Doctor Gast

IMO they think about it, but have no idea how to do it. & are more concerned about playing their guys, do what's easiest & pushing their philosophy than winning.

Even before they traded Keel I thought Vazquez would be a good fit for them. I thought bundling both Vazquez & Paddack. But BOS would have their attention on more top-end SPs. IMO it's not a good idea to trade Vazquez because he's the foundation of the catching core, stabilizes the pitching, good leader, & we'd have to kick in a lot of money for someone to take him. Then spend money for a new inferior catcher who doesn't know the pitching staff. I'd rather trade Jeffers for many reasons I have stated many times before for a young promising MLB-ready catcher. IMO Vazquez isn't as interested in money as years, we can renegociate his contract for less per year.

IMO Teel wasn't their 1st choice. The trade was fair but CWS wanted much more, For some reason they settled for this trade. Keel has the potential to be a very valuable elite catcher. Edgar Quero can hit but is far inferior to Keel as far as the defensive side. IMO Quero is still a good catching prospect but needs to develop his defensive skills more.

IMO all 3 were the right move. W/o them we wouldn't have broken that long winless postseason curse. Isn't that worth something? They provided a valuable part of a core that should still be winning. Which is another story. It's not their fault that Falvey can't put together a winning team around them through essential trades. Right now they'd be gone & we'd have nothing if we hadn't signed them. Even though we can't win unfortunately, we still have valuable trade chips come deadline. It's so frustrating to see such a great core with an open window & an abundant farm that we can easily pull off minor trades to make this team a postseason winner, to abandon all of this.

Thank you RpR for your response & letting me know what you disagree with, At 1B & RF what is important is offense. With Wallner & Miranda, they provide more offense than we had last season. I'd like more depth there that's why I suggested to easily get Romy Gonzales (BOS) who has a very solid glove everywhere he plays & mashes LHPs. I like Kepler's defense & presence but his offense left a lot to be desired. Martin played terrific 2B in MiLB, he can do that on the MLB level, especially if he's left there.

Going into the Winter meetings, we are optimistic & hope the FO can put together a workable strategy going into the offseason. Like last offseason, they were going to be creative. I don't think they know what it means to be creative. It seems to me that they think that to be creative means dumping payroll so they can afford another Gallo, DeSclavani or Margot. IMO creativity is some action inspired to create a positive result. This "creativity" is neither active or positive as last year showing shows. I am depressed with end of the Winter meeting because I hear no positive strategy. Like we are going to work hard to cut fat. We are determined to find a new home for Dobnak, There's a market for Paddack, we are going trade Paddack, Jax will step up & be that top of the rotation we need to replace Paddack. We'll put a trade together to get LHRP high-leverage Nardi. There's a market for Jeffers so we can obtain our future catcher now. Vazquez is more interested in years than money so we'll renegotiate his contract. Our defense will be better because we no longer have Margot & finally Keirsey will man CF with Buck. We are moving Julien off 2B so we no longer have to have Correa & a GG 1B to cover for him. I believe we have a shot at Roki Sasaki & we'll do our darndest to convince him to come here. After a quiet Winter meeting, Falvey didn't say any of this he said "we are going to sit & wait." Lost veterans, Margot, Farmer, Santana & Kepler, didn't leave any holes. Only hole was created when Kiriloff retired. IMO Julien will be a liability both offensively & defensively now & needs to be traded. So we need to trade for a RH platoon which Romy Gonzales (BOS) could do in any position INF or OF but the focus would be 1B. Trading Correa as a main question leaving the Winter meeting? How depressing! That's waving a white flag which has very bad optics. Since there are no clear-cut objectives, even with a great core, I wouldn't doubt that come deadline we won't be in the wildcard race where trading Correa & Lopez would be sad to say inevitable. If this FO can't make simple trades to make this team a contender then why pay all this money for a non contender? I'm sure they also want to be on a contender. Instead of wasting this extra money on FA, when need to invest it into extending our key players.

