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tony&rodney

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Everything posted by tony&rodney

  1. tony&rodney
    Several references comparing Lewis to Buxton. How? One could spend all day, but age 23-26 seasons for each = 3.9 WAR for RL and 9.9 WAR for BB. Buck has won a Platinum Glove Award for his work in centerfield, Lewis looks like he is learning to play a fair third base. There is definitely a world where Royce Lewis develops into a good baseball player in the future. One should be empathetic to his injuries and rough patch to date, but these two don't share many similarities. Both are under contract control for three more seasons and many Twins fans believe it best to continue with Royce Lewis through arbitration. The feeling is that Lewis has low value at this time, which is what folks said about Julien last year. They are not good comparisons either. I would let other teams tell me the value of Lewis and keep him if there is not a solid deal to be completed.
  2. tony&rodney
    Oh it is difficult to trade someone who is a potential Game 1 and/or Game 2 playoff caliber starter, very tough. However, the Twins will not have Ryan or Lopez around in a couple of years. The Twins are also nowhere near rostering a playoff team. The talent level is pretty low collectively. Realistically the team needs upgrades at every position except Buxton. There is hope in a couple of players but that still leaves holes in a number of areas. I'm not sure how the team can proceed without making a number of trades.
  3. tony&rodney
    Pittsburgh, Seattle, and maybe New York Yankees among a few others (Milwaukee ?) could be interested in Royce Lewis. He may have more trade value than it seems. Austin Martin just seems like a late bloomer as a utility player if he can progress defensively. Roden is out until February. Varland is gone and he ain't coming back. The Twins are unstable.
  4. tony&rodney
    In other words, you feel the front office doesn't possess the competence/knowledge/skills to complete transactions which return the talent for players such as Ryan, etc.? This would place the Twins between a rock and a hard place because the talent on hand won't cut it.
  5. tony&rodney
    Please allow me to disagree. In a perfect world Ryan plus Ober brings back Nick Kurtz (not happening) or Ryan brings back someone like Max Clark or Jesus Made. The Twins need players who run, field, and hit. Currently, the roster includes one player who fits the standard, our oft-injured superstar centerfielder. What we don't know is how other teams value the Twins players.
  6. tony&rodney
    At this point, the payroll is not important. The team needs position players who can be counted on in 2-3 years and forward. The pitching side can always be improved but looks better. Of course, trading the established starters weakens the pitching but it is the only path towards acquiring talent. The dark side of the transactions and roster building is that it is impossible to know if any team is willing to trade a top prospect (much less more) for Ryan and whether the Twins can return anything worthwhile for their other tradable players (Lopez, Ober, Jeffers, Lewis, Larnach, Wallner). Another concern is whether the Twins front office can identify talented players. The franchise is a mess and the ownership problem is just the tip of the iceberg.
  7. tony&rodney
    A few of the players will be back but if the roster still contains most of the current group all hope for the franchise is lost. There must be a half dozen transactions to change the team dynamics. Slow, defensively challenged players who cannot hit don't need more experience. They need new uniforms. I expect major changes. That is my last hope.
  8. tony&rodney
    Comparisons between college and pro ball are difficult. For starters, college players play about half as many games per week. Where comparisons get thrown off is when one takes an LSU team with Skenes and the others who were drafted as compared to the Minnesota Gophers in a normal year. Typically NCAA D1 baseball is roughly comparable to rookie ball with A ball a small step up. A+ leagues, like the Midwest League, are better across the board. Remember that the talented high school and Latin players are mixing in at rookie and low levels and they often are stumbling with being away from home, language, and daily work routines. Many of these players are as or more talented than the college players but are wildly inconsistent. Essentially the comparisons don't work smoothly between college and professional baseball.
