Doctor Gast

Twins like to waste time stretching some prospects defensively. If Schobel has the tools why not give him the opportunity to have a go at SS? Where he could be more valuable to us.

Very good point. But IMO it's already a lost cause to find one this off-season.

Our absolute need is a postseason SP but now because of this Polo trade, IMO has seriously jeopardized our chances of landing a front-line SP. Because they refused to put Julien where he belonged at 1B, it'll give this FO an excuse to get a Gallo-type 1B/ DH they are enamored with.

Our #1 need is a postseason SP & we aren't over budget so the main focus is landing that SP that'll vastly improve our team. The SP that lines up best with our needs is LHSP Luzardo. Our best trade baits are over-stretched players at their positions (C) Jeffers who has no arm & swoons when given sole primary catching duties & Julien, below average range & doesn't turn a smooth DP (prerequisite for a 2Bman is range & turns a smooth DP). You can spin stats & temporarily make them look average defensively but boiling it down to what is necessary & long-term they are not. Plus their trade values are at their peak with Jeffers at BTV (28.5) & Julien at BTV (34.5) matching up with MIA's needs & Luzardo's value perfectly. Polo is our best option at 2B, trading him away we are trading away muscle & making us worse plus does nothing to fill any of our needs. FO lied when they said they would accept no prospects for Polanco, our main exchange are prospects. Also, we are stuck with inferior Julien as our sole 2B which prevents us from ever having a chance to land Luzardo unless we offer up Lee (which would be an overpay) who has much more upside defensively & even offensively than limited Julien. Which would affect us dramatically in the INF in the future from advancing in the postseason. IMO in trading Polo we have jeopardized any hope of landing a much-needed bonafide front-line SP. much less a potential ace.

Please show me that record, because it doesn't make any sense to me. Like I said Polo when given the proper time he bounces back faster than most. Just a personal observation.

Only most have been reported as a matter of fact. There might be some minor deals like Romo or Dwyer. that they initiated but not major ones. Even this Polanco trade SEA was the major instigator. Often you hear FO saying we pursuing this FA or that FA, or we're taking offers. How often have you heard this FO say we pursuing this trade? I have never personally heard them say that. It's a matter of observation & using common sense.

I tend to agree with you but Polo isn't injury prone. when given the proper time to heal he bounces back pretty quickly so he'll start with a clean slate. But could he be HBP & get a concussion? yes but so could Julien. Any of those pieces of the trade wouldn't have any impact of getting the front-end SP that we need if Polanco couldn't by himself. We don't need a CF, certainly not a 1Bman. We have Julien, Kiriloff, Miranda & Farmer. I'd rather have Polanco than any player obtained to jam into CF or 1B.

I guess I'm just frustrated w/ this FO inability to initiate a trade deal. Years past fans complained about lack of trades & they'd make the excuse that "there were no trades out there", translated meaning no one is approaching them with offers or offers they liked (although those trades would greatly help the team). The truth was there were a lot of trade opportunities to be & were gotten but this FO refused to do so, they'd rather waste money on expensive loser FAs. There are still good trades out there this offseason but our FO is waiting in their office waiting for an offer to come to them that they like. Note: This FO has made a few good trades but only when they were approached with the offers never vice versa.

Very true. But when will that prospect be ready for MLB? Maybe '26 at the soonest. Vazquez is gone after '25, how does that help? I don't trust the Twins catching coaching staff to offer much more development than what you can get from YouTube catching tutorials. Vazquez has much more to give a prospect which is very hard to find anywhere else. And I still don't trust FO to sign a catcher even when it's obvious it's the best choice.

Future catching upgrade that can be feasibly done now by getting a very good MLB-ready defensive + catching prospect to be mentored by Vazquez so he can be ready to take over when he leaves, Otherwise when Vazquez leaves we overpay an expensive FA catcher to have above par tandem or overpay a FA back-up for a below par tandem that hinders any WS aspirations.

Polanco has been abused most of his career, Playing SS with bad ankles (that disappeared when he was moved off SS). Constantly playing hurt when it was obvious to most that he was really hurting until he couldn't go out to the field any longer, instead of promptly taking care of the problem. Polanco isn't damaged goods, management is, When Polo is healthy he puts up monster #s, Polo is in his prime & healthy. FO gains $ on this deal so they can go to FA to pick up another Gallo, Happ, Shoemaker, Colume' type FA & if they unload Farmer, Vazquez, & Kepler, maybe they can put enough $ together to sign a Donaldson type FA. Twins weren't over budget, their roster was great only missing a Pablo Lopez-type trade so why the need to trade Polo? Hats off to SEA who gave up some unneeded fat to fill a gaping need. Boo to our FO for losing muscle to gain nothing. Thanks, Polo for many memorable moments, sorry for the abuse you suffered that really brought down your stats, Hope you're treated well in SEA & many years of fantastic baseball

I wouldn't even think about an extension until he debuts. FO has made a move to make Julien the full-time 2B, is this wreckless move only temporary until Lee is ready for MLB? None of this makes sense so it's hard to try to understand what's the FO's plans are. Correa, Lewis & Lee should be our long-term INF, but I don't put it past this FO to go a different route.

