Doctor Gast

Very interesting article but I disagree that last year was a inferior rotation. When the BP were pitching over their heads the rotation were able to pitch fantastic but when Blake folded, the BP folded which the rotation had to pitch extended innings. Pineda & Odorizzi were kept on limited innings so they fared better. But Gibson & Perez were not when the desperately needed to be so their #s took a nose dive through out the 2nd half. All because we didn`t have the pitching depth to plug in young arm which were ready. This year we should have plenty of depth. The rotation should have plenty of rest. But I share your concerns. Hill has the stuff if his treatment is successful. Those who think that Maeda will transform into an impact pitcher that`ll pitch constantly 7 innings are delusional, besides all he`ll need to adapt to in coming here. I don`t have much faith in Bailey or Chasin

Looks like Kirloff & Larnach are MLB ready, too bad there isn`t any room. Wade looked good in the outfield. Gordon, I wonder if has problems w/ nerves. I believe he`ll improve in AAA this season but doubt he`d be ready for the bigs

Hrbek & Gaetti were a wonderful duo not only offensively but defensively. Offensively Donaldson & Sano are capable of blowing the lid off this thing

If we are forced for some reason in the near future need a long term center fielder replacement (heaven forbid) or any other position & need to trade. For goodness sake DON`T TRADE ANY MORE OUR YOUNG ARMS.

Hopefully there`s no rush getting him back, as long as he`s stretched out before Oct.

Unbelievable, the only one I`ve heard of is Molina. Very promising!

The pundits have MN behind HOU, how far behind I don`t know. They had #9 HOU & #10 BOS but now I see it was before Maeda trade

Yes, he`s fine the way he is, he doesn`t have to be a home run hitter. Hopefully he`ll lead off & put a lot of pressure the pitchers to get the ball over the plate for the Bomba Squad to hit him in.

Looks like NYY is smart enough to be interested in Archer. Why couldn`t the Twins have taken advantage of the opportunity that was theirs for the taking? Archers up side is top of a rotation.Why do the Twins chase after these losers?

I always was pushing for trade over FA especially when we have a log jam at corner outfield & potential 40 man dilemma. Maeda isn`t my 1st choice but he`s a polished pitcher who we can`t depend on him to constantly pitch 7 innings per game. We can limit his pitch count per game but yet try to get him in the rotation more often. I`m not against Maeda but I didn`t like branding Graterol BP & then trading him for Maeda. Maeda contract is a more economical than any FA but he wasn`t cheap

There is no way the current trio could make me forget any trio w/ Johan Santana

Garver does a great job in conditioning which has kept him from any serious injury. But like you said catching is a demanding & wearing position. Avila is a fine back up & it`s nice to have Astudio as a 3rd. Jeffers & Rortvedt should be held on to no matter what for near future back ups

I see your concern but we aren`t famously strong in pitching. On the contrary, our starting rotation need a lot of support from our promising young arms as much as we can, especially w/ Baldelli `s philosophy of plenty of rest. Last year we had a pretty good BP but when Blake folded our whole BP folded & the effect was felt thru out the rotation because we didn`t have any ready young arms in waiting. We can`t depend on old come back pitchers to sustain us & there`s always a threat of injury. We have an excellent pitching development now so we need to develop our young pitchers to the max. not trade them away. Everybody wants & need young arms, I can`t see doing the Cubs or anyone else a favor by offering our young arms only ending up shooting ourselves in the foot. Celestino & even Lewis would be a much better solution in the near future

You know when I 1st got married, I was looking at older homes, some were terrible but others had good foundations & well built to buy. I could look at a house & see the potential of that house. I knew a lot of friends that did fantastic jobs on old homes. I`d dream of little projects that could really make those houses great but all my wife could see was mess & dirt. Needless to say we never bought any old homes. The point I`d like to make is some are seers others are not. There are some who see things which I cannot, which I respect. I see Archer breaking out this year, if I were FO my 1st external deal would be call Sheldon & say let`s get this done.At that time some valued Severino as a trade for Archer ,now it`d take Rosario because more people are starting to see his potential. Some can look at some bad stats & say the player is broken & sometimes they are right but some can eye a player w/ bad stats & see some greatness just needs some work on mechanics,mindset or etc. I have faith in our pitching coach & staff hopefully they have a say in who they can get to work on so it`s up to them. But I still like to look at old houses

