tony&rodney

The games of the last few weeks are such a good argument that there is talent on the Twins roster that only needs to be supplemented with one or two field players and a couple of three starting pitchers and a maybe only two relievers. It can happen, yes it can.

One thing to admire right now is that the Twins are beginning to fight through at bats and innings better than earlier this summer. There are players fighting to be noticed and I appreciate the effort.

Excellent post of the current state of the Twins young pitchers. It sure is fun to watch Ober, but right now he has elevated himself to a solid backend starter. Hopefully he can continue to pitch well and stay healthy. Winder does look like the best hope to step forward next season.

The list of good MLB players losing their jobs to superior talent is long. Willy Adames, a really good shortstop, was traded for a couple of decent relief pitchers because Wander Franco was kicking down the door. If Jose Miranda and/or Josh Winder is good enough they will have a uniform and play. .500 baseball is not close to contending but it is competitive and a start. Detroit is pushing to make it there and Cleveland is a .500 team and they suffered many more losses of personnel than the Twins. Seattle is a good example of a team that battles every day and is beating the odds to win. Start at .500 as a base and push forward. I'm optimistic that this offseason can provide an opportunity for the Twins to get well for 2022.

The post sets forth ideas and presents them in a reasoned manner, however, I must respectfully disagree. The Twins have some talent on their roster and a few positions are doubled up, which allows for trades to strengthen weaknesses. Byron Buxton may be the player with the most potential for stardom and I hope he can be with the team for a number of years. Still, every player, even Buxton, on the squad can be traded if a need can be filled. There are many pathways for the Twins to reconstruct a competitive team. Throwing the young prospects forth will not work, if we want to watch something approaching .500 baseball. The past few games have shown us what happens with young and/or inexperienced pitchers. You need to sift through more than twenty milb pitching prospects to get to a Twin, Jordan Balazovic, currently at AA, as the top pitching prospect for the Twins. The Twins are behind in an arms race in the AL Central at both the MLB level and at the milb level. It is clear the team needs some help. The Twins have a pile of decent prospects and I am excited to see how they develop. Asking three prospects to fill rotation spots is a surrender to 100+ losses. The Twins do not have three arms ready to pitch in the major leagues as starters. If a full rebuild must occur then people should wonder why and how the current core fell so far, so fast. A full rebuild would ruin season ticket holder sales among other financial issues. The Saints have begun to see a decline in interest as their team fades. Will those of you who want to see prospects pay to go watch a 120 loss team or even watch/listen to every game? My opinion is that a few trades and a few free agent signings can work with the young prospects to make the Twins competitive in 2022.

Yah, a little problem. Right? So maybe the Twins are in it too far to totally rebuild right now. This might be the best argument yet for a $160 million budget. Tear it down? Donaldson and Sano may have a market, but it is not certain. Kepler and Polanco can return prospects and Buxton could bring a haul, maybe. There is plenty of angst and there are holes to fill. What is the cost of a five year rebuilding process? I'm having a hard time seeing where the Twins can afford to rebuild with their current prospects plus a few added in a tear down. That leaves rebuilding on the fly, through trades and free agency. Get to .500 and sprinkle in the prospects who show talent. Management will follow their own ideas but a shortage of money is not one of the constraints the Twins will face this offseason. They will, however, face stiff competition for players from any number of teams, all of whom look to be better in 2022.

The sad 2021 Twins record has Twins Daily in full offseason mode, a practice most all of us have indulged in too frequently in an attempt to maintain an interest in our Twins. August was a pretty good month and we still have a month to go in this season. The offense was a dud versus the Cubs and I hope Baldelli and braintrust get some solid advice from Brad Radke for this weekend's tests in St. Petersburg. But, yah, so much thinking about possibilities for 2022 and mine are solely focused on an immediate return to relevance. My guesses and wild tosses are just that, but they represent a hope that the Twins win at least 85 games in 2022 and that may be very difficult as other teams in our division are vastly improved since 2020. The pitching needs attention and my plan is to make a couple of trades and at least a couple of free agent additions to the mound. I am not privy to what any free agent will cost but am budgeting $50 million for two arms. My targets are Thor Syndergaard on a one or two year deal and Carlos Rodon for four or five years. These are both gambles and substitutions of Stroman, Gausman, or Ray would also work. A trade I suggested last winter aimed to bring in Sandy Alcantara and now I want Max Meyer too. I am offering Miami a choice of one of our catchers, Trevor Larnach, Brent Rooker, and a minor league pitcher like Matt Canterino. No idea if the Marlins are interested ... or the Twins. Next, I target a reliever, either free agent or trade. Here, I am stumped to a degree. Does Milwaukee have an interest in Miguel Sano. Maybe a Sano, Arraez, Duffey, and lower level ml pitcher for Josh Hader and Eric Lauer. Don't hold me to fast to this idea - I'm just trying to build a pitching staff without waiting three years. Finally, I turn to offense and throw money at Starling Marte - $18 million per for 4 years and try to coax Ehire Adrianza back for $2 million. My team still needs a shortstop too and the budget is near $155 million. This plan may not be feasible. I absolutely believe that a $150-160 million payroll for the roster is practical. A bigger challenge is making the contacts and having conversations with agents, players, and other teams about their needs, wants, and the possibilities to close on a few important trades and free agent signings. A player like Marte may be risky but his defense, speed, and contact skills change the dynamic of our lineup. Concerns about injuries in the future are not conducive to building a winning team. Competition will improve in the AL Central next season and a quick ambush early in the offseason may be the path back to relevance. I can not see spending more money on players like Simmons, Happ, and the sort. I like Big Mike but it is time to move on from him unless he signs really cheap. Perhaps if the Twins management cannot identify teams to trade with or free agents to sign, it may be time to clear the deck. A rebuild at this time would really cost the team financially. A good team at $160 million will bring in a profit but a bad team at $90 million will lose money. Last word - so many thoughts and ideas and hopes out there and I want the Twins to return to competitive baseball (85 at least) in 2022.

