tony&rodney

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.

That first inning was a special view of the season. Miranda totally misses a soft ground ball, Jeffers throws the ball away when he should have walked it back to the mound and told SWR to turn the page and focus on the batter after SWR forgot to check on Baddoo, and then Jeffers doesn't catch a ball that lands just in front of his glove. Any fair catcher blocks or catches that ball. Jeffers really struggles and pitchers need to throw the ball in the dirt with confidence. Check out Hedges or Maldonado for what a pitcher expects from a catcher. The offense had their own little problems. It's been a tough couple of months for our guys. Let us hope for three good games in Chicago, just well played baseball.

The only football I have watched in the last four decades is the World Cup. I do watch too much baseball, but not much else as far sports.

The Twins have options going forward, but they also have problems. The Plan was a problem but it was really only fully in force this year so maybe someone actually decides to can that fail. The lack of fundamentals was a yearlong problem but if someone actually decides that good baseball includes a steady diet of fundamentals this can be addressed and emphasized starting in the offseason and continuing on through Spring Training and the 2023 season. The roster has problems too and the front office will need to decide who stays, who goes, who gets an opportunity, and who might be acquired via trade or free agency. If the Twins make the correct preparations and move forward with a baseball oriented strategy, they could have as much success next season as they did this year and be much more interesting. This would lead to improved attendance and interest. And this could be done for a $60-90 million roster. Of course, there is more room for error with a $140 million payroll but I don't care how much anyone makes. I only want to see good baseball.

Sometimes players fail to execute on the fundamentals of the game, but it doesn't hurt them. The 2022 Twins are very poor at the fundamentals of baseball and it seems to hurt them on too many occasions. Tonight the Twins lost because they simply do not manage to play fundamental baseball. Those of you who watched the game on television know what I am saying. The effort seems to be fair though and change in the future is actually possible, if the will is present.

The attendance says it all. There isn't really any other more effective response to the current baseball product of the Twins than their poor attendance. The people have voted with their feet and dollar. For anyone that may consider one excuse or another, consider relativity. We can hope the winds of experience carry a new day in 2023.

Good luck to Simeon and I hope he enjoys the experience. He should be able to learn from even this brief appearance.

Why do i remember some really good Twins teams that included Mauer?

Slow down .... there is still more than a month of baseball left in 2022.

JB has some decent movement and a good arm. He totally lacks command and control and often looked unstable in his approach to pitching. He is quite raw, which seems surprising after several years of minor league ball. The Twins are likely to keep him on the 40 person roster because they may be afraid of a black eye if another organization polishes JB up and has him gain success in MLB.

All three still have a ways to go. There is talent but the rough edges are pretty obvious. It might be a little difficult to see all three struggle but then again maybe the Twins are due for a break. I'm thinking Kirilloff needs to eliminate the doubt and rust and the Twins need him at 1B. Larnach and Wallner need to have a few hundred balls hit to them in every conceivable fashion this offseason, about four days each week. I'm thinking they can hit but need to become outfielders as opposed to DH material. Miranda same (3B). It will be interesting to see what the Twins have in mind for 2023 because another lackluster team would put attendance well below 20,000 per game.

Correa has been the best player in a Twins uniform since Mauer. There was never any question of how the decision would play unless there was a serious injury. The contract of three years was strictly insurance and the Twins had insurance if he was unable to play. It works both ways. The clip above just tells everyone what was already known. The Twins have an opportunity to sign Correa. They just have to decide what they want for their team. It's actually pretty straight forward. Correa is a classy player.

The Twins need talent. Everyone should be available or there are not any untouchables in the organization if the front office can make a few trades. They should consider healthy players too.

These games display both the potential and inexperience of players. We see Gordon swinging for the fences no matter the count or situation but we also see him hit some line drives. We see Winder throw some unhittable sliders but struggle to control his fastball. We see Wallner show improvement on his jumps and swing but also see him lean in too far and take pitches totally in the zone. He has surprised with his speed as well. We can also see the limitations of Miranda in the field even as he continually makes positive adjustments at the plate. Jose needs a couple of thousand repetitions on ground balls to get up to speed. Lopez looked really good last night and comfortable. He seemed nervous too often in August and September. The Twins have seven games left and there are opportunities for some players to make a small statement. I'm hoping that Simeon Woods Richardson gets a start but it is very unlikely. Ober and Winder get another shot and Varland gets two starts to learn and display his talents. There is still baseball to be played.

Thanks for the reports. I watched too much milb.com this year; loved it. It is interesting to watch the games and see what they look like compared to their peers and what might be expected from any player at the next level.

Wallner sure needs to improve his defense and he could with a bunch of hard work/ repetitions at fly balls, line drives, hard hit balls, and bloops. He can improve. He does cover a fair amount of ground already but isn't smooth yet. I'm more concerned that he let his natural strength work with a smoothed out swing path to reduce the strikeouts. Wallner is not slow, at all. In fact, according to the link, Wallner is faster than Royce Lewis. We have already seen Wallner get one infield hit due to his speed. https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/leaderboard/sprint_speed?min_season=2022&max_season=2022&position=&team=MIN&min=10

Ober looks so intimidating but he is a pitcher, keeping batters off stride and commanding his pitches.Injuries have held him back but he sure looks like he could throw 120 pitches with such an easy delivery. Impressive outing.

This has become one criteria in a consideration of whether the Twins continue with Kepler in RF. Think of Garlick, Wallner, or Larnach in right field and watch a ball per game fall on the grass instead of in a glove. Some of those outs go to the wall for extra bases too, Decisions will need to be made this offseason. One question that has crossed my mind is how much interest Kepler has in playing for the Twins next year. I know nothing and don't like to speculate but I have never seen a player seem more unhappy. Of course, I hope that is just nonsense. Players may have body language and facial expressions due to pain and a myriad of personal reasons.

The Twins have an option to keep Kepler in 2024 if they choose to have him return. I believe the option is for $10 million, but the Twins can buy turn it down (buyout) for $1 million.

I'm hoping Lewis becomes everything the Twins fans (myself included) are waiting for in a star player. Why do I feel like this is a re-write of Byron Buxton's rising status just a few years ago? They are different people with separate life paths. Right?

Sadly, the 2009 class of Kepler, Polanco, and Sano may all be gone by the first pitch of 2023. Something went awry.

A massive shakeup? The Twins owners are mostly reluctant to change, so it doesn't seem likely.

The Walking Dead. What a great lead and so true. I'm a little surprised that the younger players aren't making a better impression. It almost looks like the missing (Jeffers, Kirilloff, Polanco, Larnach, Buxton, Kepler, maybe Garlick and Lewis) can count on being penciled in upon return in 2023.

Let him loose with no pitch or inning limits. Ober will tell everyone what is possible through his performance.

In the 80s and 90s and even into the first decade of this century there were many former MLB players who suited up for teams in the area where they had settled down to post professional baseball life. My old man team played against dozens of former major leaguers. I see that Cory Koskie still plays with Loretto. If you enjoy the game it can still be played to a fairly high level into your 50s. The old guys usually only throw in the 80s and can't run that fast any more but if you lay one down the middle it will get hit hard. Lew Ford loves baseball and it is no surprise that he continues to enjoy the game. Good for him and the game.