Doctor Gast

I'm sorry ashbury about those big business takeovers that affected your life. This world is tough for the small guy. The Pohlad's takeover of the Twins wasn't eliminating the small guy but saving MLB baseball here in MN. The Twins were about to go out the door to somewhere else before the Pohlads stepped in & saved the day. They kept the Twins in MN, not only to just get by but also to bring a WS championship to MN. Whom I'm very grateful because they gave us many teams for us to cheer for. Plus I grew up under the Griffith era. Andy MacPhail left the Twins because MN is a mid-market team not able to sustain a perennial WS contender. IDK if the Pohlads are losing money, making money or milking the money cow. But I don't begrudge them of making a profit to keep the Twins in MN. This Pohlad bashing especially by media does nothing to better the Twins situation but only sours the fans' support & maybe the Pohlads' motivation. Maybe one day they wake up & realize the Twins aren't worth the headache & sell the team to Nashville. Is that what we want? I think not. We need to quit blaming the Pohlads for this FO inability to initiate big trades.

Timely article Nick. It's something that has plagued most fans' thoughts, Are Ryan & Ober going to step up & fill that void left by Gray? Ryan has over-shadowed Ober because of his stuff & hype so Ober has been overlooked. But Ryan has been plagued by the HR ball & his difficulty against elite line-ups. Ober has been quietly proving himself against the powerhouse PHI & now against the hot NYM. You have convinced me Nick, that Ober is a viable postseason SP. My main concern now is to keep Ober fresh & avoid any wearing down or injury coming into the postseason. That should be the focus with the entire rotation & BP. Bring up Varland & use Dobber a lot in long relief. I know it isn't Baldelli's thing but it needs to be.

I wasn't able to watch the game but as I went through the wrap-up, I made an observation. Luis Severino is a great SP just as good if not better against the Twins than the prior 2 LHPs. The key to the game was the 3rd inning which started with Martin. Up to this point, the Twins had been pretty flat against NYM & was behind. Martin could have struck out but he didn't, he could have stayed at 1B but he didn't, At 2B he scored easily on a single to LF. Fired-up Larnach stole 2B which also set up another run etc. etc etc. As I've said before Martin is a spark plug, if Martin struck out things would remain flat & nothing would have changed & Twins would probably lose the game. Martin has played sporadically & only against tough RHPs which is tough for any RHH player much less a rookie who is learning a new position on a MLB level. As a rookie he should be given only opportunities which help him advance in the MLB, which has not happened. Martin has had a tough row to hoe & he hasn't given up. Martin is a MLBer capable to impact this team with spectacular defensive plays, good ABs & spectacular base-running. Martin is worthy of our patience. He'll eventually settle in the MLB & stand out.

Great game & great to have Dobber back.

I really don't think there were really much for SPs available to really help us. Kichuchi isn't that good & he was pretty expensive. Let's say that there was a SP out there that had a higher salary than what the Twins wanted to pay, why not offer more prospect capital & have the team pay down the salary? If there's a will there's a way.

The Twins is Joe Pohlad's baby. He has shown good faith & interest in the Twins winning by extending & signing Buxton, Correa & Lopez instead of letting them walk. This Bally fiasco has put a bind on Joe's commitment & plans for the Twins. FO basically spent the budget this off-season with very little wiggle room this deadline. Again IDK if Joe has $millions that he'd want to absorb. As a businessman, he needs to be responsible for how the Twins can stay afloat. Spending big money in FA is no longer an option no matter how loud fans cry bloody murder. Any money gained should be invested in extending our own players. The only way for us to improve is by player evaluation & development & trade. We have a surplus of redundant prospects where we easily meet our needs via trade. I was a big fan of this FO in '19 & I still approve of how they have handled the pitching. In '20, I started to question how they approached things & was immediately harassed by FO supporters. That made me even more determined to scrutinize this FO. Unless a deal is dropped into their lap, I question this FO's ability to initiate one (this year's case in point) as well as question their player's evaluation & development. There are other things I don't like in how this FO operates that hinder this club. I really wish that this FO could change but I doubt it. This Bally gravy train has come to an end so from now on we need a FO that can maximize in initiating trades, player evaluation & development & forget about throwing big money at FAs especially when we have in-house players who can benefit from the position. IMO all this blame on ownership is a smoke screen to hide the real problem.

Off-season trading is like bartering. You give up something you have plenty of, to get something you need. Expensive is relative, if you give away a lot of value in an area you can afford to get a lot of value in an area you are starving that isn't too expensive, That's being smart & producing a healthy well-rounded team. I'll do that all day long. Deadline buying there is usually a premium to pay & less likely to know what shape of player you're receiving especially pitching. I agree FA is absurd & drafting high on pitchers is risky. But drafting HS pitchers & taking them slowly, controlling their development along the way minimizes that risk.