Friend, Falvey's idea of being creative is putting everybody up for sale then sit back & wait. We'll get crappy deals for players we need to move & any good player they might offer a trade that looks good on paper but in reality, isn't. Then with the savings go out & get a Margot or Gallo. I know it doesn't make sense & that it's an oxymoron but that's how he thinks.

I hope you aren't advocating replacing Castro for Rosario by trading Castro. Looking through Baldelli's eyes, I see the logic in. Another player IMO who could fit even better is Romy Gonzales (BOS) Split G GS PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS TB GDP HBP SH SF IBB ROE BAbip tOPS+ sOPS+ vs RHP 46 86 83 9 18 3 1 0 13 5 1 1 22 .217 .221 .277 .498 23 2 0 0 2 0 1 .286 39 40 vs LHP 74 130 116 16 35 7 0 6 16 6 2 11 36 .302 .362 .517 .879 60 3 1 0 2 0 2 .382 142 146 He's also very good at PH .286 .372 .571 .944 He has a solid glove & played all over the INF last offseason & can play all over the OF but is projected to play very little in '25 mainly 1B, 3B & cOF. If we have to have a platoon in the OF & 1 INF platoon on the roster. IMO it makes more sense for 1 guy, not 2. He also only has a 1.5 surplus trade value & 4yrs. of control. Wouldn't doubt he has options.

My point wasn't that I can spell Yamamoto's (Yokomoto) name correctly off the top of my head or to show any disrespect. I'm not as stupid as you try to make me out to be. Where do you get the notion that I believe that Sasaki will only receive from his contract? Ted quoted Ben Nicholson-Smith in the article: Sasaki hasn’t closed doors, but possible “it might be beneficial for him to be in a smaller market” He also stated that money wasn't going to be a primary factor & that MN has a good chance. You seem to be in lockstep with Falvey. If Falvey has the same attitude as you or waits around for him. Our chances of landing Sasaki would be absolutely ZERO.

I'm not crazy about putting guys on the active roster who can't be sent down while we need Varland to be on the active list be sent down. But if they trade for him, creating options, then I'm ok with this.

You have no idea what's in Roki's head, If he wanted money, he'd stay in Japan another year & get Yokomoto's money. Everybody wants him to go to LAD or SD, it seems to me that Roki's pushing back through his agent is that he wants to explore his options in which city he'd want to play for & it's probably not a big market city like your NYM, no matter how much you want him to. If you are the Twins FO you can't harbor your negative attitude, any chance you may have you need to give it all you have. Sasaki could be a heaven-sent, & some justice that not everything falls NY's or LA's way.

Sad to see we lost our opportunity. Extending Lopez was a no-brainer. I would have been very disappointed if they hadn't.

Each culture has its good points. I also spent some time in northern Ontario, when I was younger, they really love their winter & not crazy about their summers. I really miss Minnesota lakes. Some lakes here you have to worry about piranhas & snakes. I also like to add that MN has one of highest International bonus pool money. Another positive,

BOS has been interested in LHSPs Snell & Fried (too late). They've been also interested in a trade including LHSP Jesus Luzardo. With this idea, I started a 3-way trade with MIA where BOS received Luzardo & we received high-leverage LHRP Nardi & we traded Paddack to BOS. I prefer Nardi

I forgot to mention that the MSN article was written by our good TD friend Ted Schwerzler

https://www.msn.com/en-in/sports/mlb/latest-news-on-japanese-sensation-roki-sasaki-brings-hope-for-minnesota-twins/ar-AA1vCsCx Everybody have said "Sasaki will want to be on the West Coast, be near fellow Japanese, be part of a big market, forget about him". I've been saying all along, "Don't trade away our International bonus money, don't give up on Roki Sasaki!" Seems like he's more drawn to mid-market. MN has a lot going for it, laid back atmosphere, very good pitching development, we can center a winning team around him & he'd be thee star not surrounded by prima-donas. When I 1st came to Brazil I was open & was amazed by the culture. I embraced the culture & preferred seeking out Brazilian relationships than isolating myself with other Americans even though I knew very little Portuguese. I ended up marrying a Brazilian & made Brazil my home. IMO Roki Sasaki could be like me. I have heard nothing coming out of the Twins about reaching out to Sasaki. That's a big mistake, they should bend backward to try to land him. He's a quiet guy so Falvey needs to learn not to talk so much & be sincere. Sasaki has a lot to offer the Twins, not only his talents but also a big Japanese market.

