tony&rodney

The trade, $6.6 million, Rogers, and Rooker for Paddack and Pagan is purely for next year. The mantra that the Twins aren't going to be good this year started real early and the be realistic idea to look to next year and the two years beyond next are the base of many opinions. I cannot see this line of thinking, but others do. So it goes. How early do the ideas for summer trades come now? Sanchez, Sano, Polanco, Correa, Kepler, Urshela, Gray, Archer, Bundy, Duffey, and Thielbar sound like they could bring back some decent prospects for next year. We might have a top ten farm system after moving those guys. The one positive possibility is that the addition of these two pitchers allows the Twins to trade a handful of guys for Bryan Reynolds due to the growing glut in their system.

The constant idea of building for next year doesn't interest me in this year unless the options were worse. I agree with the post above. I don't see this helping the team this year. An ironic factor is that the Twins and their fans constantly adhere to a small to mid market apology. Twins Daily set the Twins budget at what most saw as near the upper limit - $130 million. The budget could have been anywhere from $90-150 million easily, based on the team's goals. Now, we see the Twins add two players for around $2.5 million each and pay Rogers' salary and they are over $130 million. San Diego picks up a closer for the league minimum and subtracts a player they may have cut and a guy who may have been reassigned to AAA. All this and the Twins may like this trade for next year.

Wait. Ober moves to the pen? He was clearly their best starting pitcher to finish the year. He also looked as good as anyone else in Spring Training.

The Twins picked up a pitcher who still has very solid potential. There must be another move coming because the 40 person roster will be bloated by next winter. A rationale to make this trade is .... ..... trade Martin, Balazovic, Sands, Strotman, and Larnach to Pittsburgh for Bryan Reynolds.

Perhaps you are correct, but the Twins wouldn't sign any free agents because it was time to allow their prospects to get some innings. This rationale has been touted, nearly across the TD board, all winter long and now there is a movement away from Winder, Balazovic, etc. Which is it? Also, where does he fit? I guess #6.

Correa stays if he is injured too often this year. If he is his usual self, Correa goes back to free agency without the qualifying offer and in a smaller crop of shortstops. I hope the Twins win the division. If they are not projected to win, and even if they are, Correa will very likely be traded in late July for prospects.

I'm so confused by many Twins Daily folks. There has been a constant call to give innings to the prospects such as Ryan, Ober, Winder, Balazovic, and others. Adding a mediocre relief pitcher and a #6 starting pitcher does nothing to help the team and I expect Winder will now be sent down to AAA. This trade will reduce innings until Paddack is on the IL. Those who want low cost and player control should then be clamoring for trades of any and all of Sanchez, Sano, Polanco, Correa, and Kepler. Buxton has a no trade clause but might wave it to go to Atlanta for a prospect. I appreciate that the writers, like Seth in this article, try to just present the news but if the Twins cannot keep players on expiring contracts, the franchise is doomed. Getting inferior players because they have a couple of years of control is a weak strategy, at best. Why didn't Oakland trade Bassitt or Manaea for a Dobnak or Smeltzer? The Padres, supposedly, have a similar market to the Twins. Hmmm? I don't care for their team and i don't expect they will win the NL West. The moves have been confusing. The addition of Correa came at a time when national writers were asking why the Twins were spending at the same level as Kansas City. CC was entirely the work of Boras working with Pohlad. I'm not understanding the Twins at all, but am aware there are many others that laud all of these moves. Go Giants.

This trade looks ominous for too many reasons to put down. TD has been screaming to give innings to the prospects such as Winder, Balazovic, etc. Are we now going to hear they all need a few more years of AAA experience? We traded JD because of money (small market?) or his personality? This sets up a possibility of summer trading activity. Could Sanchez, Sano, Correa, Gray, Kepler, and Polanco all bring in some solid prospects to raise our farm system above its current level? Rogers didn't want to sign an extension? San Diego was desperate to trade Paddock for anything. I guess the Twins are good guys and accommodating as well.

The Twins are confounding.

