tony&rodney

The off the charts walk rate, a big improvement in his K rate, and his powerful quick swing put Emmanuel on the fast track. He, like all, must show those skills at the next levels now. The very best rise through the minor leagues quickly. E. Rodriguez will have everyone's attention this summer, especially opposing pitchers. I was curious whether the A, A+, and AA leagues had any plans to use the automated strike zone.

Health is the key for this team and there is a better than even chance that the team will be much better this summer simply because their best players are available more often. A few of the younger players should display the skills that have made their names familiar. I'm expecting the Twins to be improved at eight lineup spots and the depth is also better. The starting rotation and the bullpen should be better this summer as well. Finally, the front office has shown a willingness to improve the roster through trades, which may also be a possibility in July. Even if it is 85 wins, the team will be more interesting this season.

Thank you Seth.

I agree, Steer and CES are nice players but where do they fit in this pile: Kirilloff, Julien, Polanco, Martin, Salas, Miranda, Lewis, Lee, Correa, Gordon? We know that Correa and Polanco are fixtures or not younger players at least. So Steer and CES, both talented, were reasonable guys to trade for a good pitcher. I'm wondering how the Twins package two position guys and two pitchers to pry Burnes away from Milwaukee. There is a fine balance between using your system to make the main squad better and stripping down the farm. Mahle was a fair addition and could be really good this year. I do not see him as a solid choice to be extended because he doesn't project as good gamble for 5/$100M and if he returns to full health and effectiveness he is not looking for 3/$40M. I'm hoping for 180 innings of 3.25 ERA pitching this summer from Mahle.

Yah, I'm already quite older and usually the most relaxed person in any setting. Something about seeing Mauer play since he was a 10th grader .... blah, blah. I'm turning that leaf though.

Think Kyle Schwarber with less power but better K rates and more speed that hits for a higher average. Julien is a wild card. It is a big jump from AA to MLB, yet special bats have proven to make that jump many times. Whenever I have watched Julien, he seems to control most at bats. He drives the ball with authority to all fields which is why he has a high BABIP. Julien was called out on strikes on numerous occasions, that I saw, where the pitch was clearly outside of the strike zone. The umpires are better at the MLB level, which I see as a distinct advantage for Julien. There is a concern with his splits, but his left handed bat hammers right handed pitching. By the end of March the Twins should have had ample opportunity to evaluate how Julien would fare versus MLB pitchers or whether he needs to further prove himself at AAA. If Julien shows a bat that plays I want him in Kansas City leading off to open the season.

I think you are absolutely correct. I don't know. Maybe it is something about the tone of conversations that consistently denigrate the playing career of Mauer and reek of jealousy and are ignorant of the skills needed to perform as a catcher at the MLB level. It doesn't affect me so much, but I have responded. I'm going to follow your cue and ignore this going forward. Thanks.

Welcome to Twins Daily. Can you give us the name of all of the Hall of Fame catchers with 3,000 hits. RBI's are a function of runners in scoring position in front of you. Joe Mauer was the best batter with RISP the Twins had. Mauer was actually underpaid. For some reason Mauer has received more criticism from Twins fans. Baseball fans across the country have never understood this phenomena. I have been asked about this many times. The writer who is larger considered the closest thing to an expert on who belongs or not in the Hall of Fame, Jay Jaffe, has repeatedly stated that Mauer will be elected and should go in on the first ballot .... and it isn't really very close. Baseball players, managers, and executives are all pretty much completely aligned with Jaffe. Joe Mauer was an amazing catcher and we are not likely to see his equal in a Twin uniform. I don't want to tell you are wrong about Mauer because I don't know if you have passed the exam on concussions yet.

This was a well researched article with some solid information, which I applaud. Nevertheless, having played, coached, managed, and watched thousands of games over too many decades I do not believe the current metrics for defense are as useful as those for pitching and hitting. Polanco was never a superior defender but always has been fair and steady. Correa is as dependable as one can be from shortstop. Miranda is raw, but he won't impact as many plays at third as he did at first. Kirilloff will be a major upgrade at first base. While I do think the Twins have a great defensive infield, the eyes say they are adequate. I'm always in favor of athletic defensive players, but for this season we should worry more about our outfielders when they bat than the infield gloves.

