tony&rodney

How many people on Twins Daily are actually thinking a full scale White Sox, Orioles, Astros, Tigers, etc. type rebuild is necessary or acceptable? I'm not sure I can stomach 3-5 100+ loss seasons. I sat right behind Dusty Baker when the Twins were eliminated just a couple of years ago. The team needed some changes then to take another step forward. That step was not adding the two guys most commonly named: Jordan Montgomery and Rhys Hoskins. The Twins needed an infusion of speed, defense, and athleticism. This was and remains my thought. The problem wasn't ownership spending, although the ownership group seems to totally be out of place when it come to running public relations or a business. The problem was identifying and acquiring players. This is always a bit of a gamble and creates some anger and disagreement at times. There were thousands of angry comments when Luis Arraez was traded. My suggestion in October of 2023 was to trade Royce Lewis and Edouard Julien. That would have really pissed off some people. So here we are with the team that Falvey has put together. The Twins added Coulombe, Bader, France, and Gasper. Falvey professed great confidence in this team. How far will this team go? Next, what changes will result in positive change if you think change is needed? My best guess is that 3-4 moves could be made but the cost may be high. What players does the team keep from the current group or target from other teams? Realism is needed. Gambling can always result in a worse situation. This where the team is now. Personally I'm still going to wait until June before getting too excited. The Twins are 5-12 today. Game #60 is on June 2nd. If the Twins are playing the same at 18-42, there is a real serious problem. If the team is at 25-35, a sliver of light is still visible. Going 20-23 from now until then is not exactly crushing it but there may then be a few changes made to at least restore some positive vibes. Until then I am hoping for the best and thinking positive.

I'm concerned by the weak performance but will wait until he passes 100 plate appearances. The Twins are as cold as the weather. The roster is all there is for now and patience will be the only option until mid May at the earliest.

FWIW, I watched 4 of his at bats this season. Gonzalez looks way better, more balanced, than at any time last year. His bat is his tool. Last season he was the singular worst outfielder playing professionally I think I have ever seen. I only saw him scoop up a base hit and throw it to the cutoff man this year, but he actually came in on the ball and actively used his glove on the play. Improvement happens in dribbles at times. He does look like he could hit. The question becomes whether he will ever be more than a DH. Whoever rated him highly before was watching him hit only and had not seen him play in the field.

Pittsburgh, Oakland, Colorado, Anaheim, Miami, Tampa Bay, and others have some ownership issues as well. Minnesota Twins fans have company. It seems like a long shot that the team will sell in the current economic uncertainty and an expected difficult CBA to negotiate in the near future along with the collapse of RSNs. If you are a Twins fan it is probably time to just forget about the team selling until is actually sells. It will save one unnecessary stress. Perhaps the Pohlads will make some changes after this year if they still own the team, although their seeming disinterest makes that probability low as well. Maybe the best hope is for Falvey to have a spiritual conversion of sorts in a baseball sense. In July the Twins make 3-4 trades to change the dynamics of the team. Just don't bet on anything.

Nick, best piece of satire yet - well done Nelson.

This is correct. It was Castro out of position given the way the Twins run cuts. Castro also forgot to cover second base for a force out, but Correa who was looking for the short toss managed the throw to first for the out. Castro is decent at third and shortstop on occasions and probably better than Larnach in left field but Willi struggles with second base. As ridiculous as it sounds the best lineup with this roster has Lee at 3B, Castro in LF unless Bader is playing, Larnach at DH, and Julien at second base. Hopefully some trades are in the works but April is usually a dead zone for change.

The Twins seasons are pretty closely tied to Buck and Carlos. They are the two best defenders and potentially the offensive sparks too. Right now Baldelli should give both of them a little vacation and put them back in the lineup in Atlanta on Friday. Maybe a bit of a reset could help.

Falvey is likely flummoxed that the team is not hitting. Fielding, base-running, and fundamentals are not points of emphasis in his design; it is a bonus if it happens. The Twins were constructed to hit.

