Doctor Gast

I wish that you could turn on a switch so that Buxton could be healthy & have that HOF career that he deserves. With Paparesta there is hope but at this point, it's hard to believe. But I'm all for it. Go Buck!

I watched an interview with him on a PBD podcast via youtube (I believe he has been on others). IMO he seemed sincere & really wants to play MLB. to the point where he'd take any opportunity seriously, so I'd take non risk flyer on him.

Luzardo would have fit perfectly into our rotation & greatly improved the team. But we didn't play our cards right, so Luzardo will become another big one that got away story. There is a fine line between a bold move & a stupid move. IMO it's timing, a bold move is making the right move at the right time. A stupid move is after the ship has sailed you end up making a move out of desperation, which is disastrous.

What I heard was that MIA thought they couldn't afford to extend Arraez, which I believe was part of the reason why we traded him. MIA's new GM (former TB) will bring that TB squeeze the most out of their big names to above market prices to MIA. They won't move Luzardo until they get the deal they want (unfortunately). Cabrera has always been intriguing to me. Love his stuff but his control problems are driving MIA crazy. IMO they'd be willing to trade him for a reasonable price. Larnach or Carmago won't bring much as well as DeScalafina & Salas (IMO Sala would do much better returning home). They might be interested in any of them but they'd need a bigger fish that they need to headline that trade (maybe they'd be interested in Gonzalez). Cabrera will be risky, MIA has had underwhelming catchers who probably haven't done much to control him but maybe a veteran catcher who's good at controlling pitchers like Vazquez could help him out. Could be worth the risk.

I haven't given up hope on ERod. He's not on any of my trades. AA will be a challenge for him because of the better pitchers but IMO in that challenge is where he'll find that balance that'll take him to the next level. IMO that adjustment is a minor one for him but he needs to be forced to make it.

I expect him to be a busy guy as the 4th OFer & with Farmer busy platooning with Julien at 2B to give breaks to Correa & Lewis.

I like his arm & contact rate. Everybody likes his slugging rate for his age, thinking he'll continue to fill out & add power but with his height of 5'10, he's pretty much filled out & won't naturally gain much more power to profile at RF/1B or DH. I think a Willian Astudillo comp is fair although Astudillo is a better fielder. Because of the vast differences in style from the Twins, just like Rosario & Astudillo, I don't think they will be able to change him. Gonzalez is young enough to where he'd become confused & become worse especially in striking out. IMO Gonzalez's stock will fall harder than Salas did last year. It'd be hard to find a trade partner for him but I'd trade him as fast as I could to take advantage of his trade value.

Thank you Topp Gun, for your response, I'd like to challenge ourselves to question that maybe social media is wrong about Bauer. Then Bauer deserves a 2nd chance to help MN to advance to the World Series. Maybe if there were any poor clubhouse vibes he has matured where there is at least it's a non-factor. Like Jack Morris, players didn't care about his lack of clubhouse leadership but his desire to win. Morris never helped young pitchers while Bauer is eager to do so. Correa has gotten a lot of social media slack for his part in the sign-stealing scandal & is booed by many. Why not give Bauer the same courtesy who paid the price & was declared innocent? Unlike Donaldson, our monetary commitment would be minimal where we could let Bauer go if he did anything to hurt the Twins' chances by poor performance or any toxicity. There's nothing to lose & everything to gain. Some called me a Cave hater, he was a perfectly fine cOF sub but not a Buxton sub in CF. Some called me a Polanco hater because I advocated for him to move off SS. Some call me a Jeffers hater, because I thinks he's a perfectly fine back-up but not a starter. Other call me a Polanco lover because I was against trading him now. I suppose some may call me a Bauer lover because I'm willing to give him a chance. None of these are true. There's one thing I'm passionate about & that is to see the Twins win another WS.

