tony&rodney

The glass is half full and there is never any better time than the present because the best of our youth is the only hope for the future. AAPL is still going just fine - buy.

Jose Berrios, Tyler Jay, Stephen Gonsalves, Taylor Rogers, Nick Burdi, Kohl Stewart, Alex Meyer, J. T. Chargois, Lewis Thorpe, Jake Reed. This is the list from 2016. Rogers and Thorpe are still on the roster. It was impressive to read about and see all of those top flight prospects in 2016. I wonder who will still be on a Twins roster from the current group in 2027. Prospects are fun to ponder.

A team loses their top slugger and two best pitchers and finishes in last place, yet the suggestion is to stand pat. Ok, that's an option. The question for those who want the team to play the hand they have today is this - Will you support the Twins with your time and dollars towards the 2022 team to the same extent you did to the 2019 team? I cannot quibble with those whose support in games attended, watched, and so forth continues through losing seasons, I'm just wondering how people who do not want any change would react.

The hitting talent displayed last year across the board, especially the low K numbers, provide an answer. Miranda should get every chance to play five times per week next year. I'm a big fan of outstanding defensive players and wondered if there was any possibility to add Starling Marte to the team, but understand why he was not feasible. The Twins have put some pretty stiff defenders on the field and Miranda should be equal to the task in the field. A bat that equals Steamer projections would be solid. Miranda should be on the roster Opening Day and see significant at bats (20+ per week) during the season.

Prospects are judged on their perceived talent ceilings until they prove differently. Cory Kluber is an example of a pitcher who rose above early predictions. Most of the top pitchers were given decent reviews as prospects. There can be additions to the dozen Twins noted, Jax and Raya to name two. The Twins do not have any prospects currently rated to predict above mid rotation starters. I believe a couple will rise above their write-ups. This becomes another reason to add experienced good pitchers and the sheer number of prospects should tell us that it is ok to trade few arms. One of the issues that returns again and again is the perception of the Twins as a small market team that must work with a smaller budget. Are we all adjusting how a team is collected based on an accepted notion? Was Twins Daily number of a $130 budget million excessive? A base of $90 million, as many seem to suggest, may be necessary. This moves the discussion quite a bit from a month past. A lower figure requires more use of prospects. We are agreeing that the prospects need mound time. We wonder if the new reality means an only prospects staff. The goalposts are being moved.

"Ideally, they'll add at least one more moderately good free agent starter and another impact arm via trade, so as to improve their odds and lessen the total reliance on unknowns. But as a general course of action, I don't hate the idea of letting the pipeline produce." - Nick Nelson Nick, you write a good justification for the young starters getting their chance as support for the inaction of the Twins front office thus far this offseason. The idea of letting the prospects pitch is widely accepted, by most, seemingly. There are twelve waiting their turn: Dobnak, Ober, Ryan, Duran, Winder, Balazovic, Woods-Richardson, Strotman, Sands, Canterino, Vallimont, and Varland. It is a good group. Maybe three do well, three go to the bullpen, three fail, and three get traded. There is really not much pitching left as free agents and if the budget needs to be near $100 million, signings costs more than trades. I'm excited to see a few of these guys get acclimated, but I'm in favor of adding two pitchers to the top of the rotation via trade. The Twins have a decent core of everyday players and a smoother transition into MLB is possible with pitchers like Chris Bassitt and Frankie Montas leading the way. Let the pipeline fill out the rest of the rotation. It's a gamble but I don't hate that at all.

There are many readers who do not see either Ryan or Ober as "locks". These two are merely the only starting pitchers who are currently on the roster who pitched at all for a few decent innings last year in MLB. It is a pretty low bar. This restriction reduces opportunities to gain experienced decent pitchers who would serve as models for the prospects who begin their education at the MLB level. A Chris Bassitt addition would be akin to adding Nelson Cruz several years ago, except we give up a player to gain the SP. Bassitt contributes, leads, and may stay if we gain his interest. There aren't many promising free agents as December fades, thus one either hopes for significant trades, which have been reasonable proposed ad nauseam, or supports a prospect takeover. When we hand the ball to an all prospect staff, we spend too much energy looking for two-four Doc Goodens and eventually accept 90-110+ losses for a couple of years even as we hope the prospects' brains stay intact from the beating they watch and then receive day after day with an occasional spectacularly pitched game. My one question is: will all of those people who want to see all prospects buy tickets to watch them pitch, tune in to the same number of games, and follow the team as carefully as they did in 2019? I will, for sure. But I'm still hoping to add four pitchers via trade and a free agent signing.

The Twins were sitting on their hands while Miami was looking for a catcher but the Marlins still need bats and they still have excess pitchers. The only way to pry away a Meyer and/or Cabrera is to satisfy the Marlins. This only happens if they see a clear benefit for their team now. This is also risky from the Twins side and both Meyer and Cabrera may be totally off limits making the exercise mute. Nevertheless, I see both Meyer and Cabrera as superior in present talent to any of the Twins pitching prospects and am willing to make the reach in an attempt to see if Miami is interested in a trade. I'm not exactly sure what Miami wants but Kepler, Jeffers, and a MLB ready player like Dobnak might be a start. Hopefully a conversation can take place, at the very least. Miami would be unlikely to trade Lopez for anything less than a massacre for the other team (think Lewis, Martin, Jeffers, and Duran) and Alcantara and Rogers are definitely off limits. Hernandez, Sanchez, and Luzardo hold little appeal due to their combination of price and risk versus what the Twins need which is a small degree of certainty. Oakland remains the site to shop for pitchers.

