tony&rodney

Interesting to see Salas ahead of either Martin or Wallner. Salas should be able to find both a position and the at bats needed to firmly display his skills in the coming year. Twins fans will be more aware of his potential as he develops and refines his skills this summer.

Seems like Buxton will be a DH for 30-40 games at least. I'm hoping we see a patient line drive machine possessing power who can run the bases efficiently leading off against right handed pitchers - Julien.

That is so true. Maybe Miguel Sano was affected by injuries or whatever. Maybe he can bounce back but the winds are stiff for him. Pitchers face the same problem. They lose their fastball and re-create themselves as junk ballers to remain competitive but even the soft tossers need to slip the fastball by a batter or keep it off the barrel. Zack Greinke games are must viewing for anyone who ever pitched for years at a competitive level. He is a master.

I think everyone wants to see Miranda put in the best possible position to succeed. He will DH some. The Twins likely feel that Miranda is a better player at third base and he is more comfortable there as well.

Spring Training is just around the corner. It will be interesting to see Julien take his hacks against the top staff and others in early spring games. While it surely seems that Julien will be across the river in April, I'm waiting until the final roster cuts if Kirilloff is not fully ready to go.

Big guys have so many moving parts to align. I thought both Vargas and Sano were good athletes but they faced struggles with their weaknesses. Baseball is a hard game to play. It would be terrific to see both Sano and Vargas resurrect their careers and find success at the major league level, and they each could too. The odds are stacked against them though. It would be delightful to see each suddenly become stars again.

There are factors, to be sure. Something that is a major part of any players's career is adjustment. Players receive far more attention after their first big year and must adjust to how their opponent has changed towards them. Respect is sometimes slow to earn. If I can get you out using the same pitch, you will never see my other pitches even if the pitch you miss is my worst offering. The game has many factors and many are intellectual, particularly the acceptance of failure.

Alex - it is bat speed and wrist strength. Two guys who have identical bat speed and wrist strength ... the edge goes to the guy who is bigger and stronger. However, there have been and still are plenty of smaller guys who smoke the ball (Altuve) Look up Jimmy Wynn, the Toy Cannon. who played for the Houston Colt .45's/Astros. He could hit any ball as far Sano, Gallo, Judge, or Stanton. Harmon Killebrew was 5-11 (generous) and 180 for the first decade of his career. He was what was once referred to as "strong". Oh, it always helps if you can square up the ball.

Me too, but we need to keep our skis beneath us. Varland at #5, Ryan at #4, Paddack at #3, Lopez at #2, and Corbin Burnes at #1 sounds really good. Until then, I think the Twins have a good staff for this year and it should be fun to watch our guys pitch this year.

The post created some conversation - so fine. My take is that Miranda looks better at third base than at first base. He is more familiar with third. A first baseman is involved in more plays and Alex Kirilloff has shown himself to be comfortable and competent there. The Twins know that a healthy and fully productive AK is a boost on both sides of the ball and Kirilloff is only average at best in the outfield. The players in position in April may not be there still in July. We will see how Miranda looks at third and how Kirilloff fares at first.

All of the Twins scheduled to play on the infield have enough arm and range to play their positions well. Second baseman on the grass were able to display more range and arm than is needed on the dirt.

This article is right on. Last year was tough for Jorge Polanco. I believe it was his first stint on the IL. He has had a bit of a every other year performance flow, which bodes well for 2023. While Polanco was not a top shortstop and had his weaknesses playing there, he was pretty consistent. I felt he was not given his due when he was selected to be the starting shortstop for the All Star game. The selection is both fan and MLB player based. Polanco has been a steady presence for the Twins, providing power, good base running, solid defense, and clutch hitting.

Varland is the perfect #5 pitcher precisely because he gives a team innings and a competitive outing. An ERA at or just below 4.00 and 5-6 innings per start from the #5 starter will keep the team in most games and almost certainly be a better performance than another team's #5 starter (granted these guys do not match up all the time). Despite several Twins projecting as more accomplished pitchers, I would choose Varland for the last rotation slot because of his consistency.

Excellent article. For younger fans, it can be difficult to understand the game of baseball looking back fifty years or more. I remember that for several years Twins fans could look forward to the days when Goltz was starting as a day the team would have a good chance for victory. Goltz was consistently very good, reliable.

There was an article last October that stated that Cleveland could plug all three of Espino, Williams, and Bibee in to their rotation, but the Guardians tend to want their starters to earn their way ahead of others through demonstrated command and control of their pitches. Cleveland has the best rotation and the most depth with the most upside at this time. I wonder if the Guardians might eventually turn Sam Hentges back to starting. He is a tough at bat for hitters. Right now he is really valuable in the Cleveland bullpen. Hentges compares favorably to Jhoan Duran. Fans of both teams are curious about whether each might be effective starters, but each is needed in their current slots in the pen.

Baldelli has a job and he will need to make the proper decisions. That's all we can hope for. An outfield of Cave, Contreras, and Celestino .... I wanted them to do well ..... but I feel the depth looks better now.

The Twins know what Kepler can do as a baseline. Players like Larnach, Kirilloff, and Wallner all seem like good options but the team has, at minimum, some doubt. The depth is a good. The Twins absolutely do not need to trade Kepler for some guy they release within a year. The flexibility of options will allow Baldelli an opportunity to use the player who is actually performing. There is a difference between the 2022 team and the current Twins roster; depth. Besides, Kepler is still a good player.

