Doctor Gast

How has the Twins done so far with correcting wild pitchers? Do they really know what they are doing? Or are they just poking & hoping? The latter doesn't appeal to me but the prior does because MIA's Cabrera has great stuff but they are about to give up on him because of his wildness. He could be a great project on the cheap.

They signed him before I went to the hospital but now that I'm back hope the FO feels free to get things done. 😃

Brooks Lee has a big part of the Twins' imminent future in every aspect of the game, IMO a good All-Star Candidate who can play all 3 INF positions efficiently and is a switch-hitter. Eddie Julien has a good eye, especially against RHPs is stretched at 2B (which is not a good tell). So I'd choose Julien over Lee to be traded hands down. But the Twins need to look further down the road because we a have great core of players that have emerged onto the spotlight with others on their heels that can take us to the big dance. For that to happen we need quality depth at CF, SS & catcher. STL made it to the big dance many times merely on great catching with pitching & defense. Our lowly neighbors KC went to the big dance in 2014 & '15. Losing in '14 but winning it in '15 on the same recipe. My point is that we need to stop ignoring the catcher. I like Jeffers, he's hard-working, he's an average starter overall. Do we want an average CF or SS to start in the WS? NO, -So why are we content with Jeffers? We need a bigger upgrade at catcher. There are a lot of young MLB-ready catchers with high potential to accompany our young core. With good to great arms, athletic, 2-way, some LH or SH ready to be mentored by Vazquez. All these opportunities lining up plus Jeffers is at a high point in his trade value ever is too good to pass up. But if we punt on this one the opportunity will be gone. So who would I trade for Front line pitching? Jeffers would be my choice.

Stallings & Hudson were good adds to CO. Hudson has a pretty good GB% which plays well at Coors. If he dominates with a high fastball for lift-happy HR hitters, he could have a successful season in CO. A lot of CO players are underrated. All their pitchers could do better elsewhere. Catching prospects Romo & Carrigg are tremendously underrated, they both have great arms, are athletic, productive switch-hitters with the potential to become elite catchers. Romo will make it to the Majors this season but IMO Carrigg has the highest upside. It'd be nice if MN could nab one of them but how cheap they are why not go for both?

For about a week, I was feeling like I was going through the process of passing a kidney stone. On 12/29 the pain was getting worse so Magali took me to the hospital & they gave me a tomograph. I did have a kidney stone actually 2 of them but I also had a perforated appendicitis, By all rights I should have died but the good Lord had mercy on me (I think? Just kidding). In some cases the the intestines encapsulate the perforated appendicitis, that's what happened to me. They rushed me into surgery. The surgery took 3 1/2 hrs & it took me 3 hrs to wake up. All I can remember was that I just wanted to see Magali. To make a long story short. Went through some obstacles & setbacks. But through the Lord's grace, we were able to overcome them. After 2wks in the hospital, I was released on good behavior on 2wks of in-house antibiotic IVs. The main obstacle left is the infection, so pray for a quick recovery from the infection. So after a 2 wks off it's good to be back! It doesn't look like I missed much though.

Thanks, Nash, this article was a breath of fresh air. Finally, one that makes sense which I haven't seen since Marlins SPs up for trade. the way it looks to me Polanco will be 100% after years of physical abuse on the field. We all know what Polo can do when he's !000%. Forget about the years of having to play hurt. He's back & in his prime. Keep Polo! Go Twins!

I never said Conger was chopped liver. he' s a perfectly fine coach if your standard is mediocre. Mathis was a better defensive catcher for a longer time, is a highly dedicated student of the game throughout his career. RiverBrian stated & I agree that top catchers are expensive & in demand. A pipeline of very good catchers is not only beneficial to our team but also comes in handy for trading for our needs

Could also add getting a great deal on broadcasting rights but World Peace & unity would even be better

It's in direct correlation to the hitting philosophy of never varying from hitting an HR every pitch. This produces a ton of HRs (we led the AL) but when we needed a hit they'd struck out in clutch situations in close games when the opposing pitcher was on. We need to change this philosophy, Maybe we hit fewer HRs during the year but getting clutch hits to win the great majority of those close games (that especially includes postseason games), it'd be well worth it. I'd prefer wins over HRs any day.

I don't see a problem at 1B. Julien, Kiriloff, Miranda & Farmer are very good & cheaper options. A combination of platoon duty forms a pretty formidable 1B crew,

Too early!

