stringer bell

Former Twin Brant Alyea passed away on February 4. Alyea started his stint with the Twins with a bang and hit a bunch of homers when Jim Perry pitched during the 1970 season.

That's the beauty of having a guy who is equally comfortable in the infield and outfield. If the opportunity is on the dirt or on the grass, he's capable or more than that. I would anticipate he plays more infield if Farmer is traded, which I think is still a possibility. Having Castro is a great buffer for the roster, if an infielder goes down, he's more of an infielder, if an outfielder goes down, then he's more of an outfielder.

It would appear that Willi will start the year as the super-utility guy on the Twins' bench. I want to say that I enjoyed his play immensely last. I picked him to be the "Squire of Ft. Myers", which he basically won by default and then he went on to be a positive with the bat, on the bases and in the field. I thought Castro should have been considered for the utility Gold Glove, only committing two errors for the whole season and providing several highlight reel plays. He hadn't played much third base until last year, but he was very good at the hot corner. He was solid in left and decent in center. In the few times he played middle infield he was solid. Castro's hitting picked up last year, particularly from the left side and he took a giant step as a base runner. Considering that he had never stolen more than nine bases in any previous season, nabbing 33 bags was a surprise. What wouldn't be a surprise is that Willi regresses to the mean somewhat in 2024. He had good luck with BABiP without substantially increasing exit velocity of hard hit rate. IMHO he also had a lot of good fortune with his aggressive base running which would also be an area where he is likely to regress. One area where Castro didn't improve was hitting right handed. In his career going into last year he had neutral platoon splits, but last year he was far better as a left handed hitter (.803 OPS LH vs. .636 RH). It would figure that those splits would normalize. Cesar Tovar, Ben Zobrist, Tony Phillips and DJ LeMahieu are examples of guys who became "Tenth regulars"--guys who didn't have a set position, but would be in the lineup almost every day. If Castro's advances last year are real and not just a one-season blip, Willi could join that group. Because of his switch hitting ability, versatility and speed, I'm really hoping he can take that step.

I doubt a marquee starter will be acquired. If the Twins add a starter at this point, I would expect it’s a below the radar type probably from a non-contender. Miami made the post season last year and I doubt they will give away pitching unless they get quite a haul. That wouldn’t be Kyle Farmer. It would be Lewis or Lee. I’m sure they’d like Jeffers, but that would create a huge hole for the Twins. Count me among those believing that the Twins should add a starter, but doubtful they will do so.

From over 700 plate appearances, we know quite a bit about Nick Gordon. He is about average against right handed pitching and can play three positions acceptably (LF, CF and 2B). Everything for Martin is projection, but he does profile to get on base more, be more of a threat on the bases and hit left handed pitching better. He would figure to play the same positions where Nick Gordon is trusted and might be a better defender. If all of those projections pan out, Martin is a far better fit for the 2024 Twins, but none of this is proven. As far as making the Opening Day roster, I think there's a really good chance the Twins will go with the more proven player, especially since Gordon is out of options, but if Martin meets the projections and the pedigree he won't be in St. Paul too long.

Remember that the 60-day list means 60 days from Opening Day, so putting a guy on the 60-day means he is out until about June 1. Pitchers who had TJ would be in this group, like Paddack was last year, but there isn't going to be two or three moves per team.

I know we're all committed to the deeper stats like exit velocity and launch angle, but 23 homers would have been second on the Twins last year and 86 RBI was 20 more than a Twin has accumulated in a season since 2021. If Santana is 90% of what he was in '23, he'll help this club.

I disagree with you @DocBauer, or maybe with the degree of your disapproval. Danny Coulombe is the definition of a journeyman pitcher. No one offered him a major league deal in 2023 and it was far from a sure thing that some team would sign him to a major league deal at the end of Spring Training. The Orioles got him and he performed admirably, but in the same situation, I think the FO should go with younger guys with options to fill out their bullpen. Remember, Coulombe would cost the team both a 40-man and an active roster spot. The same is true for Hoffman, but I'm a little less forgiving for him because he is younger and seemed then to have more upside. I think you mean 2021. 2020 was the 60-game COVID season, whereas the Twins finished in last place in 2021, To your earlier point, several of those 2021--Coulombe, Derek Law and Ian Gibault--have emerged as pretty good relievers. One doesn't know from year to year. In 2022 the Twins employed Ian Hamilton, Coulombe again and Yennier Canó and they all thrived in 2023. Pretty much a crapshoot.

Luke Farrell signed a minor league deal with the Nationals. He had a brief stint with the Twins in 2021. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2024/02/nationals-sign-luke-farrell-to-minor-league-deal.html

The club gave Balazovic his chance. The results were pretty good early, but the longer he was on the team, the less effective he was.

