tony&rodney

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.

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

Your post points to the direct offseason actions of the Twins. Falvey and group added depth with experienced players and will also have a decent number of young players ready to force their way into playing time. Yes, the Twins need their top guys in the lineup to compete with the best teams but Farmer, Taylor, Solano, and others are solid depth. The roster is better suited to the long haul this year.

Through the exact same amount of time, with a few less games due to the pandemic, where do you find yourself on Baldelli having replaced Molitor? Did the Twins get it right? When the Pohlads hired Falvey it was already determined that a new manager would replace Molitor after one season. Baldelli was then the choice and he has done fine and followed the ideals of Falvey. Molitor has continued on as an advisor to the Pohlads for the Twins and even increased his time working with the minor leagues in the past few years. I'm not sure there is another person in baseball who understands and knows the game of baseball as well as Paul Molitor. The Twins are lucky to have him and Paul keeps active in the game while still being able to live a normal life as opposed to the grinding schedule of MLB, which Molitor is all too familiar with from his many years in the game. I wouldn't say it is a matter of getting it right with Baldelli because the idea was for Falvey to have his man in the dugout. Thus we can expect to see Baldelli there for a few years unless there is some unusual unexpected conflict that arises between dugout and front office, or a major breakdown occurs where the Pohlads decide to clean house across the board. I don't see that as a likely occurrence given the Pohlad business models.

The Dodgers are over the first luxury tax threshold. Money isn't an issue for them now or going forward, but they have openly stated a desire to use their younger players. They have the best farm system in baseball, according to multiple sites, and are looking for a bit of a reset in talent. Losing Lux was very unfortunate, but the backup is pretty decent.

One of the reasons that I have zero interest in blaming Barry Bonds or others for steroid use (he was never definitively caught) is because it is the owners and commissioner that direct the game. Who can forget the shameless hype of McGuire-Sosa every single day, including cutting away from the game you were watching to see their at bats. I was disgusted by that. Manfred (presently) and the owners run the game and play with the rules of the game however they see fit to do so. The use of different balls was apparent as was the outcome, more home runs. In softball one can use various balls that are usually clearly coded with a colored dot. MLB is not going to use a blue, red, or any color dot but the league knows exactly which balls are used because they ship the cases of baseballs to the stadiums. Aaron Judge had a terrific 2022 season, yet it is hard not to wonder what role the ball played in his final numbers. The use of different balls just isn't necessary or good for the game of baseball. Next thing you know the bases will be changed. Wait. What?

The Rays ownership group is trying to be positive about developments concerning their stadium search and dialogue with St. Petersburg. Still, what a mess. St. Petersburg itself isn't too bad but the Trop is in an out of the way spot, built on a hazardous waste dump of all places. The Trop is much better than the Dome ever was but is still not great. Attendance is a problem there. Tampa would likely be a better place for the team. The entire area is an urban sprawl without feeling very urban, but rather like constant piles of suburbs. I lived in the area for a decade and enjoyed the food and weather. The traffic is horrible. The Tampa Bay area is about the same as the Twin Cities but has a younger crowd which surprises many.

Brooks Lee has a plus hit tool tag and thus far we have seen it in a limited sample. I'm a big believer in his future because of his unique package of skills. That said, Lee seems like a solid player who may be a long time regular at the top of the lineup, but he does not have the freak skills of a Robin Yount or Joe Mauer. We just may have that guy in Emmanuel Rodriguez. It is natural to look at prospects and hope for the best; fans. I could see Lee forcing the Twins hand by late July. If the stars align we could also see the rise of Emmanuel by next season. In the meantime it is nice to have the depth and experience on the current roster. This allows the younger players an opportunity to prove themselves in a more relaxed fashion as opposed to how the Detroit and Kansas City teams need production now from their young guys. Lee, Lewis, Rodriguez, and Julien are coming along nicely.