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LastOnePicked

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Everything posted by LastOnePicked

  1. LastOnePicked
    Very curious. I think half of TwinsDaily is anxiously scrolling Twitter or refreshing MLBTradeRumors every 15 minutes. But you nailed the wording on this. There will be an endgame, but there sure as heck doesn't appear to be a plan. This FO's offseason could really end up delaying a return to competing.
  2. LastOnePicked
    "This regime should hope to find a middle ground where both take walks and utilize loud contact in marrying their hulking pair." Wait, they're getting married?! Is that why Falvey made this deal? Right now, it's the only explanation for seeing Sanchez in aTwins uniform that makes any sense. Well, a playoff win would make a beautiful wedding present. Just sayin'. ? Good analysis, Ted. They look awfully similar at the plate to my eye, but we'll soon see.
  3. LastOnePicked
    This was a good discussion, with many good responses. The Rortvedt giveaway here is simply touching the same frayed nerve that stings with names like Gil, Baddoo and Wade Jr. It's the understandable fear that this FO just doesn't evaluate in-house talent very well, and that their roster moves bleed talent and WAR. If we're not going to be a team that signs free agents, assessing and keeping top young talent is their #1 job. And so far, they ain't too good at it. But, it's done. Here's hoping that Godoy can carve out a solid backup stint here.
  4. LastOnePicked
    I'm getting to the point where I can just move on, but here's my last take on this (horrible-terrible-no-good-awful) trade: Why? Why did the Twins want out of this contract so badly, and why did this choose this route? Donaldson earned his salary last year. He was a solid 3B and a solid bat. There's been no offseason news that he's been hurt. Seems like there was a decent chance he earns his salary this year, too. And if he did play well, he very likely could have been flipped before the deadline to an NL team looking for a part-time 3B/DH. Not much, but maybe a fringe prospect. If he got injured, Miranda and Arraez takes over the hot corner. No problem. Plus, the guys they paid NY to take Donaldson could have been used as sweeteners in a SP trade deal with the A's. Plus, Story would have seen that that this team respects and sticks with their big FA signings, making him perhaps more likely to sign here. Could we not afford Donaldson? We're under the payroll we've had for the last three years, with very few upcoming obligations. And we signed virtually no free agents in the offseason. Is it that Donaldson was toxic to MN? If so, how? I've never heard that he was abusive, sexist, racist or cruel. I've only heard that he was intense and occasionally mouthy. This team desperately needs some intensity, and "toxic" should be made of sterner stuff. In closing, here was a solid, intense and powerful 3B! When comes such another?? (yes, I am trying to whip up the crowd into a fit of rage against the FO, Julius Caesar style. Is it working?)
  5. LastOnePicked
    Such a great resource for Twins fans. Happy to support. I am now a card-carrying caretaking TwinsDaily crank and curmudgeon.
  6. LastOnePicked
    That's why so many of us were - and are - completely fed up with this FO. They have painted themselves into a corner, and have given their potential trading partners all the leverage going into the season. And they made the 2022 team significantly worse with their last salary dump trade. If Story is looking to join a winner, there's not much reason to sign here at this point. Compare the rotations. Compare the commitment to payroll. Look at what this team just did with its last big FA signing that they expected to carry the franchise. I wouldn't blame him at all if he went with Boston for a few less guaranteed dollars.
  7. LastOnePicked
    I miss this kind of optimism. "1000x better" for a guy in just his second year - a guy with a low 90's homer-prone fastball doesn't scream "1000x better" to me. And I like Joe Ryan. I'm just saying that if 84 wins is the consensus for this club as currently constructed, the "under" seems like a safe place to invest my money.
  8. LastOnePicked
    Thoughtful pathways here. Good stuff. We'll see if any of these options are taken. Personally, I can't wrap my head around the idea that a pathetic 73-89 team can: a) lose it's two top starters b) lose it's three top sluggers c) become defensively weaker in the IF d) sign not a single impact FA pitcher e) face improved competition in its division and still be projected for an 11-win improvement. Now that's fun with numbers! Let the games begin and these projections can be put to the test.
