.0M) in spending while Milwaukee, at $116.3 million, is 22nd in spending. Cleveland is 23rd in spending ($105.8M) while ranking 20th in attendance. I don't think the roster budget, which leads the AL Central, is a factor or worthy of much attention.

Cleveland is drawing more people to their baseball games than are going to Target Field. I'm not sure how a population that doesn't heavily support a team can complain, except that anyone has that right. Let's face it, Minnesota favors football, hockey, and basketball above baseball. I only follow baseball closely while checking in on hockey and basketball once or twice a week. I haven't watched a single football game in a decade or more. That's not important but the comments on Twins Daily often include football references and I have wondered how many people are more tuned into football and suspect a majority would choose football or hockey over baseball. Again that is anyone's choice but the economics of attendance makes a difference. If the Twins averaged 32,000-36,000 fans per game, it seems likely the roster payroll could be higher. In any event, Falvey had the resources and money to put together the team he wanted for 2024. It would be difficult to believe that both of Puk and Erceg were too expensive for ownership to add at the deadline. The ownership angle is overplayed from the vantage point of this opinion of a person who opposed the Pohlads in 1984.