Doctor Gast

I'm not a firm believer of these projections. Projecting players by averaging their past stats without taking into consideration existing conditions are inaccurate. For example IMO 2020 should be thrown out because it's a false indicator of a regular season. Also Lopez's transformation from SP to RP, his past history as a SP isn't a true indicator of him being a RP. The shift ban, time clock & other rules will have significant impact on the players, how is that incorporated?

Love your optimism, ziggy. I'm with you

7% is concerning, IMO Olivar has the tools to control the runners (above avg. arm, quickness & instincts) but they need to give him that extra attention to achieve much better results as far as behind the plate.

I saw that report too and I was tempted to try to maneuver a trade. But I came to the same conclusion as most everyone else, this isn't the time. Anything can happen but IMO we be under selling on these players to trade at this time for 2 yrs. of Corbin. We need our top pitching prospects But that's what they'll want & even then it won't be enough for them.

Wither I'm right or not, I like to compare him to Endy Rodriguez. With NYM, he was at DSL for over a year & finished off at GSL. He was also effected by covid, he was later traded to PIT. PIT promoted him to A. Rodriguez played behind Henry Davis (c) (he was the #1 draft pick) so he played OF & 2B. '22 Davis got hurt, with this opportunity to play exclusively catcher. Endy exploded. I really like Olivar's trajectory. I'm expecting an explosion from him, maybe it's after low A. Venezuela has produced a lot of great catchers. I'm hoping that Olivar could be one if given a chance.

Good point chpettit, here's a research conclusion. Conclusions: The overwhelming majority of baseball players that sustain ACL injuries do so while fielding or base running. Outfielders are significantly more likely than infielders to suffer ACL injuries while fielding versus base running.Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries in Baseball Players I'd assume also that SS could be more stressful on his ACL. So maybe Lewis starting at 2B could be a blessing in disquise.

I'm just responding to your Lewis statements, If you hadn't questioned something about Lewis, I wouldn't have responded.

A healthy Ronald Acuna Jr. tore his ACL on the same type of play. It does take a rocket scientist to see the immense pressure on the ACL on common OF play of running full blast, leaping and coming down on that leg at that angle as I explained before. I don't need any data from some authorized research to tell me that it's not a good idea to put a player that has torn his ACL twice under these conditions. If you don't want to use common sense & you have to have some evidence to prevent you making this mistake then do it, but if you don't find any authorized research on this specific matter doesn't automatically make you right.

Just looking at what's on paper, it's easy to see why so many pundits have Lee so high in the rankings. Lee does everything well, but his bat is what really sticks out. A LH bat on the left side of the INF will be a very welcomed addition. I'm one of those who sees Lee as a fixture at 3B for many years. I see Lee with a superior bat & Lewis a superior glove. On paper looking at the tangibles it's very difficult to choose our #1 prospect, Lee could edge Lewis out but including the intangibles I choose Lewis.

With the shift ban a 2B man will need to have as much range as the SS. During the shift a 2B needed 0 range. Before Lewis's 2 torn ACL, I was probably Lewis biggest advocate in CF. But now any common full blast run with a leap & coming down on that leg with that force & angle would take Lewis out again. We have to not look at what looks good on paper & wake up to reality, keep Lewis away from the OF.

That's Doogie's assumption that makes a lot of sense, IMO that's why this FO is so coy. They are willing to wait out Hand and maybe others to see if they pick them up on MiLB contract for decent depth. It'd be nice to bring Hand home

1st I heard of Olivar was on a podcast called "Scout the Statline" they were evaluating 10 top catching prospects. I was interested in Endy Rodriguez (PIT) and some other catching prospects that maybe we could nab. They announced at #10 Ricardo Olivar from MN. I said to myself WHAT? I've never heard of this guy. They only gave his offensive stat line & said keep an eye on him. It's hard to get defensive info on this guy, only that he's got an above average arm. Since he plays a lot of CF, I suspect that he has quick reactions & good instincts both good qualities for a catcher.

Crazy thing is he might not graduate this year to qualify for rookie of the year (ROY).