Dear Bean Counter Yes, I am a big fan of Polanco for good reasons. He gives it his all, all the time, He'll play hurt when asked (even though it'll affect his personal stats), He'll play anywhere (even though he'd look stupid or expose him to a recurring injury), he's a great leader, clubhouse guy, one of the best clutch hitters out there & he plays cheap. No, I don't have a major affinity for Polanco. If trading Polanco makes us better & fills a real need (like a bonafide postseason SP), I'd be 100% behind it. But this trade doesn't make us better or fill any real need. I agree that Topa may contribute in '24 but he's taking Varland's spot, a commodity we know and does not move the needle for me to move Polanco. I don't buy the "Kool-Aid" that's based on hope & magic surrounding this return, Plus I don't buy the "Kool-Aid" that Polanco is broken. Which IL was Polanco on at the end of last season? What off-season surgery did he do? What trade physical did he fail? What IL is he on now? The answer to all these questions is "none" he has a clean bill of health. On the other hand, Correa failed 2 of his physicals yet the Twins signed him. "The only time Polanco had ever been on the IL as a professional was all the way back in August 2013, when a groin strain sidelined him for 13 days while with Class A Cedar Rapids." This was until he went on the IL for 10 days with low back tightness which he bounced back from in June "22. He bruised his knee in the 1st part of August, he never went on the IL. The treatment for bone bruises is immediate rest for a couple of weeks to months. He played his heart out for at least a month kept aggravating that injury until he could no longer take the field, The decision of not treating Polanco's knee bruise in '22 plus complications prolonged Polanco's recovery time, But thanks to Paparesta & Polanco history of bouncing back he's now healthy and ready for '24. Most of Polanco's playing time has been hurt (which is reflected in his stats) and now he's healthy his real projected stats should be comparable to his '21 stats (shown above) including 13 OAA. Comparing a healthy Polanco to a healthy Julien, who's better? Besides the stats from both healthy players heavily favor Polanco. Polanco is a full-time 2Bman, Julien will be platooned. Julien was stretched so he could show that he was average in some stats but in reality, Julien doesn't have the range or DP finesse to play 2B. Pitchers don't care about stats, they want to know if you can get to most GBs & able to turn DPs. In '25 Lee will be ready, so I'd be more willing to let Polanco go. To summarize, w/o any unforeseen tragedy, we didn't get better we got worse.

IMO the CWS problem came from LaRusso, Extending his players to the point of ineffectiveness & injuries & continuing playing them hurt. That really affected their performance & record, not having that veteran leadership they couldn't stop that crazy downspin. So I wouldn't mind picking up any reasonable former CWS players.

I really liked what Paddack showed coming back from his surgery, pleasantly surprised. But we have to keep our expectations in check, that he needs to be on a short leash #1 not pitching for a long time only a few BP outings late last season. #2 Short return from surgery. He's a long way from the #2 SP that comes w/ a lot of innings that some predict. IMO he should be used as a piggy-back tandem with Varland with a strict pitch count to keep him healthy & effective. & slowly work him into a sole SP role. Varland will also benefit from the added MLB exposure.

We have a lot of players on this club who need to prove themselves & take that step. Signing Santana affected the 4 you mentioned but also signing all those poke-and-hope backend pitchers that will be given every opportunity to prove themselves over Varland who has already proven himself & pitchers like Canterino, SWR, Festa etc, who are very close, will be held up. You could argue that Balazovik was pushed out prematurely before being given the chance to prove himself in spring training. Just to give the fanbase the impression they are doing something. Miranda has proven himself that he's a MLB hitter who can platoon at 1B/ DH for years. Santana has made him obsolete & worth very little in trade. IMO Miranda is the much better option in the soon-to-be and long run. Santana is like Gallo where he'd serve a non-important purpose in the beginning of the season but ends up as a waste of money. Kiriloff will break out to be the hopefully primary 1Bman that can play RF & DH. Gordon & Larnachs' playing time lies squarely on themselves & how the other OFers shake out. IMO the OF Gordon will do well but if they keep experimenting w/ the INF Gordon, he's DFA'd. I hope that Larnach can adjust to the off-speed pitches & flourish. Odds are that Gordon will be the odd man out & be traded if everything else doesn't blow up. Meaning, Buxton's health & Kepler able to adjust to the pitchers adjusting to him.

