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LastOnePicked

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Everything posted by LastOnePicked

  1. LastOnePicked
    Yes. And we even seem to have a problem signing what we can't develop. Though I'm hoping that either Lewis or Martin will soon defy the skeptics and rise to the challenge of making SS their own.
  2. LastOnePicked
    Since it looks like the FO has opted to punt for 2022 (I realize the offseason isn't quite over yet - or is it?), I think trading Donaldson to make way for Miranda's rookie year sounds really good. But unless the offer for Sano knocks me over, I'd keep him at least until the trade deadline. I think he's got two great seasons yet somewhere ahead for him.
  3. LastOnePicked
    Wonderful interview. I'm really rooting for him, though that road ahead to MLB after a torn ACL is pretty steep. Here's hoping we see him make it to the top within a year or so.
  4. LastOnePicked
    Ugh. With the awareness of lifelong injuries and concussions, the NFL was finally starting to experience a dent in popularity. MLB could have stepped in as "America's Great Pastime," amping up rivalries and elevating the status of the game from the Instructional Leagues on up to MLB. With a few wise rule changes, the game could have gotten a little quicker and more intense. With salary floors and enhanced revenue sharing, league parity would be on the rise. With a few additional promotions and park amenities, fans could have felt even more connected to local teams. With a diverse array of stars, and many points of entry for professional baseball and earning a living, we could have been entering a new Golden Age of the game. Instead, we're getting this: greedy players and incompetent owners, seemingly neither with much of an eye on the future viability of the sport. Heartbreaking. A win-win era is entering a total-loss scenario.
  5. LastOnePicked
    Agreed. Farm system rankings aren't regular season standings, but AL Central teams need to be able to develop top pitching talent and supplement rookies with significant (or at least wise) FA signings. Neither have yet proven to be strengths for this FO.
  6. LastOnePicked
    Spot on. This is why I find it hard to be rooting for the MLBPA, despite my frustration with MLB owners as well. Raising the CBT threshold means more disparity in the game, more mid-market tanking, more multi-year rebuilds, and essentially an "elite league" of coastal teams. This dynamic is already hurting the game.
  7. LastOnePicked
    I agree with so much of this article. Except this: "If the Twins decide to trade him, then I can say for sure that it was the team that failed Donaldson" Trading Donaldson may be a mercy at this point. He has fire and a determination to bash opponents. That's just not going to happen here for the remainder of his contract. He was meant to supplement an AL Central powerhouse, not a rookie team haphazardly entering a multi-season rebuild. All of his flaws and injuries are magnified on a team like the 2021-23 Twins. I wish him well. It was a fun signing that ultimately didn't help us win anything important.
  8. LastOnePicked
    The fact that they weren't aggressive right off the bat in addressing this club's glaring needs in the starting rotation is unforgivable. They've even implied that they were "surprised" by the speed of the offseason market. Really?! I laugh out loud when I read quotes like this: "I've approached each of the last three offseasons, really even going back after '17, with an approach: 'How do we find a way to get better now and in the future?'" - Um, isn't that literally the general description of your job? And the job/goal of every single FO in MLB? Plenty of high-minded words from these two that mean absolutely nothing. If the offense clicks in '22, if Buxton is an MVP, and if it's the pitching that sinks this club, articles like this should get plenty of credit for foresight. This was likely the wrong offseason for wait-and-see moves.
  9. LastOnePicked
    This is an important point. We Twins fans love our players, but realistically we don't have a single elite player at any position. Which is why the talk of contention in 2022 or 2023 continues to seem odd. A team can win without an elite player, but that team has to pitch extremely well and play fundamentally sound baseball. That's not our Twins.
  10. LastOnePicked
    Good question, with so many variables. Some of it is also the level of competition the team faces from year to year. The AL Central was quite weak in 2019-20, making the Twins regular season success seem perhaps more significant than it was. When the competition caught up, the Twins weren't as far ahead as 2019 made them seem. I appreciate some of the larger-scale developmental changes in the organization under this FO, but they've yet to bear any real fruit. They should get the vast majority of credit for their initial success here, but those successes were really pretty modest.
