Doctor Gast

Thanks, 2wins87. I'm not worried about Polanco's legs at all. His ankles are fine as long as you keep him away from SS (NP). Like any player he'll get hurt, this isn't a problem as long as the problem is dealt with & given the needed rest. Last season when he got hurt they kept running him out there until he dropped & was lost for the season. That's not on him.

Another great blog, Harrison! I think just the fact that they'll have a normal ST will help a lot in the # of total innings pitched & ERA. What I've heard Ryan & Lopez are working on new pitches (Central AL Division will also improve his #s). IMO what really helps against injuries, # of total innings pitched & ERA, is management. The focus shouldn't be let's see how far we stretch out our SPs. But let's profile our pitchers & pitch them inside those perimeters. Let's say for example we have a SP who profiles at 6 innings (some games early less & later games more). After each game he feels good & is able bounce back quickly for his next start. He is able to maintain his quality innings & health. He continue to feel good & is able starts 32 games, 32 X 6 = 192 innings, not bad. & hopefully if he's properly managed he's ready to pitch well going into the post season. Even if we have a pitcher going 5 innings/ game & feels good afterwards. He's able to maintain his arm healthy & pitch 32 games, that's 5 X 32 = 160 total innings that's much more than the total of our best pitcher under our present philosophy. Let me repeat one more time, our focus shouldn't be let's see how far we can stretch out of each SP each game but let keep our pitchers inside their profile to maintain their health & quality innings. Strength conditioning is also very important. Lopez hadn't pitched many innings in any of his previous seasons. 111 was by far the most & he didn't pitch very well. So it's reasonable that he'd tired well before the season's end & tail off. With the 180 inning season under his belt & hopefully some good strength conditioning, he'll easily surpass last year.

Because of the hold out in '22, Smeltzer had a head start. He came out of ST, IMO our best ready SP. The Twins should have taken advantage of him early, but he started out in AAA, It wasn't until he was burning up AAA & a few down MLB SPs that they finally brought him up. He did well until the hitters began to erase Smeltzer's advantage. Smeltzer was the most stretched out SP & he should have been chosen over rookies Ober & Winder & iffy Paddack. They were injured early because management try to overstretch them in the rotation too soon. If Smeltzer was in the rotation from the start (and kept Ober & Winder as long relief/ spot starter), he'd have handled the workload and Ober & Winder would not have gone on the IL. Plus we could've enjoyed Smeltzer's effective advantage longer. After Smeltzer lost his advantage, I can understand why Smeltzer was let go. The fish we discarded, was picked up by the school of Marlins. Maybe Smeltzer will learn something new & thrive there. Thank you, Devin for your accomplishments here & wish you well!

Polanco has nothing to prove! It's unfair to single him out & ask him to match Arraez OBP. It's much more fair to ask Kiriloff or Gallo can they match Arraez glove at 1B? The answer would be undeniably yes, And ask Gordon if he could match Arraez in quality innings played? the answer would be undeniably yes. Or if he would match Arraez match Arraez as a scoring threat? the answer would be undeniable yes. IMO if we ask Gordon to replace Arraez as the lead-off hitter, he'd arise (Arraez, I'm sorry, it's a pun) to the occasion. He'd run the bases well & become a scoring threat and even try to focus on improving his OBP. But to ask anyone on the roster to match Arraez's OBP is a pretty tall order. Julien would be the one, once he's ready & there's an opening. Awarding Gordon playing time would be a challenge. He has proven that he should played. He could play at DH or Buxton replacement in CF against RHPs. He'd be our lead off hitter whenever he's playing, & when trades are made, that'll free up more playing time Others are fair expectations, Nick and these questions should be asked. IMO these players will arise to the challenge & meet them. Before Baldelli was encouraged to lead off with Arraez, he'd lead off with Garver & Kepler. Maybe he'll go that route again with Farmer & Kepler. I think another fair challenge is if Kepler & Gallo can get out of their hitting funk with this new shift ban? I expect Kepler to but Gallo I have my doubts. His righty counter parts Sano & Sanchez couldn't do it. I really hope he does but wishing doesn't make it happen.

Thanks Seth, like you said, a very interesting group of new comers with a lot of potential & others that are trending down. Sands is definitely MLB ready RP. I think Brent Headrik can stick at SP. It's a big transition from DSL to FSL, a lot to do with culture shock for some of these young Latins. Acuna may have an easier time of it because of family support. I'm looking forward to the next group.