  9. tony&rodney
    My napkin would have this as the peak payroll. If the club is proactive they look to trade all of Lopez, Ryan, and Ober from the pitching side. Matthews, Festa, Abel, Woods Richardson, Morris, and others are capable of innings in losing games and have the talent to learn for when they can win. The return from our current top three is important. Can the front office manage to acquire talent? There isn't any reason to keep any of Jeffers, Lewis, Wallner, or Larnach. Just like the immortal Willie Norwood, we have seen what they bring to the game. The only reason to keep any of these guys is if no other team wants them. I believe there will be decent demand. Can the front office manage to acquire talent? It is understandable that folks see hope in the roster, and particularly for a few players they may favor, but realism has shown that this current collection is not capable of hitting, running, and fielding. That is a sorry combination for entertainment much less playing competitive baseball. Look over the free agent list for the coming year and you will see little reason to spend other than on a few relief pitchers. Players like Tucker, Bellinger, and Schwarber are not answering calls or texts from the Twins. A payroll above $100 million seems almost impossible to reach unless the team signs a pile of no longer relevant tired vets. Forget the payroll and hope for some exciting talent to be acquired. There should be some opportunities to acquire talent. The real question, for me, is whether the organization has the ability to complete meaningful transactions. If the Twins can pull off 5-7 trades this coming offseason to acquire talent there is a good chance the team is competitive in a couple of years. If they cannot there is bound to be a decade or more of looking up at the White Sox.
  10. tony&rodney
    This. All the metrics and analytical models in the world are useless next to Runs Scored versus Runs Given Up. WAR, OPS, etc. are useless on so many fronts. If you score more runs than the other team, you win. The Brewers have given up 77 fewer runs, but also scored 128 more runs than the Twins. The Twins have hit 10 more home runs than the Brewers. Here is the key part, for me. The Brewers are fun to watch. My lifelong (since 1961) team, the Minnesota Twins, are as close to unwatchable as a team can get. The Brewers play in a small market and at best cannot compete financially with the Twins much less their neighbors from Chicago. Thus they must be better at evaluation, development, and play a fast game that includes great defense. Everyone loves the long ball but waiting for the home run and rostering a pile of DH players won't cut it for wins or entertainment. I'm sure the Brewers are on the constant lookout for thumpers who can run, hit, field, and do all things well. Until then they use the best they find.
  11. tony&rodney
    Clearly you struggle with reading comprehension. These were not my suggestions at all in any way or fashion. In fact I don't necessarily believe the ideas are completely workable. I was merely entertaining other people's thoughts without judgement on my part. Apparently you have insider knowledge though which we shall all acknowledge. FWIW.
  12. tony&rodney
    This conversation was not about who cannot be acquired. It is about what player or players (prospects) are you willing to trade for what good, useful. every day top or middle of the order hitter. Pure speculation. It's just an exercise. FWIW, there is actually no way to know what players will not be traded. MVPs and H of Fame players have been traded in their prime. The list of untouchable players traded is in the hundreds. Who predicted the trade of all five of the Twins top relief pitchers? The bottom line remains, the Twins need position players. Who and how do they acquire such players? In the previous comments, jorgenwest suggested a trade for one or both of the Contreras's, a perfectly reasonable idea. I asked who goes the other way.
  13. tony&rodney
    Despite being owned by a corporation the Twins are a bit of a public trust except the fans have zero input. The Pohlads can run media, film, and real estate businesses into the ground where many people lose their jobs and become unemployed, but the incompetent ownership of a baseball franchise includes a few million others. MLB should be forcing out these incompetent owners. No person can buy into the exclusive club of MLB ownership without approval and I'm pretty sure there exists a mechanism to force the sale of a team. Problem is that there are more than a couple of woeful owners and then there is Manfred, so nothing will be done until fans force the issue by boycotting the team.
  14. tony&rodney
    2 hits, zero runs is as near to a guarantee of a loss as is possible.
  15. tony&rodney
    Ok. Fine. Who are you trading to St. Louis or Milwaukee?
  16. tony&rodney
    How would Ryan be relevant to the Twins after 2027?
  17. tony&rodney
    Do you have any ideas of a top of the lineup bat that could be acquired for prospects? I would assume if you are talking about a good hitter/fielder, you are also willing to trade any of the Twins prospects.
