Doctor Gast

Yes we needed depth but where we didn't need depth they added, where they needed depth they did not. FO added a lot of depth in the BP, no one they added amounted to anything. They added to the OF and we didn't even use our untapped CFer Keirsey, who was chomping at the bit to come up but Margot blocked him. Buxton also boasted of his healthiest season for a long time. We got Santana we hardly used Miranda & Kiriloff. Correa was hurt for a while but we had Castro, Farmer & Lee to fill in. The biggest hole from the start of the season was SP that Gray left & they never rationally addressed that. Because of that hole we had to depend too much on our BP & rookies SPs that couldn't hold up. Later a hole at LHRP developed & they never really addressed that need. IMO we cratered at the end because we didn't have enough veteran leadership & chemistry to sustain us through that time besides our needs in pitching.

Why don't we compare Jax's days as a starter to Henriquez's as a RP? You can't compare apples to oranges & say "Throw out all conditions, it's not debatable because it's my stats & opinion."

Henriquez & Tonkin have value since they can eat low-leverage innings but since they are out of options, IMO they aren't worth keeping on the active roster. I wouldn't throw Varland & Topa (who are better than them) down in AAA to waste their bullets down there. I'm not that excited about Poche (LHP), I don't know if he'd be that much better than Funderburk, Headricks, or Moran. We have trade bait go out & find a good LHRP. Although we missed our best opportunity last season, I'm sure there are good ones still out there, you just have to look. I'm encouraged about Stewart, he's very positive about his health this coming season. IMO Duran will have a better footing this season & I'd keep him strictly in the closer role. Varland will flourish in the BP role. Alcala is one more season removed from his injury but I'd still not put too much on him, especially in the beginning & Jax is Jax. Canterino & Preillip are wild cards in the BP & Raya as an opener.

You don't stand alone, I'm 100% behind you. If the Twins want to compete they have to accurately find our real holes, go out there & fill them via trade pure & simple. We have plenty of trade bait & we can trim some fat while we're at it.

I'd be curious how many of those trades, especially those that turned out well for the Twins, Falvey actually initiated. It's easy to just say yes on a good deal another FO came up with. CIN was heavily shopping Sonny Gray & they liked Chase Petty. Same with TB they were shopping Odorizzi, Palacio, he was a promising SS prospect that was hitting then. The big advantage came from tweaking them. Lugumina was protected from the Rule 5 draft because CIN wanted him. I wouldn't have traded for Cave in the 1st place nevertheless Gil wasn't a big prospect & Cave was the kind of hitter that the Twins liked. The Cave/ Gil deficit has just begun & looks like it'll be tremendous by the time Gil will be done at NYY.

Dozier played his heart out for MN. That's why he's one of my favorites.

IMO Santana premiered at the wrong time in the HOF beauty contest. If Santana doesn't do much better now there is something seriously wrong. Santana was the best for a while, while he still had an arm. Hope both Santana & Nathan get in they deserve it.

Thanks, Greggory for all the work you put into this. I myself prefer Fangraph WAR, Off the bat I'd like to say that IMO most of MN's grown players would have done better at home (ex. MN knew how to use Rogers while SD had no idea). On the other hand, Sanchez & Urshela were thrilled to get out of NYY. The '22 MN/ NYY/ TX trade was the result of the bad FA signing of Donaldson. If the FA Donaldson signing didn't happen this terrible transaction which decimated our catching would not have occurred. IMO WAR isn't a good indicator of results, I prefer wins & losses (that's what counts doesn't it?) The '22 transactions of Donaldson, Garver, and Rortvedt to TX & NYY plus Rogers & Rooker to SD = Last place in AL Central. '24 Polanco to SEA, LAD didn't want Margot & dumped him on us = 4th place in AL Central. '23 MIA approached MN (I have my doubts that Falvey has initiated any major trades). This was a great trade MN won the AL Central, won a postseason game & series. '20 LAD wanted to dump disgruntled Maeda. We had leverage & should have replaced (RP) Graterol for our top SP prospect, Balazovik. It was still a good trade, won the AL Central. Falvey's idea of "creativity" is IMO an oxymoron. For something to be creative, there needs to be some initiative, not passively sit back and wait for offers. With a Fire Sale sign outside his office, I doubt he'll get any beneficial offers same as last year. For us to build off '23 during this budget crunch, we need to keep the core together, not trade them off, trade off fat, invest in our young promising players, be initiative & fill our real needs via trade & stop spending frivolously in the FA. To answer your question. I don't want Falvey's idea of creativity. I want him to be truly creative & initiate a 3 way trade for example to fill an essential need & stay out of FA.

