tony&rodney

Emmanuel has stats that fall oddly in various places. He has better numbers versus left-handed pitchers and late in games. It is tough to take anything away from an analysis of all of his numbers. Via milb.com or by going to a few games though a few items seem pertinent about EmRod. Most noticeable is that his bat gets through the zone in a hurry. He is athletic and knows the strike zone. The one thing that seemed to stick out as a negative is that Rodriguez gives at bats away. There are times he seems disinterested with poor results following. However, when the game calls for something he sure looked like a guy you wanted at the plate. From watching dozens of his at bats my takeaway is that the young outfielder is just a bit immature. His placement on the 40 person roster puts him a few injuries down the list from MLB. My guess (or hunch) is that we should see the best of EmRod this year in terms of where he may be headed as a baseball player. I have seen performances from him last year to indicate a top ten global prospect. Only the consistency is missing. By himself, Rodriguez will not return a #2 starting pitcher because his performance has not totally blown people away. The ceiling is too high to ignore the future value. While a ER for Kirby trade would be worthy for the Twins, there is no way Seattle takes that gamble. Anything less is a poor gamble for the Twins. I'm firmly in the Do Not Trade camp on Emmanuel Rodriguez. While he may not reach MVP status in the next few years, his outstanding ability to see the strike zone along with his quick powerful swing make his chances to excel at the highest level pretty good.

For what player? Sabato?

Go outside. Wear a t-shirt. When you get back in the house, your mind will feel right.

I have been convinced to add Randy Dobnak to Nick Gordon for Manoah.

Yes, but every player is a regression candidate. Those players who command the strike zone as hitters are less prone to regression and this makes Julien less prone to regression than any other Twin. However, your point that Julien may be a regression candidate is true.

Miami has some issues. Money, drawing crowds to their games, stability, and offense look like problems. The Marlins went to the playoffs with Arraez so i doubt they regret the trade. The inability to sign the right people to long term contracts and luck hurts them. Alcantara signs a friendly deal and gets hurt. The Marlins still have some guys to trade and some players who could perk up on offense. They should be an interesting team to watch, both now for what they might do in transactions and also in the season to come.

Toronto has not likely reached the point where they will just send Manoah away and I don't see Falvey looking to add a pitcher whose contributions are a sheer gamble. I guess Falvey would trade Gordon for Manoah, which is a way of saying it is a very unlikely event.

The author asked for an approximate fair price. Lee still has not played a game at the MLB level. I don't believe Seattle is looking to trade any of their pitchers unless Trader Jerry finds a taker for DeSclafani and signs Snell. Conversely, the Twins like Lewis. I do believe Arraez was a bigger fan favorite than Lewis. "Maybe not 1 for 1"? Seattle would want a pitching prospect and Minnesota would want a position prospect added. I would hazard a guess that Lewis has a smidge more value than Gilbert or Kirby. The unknown is how other teams value any of the Twins players. Despite my placing huge value on Kepler and/or Polanco, fans can forget about those two players returning a starting pitcher to slot above Ryan or Ober. My comment was merely responding to fair value mol.

Royce Lewis would be the price or at least very close for either Gilbert or Kirby.

Overpay.

Hey maybe the Twins do add a starting pitcher through a huge trade. As of right now though, only Seattle and Houston look to have a better top five (very subjective). i will be interested to see if Ryan, Ober, and Varland can all stay healthy and start 30 games each.

Ryan and Ober are both very good starting pitchers. Varland may join them this year as a dependable starting pitcher after a full season of starts at the MLB level. While i'm not going to complain if the Twins sign Blake Snell, I may say, "They did what?" Don't expect it. There really isn't anyone to sign above Varland and a trade would need to be a real surprise challenge type deal. I would expect a pitcher added along the lines of Jose De Leon from last year. There are several months left for teams to shake out what their plans are for the coming year.

I might trade Julien for George Kirby, but I might not. The Twins still have Polanco and Lee has promise. I would not trade Julien for Woo and Brash. We all value different players in our own ways. So does each organization. The answer is a few months away.

