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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

2 hits, zero runs is as near to a guarantee of a loss as is possible.

Ok. Fine. Who are you trading to St. Louis or Milwaukee?

How would Ryan be relevant to the Twins after 2027?

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.

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.

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.

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.

He has been around. We have seen him. Cabrera fits in more or less.

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.

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.

The Pohlads remaining means more of Falvey. That is the problem.

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.

Position by position, would anyone choose a Twins over a Brewer?

Thank you for the kind words. I'm not and never have been a Pohlad family fan. In fact, I fought the purchase in 1984 but MLB only approved Old Carl. The reference to Milwaukee should have been better explained by my comment. I'm sorry for the poor wording. Before I try to explain, I must say that I reject that the Twins are building a team through the recent trades. That was a sell-off for financial purposes. The weakness of the team was in position players. The problem still remains. Any hope rests solely with prospects, most of them were already in the system before the trades. Milwaukee has an owner who is quite transparent concerning the limits of their financial support. The Milwaukee market is roughly just more than half the size of the Twins market. Milwaukee is either the smallest or second smallest market in MLB by any measure. The Milwaukee front office has a strong view on identification of potential players to sign, draft, or acquire. There is a strong development, promotion, and playing style for their franchise. The differences in playing style and philosophy of winning or development between the Brewers and Twins are vast. The Twins adhere to (fill in the blank), while the Brewers use every tactic ever known in baseball. They play the game with an open mind. If the Twins copied everything the Brewers do starting today I could get on board with the current front office. Finally, the Pohlads have zero baseball knowledge. Signing and then trading Carlos Correa were probably their only contacts with player personnel in the 9 year Falvey era. They are terrible absentee owners who are apparently also lacking any business acumen. The team we see on the field is therefore, by process of elimination, a direct product of the mind of Derek Falvey alone. I'm not sure how any other conclusion can be drawn.

Perhaps some people can, but I'm not sure there is much evidence for that belief. Let's just go with even a blind squirrel ....

We must be Twins (pun intended). I'm doing the same thing. Tonight I can watch Ryan pitch but usually switch to another game when the Twins come to the plate. Sadly the Minnesota squad is stuck on Falvey ball, which is, has been, and will always be losing baseball as far as worth watching.

Easy. The Brewers play to win. They have a front office and manager that are committed to winning and that focus is direct with every player on the team. Christian Yelich is an established player who has suffered numerous injuries and yet he is bunting, stealing bases, putting his bat on the ball to advance a runner, and sprinting to first base on a one hop grounder back to the pitcher. A team with that ethos has a chance in every game. Yes, it is wonderful that the Brewers are winning so often but their brand of baseball is attractive to anyone who ever liked baseball. Compare that to the turn off the radio and tV Twins. Finally, I would argue that the Brewers expected to win a ton of games. They have been consistently competitive and because they develop players at the lower levels they are young hungry players with skills ready to perform.

Do you think the Milwaukee front office could put together a good team with the Twins payroll? The Brewers have the best record in baseball with a ton of young exciting players and a really good minor league system. They began the year with a $108M 26 person roster while the moribund Twins began the year with a $142M 26 person payroll. The Pohlads are a problem not because they don't invest in the team but because they have zero idea about how to run a baseball franchise. It is really hard for anyone to defend the Pohlads in relationship to the recent quarter century plus malaise in owning the Minnesota Twins. They seem like a deficient incompetent group of wealthy people who have nobody to tell them that they are running around naked and look embarrassing. Still, the philosophy of putrid is all Falvey and his enforcer is Baldelli. One wonders what Levine would say. It is a sad situation for MLB and Twins fans.

A change in ownership, front office, and manager was the sole hope for those of us who are not fans of the boring baseball that is the trademark of Falvey/Baldelli baseball. Bad decisions and bad baseball has stretched this Twins fan since 1961 in ways no other era in the franchise history. Only a miracle can save the Twins now.

Really? We also still have a 1st Amendment, 14th Amendment, and so forth. These are all clearly pliable. I'm not reaching. I do not believe for a second that the Twins will move but power and money make the law when it's needed. Money will keep the Twins in Minnesota.