Pitching out of the bullpen was a path to the starting rotation for many successful MLB pitchers. Johan Santana. Cleveland has used that formula at times. The arms like Ober, Winder, Henriquez, and Sands have value and I'm hoping the Twins have Ober and Winder on the 26 person roster. The 2023 season should play out quite a bit differently than last year as far as the pitching staff. I expect that a healthy Maeda, Pablo Lopez, Gray, and Ryan are given more innings. Mahle's innings will depend on his shoulder. We have to remember that the Twins were careful with Ryan last year; both Gray and Mahls has some injuries; Bundy and Archer were doing their best on fumes from their former days; and the guys from St. Paul who were given starts were closely monitored. The Twins do not have pitchers who throw 200 innings but a healthy rotation will cover many more innings this year. That will allow for guys like Ober and Winder to be two inning stars out of the pen with occasional starts.

The Twins were never giving Kepler away. What is the worth of a 2 WAR player? If an offer comes that is worthy, the Twins will listen. What is not at all clear to me is the value of guys like Wallner, Gordon, Martin, Larnach, Celestino, and Kirilloff from either the perspective of other organizations or from Falvey's view.

This didn't surprise me. The Twins have some decent arms returning: Duran, Jax, Thielbar, Moran, Alcala, J. Lopez, Henriquez, Megill, and Pagan. They are also likely to move Winder and Sands to the pen. Maeda will get an opportunity to start but may transition to the pen as well. Chafin and Moore might be decent possible additions via free agency but a trade seems more likely if the Twins feel a need to bolster the pen. My expectation is that the biggest improvement to our bullpen should be the increased innings pitched by the starting pitchers. Baldelli didn't have much choice last season between injuries and ineffective aging options.

This is an interesting post because it highlights areas of concern unrelated to injury. Health will be a huge question for the Twins in 2023 as it is for most teams, especially for pitching staffs. Ryan has not looked good against teams with experience and/or good hitters. Lay off the high fastball and eventually you get a pitch to hit. Perhaps Ryan improves his offerings and gets better. The stated issues versus teams like Houston are why I wondered if Lewis and Ryan plus a lesser player could return Corbin Burnes, provided Burnes would sign a long term contract (the Twins don't sign pitchers to these deals). Ryan remains very valuable as a #4 pitcher as is, and he can still develop his repertoire to get over the hump versus good hitters/lineups. Ryan can still refine his command and control. Polanco can be under-rated. If he returns to odd year Jorge, the Twins get an All Star infielder whose experience and performance makes a huge difference in the lineup. Polanco is excellent with risp. He is going to be key this year. Gordon did just about everything he could to demonstrate that he is ready for regular playing time. Can he improve upon his performance last year? Gordon seems like the LH bat in a classical platoon. Because of the obstacles facing Gordon, he may have to force his way into the lineup. I would think that a team that needs a left handed bat should be very interested in Nick Gordon. His versatility and athleticism should be noticeable, and he has improved with each year of experience. Miranda receives a lot of love, from Correa (Fellow Puerto Rican) and from Twins fans. If he cannot be an average fielder at third base, Jose may need to be much better at the plate. Royce Lewis will be looking for playing time sometime in July. I didn't think Miranda looked horrible at third, but he was not good at first base. A player with extra base pop who hits for average can improve their play in the field. Miranda should have fielded 500 ground balls per week for at least ten weeks this offseason. It will be interesting to see if he can hold off Lewis (and Lee). Miranda has been given a spot to hold. Moran is a big question mark for the bullpen. Can he be elevated to high leverage situations despite his tendency to put batters on base via the free pass? I'm hoping that we see a full season of Jovani Moran to fill one of the top four spots in the Twins relief corps. The success of Moran would allow for Alcala to be used in situations that favor him, facing the bottom half of a lineup. It seems like Alcala just needs some time in early or mid innings refining his pitches. Spring training should give us a glimpse of how various players prepared over the past several months to improve themselves, both health-wise and in refining skills. I'm curious about whether Matt Wallner worked on his reads, routes, and flexibility taking fly balls. I'm also wondering if Julien has the ability to bring his year at AA and his dominance of the Arizona Fall League to the plate against major league pitching without losing a step. Both of these guys are beyond their "young" years and capable of dramatic improvement in skills.

Pitchers focus so much on health that it is their singular goal. If healthy, the pitchers will be good.

Hopefully, the younger players who look prepared, are healthy, and show they are ready to play get at bats and are rewarded for their performances.

We don't have to worry about giving Joey Gallo a chance. The Twins are paying him $11 million to play and he will be in the lineup most of the time (if healthy) for at least 2 to 3 months. If he cannot hit with anyone on base and is carrying a .160 batting average after 200 at bats, let's hope he is released. I too am hoping for Gallo to have a career year but his bat is often empty when there are runners on base and a weak fly ball or ground ball to advance a runner is often what is needed with less than two outs. Gallo has been at his best with the bases empty (1374 AB) or nobody on base (602 AB). He has done well man on 3rd and less than two outs (112 AB), but has cratered withe bases loaded (only 54 AB) and with RISP and two outs (251 AB). Joey Gallo is a similar gamble on production in some ways (hoping for the best) to pitchers like Bundy and Archer. We should wish Gallo the best, while also hoping that the Twins have an eye on the production.

The depth is pretty good, certainly an improvement over last year. Now the players need to stay healthy and reach their potential. Kepler is worth holding unless a beneficial offer cannot be passed over. When the injured players go to the 60 day IL and the Twins get a few weeks to look at their bullpen arms, the Twins may add a Fulmer of Chafin. I'm good with what is rostered now. Not important in any way, but I thought minimum salaries went to $720k this year.