Twins were flat all over although Festa & BP were good

Do you trust Ober and Ryan to make starts in October? We really don't have choice. Deadline is really a bad time to look for a top-tier SP or even a decent SP. Last offseason was the time & we blew it. Gonzales should have been flipped right away for a decent return. Instead of watching his rank & value keep dipping. Puk was very gettable. They should have made a decent offer well before the deadline. That'd have settled the natives pretty quickly.

Rotten luck we got NYY, NYM & HOU when they were hot not cold

Wish Dobber well & that he'd surprise us again when we need him.

He's costing us a valuable 40-man spot but the worst part is Baldell will have to trot him out there every chance he can to prove how bad he is and how smart this FO is. When they are pressed it's usually not someone they can fix but just pick up anyone they spin some hype on. I'd prefer they did nothing. I'm sorry Falvey.

BAL got him cheap

MIA has been on my radar for a while, I like what Stotlemeyer has done with their pitchers there. Rogers & Cabrera are candidates if the Twins think that they can make the needed tweaks necessary to take them to the next level. It could very likely take Keaschall but I'd think MIA'd settle for a couple or more lesser-valued prospects instead. Big emphasis on if

One suggestion I made in the beginning of the year is to sign LHP Rich Hill to a MiLB contract with incentives. He's a smart pitcher & he'd be great with our young arms. No prospects are needed, even though I wouldn't mind using them if we had a decent top-tier SP trade target.

I agree with Linus that we should have gone for a top-tier SP last winter. I disapproved of Twins advertising a fire sale (everyone will want a high discount). Gonzales should have been moved in a trade when he was worth more. I wouldn't go all out now by trading valuable prospects for questionable trade targets. There are some redundant high-ranking prospects we could trade but IMO the best deals are gone. My top trade target AJ Puk went off the boards right away who IMO was the best-buy. FO spent all available money this offseason on spots that could have been filled in-house. There are still some LHRPs out there but it'll come at a price. I don't see any reasonable top postseason SP out there now. Although I hate to see the Twins do nothing, I'd prefer that instead of them doing something stupid.

NYM were on the sweeper. Quintana's curveball was outside all nite that clipped the strike zone behind the plate to where the catcher could easily steal it for a strike. He was throwing it all nite & the ump called it a strike all nite. When the hitters didn't watch it for a KL they whiffed at it because they couldn't reach it. Can't wait for the robo-ump to get rid of the human error. The Twins should have really mashed against Quintana.

Lee has been solid at SS.

I was sweating the early walk but he got out of it

Nice start keep it going! I like Gibson broadcasting at DET but these Mets broadcasters are hard to listen to.

LAD greatly values Edman's flexibility & glove & overlooks the average bat, & they figure that they unlock Kopech. LAD aren't strangers to 3-way trades. LAD gave up on those players they gave up. CWS I can't explain their actions.

Cards just fleeced LAD & CWS! Why can't the Twins do that? Cardinals 70 NAME AGE LEVEL P1 P2 AVAILABILITY YEARS AFV SALARY SURPLUS LOW MEDIAN HIGH Erick Fedde 31 Majors SP 1.4 29.2 10.2 19 15.2 19 22.8 Tommy Pham 36 Majors OF Medium 0.4 2 0.9 1.1 0.9 1.1 1.3 Total Value: 20.1 Dodgers 23 NAME AGE LEVEL P1 P2 AVAILABILITY YEARS AFV SALARY SURPLUS LOW MEDIAN HIGH Tommy Edman 29 Majors 2B SS Low 1.4 14.6 12 2.6 2.1 2.6 3.2 Michael Kopech 28 Majors RP SP Low 1.4 0.3 1.1 -0.7 -0.9 -0.7 -0.6 Total Value: 1.90 White Sox 14 NAME AGE LEVEL P1 P2 AVAILABILITY YEARS AFV SALARY SURPLUS LOW MEDIAN HIGH Miguel Vargas 24 Majors 1B 3B Low 4.4 14.6 7.5 7 5.6 7 8.5 Alexander Albertus 19 Minors 2B SS 0 0 0 2.5 2 2.5 3 Jeral Perez 19 Minors 2B 0 0 0 1.9 1.5 1.9 2.3 Total Value: 11.4

About Snell, I'd also add we don't know how he fits in the clubhouse (I have my doubts) or how he fits with our catchers

Very well written article about a very important topic, I wrote 2 blogs "Dying Fanbase" 12/12/23 & "So What Now?" 03/26/24". So it's something I feel strongly about. I'm very concerned about the dying fanbase & the future of the Twins. I'm very curious about how much "The Pohlads" have to do with Joe's Twins, if any? One way to increase the fanbase is to increase TV exposure, Joe blew that. Another is to better the team. Under current financial problem the best way to do that is player evaluation & development & initiating necessary trades w/o depending on other teams approaching us with good trades. Joe Pohlad has nothing to do with this & Falvey is poor at it. Can the Twins survive w/o Joe Pohlad? I don't think so. Can the Twins survive w/o Falvey? IMO yes & thrive.