Gary Sanchez signed with the Brewers. One year major league deal with a mutual option. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2024/02/brewers-to-sign-gary-sanchez.html

I loved what Paddack showed during the post season. It gives me hope for the coming season in his new/old role of starting. I’ll say it again, it’s been almost two years since his TJ. Shouldn’t that give him a better chance to throw more innings and be more effective?

If Jordy Blaze is claimed, he has to be on a major league roster and can’t be optioned, that raises the bar for a claim considerably. Duarte and Bubba have options, so making space pertains only to the 40-man. I would expect a couple more teams will take that chance.

Fascinating to see the club add so many 30 y.o.+ relievers who are not household names. I would hope they strike gold with a couple, but none are anything close to a sure bet with Topa being the most likely to succeed. With the DFA of Balazovic, we're now to the point where any more moves are going to expose guys that somebody thinks will be a significant piece of 2024.

IMHO Nick Gordon isn't the super utility guy, Willi Castro is. Willi is probably the preferred choice to fill in at second, left or center and certainly against left handed pitching. Castro is a better shortstop than Gordon and better at third base. So, the position in play is really fourth outfielder. That rules out Miranda unless there is another vacancy and leaves the competition for the spot between Larnach, Gordon and Martin. Larnach has the superior power profile, but hits left handed as Kepler and Wallner do, and he doesn't play center field. Martin hasn't seen a major league pitch, but hits right handed and can play in the infield, probably second base only. Gordon has flashed good offense in 2022, can also play second base, and is out of options. Gordon probably "wins" on Opening Day unless Larnach or Martin really impress in the spring. If Martin makes it to the majors in the first half of the year, he could end Gordon's time with the Twins if he shows he is a capable hitter and outfielder at the MLB level.

One of Royce's biggest hits was a 14-hop single up the middle against Pressly in Houston. I believe he had homered earlier in that game, but he hung in there against a premier closer and got a tying single in the ninth where the Twins won in extra innings. He does seem to be able to rise to the occasion like few are capable. Like Kirby (and few others) he seems very positive and likable. I particularly don't expect him to maintain a really high batting average, but he will be dangerous as a hitter. I hope for good health for him and lots of opportunities to shine.

Since he had an option remaining, once Castro signed with the Twins, they had no risk of losing him unless they wanted to expose him. As it turned out, the Twins never used Castro's option and moved him to the major league roster on Opening Day.

......and going first to third on a single and scoring from first on a double. Those were the things that made Molitor a great base runner even into his late 30s and 40s. It is what infuriates me with guys like Kepler and Kirilloff who have okay wheels but don't squeeze out the extra bases. Stolen bases are nice, but taking the extra base is just about as important.

Isn't it more like two years since his surgery? A lot of similarities to Maeda in the timing of his return from TJ, but Paddack is much younger and relies much more on the fastball and changeup. We don't know what kind of sustained velocity he can muster, but the heat is there for short outings. Pitchers should know about recovery and innings and Hawk and Perk qualify as experts although they are "company men".

I think things will shake out so that Martin gets his chance fairly early in the season, either by injury or poor performance. I like what he is projected to bring to the table, but as mentioned above, so far it is projection only. I did some checking on Martin's speed and he is reported to be above average, but not elite in scouting reports. They also say he has great instincts on the bases and will be a plus base runner. Just a reminder, Ronald Acuna Jr. stole over 70 bases last year and his sprint speed is only 65th percentile.

It doesn't happen very often, but the Twins got away with designating Ryan Jensen for assignment. He was not claimed and his contract remains property of the Twins. The team has not had much success with DFAs, most of the players being claimed. They were able to designate both Henriquez and Moran after the season last year and now have succeeded in outrighting Jensen as well. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2024/02/twins-outright-ryan-jensen.html

Kirilloff's defensive numbers were poor last year. I don't think they will continue to be so if he gets regular work at first base. He's fairly sure-handed, taller than the other options that have played there for the last few years, and has decent range. I think it's also important to utilize the advantage that left handed first basemen provide and IMHO those advantages are not fully realized in some defensive metrics.

