Doctor Gast

Good, I don't think I could handle any more of their creativity.

I'd rank Raya higher & think he has a good chance to become a MLB opener this season.

A belated Happy Birthday & a Happy New Year, friend.

When I saw trading Duran, My 1st thought was h**k no. Then I thought maybe Dalton Rushing. Established closer for a promising, blocked-catching prospect, that's reasonable. But unproven Feduccia & Casperius for Duran, is a gigantic underpay. I know very little about Feducci. I looked in LAD top 30 prospects in '22.'23.'24 & I couldn't find him anywhere to get some kind of scouting report. Very strange that he didn't make the top 30 in those 3years. Looking at his AAA stats his CS% were low. I have no idea where his ceiling is at. Yet because LAD deems him as MLB-ready & a LH hitter, he'd be my 3rd catcher if he were to become a Twin. Jeffers isn't able to take control of the lion's share of the duties so somehow Feducci, Gasper & Camargo would have to take up the slack when they had very little MLB experience between them if they decide to move Vazquez. That would be very concerning. IMO it's like last year acquiring all those fringe RPs that never panned out. Instead of getting all those fringe RPs why not get one really good one. Casperius & Feducci would be good depth pieces but no way comes close to Duran. Just for comparison BTV, Duran is at (24.7) surplus trade value- Casperius & Feducci combined is at (3.8). Both of these guys are blocked. For the sake of these players & those behind them like Dalton Rushing, could LAD be interested in a Paddack (3.7) trade?

Happy New Year! You forgot creative.

Wish him well with Cubs. I was selfishly hoping for a comeback with the Twins,

Very funny, I was amused & I thank for that. If you actually read my posts you'll know that my point isn't getting rid of Jeffers, it's upgrading from Jeffers. Gasper isn't even a viable 3rd string catcher. Jeffers is the best backup catcher we've ever had. If we had an elite starting catcher in-house right now MLB-ready & Jeffers locked up cheap for years as a weak-side tandem. You'd never see me hint about trading him. But what I'm trying to break is the *delusion that Jeffers is our primary catcher savior that'll be worthy of the megabucks extension that Boras will get for him because the Twins have no viable plan B,C or D. Reality is this, Jeffers isn't a primary catcher, he cannot catch consecutive games over a long extended amount of time w/o crashing & burning. He can't handle even an equal tandem without waning especially defensively in the 2nd half. Don't take my word for it check it out. '20 (backup) to Garver= very good year. '21 Garver down, Jeffer (caught a slight majority of games) with Rortvedt rounding out= Slump. '22 (primary catcher)= crashed & burned. '23 Vazquez signed, Jeffers (weak-side tandem)= a very good year. '24 (equal tandem)= started out very good but waned in the 2nd half. Our only hope is to go reasonably swap a proven MLB catcher to a competing team that needs one, for a young promising MLB-ready starting catcher. We can't give Vazquez away so how are we headline him in a trade? Jeffers still has good trade value for this season yet this is the best time (last year would have been much better) to trade him, the longer we wait the less we'll get for him. Personally, I'd rather have Vazquez mentoring our future catchers than Jeffers. *This delusion will be our demise if we don't wake up soon.

IMO at DH OPS is important, it should be around .850, defense is not. 1B & RF also important should be around, .800. LF & 3B w/ a solid glove around .750. 2B solid glove with good range .700 is fine. CF & SS great glove & range is priority, .650 or less. Catcher priority is all the aspects of defense tangibles & nontangibles, OPS ,600 or less is fine. If the catcher is average ish or less OPS becomes a bigger deal. DH- OPS is priority & as you go down the order OPS become less important & defense becomes more important to catcher where defense is priority. With no switching of priority.

Agree with you Fatbat, Paddack's salary isn't outrageous for what he's worth. However, he could be easily replaced by a cheaper SP if as many are led to believe that they have to cut budget. They are just waiting around for another FO to offer them a reasonable offer, to help them out. That should have happened by now. If he's our easiest trade piece to move & they can't move him then what is going on their heads? That's what scares me. If the Pohlads are willing to suck up the extra $12M & Twins sign no FAs, I'm fine with that, Yet making trades don't cost you monetarily which they should be made to make us better.

