tony&rodney

You're not wrong, can't disagree with you. I'm just hoping for some athletic changes. My thinking is if the Twins run back the same team, attendance plummets. That could send ownership into a shell and the Twins to the basement for a while. The team needs something.

Oh well. Cave is gone too and even Caleb Hamilton. Change is needed. I'm really hopeful to see the last of a number of other 2022 Twins because the team needs some talent.

Go big or stand pat. Correa or Turner for the big money is worth it. Otherwise, the Twins will need to limp along with Martin, Palacios, Lee, Urshela, or some combination of guys until Royce Lewis is ready to play. No way do we want another former guy playing shortstop.

Do you buy a ticket?

Pink Floyd reference?

Cave plays hard and earned his money. He is not a player one would want on their mlb roster to start the year, but when everyone else falls apart Cave can play hard and be reasonably decent.

Nice. Don't let Falvine ruin your thoughts. We are just goofing around and have no control over those two suits.

Yes. You live in your reality, I live in mine. I'm not trading mine for yours. What's wrong with comedy, especially after the tragedy of the Twins 2022 season?

Lewis won't start the year. Maybe Lee, maybe Palacios. This is just a first playful thought. Realistically, the Twins won't even contact Aaron Judge. I'm would love to see Correa return and drop Judge from the roster. Kepler returns to RF, I'm trying to think of ways to add athletes and defenders. The Twins have backed themselves into a tough offseason.

It's way too early to guess on the offseason, but I don't mind being a little crazy. A couple of notes concerning numbers: 1. I'm trading Paddack to save the $3M. and 2. Maeda has a contract based on incentives ($3M +). I signed three free agents (in this too early iteration). Carlos Rodon gets 4/$100M, Aaron Judge gets 8/$320M, and Austin Hedges gets $4M. Of course, it is about .001 % that Minnesota even considers Judge but ...... I did make a couple of trades that may be impossible based on whatever another team believes about the Twins players. From Miami, Pablo Lopez, Edward Cabrera, and Jake Eder for Trevor Larnach, Ryan Jeffers, Tyler Mahle, Emilio Pagan, Josh Winder, and Trevor Megill. From the Blue Jays we acquire Gabriel Moreno for Luis Arraez, Bailey Ober, Gilberto Celestino, Sonny Gray and Chris Paddack. I'm $1M over budget after trading away Paddack. I'm sure my next look will be far different and not include Judge. After the World Series is a good time to begin these speculations, but here is one for now. C: Gabriel Moreno ($0.70M) 1B: Alex Kirilloff ($0.70M) 2B: Jorge Polanco ($7.50M) 3B: Gio Urshela ($8.70M) SS: Royce Lewis ($0.70M) LF: Nick Gordon ($0.70M) CF: Byron Buxton ($15.15M) RF: Aaron Judge ($40.00M) DH: Matt Wallner ($0.70M) 4th OF: Max Kepler ($8.5M) Utility: Jose Miranda ($0.70M) Utility: Austin Martin ($0.70M) Backup C: Austin Hedges ($4.00M) SP1: Carlos Rodon ($25.00M) SP2: Pablo Lopez ($5.6M) SP3: Joe Ryan ($0.90M) SP4: Edward Cabrera ($0.75M) SP5: Louie Varland ($0.70M) RP: Jhoan Duran ($0.75M) RP: Griffin Jax ($0.70M) RP: Jorge Lopez ($3.60M) RP: Jorge Alcala ($1.00M) RP: Caleb Thielbar ($2.50M) RP: Jovani Moran ($0.70M) RP: Kenta Maeda ($3.35M) RP: Ronnie Henriquez ($0.70M) Payroll is 3.57% under budget

Miami would be a fun trade. Larnach, Kepler, Mahle, Winder, and Martin for Lopez, Cabrera, and Eder. Substitute Jeffers for Martin. Early speculation for us. Do any teams have a solid opinion of the Twins players?

Money should not be an issue. Decisions will need to be made on many players. Gray, Mahle, Pagan, and Paddack could go via trades. So too could any other Twin except for Buxton (no trade clause). There is truly an opportunity to work with a (mostly) blank napkin. It may be really difficult to return value from Kepler and Polanco due to their uncertain status to close this year and I see all of Maeda, Lopez, and Thielbar returning due to their low salaries and trade value. My napkin starts with around $55 million committed to 26 roster spots. I hope John Bonnes is correct about the speculative $140 million figure. Falvey has his best opportunity yet to display his skills.

I think the Twins were jettisoning salary to some degree with Donaldson. I believe Correa fell into their lap at the same time that concern for attendance was an issue. Then again, I cannot understand what ideas are being hatched during these Falvey years. I just roll with what happens because there isn't much of an option. I am curious to know whether the Twins would actually even be interested in Aaron Judge. Money is not an issue if the salaries of many medium players are removed.

Free agents get to choose where they want to play in baseball. The contracts are rarely an issue. The allocation of the budget does constrain most teams. Most people expect Judge to return to the Yankees. What if the Twins decided to get creative by slashing/trading players from their roster who are mostly just average guys in favor of some extreme plan? Not going to happen but then again .... Correa would never play for the Twins.

