tony&rodney

462PA vs 840PA. These are the number of regular season plate appearances by two Twins who were in the lineup during the playoffs during the last two years. Injuries happen and eventually baseball careers end. There doesn't need to be a rush to judgment on Polanco's health. The other guy, Royce Lewis is getting MVP chants and the Twins and fans are super excited to see what he can do this season. He last had a healthy run in 2019. Kirilloff is as good a bet as Lewis on health and Polanco is a better bet than both of those guys based on their careers. Focus on which players are the most likely to provide production this coming year. Polanco is at full health right now and should be a good bet. Let's hope all of the Twins have a healthy year. The Twins have at bats to go around and this is easy to see when you total the plate appearances of Gallo and Solano. Unless Polanco is a part of a larger trade that brings in a pitcher like Luzardo, Gilbert, or Kirby the Twins need his experience and skills.

Hahahaha ..... oops. I di it first as a lineup (batting order) but deleted that and was too quick with the list. Let me try again. Vazquez, Jeffers Kirilloff, Julien, Lewis, Correa, Polanco, Farmer Wallner, Buxton, Kepler, Castro, and ....... I'm very sorry to do this but I decided you don't get a pick ..... Martin.

Vazquez, Jeffers, Kirilloff, Polanco, Julien, Lewis, Correa, Farmer, Wallner, Buxton, Castro, and two of Martin, Gordon, Miranda, Larnach, Prato, Helman. I will pick Martin. You can pick the other one. If we need to move players who have missed a ton of playing time, it is looking bad for Lewis. Nah, don't think so. Do you.

Larnach seems like a guy who could be ok, but he has had a number of chances. Maybe he gets another shot and blossoms. I would argue that the Twins really need Kepler. If Kepler were to be traded, i would hand the job to Austin Martin or Willi Castro in hopes of better offense and defense than expected from Larnach.

Chris Paddack will be limited in innings as he returns from TJ surgery. We can hope for 120 innings from Paddack as our #5 starting pitcher. Hopefully, his turn gets skipped on occasion to keep him fresh and leave his arm time for reacquainting to the rigors of pitching multiple innings. His personal high was 140 innings in 2019. All of the others (Lopez, Ryan, Ober, Varland) are only limited by effectiveness and/or injury. The key will be health and we hope each of the five (for now) starting pitchers can maintain their health. Fortune, obviously, is important but the top four could each throw near 180 innings or more, although the odds may be pointed against that good luck. Naturally, there will need to be a number of starts and innings provided at various points in the season by guys who may not currently be scheduled to start the year on the big league squad.

Dipoto does a good job of repeating himself. After the season ended, again after the first transaction, and in metronome fashion after every trade thereafter including the last one Jerry has stated something nearly like, "I really like our team right now". It really is consistent ..... and then he goes out and makes another trade. I'm a baseball fan and always a Twins fan but also have liked the Mariners since Edgar (1990). Dipoto has some more work to do if he wants to win 90 games or more. He likes to trade and might have to gamble a bit more, which he loves to do.

Chuckle a little bit every time I read a post where Brock sends off Kepler. Can your health take another year of Max?

This is right on. When you think of who will be more healthy this coming season, do not place any bets. Sometimes it seems like a number of people look too far ahead and get involved in fantasy type baseball. The at bats that were taken by Gallo and Solano at DH and as infielders will need to be apportioned.

RIP. The 1984 team was fun to watch.

Nash Walker has written the best post on Jorge Polanco to date. Polanco is on the team, thus it isn't a question of adding his salary. His value to the team is beyond his trade value for gathering a #2 starting pitcher. Freeing up money will not bring in a starting pitcher. In other words, just what Nash says - he stays for now. The long, much discussed search for a trade to bring in an inexpensive, controllable excellent starting pitcher hardly includes Jorge Polanco. If the Twins want to complete another huge trade the main name coming from Dipoto is going to be Royce Lewis. Polanco could possibly be an extra piece in a large trade but it does appear that the Twins are going to be better off, roster wise, by not making any trades at this time.

Maybe A ball, but not close to AA. A player like Brooks Lee was judged to be the singular best hitting college player two years ago but started in the rookie league and then on to A and AA. Dylan Crews started in R league and then went to A and AA this past year. These are the very best college players. The Twins drafted a ton of really good college pitchers in 2022 and they spent last season in A ball. Teams like LSU could not compete in an A+ league. Baseball is a difficult profession and it takes time to learn and practice the skills. Projecting who will be good is really difficult. The pick of Cavaco was strange because he was picked as a shortstop because of his physical talent but had problems in high school at third base and did not blow many people away in his SoCal play. The Twins were enamored with his physique and liked his personality.

We should not expect Bauer to get another chance, FWIW. Public relations.

I'm just an average guy. The constant hyping of two utility players as superior to Polanco is weak. Sorry. I don't know why you are so down on Polanco. The odds of Polanco starting on Opening Day are very high, not so for your two fellas. The repeated reference to Polanco as done remind me of the hundreds of comments that called for Julien to be cut, demoted, traded, or just released last summer when he made a number of poor defensive plays. The post, however, relates to the recent trade between the Giants and the Mariners. Seattle is trimming money from their future payrolls by sending off Ray. This extends an offseason of checking the budget and seems like a good move. They also return a fan favorite and needed outfielder, Haniger, for now. I can see the Mariners looking to move him during the season unless he has a total resurgence, which is also possible. The Giants don't see a use for either player and are taking a gamble on Ray returning for some use in August and hope he regains value in the next two years. It is quite a gamble long term for the Giants but they lose nothing short term. The Mariners get some depth or middle relief now and an outfielder. With the added cash, the Mariners only pay a little more this year but save big in the next two years. The trade served both teams needs.

