tony&rodney

Perhaps if Byron is fully healthy and has his legs under him, he can rebuild his swing before April to become a productive player. No doubt, the bum legs compromised his stroke at the plate.

To be clear, Keirsey Jr. is best as depth in AAA. As many have stated already, no team will take him in the Rule 5. Then again, nobody would take Nick Gordon as this point. Stuff happens and having someone to catch the ball in CF isn't a bad thing. Andrew Stevenson, a guy with more experience filled that role last year. I hope he is back in St. Paul.

Scrappy at times, dominant in odd stretches, and woeful strings of bad baseball sum up both Detroit and Kansas City. There are series to illustrate the dangers of overlooking either team. The Tigers weren't particularly impressed with the AL Central winners last season, and the Royals put away the Astros in five out of six games on two consecutive weekends in September when the mighty Astros were struggling to make the playoffs. The Tigers could surpass the Twins next season in the much maligned AL Central Division. The lengthy season protects the Twins from a chaotic Royals roster, but their unpredictable play makes for uncomfortable matches. The White Sox are recovering from a bad dream where it was imagined that Tony La Russo was their manager, a fate no swarm of players should need suffer. The recovery will take time as all traumas require healing. Cleveland is a mystery, where the ghosts of legends and disco night remain. Talent unpolished and mismatched should protect the Twins from the Guardians. Cold weather and short days make us crazy for a select deal or two to complete the Twins roster, which might spare us a scenario where Jackson Holliday ruins our right to a throne in late September. Worry away.

More or less, this is my thought. I would choose him over Gordon though. We all know that Keirsey Jr. is late to the game and his age and weaknesses get amplified more than if he were 22, naturally.

Trading is going to be tight this year. Every team is more focused than in a long time and pitching is always the number one need for most clubs. An issue is the money. While nobody on Twins Daily (not sure) knows the absolute proximity of a roster salary, a ceiling of around $125M pinches the team unless certain players are traded. The Catch-22 there is that those guys are still valuable too. Then it comes down to sending off someone who is highly regarded, which has been discussed a bunch. Framber is fantastic but (like the others) what is the cost. Difficult due to cost of players, price, and competition.

I like the ideas of adding Peralta and Gurriel Jr. What I'm wondering about is who would take on Christian Vazquez for $20 million. I like Vazquez and think the Twins still need his steady hand but I'm more intrigued whether it is is possible for a team to take the contract.

I'm wondering how many people who do not think very highly of Keirsey Jr. (or anyone for that matter) have seen him play a couple dozen times. From my perspective he has talent but lacks time and experience, which given his age makes him less of a prospect. Nevertheless, the guy can still develop. Does anyone remember Maury Wills? He played nine (9) years in the minor leagues before his first MLB opportunity. I'm not comparing the two but ..... all I'm saying is that there is a chance for Keirsey Jr. to play MLB.

I like this explanation and I would guess this is why so many people hold Royce Lewis in such high esteem. How does a guy like Julien fit? He just keeps getting better and his adjustments have been impressive. One thing that will be tested next season is how all of the young players respond in their second year of MLB.

I would hope the Twins could sign Keirsey Jr., Prato, and Helman to minor league contracts similar to the one that Garlick has last year.

This is another great idea. I never thought of that. i wonder if my wife will catch on? On second thought, I'm keeping the money. .... and so should the Pohlads.

Do it if you can order the one you want and not have to settle for some crappy color. Enjoy the Porsche, the 401K will just be sitting there when you die.

Well, the trade for Michael A. Taylor was a sign that the Twins wanted to cover centerfield in case Buxton was slow to heal. Maybe, a failure to sign or trade for anyone this offseason could be a hopeful sign in the other direction. If health is a much greater possibility for Buxton in 2024, then the Twins can be content with Willi Castro and Austin Martin or Nick Gordon to fill in for Byron on occasion.

Entirely agree with this thought. My only addition is a curiosity of how the Twins and the industry see Walker Jenkins and the other "top five" drafted last summer after their short debuts last summer. Each of these guys were seen as being (identified as) similar to the three guys from 2009-2011: Strasbourg, Harper, and Cole in talent. The "experts" ranked them above all of Correa, Lewis, Rutschman, and Holliday and any other draftees in the last decade, before the draft last summer. Recently, Holliday and Rutschman have proven to be good choices. Does this create a special category for Jenkins and his pals? In any event, the ballplayers need to make it happen on the field and the front offices are assigned the task of building a team. So it does go back to ..... anyone can be traded.

Wow, plenty of positive vibes for Royce Lewis. Good to read/see. I just hope people aren't disappointed if he doesn't win multiple MVP trophies. I like the thought of .300 Ave. and 40 HR from Lewis as someone suggested, but I will be happy if he can avoid injuries and play 150+ games. I guess I would suggest that only Correa and Buxton are untouchable due to their NT clauses in their contracts. Naturally many others are unlikely to be traded. It would be interesting to get some thoughts on the Twins players from scouts, national writers, or some reasonable source. Hard to know how others see your team's players. I saw a trade on BTV that exchanged Pablo Lopez for Matz and Liberatore from St. Louis. I thought, "Really?" I wouldn't trade Pablo Lopez for Jordan Walker. Not because I have little regard for him, because I have great regard for Walker. The Twins need Lopez as a pitcher more at this time. So I wonder how others see the Twins.