On a second look at the title of the post, we should look to upgrade at nearly every single roster spot. I mean, it seems doubtful that Correa returns. Joe Ryan and Jhoan Duran were strong all season in 2022. Buxton is pretty much a part time option realistically, although all Twins fans wish and hope he can somehow play 145 games in CF. That leaves more than 20 upgrades for the roster. Some could be filled by miraculous healthy returns, such as Polanco. Nevertheless, it looks like there are plenty of spots to upgrade for 2023.

Seattle, Oakland, Tampa Bay, San Diego, and Minnesota - all of these teams seemingly could not unleash the beast within Emilio. It is time to give another squad an opportunity.

Too many players whose best position is DH: Jeffers, Arraez, Miranda, Larnach, Garlick, and Wallner. Did I miss someone? The list does not count at bats for anyone who needs a day off their feet, especially Buxton.

Guardians win it all. I am watching the Seattle-Toronto game. Luis Castillo hit 100 several times in the first inning and I wondered what Twins scouts were watching when they stated that they preferred Mahle to Castillo. Of course, I wondered about that when I first read it too but watching Castillo and having watched Mahle (and Castillo too) a number of times, I'm not seeing any comparison at all. Bieber remains a beast. The post? Cleveland over Tampa Bay; St. Louis over Philly; Seattle over Toronto; New York over San Diego Cleveland over New York; Houston over Seattle; Atlanta over St. Louis; Los Angeles over New York Cleveland over Houston; Atlanta over Los Angeles Cleveland over Atlanta

Mistakes happen. Learning is key. Repeating mistakes indicates a lack of learning. If the Twins are going to run out a budget of $150 million plus next season. there is no huge financial harm in stringing along the San Diego acquisitions until a decision needs to be made between them or another player. If not, cut both of them.

The easy answer to the question of how to get fans back at Target Field is that the Twins need to put a better product on the field. A couple of fixes include an emphasis on sound baseball grounded in the fundamentals of the game; scrap the failed "Plan" with starting pitchers in favor of decisions based on the game as it develops; and use the players in multiple ways (run, sacrifice, move runners along, tough with two strikes, etc.). The Twins likely need to consider some changes and we have Falvey for that task. I'm ok with trading anyone. The team needs better athletes and baseball players. Target Field is a pretty fine stadium and an exciting team will draw even if they don't win 90 games. The product this year was obviously not interesting to the casual fan even when the Twins were in 1st Place. I can't say I disagree with the public's vote on the team in 2022. Hard core fans still watch. I'm watching the game now. A change is needed to bring the general public back to paying attention to the Twins.

Duran had a special season. In the last week, Henriquez displayed some talent that may play in relief. Varland has looked pretty good as he worked his way through the minor leagues and could be in the rotation in April.

IDK. Agree it would be wonderful to suit up both Correa and Rodon, but there are other needs too. We can't run the same guys back because they are injured quite often and can't run. The Twins need much more athletic players. Maybe your suggestion of trading some of our young pitchers would find a player. I will suggest that the Twins should be open to any movement of any players if the return creates more potential going forward.

Scuffling to close the year.

The 40 person roster is the least of the Twins concerns. I believe they could easily cut to 35 without too much angst.

This article accurately points to the dilemma facing the Twins. Does one consider it possible to reap success from such a bundle of broken bodies? From the pitching staff all through the position players, the Twins have possibilities that include fair talent. The idea of rebooting so many brings the odds of success way down. We won't know what Falvey has in mind for several months but it is probably less perilous to count on Ryan, Ober, Varley, Winder, and Woods Richardson than to imagine decent contributions from Maeda, Mahle, Gray, Dobnak, and Paddack. As stated in the post Paddack is not a good gamble to return as an effective pitcher and baseball has shown repeatedly that shoulder problems are the beginning of the end (Mahle) even when there seems to be difficulty in isolating the specific issue. Thus, if the Twins do hope to be competitive in 2023 as opposed to rebuilding, the team will need to add one or two (better) starting pitchers via trades/free agency. I'm less concerned about the bullpen because the arms are available if the strategy on usage improves. The position side has similar question marks and the goal should be to reduce the risk of a return of the long IL list. My preference is for fielders who use their gloves. Jeffers has shown that he is capable of a roster spot but improvement is necessary. He is better as a backup. Kirilloff should play 1B. Can he return? If not, the Twins may be forced to use others again. Looking at each position brings pause to how 2023 can be salvaged. There are so many health, performance, and defensive questions. Buxton, if healthy, is the only certainty. That is a pretty big gamble. The others - Polanco, Arraez, Miranda, Lewis, Urshela, Kepler, Larnach, Wallner, Gordon, Celestino, etc. - are all question marks considering one (or more) of health, performance, or defensive utility. The rule that eliminates drastic shifts will hurt the Twins more than most teams due to our infielder's range. The team needs improved athleticism. Gordon and Lewis can help if and when they are ready. November might be a good time to make some trades for healthy athletic players. It is totally unclear to me if there are any Twins players that are seen as particularly desirable by other teams.