Like many, I predict the Twins to win the World Series this year just like i do every year. I wish the snow and ice would melt too. Defense is important and fun to watch and fans should enjoy the improved play up the middle this year. Alex Kirilloff does belong at first base instead of in the outfield. Maeda making a late September return in relief could boost the bullpen. There are plenty of reasons that both Buxton and Correa could have MVP type seasons this summer and I am looking forward to their playing at least 145 games. Max Kepler can be frustrating to watch when he hits ground balls to second. However, Max is also one of only three competent outfielders on the team and Nick Gordon doesn't project to start most of the time. Rooker and Larnach are ok to hide in the outfield occasionally but are better fits at DH. So until Austin Martin and/or Royce Lewis, both quite athletic, are converted to the outfield the Twins need Kepler. A couple of July trades are possible and I'm high on Josh Winder right now. The Twins have a shot if everything goes right. It is gray outside right now, the ground is covered in snow, and more is falling (lightly), so I'm forced to believe the Twins are going to be good enough to win 87 games this year.

Much ado concerning San Diego's Chris Paddock, a pitcher who sits between #6-8 within the starting rotation of his current team. A former prospect with some potential and a guy who has struggled to get it all together in the last few years. He earns about $2.5 million this year, whether he sits the pine, hones his craft in AAA, or flourishes and the Padres don't have a spot for him right now. This is not too far from Randy Dobnak or Drew Smeltzer, pitchers that might actually have some success when healthy. Why the interest? Well, as a flier for a player who would face the same fate with the another team - why not. What is insane, keeping in mind the inane trades that do happen, is the idea that the Mets would take on Hosmer's contract to add Paddock or that the Twins would exchange Rogers for a #6 pitcher. The argument that Rogers has only a year before free agency makes me crazy. The addition of players like Bundy, Gray, Urshela, Sanchez, Correa, Smith, Archer, and any fliers on minor league free agents were ostensible added to improve the team for 2022. A trade with San Diego may happen, but it never seemed like a reasonable approach given the Twins adherence to a budget or the combination of players. Now if the Twins wanted to take Hosmer's entire contract, Paddock, Gore, Campusano, and Hassel for Rogers, Larnach, Sanchez, Smeltzer, and Rooker ..... that is ridiculous. I would much prefer the Twins call the Pittsburgh GM and have some real conversations.

Oh dear.

Fair enough to dislike Jose Berrios as a pitcher. One never needs to accept that some players gain All Star status, large salaries, or high rankings through various means. Hopefully the disdain for Berrios is not tied to the fact he wouldn't sign with the Twins for their price and/or that he is now with Toronto. It is just his job after all. Plenty of Twins fans were not completely enamored with Berrios, yet he remains a consensus top 25 starting pitcher in MLB. Chris Archer was once held in high regard too, before injuries set him back. Archer looked good in his brief appearance in Spring Training and it will be interesting to see if he can regain his command of what was previously a solid repertoire of pitches.

Ah, just an fyi or fwiw ... he received the fourth most votes by writers of The Athletic to win the Cy Young this year. National articles hold Jose Berrios in very, very high regard and have for quite some time now. It is actually Twins fans who underrated him, if anything.

Archer has better stuff and looked pretty comfortable/strong in his appearance recently. Bundy is still "finding" his pitches but has some experience. The two are not really comparable. The key difference this year is we hope there are healthy bodies to help out when needed. Winder has looked good and Smeltzer is a call away. I'm trending towards the positive view of the Twins as the season gets close and my desire for warmer weather and disdain for snow/sleet, ice and cold grows.

You hit right in your first paragraph. While no pitcher can be guaranteed, a Gausman or Ray type is a worthy gamble. I would include Berrios, Stroman, and Rodon in there as well. Still, these are tough decisions. San Diego really doesn't have anything we want. The Twins are lighting a ton of votive candles for their pitchers. Your second paragraph hinges on "hopefully". Twins Daily and many Twins fans are not in agreement with the vast array of baseball writers who see their prospects as "average". We exhibit the characteristics of Garrison Keillor's mythical village, Lake Wobegon. While you can include me as one of those helpless hopefuls, it was nonetheless maddening to see the Twins tip-toe so carefully through free agency and the trade market last November leading up to the lockout. The Padres are supposedly in a similar market as the Twins. I don't believe that San Diego is going to win and didn't last year, but the Twins should be evaluating their options with fewer constraints when it will make a significant difference. At this point a significant trade for a pitcher is unpredictable. I am not a fan of trading with San Diego unless it includes Gore and Campusano, which is not happening. I am not a fan of pitchers like Cueto, Manaea, or Pineda either. Perhaps the Twins get lucky with a Marquez type or Miami, but the Twins are likely to roll with what they have right now and it might work with a tweak. Let's get Bryan Reynolds and his four years of control for left field. I'm looking forward to Friday's opener.

