tony&rodney

I think that ship has sailed, sadly.

I admire the consistency with which you argue so persuasively for the corporate angle in so many disparate posts. . You have strong views and continually advance those ideas, which is admirable to an extent. The somewhat confusing part is that I do seem to remember that you once advocated for the Twins to go aggressively after Aaron Nola, which seemed quite out of the ordinary since Nola signed for 7/$172 million plus some added bonuses. I have to admit that I couldn't figure out how that fit in with your usual stances. I actually would have loved that signing for the Twins but also never entertained the thought that the Twins would complete such a deal. As far as the post of what is next, you mentioned the Orioles and I wondered if the Twins would soon be for sale.

Gems are all around us and perhaps Bowen becomes a polished one. The one thought that comes to mind is that Seattle, Milwaukee, the Los Angeles Dodgers, Cleveland, and some others are frequently lauded on multiple baseball platforms for their superior development of pitchers Are the Twins superior at their development of pitchers in comparison these teams? Bowen came from Seattle.

"Would the Twins sell for more or less than the Orioles?" Floating in the clear variegated turquoise-aqua-blue waters of the Caribbean yesterday with no concerns or plans to hurry anywhere, this very thought occurred to me. I wondered if the approaching media morass and unknown financial consequences have birthed conversations within the corporation to jump ship before the next generation finds other outlets for their decreasing amounts of entertainment expenditures? It makes sense ... buy low, sell high. Carl paid $5 million down and was able to use the profits each year to meet the installment payments for Calvin. Forty years is about long enough and the family must get tired of the hassle. That consumed a few seconds of time before I waded ashore and began to ruminate on some other trivial unrelated topic whilst shuffling along down the spotless sugar sand shore.

Montgomery and Snell are the only two good starting pitchers available. Did i miss someone? What are the odds of Minnesota adding either pitcher? Does anyone believe there is a chance? My calculator reads 0%.

The November payroll budgets on Twins Daily began at a suggested high of $170 million, moved to $150 million, and then $135 million. The Twins openly suggested a reduction in payroll was due hinting via Dan Hayes and others at a vague range of $125-140 million. The numbers have always been unsure but seem to be settling in the $115-125 million range. The term often used was "self-imposed" regarding payroll, which bothers some people, but every payroll actually is just that. This is my first time using the term. Fun. The notion of trading Polanco, Kepler, Farmer, and maybe Vazquez was raised early, often, and consistently all through this offseason. I can't think of a single person on Twins Daily who was adamently opposed to any trades. People hoped for improvements to the team, most often pointing to a TOR arm. The Twins actually stated not too long ago that they were looking for an MLB for MLB player trade that filled the specific needs that had been identified by each team. Numerous articles and comments all offseason expected Polanco and others to be traded. The outstanding need for the Twins was a pitcher to slot in above or just behind Pablo Lopez. A number of suggestions were made that perhaps a relief pitcher like Abreu (Houston) would suffice. Most people accepted that a player would be moved for a distinct positive improvement to the team. We knew way last October that a number of teams had interest in Polanco and Kepler. There were unknown conversations that took place all during the offseason. It appears that the Twins had a "self-imposed" deadline near the beginning of February to complete a trade to their already known desire to reduce payroll. This further tied the hands of the Twins in any negotiations in potential deals. We will never know what might have transpired if the Twins had shown a little patience for a couple more months. However, when a team has apparent known restrictions it clearly would hinder their actions. The "self-imposed" payroll may not have hurt transaction possibilities as much as the "self-imposed" deadline.

Those weren't the options. Harmony55 and I were just throwing out names now, somewhat foolishly to some extent. The potentially larger deal was complicated and required more time. Falvey blinked. It's all good.

Some teams do that, but other teams don't. Such is life.

Bellinger is a good fit, maybe Soler. That is about it right now. So the Twins need to just go with what they have in some combination of Trevor Larnach, Joe Miranda, Nick Gordon, Austin Martin, Anthiny Prato, and Michael Helman. Enough with the retreads and veteran has beens. Don't pay more than $2 million for Duvall or any of the others still out there. Bellinger? Soler? Does anyone really think the Twins are signing these players to multi-year big money contracts?

I was merely thinking that Kepler might like playing in Seattle with Jorge.

Ok. Let's do it. Kepler to Seattle for Berroa with the Twins picking up a good part of Max's contract. The Twins save a little more money and Larnach/Gordon get some MLB time. It's good for Kepler, the Pohlads, and the Mariners. Why not do it?