The Twins were entering this off-season in good shape, They mainly needed a front-line SP. I didn't mind FO not doing anything during the off-season, I was afraid that they'd do something stupid, like this. Polo was coming into his prime finally entering the season healthy, when that happens Polo would have a monster year. Polo has been our best clutch hitter and switch hitter to boot. I have sink in my gut much like '21 when FO punted while signing Happ, Shoemaker & Coulome' instead of going out & trading for a viable SP. This trade has made us worse by weakening our INF & missing Polo's bat while doing nothing to contribute to our main needs of front-line SP & catching upgrades. I know Polo's time in MN was limited but now is not the time. We weren't over budget so why get rid of Polo? We may get to the postseason w/o Polo but where we will absolutely miss Polo is in the postseason. So far I grade this offseason as an F-. The atmosphere of the fanbase is swelling, a perfect opportunity to make another Pablo Lopez-type trade (yes it was hard to trade Arraez but Arraez was fat & Lopez was an absolute need) to further grow the excitement. '21 there was some excitement after '20 & '19 and FO got some fans drunk on their Kool-Aid but when the reality from the Happ, Shoemaker & Coulome' signing took effect, it killed any excitement that was gained & then some. Pohlads wonder why attendance is low. This is why. Post Kool-Aid hangover, it's hard to overcome Hats off to SEA for trimming their unneeded fat & filling a gaping need that improves their chances of advancing into the postseason. We lost a great clubhouse guy, clutch switch hitter & above average, 2Bman & gained nothing. That's not how trades are supposed to work. It's time to get rid of this FO.

SWR is a tough kid, I haven't given up on him, he's still young. I expect him to have a good season. They should go with Canterino in the pen until his arm gets in shape then think about SP. I've been high on Ricardo Olivar he has all the tools to be a pretty good catcher, IMO the coaches need to work with him a lot more & more reps at catching. Until Prielipp has proven himself I believed he was ranked too high. here he fell a lot.

Thanks. I guess I'm used to having him overlooked. So it didn't dawn on me that he made the top 20. It's kinda comical. I'll be looking forward to seeing that article.

I'm a big Buxton fan he's a great player as well as a great person. I'll take whatever his body is willing to give us as long it's through the postseason. Keep him CF & don't try to squeeze every little AB out of him. If he can't play CF don't play him if something is broken, fix it, don't keep playing him. IMO Paparesta has the management ear & the old days are gone along with prolonged, nagging injuries. It's wonderful the fanbase is out. FO has to go out & really improve this team starting w/ a front-line SP via trade much like the Arraez/ Lopez trade. If FO closes their eyes & punt they'll lose everything again.

Noah Miller is the one that I'm most impressed with. With his sparkling defense & heads-up plays, He just needs to get on base a little bit more often to be a very viable MLB player. He still has a lot of time to improve his offense until that time. I'm a little disappointed that Richardo Olivar didn't make the honorable mention list. He didn't put up the #s he did last year but his #s are still sneaky good.

The '87 team probally didn't have greatest production of other Twins teams but I still ranked them the best because they were scrappy. They won the close games when they had to, they reached down & won the games they had to. They did everything they could to finally get the monkey off MN's back. My best memory of being a Twins fan. #1 '87 #2 '91 #3 '65

Castro's time as starting LF is only until they figure what to do with Gordon. Wallner has a lot of raw talent in every aspect of the game that should be further developed. So a short time in AAA shouldn't hurt. What so frustrating about Wallner is all this time in the minors very little development has been realized in his defense, baserunning & even in his SOs.

They kept Gordon & he's out of options, so they'll give him every opportunity to be the 4th OF. Larnach & Wallner still have options so Castro could be given the LF job. If Gordon does well they still may trade him or if he doesn't do well they'll try to run him through waivers.

Buck is the best! Have Buck for the postseason, I don't even care if he gets 80 games in if we make it to the postseason with him with everyone pumped!