Lewis has shown that he can play SS, hit at the MLB level & excel. Plus he has proven that he can come back from a torn ACL better than ever. With all the tangible & intangible qualities that he has & that he has nothing more to prove. He is still my #1. By rights he shouldn't be still a prospect & like Jeff I'm still mad at Rocco. A fluke collision with the CF wall?

We added a Farmer who fields everywhere Also a Taylor to sew up our loose errors A new framing Christian will answer our prayers. John, I can smell the excitement in the air Pitchers and Catchers report

LOL, I like yours better but not literally tears just figuratively speaking

Although the Twins are really hurting for viable future catching yet it seems like Ricardo Olivar is totally off the Twins radar. In '22, Olivar was named the MVP of the FCL, FCL post season All-Star catcher and FCL player of the month in July. Although he's listed at catcher, where he played the most of his games, he still played a lot of games at CF and some at 2B and cOFs. He's also good defensively w/ above average arm. Season Team Level Age G PA HR R RBI SB BB% K% ISO BABIP AVG OBP SLG wOBA wRC+ 2021 MIN FCL 19 34 59 1 5 5 3 13.6% 28.8% .143 .290 .204 .339 .347 .336 92 2022 MIN FCL 20 40 154 5 16 23 5 11.7% 21.4% .256 .430 .349 .442 .605 .480 181 He got drafted in '19 but didn't start pro ball until '21 because of covid. Like a lot of these prospects during this time their development stopped & they became stagnant. The problem is he turned 21 last Aug, & that's a little old for rookie ball. My hope is like Endy Rodriguez exploding this year going from A to AAA, Olivar will do this coming year starting at A ball. Endy was Rule 5 draft eligible this year & Ricardo will be next year. Ricardo didn't even make TD's honorable mention but he's been on my radar & I'll be tracking him this coming year.

IMO the medical training staff has a handle on what to do. They have a specific plan on how they are dealing with how to get Buxton ramped up for MLB. I imagine they have a plan on each one. Hope they also have a good plan to keep all of them fresh & healthy thru the post season. My biggest question mark is Maeda. He says his 100% but he was never been a big inning pitcher and in '21 his 1st full season w/ the Twins, they over stretched him & he got hurt. Now coming back from 20 months of not facing MLB pitching & surgery. I'm afraid they may try to rush him, which could be counter productive.

If Julien had a better arm, I'd try Julien out at catcher (at least part time) to get his bat in the line up. Yes catcher is a challenging position but Mauer was able to keep his offensive #s up. Our organization are very short on good catchers.

Had high hopes for E Rod when we got him and encouraged by '21 results but his '22 was amazing. Became deflated when he got injured, he could've sky rocketed through the minors with great #s. But he's still young & by his greatly improved plate discipline, it seems that he adjusts very quickly. It's very hard to qualify a prospect to be rank so high with so little sample size but IMO E Rod warrants it.

We added a Farmer who fields everywhere Also a Taylor to sew up our wares (wears)A new framing Christian will answer our prayers. Everyone's a critic!

On paper they look pretty good & deep, except Pagan but he could prove useful in the middle innings. As long they keep him there and not so quick to promote him again. BP can be so volatile, you never know for sure how Alcala will respond coming back from surgery. I'd also like to see a piggy-backing with Maeda with Ober to at least start '23, I think it could help both. Like Pineda/ Perez in '19.

Gallo had a disappointing '22 season, but we paid him $11MM. That's not show me money, that's you proved to me money for a poor season. So it's not an option, he has to produce offensively to earn what he has been paid. He doesn't fill any necessary hole. So there isn't anything sneaky about it.

I believe there's a time clock on batters too. Isn't there?

I can see Ted's point of wanting a lefty bat to platoon at 3B. Two years ago I thought Gordon was all washed up because I knew Gordon wasn't a MLB SS. But he surprised me by playing passable MLB OF on the fly. He might surprise me again & have the glove (which isn't easy) to play 3B. But as much as I'd like Gordon's bat at 3B, I don't think he has the arm to play there. But who knows.