  11. LastOnePicked
    Well, the rationalizations for doing nothing about the rotation before the lockout are in full swing now. And it's not that you're wrong, Nick, it's just that we again seem to be rushing right in to make excuses for this organization. Excuses they aren't even making - they've said next-to-nothing to the fans about their seemingly-changed plans for 2022. Though, as you point out, they might never have been planning to sign a top FA starter. I get the sense that lots of teams have pitching prospects like the Twins. Our pitching prospects are not particularly exceptional, and we currently have a mid-tier farm system, and most have been seriously hurt. Like you, I have *hope" that they'll pan out, but there are no guarantees that even one of them will become an impact starter. And this organization needs an impact starter - multiple impact starters. There was nothing wrong with signing a few reliable, established veterans, even if 2022 seems lost. They could have served as mentors for younger pitchers, OR they could possibly be traded at the deadline if they overperform and the younger pitchers prove to be ready. This line from your article sums up this sad attitude that we seem to have as Twins fans: "Maybe even win some games." A year after having WS aspirations, our fan expectations are so embarrassingly low now that we're crossing our fingers hoping that *maybe* some of our hurt pitching prospects might debut next year and win a few games. Good gosh. But, if you're trying to find or make some sense of reason in all this, your article does seem to get there.
  12. LastOnePicked
    I came of age as a Twins fan in 1986, so I had an embarrassment of riches to choose from. However, it was Dan Gladden that made me love the idea of playing baseball at full throttle and with a dirty jersey. I wasn't a tough kid, but I admired his toughness and his fight. I loved that he was a Twin.
  13. LastOnePicked
    I've already put my opinion out there about this FO. Multiple times. I've spewed enough venom on this subject. I don't like being so negative, by the way. I like to see the best in others. But I want the Twins to have an elite FO. I want this team led by innovative thinkers who have a passion - and a strategy - for winning. I think this FO gets a few things right, but I also wonder if they believe their own hype. They talk about their moves/deals the ways the most bland corporate executives talk. I don't sense the spark there for this team, and I never have sensed any urgency from them about winning it all. Or even just one playoff game. And, sadly, things have gotten much worse under their direction. They took on a team with an upward trajectory, and now the team is decidedly pointing downwards. All while doing absolutely next-to-nothing so far about the rotation for next year. If Buxton has an MVP season next year and yet we can't win games because of pitching, that's going to be another huge lost opportunity. I would have already fired them back in September, but I may be too emotional about the Twins and too rash and 2022 may prove me wrong. I hope so. I want them to succeed.
  14. LastOnePicked
    Hard to understand all the complexities at work here. Even though it seems like all sides (players, owners and fans) want increased competition in the league, there appear to be some big differences in terms of how to get there. I can say that, for all the talk of "league parity," it sure seems like the high-profile teams experience very short playoff droughts, and the lower profile teams experience much longer playoff droughts. NY, CA and Chicago teams routinely go on spending sprees for FAs, all while revamping their state-of-the-art analytics and development facilities for drafting and developing talent. What choice do the lower-tier teams have but to cut payroll, wait for top draft picks to develop and hope that bargain FA contracts pan out? Additional revenue sharing and salary caps and floors seem pretty important to these aims. But there may be some issues or components I'm missing.
  15. LastOnePicked
    The starkness of this hits pretty hard. No matter who they realistically slot into that #1 spot at this point, that's not a rotation that can compete for anything but an awfully high draft pick for the team the following year. Love that they extended Buxton, but I don't see the urgency here to get the most out of his prime.
  16. LastOnePicked
    Maybe not terrible. Maybe not great. But this is not a "retooling" move, FO. If you're still serious about competing in 2022, get back on those phones, fellas.