I expected Balazovik to be waived but not this soon.

You can try to compare his physical talents to other players but Lewis's best attributes are intangible, like his fire, leadership, feel for the game, and as you mentioned the clutch gene so comps really don't do him justice.

I'd love to better this team, and continue this momentum of success & fan excitement by getting a postseason SP. IMO currently Bauer is a non-issue in the clubhouse so I'd sign him. But apparently, you're right & we won't get that much-needed SP. That & further broadcasting black-outs will squelch that momentum. They'd likely get a Desclafani upgrade & say we got your postseason SP & many will buy it.

MIL turned down a lot of good deals but liked the fit the BAL offered. I doubt MIL would accept your offer, sorry. IMO you don't do a Burnes trade unless you're sure you can extend him, I'm sure we can't and I'd hate to give up Varland for a year rental.

It's exciting to watch Martin play, he's an OB machine & what he does after he gets on makes him more exciting. It's a pity they hadn't played him as much as they should at CF but he's a natural out there. He'll be a great lead-off hitter when there's a LHP. It's great to have that extra RH bat in the OF. It's great that he gets on base plus he can actually field, so we can put him in the OF & 2B knowing he'll do a good job there. Dodgers have shown us that a player like Martin can be very valuable to a team & that Martin will make an impact for this team this season & deserving of your ranking

Not any better than last year with Varland. It should be good but not the best

My slip "sentiments"

Now that spring training is quickly coming upon us. I'd like to ask the question, will the Twins get their promised postseason SP? There hasn't been any inkling that they were focusing on anyone. Jesus Luzardo was my favorite but looks like that's he's out of the question, if ever FO was willing to make the necessary sacrifice. The rentals Glasnow & Burns are gone if FO was ever willing to pay the price (I wouldn't either). Do we have a shot at Cease (CWS)? Interdivisional trade will up the already high ante for us, I doubt it. So we're shot, right? I'd like to throw out a last year's suggestion. Everyone needs a 2nd chance, Trevor Bauer. He was cleared of any wrongdoing, He has made peace with Rob Manfred, he has been humbled & has matured. Now IMO isn't a great clubhouse person, but IMO he's not a clubhouse wrecker. & he has shown a willingness to work with young pitchers & he's motivated. The best part of this is his price tag. He's asking minimal salary with incentives. Something that we can afford. IMO MN is a great place for him to start a comeback. Or would you rather wing it with what we have?

Thanks, Cody, you hit on my sentiments exactly. I felt SWR was ranked much too low, too. I'll echo that SWR has been brought up very quickly at a young age, plus being traded multiple times so there have been a lot of adjustments & with every challenge, there have been reasonable setbacks, But he grits it out, makes the adjustments & comes out of it a better pitcher. He has turned the corner at AAA, & he'll be an awesome SP for the Saints this season. If taken slowly into the MLB he could also make an impact this season but the rotation & BP are jammed packed which would hinder any promotion. I like SWR makeup & believe he will become an impact SP for the Twins someday.

There's no doubt that these younger SPs will have spurts of greatness but yet not be able to sustain it to overtake Pablo. I see Pablo still getting better.

Where we could spend money if we had it is to lock up Lewis for a long time. Because we know he has a bright future & he's connected to us having a bright future. Not nickel & dime us on nothing burgers that do nothing for us. Save your pennies, for something worthwhile & quit doing stupid stuff.

The Twins had a lot fewer needs than the Royals. We just needed a postseason SP which was impossible to get via FA. So a trade was the only option that would not cost $. That put aside I'm still embarrassed because all the actions done have not advanced us any closer to where we need to be.

Right now we have an inferior rotation, about the same BP, inferior INF, with a healthy Buxton (kinda) our OF & offense are better so my guess is about the same as this year's record. If Buxton's time in CF is short-lived, then I'd guess much less.