Doctor Gast

I like Donaldson but the smart thing is to unload his salary. To unload Donaldson, they'll have to eat a portion of his salary and what we get back won't be much. Unloading Donaldson will mean a down grade at 3rd. To be half way respectable we'll need a decent SS, it'll be a terrible mistake to put Polanco back there. As I stated before our only option is retooling not rebuilding. Our 40 man roster dilemma wouldn't handle the flood of incoming prospects coming from trading off core players

Agreed, I like Arraez but he's at his highest value and with his defense short comings it's practical to trade him. I've advocated trading both him and Maeda but now Maeda's value has dropped tremendously and won't fetch a great trade.

I agree, we have a very good core of players. It'd be a shame trade them away at probably discounted rates and flood our 40 man roster and end up losing a ton of prospects for nothing. We need to sign both Berrios and Buxton and make a run at another '65 or even '87 season. In order to do that we need to do some drastic changes otherwise we'll have another 2021 season. You can't keep on making the same decisions and expect a different result.

In the beginning the Twins had a perfect set up. They brought in Simmons to complement Dobnak high GB rate that should turn into low run production by opponents which translates into wins. The problem is that Dobnak found his new strike out pitch in his new slider. The FO went crazy, they wanted to push his slider and transform him into a SO pitcher. The result was and is to develop his slider, not to capitalize on his efficient sinker in crucial game winning spots. They have him throwing that slider far too much and the opposition is whacking it. They need to allow Dobnak to go back to his efficient sinker and go to his slider only in key situations. Why can't they see that?

We'll have very little to none interest in this group of players. Only players I see any interest drawn is Simmons and Cruz. I don't see us getting any worthwhile trades from them but I see us absolutely and miserably tank as the Twinkies of old. We'll probably have to DFA most of them to reduce payroll. Speaking of reducing payroll we'll need to talk about dumping Donaldson's salary if we can find suiter. Many talk about trading those under contract and those whose arbitration will soon be up. This saddens me greatly, from a highly ranked team optimistic of taking advantage many great deals to a tanking team that will give away their great players at discount. And what are we going to do with the flood of prospects that will come in? We've already lost very good prospects in Baddo, Chalmers and Wells to the Rule 5. How many more better prospects will we lose to teams with better records. We are digging a hole so deep that we can't see the light. I don't blame the players, I blame the management. Their missed opportunities, wrong mindsets and inability to find and initiate good trades that'd take us to the next level. I don't recommend letting go our key players, I recommend letting go our GM

Very interesting article,Cody! It makes sense now that we're basically out of it and TB could be an interesting trade partner. I'm sure they are looking at trading many other players without shame of absolute tanking. We too have a very big 40 man problem. With the flood of possible prospects, the loss of very good prospects will occur.

Great article, Tom! Something that needed to be addressed. Tanking isn't necessarily an answer. Like you said wise trade acquisitions, development and evaluation are essential, couldn't agree with you more. Just expanding some more evaluation. We need to better prioritize what's really is important, to see real opportunities and take advantage of them. Not blinding ourselves with wrong mindsets. We are a team that was a couple of pieces away from going to the big dance. But these wrong mindsets, kept us from opportunities which kept us from winning games which put us in this big hole. I had great expectations for this team. There have been and still will be great deals out there but now we are not in the position to take advantage of them. Instead we'll be handing out great deals with a 40 man that can't even handle our current prospects. The solutions are not easy and need to be drastic. If not addressed don't ever expect a different outcome

It's one thing battling to getting out of last place with hope and being hopelessly in last behind despised Tigers. Simmons keeps us in the game and occasionally winning a close one. Adversely getting blown away when he's not in the game. Hopelessness is a difficult hole to dig out of. And if we're not in the game who'd want to watch that humiliation.

Totally agree with you Bighat. We have the team that can go a long ways, just missing a couple of key pieces. We've been rated above TB but they have out maneuver us the last 2 years. Like I said the damage has been done, it'd take a miracle for us to make the PS this year even if we totally right the ship. But I'm not talking about this year, I'm talking about avoiding the coming Twinkle Era which would be years.

Simmons and his importance to the team has been so underrated by twins fans that who want to correlate bats to defense and never figure range in as defensive importance. Until covid bit, his bat was was close to Arraez. I'd hate to imagine where'd be without him.

1st time I saw Rotsedt (forgive me for slaughtering your the name) I wasn't impressed. He never got set fast enough to give the pitchers a good target. The OF was indeed scary, as Garlic anchored in CF and Astudillo tried to navigate through unfamiliar waters.. When will they realize that bats can't substitute the need for a true CFer. Umpiring was terrible! Uniforms helps to project a vibe team wants to instill. They have accomplished that objective. By bringing back the baby blues, looks like they have brought back the Twinkies Era. Missing opportunities, many wrong mindsets and not having a proactive trading system. The damage has been done, is it too late? I hope not but it'll take drastic measures.

I'd also like to add that I think Baddo needed more time in minors to develop before being called up. Now with Detroit he'll have to develop under fire.

Thank you, Hosken! Appreciate your comment. I think many could see his talent and his left handed bat would've been a great CF asset. The problem is properly managing the 40 man.

Not surprised one bit about Dobnak's successful outing, it was how he was used from the start. If Simmons is on the field he'll be our most reliable starter. Refsnyder is much better than Cave. Cave should be DFA, no one would be stupid enough to take him now. Refsnyder is proof that you can't totally rely on stats. Although I really like Refsnyder, Broxton is a better choice if you can build up his confidence again. Farrell, I hope he can find sustainable success with his changed pitching selection

I suggested Thorpe in the beginning of season to pitch long relief. Still do, this season we need at least 2 long relievers. To keep the starters fresh and not be so depending on the short relief.

