Doctor Gast

I'm curious about Fernando Romero and how's he doing in Japan? Hoping that he could turn it around and yet make a comeback to the Twins. Kepler did great with the "live ball" in 2019 but he has a difficult time with the "dead ball". The pitchers and defense have adjusted to him but he has yet adjusted. I'm a fan waiting for that day.

From the beginning I was against signing soft tossing LHP Happ and Shoemaker. I don't know how they came to the conclusion that they could be salvageable. But my biggest gripe is when early from the beginning that Dobnak's new slider needed more time, Happ & Shoemaker wasn't cutting it and Colume' and the BP never really took off. They should've immediately dropped Dobnak's new slider, dialed way back on the BP & SP usage and took Colume' out of the high leverage position, instead they doubled down. When something is so obviously wrong you need to be flexible and change it immediately not wait until we're out of contention

I believe he can start pitching in Sept. but it'll take a little while to get stretched out and he'll start with rehabbing in the minors and nobody can say how long it'd take. So we really can't count on him.

I don't like the wait & see approach that they've been doing especially the last couple of years. Scrambling at the end to search through the bargain basement, usually don't bide well. Ending up w/ pieces that don't fit in the organization, Happ (a soft throwing lefty in a RH hitting dominating division) & Shoemaker (trying to convert him in a pitcher he didn't want to be). We got a great deal on Lance Lynn but he was out of shape and disgruntle so it wasn't such a great deal. I prefer looking for a gems early in the off season that fit the club and give them a fair deal. Much like TOR did with Robby Ray. I liked the Cron & Scoop deals which Scoop helped us land Cruz. This philosophy is especially appropriate this season, to lock up a gem before the lock out. IMO players were motivated to sign before. Giving security to both the players and to the clubs. Now everything is in limbo just waiting for the feeding frenzy which leaves us holding the bag with nothing in it.

Why is all the talk of moving all these great 2019 SSs off of SS? they all were better defensively than Polanco. It's because of the success of Polanco and Semien had at 2B. It'd make a lot of more sense to keep them and move Semien back to SS than forcing Polanco back to SS. Moving Polanco back to SS we not only lose at SS & 2B defensively but also a huge digression offensively for Polanco. I'd also I'd like to state that our improvement in the infield made a lot of difference but poor management decisions on pitching (SP &BP) and OF (LF & CF back up) from the beginning of the season negated all that. Our infield kept us in the game only having it lost by the SP, BP and OF. We did not lose in 2121 because of our core, we still have an excellent core of players. To think that it was the core's problem and that we have no chance to compete in 2022, so it doesn't matter what we do at SS is a terrible mistake. Yes we have no rotation, no SS and no real back up at CF. But we have an abundance of redundant players & prospect we need to trade and FA options to fill those positions. If we don't go for it this season don't think they'll ever go for it with this FO. Moving Polanco back to SS doesn't only tremendously hurts the team, it also hurts tremendously Polanco as a player.

The Twins did not win their division in 2019 & 2020 because of Polanco was at SS and Arraez at 2B it was in spite of. We no longer have those conditions that existed back then. The main focus of any team shouldn't be on what they got by with in the past but how to better the players that impact them to win the most games as possible. 2019 & 2020 .

I like that

I see it as a ploy, for MLB to shake-up the player base. They don't want to shorten the season anymore than the players.

Most pitching prospects I believe shouldn't be designated as a BP arm until they are ready to make that MLB jump. They should be groomed as SP as long as possible. But in agreement to your idea, that most pitching prospects should be exposed to some BP role (whether opener or long relief) on the MLB level before they are ready to go a full 5+ innings.

In the beginning of this off season, I thought I'd start a debate between "Stats" and "Baseball Savvy", but I've been too busy. Now I'm going to give it a shot. I remember when 2 baseball movies that came out about the same time, "Moneyball" and "Trouble with the Curve". Both were great movies but they had contrary themes. "Moneyball" portrayed analytics as everything and scouting evaluations and baseball savvy as worthless, and contrary "Trouble with the Curve" portrayed scouting evaluations and baseball savvy as everything and analytics as worthless. In real life both are important. Analytics has revolutionized Baseball, any team that ignore analytics will be left behind. At the same time teams that only look at stats only and not have proper evaluations and baseball savvy do not know how to properly utilize the stats that are available. Some cherry picks certain stats to present a certain player over another also IMO some stats are developed to favor certain players over another. Also general stats don't indicate factors and conditions that were present. Factors and conditions need to be considered to adequately evaluate players and prospects. For example, the short 2020 season, I don't really put a lot of stock in (whether a player had great production or poor) because some had difficulty adjusting to it and other did well because it was a short season. The real evaluation should be on regular full seasons. Other considerations are ""live/ dead ball", stadiums and teams when looking for trades. Again both are needed but which one do you think is more important?

I get excited about Lewis & Martin because of their ability to be able to be true super utility players which we haven't had since Caesar Tovar. Super utility players add so much depth at critical positions much like LAD had with Chris Taylor and Kiki Hernandez. Still this season if they get called up, it probably won't be until at the end. One player I'd like to see get a chance to be called up earlier is Palacios (who isn't even on your list). IMO he has the ability to play SS and he's shown that he can be a hitter in the Twins organization. He has paid his dues and that we can better evaluate where he sits with the organization. The problem is that he's not on the 40 man roster. Our 40 man is very tight, so for him to be put on the roster he needs to be very good. It's a shame that our 40 man is so tight. So worthy players like Palacio don't get that opportunity

Great story David! I dearly remember him. I didn't know he was a MN native until later. He was my younger brother 1st favorite Twin. I recognize him and Al Worthington as the Twins original "closers".

If the Twins don't have courage to go for it this year, I don't ever see them going for it. I'm not in favor of depending on prospects & throwing them out there in diverse situations & see if they sink or swim, I think that's counter productive. Nevertheless, IMO a lot of prospects will get an opportunity to get their feet wet this season. Through a AAAA rotating system the hot ones will get the most time. Joe Ryan has the 1st spot, of course but I see Duran has the next call up, if he's healthy, in the BP. I also see that SWR has a very good chance at the end of the season. I'd rate him a little higher than you.

Yes indeed it would be a easy answer. We wouldn't need to sign a big $ FA, No blow back from small but loud fan base to sign a bounce back candidate Simmons or a poor FA SS candidate or FO wouldn't have to trade for a true SS (which they hate to do). But is it the sane thing to do? Why would this FO negate the best move they have ever made? SS isn't his natural position, he's confused how to throw to 1st base (which causes throwing errors) and physically his ankles can't take it (with every game shows digression). Bad ankles directly effects his hitting which negates the advantage of his hitting prowess. 2B you need someone who has range and Arraez has none. It pains me to see GBs that bleed through the infield when he plays there, 2B is his worse position. Many times in life the easiest solution isn't the best. I'd rather go the less easy routes. Trade for a true SS or Sign Story or Simmons or even Goodrum and let him, Palacio and Lewis fight it out. The last has a lot of ?s and is risky but is better than the recipe for disaster which is putting Polanco back at SS. This is a good debate for "forever Arraez no matter what" fans, which can't get over their sentiment for Arraez. Although it's entertaining to watch his ABs, his best value for the Twins is what he can give us via an injunction trade for frontline SP. Putting Polanco at SS and Arraez at 2B is no viable option that should be entertained.

Good article Andrew. I have a good feeling about Cotton. I think he'll surprised a lot of people with his upside. He a good pick up. He's at the right place where he could get a uptick in his fastball if it doesn't effect his movement too much and perfect his slider to go along with his change up.