Looking at Vazquez, the balance of what we'll need to eat & what we'll end up saving & what we'd pay for McCann is practically zero. Looking at Fangraph Vazquez is projected at 1.3 WAR over 0.5 for McCann. IMO dWAR doesn't do justice to Vazquez defensively. Vazquez has settled in the Twins' pitching system where he can focus more on his hitting, so hitting is less of an issue but the big difference is all the aspects of Vazquez's defense that make him much more desirable. Zero savings, much less desirable catching situation does not solve the current or future catching problem. It's a hard pass. Jeffers isn't a primary catcher, he has only 1 more year left after this year it'll be difficult to trade for anything after this year. To extend him, Boras will want top-catching dollars for a backup catcher, that'll create another black hole if FO chooses to extend him. Trade Jeffers for a promising young starting MLB-ready catcher & find another via trade to help out (Gasper & Camargo won't cut it) with actual savings of $4.7M. Then IMO Vazquez has more interest in years than money & would prefer to stay put. So we could renegotiate his contract for a 2 yr., $6M/ yr. starting this year, a $4M savings. A total of $8.7M in savings & solving our future catching problem by trading Jeffers compared to trading Vazquez with zero savings, doesn't solve the future catching problem & inferior catching core.

I don't think you were born yesterday, Mr Schmoeman, So why pretend? Where the talk begins, is on social media. Agents & FOs leak talking points to social media long before or ever make a formal announcement. In this case, it's more about preparing the fanbase for future intentions that might or might not happen. In most cases if it's a bad idea they'll do it & if it's a good idea they won't. They'll end up doing what they want. There is no talk about Keirsey, Helman or Eels making the active roster when the team breaks camp over 2 months prior, although they are deserving (IMO Keirsey should be a lock). This has Falvey smell all over this, trying to drum up validity where there is none over something he has done. I don't know if Nick got this idea indirectly or directly from Falvey or from a different social media source. But this definitely smells Falvey.

Thank you for your sharing.

That's what I'm afraid of. This talk of the opening-day roster makes me wonder.

Last season hitting was plagued by the league getting the book on our "all or nothing" approach, injuries, inexperience & exhaustion. Larnach was 1st on adjusting, then Wallner who can still improve his SOs & Julien has bottomed out & yet to adjust. So I see Larnach the same, Wallner improves & Julien can't get any worse. Miranda, Correa & Buxton were injury-related. Miranda, I expect a big comeback at 1B. With a healthier '25 I don't expect large regression from either. Now exhaustion, Lewis, he has stated that he's doing a better conditioning program this offseason. So I expect him to only get better. Castro was run ragged subbing at premium positions over an extended amount of time. I expect Correa's problem is corrected & Keirsey subbing Buxton will greatly releave this problem. Jeffers, it depends on if he's dialed back a little he'll get better if put in the primary catcher all season he'll crash. Keirsey was shamefully left off as the Twins' primary CF backup. Keirsey, Martin & Helman, I expect to have better seasons. So I expect a much better offensive season this year over last season. Barring any bonehead moves.

Yeah. Light-hitting Gasper doesn't really profiles at 1B but for Julien IMO to succeed in the MLB he'll have to reinvent himself which also means he might not profile as a 1Bman & that is IF he can adjust. They have about the same MLB 1B time but Gasper has much more MiLB experience. I just think that Julien is much more valuable to us as trade bait than being on the roster.

