Reptevia

If this is the future of baseball, I’m out. 

Try Kepler at 1st???  That negates the only value he has. Might as well play Sano there. 

If this is the future of baseball, I’m out. 

A few things which have been touched upon: Kiriloff may never play again, and folks on here keep penciling him in. Larnach has shown nothing special, yet he keeps getting penciled in. Do people really think Lee Will basically jump from college ball to the MLB in under a year???  Based on the Twin’s history, he has at LEAST two years of minor league ball to play before he is a regular in the lineup. You think he will spend less time in the minors than Mauer did???  Nothing but dreams and unreasonable expectations on here. 

I doubt the Astros take a step back. I could see the starting pitching taking a step forward. Certainly better than last year. Considering we don’t know if Kiriloff will ever play again and Larnach’s history of injuries and not really having shown he belongs, this seems highly unlikely. Miranda could also sophomore slump. ( that’s probably more likely)  I think Duran staying healthy is 50/50  
Jeffers being an all star or even a legit MLB catcher is VERY unlikely  
 

How good will his pop time and throwing out runners be when Twins insist he point his left leg at third base every pitch?  Should improve his low strike stealing though…

Wished we had him last year. Vasquez wants to be the main guy, which is great, Less Jeffers catches the better.

I like the creativity. 

I doubt the Astros take a step back. I could see the starting pitching taking a step forward. Certainly better than last year. Considering we don’t know if Kiriloff will ever play again and Larnach’s history of injuries and not really having shown he belongs, this seems highly unlikely. Miranda could also sophomore slump. ( that’s probably more likely)  I think Duran staying healthy is 50/50  
Jeffers being an all star or even a legit MLB catcher is VERY unlikely  
 

I doubt the Astros take a step back. I could see the starting pitching taking a step forward. Certainly better than last year. Considering we don’t know if Kiriloff will ever play again and Larnach’s history of injuries and not really having shown he belongs, this seems highly unlikely. Miranda could also sophomore slump. ( that’s probably more likely)  I think Duran staying healthy is 50/50  
Jeffers being an all star or even a legit MLB catcher is VERY unlikely  
 

JUST like last year. 

Wow.  You must be working at least part time for the Twins public relations department.  Your article has more holes in it than the twins team.  The past two years have been amongst the worst ever in Twins baseball IMO.  They play boring, listless baseball.  I've been following the Twins since the mid 1960s.  IMO. They are closer to bottoming out than being a major contender.   Too much wishing, hoping and iffing in your opinions with little to back it up.  That's the team in a nutshell.  A lot of hype and hope without the substance.  What good will it do to sign Correa to a mega contract if there isn't more monies available to fill some of those wholes.  You will have a great shortstop making a lot of money leading depleted team to mediocrity.

IMO the likelihood of injury was baked into the roster from the very way the roster was constructed.  We had guys like Ober who spent time in 2021 on the injured list.  We acquired more guys who had varying degrees of susceptibility to injury in 2021.  Insert the Surprised Pikachu meme: we had injuries in 2022.  I'm not claiming mine is a sophisticated form of Analytics for player health, but sometimes simplicity is a virtue. 
Injuries are a part of the game and will happen to every staff.  But I want to see a conscious bias when the 2023 roster is constructed, toward reducing the injury risk. 
If inordinate injury then occurs anyway, I'll either begin to offer more sympathy than I do now, or else I'll call for yet another head trainer. ?

If the rules go out the window when it’s most important to win, how much value do those rules have?

If the rules go out the window when it’s most important to win, how much value do those rules have?

Agreed. Pitching is the actual strength of this team.  There are questions marks at nearly every position. Also agree that keeping Hamilton over Kepler is a good call. 

Well written and well articulated. 

Maybe the complainants about Rocco’s handling of the staff are getting old because he’s been mismanaging the staff for so long?   If he’s the manager next year, the Twins need to get 2-4 guys who can pitch 2-3 middle innings. 

Maybe the complainants about Rocco’s handling of the staff are getting old because he’s been mismanaging the staff for so long?   If he’s the manager next year, the Twins need to get 2-4 guys who can pitch 2-3 middle innings. 

I still use strato-speak when discussing baseball. Yeah, Arraez can hit, but he’s a “4” everywhere…

I’m thinking Bundy is the ceiling short of one of our young guys doing well. 

Buxton is a career .247 hitter. He has only reached 50 RBI’s ONCE. He has only reached 20 stolen bases ONCE. He has only played 80 games ONCE. He is a LOT closer to Billy Hamilton than Mookie Betts. Despite this, he (and a lot of people on forums) seem to think he’s worth $30-35M per. I just can’t see a 1/4 of the payroll sitting on the bench for over half the year. 

Buxton is a career .247 hitter. He has only reached 50 RBI’s ONCE. He has only reached 20 stolen bases ONCE. He has only played 80 games ONCE. He is a LOT closer to Billy Hamilton than Mookie Betts. Despite this, he (and a lot of people on forums) seem to think he’s worth $30-35M per. I just can’t see a 1/4 of the payroll sitting on the bench for over half the year. 

The Twins have already made an overly generous offer. He is a career .247 hitter and his yearly war is just 3.0. They offered him more than the Yanks gave Hicks. Berríos apparently wants $25M per year. Was nothing learned from the Mauer contract?