Doctor Gast

Spend $5M on a Margot or Gallo to block our players' playing time. No, save the money for something significant.

Only FA I was hoping for is now gone. Polanco at 1B would have been a win/win. Polanco & Twins could have been better off.

We have players we can trade. I have high hopes on Preilipp but until that happens we need a high-leverage LHRP. I wanted the Twins to target AJ Puk early last offseason, this season MIA still has Nardi, he is my target this season.

Good job Gregg, very interesting. I think there is some difference between FA & trade offseason & if you are buying or selling at the deadline. IMO if you want to dump salary like this year, you are at a disadvantage. Because when you put up a "fire sale sign" up, sit back & wait for other FOs give you a reasonable offer it's not going to happen. If you are proactive, you find many teams that need what you are selling & give them reasonable offers, IMO you are in a much better situation. Paddack for an example. He is the easiest player to replace with a cheaper replacement. His market was very high in the beginning of the offseason but now all those would be buyer have already filled out their rotation with FA SPs & trades. Now his market is practically zero. We were lucky with Odorizzi (TB) '19, & Lopez (MIA) '23 where they had a surplus of arms. TB was fortunate before with MN trades before filling out their SP & SS needs (Garza & Bartlett). MIA needed a bat. Disgruntal Maeda '20, LAD was desperate to move. These years when we were lucky we came up with successful seasons. The others years we were victim of being vulnerable to other FOs & to get something done they scrambled & made rash trades & resulting in failed seasons. Depending on luck & hope is no way to do business. Picking up quality FA SP like Lynn late usually ends up in a disgruntled & out of shape pitcher. Picking up any SP late is disruptive especially after spring training starts. We were lucky in '22 to sign Correa but because of bad trades & direction change it didn't result in any success. When we bought at the deadline we almost always lost. When we sold we normally came out on top. Sorry, Gregg. There is no discounting on any transaction.

I'm with you Capt. Bly. Something has to be done to help parity as far player availability. Revenue sharing is the key. Should the luxury tax be higher? I think so. And I think there should be a floor. The way that it is set up the FA players that are more in demand get all the money & those who don't, get comparably nothing, A higher luxury tax & a higher floor IMO would give more parity. Another thing, the World Series champs or any high-finishing team should not have a shot at a player like Sasaki. The Foreign draft should be operated more like the domestic draft. More than anything this what burns me. I know this is absurd, but IMO, there should be a limit on how many top-ranking Japanese players can be on a roster.

I applaud you for seeing a real need & giving a very viable solution. Even though trading Castro & compromising quality depth at some key positions, I'd make that trade for Rushing in a second. But one problem in moving Castro is he's not worth that much in the open market & Rushing is highly valued, we'd have to throw in a Festa to balance out the trade. Falvey wouldn't give up Festa for Molina in his prime. Another is, even though we are doing LAD another favor by taking RHRP Brasier off their hands & Rushing is blocked at catcher, they'll still want to hang onto Rushing for a sweetheart deal that'll pop up. If they have to, when they feel Rushing is ready, they'll put him in the OF & use him as a 3rd catcher. Altough LAD value versatility they looking to dump fan favorite Chris Taylor so I don't think would be interested in Castro. Surprising that SEA resigned Polanco after all the negative fanbase response. I was hoping to trade Julien there & picking up Polanco to help out at 1B. But it was a good contract for him.

SWR is underrated, his character & newer savant show he's better than most think. I'd put him higher.

Of course, Swanson isn't in charge of the team drafting, scouting & development but he should & IMO does have influence in the team scouting, drafting catchers & also in development. Before Swanson, NYY was terrible- After Swanson, one of the best for producing quality catchers. How much are Twins' focused on catching? The Directors of Scouting, Drafting & Development are told what to focus on. They need to be influenced by someone who has the baseball smarts on catching to aid in scouting, drafting & developing quality catchers. Swanson helped to develop Garver, Jeffers & Rortvedt. Who have we developed since that is decent? NYY changed its focus on catching & was transformed. The problem is the Twins put no importance on catching. If he slugs great, catching isn't important. They always draft low on catching. The condition of catching in the system is discouraging which tells me that scouting, drafting & developing quality catchers is a low priority. Of course, Conger & Frawley want great catchers but do they have what it takes to produce them? The results show they do not. The Twins don't care, they like them & no one is complaining they have their job for life & get promoted.