I brought up a '18 MN top prospect list, Gil was not on it. I was surprised on who was on it & how the pitchers fared. None of them are with the Twins the only pitcher that did anything was #7 Graterol (RP). https://www.mlb.com/prospects/2018/twins/

I'd believe the Twins should have had more faith in Gil & their pitching staff. Cave's best season during the juiced ball, Sid Hartman came out with an article I'll never forget. It stated that in games Buxton started in CF the Twins won 2 out of 3 games, The games that others (Cave) started they lost 2 out of 3 games. Twins desperately needed a CF sub & Cave wasn't it, Wade was a better option but he wasn't the type of hitter that the Twins liked. Cave was a good cOF sub but he wasn't a CF. Twins didn't develop a good CF sub if they had found a better option than Cave then it'd have been worth trading Gil.

IMO Eric Haase (MIL) (C) $1.8M could be a non-tender candidate.

I agree with everything that you stated. Paddack, Julien & Jeffers are must trades. Because Castro wasn't extended last season he might be too expensive for us now (sorry to say because he's so valuable to us & not easy to replace). Duran, Matthews & others I'd being willing to move on with if the price is right. We should have acquired a real primary catcher a while ago for not only now but for the future. Paying top catcher price for a backup catcher through Boras is out of the question for a team that wants to compete while controlling a budget.

You mentioned about competing in '25. Trading core Castro & picking up these 2 won't cut it. Yet that was the Twins' philosophy last season, trading core away & picking up worthless players.

IMO all these guys are replaceable. Topa will definitely be tendered. He's a valuable trade chip & I'd trade him because I have my doubts that he's beyond his injuries, that they are chronic. Beyond that they may want to stick with what they know & pay a little more instead of going with a cheaper option that they aren't certain. They have to be confident in their evaluations.

Tony or Rodney, I don't smash the thumbs-down icon, I deal with people with respect but if someone pushes, I push back. CH was taking digs at me & was asking to be pushed.

Both are LH hitters who had to adjust, both adjusted but in different ways. We could carry both rotating them at DH if needed. We have (LH) hitting Wallner, Larnach, Keirsey & Castro in the OF with Emma on his way. If the team is determined to have another RH-hitting cOF then the best solution is trading Larnach for one.

I know you are a stats-only, forget about underlying conditions guy & slugging reigns supreme for you pertaining to catching. Rortvedt is not a slugger who didn't prosper under the NYY & MN "all or nothing type of hitting philosophy. Tanner Swanson (do you remember him?) loved Rortvedt's dynamic defense & insisted that he'd be included in the trade. While in NYY he was Cole's personal catcher. Back to hitting. Rortvedt's hitting under a more friendly hitting philosophy at TB, he had a 1st half BA of .270 & OBP of .365 is more indicative of who he is than his time at NYY & MN. It's remarkable after an injury-plagued '23, he was able to be used as extensively as he was in the 1st half of '24 with TB & explains why his hitting cratered the 2nd half. Stating that Rortvedt is a 3rd string catcher is an insult & shows that you know nothing about catching. Your suggestion of moving Vazquez & putting more responsibility on Jeffers not only reinforces that idea but is also a recipe for disaster.