Correa is a big addition to the team. Not only what he does on the field but his leadership, clubhouse presence and has a good understanding of the team & what can be done to improve us which greatly assists this FO. Lopez is a great addition to the rotation, rankings that I've seen has him exceeds the Sonny Gray threshold. With expectations of becoming even better, plus an extra year to help fill out the rotation in '24. Gordon & Celestino in '22 valiantly filled in CF, The best depth we've had for years. Granted Celestino was overwhelmed at the end but a MLB season is grinding & very demanding. He'll eventually get there. Gordon supplied a good LH bat & glove there & still should be used this year against RHPs. Taylor supplies an upgrade in glove & experience to Buxton especially against LHP. He should be used as defensive subbing & PR. Finally giving Celestino a chance to regroup in AAA. We are definitely a much better team than we were a month ago.

None of the 5 were ranked very high. The one we got from the International signing has potential but IMO iffy. Parada & Varsho were ranked high but IMO neither will stick at catcher. They have the bat but don't have the arm, which will be very important. So you're right Doc, high ranking doesn't always mean you got a great catcher.

I was following HS Brady Neal 17 yr. old (C) last year that was ranked 74, he chose to go to LSU instead. LSU should have a great team this year!

When I stated the cupboards are bare I meant "our". Yes Carrigg or Teal, both are very good candidates with good arms & bats. Hopefully we focus on them and it's possible either could fall in our laps

I agree with you about Kiriloff, I wasn't knocking Kiriloff but stating one good thing about Gallo is that we have him as back up LH 1B ready if Kiriloff isn't quite ready to have a go at it right away.

If Max Clark has the maturity of Royce Lewis at his age, I'd go with Clark. I'd love to pick up some elite catching prospect somewhere on the top. IMO the cupboards are pretty bare.

Eventhough Helman’s path has been blocked. I still hope he’ll take that extra step and make it to MLB somewhere. Interesting that Holland has made that transition like Gordon did. Hope for the same results. Still hope that Noah Cardenas can be a starting catcher. I guess at this stage that’s all you can do.

Welcome Harrison, great job. I share your optimism. I’m less optimistic about Gallo, we haven’t been having a lot of success with fixing NYYs. But I’m glad we have him. Because Kiriloff started swinging only in the beginning of January. I’m doubtful that he’ll be ready after spring training

I guess I was one of those advocating for Fulmer. Now I have my doubts.

Thanks Greg for laying out a map work of how this FO operates. In how they maneuver through maintaining an economic balanced roster. It makes a lot of sense and I congratulate them, although some of their moves didn’t make sense . I also congratulate them for making recent bold moves that makes a lot sense. I’m still wondering about their managerial philosophy.

Thanks Ted for laying this out for us. Myself I wouldn’t take a ticket on him, if he was a SP I’d dial him back and see what he has. But since he is a RP there’s not much dialing back you can do. So his injury risk is too high for me to put him on the 40 man roster.

I share your optimism in how FO has strengthened our depth, Nick. It’s good to know that even with doubts about health of our players, we got our bases covered. Like Karbo I doubt Jeffers ability to be our starting catcher. Except for his above average framing, his defense leaves something to be desired. His weak arm will be a liability and him not able to hit RHPs disqualifies him. Although having Vázquez aleviates the problem short term . It does nothing long term, since we don’t have anyone in our system that’s even proven short or long term. Since we have Vázquez, I think we should have a bono fide future starting catcher being mentored by him. Besides maybe obtaining another BP arm, I’d like to suggest obtaining a potential elite catcher prospect.

Pretty much agree with you Matt. I like Helman, I think he’ll have another pretty good year but his path is pretty much blocked. He could become a good trade piece.

I love the idea but it’ll be super expensive to trade for Reynolds. PIT wants some high SP Mlb ready prospects, higher than what we got.

Many great moments at the Metro Dome, I don’t remember it as crappy. I remember the Dome would explode, I don’t ever remembering the Target Field exploding.

I love to see Buck run the bases but I think Gordon could have lead off in him. He seems to get up for challenges. Like transitioning to CF. Julien will be an awesome lead off hitter.

The Taylor trade was 4 years too late. It’d have been better for Celestino not have been rushed it hás been too much too soon for him. Some player would not recover but Celestino will continue to mature & develop at AAA. A little patience will go a long way with Celestino

Julien has to be the 1st one called up depending the need at 1B. The others won’t be called up until Sept.

Kepler isn’t the player of ‘19 because of the juiced ball. Nor is he the player with the shift. He is the no shift player but everyone wants to pay for the preban Kepler. FO is right not selling him cheap. The real Kepler will show up this Spring and he’ll be in demand. Be patient and don’t do anything stupid. In the meantime. He should start.

I thought he played well enough to least get a shot at a debut. This year might be more difficult. He should be good enough to play MLB somewhere. I believe he should get more attention this year at AAA.