tony&rodney

Simply insane. Wallner is better right now than Gallo. The math says $11 million for Gallo and $720 thousand for Wallner. And Kepler, far superior - $8.5 million.

My fervent hope is that all of Gray, Mahle, and Maeda are awesome starting pitchers for the Minnesota Twins in 2023. My brain tells me that Ryan, Ober, and Varland or include Winder and Woods Richardson will be better starting pitchers next season. Another post has suggested that there are teams interested in our experienced guys. I'm open to trading any or all of them.

That was a weird article. It read like Hayes had been admonished recently, because Hayes seemed to defer to "other" plans. What plans? I guess we will just be patient and wait to see what transpires before Opening Day. The article was comical. What is not comical is that the Twins strung out this idea that they wanted to sign Correa. I cannot accept that neither Boras nor Correa ever communicated any guidelines to let the Twins know what the boundaries of a long term contract would need to include in order for Correa to sign. Lindor, Seager, others signed recently were a part of that picture. It would have been the same if the Twins had repeatedly stated their desire to sign Aaron Judge for something like 5/$225M. I found it hard to understand why the Twins didn't just wish Carlos Correa well on his next contract and thank him when the numbers were clear. I'm all good that Correa is now a Giant but I'm less of a fan of Falvey due to the process followed in the debacle that played out in the last few months.

The minimum goes to $.720 million in 2023. Farmer will be around $4.75 million. Add Farmer, delete Swanson; you saved.

I'm not sure this is exactly true because I don't know what Falvine have in their minds. It is really hard to see a path under their direction whereas the strategy was more apparent under Terry Ryan. The Falvines have the resumes so they hold the keys to whatever is going to happen. Cautious is a word that comes to mind to describe the Falvine tenure. Every move is cautious and the team plays with caution too. Caution is a safe investing and business strategy but I'm not to sure it is effective in sports. I'm still waiting for some moves and a new focus for the Twins.

I laughed out loud. The Dobber could come back. Did Dick Bremer say that? How could I forget? I wonder if the Twins will forget to decline his three option years because they forgot about him too. A little $21.5 M extra for Dobnak. Now that would be sweet.

The Pohlads are good at running businesses and making money. The Minnesota Twins are just one of their businesses and needs to show a profit. All of that is just fine by me. I do think MLB requires a little more risk-taking than the Twins are willing to entertain, but they have their guidelines. Also fair. The Twins have put themselves in a little bit of a tight spot though as far as accumulating the talent needed to be a worthwhile team to watch in 2023. Attendance was down last year despite the end of Covid which brought on a huge demand for entertainment. The Twins lacked charisma last year and you could sense that the crowds felt so. A team that played station to station, followed the plan, and had atrocious fundamentals in the field, on the bases, and at the plate turned off people even as the team was leading the AL Central. The current roster just doesn't cut it. There are a couple of free agents worth a look: Chafin, Martinez, ..... hard to know what Falvey has in mind. I wouldn't mind letting Martin, Julien, or even Lee get a look. That leaves trades and it will take at least two trades to add some talent and I think the Twins need to use their 40 person roster to make those trades. It's Falvey time because if the team tanks, loses 90+ games, and attendance plummets .... well then he is gone. I'm hoping he stays.

Months ago, I thought that Correa/Boras would want to beat the contract that Lindor signed with the Mets. It seemed rational from my perspective. It also seems like there could have been a direct conversation with Correa about his goals and aspirations concerning a contract. If Falvey knew the parameters, the contracts of Turner and Bogearts should have led to a new understanding. Standing pat doesn't really count as disciplined if the player matters. Now if the Twins were only in on Correa for a deal, then it makes sense to throw the hope offer out there. I don't get upset in any way at the loss of Correa. I do get a little annoyed at the gap between the Twins bids and the winning numbers. Cleveland has built a really fun team. The Twins need to adjust in 2023 to address the lack of fundamentals and boring play (station to station) or the lack of fans at Target Field will push the team in an entirely different direction. As someone said earlier, buy good tools.

Every day, every year. Yes, I was saying the same in agreement.

Happ, Shoemaker, Bundy, Archer, etc. What does it add up to?

I wouldn't take that bet, would you? I would also say he has the same odds as any other pitcher. Would you bet on any pitcher staying healthy?

It makes sense to listen and have conversations with every team. St. Louis likely is wishing they had another decent starting pitcher. Maybe there is a match there. Miami still needs some bats and has plenty of pitching. Maybe there is a match there. As we saw from the three team trade last week, teams often prefer a specific player from a team. The trick is to line up the pieces, which means to keep an open mind as to the end results.

10 and 5 rights, an institution with the Giants, has a pile of young kids that love their life in the Bay - it would have been more likely to sign both Judge and Correa. Would the Twins have traded Joe Mauer before his last year? No way. What can happen is that Falvey can pivot to sign Rodon to a 10/$200 M contract. That would be a normal deal.

Rodon wants seven years and $200 million? Give him a 10/$200 contract.

The Twins have some items to address, that is for sure. Swanson would be agreeable, but 6/$150 is likely both too much and too little. Too much to pay and too little to sign. Pivot # 1 is to sign Carlos Rodon for 10/$200. It's absurd but so are the other contracts. He wants $200 M and more than 6 years. He gets his way. Pivot #2 is to sign Elvis Andrus for a year at $8 million. Pivot # 3 is to trade Max Kepler to NYY and take Aaron Hicks with his $30 M left on the books along with Oswaldo Cabrera and Roderick Arias. Pivot # 4 is to trade Luis Arraez, Bailey Ober, Trevor Larnach, and Keona Cavaco to Miami for Pablo Lopez and Edward Cabrera. Pivot # last is to sign J. D. Martinez for $12 million. He can DH and pinch hit. Roster comes in at around $130 million and I'm listening for outstanding offers for any of Gray, Mahle, and Maeda.