Twins.

Of course the Twins will have a rotation for 2022. I expect two pitchers currently within the system to fill the #4 and #5 spots in the rotation. Trades and.or free agent signings will complete the rotation. Good to go for 2022.

Stuff Happens.

Never impeded the Twins - it was how Pohlad chose to run team. Mauer has a no trade clause in his contract. Joe Mauer is still Joe Mauer. Read J. Jaffe on fangraphs if you have any doubts. Easily a top ten catcher in baseball history. Jaffe rates him at #7. Those who constructed a false narrative about Mauer will hold their views but it is unlikely that any Twins fan alive sees his equal in their lifetime. That's all I have to say about that.

I don't think you have to worry about Ober as the #1 for the Twins unless they unload Rogers, Buxton, Sano, Kepler, and Donaldson. Keep the faith. A trade and two FA signings will help the club.

Mauer was worth every penny of his contract and his salary NEVER impeded the Twins budget. Buxton is a MUST sign for all the reasons others have stated. Maeda is a decent #3 if he can pitch, which looks doubtful. The Twins can fill two spots in their rotation from their internal options. This leaves the team needing to add three pitchers this offseason via trade or free agency to be competitive. The current roster does not have the options to be a .500 team. There is money available and the Twins will choose to tear it down or rebuild quickly. Keeping the roster as is would be a disagreeable option in my opinion.

We are fans and management/owners are the directors. All I can add is that whatever the plan was last offseason has proven to be unfortunate and there is an opportunity to correct those decisions this offseason. Tear it down? Stay conservative? Rebuild with vigor? Stay tuned.

Learning is what has been happening with the current management team. Baldelli knows baseball but is pretty inexperienced in the dugout. He has likely improved his understanding of the complexities of being a dugout manager. Falvey and Levine are corporate brains and use a model. When you have older experienced coaches and managers like the Cleveland team there may be a complementary process. The duo are also learning but without people like Terry Ryan, the process may take more time and be more difficult. One thing different is that Jim Pohlad has increased expenditures which allows for a few more mistakes. What would happen if the budget went back to $60-100 million? I'm still hopeful of positive outcomes but the biggest decision this offseason will be made by Jim Pohlad.

Agree. So many MLB pitchers began their careers as relievers. Johan Santana was one example. If Duran is hurt he has to be put on the shelf but eventually he needs some experience and learning the ropes from the bullpen can be a very effective way to start a career and may also serve the needs of the club as well.

My two favorite Twins, ever, are Tony Oliva and Rod Carew. The greatest Twin, however, was Harmon Killebrew. He played 1B, 3B, LF, and DH in his career. Hrbek, Koskie, Allison, and Morneau would all agree to step aside for Harmon. Your first four should be unanimous picks and if the Veterans Committee chooses Tony, all Hall of Famers. I would choose a couple different players: Lyman Bostock, LF; Greg Gagne, SS; Gary Gaetti, 3B; and Johan Santana as my ace. Leave Herbie at 1B with Harmon as the DH or switch them as Harmon was from (mostly) a pre-DH era. The Twins have had some great players and teams.

Wow! That was a massive home run. Watch that video and the arc of the ball - 500 feet easy; crazy power.

Right now, Bailey Ober is the #1 pitcher for the Minnesota Twins. Tonight he faces the Boston Red Sox. We might as well hope for the best because he is our best shot. I do agree that Ober can be a rotation piece on a good team, but the current status of the rotation options is worrisome.

Partially, it seems worthwhile to let Miranda lead St. Paul through the remainder of the year, but then there is the notion that young players benefit from a couple dozen starts in MLB before their rookie seasons. Hopefully our management has the sense to differentiate between what is best for the prospect and team going forward to make 2022 a competitive team. Right now I like how Jose Miranda seems ensconced into his role as the star of his team in St. Paul.