It seemed like there was some conversation in the dugout and Ryan may have been suggesting he wanted another inning. I couldn't tell (sound off on Twins games for obvious reasons). It is a long season and wear and tear is cumulative to an extent. Nevertheless, the idea that pitchers cannot throw 110+ pitches will get looked at closer eventually. The guys who are max effort flamethrowers are more susceptible to injury in most cases, but teams are protective of their starters. Money (paid in salary or invested in bonuses and time developed) is certainly more important than it was decades ago. Still it seems like communication and observation should overrule magical pitch counts.

Consistency has not been a given with Alcala. He has terrific movement .... often, but then he throws a few flat pitches and boom or else he is snake bit by bad plays including his own. Pitching across baseball is so good, majors and minors, that every team seems to have options and so too the Twins. Alcala could be wearing a different uniform in MLB by July. Sooner?

Yes, Jorge Alcala is out of options. Does he follow Ronny Henriquez, Brent Headrick, and Scott Blewett out the door? How desperate are the Twins for the return of Michael Tonkin?

I actually watched several innings of three Rockies games thus far this year. They play much better defense and try to run the bases. They were more watchable in those games than the Twins in my opinion. Sad statement of my age and baseball addiction that I'm still watching the Twins. Looking forward to watching Zebby Matthews pitch tomorrow night against a pretty strong Iowa Cubs team. I hope he isn't rusty from sitting for a week.

I want to let the Twins slide on hustling due to the weather or maybe just empathy, which actually sounds a little pathetic. I was watching a few other games on the computer though and wasn't seeing much of this jogging to refrain from hurting oneself. Also, we did watch the Mets hustling on balls hit for easy outs, or errors in the case of grounders to the pitchers. Some things should be easier to address than others and hustling at all times is a start.

It was France and it takes him a while to get from base to base. Mostly, I meant that 3 hits is not good odds for a win and then catalogued a few sloppy plays for examples of what has been too often a pattern, which I'm hoping the Twins will stop. I would have tagged up but France, who is currently our best player, doesn't like to run. France, Miranda, Lee, and Vazquez have serious gravity when running.

It looked empty. Some sloppy public relationship gaffes, crappy weather, losses, poor fundamental play, boring style of play, negative press, etc. It all adds up. Things could get ugly. I'm hoping for some wins and sunny days ahead. Today is over and tomorrow should be better.

Three hits is not going to cut it. The miscues didn't really factor into the game tonight but they add up. Among the plays/non-plays that were obvious are Larnach lumbering late on a foul ball, Larnach waiting for a base hit to get to him instead of charging the ball (it wouldn't have made a difference), a slow and poor relay and subsequent throw to a base without a defender there, a very poor throw on a steal, and the pitchers doing their thing. It was a real ****** night to play baseball but the number of little things add up. I am still not seeing Twins running out simple groundouts where I see the other teams hustling down the line. Buck and Carlos? Oh my. Tomorrow the Twins should see the sun at game time. Maybe that will help. Ryan was good if not exactly efficient tonight. Maybe Ober can go 7 innings tomorrow. The bats need to show though.

I think it is different for every player actually. I could never get loose playing baseball in weather below 60 degrees but never suffered playing 9 innings in Florida in July. The players work hard to prepare but it probably does get in a few players' minds.

Wind blowing out? From the NE I think.

So you think this will happen? JK The Twins make some odd moves. Blewett was a pretty serviceable #8 guy for the bullpen and he proved it. The Twins were not in dire need of an arm but Blewett is gone now. I guess one can say this is unimportant and business as usual .... a parade of #8 arms will follow. Blewett was a good name to have on the team. Back to the young bucks - check back at the end of April at the soonest.

Heh, you might be right but if so then everyone else but France and Wallner needs to go too. France and Wallner are best at DH too, but this leaves the Twins with 2 players alternating at DH and 8 open spots in the lineup. Currently teams are required to bat 9 players. Using the current rules, Julien is in the lineup as of now.