Makes one wonder if Kyle Garlick might get a chance.

There are not that many left handed starting pitchers. Taylor can get some starts early, in addition to spelling Buxton in other cases. The last position player looks like Trevor Larnach. I would suggest that the Twins ignore salary or veteran status for Kepler or Gallo and go with whomever is swinging a better bat. A Taylor-Buxton-Kepler outfield versus lefties is fine. Perhaps Gordon, Larnach, or Gallo get some starts too. Maybe even Farmer in left field. It might be that Royce Lewis or Austin Martin fill an outfield spot by June. The outfield lineup will be in flux when the Twins face a left handed starter.

You are correct that teams mostly follow a similar pattern. MLB changed the rules on shuttling pitchers back and forth between the majors and minors, raised the roster size, and teams went to bigger bullpens which meant more usage of relievers. I'm not sure why some of these changes were done but when teams can use more pitchers it is tougher for the batters. Additionally, the larger bullpen reduced the number of pinch hitters and platoon situations, leaving guys with horrible splits batting in the last innings because the bench is empty. If teams had 13 pitchers and 17 batters, there would be guys who could be pinch hit specialist who would devour many of the current relief pitchers. I'm opposed to larger rosters and think we should have 13 position and 12 pitchers on a roster. I also believe it would be appropriate to reduce the number of times players can be sent down in any given year (twice). Lastly, it is hard to see where Manfredball has improved the product of MLB.

Great idea which I agree with wholeheartedly and mentioned in the post about Polanco last week. The Twins have infield depth that makes quality contact and they need to use it.

No doubt, the Twins are counting on Alex Kirilloff to step into a starting role at first base and hit. I don't think Arraez is traded if AK was not going to be ready this season. Like many, I am looking for a big season from Kirilloff. He is a key answer for both first base and the middle of the lineup.

The comments largely suggest that Woods Richardson can be a good MLB starting pitcher, but he faces the challenge of competing with command and control as opposed to stuff. Seems fair. He will need to keep the ball off the barrel. When I watched SWR pitch with St. Paul he looked like he controlled the at bat, which is a difficult advantage to quantify. The reality is that savvy and composure does still work at the highest level. I was surprised by how easily Woods Richardson carved his way through a lineup without wowing with his pitches. We will be watching him this year to see his continued progress.

This is humor right? Is this Randball?

Every team in baseball needs to have their best players healthy if they are going to be relevant. San Diego, two years ago, is one example. Thus, it is imperative for the Twins to have a healthy year or just not incur a repeat of the total debacle of injuries from last season. Going into last season I was thinking that 82 wins, plus or minus four, was a reasonable guess. I also was admittedly too optimistic, although i had real concerns about their starting pitchers. The coming campaign should be more promising because of our starting pitching. The variables also seem greater as well, however. Can the offense respond? I'm going to guess 85 wins for this year with a plus or minus of five. The path forward for a consistent winning team will rest on whether Baldelli is more proactive in playing the hot hand and benching the non performers. The younger players will need to display their skills and Falvey will then need to make some difficult decisions in July. Not all of Jeffers, Kirilloff, Miranda, Gordon, Larnach, Lewis, Wallner, Martin, Julien, and Lee will hit the ground excelling but a few should and we may see several of the young guys above used to acquire a needed player. The Twins basically are counting on some young players to produce and be supported by what is a fair core of Buxton, Correa, Polanco, and Vasquez. I see the odds sliding in favor of the Twins this summer.

