Doctor Gast

And even more so defensively, looking at LF and CF back up which was too much

Thanks Nash for the interesting article. I was surprised that Sabato was so high. I have to admit that I'm not so excited about bat 1st, DH type prospects because we have so many of them and which doesn't fit a eminent need. I agree w/ the remaining.

I'm surprised that Palacio wasn't mentioned. Although he's not ready, he provides an interesting option since returning to the Twins, he rediscovered his hitting. IMO none in house options are ready. Via FA I like Story or Simmons, depending how much $ we can spend. Trades are trickier to find because any extra SS out there, are rightly loved and kept to play 3B, 2B or sub at SS. Like CF, good SSs are in high demand and hard to find. We thought that we had a log jam in the past at SS because very few SS prospects are true SS and make it to the MLB level. It's insane to consider to return Polanco to SS and Arraez at 2B. Not only will we have defensively the worst midfield duo in MLB, we'll see Polanco's ankles digress and we'll see his offensive #s plummet also. Returning to past mistakes is not a solution in any circumstance.

I'm in Brock's camp but IMO it isn't "if" but must find a defensive-minded CF to back up Buxton. It'd be great if we had a CF like Baddoo who can hit and play CF but we don't. Your list kinda shows this commodity is rare and is in high demand, which makes you scratch your head why they left him unprotected and go after Garlic. On your list I like probably Marisnik and hope he finds his swing. Otherwise try to find a trade like Reynolds (PIT) or K Marte, if you can pry them loose it'd be very expensive in players and prospects.

I had my doubts about Rodon if they expect 5+ innings through out the season. If they've changed their mindset from relying heavily on weak SPing and a failing BP last season to relying heavily on long relief, then we have a chance. We have even a much weaker rotation so far, a steady diet of long relievers made up of rotating AAAA and weak SPs are vital.

TonyO is my 1st and only favorite MLB player and always will be. He was a wonder to watch because he always gave his all. No matter diving for a ball, taking an extra base or hitting the ball. He's been always loyal to this club and spent his life as a Twin. I remember when I told him he was my favorite player, he said I was his favorite fan, which made my day. He was always cordial with his fans, I haven't heard a bad word about him from anyone. He really deserves to be there.

The fact that they signed Buxton is a big plus. With that contract, what took them so long, which casts doubt on their competency. Bundy could be fine if they use him right. We still have a few big holes, #1 SP, #2 SS, #3 CF back up and #4 closer. All these holes I see to be obtained out of house. Not to say some one in house could make that step some time later in the season. So it's a big incomplete. With hopes that they finally put together their 1st big trade while being with us. That they don't wait too long before all the best fits are gone and they have to scramble again to scrape the bottom of the barrel.

I wouldn't trade Lewis in any scenario at this point. Confirming that his present value is well below what his worth to us. Lewis's worth goes beyond his stats, his baseball savvy, his determination, fire and his athleticism are very valuable to the Twins. His ability to be a true SS and CF makes him a true super utility that'll provide much needed depth at these critical positions if he doesn't stick at starting SS. We do need starting pitching and I'd trade any of our top young players except Lewis. IMO Lewis is a player that could stick w/ the Twin throughout his career.

Polanco had a slow 1st half, time for his ankles to fully recover and to reacquaint himself at 2B. 2nd half he took off and next year he'll be even better. Polanco will have a long and glorious career at 2B. We have so many players that can play 2nd but none can compare to Polanco except maybe Lewis or Martin but they are better suited else where. We have an abundance at 2B that we could trade anyone, anyone except Polanco.

I think Larnach has some 1B experience also. I've heard that his arm has much to be desired and his defense isn't that great so a look at 1B is a possibility. Rooker is in that same boat.

I think the fine should be mandatory reducing ticket price, to compensate for their detrimental actions that discourage their fans. Not in some ones kitty.

I'm open to anything that's smart and well evaluated. (OAK) Montas & Bassitt makes sense anything else that makes us contenders I'm all for. I'm not for giving up and throwing all our prospects out to the wolves to sink or tread water. This could destroy their confidence and actually take longer for them to reach their desired level.

Looks like there's a lot that could be gained and nothing to lose. Good FO type deal. An rotational arm if he pans out.

I share your enthusiasm for Lewis. IMO Lewis's injury was by far the biggest blow to the Twins last year. If it hadn't happened, he'd learn SS from the best and there'd be a good possibility he'd be starting this year. But because of the injury, I'd take it easy on him to make sure his knee is 100%. I'd like to add that my feeling is that in 2019 the Twins didn't like Lewis's swing and was tinkering with it, therefore he had a poor showing. At AFL they left him alone and he became MVP.

