Doctor Gast

The Twins started to trade from the core last season with terrible results. To continue down this path we could just as well tear everything down. That's means adding more to the huge glut of prospects we already have so that doesn't make sense either. Our core isn't the problem, it's management. Let's trade them away, it makes more sense. The players that should be traded aren't on this list. The others that should be traded are redundant prospects. Let's stop hoarding prospects. The '23 core is who finally got us success in the post-season. We need to add to it via trade not chip away at it & compromise the chemistry & talent that it possesses. The plan to dismantle the core is more like a plan to give CWS competition for the cellar than a serious plan to take the division & extend to what we did in '23.

Remember that beyond MN not getting anything for '24, they threw in $8MM. OMG, we didn't save any money, it's absolutely crazy to me.

I agree it's a no-brainer, When used right he's very efficient & he needs to be in our pen

Our biggest problems were philosophies, not filling in holes (if you don't fill holes the boat sinks) & was made weaker. I wouldn't look to trade any of these. because they are necessary to have a good team. Holes that need to be filled are minor so we can accomplish it without using any of these players. We have been very lucky with the health of our catching tandem. We need very much a future catcher & they are not cheap so I might consider trading any of these but I'd try to trade Julien & Gonzales or any redundant prospects 1st.

Yeah, it was a lose/ lose/ lose. SEA lost, MN lost but mainly Polanco lost. Being removed from where his heart was to a nightmare had to be torture. MN didn't get anything to help us last season, if they had flipped Gonzales & Topa we would have gotten something out of it but alas they didn't & the longer they hold onto Gonzales we'd get nothing. I'm in the camp to bring back Polanco he'd be a great comeback player if the price is right. I love to watch MLB highlights with Polanco making that great play at 2B. We missed his leadership and clutch hits. We need a starting full-time 2B; Julien doesn't cut it. He'd also be great at 1B.

Miranda could easily be developed into a full-time 1Bman & become our best producer there since Cron during the juiced ball. Lewis could be a very good 1B if he not put at 2B. The train has already past on Julien. He needs to be traded while he still has some hype value. With our budget crunch & important players under scrutiny, we absolutely can't afford a lotto ticket in FA.

Makes more sense but even Jeffers is too old for them. Only competitive teams would be interested in Jeffers. Maybe Jeffers & Julien for Kyle Teel?

Thank you Eric for bringing our biggest problem to light. I've complained about the Twins catching situation since Garver & Rortvedt were traded. & the Twins have done nothing about drafting & developing good overall catchers so after Vazquez is gone we are going to really be hurting. Sign an expensive mediocre catcher won't fix anything. Jeffers is an above-average hitting & average-ish defensive backup catcher if asked more than that his efficiency will drop. Rushing has been on my sights for a while. He's blocked, a good hitter, moves around pretty well, has a pretty good arm, has a good head on him & a leader. LAD has him focusing at other positions which sets him back a little on his development but he has all the tools. LAD has less needs now than they had earlier so it'd be harder to find a match. Other teams that have great catching prospects that are blocked are Harry Ford (SEA), Jefferson Quero & (MIL) Samuel Bassalo (BAL) to name a few off the top of my head, They are all MLB ready & will be expensive but are worth it. I really like Ethan Salas (SD) but won't be ready for next year. An underrated catching prospect that I've been keeping an eye on has been Drew Romo (CO). He has all the tools & characteristics to be an above average all-around catcher & Cole Carrigg both for less than any one of the other. Carrigg can be an excellent catcher, very athletic, strong arm, good hitter & fiery.

MIA will never trade for Vazquez even if you add players to it, They are looking only for young players

Twins priorities are all screwed up. They are all twisted around worried about defense at 1B & don't give a s**t about the defense at catcher. Beyond Vazquez & Jeffers (& I'm concerned about Jeffers) we have nothing regarding catchers. Falvey has been darn lucky that neither of them has been hurt especially Vazquez. I don't get the talk about trading Vazquez. Because defense is imperative at catching, Vazquez's handling the pitchers, blocking, receiving, framing, throwing out runners & leadership, how can they even consider throwing that out the window? Yes, Falvey paid Vazquez like Dobnak too much & like Dobnak they have to eat it because we can't do it w/o Vazquez. We could do w/o Paddack's salary then we'd need to find a cheaper & at least equal replacement. We don't need a GG at 1B (Geez) we need someone who can hit! & Miranda would our best hitting 1B that we haven't had since '19, & he could even out do that. It'd be an absolute waste of money & talent to go outside the org. again. Sticking with Julien at 2B would be a big mistake, His glove & bat won't cut it, we need to trade him while we still can cash in on his hype. I like utility Castro & Martin's glove better than Julien's. I'd get Lewis in the offseason & ST to get ready to play 2B or otherwise, we need to look outside the org. to find a good starting 2B. I'd have Keirsey in LF, with Larnach as the 4th OF & Castro as the full-time UTIL & Martin as utility & Lee at 3B. Keirsey's glove is much more needed than Helman's while we don't know how either bat will respond to MLB (Keirsey had better #s) The only area that the budget cuts affect us is extending players. We can still fill our holes via trades. They are the same ones that weren't filled last season which are a mid-rotation inning eating SP, a LHRP & most of all a young MLB-ready catcher. Like I said before we have been lucky so far of having both lucky. I wouldn't continue to tempt luck, we absolutely need a catcher to step in when either goes down. There are a few available that I like but the one I like the most is Drew Romo, Rox have been grooming him for their future catching duties. I've had my doubts that he'd be available but after Rox let Elias Diaz go Hunter Goodman has gotten hot. & seems like Black is leaning towards Goodman as their future catcher. IMO we could coax both Romo & Carrigg (who could become an elite catcher) away from them.