Get your point about more hot arms today, but wasn't a tired Bob Gibson in 1968 better than any pitcher today too? Every pitcher can lose their edge as they tire but the guys often called "aces" are conditioned to survive without their flames. Verlander, Kershaw, and so on still pitch significant innings and Sandy Alcantara has evolved into an old fashioned ace with his complete games and higher inning counts. The game always changes and when teams went to bigger bullpens it naturally brought in more heat from the pen while simultaneously removing pinch hitters and shared positions from the field. MLB actually had to step in and mandate a 13 person pitching staff as the maximum. Some teams had gone to 15 pitchers. MLB then went to 26 players on a roster. The game will continue to evolve as those of us over 60 have experienced and those who are younger will experience more changes over the next 60 years. I think it was a big mistake to move the roster size up from 25 players. MLB should expand by two teams within five years. Perhaps a ceiling of 12 pitchers with more stringent rules for shuttling pitchers back and forth between MLB and MILB would also see an improvement in pitching skills. Until then managers will have the use of huge bullpens with a bevy of guys capable of pitching one inning. Actually, I am thinking we see more innings from our Twins starting staff this summer than we have seen in a few years because I believe the staff has more skill and depth.

Sonny Gray is a good established MLB pitcher, respected across baseball. That is quite an accomplishment by itself. However, no baseball person has ever deemed Gray an outright ace. When he was building his career with the A's he was a budding ace, but that never fully blossomed. Ace is an overblown term, yet it is often apt and we should still reserve a status for Verlander and those few pitchers who have managed to deliver across time and in volume with consistently high results. Who is a full blown argument. Cole, Bieber, Ohtani, and Verlander in the AL with several others building a strong case (Valdez, Manoah, Gilbert, Cease, and McClanahan. Sonny Gray is such a fiery competitor and fun to watch. Let's hope he can stay healthy all year.

Yes, and we can also add ... or Polanco moves to 1B/DH. Let's not forget that Jorge has been the best overall Twins player of the last 4-5 years and he remains the best batter the team has with risp.

The prospect lists are just for fun. Those who can read The Athletic will sift through Law's list of the Twins coming stars. Guys like Joe Mauer, Byron Buxton, Miguel Sano, and Royce Lewis to name a few were highly ranked in these lists of Twins prospects No reason to get anxious or judgmental. It is an entertaining process and many of us look forward to reading what different people have to say. The Sporting News was pretty thin on the minor leagues and I can testify, as an original subscriber, that Baseball America was/is a good read and totally amped up the coverage of prospects as well as the minor leagues. Keep up the good work; it's great stuff.

Well, #7 is lucky which may mean that Connor Prielipp is our best prospect.

Mahle and Maeda are coming back from injuries and will get the ball until they are not able to handle it. Varland is there to step in as needed. If he performs, he stays. This is how pitchers work their way into a rotation. Varland, and others, need to get an opportunity and earn it. The Twins will have a shorter hook for guys who are unable to use their pitches this year. Ober, Varland, Winder, and Woods Richardson are waiting for their time. Varland seemed like the one that is ready.

You may be correct in your guess, but going into his last year of a contract the trade value would be a lower prospect. Polanco will not have peak trade value for sure. All of Royce Lewis, Brooks Lee, Jose Miranda will (should) have trade value and maybe Alex Kirilloff, Trevor Larnach, and Ryan Jeffers will have rebuilt their trade value as well. Then there are guys like Austin (you mentioned), Julien, Salas, Gordon, and who knows that may be used for trades. If the Twins want to add a substantial player/pitcher it will need to be from those in the paragraph above, because guys like Kepler and Polanco have gone past the time when they had high trade value. Oh, I also am not opposed to seeing Polanco for five more years if he is healthy. Naturally, health drives all careers.

The 2023 season will give everyone a real good idea of how valuable Joe Ryan can be as a starting pitcher. He was quite successful as a rookie, but he did struggle against the better lineups. Ryan was mostly very dependable. He can improve to become a #2/#3 guy or at the least (hopefully) remain a solid #4 pitcher. It is going to be interesting to see if Ryan can continue his dominance over weaker teams and improve in his outings versus the top offenses in baseball.