Hey buddy, i feel like we have exchanged comments often. You likely know about those rumors and reports that Dipoto was on Polanco and Kepler for quite some time. Drayer was aware. How Jerry managed the recent deal is uncertain but perhaps Falvey balked and became a little nervous about Dipoto turning down any deals for Polanco, who needed to go for financial reasons. One thing is certain, Seattle had some pitching to trade but was laser focused on all attempts at holding those guys if at all possible and it seems Jerry was willing to go well into March if needed with variations of trades before he would lose one of his young starters. Well played. I do wonder if Dipoto will still look to acquire Kepler, maybe for Berroa.

Misquote here. i was merely commenting on the idea that Twins coaches are miracle workers. All coaches do as much as they can. Some have better luck, some communicate better with some than others but it is the players who perform. Desclafani has a chance like every other player who has underperformed or been injured to bounce back.

The Twins should trade Kepler plus $7 million to Seattle for low A player so that Kep can remain with Jorge.

Yah. There are not really any secrets in the business and it is the players who make the coaches, managers, and front office people look smart. I can't think of a coach, manager, or front office person who makes $12 million, which is what a #5 starting pitcher goes for today. The coaches do what they can and offer help where it is called for, sometimes a few words and other times a little more detail. The player needs to perform though.

Great title and so true too. Hope springs eternal. In the 90's our men's team had a similar pitcher join our team in August after the Orioles had released him in April because he just couldn't keep the ball off of MLB bats enough. His wife told him that after three months of moping around the house he had to go out and join a men's team, pick up a serious hobby, or she was going to leave because he was driving her nuts. He was a good guy and explained that the simplest thing and the finest lost edge was enough to end a career. DeSclafani can still turn it around. He has some experience, a variety of pitches, and he pitched useful starting pitcher innings in 2015, 2019, and 2021. Hopefully, the injuries and struggles are gone. I'm sure DeScla would like nothing better than to get back to pitching in a regular cycle in an MLB rotation.

This scenario is why the recently completed trade could potentially cost the Twins way more than imagined. We shall hope for the best but only DeScla's prior MLB experience puts him above #8 in the Twins system as a starting pitcher. Have pitchers come back and had brief flurries of decent pitching? Yes. Chris Archer and Dylan Bundy, they both had good days. San Francisco was very eager to move DeSclafani and Dipoto worked ceaselessly to move him as well. A good back end starting pitcher is not usually shuffled along so eagerly. Hey, maybe the Twins get wonderful innings from DeSclafani but the idea of pushing Varland or even Simeon Woods Richardson aside seems far from the notion discussed and written about all offseason of adding someone like Burnes, Luzardo, a Seattle top five starter, or others who might have slotted in behind Pablo Lopez. I think folks are beginning to see that the financial issues first noted last November are actually a thing. I'm wondering if the Twins might still trade Max Kepler and/or Kyle Farmer. It would sure help the crunch and give some players that people have talked about a chance to play, such as Larnach, Gordon, and Martin.

Both pitchers would be nice additions. Milwaukee doesn't need any outfielders, so only Lee plus seems reasonable and the Brewers want to win this year. I think Burnes is a long shot. Cease? The White Sox have turned down much more than the Twins can even offer but who knows what can happen in March.

A number of people who comment are still wondering about the Twins making a big signing of a major free agent. They point to late signings of Correa & Donaldson. This doesn't seem realistic to me. The roster budget is looking like somewhere near $120 million. We wait.

Spring Training and then April & May should tell us where DeSclafani is headed. We don't know. We should worry about holding back Louie Varland, Simeon Woods Richardson, and David Festa. I guess if DeScla can be almost as good as the average of what the Twins received from Dylan Bundy, Falvey will be pleased. I'm not particularly in love with analytics despite having devised my own system decades ago as a coach and following too many sites, but Eno Sarris of The Athletic put out a list of the top 150 starting pitchers. The Twins had six guys on the list. Varland was #87 and SWR was #149. DeScla was not on the list. As Twins fans we hope for the best.

The first order of business is to find a team that will take DeSclafani. If the Twins pay $2 million, they save another $2 million from the roster total. This potentially allows for an addition of some kind for a little less than $9 million. I don't know who though.

Excellent comparison.

Maybe the Twins are trying to see how Falvey does with budgets in the $85-115 million range. Challenge time.

My only concern about Topa and DeSclafani is that the Twins don't use/keep them just because they traded for them. Topa has options, which is good. He had a good rookie year last season but struggled mightily for a decade prior. Giving DeSclafani starts over Varland would be pretty egregious at this point unless Louie is injured or just can't find the plate in March. No scholarships. Let the best players earn their positions.

Ok. I like your optimism. Looking around baseball I'm not seeing anyone of Ace #2 material that the Twins could acquire. But time will tell.