Doctor Gast

I like Cody Morrisette's hustle and ability to spray his hits all over the field. Richard Fitts seems to be a solid pitcher, if he'd be available

It's a tough call, they are pretty close. Right now I'd have to agree with you and pick Duran. I trust the competition of our top pitching prospects will help push themselves to the next level.

Polanco should be the next Dozier in time. I also grade him an A

He was a great player and great guy! His goal was to take the Twins to the World Series. The Twins haven't made it but he did. Wished he could have finished his career as a Twin with a few more years and a World Series ring. He was my favorite Twin the time he was with us. Wish him well

I'm afraid maybe SD could be going down the same path of Cubs, R Soxs and CO. Where they bite of more than what they can chew and pay for it for years without little to show for it. They might compete this year but it could jump up and bite them later.

I like Duran's stuff better but like what you said Cody, what makes Balazovic maybe a little better is his ability to hide the ball. That deception gives him an edge. I'm looking forward to seeing both Balazovic and Duran later this season.

I think we have a good chance of getting to the post season but it'll be tough to regain the central title. Twins has improved overall but CWS has a pretty good team and their very good rotation has gotten better. If Broxton can come through with his hitting and if everyone can stay relatively healthy we got a good shot of progressing in the playoffs. Our defense has greatly improved and our BP has improved, hopefully if we can pick up an impact arm before the trading deadline and improve our clutch hitting, we can win the Championship. I'm optimistic

You are in our prayers, Mike. Wish you a speedy recovery!

IMO 1B is the best place for Arraez, I'd like Sano transition back to 3B whenever needed because he's our best option. They should play Arraez in LF only when absolutely necessary, because there is a lot of ground to cover. I agree that that addition and subtraction of WAR is misleading. The subtraction of Rosario's WAR will be supplemented by Kiriloff and the addition of Simmons will increase the WAR of many players and pitchers. Although I'm not a fan of the addition to the rotation. I believe they are counting on and want to somewhere down the line figure in Duran and Balazovic. And the BP I believe is much better than last year. The way to look at it is, have they upgraded where needed? Have they plugged the holes? Have they met the budget? I believe in the most part is yes

Cavaco is still young, having a poor age 18 pro debut is understandable, there's a lot to adjust to. I believe patience is the best route to take with him. He'll come around in his own time. I'm high on him, as long as his defense is remains strong, his hitting will come around.

Enjoyed your article, Jamie. I was pleasantly surprised by the addition of Simmons and moved Polanco to 2nd. This greatly improved chances to advance in PS. The area where IMO we need to greatly improve is CF back up. Every year we hope that Buxton stays healthy but every year He plays less than we expect and we lose a good majority of the games when he's absent. This year is no different, we hope he stays healthy and pumps out WAR. But we need to finally be prepared, Cave is a good LF backup but he doesn't cut it as CF back up. Even if Buxton stays healthy we still need a decent backup to regularly give Buxton a break. Hopefully Broxton can step up otherwise we need to look elsewhere. My hope is that we field a championship team.

Not really excited about anything out there.

He's back! And he'll do everything that he can to help the club. Welcome back, Cruz! Keep pumping out those dingers

Sands and Urbina have a lot of potential but still have some development yet. Booker I see as a RH platoon in LF at the start of the season depending on how Broxton does. Celestino, I have a lot of hope in, even with that high leg kick.

I've been advocating for awhile to plunder the Pirates. I like Rodriguez but as the main trade it doesn't make a lot of sense because for me the 2nd motive to trade is trim away some unnecessary baggage from our 40 man roster. For Rodriguez it could take a lower prospect even up, which is alright but I'd rather traded for Musgrove or Taillon & tack on Rodriguez, which would include a few more prospects from the 40 man. I`d rather do this than sign Happ. It would've been cheaper & more realistic since our division is dominately RH hitters Now my hopes are on a trade w/ the Reds or LAD before the deadline for a high starter

