Doctor Gast

FO basically put the chance in Kiriloff's hand and it didn't work out. I think Kiriloff will become the starting LF soon enough.

So you are telling me that Cave has out performed Broxton in defense, running, hitting and slugging this spring training? Then you need to throw your indicators out the window.I understand that he lost himself for years without ever showing any sign of his old self. But it's evident to me that he's found himself besides being wiser and more mature. So I'm not interested in any stats during his lost years Thank you for informing me about Broxton not having a player's option but that was understood when I said that he was Buxton insurance because otherwise he'd be gone. I didn't realize that this was discussed in the Kiriloff article although I thought about writing this there. I just believed that this subject is worth discussing in a specific thread.

In the beginning of spring training related to LF, Baldelli said he was going to bring the best w/ him to start the beginning of the 2021 season. He was talking about Kiriloff but the the truth should still pertain. Keon has proven that he is more than able to come up with team. All indications points to Cave as the starting LF and main replacement for Buxton but is he the best selection? Broxton has clearly shown he's by far better in each category than Cave. I get it that Broxton isn't on the 40 man roster and we'll use him as Buxton insurance. The 40 man is very tight and it'd be hard to justify bumping anyone out to find room for him, especially since Law is pitching well and is out of options. But can we afford not bringing him up? Twins pride themslves about being so analytical, so lets look at a very complicated stat call wins and losses. https://www.startribune.com/twins-record-suffers-with-byron-buxton-injured/512919562/ I couldn't find any exact records of Buxton throughout his career about this subject but this article by Sid Hartman gives us an idea on what they could be. When Buxton is playing CF we win about 2x as many games as we lose, when his substitutes play there we lose about 2x more games than we win. This stat not only show how great Buxton is defensively but also how inferior his replacements are. Of all his replacements Cave is the worst, it has been announced that he'll be his main replacement this year. Why does this matter? This matters because CWS has been predicted to win the divsion by many pundits. On paper CWS look very good and we need to win as many games as possible because it'll be very close. If we lose the division, we should make the WC then more than likely we'll face our nemise NYY. I'd like the honor of winning the division and missing the Yanks. When Broxton wouldn't be playing LF, he'd close the gap between Buxton & his subs at CF& he could PR & be defensive replacements in crucial games. All this means many more wins. So you see we can't afford not to bring Broxton up to start the season.

I dicovered BTV (baseball trade values) last year, I like to go on there and play around w/ trades. You can argue some on some trade values because we all (including teams) have our biases and over value some players. BTV IMO give unbias trade values based on talent, years of control and salary. Gordon trade value last year was a little over 5, I imagine it was a bit higher 2 years ago, now he's valued at around 1. Like you know Gordon has a pedigree, was drafted high and many fans had high hopes for him that could give him some value to some teams. Normally I wouldn`t trade him one to one, I'd include him with other higher valued players.

If you read my other posts, you'd know that I wouldn't offer worthless players in a trade. I agree with you that GMs wouldn't be interested unless they see something that others don't. To rephrase myself, I'd trade 2 or more lesser value players for a greater valued player. Ideally from an excess area for an area of need. Teams do that all the time. That is how I'd help make room and improve the quality of the 40 man.

Only that he recently got married. They still eye him as their near future closer.

Thanks Andrew for the positive news. Cruz, Berrios, Polanco and the BP have erased any negative doubt pertaining to them. Kepler will come around, he just needs to find his groove. It concerned me that he played CF in the prior game. He should have been left in RF so he could focus on his hitting and feast on BAL pitching, instead of adjusting to CF.

Cave or Kiriloff haven't performed well. Rooker and Garlic have hit well in ST. Twins said they wanted to bring the best from ST, so that means that they should bring up Broxton. He has shown that he can hit as well playing great defense and speed. His talents will be very useful for us in LF, CF subbing, PR and late innings defensive sub. I'd leave the rest to Twins politics

It's nothing like what I said. When I state superior I don't mean elite, I mean better. Maybe that is what confused you. Read the text again and replace superior with better, later think about it then you can understand the point I'm making.

I saw a report earlier which they didn't know the extent of the injury. I was thinking the same thing.

Understood, I'm not discarding anyone at this point. I agree we'll need maybe 7 starters to begin the season. Piggyback at least Happ and another for long relief. I also agree that we shouldn't put any stock on 2020. I'm just expressing my evaluation so far this ST. And that I'm very impressed with Dobnak, if managed properly he could have a very productive season.

Weird, Broxton probably thinks everyone should be as fast as him.I'd love to have 2 open spots on the 40 man for both Broxton and Law, especially since Law is out of options.

I really like Law, he has a shot. PIT had a lot of great under developed pitching I was hoping to plunder some of it. Strange only pitcher we picked up was only Waddle, a PIT discard. Yet he could turn out to be a pretty good pitcher. But still my vote goes to Broxton. Garlic, Rooker and Broxton are pretty close, the best depends on which hitting category you are looking at. But if we look beyond hitting to defense, speed and being a true CF to sub Buxton. Broxton should be our hands down selection for 4th OF Another great article Tom. I was able to see the video of Broxton scoring from 1st on a single by Cruz (he made it look easy) but I haven't been able see his triple. So Tom, I'd like a favor, if you have access to it, could you access it here? I'd really like to see it! Thank you!

