beckmt

It almost seems like last year's power struggle has been continued. Molitor is complaining loudly about the younger players and seems to want veterans who know how to play the game(no matter how bad they are). The FO conceding to give Molly the full chance to hang himself so he can be easily fired. They should have fired him last year. This team could well be out of contention by mid May. At that time I hope Pohlad finally figures out Molitor can't manage and brings on the whole rebuild.

This pitching staff could bury us so fast, it is not funny. I sort of agree these are Molitor's guys and if they fail, Falvey and Levine can go to Jim Pohlad and tell him that they gave Molitor his guys and he failed. If this is a plan it is a good one. If the plan is to compete , this plan looks doomed to failure.

There is no faith in the pitching staff, or possibly a trade is in the works for one of the Twins starters. That is the only explanation.

Let's put the blame where it belongs. Monitor's family and Pohlad's family are friends. I would hate to see at midseason the FO wants to fire Paul and Paul tells Him Pohlad's they have not provided the pitching help needed. So the new FO either quits or is forced to trade prospects for immediate help, that would be the disaster.

Thanks, My point was he has no future in the short or long term with the Sox. Maybe the Twins should target him.

I also still like Goodrum. He may need A 1/2 Season in AAA to be ready, but he probably will be a better option than DanSan or maybe Escobar, if not this season then next season.

Still think the Twins will watch the wavier wire close to the end of spring training. One guy I am looking at is Marco Hernandez from Boston. He may get squeezed there and I do not know his option status. Can play most infield positions as well as left field. Does not have the speed of DanSan, but may well be a much better fielder. Good year last year between Pawtucket and Boston.

I do not think Haley makes the team. I believe the 5th starter will be Mejia. I like the thought of Duffey in the pen, but think he will start to make the transition in Rochester. This is where they stuff Haley if they send Duffey to Rochester. Both the pen and the starting staff will have changes this year and this is the show me area of the team. I also think Park will start as the DH and Vargas will be optioned to Rochester.

Lots of angst here, not without reason. All of us are disappointed by the news, but I am willing to give the new FO the benefit of the doubt on this move. Rogers and Breslow are not shutdown relievers so I would expect that Jay if he preforms will be here midseason with this move. Kansas City model may have to be the one used by the Twins to get to the next level. We have the shutdown relievers coming faster than the starters. Falvey had a great bullpen in Cleveland, maybe that is what he sees as the path here. This is a new regime, you can blame the old one, but it is water over the dam. Give it a chance. I am far more concerned with the starting staff this year and that direction than other things.

Wish you had individual tickets. The only one I see that I could attend is the first, rest I am on the road. Though maybe not the third.

Hope Jay is up soon, and expect he will be. This could be the start of a power bullpen(like Cleveland only maybe better/deeper). Royals won with this combination, Twins might be much better with it also. It only subtracts one pitcher from the starter pool, and the Twins have several in that pool now, along with the bullpen.

No surprises here. Seth where were the optioned players sent? Some of them made good impressions(Goodrum) for one, so hopefully we will see him later this year. Also might see Gordon if he does well and Dozier is traded.

After this season you start locking up the core you can to long term contracts. This gives you cost control and certainty of payroll so you can see what you can afford in the FA pitcher market. You need an ace or a shutdown 4-5 inning bullpen to help make a run for the series. Then you figure out how many pitchers you need to buy and go after them. With the Twins young core, I do not believe it will be impossible to get them to come here.

That is why I have advocated finding out what the youngsters have. From the list I like Cobb. I feel Darvish will cost too much, and too much downside in the backend of the contract. Top end will cost too much so think Twins will take a pass. Twins staff should improve going forward, so thinking it will fall on its face in an error, unless the staff that starts this year in the majors does.

Looks very close. Might swap out Chris Gimenez for Murphy. Only other flaw I see is Molitor likes DanSan so he might make it, but still hoping for DFA. Haley might fail in the next 2 weeks, which would give a bullpen spot to Vogelsong or one of the lefties with Rogers moving into the long relief role. This was close.

If Mejia continues to pitch well, I could see a number of us bringing pitchforks if Vogelsong is named the 5th starter. Use him as a backup in AAA. If he does not want that let him go, doubt there will be much in the way of takers. Get ready for the kids this summer, but don't bury us early by having horrible starters in the majors.

If this the rotation, there is a good chance of a fire sale in May.

I hope not, We have better pitchers than some of these.

Seth, nice report, when will the first cuts come from the major league camp, so we start getting an idea of what the 4 full season rosters will look like. Also where will Hildenberger, Reed, and Burdi start this year.

Wish Trevor the best, and hope he does the TJ surgery right away, so he can be back sometime next year. This is why no never have enough pitching.

Do not think Slegers will be here, but Burdi might or another reliever, Glad you send Gibson packing.

