Doctor Gast

13 ABs is not a cup of coffee, it's a sip. Unless maybe you're Royce Lewis, very few do well in their 1st 13 ABs much less able to hit their 1st HR. Most good rookies take a prolonged time in MLB to start to get acclimated to MLB. He has yet to have that opportunity. Lewis didn't hit his 1st HR until around his 20th AB. Because of Keirsey's interruption in '20 & slow start, MN has written Keirsey off a long time ago. So whatever he does it doesn't matter because they have already formed their option. Their feeling seems to seep into the fanbase.

The main player I'm concerned about is Emma, I don't look at age especially those who suffered from the covid canceled MiLB. I'm looking at the ability of the player, there's a lot of late bloomers for one reason or another have a late start but rake, Keirsey should have his shot. I'm not talking about a long-term starting CF position, I'm talking about a short-term bench position that Keirsey can very well cover & we don't have to pay someone well over $7M, to block anyone or force us to trade someone that we need more than this position. It's easy to overlook the small & insignificant. The Twins tend to this (or make something out of nothing). Castro wasn't supposed to be on the '23 team even though he had a good spring training, he was too small & insignificant. But he got his chance as a bench player & he was one of the reasons we did well in '23 & won the MVP in '24. That's all I'm asking for Keirsey. I saw something in Castro & I see something Keirsey. Sometimes the small & insignificant can make the difference. I'm not ashamed of my position of not going goo goo over big names or falling for their hype.

I thought I'd look up Bader's highlights on YouTube for '24. Mainly what I saw was bloop hits, some HRs mainly solos & no defense. I looked up the defense, there were for past years but not last year. The main problem last season was the expensive outhouse Margot who was supposed to back up Buck. He was terrible to where we had to over-depend on Martin & Castro & blocked the access to Keirsey who could actually do a good job of subbing Buck. We know what we have in Keirsey, very dependable defense with good potential offensively. We don't know what we'll get in Bader. Is he going to turn into another Margot? Keirsey will cost us nothing, Bader will cost us $6.25- 8.25M plus '26 buyout. Keirsey blocks nobody, Bader blocks & limits our players playing time, especially Emma. I don't care if he might be better than the other FAs. IMO Bader wasn't needed & he was overpaid (sounds familiar). Acquiring him most likely will force the Twins to trade someone they actually need. Don't the Twins think these things out?

They do this by evaluating, drafting, developing & then trusting their unproven young player to get the job done. I'd like the Twins to start doing this if anything that Falvey had brought over from CLE this would be it. & if they have any extra money, I wish they extend our foundational young players, not throw it away on FA.

I agree, that Paddack would help the team but after signing Bader that pretty much signed the death warrant on a budget cut. IMO Paddack is easier to replace so that makes him the odd man out. Nevertheless, I'd prefer him to stay besides we'd probably only get a lotto ticket in return.

Trading Lazardo has made MIA a little short & to protect some of their younger arms & to take off some of the burden they are putting on them. Hope they'd be interested in Paddack, they might be looking for more of a cheaper inning eater.

I don't like the idea of Julien being our backup 1Bman. But Castro at 1B is a waste of talent that can be better put to use at other positions. I & others have suggested giving Lewis a shot at 1B. It makes more sense to me but you better let him know well before spring training.

I love the idea of the offseason. But I hate the way this FO does the offseason. Nothing for most of the season & then the bizarre & then a punch in the gut. I don't get all the fringe players they like to collect w/o addressing the problem, then add players we don't need, then trade off players we need to afford the players we don't need. Each year at this time, I hear these rumors & I say to myself, this FO can't be that dumb & then pow, right in the gut, it happens. If these rumors are right which I no longer put it by them. The FO gets another big fat F. I project again this team won't come close to competing this year & will hurt this team for years to come. What a way to hand over this team to the new owners, creating such a mess. The new owners will have their hands full & the first order of business is to take control of this team away from Falvey.

You forgot we lost Margot, which was our greatest gain. Nothing this FO has done has moved the needle. Coloumbe might have helped a little, but the others have just occupied valuable roster spots.

Garlick, ketchup, & pickles to go with the Ober sandwich.

I actually prefer Endy Rodriguez. He can help out at 1B & also give us some quality catching help.

BAL don't like to trade their players, neither do MN or very good at it. How does this trade get done if nobody initiates it?

& probably throw in Henriquez for good measure.

I'd hope so. But FO is very slow to learn from their mistakes; Margo hasn't been the 1st to be cemented in the roster long after their being inept.

Like Margot, Bader is progressively getting worse at fielding & their hitting is atrocious. It'll be interesting to see which would be badder, Margot or Bader. (please forgive the pun). Like Margot, he'll get too much playing time, take up a valuable roster spot, from our own players, be too expensive, & be a hindrance to our offense.

Unfortunately yes. Like Margot no matter how bad Bader is he'll get his playing time & roster spot.

