Doctor Gast

Nash Walker voiced my thoughts. Why would the FO want to extend Paddack? and why would Paddack want to delay FA? Because '23 is a wash, he's still recovering from the surgery and trying to figure out where his arm is at. '24 will be up & down trying to get his control back & just trying to adjust to the effect the surgery. But in '25 that extra year, Paddack has a better chance to prove in what he can do. Paddack & the FO are betting that he'll shine. In that case it's a win/win, Paddack goes into FA with a good season & FO can qualify trading a proven RP pitcher for 3 wasted years of Paddack & Pagan (my thoughts)

I agree Baldelli is a pretty good player manager. He gets along pretty well with his players & makes everyone feel relaxed. FO hired him because of his analytics & that he'd copy the pitching formula that made TB a great pitcher team. And he has done that, the problem is we're not the TB Rays. The TB Rays have always had one of best rotation in MLB and a BP stable full of impact arms. Even while Baldelli is trying to imitate TB with a weaker rotation, TB still pitches fewer innings. That's because of TB's superior short relief. The problem with Baldelli is that he's too analytical. He needs to get his head out from the numbers, take a step back, try to see where the problem is & try to resolve it, instead of keep plowing through with the same formula. If the rotation & short relief can't cut it, supplement with long relief. You might say it's not him it's FO, still they're joined at the hip. I have other things against him like not focusing on fundamentals but that could be FO again. I agree that analytics are important. But personally I prefer a manager that goes by his gut & have a bench coach that can help him out with the analytical side. I'd say the same thing about the head pitching & hitting coaches.

I'm finally able to access TD. I love Sano's strength & quickness, he had a lot of potential to be a HR king. This organization has a fetish about "moonshots" especially after '19. They haven't been able to fix him but IMO has added to his problem. I think the absence of Cruz & injuries last year hasn't help either. A few days ago I listened to a NYY podcaster that blamed the Yankees for ruining potential power sluggers like Sanchez & Torres by over tweaking their swing, thus losing their beautiful natural swing. The Twins haven't been able to fix Sanchez, he got worse. They weren't able to fix Sano & I don't think they can fix Gallo. They wasted the money that they could have been used elsewhere, taken away ABs that should be given to our own, took a roster spot for a much needed RH OF and maybe forced to away Kepler in a bad trade.

Fundamentals were horrid. That's includes base running & bunting. Health management was worse. Too much stress on BP & rotation due to ignoring long relief. Players playing hurt which led to losing players. Although part of our problem was bad luck most of it was due to poor management. I agree with TFFL that you create your own luck. IMO our INF was pretty good until we lost Lewis then Polanco. 1B leaves something to be desired but 1B isn't a crucial position & hopefully Kiriloff will return strong as well eventually a heathy & quicker Julien. The addition of Farmer has greatly increased our INF depth. Nash Walker presented that our greatest weakness is corner OF. Even w/ the addition of Gallo & the glut there, we are ranked very low in MLB WAR. IMO Larnach & Kepler will bounce back & Gordon will take another step that will help out but Walker suggested another RH bat. Catcher was ranked one of the worse until we obtained Vazquez which brought us up to average. CF, SS & BP was ranked the highest.

Don't trade Kepler, his trade value is down, we won't get anything for him. Due to the shift ban, Kepler will get his swing back & his offensive #s will look much better. At that point we'll see how Larnach will have progressed. Gallo main problem isn't the shift, it's his SOs. So IMO Gallo is going down the same path as Sano & Sanchez (lot of potential but can't get out of their rut). I really don't want him take away ABs away from Gordon. I'd trade Gallo as soon as possible for whatever lottery ticket. So to start the season, I'd have Buxton, Gordon & Kepler with Gallo as 4th OF (I'd rather have Larnach). If Kiriloff is ready I'd put him at 1B. Celestino, Larnach & Wallner to AAA, due to injury or trade they'll be called up.

Thank you Lou for a synopsis of the Flavine reign. Boras seeking them out to make the original deal, got things rolling. I agree that Flavine's focus on getting Correa back was a factor in '23 but the odds of Correa returning was very very low. The fact that Correa actually came back wasn't due to Flavine's maneuvering but was that he was suppose to be here.

Very happy for Cutch & the Pirates, it's good for the game. Hope he has a record year to go out on. Pirates may surprise you this year.

You never know, I hope so. Maybe he'll end up in the BP.

Maybe they could move in the wall like DET did, while they're at it.?

Do you think as hitters get to know him. he'll have some recession this year? Even if he improves his walks.