I am so shocked and sad. I believed in Kiriloff; I just wrote a text about him before I heard the news. Some players are praised for playing hurt, but Kiriloff was ripped by coaches and fans. I hope that the bashing had nothing to do with his decision to retire. The injury to his back must have been a lot more severe than expected. I'm so pissed about how he was managed that I could lash out, but I won't. Kiriloff has my prayers & sympathy because it's very difficult to see the death of a dream that was so possible. Wish him the very best & I'm very very sorry. I really didn't want this to happen.

A real eye-opener, Nick. This makes me think that maybe some players that I'd have kept, now I'd consider trading & reinforce those I'd like to trade prior. I was really big on Lee, his a good switch-hitter, has good baseball instincts & good glove. But being so slow makes me wonder. Even being so slow he played a good SS, we desperately need a viable backup SS depth. Castro is OK short term but not an extended time. I wasn't impressed with his hitting either so was he playing hurt all season? What was Lee's sprint speed prior? We have to take that into consideration. Even with Varland's bad SP beginning, I still have hope for him as a RP. Wallner bad beginnings as the league had the book against the Twins's hitting philosophy. But he seems to have adjusted & seems to be playing a better OF. Julien on the other hand I have real doubt that he can adjust like Sano. He'll have to reinvent himself & he doesn't have the power to hit those HRs w/o those technics. IMO more fans can see that he can't play 2B & he'd no longer profiles at 1B. Last season he was one of my main trade bait & I'm more determined this offseason even doing so at much lower trade value (he still has some hype value). Julien is one of Falvey favorites so even if it benefits the team I doubt he'd do it. https://www.startribune.com/alex-kirilloff-minnesota-twins-back-injury-performance/600374513 Kiriloff's bad hitting #s are due to injuries not mechanics. After May 1st (around the date of his initial back injury) his BA was .143, At Apr. 13 he was hitting a 324./ 381/ .649/ 1.030 line, this time & before he primarily played DH/1B with very few games in the OF & never a full game. After April 13 he began to play more OF & his #s started to drop until he got hurt where he fell off the cliff. In '23 after a long surgery recuperation IL Kiriloff mainly played DH/ 1B & he had a pretty good season until he hurt his shoulder. So stats fans who look at Kiriloff's overall stats & ignore underlying conditions say he's a bum are missing the boat. In '23 he played 88 games whereas in '24 he should have played in more games being another year removed from surgery but he played in only 57, I contribute that to him being shifted to the OF. Those who think that all positions have the same physical stress have no idea what they saying. I was a player/ coach for Legion, we were short bodies. I had a friend who had a dislocated shoulder a few months earlier. As a favor, he agreed to play. The only position he could play was 1B. There were a lot of stories I could share. 1B you are not required to run full blast or throw the ball hard.. So once we keep him healthy by keeping him at 1B/ DH, we can expect numbers comparable to what he had in '23 & beginning of '24. Don't look at his overall stats, they can be deceiving. Look at who he is. And don't believe everything you read or hear on social media

Tender arbitration is a no-brainer. I'm in no hurry to trade him either at this point.

You are right that this article is about Emma. But it also mentioned Larnach & how he's linked to Emma but Keirsey is even more linked to Emma, being a LHH CFer. I'm not worried about Emma getting a fair shot but since Keirsey is directly linked to Emma as a place holder I'm concerned that Keirsey would have enough time to be properly evaluated. We all know he's a quality CF (IMO the system's 2nd best CF behind Buxton) & that he can eventually hit MLB but we don't know how fast & most likely will have some struggles. Talking about trading Emma & or Larnach, Keirsey is the key that have been ignored in this equation.