Most definitely a win/ win/ win. Dodgers wanted Mookie Betts, unload discontented Maeda and win the World Series. They done all of the above and got Graterol out of the deal. I'd say it was because of Maeda that we came out on top of the division. But to many, for the Twins to have a successful season they needed to win a PS serie or at least a game. In this aspect the Twins fell short. Look at last year it was a win/ win. Dodgers gave up a pretty good reliever & got one back w/ a future. We got a runner up CY winner so we came out ahead. Everything worked out perfect for Maeda in 2020. #1 short season- he was not drained. #2- the hitters weren't used to his different delivery. #3- very weak AL and NL Central divisions, the CY winners and the runners up in both AL and NL were from the central divisions. #4- covid, this pandemic seemed affected many hitters but not Maeda. #5- favor of FO, making sure he didn't face the line up more than 3x, have his allotted rest between starts and Wes Johnson expertise. #6 (this should be #1) He was highly motivated to prove himself. Being a normal year and hitters more familiar w/ him, he'll have some regression, he's not an ace as some profess. He'll continue to be a good pitcher. Graterol, has an electric fastball but he could locate it higher. He needs a quality 3rd pitch to become an awesome starter. Dodgers have given him some opportunity to start but they aren't in a hurry to develop him. Dodgers, even with Maeda's new found success, would not want to take back this trade. I like Maeda but I was disappointed the FO traded away Graterol. Dodgers were motivated to trade Maeda, at the end they would've accepted a couple of bats instead. We came out ahead in round 1, next 2 rounds pretty even , round 4+ we lose

I won't put a lot of stock in PECOTA. They could be off on a lot of things. I don't like the shortening of games. The players need those games to ramp up. Love that photo of Kirby, getting ready to crank on a ball with that high leg kick.

I'm a big fan of Astudillo. Last part of 2019, pitchers figured him out. He needed 2020 to adjust but of the shortened season and him coming down with covid he never had a chance. He was put in situations that he had no way to come out on top. 2021, he should have time to figure it out. He's a great contact hitter once he finds discipline.

I like your bold ratings but I differ in opinion with especially the top 4. I liked Hicks a lot when he came up. He was a strong 5 tool player. My later assumption of him was that he wasn't a student of the game and not driven. I don't think he studied the opposing pitchers or adjusted his swing. At NYY they did everything for him. That's where Lewis is different. He is driven and a student of the game, he's hungry to better himself. He had a poor 2019 which he addressed as mental, he corrected it by gaining the cream of the prospects AFL's MVP and noted as the best hitter at St. Paul in 2020. Some don't like his high leg kick, many didn't like Puckett or Donaldson's high leg kick also. With his 5 tool talent and the Twins need, I place him #1. Jeffers and Larnach are out of college that's why they pass through the minors so quickly, some college prospects go right into the pros. Larnach and Kiriloff are close but I rate Kiriloff ahead. Most ratings go by potential. Jeffers has a very high floor but his ceiling isn't much higher but I agree with you he could be ranked higher.

My thoughts also

Thanks Cody for digging into this I was thinking the same thing. Of course I'd prefer May then Gonsolin. Their price will be high, Lewis is too valuable to consider and I'd want to keep Kiriloff, I wouldn't want to trade anyone who's under valued. But anyone else could be on the table. LAD is motivated to trade because of glut of SPs and of the luxury tax (they haven't signed their 3B which will add to it). They love to have a glut of SP but this ridiculous. I'm sure they'd focus on dumping their Price. They'd probably pay anyone to take him. If the Twins are interested they could also ask for Chris Taylor. Like Maeda they are very motivated to trade. Love to get May or Gonsolin (FO needs to drive a hard bargain and not cave again) but I'd settle for Price. This could be a great opportunity if FO could drive a hard bargain

I give the Twins the edge but it'll be close. That's why we need to close any holes. FO has done a good job so far this year but I'm still concerned about our Buxton backups. When Buxton isn't playing we lose a good majority of our games. We need to find a different way to limit those loses

I like your article and rational. FO needs to more involved in the trading market for one reason is to have control over the 40 man roster so we don't lose valuable prospects through Rule 5. And I think that's where real value is at. I've been interested in all 4 of your selections plus Castillo. All of them are on my radar. I'd rate them 1. Castillo 2. Gallen 3. Marquez 4. Gray 5. Hendrix Based on pretty much by your prerequisites. Trade wise it'll be costly for any one of them but will be well worth the cost if done right. I think even if these teams are not competitive any more they'll still resist trading them away. Gray or Hendrix being most likely to be traded

I like Wade, he was our best CF replacement. I'm happy for him that he should get more playing time, wish him well

Thank you Parker for breaking that down for us. The acquisition of Simmons coupled with Colome was great