Thank you chpettit19 for getting to me. Swanson & Conger has pretty much the same duties that's what I thought all along. I googled Tanner Swanson & here's what I got—resourced The Athletic & Wikipedia. Tanner Swanson is heavily involved in the process of drafting catchers with the New York Yankees, where he serves as the catching coordinator; his expertise in developing catchers, means he plays a key role in identifying and evaluating potential catching prospects for the team during the draft. Key points about Tanner Swanson and his role in drafting catchers: Catching Specialist: Swanson is known for his deep knowledge and focus on catching techniques, having developed a reputation as a leading catching coach. Impact on Yankees Catching Prospects: He is credited with significantly improving the defensive abilities of young catchers in the Yankees organization, including players like Austin Wells. Draft Influence: Due to his expertise, Swanson likely provides valuable input to the Yankees scouting staff regarding the catching prospects they are considering in the draft. Before Swanson came to the NYY, their best catcher was Gary Sanchez, who was terrible, nobody wanted to pitch to him. Now Swanson has transformed the whole NYY catching system producing high-quality catchers. I criticized Conger for the Twins' lack of drafting & development of catchers, you told me he had nothing to do with that. Then I asked "Who does?" I figured that Swanson did. You told me that both Congers & Swanson are Catching coordinators which I thought, So I'll ask again if Congers isn't responsible for overall drafting impute & development for catchers who is? Is it this Tucker Frawley? Who'd I like to see overseeing catcher drafting & development is someone who permeates with the desire to produce elite catchers. I didn't get that from Frawley in the interview, I barely read any reference about catching. & I don't get that from Conger either. Someone who is a catching coordinator I'd like them to devote themselves solely to catching not split time as a 1B coach & assistant bench coach.

I don't count either. Cartaya could develop into something, but we shouldn't see him in '25.

If Jax isn't considered, IMO it's not a good idea to consider Sands.

Camargo is the 3rd catcher, I'm not comfortable with Camargo even with the Vazquez/ Jeffers tandem, to cover any amount of time if one of these guys goes down. IMO he's not MLB-ready, not able to contribute to the Twins in '25.

Schoop, was a teammate of Cruz, IMO his influence is what did it for us.

I didn't say that. I said you can't assume it. Different conditions have different results. For example, we knew Rogers, he was great if he wasn't pitched on consecutive games. At SD surprisingly he had a great beginning pitching on consecutive games but unsurprisingly after a while he cratered.

Those who initiated these transactions are public knowledge. Before the trade, Our catching core of Garver, Jeffers & Rortvedt was ranked as one of the league's top. If the core was kept together & the normal transition From Garver to Rortvedt would have kept them on top. Keeping them together with the Twins, would have better managed them as far as health & productivity. You can't assume that their injuries couldn't be avoided by remaining with the Twins. Falvey hand-picked Jeffers to be the Twins primary catcher. Jeffers as the backup, he's one the best but as the primary catcher he has failed miserably. I don't despise Falvey. I was a big fan of Falvine. Falvey was hired to create a pitching pipeline, the pipeline is now taking shape. But observing how he operates in everything else & him spinning his shortcomings I don't buy it & I won't let it slide. Thinking he's great in everything & letting him continue to operate the way he is, won't get us where we want to go.

I understand the concern. There's a big adjustment coming stateside. Once he makes that adjustment he can focus on the rest. '25 is a big year for him. IMO he'll come out on top, at least I hope so.

Falvey's idea of being creative is passively sitting back (an oxymoron) & wait for offers from other FO's who want to flip or dump players. & pick the least bad one & or normally try to find a bargain on the FA salvage heap. On rare occasions, a FO comes with a mutually beneficial offer (MIA Lopez/ Arraez) IMO we came out ahead. We had leverage over LAD because they were desperate to unload disgruntled Maeda, I'm happy with Maeda but we could have done much better on who we gave up. The rest we lost & I was vocal about it on each when they happened. The fiasco in '22 where our fantastic catching core was demolished, because of Falvey's signing of FA Josh Donaldson. Many think that the signing of Correa was a mistake. IMO we were lucky to sign Correa. Correa fell into Falvey's lap after Boras couldn't sell him & Falvey had luckily lost out on Story. When Falvey says he going to be creative, it sends a chill down my back. That means trading someone we need to acquire someone we don't. If they can't fill our real needs then please don't be creative & stay pat.

I'm sorry NYCTK, I forgot you're down on all the Twins.

Thank you Cody for the list of lower-catching prospects here. I'm very interested in catchers because of the importance of catchers & the lack of catching depth we have. I've been following many of the catchers you have listed. Especially Richardo Olivar, he has a lot of tools to become a very good catcher but I haven't seen any improvement since rookie ball. Twins put little importance on drafting & developing. I've come to give up on the Twins to get a good catcher to MLB.