  18. tony&rodney
    I don't want Falvey around. I also have zero input on his presence. Like I said, if the Twins can find another way to improve the team, great. I like Ryan in a Twins uniform. Why? Because he pitches instead of just throwing and he competes. I really doubt he would resign with the Twins after 2027 unless a Crochet level offer came his way in the next year. Will that happen? We all see the Twins differently to an extent. Here is what I see as needs for the team: 1. settle on a guys who will be the starting pitchers. We know there will need to be about 8 candidates due to injuries and/or ineffectiveness; 2. rebuild the bullpen; 3. find players who can fill C, 1B, 3B, SS, LF, and RF. My confidence level in Buxton and Keaschall may be too high. I think the Twins have DH covered; 4. settle on who are candidates for utility and back up positions. How does this all happen? Your guess is as good as anyone's, including the front office. I will simply say "Good luck" and wish for all the best because that is all I can do.
  19. tony&rodney
    The Chicago White Sox had a #1 starter in Garret Crochet. Right? They traded him. Why? It is pretty simple really. A last place team rolling out a #1 starter is still a last place team. The path forward is to acquire a player or players who can be top players when the team is able to compete. The best example from my time as a baseball fan was Steve Carlton. Joe Ryan would sign a long term contract with the Twins .... if offered around $150-200+M. Will the Twins make that offer? I will let you answer that question. Do I enjoy watching Ryan pitch? Yes, I watch every game he pitches. I often only check on other Twins games from time to time watching certain batters and a few pitching matchups. The other times I prefer the minor league games and watching other teams who offer hope or play a different brand of baseball. If the Twins can find a way to acquire top players/prospects without trading any or all of Ryan, Lopez, Ober, and Jeffers that would be awesome because that means the team would have a few pieces to improve their fortunes. In any event, what I am totally certain of at this time is that I have no idea what goes on in the mind of Derek Falvey. I am not a fan of his brand of baseball, but hey maybe he has learned something in the last 9 years and there will be a sudden shift in his philosophy of how to build a baseball team this offseason.
  20. tony&rodney
    The Twins desperately need position players. Can they manage to acquire one? The results from the last 9 years don't look too hot. Accepting a deal where extra, superfluous prospects come from Boston is pointless. If the Twins trade Joe Ryan, they should able to acquire a Top10 guy or someone already playing well in the major leagues. That will be difficult because it is a challenge deal. Nobody should be surprised if any player is traded.
  21. tony&rodney
    He has been around. We have seen him. Cabrera fits in more or less.
  22. tony&rodney
    Ryan is a pitcher. Abel is a pitcher. That is about the extent of their similarity. Ryan throws a very unique fastball which gets on hitters. He also has good control and has late movement on several pitches. It might be a better (not accurate or fair) comparison to say - Can Mick Abel become a right handed Tarik Skubel? Like Ryan? No.
  23. tony&rodney
    Now. Yes, it is Buxton. But that's it for 2025. For later, it is still Buxton if he can stay healthy. I really like Keaschall and I would take him for next year over Turang, but I'm taking Turang for now. Wallner and Lewis - no way. I understand that a ton of people like both these guys but neither does anything well on a semi-regular basis to contribute to winning baseball in my opinion. I just don't see them as regulars and I know I could be way wrong on them. Maybe Lewis gets well from whatever is restricting his legs = hope. Falvey - just not a fan of his work in total. He has had numerous opportunities to make the needed changes and he hasn't been up to the job. Falvey has his fans, especially the Pohlads, so he will be around for awhile.
  24. tony&rodney
    The Pohlads remaining means more of Falvey. That is the problem.
  25. tony&rodney
    Like your optimism. Brew has Chourio who is on IL, ironically, but if Byron goes back to normal (injured) and Chourio plays - better to pick Chourio. Agree that Buxton is superior if healthy. The others? Keaschall has promise but it is in the future and Turang turns hits into outs now. Lewis? I get the TD fascination but he hasn't done anything besides those precious grand slams. I think he might be a Twins H of F member for fans based solely on that. Wallner gets the decent OPS because he can boom occasionally. He also may have given up more hits this year in the field as he has hit. I'm a fan of athleticism. Guys who can hit, run, execute plays, and play defense are fun for me to watch. The Twins are a struggle to watch. I will acknowledge that Keaschall and Buxton play hard and may lead a change. If you can figure out what Falvey has for ideas, I'm interested to read your thoughts.
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