It was great to see Dobnak return to his starter role. I wasn't sure he'd return with that unshakable confidence after his misusuage at relieving, but he has. Dobnak is a starter, you have to give him the opportunity to win the game. Baldelli's excuse of not pitching Dobnak was that there was too many close games. That was EXACTLY the time to use the hot Dobnak, coming off a hot ST. That statement, showed a lack of confidence in Dobnak and misplaced confidence in a shaky BP, coming out of ST. If management had used Dobnak in those situations we wouldn't be in the hole that we are in. Dobnak is not an ace, but he's a dependable ground ball pitcher. He's only as good as the infield that supports him. So to judge him you have throw the stats out the window. If you have Simmons in the game, you can usually depend on the offense to score a couple of runs and if the BP can hold and save games; we'll win games. I'd bet on it.

The problem is getting a hit when we really need one. The team seems to be unmotivated except Buxton and maybe Cruz. Is there a reason behind it? I also question validity of WAR. Defense seems underrated and hard to believe we are 4th in WAR at LF. Something is definitely broken.

I agree with you about Cave. He's not worth much. He might pass as a corner OFer starter on a desperate team. If FO and fans don't think he's worth looking for an trading partner, fine. They should have DFA him when they broke camp and open a space for some one else more worthy.

Many teams had looked at early stats of Donaldson, Cruz and Luis Castillo and had given up on them. But one day they were able to put it all together. The team that gave them that opportunity were greatly rewarded. All those previous stats are worthless because they are different players. 2018 Twins were ready to send Buxton down again to the minors because they didn't like his stats, they might have been ready to give up on him, like many fans had. But Rowson knew his potential and put his foot down. Now we need to thank Rowson for his faith in Buxton.Today, I read an article on PIT Richard Rodriguez. When asked what contributed to this season's success? He didn't say I did this or didn't do that. He responded, it was the confidence that manager Sheldon had shown him and the support of the team. I don't care about Broxton's past stats, I only see his potential and how close he is to find himself. Baldelli lost another opportunity to follow Sheldon's example by seeing the potential in Broxton and express confidence in him. Maybe it's not Baldelli's fault but again it could be FO's fault. But whose ever fault it is, it needs to be corrected. Celestino is the near future Buxton's replacement but now Broxton is our best replacement, we have suffered tremendously having no one to adequately to do the job for too long. There are 2 extreme camps on Cave. One is he's a great Buxton's replacement, the other is he's worthless and some times people fluctuate between the 2. The truth is he's an OK LFer and there's worth in that. To obtain a very good closer we'd have to include more players off the 40 man roster which would be even better.

Good question. Any one who needs a corner or 4th OFer. Cave would be worth a decent reliever but I'd go for a good closer and add 1 or 2 additional players. That would alleviate our 40 man problem, for the time being.

Thank you Matthew for your article. All of them could help the Twins. I've been impartial to Richard Rodriguez. He's had a lot of success so far this season which makes him more appealing. Although his 4 seamer is his primary pitch, he has 4 pitches he can go to if needed (change up, slider and sinker). His stock has gone up but 2 or 3 low players could do the trick (more the better to free up our 40 man). PIT could go for a trade because I believe they still have committed to rebuilding and Rodriguez has been on the trading block earlier this season. Also we might have a few low valued players that could interest them.

Broxton should not have been sent down after a good ST but he was so I agree that Broxton should have some MiLB games in before being called up. What makes sense for a veteran that needs MiLB abs doesn't it make more sense that Gordon needs a bunch of abs before being called up but yet that happened 2x. Especially now we actually have games. Cave should eventually be sent down or better yet traded for a closer. Garlic I like because he can be a good PH, a good PH is hard to find.

Agreed. Even in a regular season extending starters is not the solution. In 2019, our rotation was the best in MLB, then our BP blew up. We started to extend our starters especially Gibson (who was suffering from colitis) and Perez (who was transitioning from BP). The BP got straightened out but Gibson and Perez never recovered, Berrios ran out of gas, Pineda and Odorizzi were protected but we lost Pineda to suspension, Leaving only Odorizzi. Odorizzi was not 100%. This year we extended Shoemaker a little and now we are paying the price. Just because we can extend a starter and in the short run and get away with it doesn't mean we should. We need to look at the bigger picture. Let's say extending our starters helps us get to the dance. And the result will be extending our MLB record of # of consecutive PS games lost with our spent pitchers. No thank you! We need to fix our BP another way as soon as possible

I hate to think about this but I've pondered this earlier. If we decide to do this we'll have to totally rebuild so we're looking at not only Buxton but his whole group (Berrios, Kepler,Polanco, Sano and Garver) which I'm sure some would be all in for that. The conclusion I came up with is that we can't. Reason #1- Our big time commitment to Donaldson. We can't trade him, so we'll waste his talent and salary on a rebuilding team. Reason #2- Our 40 man roster would not be able to handle the flood of prospects that would come in. Our 40 man is in deep trouble to lose valuable prospects, the way it is, now and in the future. Just imagine how many great prospects will be lost to the Rule 5 draft? Unbelievably amount. So IMO we are stuck with the hand we have. The problem hasn't been Buxton doesn't want to sign (as I had supposed) but FO not willing to give him a fair offer and now they'll pay through their nose. Even if they don't sign Buxton, I'll still wouldn't want to trade him because he's so fascinating to watch. We still have to confront our 40 man problem.

Thank you so much, Dave! I appreciate it. I like to keep an open mind and observe. Many times there are deeper things to look at other than cold stats.We can agree to disagree without being disagreeable. With the mutual desire to see our team improve.