Nice article Seth. As I see it only Michael(very slim chance) and Rodriquez have a chance to make it to the bigs. Wheeler and Hurlbut are now buried as filler behind about 8-10 other starting pitchers. Harrison would have to have a monster year to get back to prospect status. Michael has Goodrum, Escobar, Santana and the new guy(do not remember name) to surpass to get equal to this year. It will be difficult, but do not see Santana as being in a Twins uniform at the end of spring training. Rodriquez has a lot of relievers to pass, but that is a volatile group. He will probably get a look see if he continues to develop.

That is even forgetting Jay, Jorge, and Stewart. It will take the full 2 years to evaluate of the these pitchers. It also doesn't include the relievers. As for none of the FA pitchers will come here, money talks as does a young good lineup. Many players live to win a World Series, I would hope this group takes us there. You will get a good FA pitcher to come here with the lineup talent and money. The question will be if it is the correct pitcher.

We have all seen the divide in posters here with the comments on which starters should be with the Twins. It is still early or midway in spring training and this article is not so much of that debate, but a question of how the Twins should approach the next 2 years. Starters: Only Santana and Hughes will have contracts into the 2019 season. The best crop of Free Agent pitchers will be on the market after the 2018 season. I feel that the Twins by that time need to know what holes in the rotation need to be filled. Given another article yesterday by Oldgoat_MN that showed the top 8 WAR teams for the starters all made the rotation this is a very vital area. Problem: I do not feel that any of the current starters can average 3 WAR a year, and the Twins at this time do not have an ace to raise the average. There is also the issue of Molitor wanting to be manager and his contract runs out at the end of this year. Solution: If you feel or want to give a number of the younger pitchers(Berrios, Gonsalves, Mejia, May) a chance, see what you can get for any starter but Santana the last week of spring training(clubs with pitching injuries will be looking). If you can get something of reason trade them, if not start the season with them and watch the market. Also give Molitor an extension if you feel this process is not fair to him. Do not agree with this, but you have to cut the cord to solve the problem. Bullpen: Weakest area of the team in my opinion at this time. Expect Kinzler to be the closer with Beilise, Breslow, Rogers, Chaigos, Pressley, Haley to be the rest with one spot TBD. Need to have stability here so do not see many youngsters up to start. By midseason hope performance and trades bring up several of the younger pitchers but this area is murky at best. Problem, No frontline closer, not a great shutdown pen with punchout ability. Solution: Maybe Perkins returns to health and is a factor, maybe Burdi and other of the young bullpen force there way up. See this as more of a season long process unless pen implodes. Catcher: Castro is a given, Garver should start at AAA for atbats. Would prefer Murphy up, with Giminez in AAA if Murphy fails again. Problem Castro is here for 3 years no clear line after. Solution: One of Garver or Murphy is able to step up to become the starter and the kid the Twins drafted last year from Wisconsin is ready a year or two after that. Infield. Current time it is Mauer, Dozier, Polonco, and Sano. 2019 it could be Mauer(at a very reduced price, if at all),otherwise Park or Vargas, Dozier or Polonco if Dozier traded or not resigned, Polonco or Gordon, and Sano(because I do not see a thirdbase replacement in 2 years, with Polonco or TBD as the utility infielder. Problem: Do you resign Dozier, is Gordon the real deal, what to do with Mauer. Solution: Trade Dozier at midseason if you are convinced that Gordon is for real. Tell Mauer at the end of his contract, that Jake cannot be considered for manager if Joe is playing and encourage his retirement. Move Sano to first if Park and Vargas cannot fill the hole. You may have to find a stopgap 3rd base replacement in this line. Maybe Goodrum short term. Outfield: The one area of strength. No problems or solutions here unless either Rosario or Kepler do not pan out. Granite or pickup can be the 4th outfielder for a couple of years. Notes: Short term until about 2020 or 2021 this team should be cheap. Signing pitchers to larger contracts will not be a payroll issue short term. Solution is to go young over the next year, if Molitor does not handle the younger players or does not like this line, fire him(probably should anyway). This gives you the best chance to compete by 2019 and on from there. If you do not give you position players some hope, you will have a issue resigning without overpays, because everyone likes to play on a winner.

I hope they start Gonsalves in the majors or in Rochester. There should be plenty of starters in Chattanooga, Stewart, Jay, Romero, Jorge, Steele, Rosario to start. These guys need regular turns to develop. Romero may start in Ft. Myers due to the logjam in Chattanooga, but that might be a waste of time. For some of these the options clock is ticking and they need to be pushed up as fast as possible. Mauer is supposed to be the best Twins minor league manager, so it will be interesting how this works. Chattanooga hitting will probably be behind, as have not seen the roster of which hitters will be there, expect Hicks, Harrison, Vielma, but do not know the rest at this time. I think all the pitchers except Steele will be on the 40 man after this year(Jay will not have to be and may not). Rosario without a good year looks like a candidate to be dropped. Lots of talent here and they should also have a great bullpen, depending on what is in Rochester but Burdi, Reed and others should make this a very good team.