This ... particularly the part of taking poor at bats into the field. A big problem for the Twins is that they have targeted/signed/rostered players who are not particularly athletic and have ceilings of average at best on defense. If a player doesn't hit, they are nearly unplayable. The Twins have two catchers and nothing below them at the moment so these two escape much in the way of criticism. Look around the remainder of the team though. Correa and Buxton have big contracts = untouchable = they play until injured. Bader has been a good CF and is improving as a corner OF (nice catch yesterday). Will Bader hit? Lee makes the plays but has limited range at 2B and SS and the bat is a question. France, Miranda, Julien, Castro, Lewis, Larnach, and Wallner need to hit. Lewis has had a few shining moments and his absence is making him a superstar because of the expected glory of his return. Can he ever sustain any performances beyond a month? Is he a DH? The article focuses on Miranda and Julien. Miranda only path back is if France totally fails at 1B, Lewis cannot play 3B, and Lee and/or Castro are unable to provide the offense needed at the hot corner. Jose is between a rock and a hard place. There really isn't any place for him on the Saints team either. Julien will need to maintain his current batting lines to maintain his position. Despite the hate mail concerning Julien's defense, we do see him making the plays when he is hitting. Julien has an awkward hitch in his transfers and throwing which makes it seem like every play may result in an error. He is also awkward on ground balls. I'm not a fan of Julien but he does make most of the plays. An area where people get it wrong on Julien versus the others who have played second base is range. Castro is about the same but the others are not close. Unlike a number of folks I don't see Julien as being capable as a first baseman. His awkward twitches and the necessity to make quicker decisions while managing footwork doesn't portend a future at 1B. If Julien hits (OPS 750-800), controls the Ks and has good at bats, he is the guy for 2B on this team. Can he maintain over the course of the season? I'm not sure and my doubts were one reason I suggested trading Julien (and Lewis) after the 2023 post season when the value was high. Now? I'm hopeful Julien (and Lewis) can be consistent offense while playing close to average defense. It is a fair expectation.

This is the correct answer. The Twins will not plug any of the names from the article in the lineup for 2-4 months of regular (i.e. - every day) plate appearances and live with the results because they believe in the player. That has not been a practice of this front office. Thus they need to figure things out with the current roster for the next couple of months.

Having watched most of the Saints games this year the only fair conclusion one can make as of today is that it is too early in the season to tear apart data and make pronouncements. Both Rodriguez and Keaschall have had good plate appearances and bad. You can add Carson McCusker in here too. They all swing and miss. If a person looks just at the numbers it can be easy to suggest weaknesses or strengths. All three guys look comfortable in the box but are also clearly in need of making adjustments due to their relative lack of experience at AAA. By June or July there may be some patterns emerging, but my opinion is that it is way too early for judgments on these players. Check back in two months.

The Twins have not been scoring much but maybe they just were waiting for warmer weather. There are some odd decisions being made within the organization but the boss always knows best as we know from this past week globally. A couple of examples from the Twins top teams. Why is Mickey Gasper still a thing? Matthews? If the Twins were not going to use Zebby Matthews on Monday, why didn't they let him take his turn with the Saints instead of pushing him back and off schedule? Matthews is being lightly used already but needs to pitch and while side sessions are always useful pitching in competitive games is better. Messing with a top prospect is probably not a good idea. Kansas City and Detroit are good teams. Perhaps the Twins take a look at the coming week and play better. Ryan, Ober, and Festa versus the Mets could be positive. Other than Chris Sale next Saturday, the Twins should be relieved to escape the KC and DET staff. Seattle needs infielders. Falvey should see what types of deals can be made with them. The Twins sent Jose Miranda down but where are they going to play him? 1B, 3B, and DH are already full. Miranda for Harry Ford?

Funderburk is a decent relief pitcher. It didn't seem like he slotted ahead of Brent Headrick in January but the Twins dumped Brent. Was he out of options? We won't expect many appearances from big Mark this season but hopefully he does ok when given his opportunities.