Fangraph has projected Gasper with 0 PAs at any position for the catching-deprived BOS. Even so I'd venture to say that he might be a better 3rd catcher than Camargo. I'd also venture to say he might be better than Julien at 1B & 2B. That shouldn't be praise for how good Gasper is but for how bad our depth is at those positions. But to say that he can make the active roster out of camp is a slap in the face to more promising in-house Keirsey, who was overlooked for almost all of '24 because of FO's out-house selection bias. Gasper is a far cry from who we really need to fulfill those needs. A Paddack/ teammate Romy Gonzalez with Gasper thrown in would have been a much more productive trade. If Gasper is the replacement for Vazquez we are in serious problems. I'll reiterate that dumping Vazquez is a big mistake. 1st to trade Vazquez I heard we'd have to eat 60% of his salary, that is only a $4M savings. 2nd Vazquez knows our pitching staff & how to handle them. He has a sense of the game, leadership quality & other intangibles. 3rd his hitting is trending upward. 4th Jeffers isn't a primary catcher no matter what the hype says, just look at the #s when he is backup & when he's the primary or even an equal tandem. Quickly we'll discover that we need a starting catcher but we have only $4M to spend on an expensive highly inferior catcher who doesn't know our pitchers. That leaves us with a very good backup catcher, a poor backup catcher who's a stranger & 2 questionable AAA catchers & saving us zero dollas. Not solving our present or future-catching problems. We have needed a future promising catcher for a long time.

Twins made a lot of wrong decisions in '24. The greatest mistake was selecting Margot over Keirsey. Margot was simply terrible on both offense & defense. It delayed Keirsey's MLB development 1 year & had to play rookie Martin in difficult situations. 2nd decided to place Jeffers over Vazquez as the primary catcher. Quickly it became an equal tandem even at that, Jeffers eventually after the 2nd half, he started to wane especially defensively. 3rd Chose Julien to be fultime 2Bman. Twins took a big hit defensively up the middle. Besides Correa & Buxton missing significant time & Jeffers catching too often. Margot was suppose to be Buxton's sub at CF that didn't turn out. W/o Correa covering for Julien, his warts became obvious defensively. The league adjusting to him, Julien was terrible offensively but because we didn't have anyone to sub him he stayed up far too long & was called up far too soon. 4th was not trading Julien & Gonzales for a SP & a high-leverage LHRP. The rotation was as expected worn thin which affected their performance. With Duran suffering a minor setback & LHRP Theilbar a greater one, with Steward injured again. The Twins were in desperate need of high-leverage arms, especially LHRP. 5th not cementing Miranda & Kiriloff at 1B, after coming off shoulder surgeries. Miranda & Kiriloff were phenomenal while healthy. If cemented at 1B they could have greatly improved our 1B offense production there at 1B the whole year. Instead, they made them to play positions where they had to really work their shoulders. IMO to compensate for their shoulders, both backs went out. Miranda lost 1 year of MLB development & 1/2 year of production. Kiriloff lost all that plus the rest of his career. I will add at 6th not adding future promising MLB-ready catching. We desperately need a future catcher & we have no depth. Having a future catcher giving Jeffers a break once in a while in the 2nd half would have done wonders in Jeffers's production while building for the future. I could go on about how they were managed but these were the 6 most serious mistakes. To comment on the Polanco trade. It was a lose-lose-lose situation, Twins/SEA/Polanco. Twins gained nothing. Desclavani's arm was shot when we got him, Topa had & still has a chronic knee problem, he was a nonfactor & Gonzales was way overrated when we got him & shouldn't ever make it to the Twins. We lost Polanco's presence on & off the field & his clutch hitting that we dearly missed down the stretch. His knees were worse than we thought yet he still was able to make the highlight videos, If Twins had doubts about Miranda & Kiriloff at 1B, Polanco could have put some time there to spare his knees. Being traded is difficult especially when that person has given so much of his heart. Polanco by far had his worst season for SEA. Polanco & Garver went through hell by the SEA fans. FO frivolously spent most of the extra money on players that didn't really pan out. The trade should not have ever happened.