Hahaha ... I admire your fandom. If you can find a single GM in baseball who would pick Urias/Rojas over Polanco, immediately go out and buy a lottery ticket. You can keep the fangraphs and other fun stuff up for months, but Polanco, even if he is no longer an AL All Star Game starting shortstop, remains a very good player. If we are picking teams, you can have both Urias and Rojas and i will gladly take Jorge. I'm not in favor of the Twins trading Polanco and i hope that Urias doesn't get cut if the Mariners pick up another infielder.

For no particular reason I side with any of those who feel that Julien feels he can do quite a bit better the next time around. His discomfort early was clear, particularly in the field, and he took some time to get comfortable on the big stage. I think we saw what Julien can do in the playoffs. I feel he will work his arse off to improve his fielding and judgments at the plate. I believe he will improve all three of his triple slash numbers in the coming season.

This was a fun team to watch. Unfortunately, through no fault of their own, Manfredball decided that baseball should use a superball in 2019. That and other actually better teams pushes this squad out of the top ten.

The rallying cry all offseason has been for the Twins to add a starting pitcher. When people cringe on the deal that Ohtani or Yamamoto received, consider the prices for Manaea and some of the others. Good grief, at least the Twins have stayed away. Varland looks better and better with every signing. It's Kirby, Gilbert, Luzardo, Cabrera, or bust.

I guess I would like to see a real genuine example of someone who gets another chance and does it right. The baseball success isn't that interesting to me with someone like Trevor Bauer but there are so many young people who eff up their lives and sometimes a shot is all they need to turn everything around. I don't know enough about the guy but I'm sure a contract could be written to include rails.

The sexcapades issues may be largely blown over. A bigger problem is that several teams specifically dumped him because of his personality. I'm a big believer in giving people a second chance. Apparently Bauer started his burn it all down approach in high school. He went ignominiously from UCLA to Arizona to Cleveland to Cincinnati to Los Angeles. Never heard or read a word about his time with the Reds or in Japan. Falvey should at least do some research on Trevor Bauer. The unanimous call for release by his teammates with the Dodgers (if true) sure painted him in a corner, especially after he was shuttled out of Cleveland due to Francona's utter disgust with Bauer. Never say never. I also have liked his podcasts in the past. It is entirely possible that therapy, reflection, and time have caused Bauer to make significant changes to how he sees other people and interacts with them as well. People can change.

More dough, not longer. Unfortunately for Snell, many teams will be wary of his implosions and expected arm troubles. I'm not privy to anything but guess 4/$120M. The 7/$200M seems really high. we shall see. Snell has has 3 mediocre campaigns, 3 ok seasons, and 2 Cy Young years. In his 2 brilliant times Snell threw 180 innings but never reached 130 innings in any other year. I suspect he is getting a couple of 2/$70M and 3/$105M offers but is waiting for the $150-200M range. Teams would be crazy to go that high because Snell is very high risk. I mean Nola can be written in pen for season after season of solid production. Cole is showing his worth. Snell? All these guys are beyond the Twins right now seemingly, including Castillo. Even if Polanco and Kepler come off of the books, you have raises for Correa, Lopez, and a host of arbitration players looming. We honestly just don't know where the Twins are heading with payroll but those heady predictions of last October of a payroll near $170 million are long gone. Right?

If the Twins can afford Luis Castillo, then they should just sign Snell. Polanco and Kepler could be off of the payroll after this season. Adding Castillo seems quite a stretch for 2025 unless the Twins return to the $155M range. I also do not see why Seattle would trade their #1 starting pitcher. Steep hill from my viewpoint. I think Falvey might have better luck with Miami.

Wallner improved to varying extents in each year since becoming a professional player. Perhaps his ability to adapt this season will be tested as never before but the Twins have quite a bit of hope riding on big Matt adjusting in positive ways.

Ok. Fair. We just totally disagree. No problem.

I appreciate that you and others are attempting to find ways to strengthen the team via trades and looking for ways to cut salary in the process. Thank you for your ideas. Walter Ford is a decent lottery ticket. Perhaps in a year the Twins have enough confidence in Lewis, Julien, Kirilloff, Lee, and others to look at trading Polanco for prospects. For now, Polanco is a key part of the Twins team as is Kepler. Winning the AL Central depends on their contributions. Only if a substantial player (Luzardo, Gilbert, Kirby) were returned in a major multi-player trade (take much more than JP/MK) should the Twins move either guy. DeSclafani is $12M, Urias is $4.7M. Neither players should be put on the 26 person roster because there are other players within the system already who are better. The Twins are in a bit of a spot. The players who might bring a desired pitcher are not the guys the Twins really want to trade and judging from the omission of their names from suggested deals neither do Twins fans. Seattle would be interested in Royce Lewis and maybe Brooks Lee. Miami and Milwaukee, same. Miami would also ask about Ryan Jeffers. So it gets difficult and unless a risky move is made, I can't see a big trade. What we do know is that one can never be certain and always expect the unknown. I don't have any suggestions except for lame attempts to pry away Edward Cabrera and he is not a sure thing with his lack of control. Quiet time.

Falvey would be nuts to trade Polanco for DeSclafani. He would slot just above Dobnak and earn $12M. Urias and Rojas had less than ten extra base hits last year. They are not good. Polanco on one leg is far better than either player. How on Earth are people finding ways to reduce the value of Jorge Polanco to such depths. DeSclafani, Urias, and Rojas would not help the Twins in any way. The Twins and Mariners do not match up unless Dipoto decides to pay dearly. He won't.