For the record, Carl Pohlad was not a baseball fan at all. He was quoted numerous times that his wife liked baseball, he did not. Carl knows a great business deal when it is offered and he took it. The Pohlads have been fair owners, nothing to gripe about, widely compared to their peers. I have no complaints. It might be ideal if the team was owned by someone who breathes baseball but there are no guarantees there either. G. Taylor loves basketball as does Mark Cuban, but they have had different results I think. I like to keep it to just enjoying the games and leave the owners and management aside as much as possible.

Paddack is coming back from his second TJ surgery and he has a contract for 2025 with the Twins. He hasn't pitched much at all for years. Pitching as a starting pitcher is a very physical endeavor. He will be monitored closely, for sure. In a perfect world Paddack makes around 15-20 starts (I randomly chose 17) before he goes to the bullpen to protect his arm for 2025. He will be restricted in the number of innings he throws in total. The general consensus would be from 100-120 innings. If Paddack did not have a contract for 2025, the innings might go up by an insignificant amount. Teams no longer abuse athletes with overuse .... word gets around.

This is it. This was my reaction when I watched him play a couple of years ago for Wichita. How far can he go? Well said.

I read this twice but don't understand the connection to what you quoted or the post of what is the core.... or .... Is it that getting the core combinations correct wins championships? This makes sense.

This is a question that often comes to my mind when reading various comments online. Reading all of the statistics can be interesting but there is no substitute for seeing. I can explain a Redwood tree endlessly but until you have seen one the reality hasn't set in. That doesn't mean that one cannot be a fan or have strong opinions on the Twins or players but discussions on a common topic, like the core of the Twins for 2024, depends to some extent on understanding the players from having seen them play. I will give just one example - Julien. Young Edouard is a lightning rod of sorts for fan analysts. He was really nervous and seemingly afraid of every ball that came his way early in the year. Every throw looked terrible. As Julien settled in, his play in the field improved dramatically. By the end of the year he was just another average second baseman. Those who watched him play could see the increase in range, the shifting of his weight, and see how he began to (mol) smoothly transfer the ball from glove to hand and complete the plays. A refusal to acknowledge the improvement could only be due to Not having watched the games. Is Julien a part of the next core? I don't know about that, but I know that there is Correa and Buxton leading the team. That is the core, plain and simple. Others are free to take up the banner. We shall see who it is and you can judge for yourself by watching the games.

Royce Lewis has had his status elevated very quickly among Twins fans. The home runs in the playoffs and his energy when he came aboard were great. It just seems a little early to declare Lewis a star. I mean, I hope he is as much as anyone else. He only has about 250 at bats though. Next season will be huge for Royce as he attempts to become the superstar often associated with #1-1 draft picks. The core is in flux and unsteady as others have mentioned. The Twins have holes and there will be plenty of challenges for the Twins to repeat as AL Central Division winners. The two biggest questions go right towards our stars: Buxton and Correa. From there the Twins have questions about their young guys and a hole in the rotation. Other than that, everything is great.

When I read that I thought that both Falvey and Maki were being very optimistic. I'm bullish on Paddack but building up in games is different than building up on the side. I will take the under at 110 innings. Another question might be ... Did we all take Maeda for granted? Lastly, Paddack is signed for 2025 and the Twins will want to protect him in 2024 when necessary in order to get full value from Paddack in 2025.

To be clear, i like Paddack. He is going to find it tough at times this year but we can hope he does well. I agree about the challenge trades similar to the Lopez-Arraez deal. BTW, I was proposing trading Arraez to Miami from the start of last offseason, including deals that acquired Lopez for much more than the final deal. I thought Lopez was a stretch but the Marlins really wanted Arraez. It will be more difficult to trade this offseason. Any deal for a good pitcher will be far more costly than Arraez was last year.

I just saw this. Ok, I believe we just see these guys quite differently. Agree to disagree. Your points stand for you. I don't disagree with that.

I may be the only one who takes Falvey at his word of a reduced payroll. It will be a pleasant surprise if the Twins roll out a 2024 payroll of $140-150 million. Ray should be ready to pitch in late July if everything goes well but not fully ready to be back without restrictions until 2025. That (mol) effectively means $74 million for two years ($37M per year). That is what I see. The trade is nonsensical in my view. I agree that others see something entirely different. What do we say here ..... I would be glad to eat crow. I do not believe the Twins are doing that trade for two specific reasons: 1) It isn't a real thing. Seattle is not throwing out ideas like this; and 2) Money. Why would the Twins trade for Ray when they would not sign Gray? Ford and Clase do not have the excess value needed and the point is moot; money.

The expectations for Chris Paddack need to be realistic. He is coming back from his second TJ surgery. Paddack has worked hard and the Twins brought him back carefully, which resulted in a brief trial bullpen role at the end of the season. The Twins will be looking at Paddack as their #5 starting pitcher and be judicious in skipping his turn in the rotation from time to time. A season of 100+ innings will be a success. Paddack is not comparable to Maeda on many fronts, from the type of pitches thrown to their experience. Anyone expecting Paddack to eclipse Maeda's pitching is searching for disappointment. I expect that Paddack will have a good year for the Twins. I'm not thinking he has the WHIP and BAA numbers of a usual Kenta Maeda.