Thanks Gregg for another interesting article. The Ishbia Bros. are interested in the team and the way it stands with the core. If the core is compromised that might affect the sale of the team. Correa, Lopez & Buxton are reasonable salaries with players who are difficult to replace. To make a team competitive you have to focus up the middle & pitching. Catching with the addition of Vazquez has helped us to reach the lower part of the middle of the pack. For years I've advocated for upgrading our catching not only for now but mainly for the future. You said to get rid of Vazquez we'd have to pay down 60% of his salary so we save $4M to move him. After moving him we'll end up on the bottom. How easy would it be to replace him for $4M? Very difficult & we'd end up an inferior product & save nothing! There are players that we can easily replace for less, But Falvey's Fire Sale, wait & see approach, no FO isn't coming to us with great deals to help us solve our problems. They are coming to us with players they want to unload with bargain basement prices. Falvey has to come up with creative deals & go out there and sell them. Very quickly other teams' rosters will be filled & our opportunity will be closed. Here comes the scary part. They may be able to trade Castro at a discount & not be able to replace him. But here we save only $6+M which still leaves us short & a weaker team. Plus Falvey has an addiction to dabble in the FA. To support his habit & meet budget, he'll end up trading Lopez. Destroying any hope of making the postseason & maybe even jeopardizing the hope of selling the team.

Thank you Tom for bringing amusement while reporting on a mundane & depressing offseason. I miss your regular insights & interaction on TD. I never miss an episode of TFTwins on Youtube. Moran & Gasper are promising prospects, with no disrespect isn't the Christmas gift we were expecting. BTW BOS liked their gift. But they have already got a bunch of really nice gifts. But thanks Falvey anyway.

Primary of what Tom has done is writing a report on a Twins' transaction. Just because he was very creatively amusing in doing so doesn't subtract from that. FO could use some creativity to makes some significant trades. BTW "Just For Fun" makes front page news. If you want to change that, I wouldn't oppose. But that should be another topic.

A lot of good memories of the Metrodome. That place really rocked at times. I guess I never saw the Metrodome at the end so I only remember the good. I miss it too. Budget restrictions shouldn't be an excuse for the inactivity, Au! Contraire. This offseason should be really jumping. There are a lot of trades that should have been done already. Trades that don't cost us any $, trades that should save us money, trades w/o affecting the team's integrity, really significant trades. But the longer the FO sits around & waits, the more likely we'll see insignificant trades & trades that affect the integrity of the team.

I was shocked to hear of his death (pneumonia), he was always in good shape. In the age of steroids, I was never impressed with all the HRs others were hitting. But to watch Henderson on the basepaths was a thing of beauty. The gold standard as far as what a lead-off hitter should be. Ricky you were taken too soon from us but your memory will always be with me. Condolences to his family.

I thought the same thing, Tom. Falvey's wait-and-see strategy always puts us in a situation where he feels he has to do something at the last minute, so he frantically picks up something that other teams want to flip, something this team doesn't need, but something he feels he can spin to make the fanbase believe he did something, like a Desclavani, Margot, Richards, fruitcake, or a nail clipper. LHP Moran wasn't on the 40-man. Gasper was & BOS have been busy this offseason and eventually needed a roster spot so Gasper would have been DFAed so instead getting nothing fortunately for them they got something out of it. Gasper was picked up last season via Rule 5. Fangraph has him projected to play 0 games any position in MLB this season for the catcher desperate BOS & he'll take up a valuable roster space for MN. We could use some 1B depth & desperately need catching depth. But by thinking Gasper will fill any of these needs we are deceiving ourselves again. FO should have been proactive, approached BOS & traded Paddack for Romy Gonzalez & Gasper & BOS would still have come out on top but at least we'd have accomplished something.

If you are talking about Lewis, the last few years has been spent rehabbing. He just simply ran out of gas.

I would, Luzardo is at his low point at trade value. Even with the rotation we have, you can't have enough SPs especially if don't have any LHPs. IMO Gonzalez won't make it as a Twin & we have enough 3Bmen so we can spare Culpepper. Scale back on Luzardo for a while, he'll come around to be a reliable top-end LHSP. Too many teams were trying to lowball MIA but even though PHI having a very good rotation, they saw Luzardo as a bargain & cut the BS.