MAT was a lifesaver '23 but Buck is in a different position this year than last year. I'm optimistic with the depth of Buck in CF with Castro (SH) & Gordon (LH) as back-up with Martin (RH) in the wings. Whatever the season shakes out we need Buck ready for the postseason. Gordon couldn't break into MLB via INF but shined in the OF when given the chance. Their bright idea of reinducing Gordon in the INF was another bust. Gordon miserablly failed on both sides of the experiment, keep Gordon in the OF. I think all are hungry to show what they can do in '24. including Thompson.

The Twins drafted Mauer #1 in the draft & he has become a 1st ballot HOFer. When was the last time the Twins drafted a catcher 1st round? What has been the highest the Twins drafted a catcher? You draft according to your focus. The Twins have drafted much more big bats/ cOF/1B/ DH types in the 1st round & higher overall than the catching position. If you line up our catching prospects in where they are ranked nationally & how far away they are from the MLB to other competitive clubs, you'll see a large chasm separating us. If your standard for a catcher is mediocre- average defensively that has some punch, then you can find them in the lower rounds. But if the standard is a top defensive catcher who can hit then you need to look in the top rounds. Maybe they aren't confident that they are capable of fully developing the defensive potential of these prospects. so why draft them?

Catching is a super important position & we need to be one of the top catching staff to compete. Signing Castro was one of a couple of great catching moves this FO made. Castro made us viable & in '19 the Garver/ Castro tandem was one of the best in defense & split platoon, we had the team to go far. That year we ranked right up there with Mauer's best years. And will stay the best post-Mauer catching squad for a long time. '23 we signed Vazquez. Vazquez took a lot of time to focus on getting to know every pitcher to work out what was the best strategy to attack each hitter, developing trust. Vazquez vastly improved the catching defense & pitching efficiency. Now that most of the work is behind him in familiarizing himself with the team, I expect his offense will turn around. '23 Jeffers worked hard on his defense & it improved to begin the season. But as the season progressed & his playing share increased his defense waned. Jeffers in a supportive role thrives, '23 as his '20 rookie season he did well offensively but in '21 he had the lion's share of games & he regressed. '22 he was determined as our primary catcher but he quickly became overstretched, crashed & burned. '24 Jeffers is due for a regression, how much depends on how much responsibility he's given. If Vazquez is traded, it'll be '22 all over again if he's in a supportive it'd be minimal & we'll have another year comparable to '23. Comparing Mauer's age 26, 134 OPS (his avg.) to Jeffers's age26, 134 OPS+ (by his far high level mark) thinking that Jeffers will resemble the same MVP season in '24 is ludicrous, Jeffers does not have ability to be great at & behind the plate, he was pretty good at & average behind the plate, for his high-level mark. If Jeffers was pretty good behind the plate & average at the plate on a regular basis then I'd take`him serious. Mauer was not noted for his defense but he had an arm, Jeffers does not. For the 2 more seasons of Vazquez I expect the same level of productivity, but what do we realistically expect after Vazquez is gone? I expect that people will finally come to the conclusion that I made from the the beginning that Jeffers is not a legitimate primary catcher. Then it'd be too late to get a top MLB-ready catcher prospect because we no longer have Vazquez to mentor them. We'll have WS potential team with no catcher to lead them. Our catching will not come close to Mauer era. We still have an opportunity to trade Jeffers for a top-end SP, & get a top MLB ready catching prospect to be mentored 2yrs. by Vazquez in hopes to have our top catcher ready soon & for years to come. To help lead the team to a WS. Nick, I respect your knowledge but my conviction in what I see is that you are too enthusiastic about Jeffers's potential & his importance to the team.

It has been rumored that MIA is looking to move Arraez because they can't afford to sign him to an extension. I put up a 3-way trade offer with SD. Arraez could be SD's Tony Gwinn's second coming. SD was poor at 2B, Kim is a much better SS than 2B man. Arraez for Kim. Luzardo for Julien & Jeffers To make up the difference for Arraez, Twins can move Salas (SS) back home to MIA where he does better & Schobel (SS) (Twins can also throw in Farmer) in exchange for trade bait for MLB ready Romo catcher (CO). Jeffers has proven to me that he can't handle primary catching duties & Vazquez's hungry for primary catching duties. If we let Vazquez go (- trade value) & keep Jeffers it'll be '22 all over again. If we keep Vazquez & trade Jeffers (Jeffers trade value is high), Not only do we have a very good defensive catcher that's due to rebound offensively, we have a 2yr. mentor for Carmargo, (Romo & Carrigg via trade that can potentially be much better future catcher in a short amount of time) than Jeffers plus greatly increase our poor catching depth. We will miss Julien's bat but that's what MIA needs for Luzardo, it's a fair trade-off. This is a great opportunity if we react right,