Cool that you added Cesar. He was such an exciting player and can easily be left off of an all time team and utility players have always been critical components of great teams. Tovar belongs, for sure.

Nash, I appreciate your (and others) efforts to keep the content going on Twins Daily; the posts are admirable in the face of the disappointing lack of moves by Falvey. I find it increasingly difficult to engage. The Baltimore Orioles have much better pitching prospects than the Minnesota Twins at this time. Do we wish to emulate the Orioles? The Detroit Tigers and Kansas City have blended in a number of pitchers in the last few years, all of whom were much more highly rated than any of the Twins pitching prospects. The Tigers did not put forth their prospects solo. It is quite confusing how anyone can believe that using just our pitching prospects can bring a positive result. Currently, the Twins have only Dylan Bundy slated for their starting rotation. Can anyone point to a rotation that had anything resembling this and managed to avoid 90-110+ losses? Not to be a downer, but the Pohlad family has made a fortune on the Twins alone, and I don't care about that except if they abuse the public trust made when Target Field was built with tax dollars. A budget of less than $120-160 million is an abuse of that trust. This leaves a single option for after the entire CBA debacle is settled. The Twins will need to frantically find a way to sign and trade for three starting pitchers, a shortstop, and a relief pitcher. The names mentioned all work for less than the money available: Story, Rodon, Pineda, etc. via the free agent market and some folks like Bassitt, Manaea, Montas, etc. via the trades. Some combination of players (some unnamed) will need to be added to fill the holes. A rebuild isn't necessary for financial reasons by any calculus and a rebuild due to a failure to sign or trade any decent players would be be nothing short of illuminating an epic weakness in management. I remain hopeful and supportive that the FO will be able to accomplish the moves needed to roster a competitive team and hope everyone has a positive holidays as we all wait for the renewal of the conversations needed to negotiate an end to the impasse between MLB owners and the MLBPA.

Ok, you don't like Buxton or his new contract. Ok, no problem. Now, I think you need to specifically tell the readers of this post what you believe the team's budget will be for 2022. Will you use $75 M? $100 M? $150 M? What do you think? Subsequently, show us what players, specifically, make up your roster. Who exactly will you sign? This will help others, like myself, try to understand your views. Until you put forth a specific roster it is really hard to see your point. Perhaps the Twins go with a $80 million or lower roster next year and beyond and then everyone else who believes in Buxton would need to reconsider how their rosters were composed. Put your roster out for us.

This makes sense if the "resources" referred to limit the Twins to a budget of $100 M. A number of comments have seen a contract for Story as limiting the team's options and/or restricting a future for Lewis/Martin. This is confusing to me unless those making these arguments are thinking the budget is near $100 M. I totally understand the reticence if $100 M is the team limit. The argument concerning a block for Lewis/Martin makes little sense. No team ever blocks a superior player; there is always room in any lineup for a player who displays the skills. Again, if those who oppose any signing of Story believe he is not a viable starting shortstop, then i can accept their point. It never hurts to have too much talent, but some will question whether Story is worthwhile at any price. The entire decision boils down to a judgment on talent and then a knowledge of the actual budget ceiling. No money = no interest or there is money but the talent is not worthy. In any event, we wait.

So happy. One of the most kind people to walk the planet. In 1967 he came with a rookie, Rod Carew, to our school and he was funny and said what an honor it was to be around school age kids. I met him when I sold beer at the Metrodome and he was even more impressive as he aged. My parents and many of their friends took in Cuba families fleeing Castro's regime and Tony Oliva was a legend among their community. If you never saw him play, it would be hard to explain what an amazing hitter he was for his too brief career. There were polls of pitchers in the 1960s and early 1970s (maybe there still are polls - I don't know) and Tony O was always amongst the top five most feared and respected hitters by pitchers in the American League. Congratulations to the only hero I ever had outside of family. Tony Oliva - member of the Baseball Hall of Fame sounds perfect.

Why not? Do you think the budget will be near $110 M? Read the comments by TopGun#22. You are correct if the budget is $90-110 M. A lower budget throws nearly every move suggested and discussed on Twins Daily away. Falvey specifically stated that the Twins would be competitive next season. A budget from $90- 100 M will not put a competitive team on the field. I would use "competitive" to mean 80 or more wins in a season. Naturally, there could be other limits used for the term. Again, many on TD want a few years of letting prospects learn on the job, so there are differences of opinion about a direction forward (1-5 years) for the Twins. There does seem to be an idea that adding pitching via trade of players who have 1-2 years left as only a short term plan, but that is not correct as experienced pitchers allow younger pitchers to mentor them, serve as examples, and release the pressures of being the main pitcher.

What money? Who would you suggest be signed? What do you believe the budget should be?