We have great depth at catcher so it makes sense to trade Jeffers for much needed pitching. IMO it's counter productive to have both Garver & Jeffers as RH hitters. Garver is a more established hitter and better arm plus some teams would love the years of control that they'd have with Jeffers. LH hitter Rortvedt is our catcher of the near future, I believe his hitting will come around, he'll need just a little bit more time in AAA. So if we trade Jeffers we'll need a Castro type to fill in. Our other minor league catchers are pretty good too.

I can only think of considering positions where we need help which is #1 pitching #2 short term SS and #3 CF back up so the only bad contract I'd like is Price. IMO $100M floor seems high but yet our recent budget has been $130M so what's the problem, am I missing something?

Thanks Andrew for putting this together. Killebrew, Gaetti and Dozier are some of my favorites that didn't make your list but still like your list.

Great bunch of pitchers. Also were curious about Pascual, Kaat and Grant.

What we gain would be much better than what we lose, in that trade to cover a big hole. If we go after Story, it wouldn't hurt having Lewis and Martin as super utility players. The depth that they provide would be like or even better as LA did with Taylor and Hernandez. They would be invaluable.

Absolutely agree with you Cody. The absolute worse possible solution to SS is to move Polanco there and revert back to Arraez at 2B. Whoever we put at SS needs to be durable to keep Polanco at 2B, any other attributes are icing on the cake. Of coarse a Trevor Story isn't bad.

Here again I'll state that if we're looking at a full season, we need to throw out the shortened 2020 season. But my guess is that they know Bundy can't pitch a full season, he's not a work horse. So going along with Nick Nelson's earlier article that this FO is not looking for work horses that will get you at least 5 innings/ games through out the season. They are looking at a bunch of openers and long relievers that'll give you 3 innings/ game. Trying to extend Bundy to pitch 5+ innings/ game would have a 2021 result but under the opener/ long relief scenario IMO FO believes they could expect the 2020 Bundy. They'll need a lot of pitchers to fill out this scheme so I suppose they're looking at a few AAAA pitchers that can rotate from St. Paul to the club. I'm not against this idea because you need to keep the pressure off the starters & short relief. Over relying on short relief we normally see a break down some time in the season which puts extra pressure on the starters to pitch longer than they should. Hopefully if this is their idea it'd help us get through the season and into the Post Season rested. So we can better compete there. Still I'd like to have 1 or 2 pitchers that could go at least 5 ininnings.

Thanks Jamie, I see OAK as a very viable trade partner. I like the Montas trade the most, I also like the Bassitt trade. But I wouldn't want to trade Garver for Manaea

Like most 2020 success stories, I don't trust them. Like wise Bundy 2020 is an outlier than a realistic evaluation. I feel the same way of Bundy that I did for Bailey, Shoemaker and Happ. Very low ceiling pitcher, a waste of roster spot. I'll eat crow if I'm wrong but it doesn't look good to me. I would've been very happy with an Archer signing, he has great upside is a perfect fit for the Twins if they babied him much like the way they did to Pineda. I'd be happier if they had done no trades going into CBA than this. Now I'm bummed.

Totally agree with TopGunn. I'm not only looking at the player's value now but also his potential upside value. There I've listed Arraez at the top, he's not needed at any position and we can still trade him on the Tony Gwinn hype. He's only a one tool guy and we need to trade him before he bottoms out, the rest I see more upside. #2 I'd list the DH group, the ones that have a good bat and weak glove. Although these don't have much value there will be an opportunity when the DH is adapted. FO needs to work their butts off trying to sprinkle them through out trades to alleviate this horded commodity, to help free up and balance out our roster. To me Kepler is a golden glover at RF. If Kepler finally adjusts to the non-lively ball he could easily double his value but although we need highly defensive depth at CF and SS, RF isn't an issue. Because of our need for high end pitching and his trouble to adjust, I'd place Kepler #3 and use him injunction w/ others to obtain the pitching we need. At catching we have depth with Garver, Jeffers, Rodvedt and others in the minors that are overlooked. Having 2 RH hitting catchers is counter productive, Jeffers because of his potential is baked into his value and of his arm, I'd place him #4. Here I wouldn't trade him unless we had a great deal that's important to the success of the club. If we do trade him, we need a Castro type to fill in because most of our depth isn't ready. #5 are our pitching prospects. Here I'd hate to trade any of them because you can't have enough pitching. But I can't help but to do this because most important deals would require this. #6 At the deadline, I'd take a long look at Donaldson and Sano. If Miranda is ready, I'd trade Donaldson. Sano is a difficult to figure out. Here is where I'd like the FO focus on not overpaying low ceiling dumpster divenees.