Some thoughts from me--a contrarian old guy who has followed the Twins since they moved from Washington: Did you know? Playing the Immaculate Cube has educated and entertained me to a significant degree. I have tried to use as many Twins and ex-Twins as I can find in filling out the cube. Was there ever a guy who played for the Twins and hit 40 homers for the Reds? Yes, and if you knew this you are a trivia maven or cheat by using a baseball reference source. The answer is Wally Post. How about a Gold Glove winner from the Tigers--yeah we all knew it was Kenny Rogers. Silver Slugger on the Giants (Donny Barrels!). I've found some interesting fun facts in trying to fill in Twins on the grid. Lefty advantage: The Twins lean right with their pitching staff. Last year, left handed pitchers started exactly six games in the entire season, all by Dallas Keuchel. Left handers accounted for only 106 of 1451 innings pitched by the staff. I have seen several articles recently demonstrating the "lefty advantage" for both pitchers and hitters. The Twins seem to subscribe to the advantage for hitting, but not for their mound staff. I continue to believe that adding a left handed starter would be beneficial, perhaps beyond the numbers put up by the starter. Defensively, the edge for left handed throwing first baseman is something the Twins have traditionally not done despite obvious advantages. I don't think those advantages are adequately covered by defensive metrics, more on that later. Speaking of left handers and looking up former Twins, I believe people don't remember or didn't know what a good pitcher former Twin and native Minnesotan Jerry Koosman was. In comparing Kooz with another former Twin Hall of Famer, he had a far better career ERA and ERA+ than Jack Morris. He struck out more batters in basically the same amount of innings. Koosman won 222 games in his long career (Morris won 254). Koosman's career WAR was 53.7, better than Morris, Kirby Puckett or Tony Oliva. A left handed hitter in Twins history who was far better than I remembered was Don Mincher (I remembered Halsey Hall calling him "Minch in a pinch" because of his pinch hitting abilities). Mincher had an OPS+ of over 100 in every full season and managed a lifetime OPS+ of 127, better than Kirby Puckett or Joe Mauer. Misconceptions: I seen several posts saying that Kyle Farmer could platoon with Alex Kirilloff at first base. Farmer has played first base about as much as Christian Vázquez and obviously we don't want to see that much if at all. Farmer is a natural to get at-bats against left handed pitching in place of Edouard Julien. Further, I think Farmer's overall value has dropped to the Twins due to the personnel on the team. They have a replacement for Carlos Correa (Brooks Lee) in St. Paul and he's a top prospect. As a fill-in for a day or two, I think Willi Castro can play shortstop every bit as well as the 34-year-old Farmer. Farmer never has been regarded as fast, but is the epitome of the reliable guy who turns outs into outs, but he's range limited with only an okay arm. His fielding metrics last year were neutral at second and third, but substandard at shortstop. This really limits Farmer's value. I don't think there is another team that would consider him to be an everyday starter at shortstop, and that really hurts his trade value. He might be most valuable to the Twins in part due to his clubhouse presence. Nick Gordon has improved his chances to make the Twins out of Spring Training with the trade of Jorge Polanco. I'm skeptical of him helping the team this year because what he does comparatively well (hit right handed pitching) is already covered by Julien, Wallner and Willi Castro. Nick's brother was a really fast runner (won a stolen base crown) and people seem to think Gordon is also really fast. He's not, his sprint speed before his broken shinbone was 50th percentile. He's slower than Matt Wallner and the equal of Alex Kirilloff. Burners like Bubba Thompson and (a healthy) Byron Buxton are two-three feet per second faster. I credit Nick with making himself a viable major leaguer by becoming a capable outfielder while already on the Twins. Unfortunately, he is a utility guy who is really stretched playing shortstop and he's barely played the infield corners. Defensive metrics: I remain suspicious of defensive metrics. First of all, I think rating defense in assigning WAR often misses the mark. Secondly, I think it is tough to measure. I don't think outfielder's throwing arms are properly credited, for example. A Matt Wallner or Michael Cuddyer can make up for not catching an occasional drive to the gap due to denying extra bases because of their strong throwing arms. Too often Defensive Runs saved doesn't justify with other measures such as range factor. Some measures reward lack of errors and "turning outs into outs" while others seem to reward making plays not expected. No system is foolproof and it seems to me that a reputation is rewarded long after the actual performance has slipped. There also isn't enough credit for versatile players that might play where they are stretched or unfamiliar like Nick Gordon or Willi Castro playing center field. Several more thoughts in this cluttered mind. Maybe I'll make another entry before Spring Training starts.

I see Martin as the far better fit between him and Nick Gordon. Both would probably be eligible for starts at three positions—2B, cf, and lf—and Martin would be a better on-base performer and threat on the bases. The team needs another right handed hitter in the outfield and adding Martin’s speed and versatility would be ideal. I continue to wonder how fast Martin is. Does anyone have a current sprint speed or other measure of his speed?

The Marlins are reportedly interested in Gio Urshela. Coming into ‘22, I thought Gio might end up being the Twins primary shortstop. Would the Fish consider him for that role? I wish Gio the best. I’ve never heard one negative about him as a person or teammate, but I don’t know if he’s a fit in Miami.