It`s nice to have money like NYY to be able buy expensive, proven, developed, polished players. These exceptional players I will convey them as "diamonds". Most teams have to settle for what`s left over in FA or try to scout, draft, develop & trade for prospects that have great potential to become "diamonds" or what I`ll call "diamonds in the rough". They are & should be valued & hard to come by because teams don`t want to give them up. Some get lucky get a prospect which quickly shine & develop into stars other prospects need a lot of patience. Stars like Cruz & Donaldson developed later in life. When a "diamond in the rough" has a set back & develop slower some teams & fans are ready to devalue & dispense of them which normally proves regrettable. Of course a true evaluation is needed to determine if indeed you have a diamond or a lump of coal. But once it`s determined you have to be patient. I believe Romero could be a "diamond in the rough". Pertaining to pitching teams like Cleveland & LA have a system to eye & develop "diamonds in the rough". Cleveland like us are low market they never are buyers of "diamonds" but always sellers, which produces resources to obtain more "diamonds in the rough". LA & Cleveland hold onto their "diamond in the roughs". This is what I aspire for the Twins, w/ Wes Johnson to obtain & develop these "diamonds in the rough" where we have a steady influx of aces & cull out when needed.We need to hold onto our "diamonds in the rough" like LA so I was disappointed when we traded Graterol. LA really develop their pitchers so when you get a pitcher from them, they aren`t much up side for improvement. On the other hand a team like PIT does not, so a pitcher from them, there is a lot of up side for improvement. Therefore a pitcher like Archer I am very high on. He could have been very cheap but now his stock is constantly rising. People look at him & say look at his stats even at Tampa they weren`t that impressive. At Tampa, everyone saw his potential so PIT got him & couldn`t develop him. With new coaching at PIT, Archer will take off but not as much as if we had him here at MN, he should have been pursued. Jon Gray is another "diamond in the rough" which his stats don`t show his true value. At Colorado the ball really carrys so they stress GP% & pitchers are limited to that style. MN has a lot of very good pitching prospects but I featured Romero, Graterol, Archer & J Gray because they are under valued. Although I enjoy watching "diamonds" pitch, I get excited about "diamond in the rough" because that`s where the greatest value & opportunities lay.

Berrios & Odorizzi are the bright spots of our rotation! We expect a very good year from both of them

Buxton has so much potential! When he`s in the game things happen, we are a different team when he`s in the the game, a real impact player. I believe he`ll figure it all out & become that great player.

Our line up is definitely the best. Our biggest problem last year was the BP folding before midway, there they couldn`t support the starting rotation & became overtaxed. We shouldn`t have that problem this year, they should be one of the best. Defense has improved, how much? It`s yet to be determined but we`ll fall short comparatively to others. How we fare depends on how we click off the bat & maintain it.

Although ST games don`t count, they are still very meaningful. What we`ve seen so far are very promising!

I wasn`t too surprised by Garver`s rise last year, like you you stated it really started at the end of `18. Garver is mature & dedicated so I don`t expect a real decline this year. So I too was shock at Garver`s projections for this year.

A prior article discussed a declining in Berrios overall velocity, where it was a concern. I thought to myself how could this be? Berrios is a strong young man ready to enter into his prime. But this article shed some light on the subject, where he was over conditioning. This deep massage & combination of rest should help a lot.

Has anyone heard the truth " a chain is only as strong as it`s weakest link"? That`s what this article is all about. It doesn`t matter how much you strengthen the strongest link. Even so I like very much Donaldson & can`t wait to see the effect he`ll have on the Twins but the chain will still break in the same place

Next year will be interesting. I hope Lewis takes that big step this year, we are weak in depth up the middle & his athleticism would solve a lot of problems. The way things are right now is Lewis get called up as an super utility player

I agree we need to keep our focus on what is important to advance & be determined to achieve that. Last year we had the most prolific offense in baseball & where did that get us. If qualifying for the PS is our goal we`ll meet that. If we become delusional on what we need to do to advance the result will be the same. My hope is that they finally pull the trigger when the deadline comes along

I see both get plenty of playing time. If Astudillo is able to be more discipline at the plate, I see him breaking camp on the roster. Astudillo is more flexible, it`s great to have a 3rd catcher & he`s a great contact hitter. Cave could start on many teams & given the chance, could be pretty good