  17. LastOnePicked
    I agree. Those injuries were likely not predictive. But I do have a strange superstitious side, and I would LOVE to see the Twins overhaul their logo and jersey this year. Give Buxton a fresh start. Immediately put away the old associations of his many injuries as a Twin. I know, it's dumb. And yet, the human mind is a goofy thing.
  18. LastOnePicked
    I nominate Cody as the FO's official bargain shopper. Seriously, these were well-researched and well-reasoned suggestions. If we're going to continue to be a team that relies on finding diamonds in the rough, we better at least be good at it.
  19. LastOnePicked
    I've said "unreal" about the Twins over and over again over the last few years. Always in a negative way. This time, it's in a very positive way. It's a contract that won't kill the team payroll-wise if he never really is healthy. It won't even really hurt if he maxxes out incentives. Even if the worst-case scenarios happen, I will always be happy that a man with resilience + character like Byron Buxton got paid by the Twins. I love this, Thank you, FO. Solid move. Now go get a few great starters and let's win this whole frickin' thing.
  20. LastOnePicked
    Ted, I really appreciate these updates. Thanks for aggregating and summarizing the need-to-know stuff on the CBA. I hope it all goes as smoothly as possible.
  21. LastOnePicked
    I love Buxton as a Twin. The injuries have been heartbreaking, but the good times have been magical. But I do wonder if he wants to remain here, and I wouldn't blame him if the answer is a clear "no." Because the FO has let an extension drag into a potentially-troubled offseason, and because it's pretty clear he and Polanco will be the primary anchors for a rebuilding squad over the next few years, I can see why he'd want out. This isn't an aggressive FO like Chicago, and Buxton probably realizes that any extension he signs here (even if at market value) will further put him under scrutiny the way Mauer's contract did for him. It wasn't fair that Mauer had to shoulder that burden of being a contract scapegoat while dealing with injuries, and I'm sure Buxton saw a little bit of that play out as he was headed up to the big-league club. I was thinking the other day how Cruz really seemed to take the heat off of guys like Buxton. You need a core of 2-3 big personalities to set the tone for a contender. You need a FO who doesn't just sign just one marquee homegrown player to a mega contract and surround him with past-their-prime veterans and ineffective rookies. Buxton should be joining an up-and-coming team who see him as one important piece to a title run, not as a centerpiece. Buxton probably wants/needs to join a winner at this point. And at this point, the Twins are not a winner in any sense of the word. It will be heartbreaking to lose him, but it's probably inevitable at this point.
  22. LastOnePicked
    Sure. 1) It's not a "minor" or unrelated note - Cave's signing directly impacted the number of slots available to protect prospects. 2) I believe that Severino and Palacios had a real shot at impacting this team, and I'll be sad to see them lost if they are selected.
  23. LastOnePicked
    Since the inclusion of Cave led in large part to the Wade and Baddoo blunders, you'd expect a FO to learn from these kind of mistakes. Seems they haven't. Seems they don't. And with a 2022 MLB contract? No other team in MLB would have done this - there is NO competition for Cave's services at this point. Twins would have lost nothing by waiting and offering him an MiLB deal later, if he was somehow needed. Just yuck.
  24. LastOnePicked
    I think this is being overstated. The point is, if the FO evaluated talent better, they wouldn't need to consider Martin in the OF. They would already have strong young talent there, and could have gotten more in terms of return for pitching. However, if Martin is a true SS candidate, then he's a good prospect to have here, sure. I'm a FO skeptic. John's question was simple: better to have Martin and SWR and $20M than Berrios. I stand by my answer: not with this FO, no. They won't spend the $20M any better in terms of production than Berrios would have given the team, and they possibly wouldn't have needed the prospects they got for him. Ah speculation. We'll see how it all pans out.
  25. LastOnePicked
    No worries. We'll check back on this later and see whether it's as outlandish as you think. As of right now, one was a contender for ROY in his first year.
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