As of now, it's hard to visualize how our lower-catching prospects will turn out. But many are ranked much higher than Carmargo. Carmargo is totally off the radar in the negative sense on the evaluators' charts. I have no idea why. He could be an OK 3rd string catcher but IMO he'll take a while to adjust to MLB, With some of Vazquez's tutoring he could eventually become an OK backup. Overall our standard at catching has been set at OK, OK isn't good enough. Mauer was a phenomenal catcher, a lot of it was natural talent & self-learning, but some of it had to be coached.

* a definition of prayer- an earnest hope or wish. - Blessings & thanks to all TD writers, who continue to give us great articles to discuss even amidst some opposition. - Blessings to my friends at TD. - Blessings & thanks to the moderators who keep the baseball forum civil & open - Wisdom & insight to our FO so they can evaluate our needs & make the right decisions. - Uplift the lowly & humble the proud. - Health, soundness of mind & body to all our players so they can achieve their full potential. - Qualify our coaches to help train our players - Happy New Year to all & a prosperous season! Go Twins!

Best wishes for him! Sad he couldn't play more.

I admire versatility, but I admire honesty more. I know Kepler is a great RFer & maybe is a better LFer & that many have criticized Kepler for being proud & honest about his preference not to play CF. CF is much different from the cOF positions, He felt uncomfortable & not able to command that position. I admire his response & prefer his response over Jake Cave's response of ok I can do it (when he couldn't) & prevent us from getting someone who could. IMO when Kepler played CF his production went down, so at this point where he has found his groove, I wouldn't risk him to lose it. I wish Polanco was more honest to say when he's hurt - "I'm hurt" & not keep playing hurt, plus other things.

Now make that into a song :)

You are forgiven, I sympathize with you

Pitching, SS, CF & catching are the 4 most important positions where hitting prowess is nice but it takes a back seat to defense. There's a lot of emphasis on drafting & developing SPs, SS, CFers, and MN puts a lot on bats but catching as of late has been ignored. Defensive catching is a vital need, which any serious team must have. Defensive catchers that can hit are very few & are in great demand. It's not that hard to find catchers that can hit but to draft & develop them into elite catchers is very rare. There has been a gaping wound in our catching depth that goes down deep in our organization since '22 and actually longer when you go beyond Garver, Jeffers & Rortvedt. Vazquez has been a nice band-aid, greatly seeing fantastic effects in catching & pitching. But once we rip off that band-aid it's going to hurt a lot. We need to heal that wound by now trading for, drafting & developing promising young catchers, Below is an interesting article that I'd like for you to read. https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/baseball-believes-in-jeff-mathis-and-the-hidden-value-of-game-calling-by-catchers/ Jeff Mathis was a horrible hitter but his valuable expertise in catching kept him in the game for many years while mentoring young catchers along the way. He has been out of the game since '21 when he caught for the World champion ATL Braves. Mathis is open to coaching, having him as our catching coach will go a long way toward healing our gaping wound by his insight on who to sign, draft & especially development. MIL has made Contreras into an elite catcher & has a great development system. I believe Mathis can do the same for the Twins. With his expertise & experience (which I value the most) he also sees the need to use analytics that makes his work easier. Mathis IMO should be highly sought after & as in any opportunity to fill our great hole we should quickly seize it, he has my vote, How about yours?

Thoracic outlet syndrome is not like TJ surgery. The process is a much slower process for pitchers to come back 100% if they come back at all. In his case IMO he can come back but he's only started that process now. I have little expectation of him for more than 1 inning of low-leverage situations.

Great job, Adam! Well-thought-out trade scenario. Slater should be a reasonable trade target. Unlike most, I believe there's no excess INF depth. If we trade Polanco & Farmer we'd be in very tough shape. But if we don't trade Polanco we can swing it. Because with Slater's help in CF, that could free up Castro to help out the INF when Correa, Lewis & Polanco need subs. Plus when Buxton is in CF we have Slater to play the corners when facing a LHP. I'm a firm believer in Martin who has the makeup to be a MLBer. But more time in CF at AAA won't hurt. I'm a supporter of this trade but IMO it won't happen until well into the off-season. I don't think we are in a hurry for this trade but we are for a front-line SP.

I'd like to add a Lopez-type trade, that'd be nice. That'd be a good off-season gift. Under Paparesta's care, I'm optimistic about the performances of many of our players.

You caught me on one of my brain farts. Good one.

Some of my favorite players played on this team. Also loved the uniform. The vast majority of our best teams played in pinstripes.

OK, he's not technically a rookie, so what? His status is not the point I was making. Why do you keep focusing on one point that has nothing to do with what I said & miss the main point? Please read everything that I texted & throw out the word "rookie" because it seems that you are hung up on that word.

I'm sorry this discussion isn't about Varland's eligibility for the ROY award, it's about his need to gain experience & stamina to be a full-fledged MLB SP so please stop distracting from that.