Buxton needs to be on an airplane to Boston tomorrow. There is zero reason for him to swing another bat in St. Paul. He can be evaluated for his reaction to playing on Sunday when he works out Tuesday afternoon. If he is fine he is in the lineup on Tuesday night, if he he needs anther two days let him sit in the dugout to prepare for Thursday. Byron Buxton playing another game rehabbing in MILB is bull****. It is reasonable to check how he feels after swinging the bat and checking everything out on Tuesday, in Boston. Move forward.

The Marlins and Twins seem to line up and I hope there are some conversations between them. We may never know unless a trade is made, but fans need to live with that situation. The Marlins cannot move forward without addressing their catching and hitting, specifically the outfield and the Twins need pitching and a shortstop. I would do either trade despite the obvious talent lost when dealing Kepler. Additionally, I would dangle Larnach or others to get both pitchers. What others? Maybe Arraez, Martin, or Lewis; I don't know what Miami is thinking. I'm of the belief that the Twins have a host of very good young pitchers to slot in at the back end of a rotation, but need to get a few arms for the top spots. A trade with Miami is a gamble, like all trades, that may necessitate only one free agent signing for a top SP. There is still the matter of adding a couple of decent relief pitchers and a shortstop. My thinking is that the Twins can be relevant next year with some signings and a significant trade. The reason a trade with Miami is particularly timely is because pitchers like Alcantara and Meyer are inexpensive and allows the Twins to target other needs. Miami is loaded with good pitching both on the roster and ready (Sanchez). FWIW, I don't look at the trade values sites, but acknowledge that others find it useful. I try to guess what may work based on watching a ton of mlbtv and looking over minor leagues, box scores and other certain data points. It's just a lifelong hobby and takes far less time than when I played and/or coached; retirement is a busy life. To focus back to the blog - I do not think that the Twins have any semblance of a roster in place for next year. I would expect about 10-12 changes from the roster that opened this season and at least six new faces from those on the current 40 man roster. In the meantimeI'm hoping to see the Twins battle through the remainder of their schedule and do not want them to improve their draft position.

The 2022 team is not close to set if the Twins hope to be relevant. If management decides that it is time to tank then Buxton, Maeda, Rogers and others may bring back some future roster members. If the Twins want to compete there needs to be some serious free agent dating and a few good trades. No player is untouchable on the Twins team. Their pitching needs attention first and we should remember that Maeda is, at most, a #3 pitcher for a decent rotation and I am a big fan of Kenta Maeda. The Twins should look to Miami, or someone else, to make a mutually useful trade. I have no idea what makes total sense for Miami but they need a catcher (either of Garver or Jeffers) and some outfield help (anyone?/any of Kepler, Larnach, Celestino or even Royce Lewis). Miama has a wealth of young pitching (looking at Sandy Alcantara and Max Meyer) and a trade might work beautifully for both teams. This is just an example where the Twins need to make a move/trade to improve their roster next year if they truly want to compete. Additionally, TopGun#22 is right on about how the CWS identified pitchers and went after them aggressively. Rodon and a few other SP are available this winter as are a few good relief pitchers. It is late August and Twins Daily has turned quickly to the offseason while there are still 38 games to go and the Twins need to look over players in these last games. It is noteworthy that the Saints are a tough ticket some days. Let's hope that management has some solid plans to make the Twins competitive for 2022.

Last offseason my replies to posts concerning Jorge Polanco were punctuated by pleas to remember that he was the starting shortstop for the American League in 2019. I too suffered watching him struggle in the field and at the plate as he played through a bad ankle because the Twins had nobody else to put in his place. When he had yet another surgery this offseason I hoped that he might return to his former place as a strong MLB middle infielder. It was difficult, sometimes painful, to watch as he had to eliminate all of those "ticks" and "spins" which he had developed to ease his pain. Polanco is a player though and we have seen him rise from a very tough position. Going forward, I agree with those who want to see him at 2B instead of SS. Jorge has his faults but he plays with passion and I think that showed when he was first brought up as a very young and inexperienced player. Nick is right to write about how it can be easy to forget how dramatic an injury can curtail a professional athlete's skills. We can all enjoy what Jorge Polanco is bringing to the field every night right now. It is one of the beautiful thing about sports - watching a finely tuned athlete redeem themselves after their bodies have healed and once again respond to instinct and muscle memory. Let us hope that Byron Buxton too can make it all the way back and complete his journey from prospect to sometime, oft-injured star to an consistent every day player of all star caliber defense and offense.

Trevor Story is not looking as desirable as Correa, Seager, or Semien, but that may be cause to land him on a one year contract. Simmons is getting plenty of usage and has done well in the field, but I'm thinking it is time to move on from him after this year closes.