  9. LastOnePicked
    First, a really thoughtful response and I appreciate it. However, I don't agree. Story is a free agent, and could have been signed without giving away Donaldson. There is no trade involved for Story, period. I wish this false argument would end. Also, if the FO has decided that they were serious about contending again, a left-side infield of Donaldson/Miranda, Story/Kiner-Falefa is far, far better than Miranda/Urshela and Story. Plus, having Rortvedt as a backup would have been far better than turning over our "pitching pipeline" to Jeffers and a player notorious for being a total defensive and pitch-framing liability. Opposing teams are going to run wild on the bases against us, and young pitchers are going to watch their pitch counts inflate. We lost depth, flexibility and talent. This was not a "value trade" - this was a "lost-value trade." And there's little reason to believe that it was done for any other reason than this FO was embarrassed by 2021 and wanted to turn the page on a big-splash FA contract they signed two years ago. They soothed their bruised egos, and made the team's chances worse as a result. Perhaps they can make wiser choices from here. We'll see. But they just dug some new holes in a roster already full of them.
  10. LastOnePicked
    No one has been able to explain why we had to trade Donaldson in order to sign or make a deal for a starting pitcher. I just don't get this thinking. Can somebody help me see what I'm not seeing here? I mean, if anything, the deal with the Yankees makes a trade for a stud SP less likely. Garver or Rortvedt would have had some real value in that kind of trade. As reclamation projects, Urshela and Sanchez currently have zero trade value.
  11. LastOnePicked
    Spot on. This is exactly where I'm at with all this. I actually liked the Garver for IKF/Henriquez trade. I came to accept that the logic for the Gray/Peguero for Petty was sound, at least since no free agent pitchers had been signed. I cannot and never will accept the logic behind this absolute debacle with the Yankees. The implosion potential for 2022 - and even 2023 - is unreal. It's a move that just reeks of desperation and panic from a FO that is in way over their heads. But, to Ted's point in the article, little to do now but pray that the ol' "change of scenery" myth somehow comes to life here for Sanchez.
  12. LastOnePicked
    Ah, to be a baseball fan after a trade. We're always pretty sure that the guys we gave away are going to continue regressing, while the guys we got are just on the cusp of a rebound season. No FO in MLB would have traded Garver for Sanchez. No FO in MLB would have traded Rortvedt for Sanchez. We essentially gave up both for Sanchez. So yes, let's pray he has a great season here - or that those involved in making that trade don't get to keep making more bad deals here.
  13. LastOnePicked
    Thank heavens for Nelson Cruz. He was a great signing, by the way. As for all of the other signings by this FO, as Gleeman noted last year, they have paid $183.1 million for $133.6 million in value. And that doesn't even include the Happ and Shoemaker disasters. Again, skepticism is warranted. But we'll certainly cover this territory again during the regular season. I'll try to get back on topic.
  14. LastOnePicked
    I don't get this argument I'm hearing. Urshela played 116 games last year. Donaldson played 135. Urshela had hamstring problems and other injuries last year as well. The Yankees seemed to think Donaldson was a clear defensive upgrade, and they seem a little better at making these calls than our FO. They're also competing in a tougher division. As for pitching, a 3-4 WAR upgrade is good, but doesn't mean much for a last place team that will not have their two best starting pitchers from 2021.
  15. LastOnePicked
    When fans were asking the FO to address the question marks on the left side of the infield, we probably should have clarified that we didn't want those question marks to get bigger. A week's worth of transactions only made more roster holes, and barely moved the needle on the mound.. Woof. Not exactly inspiring fear in the competition at this point. I keep hearing more moves are coming, but we'll see. Rotation, 3B, C and SS are are very thin, and the season draws near.
  16. LastOnePicked
    You nailed the semantics. Solid rebuttal. I think many of us are trying to argue that they don't read these clues very well. The same folks who are convinced that Donaldson needed to be moved are the same folks who were also certain that Akil Baddoo wasn't ready for the big leagues but Trevor Larnach was, They thought that Shaun Anderson and LaMonte Wade Jr. were of the same trade value. They thought Robbie Ray wasn't worth signing, but J. A. Happ was. So, many of us are skeptical of these moves, and not without good reason. But I'm sure we'll have plenty of threads this year to debate the value, or lack thereof, of this FO to the organization's future.