Just curious, how did you get these official player evaluation on Martin?

NO, he was considered as an INFer for most of his career & now lately as a utility player. As the article stated he has the tools to become a good CFer that's why they have experimented with him throughout his professional career, placed him there last season over seasoned Margot & finally now focusing on that aspect in spring training. I guess you are one of those who'll look down on Martin no matter what he does. If hit HRs & struck out a lot & not as good athletically, you'd be singing his praises.

At least with the Twins & probably with any team has he ever been considered as a CFer. There's a big difference between being thrown in CF & try to figure things out on your own & being considered a CFer & trained as one & thrown in CF on a MLB level & expected to perform as a seasoned veteran.

'19 Twins players picked up that the league was using a juiced ball. You often heard that they often got together to discuss hitting (most likely how to take advantage of it). They exploded with HRs & broke the season HR record & came close to the club season-winning record. '20 the juiced ball went away, yet the club decided to make "moonshots" their slogan & team philosophy. Hit HRs as high & as far as possible. Their drafting & development was focused on big bats & everybody hitting HRs, '23 Falvey finally had his opportunity, Twins success was due to their "all or nothing approach" although those who contributed didn't abide by their philosophy. To heck with the SO record by the offense they were pushing through with this approach. The league got the book on the Twins. Those who didn't adhere to this approach Correa, Miranda, Kiriloff & the little that Lewis played were great but the rest of the team was bad & Margot, Santana, Wallner & Farmer were horrid. The SOs mounted up w/o the HRs. I credit Baldelli for bucking the system, & changing the approach & Popovich for implementing it to turn the ship around. We went through a long winning steak after that. They changed the approach so I don't blame the collapse on the old approach (although many hitters when desperate often start swinging for the fences). I blame the absence of veteran leadership & chemistry when Buxton, Correa, and later Kepler were down. Also the breakdown of the rotation & BP, largely due to not addressing the lack of depth in the rotation (depending too much on rookies & Paddack) & not quickly picking up a high-leverage LHRP. I blame this FO for the bad showing in '24. For making many bad decisions on philosophies, player evaluations in placing, getting rid of, acquiring players we didn't need, & not plugging real holes. Making Popovich & others sacrificial lambs doesn't make up for this. Many people are using this bad showing to reflect on what they could improve on, how about Falvey? I guess finally letting go of his pet-hitting approach is a start.

Is Martin our 1st option at CF? The answer is a clear no. Right now he should be our #4 behind Buck, Keirsey & Castro, which is very good depth. If Martin had the power that most Twins fans expected, they'd be jumping up & down with joy with his fielding. But since he doesn't, many fans look at him with a much more negative lens. They tend to overlook plays like the one shown & focus on nitpicking on inexperienced rookie mistakes basically learning a new position at the MLB level. Martin's ability & potential to get on base & not striking out. baserunning, taking & stealing that extra base & fire that sparks rallies (something we need more of). More than makes up for any lack of power. Baldelli's decision to play Martin a lot at CF during the spring training is good. With more training, he could rank higher than Castro at CF. IMO he can be our lead-off hitter, Last season his splits were pretty equal, actually hitting a little better against RHPs. Therefore I'd also give him some time at 1B & have him ahead of Gasper. During the regular season, I don't see him playing a lot of CF, mostly 2B & LF.

1st you have to see your need, IMO Twins feel they don't have a need at catching, To where they think Diego Cartaya is the solution to any need at catching & that they can trade Vazquez away & be OK. If they don't see any need then they aren't looking for trades to add needed catchers & not taking seriously any possible trade offers from SEA, MIL, PIT or any other teams. So you don't hear of them. Most teams value good catching, so yeah it'd be difficult, From the BOS camp they said they'd never trade Teel. But with the right bait, a deal can be done. BOS are in win-now mode & their catching core is inexperienced they need desperately veteran catching w/o it they can't compete. If they value well-experienced catchers a trade could hve been had, If not a creative 3-way trade could have been done to where we could obtain Keel either way without hurting. There are a few young players that could be & should be traded to make a trade a reality But I'm afraid all my advocating & well thought out numerous trade offers at BTV are futile. Because Falvey doesn't care, his head is somewhere else. He'll never be proactive or know what this team really needs. All I can say is the new owners will have their hands full undoing what Falvey has done to make this a winning team again & get fans excited to want to follow the Twins or keep fans from giving up.