This may be possible but what free agent pitchers are we targeting that will take up the budget? What is your budget? $90 M? $100 M? .... $150 M? It makes a difference whether you plan to spend $90 or $150 M or any point in between. I believe enough examples have shown that Story and three good pitchers via trade will fit within a budget of near $120 M. No trades or Story make sense at a budget of $90 M. There are not pitchers available as free agents to spend money on at this time other than a risky deal for Rodon which seems completely unlikely when the Twins were not interested in any of the other free agent pitchers in that price range. Of course, never say never. The argument against Story no longer involves money unless the Twins have already maxed out their budget.

The roster was done to show a couple of givens: 1) any budget to $120 M makes the Twins a possible contender; 2) Story fits on that budget; 3) there is room to add three pitchers in trades; and 4) to question whether the actual budget is really going to be near $95-105 M. I purposely left the pitching roster unfilled (names were inserted as minimum salaries) because it shows that a contending team can add three pitchers and what a team (with rookies only starting pitching) looking to win 70-75 games would look like. There are a number of very skeptical, pessimistic, sarcastic, and negative Twins fans who mock attempts by those who believe the team can be competitive in 2022. I don't know, perhaps it is time to end all discussions about the Twins and the potential 2022 rosters. MLB is locked out and I get those who want to lock out baseball, but lifetime fans keep dragging their hopes along.

Below is a roster with Story. It includes the players the Twins have currently. The numbers are close. Additional signings and trades would add to the total. What is not clear at all is the budget set by Pohlad. The lack of action may mean that $100-110 M is what Falvey has been handed. Many of us used $130 M. If a budget can accommodate $120 M, more or less, then Story with the additions via trades suggested by many like TopGun#22 work and serve the team best for both 2022 and the future. Adding Bassitt and Montas adds $12.6 M (CB-$8.8 M plus FM-$5.2 M minus those two displaced, $1.4), but subtracts $1.4 M (Arraez -$2 M minus rookie salary) bringing the total to $120.45. If there is room to spend $120-130 M, there is zero reason not to make all efforts within reason to bring in pitchers with experience to help the Twins young prospects learn and grow. A figure of $100 M totally changes the entire look and plans need to reflect that reality.

Story fits at $130 M if the Twins can trade for Cabrera or Meyer instead of signing Pineda, but Big Mike does have experience. Story fits either way at less than $140 M. This all just says that there are options. A number of people see opportunity and try to avoid the taste of pessimism. We hope Falvey is an optimist.

Especially if it fits in a budget less than $130 million.

A few people have watched me work through the years, but they didn't stay long and they never paid to watch.

There was zero reason for Manfred to write a letter to fans. The negotiations should be between the two parties within a room. Clearly, without going into everything, there is blame that may be cast upon either party but the letter was egregious and nonproductive.

The Pohlad's, by many accounts, have been good citizens. Nevertheless, Carl paid $5 million down to Calvin Griffith and the remainder in $5 million per year payments. MLB approves who can buy. It is a closed club as Mark Cuban found out. The owners do invest their profits back into their team on occasion but also manage to have the public pay for their stadiums. The owners would laugh at being restricted to a lifetime earnings of any player much less needing to go through the work necessary to reach those levels. I'm not against the owners making big money but their pride in keeping such tight control over the players is a little weird. They could agree to share revenues at a level of near 55% for the players and still make bank. There was a poll a number of years ago and the gist of it was that 75% of the population believed they would reach the upper 1% in wealth through their hard work. This explains why common people often support the uber wealthy over the working class or as Bob Dylan would say, "Everyone sees there self walking around with no one else".

I think we are on the same page but expressing it differently perhaps. I might be more willing to trade some field players, for example. Others have given the same ideas in an attempt to bolster the starting staff. The main issue remains the budget. I never expected the Twins to sign two pitchers above the Bundy level. I have targeted Miami, Oakland, and Cincinnati. My preference is to hold on to Ober, Winder, Duran, Balazovic, Woods-Richardson, and Petty. I don't know the price of pitching but am trying to pry Bassitt and Montas away for Arraez, Larnach, and Strotman. I agree that Strotman has potential and suggest Oakland may believe the same. Additionally, if the Twins could sign Story, I would use Martin or Lewis and a pitcher to see if Miami would trade Meyer and Cabrera (unlikely) or CIN might trade Castillo for a package. The Miami trade would return young pitchers more highly rated than any of ours. In any event these trades would only diminish our stock of prospects by two prospects while returning three accomplished starters. Story is doable and allows the Twins to use prospect capital. My main point is that our young pitchers need some experienced arms to lead the way as they are initiated into MLB.

The Twins have three pitchers rated by MLB as 55, four as 50, and three more as 45. There are others with bright futures too. Vallimont, Raya, and Varland rate as 40. The trick is who might interest another team. Oakland has two at 50 and three rated at 45 for comparison. Don't you believe that the Twins could trade one from each group possibly in combination with some field players to gain good pitchers? I guess my focus is to maximize the resources we already have to fill what we need, and those pitchers added via trade would complement Buxton, Polanco, Donaldson, et al. It will be tough but it can be done, I believe.