tony&rodney

None would want to live there due to all the drugs and crime. You do know there are more drugs and crime in the U.S., right? I spent five weeks in Mexico recently and it was wonderful. I love going to Chicago but there are some areas of the city to avoid. The Americas, both of them, are famous worldwide for being violent if you are in wrong place at the wrong time. At the same time there are terrific places to live and visit in every country. The financial aspect of MLB might make it tough for some cities to thrive, just like a number of current MLB franchises. Still, it would be fun to have a few MLB teams in Latin America.

83-79, 1st place in the American League Central Division.

It is possible to be opposed to the idea of long term contracts for Lee and/or Lewis without mentioning Joe Mauer and proving yourself uninformed. Mauer never hit 30 homers. He never had a ten year contract. Mauer made the Twins an incredible amount of money above every dollar he ever received from the team. That is well documented by many. However, there are people who were unhappy to see Mauer get paid, which is true but has nothing to do with the post.

You make some points about the Twins not signing a top pitcher but they did trade for a little lefty once, Johan Santana. Now if you mean someone who is currently a top arm, then we must agree that very few are ever traded unless they approach their walk year such as Berrios. Maybe the Twins trade Lee and Lewis plus an arm for Corbin Burnes and then sign him to an extension. I wouldn't give up on any scenario except for the Twins paying the top price for a free agent pitcher. Thus we go back to the boring .... sign the best player available. It may be a pitcher, a college hitter, or a high school bat. That is all we know right now. It is worth remembering that the Twins have tried drafting pitchers in the first round in previous years. It is pretty tough to guarantee success of pitchers. Recently the LA Angels have drafted a ton of pitchers with some luck, but the odds are skewed against that strategy.

Not happening. Neither of these players are top ten global prospects. Lee has not played a single game in MLB. Lewis has had two ACL surgeries and a week of MLB. We could just as likely wonder about a long term contract for any other minor league prospect.

Clark has similarity to Corbin Carroll, which is just fine with me. Max Clark could be a tremendous pick. Whatever, picking at #5 should be a win win.

Carlos Correa is a very good baseball player who can consistently produce both in the field and at the plate. I expect him to be the starting shortstop for the American League All Star Game.

Julien had quite a series in the WBC.

A couple of years back a kid named Luis Arraez pushed his way into the lineup. Julien will need to follow the same blueprint. He is not a stud defender but if he hits like he did the last two years and has done for Team Canada, it won''t be long before his name is on a Twins lineup card.

Hopefully De Leon can get an opportunity in St. Paul, maybe in long relief because the Saints might be deep in starters. These games are fun.

The Twins have P. Lopez, Ryan, Ober, and Paddack for next season. Varland, SWR, or another could fill the fifth spot. There is always a chance that there is a trade for a pitcher or two that happens at the trade deadline or next offseason. Then there is the qualifying offer which brings back a draft choice or a pitcher hoping to be better in 2024. Maeda might be open to a two year offer and he could still be effective, which means there may be interest on the part of the Twins at the right price. I doubt whether Gray or Mahle are signing for the same as their current deals. They will be looking for AAV of $20 million plus per year for multiple years. The Twins say no. I'm thinking the Twins make another trade before signing either Mahle or Gray. I do think there will be discussions on an extension for P. Lopez and a pitcher acquired via trade.

Emmanuel and Marco are still raw and even explosive seasons will not bring them to Target Field. Brooks Lee is pretty refined and skillful, yet he still needs to get up to speed with professional baseball. a brilliant year for him ends in St. Paul. It would take injuries to several players to push Lee to the majors. The three guys in this paragraph are looking to debut this year. They are focused on learning to have good at bats by recognizing what pitchers are doing to attempt to defeat them. I think we should expect both Lewis and Julien to see time this year. Lewis will need a rehab stint in St. Paul after he is cleared to play and could be called up right away if he shows he is ready to pick up where he left off last year. Julien is a wild card. If he continues to hit the ball hard and gets off to a torrid start in St. Paul, he could push for DH at bats against right handed pitchers with a few starts at second base as well. Both Lewis and Julien will need to prove they are ready to get a roster position, but they have some unique talents that are being watched by management.

Did everyone like the swing Julien put on the first pitch he saw? What a game for the young fella.

Have the Twins had a starting pitcher throw 97 with sharp breaking pitches?

I'm watching Pablo Lopez pitch to Puerto Rico right now and thinking he should pitch every fifth day.