Too much of a stretch on these, I don't think so.

Every team is looking to upgrade their rotation, except MIA or CWS. There was a lot of hype with Paddack last offseason. 150 innings, Gray's inherited replacement. That was too incredible. His expectations & management should have been curbed. Paddack is still a promising SP with another year removed from TJ, he'd be an asset on any ML team including MN. His $7.5M isn't expensive but is still too rich for the Twins & he can easily be replaced by Jax. We can then go out & easily trade for high-leverage LHRP Nardi (MIA). We saved $7.5M & gained a much-needed high-leverage LHRP. MLB teams are looking to fill out their rotation & BP. don't wait around, be proactive & shop Paddack & make a reasonable offer for Nardi while we can! We don't need another Richards, Margot or DeSclavani.

Grichuk would be a good fit & for $2M you can't go wrong. He played some CF for some bad teams in a pinch but I wouldn't want him there with us, IMO he wouldn't need to.

I like the idea of trading away players we don't need so we can extend the players we do. Not trading players we do need to sign players we don't. I hope we have money to extend maybe a Ober or Lewis while still have intact a very competitive team.

I can see the wisdom on taking trade calls on Correa. But I don't like the optics of saying that in public for the fans & the players. Some things are better not said. Falvey has the knack of keeping his mouth shut when the fans don't want & opening his mouth when it's detrimental to the Twins. Any talk of trading Correa is the sign of a white flag. That shouldn't be an option with the core we have. I just heard a statement from an evaluator I respect say "If you say a player is untouchable, his value goes up. If you say a player is available, his value goes down". I'd also say if you put a Fire Sale sign up don't ever expect a serious offer. Like last year it's all a part of him being "creative". He must love passively getting all those phone calls even though all the offers are crappy. Personally, I'd rather him not being "creative". I'd prefer him to get a hold of persons who know where our real holes are, put together trades to fill those holes & cut fat & sell it. Not complicated.

The feeding frenzy has started. We'll pick the bones after it's over.

I respect every opinion. But I tend to go with giving Jax a shot. We need another veteran SP & Jax could be an upper-rotation arm. An upper-rotation arm in the 4 hole is pretty impressive. IMO Varland will step up in the BP. But if Jax only turns out to be an OK SP the economics will figure itself out either way. If he & Varland works out, all we need is a better LHRP. If it's better for him to stay in the BP then I have no problem with that because IMO he'll have no problem converting back to the pen & then we'll have to trade for a mid-rotation inning eater. As they say "Nothing ventured nothing gained".

A worthless player on one team can be an asset on another. I won't debate who's better Dobnak or Margot. Dobnak fits into their ballpark. Is he going to light the world on fire? probably not but he can be an asset. What you are saying is ridiculous. We are not offering a Jenkins or any other high prospect just to unload Dobnak in a minor deal. Dobnak is insignificant to us as we are blessed with a few SPs better than him yet an unfortunate budget deficit & CO has poor SP depth and GB pitcher fits better in Coors. I agree with you that the farm is the life blood. But I prefer quality over quantity. That means very good player evaluation, drafting & development. I strongly disagree with you that no prospect (or player) is redundant & should not be traded. The great majority of MiLBers never make it to the MLB & even less when hoarded (that's why we have the Rule 5 draft). Each team has different needs, One of our needs is overcoming a budget crunch. And that means moving a trade value difference lotto ticket in order to take $3M off the books w/o trading a player we need, then so be it. I can't understand why you want to keep an insignificant lotto ticket difference & willing to trade a needed player to try to resolve our over-budget.