I'm with you TopGun, I'm ready to blow things up. But I'd go a little bit younger route instead of Profar with trading Larnach. I'd expect Falvey to again take a non-proactive approach to this offseason so I expect a worse team than last year (it breaks my heart to suggest this but I'm a realist) so why pay Correa & Lopez all that money & not even come close to the postseason. I'd take a different route than you giving all that international money to LAD to get Sasaki, I'd try to land the young Sasaki ourselves. I'd trade Jeffers & anybody else to land Keel from BOS, BOS is in win-now mode. And at the deadline trade Correa (at this time he'll be more than ready to waive his non-trade clause) & Lopez for a top-of-the-line SS prospect. Give Lewis an extension and trust that he will eventually take that leadership role. I'd keep Vazquez to mentor Keel, and use Vazquez exclusively against LHPs. Let Vazquez walk in '26 w/o worrying about taking a loss trying to dump his salary. We have no hope to go to the postseason with Falvey, hope & luck are a heck of a way to run a team. I really like Rushing but I'm afraid that LAD would again ask too much & again Falvey can't say no even though we'd again have the leverage. Even though Rushing is more of a slugger, I like Keel much more overall & lean more toward going the BOS route.

Thanks CP, I saw that article. After reading it, I'd hoped that they'd reconsider trading him. But to no avail, at least the fans still love him & appreciate what he does defensively. Rortvedt was hitting pretty darn good for a catcher the 1st half before crashing the second half. Maybe it was his knees that JM eluded to. Rortvedt can't do it all by himself & TB definitely needs someone much better to give Rortvedt more of a break.

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/ There have been a few fellow TD members who suggested Stallings as a catching target. Rox didn't waste any time to resign Jacob Stallings for $2.5 M as I predicted.

1st I'd trade Dobnak, Jeffers & Gonzales for our future starting catchers Romo & Carrigg(-7,7M) 2nd Trade Paddack (-$7.5M) 3rd Sign Roki Sasaki (we can hope) otherwise Luzardo is a good 2nd option. which we add another $6M I'm $10M under budget, to extend Lewis or maybe Castro. Plus extra money if needed In an emergency DH is open as a revolving door- Julien is gone. I'm open to trade Larnach for a RH counter-part. C: Christian Vazquez ($10.00M) 1B: Jose Miranda ($0.80M) 2B: Brooks Lee ($0.80M) 3B: Royce Lewis ($2.30M) SS: Carlos Correa ($36.00M) LF: Trevor Larnach ($2.10M) CF: Byron Buxton ($15.00M) RF: Matt Wallner ($0.80M) 4th OF: DaShawn Keirsey ($0.80M) Utility: Willi Castro ($6.20M) Utility: Austin Martin ($0.80M) Backup C: Drew Romo ($0.78M) NA: Dead Money Here ($0.00M) SP1: Pablo Lopez ($21.50M) SP2: Joe Ryan ($3.80M) SP3: Bailey Ober ($4.30M) SP4: Roki Sasaki ($0.80M) SP5: Simeon Woods Richardson ($0.80M) RP: Jhoan Duran ($3.70M) RP: Brock Stewart ($0.80M) RP: Griffin Jax ($2.60M) RP: Jorge Alcala ($1.50M) RP: Cole Sands ($0.80M) RP: Justin Topa ($1.30M) RP: Louie Varland ($0.80M) RP: Kody Funderburk ($0.80M) NA: Dead Money Here ($0.00M) Payroll is 7.17% under budget

I've tried to trade for Rortvedt on BTV several times & every time I do, I get comments (comments aren't that common) that TB loves Rortvedt & no way they'd trade him. That said they are interested in a backup catcher. More likely a good cheap one. Myself I'd check into Joey Bart if I were them.

Luzardo would be a great addition, We needed him last season. Luzardo & Lopez are good friends & fellow Venezuelans. As value goes, Lewis is an overpay (I wouldn't trade him anyway) & Larnach is an underpay. Julien is a closer fit. But MIA isn't interested in any of them, MIA is looking for prospects. So we are looking at trading Keuschal straight up but better yet if they'd be interested in taking K Culpepper, G Gonzales & Doncon in a trade I'd be overjoyed. Luzardo has always been on my target. I'm for either of these trade options I suggested, we need to jump on them & not be passive.

It's like in '21, I was all over the Twins to replace Cave with Margot. In '21 we desperately needed someone to backup Buxton. '24 Buxton was healthier & we had much better in-house backups, Margot absolutely didn't make any sense.

TB loves their starting catcher Rortvedt, but they are looking for a decent backup. IMO they aren't interested in Vazquez.