This is an interesting point. Mike Marshall (PHD in kinesiology), now deceased, stated numerous times and wrote concerning the correct way to throw a baseball and arm injuries. The problem is not whether a pitcher throws a breaking ball, curves, sliders, etc. Marshall focused on two specific issues. First, the lack of knowledge meant that most coaches have no idea how to teach much less analyze the correct methods of throwing a breaking ball. Note here - this information is from a period of time from roughly 1975-2000. The teaching and coaching is far superior today. Secondly, coaches paid little attention to stressful pitching situations and often asked maximum effort on every pitch. Thus, most injuries were actually from throwing the fastball. There is a marked difference between throwing 12-20 pitches per inning for a complete game than throwing 25-40 pitches in a difficult inning. Max effort pitching continues to be a problem. Arm injuries were quite common in the 1960s and 1970s. Poor coaching and the tough guy mentality ruined many arms. The best coaches protected their pitchers, the worst abused them badly. Still, even position players like Austin Martin can suffer arm injuries that set back their careers. Austin Martin has had some misfortune but he still is athletic and young. He has earned a significant amount of money choosing baseball as a career and I'm betting that he will recover and get an opportunity to show his skills at the major league level. It may be 2024 or even later, but guys like Austin Martin have an understanding of how to deal with setbacks and focus on the future. Yes, Martin has seen others climb above him on depth charts but he will get his chance too.

Cleveland is pretty deep up and down each position with top global prospects backing up young players who made their mark last season. The pitching is good, they field well, run the bases better than any team in baseball, and are tough to strike out. We should all expect the Guardians to be a strong team. The Twins will win the division because of their depth and because they have a year of great performances from guys who have been injured too much: Buxton, Polanco, Kepler, and Larnach. A deep starting staff will make the bullpen stay effective all year. The Twins will need everything to click to beat Cleveland and I'm taking the Twins to emerge on top in a much improved AL Central.

Worrying is just wishing for bad luck.

You can choose which guys you want for 2023 for yourself. The Twins decided that Maeda, Gray, and Mahle fit an MLB roster better than Graterol, Petty, Steer, Hajjar, and E-S. My guess is that the Twins pitchers named above provide more value to their team this year than those names traded by the Twins provide for their new MLB teams. As far as the future goes, there is zero guarantee that any of the prospects traded would have fit in ahead of the other Twins prospects. I really liked the pick of Chase Petty and enjoyed what I saw of the others as well. But even if I might have wanted Montas (oops) or Castillo instead, the Twins have a pretty good rotation heading into this season. Trades remain a solid way to improve a roster.

Sure could happen but Julien will need to show well for Canada.

First, Miranda needs a better uniform number to get noticed beyond the Twin Cities. I like your optimism and how you used some numbers within the post, but these two are so different and you actually point out the glaring differences quite clearly. So I'm not exactly sure why you compared Machado to Miranda. I am sure Miranda will never play shortstop for the Dodgers.

Spring training is for the players to build towards Opening Day. The lists are pretty much the team with the last spots decided in the final week of March. Only injuries will cause any surprises on the roster that is announced in Kansas City and it is a long season where there will be plenty of opportunities for individual players to push for MLB positions. No worries.

It is difficult to anticipate injuries and Buxton seems to have had more than his share of bad luck. If he can avoid HBP, fences, and horrible slides there is a good chance he can actually remain healthy. I agree with the premise of this post. The Twins will need to have open communication with Byron and get him some days off. Having Taylor to fill center field is excellent too. Still, I'm hoping that Buck can start 125 games on the grass.

"Trading for established starters (Gray, Mahle, Maeda) has hurt the farm system..." Chase Petty has yet to win a Cy Young and all of the others traded were blocked and/or lower on the team's list of prospects. Trades remain a good way to build or supplement a roster. It takes two and the timing is critical. In July, we may see some opportunities arise for the Twins to add players if it is the right thing to do. The team does not have any history of signing free agent pitchers of note to high dollar contracts. We should not expect this to change. Extensions are tricky because they rarely involve guys in their walk year, meaning forget all of Gray, Mahle, and Maeda as they should be expected to test their value on the open market. The Twins will keep their eyes and ears open but anyone expecting moves before July will almost certainly be disappointed. The staff is deep and ready to be tested.

MLBTradeRumors has Martin with an injury - UCL sprain. Hope he is ok. View full rumor