  17. LastOnePicked
    Great article, Melissa. Fire, grit, determination, presence - these things matter at the MLB level. And the Twins now have very little of this in their clubhouse, with the possible exception of Buxton. My prediction: the people who cheered this trade are going to be pretty disappointed when they watch Donaldson post a 4 WAR season and rake in the playoffs, while Sanchez is outright waived and Urshela spends most of the season on the IL. Terrible trade. But great article.
  18. LastOnePicked
    People somehow think we're going to flip Sanchez. The Yankees have been trying to trade him without success for well over a year, and rumors were flying that he was going to be waived. He's simply not valuable at this point in his career, and FOs across MLB know it. Well, most of them do. Urshela is far from elite in the field or at the plate, and he's also injury-prone, with multiple injuries in 2021 including hamstring issues. It's very likely that he'll spend considerable time on the IL, just like we feared with Donaldson. I hope that some miracle occurs and they both have great stays here in MN. But I am very tired of hoping that miracles happen for this team, particularly when there's not even a clear plan for success.
  19. LastOnePicked
    Dumping Rortvedt and Kiner-Falefa for nothing is not a move that strengthens our chances in 2023, no. If Donaldson wasn't performing, he could have been put on the IL, which would still give Miranda an opportunity. Plus, Donaldson possibly could have mentored him. If Donaldson did do well but the team stunk in 2022, he could have been traded at the deadline (maybe even for a lottery ticket prospect) and the Twins could have eaten the final year of salary. I fail to see how anything that happened in this last trade was forward thinking.
  20. LastOnePicked
    That's possible, sure. But losing Kiner-Falefa (or Garver) and Rortvedt undoubtedly did downgrade us. Defensively and offensively. People seem to forget that Urshela also has hamstring issues, which is no doubt why the Yankees unloaded him on us. And Sanchez can't hit or field.
  21. LastOnePicked
    4. The Twins now have all kinds of flexibility to make at least one HUGE move. Can we please put a stop to this argument? The Twins had this flexibility even without paying NYY to take Donaldson. Besides the incredibly affordable Buxton extension, they made no other free agent signings this offseason. We could have strengthened our infield defense and our catching considerably just by not making that trade, and then possibly even added Story to boot. We should be looking at these transaction from this lens as well, because these C and INF holes are going to bite us hard in 2022 - right when we're trying to get our much-promised "pitching pipeline" ready for MLB success.
  22. LastOnePicked
    I've said just about enough on this topic. I think most of us have. BUT ... this would not be fair to say, no. Just no. Story is a free agent, and could have been signed without losing Kiner-Falefa, Donaldson or Rortvedt. The Twins certainly have plenty of salary room for him, and Donaldson's remaining two years were not standing in the way. In fact, the Twins have very little by way of long-term contract commitments. We've got to stop accepting this silly salary dump trade as some kind of rationale that we can finally sign a top-tier free agent this offseason. If a guy has negative trade value ... don't trade him. Why would you ever pay another team to take a superstar off of your hands, particularly if his contract wasn't hurting you? If Donaldson's not injured, he'll play and he'll earn his contract. If he's injured, you hand 3B over to Miranda.
  23. LastOnePicked
    Exactly this. It's sickening to realize that the Twins would have done better for the roster by outright releasing Donaldson than to make this terrible trade. The only difference is the money saved, which should make very little difference to an owner with deep pockets.
  24. LastOnePicked
    If Rocco can't build an inclusive and strong enough clubhouse culture to accommodate primetime players with ego, brashness and fire, he shouldn't be an MLB manager. Period. I can't even imagine accepting this as an excuse for this trade. To me, it means that a culture of mushy mediocrity is all we're building here. Yuck.
  25. LastOnePicked
    Agreed. I still cannot get over that this FO just made a trade that makes the team worse in short and long term. They paid a heavy cost to the Yankees to take the contract of an elite 3B slugger. Even gave them a promising prospect to boot. Some people have commented that this is the kind of move the Rays make. I have never seen the Rays pay another team to take on their best players. If they're contending in 2022, they could certainly have used Donaldson. If they're rebuilding in 2022, they needed to see what they had in Kiner-Falefa and Rortvedt. This move is the worst of both possible approaches. Please, please let one of two things be true: 1) I'm wrong, and there's some goofy magic, luck or plan I can't see. 2) This year will be the end of the Falvey/Levine era. They've done enough damage.
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