2020 was a terrible year, I think it'll take a little extra time for them to find their rhythm. But they will all come around eventually.

I agree with the gang. I like Smeltzer but younger arms are going to past. He could still be valuable to a different team so pull the trigger.

Thank you BSLinPA! Yes, was a mental slip. I was called away and couldn't correct my mistake right away.

You misunderstood me again. I'm all in for going after Castillo and I stated that Kiriloff would have to be one of the centerpiece of that trade and the Twins wouldn't suffer that much. I'd hate to give up any top prospects but to gain an ace of Castillo's caliber, I would trade Kiriloff without a doubt.Pirates pitching staff had been really bad until recently. Pitchers really flourish after leaving there, Cole and Meadows are 2 names that come to mind. So you can't always count on stats, you have to look at underlying conditions. Many teams didn't go after Musgrove because of financial reasons and maybe the others looked at the stats too. I'd take Musgrove over Happ and Shoemaker because he'd be better, cheaper and he could trim down the 40 man. BTW I wouldn't trade Celestino. PIT are deep in CF any way. SD didn't give PIT close to what Larnach was worth. Yes PIT wanted Larnach but they settled for much less. Because SD was proactive. I agree with you that Odorizzi and Maeda were very good acquisitions. But I believe that in both cases the Twins were approached. TD wanted a SS prospect we had and LAD wanted to unload a discontented Maeda. Neither of these trades helped to manage the 40 man roster which this thread is all about. What I'm saying is that successful teams like LAD, SD, and TD are proactive and Twins need to be much more proactive in trading to improve and manage the 40 man to better compete.

Atlanta has a great team. Dobnak did a great job, I believe that run was unearned. His line yesterday is over 3.1 innings, 6 ground outs, 5 SOs and 0 fly outs. He does everything that is asked of him.

My objective is to bring to light an area that I think needs improvement, not to debate who is essential and who's not. But to humor you let's look at LF. How many players on the 40 man, can play there besides Buxton and Kepler? Let's see Cave, Kiriloff, Larnach, Rooker, Arraez, Garlic and I'll throw in Broxton because he should be. Could we live without any one of these and suffer at LF? I don't think so.To be more specific. There was an article about a trade for the Reds Castillo. Castillo is a great upgrade in a needed area of pitching that's needed to advance to the World Series. Would I trade Kiriloff (who I'd hate to trade) with a cast of others for Castillo? I would. I wouldn't include anyone who's a true SS or CF (because CF and SS are crucial positions and we only Buxton and Simmons) or anyone who's undervalued due to 2020. I don't think that this trade will happen but if presented, I'd take it. For 2 reasons, #1 it'd be a great upgrade at pitching and #2 it gives more flexibility on the 40 man. A missed opportunity where Musgrove was offered to the Twins but they stalled. Musgrove was later traded for peanuts. The Pirates were eager to trade and we had low tier players they would be interested in. There have been a few teams that have been open for trades and still might be if they are only sought out. Again I don't want to debate trades or who's essential and who's not.

PIT has had a ton of upgrades in the past that we could have plundered, that we missed out on. I'm sure there are many teams that are willing to trade where they are strong for an area that they are weak. You misunderstand when I say "nonessential" , nonessential doesn't mean w/o value. Nonessential means something I can live w/o, a new Cadilac to me is nonessential. If I had a new Cadilac which I love and was starving, I'd sell that car to buy some food. That Caddy would be very expensive but not essential.Stressing another point, we often hold onto players when are worth something but have no clear path for making the team until they are worthless. Case in point Nick Gordon. I would've traded him at least 2 yrs. ago when he was worth something. Now I don't think you could give him away unless he has a great 2021, which I hope he does.

To answer my own question, because we picked him off waivers and we wanted to protect him

We have a lot of players that fit in the description of not so fast, good bat and not so good glove. They seem to hoard this category of players. At LF even without Rosario we have an abundance of options so why did they go out to get Garlic and immediately put him on the 40 man and not Broxton. Don't get me wrong I like Garlic but we are way over the # of this type of player. I agree with Dmin Cave is one who is expendable. Also I think that FO needs to stop hoarding these type of players.

It's great to have Cruz around wether at the plate or in the dugout. He'll get his ABs in yet we have a plethora of options to take his place. What's important is we have his leadership.

I wish Carrasco well as well. The 3 best LFers are RH, Garlic, Rooker and Broxton. They seem to hit RHPs well enough so any combination of the 3 that includes Broxton because he has better glove and speed should be considered for the LF spot. Sadly, Broxton's name isn't even in the discussion which concerns me greatly.

The philosophy of the staff is transforming rejected pitchers that fit their profile into successful pitchers. That transformation takes time and we need to be patient. Some take to it pretty quick others not so quick yet some don't. That's why they select so many. Still Clippard would have given us some early comfort. I think Dobnak has shown that he belongs on the starting rotation. We need a lot of long relief this year so Thorpe and any others will get a lot of work. So I wouldn't worry yet but I see your concern.