I'm a firm believer in developing our young players & when they are MLB ready give them a shot, instead of getting a questionable veteran, yet in some cases it's debatable. Keirsey did everything in AAA & was worthy to be called up early to MLB & get very valuable playing time. Margot was a terrible decision from the start & I voiced my displeasure #1 Margot was very questionable offensively & defensively #2 increased in salary #3 forced Martin to play out of his comfort zone, #4 losing Miller, many would debate the tradeoff for Doncon & most of all #5 He took up the valuable roster spot & valuable playing time away from Keirsey which kept him from progressing in the MLB. Keirsey would have added to Twins over Margot but w/o him playing that much it makes it difficult to know how much & how truly we can evaluate him. Keirsey is a place holder for Emma. Giving Keirsey that extra playing time would add value to him, & gives us more options on who we have available for trades. A LH-hitting quality CF is a premium. Hopefully, he'll get his chance this spring, limited as that may be. Emma is very close to be MLB ready & will have a great impact when he does. IMO he'll return to AAA after spring training. How long he stays there depends how well tears things up down there. A high MLB ready prospect like Emma, I'd not trade.

Agree completely with you, Doc. Just a comment on Cruz. Cruz was a great hitter & mentor. He has a lot to give to the Twins as a hitting instructor (ex: experience, leadership & motivation). But IMO the Twins would want someone who would follow orders & know how to pass on their analytical hitting philosophy.

You highlighted my text- Kiriloff has proven that when he's healthy he can really hit. And then you text his #s when he's hurt. Just look at his #s last season, his #s were great until he got hurt. Then you see his #s plummet. Yeah, it sucks that he's had wrist problems for years which affected his #s. He has fixed his wrist & now suffers from soft tissue issues which is to be expected & affects his overall #s. It's part of the process. Kiriloff should be at 1B until this time of recuperation is over. When he's back at 100% he could be moved around & his power should increase.

Is the Corey Kluber/Emmanuel Clase Trade one of ... Reddit · r/mlb 110+ comments · 3 months ago Great trade, no doubt. They saw the reduced mph and spin rates and bailed on Klubeer.

You're right that maybe MN didn't have anyone that TX would be interested in. I guess that adds to the disappointment. I wasn't that crazy about Kluber & believe that Clase' was listed as a SP at the time. Excuse me, but I liked Clase's stuff back then. They knew where Kluber was at, they could see what Clase' could become & their budget pretty much dictated the finality of the trade.

Kiriloff has proven that when he's healthy he can really hit. His wrist is fine now after the surgery & after his surgery, there has been soft tissue injury tendency which is common. Commit to him at 1B finally & let him recuperate & develop there. IMO both Miranda & Kiriloff could benefit with more time at 1B. $1.6- 1.8 is nothing for what he is capable to do. We'd get nothing for him & I hate to see another ex-Twins shining for another club. Baldelli, get over Kiriloff's error because he had a bad shoulder. When you forced so many players in '22 play hurt well beyond they should & what became detrimental.

Larnach was probably one of the 1st batters that MLB pitchers focused on to counter MN's HR mania. I didn't think that he'd adjust. But he has and he has surprised me that his SLG has gotten better. I suppose getting doubles is better than SOs to improve your SLG. The League focuses on pitching off-speed junk on the outside part the plate instead of FBs, has plagued the HR happy Twins this season. I'm concerned if Julien can make that adjustment & what kind of hitter will he be.

IMO it'll be hard to see Jenkins even coming close to the MLB this coming season. He's developing his hitting which is fine but his power hasn't materialized yet which is fine too. His power will eventually come, it's still too early. Keuschall is a good hitter who is so far profiled as a 2Bman (although I can't tell you how good he's there), he has the arm to be at 3B but hasn't played there enough to develop his hands. At CF & 1B he's extremely raw so I don't count versatility as one of his good points yet. Although I never considered Julien as a 2B man, according to the experts we have a glut of great 2Bmen. We still have to see how he'll recover from his TJ. I'm sure they'll try to get him up but don't count on him to make an impact. They may want to sell high on him. Keirsey should have been tested out early to see who we have in him last season. Since we didn't, we'll have to give him time to prove himself this season. IMO Emma needs more time in AAA, make sure he's ready body & talent-wise. He sure has the potential to make an impact this season.

I had my eye on Clase' when he was with TX, he had a lot of potential. I applauded CLE for having the eye to pick him up & disappointed that we didn't.

Pagan was absolutely terrible when FO wanted to showcase him as our next closer & kept characteristically doubling down on him. In '23 he was alright in low-leverage situations but overall he was a dud.

I am the one who's putting the deal in context. Donaldson was a bad FO signing they wanted to dump. To do that they had to gut our catching core. The plan was to sign Story, we were lucky that it didn't work out because we'd be trying to find a way to dump his salary now & continue to gut this team. Jeffers couldn't handle primary duties where he crashed & burned, Sanchez was terrible but he was much better than what we had left. This fiasco resulted in the Vazquez signing. Urshela wasn't bad so I could upgrade the trade to a D-. Many of these FO transactions are based on hope, luck & having a player dumped in his lap.