I'm happy Gasper is off the active list, How can a player who was projected not to play any MLB games for BOS in '25, be on the opening-day roster for the Twins (only Falvey's weird analytics)? The league has figured out Julien & he's terrible defensively. Send him down to AAA until he figures it out, if he figures it out, Better yet trade him while his trade value is still up there. Twins addressed our LHRP need, let's see if it's enough. 2 MLB catchers & 3 fringe catchers that aren't MLB-ready is roster mismanagement. Just ask LAD if roster spots are very valuable. A 3rd catcher rotating in & out is needed to help keep Jeffers fresh & effective, is a great idea. But we don't have a 3rd MLB catcher; I'd trade these three fringe catchers for one promising young MLB-ready catcher (figuratively speaking, because nobody would be that stupid to do it & someone would take me literally). We are very fortunate that Jeffers & Vazquez have been so healthy these past 2 years. This 3rd catcher would help relieve the tandem & gain valuable MLB experience. Trading Vazquez, we'd need two more catchers which pushes to 3 MLB catchers & 3 non MLB catchers. 6 catchers on the roster, that's even more ridiculous. I don't get being afraid that MLB will discover Keirsey's faults, what faults? & how much playing time will he get subbing Buxton? I imagine very little in the beginning by that time Emma will be ready to make his debut. (RH) Bader & his $6.5M salary does very little except blocking valuable MLB playing time for our inhouse players that we know for a player we don't know (he could easily be another Margot at the plate). I also don't get how MN was so eager to push Miranda to important 3B & yet so reluctant to commit to him at less important 1B? Miranda will mash at 1B, commit to him. We don't need to sign another expensive FA to drive Miranda off 1B. If you want a RH bat, here at 1B is where we could use a RH power bat to sub Miranda & maybe RF. Not a wimpy Margot to sub Buck. I was excited to see how some of our capable inhouse players would produce. Acquiring Bader has put a damper on that. There are too many ?s on the roster. Some MLB-ready players like Helman are easy, if they don't produce send them down to AAA. Castellano is a bit trickier if PHI doesn't want to trade. he'll have to produce or be sent back. I lean towards Julien not being able to transform himself offensively & besides not being able to play at 2B, he wouldn't be able to profile at 1B if he does. I highly doubt any of the 3 fringe catchers can contribute this season. So far I'd grade the Twins a C this offseason because they got Coulumbe (a slight +) & Bader (a slight -). If they trade Vazquez or Castro which would seriously affect the core & acquire a replacement for Miranda, I'd give them another F, again not addressing the real needs properly, acquiring expensive players we don't need & trading away players we need to pay for it.

People complained that the Twins' MVP (BH) Castro was making $6.5M, so we have to dump his salary. Then they turn around & sign a platoon (RH) that doesn't move the needle for $6.5M & we have to jump & down? Where do all these things come from?

A LH CFer that has been MLB-developed is very valuable. But thanks to the Twins, he'll be almost worthless. But I still hope they trade him so he can develop into someone special. & rub the Twins nose in how bad they screwed up again.

We were bad last season. But w/o Margot, we'll be much better in the OF, even w/o Kepler, with or without Bader. We can be much better in the INF w/o Julien and without needing Correa & Santana to cover for him. Now, w/o Santana, it makes it more important. and have someone who can mash at 1B. Julien will be the key at the keystone, the less he plays there, the better we'll be.

This move does nothing to make us better. We don't have a money problem we have a management problem. Throwing big money at a nonissue position is wasting that money! Why didn't they just get a cheap big RH platoon bat (if that's what they want) via trade to help fill in at RF & 1B? That would have helped more & cheaper.

Last offseason, what we really needed was at least an inning-eater SP. But Twins said no we need a broken SP, a bunch of fringe RPs, a different primary 2Bman, an outhouse Buxton sub instead of a cheap, capable inhouse player & a FA 1Bman that can cover for the 2Bman but can't hit instead of a cheap inhouse options that can really hit & needed to play to play 1B to help in their recovery. (For a team that's always crying about money why are they so quick to waste it?) How did that work out? Did those moves take us to the next level? No they got us a 4th place in the AL Central. How did those moves make us better for '25? How did that help us to develop our inhouse players that CLE does so well at? How did that help Keirsey? How did that help Miranda? How did that help Kiriloff? All very capable players. The Twins have drastically hindered their MLB development. Twins must have a very low opinion of how they have developed these players. Since these priorities didn't work out, you'd think they'd ditch them. Nope, all offseason, I hear the same talk: priority is to get someone in the OF. Like Margot, Bader will block several Twins prospects, especially Emma. But most of all, my heart goes out to Keirsey, who has put in the time to prove himself defensively & offensively. worthy & faithful only to be slapped in the face for the second time. Twins need to reward inhouse players not stab them in the back. With an opportunity in '24 & '25, Keirsey could have catapulted his MLB career, but now Keirsey will have to deal with betrayal. Bader might be an upgrade in defense (like Margot was) but Keirsey has more potential offensively, cheaper & won't block Emma. Next FO priority backstab Miranda. This move does not move the needle, not worth the extra money & doesn't excite me, it makes me sad. These transactions just reinforce my disdain for this FO.

The big fuss over budget restrictions the past 2 yrs. is an inconvenience, but it's not the problem. There is a thing called trade. We can't let budget restrictions keep us from filling our holes. Crying we can't do anything because of the budget restrictions is a bunch of baloney. Stop waiting around for discount FAs, from the get-go, find our holes & fill them with reasonable trades. We have players that can be & should (not counting Vazquez & Castro) be traded go out there & make those happen. We have an opportunity to have a 1Bman that can really mash, Miranda. Finally having time at 1B will keep him healthy & productive. IMO we have our 1Bman, we don't need to look for someone to replace him. Maybe support but not replace. I have a lot of doubts about Julien playing anywhere & hitting but not Miranda.

Splits on Canha last year OPS, vs RHP .658, vs LHP .774. Canha as a bench player is fine, but not used as Margot; I'd take Canha over Gasper. If we can pick him up for $2M, ok, Although I'd like to keep Paddack, I'd be ok trading him if we need to. But not any further than that.

I'm a fan of Wallner & I think he has the potential to be a good RFer. Instinct comes from plenty of playing time & coaching. He has had a lot of playing time but I question the coaching. I saw some improvement returning from AAA in the 2nd half.