Oh, I have no opinion on any of these players whatsoever. I also do not have any inside information, just the widely reported and commonly read articles. My comment was that Falvey likely has different thoughts. The book on Edouard Julien has just begun. He has his detractors, for sure. I will say that he and Kepler drove the second half success in my opinion. Those folks who liked a showdown at the plate missing when Luis Arraez was traded should have enjoyed Julien. Despite clumsy claims to the contrary, Edouard became a decent second baseman by the end of the year. Playing Polanco at 2B in the playoffs was a no brain move - Polanco has been the heart and soul of the team, injuries aside. Don't ask any Houston pitchers if Julien is a tough out. Brooks Lee has done extremely well in his short time in professional baseball. He finished the year in AAA and so his story as an MLB ballplayer has yet to be known. Lee has great promise. Who to trade? I don't want to trade either player or as I stated above in a separate comment, perhaps who needs to be opened up to more players. I don't want to make a trade. Still, to the post ... I go back to picking teams on the playground and I'm picking Julien for my team. Those who choose Lee, I understand. We make our picks and play the games. I never regret my picks.

I believe all I said is that it is an option. While I myself might expect a trade or some move, sometimes the best trades are the ones not made (cliche). Tom Petty, "The future is wide open."

Figuring out what Falvey will do to replace Sonny Gray has filled the pages of Twins Daily. The process is tricky and may just involve going with the roster in place. All I take away from the article is a Jerry Dipoto like "We really like our baseball team". The main lesson from last season was the importance of depth. The financial restrictions self-imposed this offseason, largely or partially as a result of the changing media contracts, puts Falvey in a position where difficult decisions need to be made ..... or perhaps he just decides to do nothing at all.

Falvey likely has different thoughts on Clevinger. Speaking for myself only, I'm with Varland at #4 and Paddack at #5. If the Twins can bring in Luzardo, Gilbert, or Kirby in a shocking move I shall not complain and if Seattle signs Snell after dumping DeSclafani and then trades Woo or Miller to the Twins for Polanco, I shall not complain too much. All of these are distant though. Clevinger, Bauer, Urias - all quite different but seem like a stretch for Falvey.

Don't use those. When they break they scatter widely across the room and can get imbedded in the floor and furniture. No good comes from a chrystal ball.

Jose Miranda was a line drive gap hitting power machine in 2021. He had a pretty good year in 2022. When Miranda hurt his shoulder in Spring Training his swing changed and so did the results. Every effort to get him back to normal failed until it was decided that surgery was needed to correct the problem. The question is can a healthy Miranda rediscover his swing and return to a productive role for the Twins? If Jose is fully healthy he should be able to replicate his bat to ball skills and work on a return to the team. A healthy Miranda was rarely overmatched at the plate. A little more patience, hard work on making his glove neutral, and a return of confidence in his swing should be quite a bonus for the Twins offense this season.

Just giving away DeSclafani and signing Blake Snell would be a brilliant move by Seattle and improve their odds of gaining a seat in the postseason. Do it Dipoto.

We might as well guess at this: Lopez, Ryan, Ober, & Varland go 175 innings and Paddack reaches 120 innings. Nice. Hope is a wonderful thing.

Ok. Thank you.

Yes, Lee does play a fair shortstop but nearly every scout has suggested that his best position would be third base where he could compete with others for a gold glove. Lewis does not project in the same way. I was more curious why you omitted any discussion about trading Lewis in a post that wondered whether to consider trading Julien or Lee? As an aside from my query if Lee comes up and Kirilloff and Miranda are not proving themselves at first base, Lewis would probably be a fine first baseman and his bat plays anywhere. I do think Lewis stays on the dirt, much to the chagrin of those who want him switched into the outfield.

This comment makes me chuckle because you, Brock, and others became a little apoplectic about Max and then he unfairly turned the tables. To be fair, Max in the first half didn't hit, drawing the ire. Personally, I'm glad we don't have Brent Rooker in RF waiting before the ball stops rolling to pick it up and throw it back in. Kepler will choose free agency after the World Series ends, no matter what type of season. Polanco will move on as well if he is not traded as part of a larger deal this winter. I will be among those people who miss their professional approach. So it goes.

This is true. It was also mentioned numerous times on radio and a few times on TV. Cody, I'm a little surprised you chose to write a Julien or Lee article. Lee plays exclusively on one side of the diamond and Julien plays on the other. It seems a little premature to think Lee adjusts so easily to second base. FWIW, I do think he would be fine there. Seems that all three of Lewis, Julien, and Lee belong. One has no MLB experience and the other two have barely gotten their feet wet. While I may want the Twins to keep all three, the point of any trade is to return value. As such, the angle may be who draws the most serious interest from another team and returns the the guy who the Twins are looking for to strengthen their team. Again, not really suggesting any of these players should be traded but surprised by the omission.