Manaea has some solid games and is a good pitcher, but he doesn't carry the talent level needed to be a difference for the Twins. Bassitt was the miss from Oakland. Montas works if there is a reasonable deal to be made.

Yah, it is fun to imagine the Twins being good. I do. Correa, however, doesn't have any speed though so no imagination help there.

I'm fine with the Twins rolling with their current roster ..... because that is the way it is. I do wish the team would take a chance once in a while to get better. Some might say that Correa was a chance but I would term that a gift from Correa/Boras knowing what a joy it will be for CC to hit with Buxton and Polanco. When I read about rumors involving the Pirates outfielder, Reynolds, I think to myself - why not the Twins? It is actually possible too. It would be nice to see some forward movements. Nevertheless, I'm hoping Winder, Duran, Canterino, and Balazovic make spectacular meaningful debuts this year along with Jose Miranda. It is possible that the next guys up are ready to go right now and that this is the year that the former youth play to their potential too.

Count me as one who believes that Ryan Jeffers will be solid this year, but also put me down as a person who remains befuddled by the purge of depth at a position so integral to a pitcher's success. It wasn't necessary unless one accepts that JD was reviled by all with the Twins organization, for which I claim no knowledge whatsoever. Clearly, it wasn't the money. Great article pushing forward Jeffers' breadth of skills - hope he has a wonderful year.

Agree with this take. Understand that the Twins saved $6 million in the deal and no longer have any JD contract but this wasn't a move to win. The deal that Boras/Correa offered could have still happened and kept the payroll in total control of a healthy profit. It seems Miranda will need to prove himself to be better than he was last year. He could certainly work to improve in all areas as a player for the Saints, so not a terrible result. It doesn't make any sense to add someone from the 40, unless the knee injury to Kirilloff is problematic. Then maybe Garlick. Nick Gordon has improved since his health returned last year. He looks decent and can cover a ton of positions when needed; a perfect utility player.

Yes. This is correct. Anyone that doubts any part of this should spend a few minutes on a Baseball-Reference site. Oh, and look up the number of putouts and assists by Mays, Trout, and Buxton. A helpful note - there were stopwatches in the 20th century. Finally, I have consistently been a huge fan of Byron Buxton and will not be surprised if he does win an MVP and Mike Trout is hands down the best MLB player of the last decade.

I miss the antics of Eddie Rosario.

The Dodgers signed Andrew Heaney for $8.5 million. They roll every rock for any player that might win a game. Yes, they have resources that the Twins cannot match but from trades to free agents to minor league signings their net is decisive. Meanwhile their farm system is amazing at developing players. To me the Twins are reactive as opposed to proactive in nearly all of their dealings, from the draft to the big roster. The Texas trade made some sense if the Twins were going to highlight defense. Then they traded with the Yankees. I miss plenty but have never read nor spoken to anyone who spoke poorly of Josh Donaldson regarding his work habits, professionalism, or willingness to work with younger players. I don't know him, but have heard from some who do which is an indirect link. I do not understand the negativity cast toward him since the trade. Does anyone know him personally or have specific quotes or links to indicate otherwise? Losing JD, IK-F, & BR meant the Twins were weakened at DH, catcher, 1B, 3B, and SS. Fortunately for the Twins, Scott Boras picked up the phone and dictated a deal. Hope. At this point the Twins are leaning very heavily on their younger players to be very good if the season is to be competitive. Hopefully this can occur. The team is also leaning heavily on Shoemaker/Happ types to resurrect their careers and it could happen. Bundy, Archer, Smith, and Sanchez have had good years. The problem, in my opinion, is that the Twins are not proactive in their plan (whatever it is). The entire season will rest with guys like Jeffers, Kirilloff, Ryan, Ober, Winder, Alcala, Duran, and a host of other young players. We already know that Polanco, Correa, Buxton, and Rogers will be good. National writers are mostly placing the Twins below the midpoint of all MLB teams. I guess we can hope for a pile of luck and monster seasons from the unknown guys like Sanchez, Sano, Urshela, Arraez, Kepler, Gray, Archer, Bundy, and Smith.

Hmmm. One wonders if someone forgot about that. Tough to bench both Arraez and Urshela for Miranda if the rookie has a poor glove. I'm not sure what the Twins think about Miranda. He looks good at the plate.