I have been pounding this drum since the season ended. San Diego drew 1.2 million more fans than the Twins last season. The team was weak fundamentally and rarely played an interesting game. Cleveland, by contrast, was a must watch team, even before they caught and passed the Twins. Some trades are needed and a shift in attitude and strategy must follow. A repeat of the plan would result in a further loss of butts in seats.

Agree with pragmatic but also a little confused at all of the anger and negative reactions towards both Correa and the idea of spending a humongous pile of money over many years. Carlos Correa has always been polite and politic. He played hard and had a good year for the Twins. There was never going to be any type of hometown discount because San Juan does not have an MLB team. Correa and/or Boras do not set the price. The teams that pay the salaries set the price. Why are people opposed to long term salaries for big bucks? It is the owners and front office together who make these decisions and while it is very true that many players have declined badly towards the end of those contracts it is also true that the financial benefits paid off. An overwhelming number of teams would sign those deals again. It's not the money, it's the benefits of the player. I'm fine with Correa signing with the Giants. I like the Giants. But I'm a Twins fan and I'm still hopeful that there are improvements in the style of play next season to a more exciting, fundamentally sound squad that uses a spreadsheet when appropriate but reads the game as well. The Twins are down in attendance because the team wasn't that much fun to watch. Target Field is a great venue and there is plenty of good places to stop before and after a game in Minneapolis. Of course if you want to visit a few seedy spots it can be a little dicey but that one is on you. Put the product on the field and people will come. There are still some good players available. Jurickson Profar is energetic. J. D. Martinez is still a doubles machine. Elvis Andrus showed life with the White Sox last year. Trades can still be made.

Ok, I'll bite. The Yankees want Kepler and to be rid of Hicks, they send back Oswaldo Cabrera and Roderick Arias with Hicks.

.... and 100% of the people who felt that Mauer's contract 'encumbered' the Twins in signing or acquiring players were wrong. !00%.

Carlos Correa is a damn fine shortstop and he got the contract he sought. It is pointless to see the contract as bad. The Atlanta Braves identify players to sign/develop/acquire and keep long term for somewhat reasonable contracts and trade to fill holes. The Twins were good to sign Kepler, Polanco, and Sano to contracts. The struggle is to make your moves ahead of the curve and the last few years this has been, apparently, difficult for many unknown reasons for the Twins. The main reason to sign a Correa or a Rodon, in my view, is that these players should be able to lead their team for two to three years while those talented prospects and younger players get their feet accustomed to MLB. As such, guys like Verlander and Judge are worth the money. Is Rodon worth 6/$180? Based on his past, maybe not. But he is a big strong guy and seems to have come through the injuries in pretty good shape and may have that Mickey Lolich type body to throw a ton of pitches and innings for the next seven years. Thing is, the contracts and money numbers aren't going to recede like the waters of a 1965 flood. The Twins signed Kirby Puckett to a contract of $3 million and those days are past. The entire offseason dance swirls around managing the roster to create a better team for the following campaign. The Twins were in 1st Place for much of the summer of 2022 and still didn't excite their fan base. I would submit that despite losing out on Carlos Correa, Falvey still has ample opportunity to forge a team that is more fun to watch in 2023.

No, it isn't likely at all. Still it could happen if the budget moves to $160 million. Could but doesn't seem prudent looking forward is one thought or there is a ton of money coming off the books is another thought. We need to let this play out.

It's the New York Post. The tax would put the annual salary over $60 million and Correa would move to 3B. I don't think so.

Actually both Carlos kids could happen. I'm not saying it will but it could.

I think Ted is suggesting that the Twins change in strategy is to move ahead more aggressively in spending where it makes sense, meeting the market as opposed to waiting out the market. Christian Vasquez is an example. It is undeniable that teams need to have a strong base of players that were brought up through the organization and some of those players are acquired through trading. More than half of the current 40 person roster was signed and developed by the Twins. Some current examples of signed and developed include Jeffers, Arraez, Kirilloff, Polanco, Miranda, Larnach, Gordon, Buxton, Kepler, Wallner, Lewis, Julien, Ober, Winder, Jax, Moran, and Varland. Some players traded for and developed include Martin, Celestino, Duran, Alcala, Woods Richardson, and Henriquez. The Twins have gained a few experienced players via trade as well, with Farmer, Ryan, Gray, Mahle, and Maeda being current examples. The Twins don't have many players typically that were acquired via FA and trades. Adding a player or two via free agency once in a while has been done (Nelson Cruz), but successful signings of the better players has been tough for many reasons and money is one. The Twins gained Vasquez, which I view as an aggressive and positive gain for the team, and it cost the team money. The change in strategy may be in seeing an opportunity now that costs more finances than the team was willing to pay and/or it may be a means to jolt interest to gain attendance. As a fan, I just want to watch a more athletic team, one that plays defense and is fundamentally sound in addition to hitting and pitching. I guess we all do.

I'm interested in data that is related to balls blocked (in dirt, bounce off of or in front of the plate).