I agree with Nashville that we could make it happen with this rotation/ BP. But only if we establish a strong long relief/ spot SP corps of Maeda, Ober with Varland, SWR & Winder plus throw in Sands & Dobnak, depending on how they do. IMO this the best way, because it takes stress from rotation & BP plus it eases these spot SP/ long RPs into the starting rotation w/o over stretching them. But Baldelli is stuck on TB formula of SP= 5 innings + BP= 1 inning + BP= 1 inning + BP= 1 inning + BP= 1 inning + BP= 1 inning. Of course SP sometime goes 6 & sometime we go into extra innings, on average that's it. So we need to be more like TB by having SPs that can go at least 5 regularly and a stable full of impact short RPs. Thus we absolutely need another front-line pitcher and MIA is willing to deal & I'd like any from their list. Trading on the offseason is less messy than deadline trading. I don't want to trade any of our athletic prospects Lewis, Lee, Martin or even Julien because their future value will be much higher & worth to the team. Kepler, Larnach & Kiriloff are at a low point, IMO they could double their trade value in a short time. I like Arraez but if we want to compete under Baldelli, we need a front-line pitcher and Arraez is the best trade candidate. Why? Because our greatest glut right now is corner OF/ 1B/ DH. Of that group Arraez has the highest trade value which won't get any higher & will decrease. Arraez is expendable, we have a plethora of great hitters that can even play a better 1B. Why not put Arraez at 2B & trade Polanco? Because Polanco when he's allowed to play healthy is solid at 2B where Arraez has no range & will be a disaster there. Arraez is a OB machine especially facing RHPs, but he normally can't beat out an INF hit, take an extra base or steal one nor score on a short OF fly. Polanco is a very good clutch switch hitter and a better runner. I'm not not against trading Polanco, eventually Lewis will take his spot. But not now.

He'll be our greatest SS. He has a lot to prove to the rest of MLB. We can surprise MLB by making the post season. From there we can let the "magic" happen, maybe win another WS? If we are willing to make the necessary sacrifices.

Getting him off the 40 man. They can bring him up when they need him. If the Twins hadn't gotten Gallo, I'd be all for to sign a McCutchen.

Garlick will pass waivers & rejoin the Twins.

When you are determining who to trade, you have to trade high. So right now it'd be #1 Arraez, he's not getting any higher in trade value & he's dispensable. #2 Jeffers, his trade value has been steadily dropping we should trade him before he's worthless. He's not our future & we have no one in our system. We have to trade for a legit MLB ready catcher prospect. PIT has 2, E Rodriguez would be a great option. #3 Wallner, He doesn't have much more upside. We have a glut of corner OF lefty bat/ 1B/ DH. I don't see him much more than DH. #4 Gallo, a mistake that should be resolved as soon as he's available. #5 Kepler, he shouldn't be included in a trade right away unless it's for a comeback candidate like himself (Montas or Marquez) otherwise hold onto him until his value return to normal. We extend Gray, we keep Gordon (because he's too valuable to us), we keep Farmer until Lewis is 100%. If we need a 40 man spot, trade Pagan. Larnach & Kiriloff trade value is low, hold unto them.

It was a nice play but IMO it doesn't come close to the impact on the leg that Lewis experienced when he made that catch and that many good OFers make regularly.

Just because you want something to be so, doesn't mean it actually is. Just because you think that it'd be convenient to have Lewis play OF doesn't mean that you can ignore the good possibility that he could very likely get seriously hurt. Running full blast, leaping and coming down at that angle on that leg regularly, you can count on something will happen to someone who has had 2 knee surgeries. Why risk it? You may know absolutely nothing about electricity. But if you put your finger in a electric outlet & get a jolt. Even though you know nothing about electricity, you have the common sense to not to do it again.

It wasn't meant to be. The excitement was there, although it was restrained.

Agree with you Weitz, although Julien is questionable at 2B (not that he can't grow into that position) he's better profiled at 1B.

INF is much different than INF. The trajectory & velocity of a ball where you run & jump like that in the INF, I don't think is possible. Any flyballs to the OF that INFers handle are bloopers. Also Lewis wasn't put in the OF was because we lacked bodies. At that time we had ample amount of capable OFers. Immediately after Lewis went down, Miranda was brought in to help out at 3B/ 1B. That should have been the role of Lewis plus he could have subbed also at SS & 2B w/o needing to go to the OF to get his ABs. I'm not an expert in this kind of sports medicine. But I have this gut feeling like you get when you are exposed to a dangerous condition that something bad is going to happen. And the fact he got hurt so quickly proves to me that it wasn't a fluke. That it was a rational outcome of a proposed situation

Great idea Glunn! I've thought the same thing, surprized that why more hasn't been done pertaining to this. How safe was that old baggy wall in the Metrodome?

I was impressed with everybody but especially Joe. It was great to see ownership this involved with the team. I could feel his excitement.

Thank you, I appreciate the correction & support

2023- there is no rush Martin & Lee aren't on the 40 man and Lewis will need time to get his legs under him in AAA. After that he can take over the INF utility role and we can trade Farmer. 2024- Polanco is traded, Lewis is at 2B, Lee is platoon 3B/ INF utility, Miranda platoon 3B/ 1B and Martin is OF utility. I love the fact besides that Lee's so athletic is also that he is a switch hitter that'll be very valuable to Twins especially if we trade Polanco. Martin's stock went way down when they try to tinker with his swing. After he ditched that idea he started to take off again. Absolutely don't trade him now! I can't stress enough Don't Put Lewis in The OF! I was completely against it after his 1st surgery, but after his 2nd I'm venomously against it. After continually watching Lewis's CF accident on TD, I realized that he didn't hurt his knee crashing into the wall. He hurt it by running full blast then leaping to catch the ball and as he came down on that leg that's when he hurt his knee. How can Lewis not run full blast & jump to catch a ball & be in the OF w/o getting hurt? Losing Lewis over 2 1/2 years due to these accidents is an absolute shame. Losing Lewis for good is a down right tragic & absurd. Right now we are thin at 3B, 2B & SS but have a tremendous glut at the corner OF/ 1B/ OF positions. Julien also will fall in this category, making Arraez the most sense to trade because he's at his peak value and he's redundant.