cHawk

I disagree. I think they are as much of a factor as the money. There are specific examples of this. Charlie Morton is one of them.

This is a topic that we’ve visited before in this thread. I thought it would be a good idea to revisit it. It’s no secret that the Twins have struggled to haul in “big fish” from FA for many years. This has been causing many fans frustration over the years. One wonders if MN is an unattractive destination for FAs. Many have, and many have speculated reasons why. Is it because of the state of Minnesota itself? Is there something particularly rotten about the culture of the Twins organization? What could it possibly be?

No.

Seems like alright depth.

In 2021, the Twins bullpen struggled mightily early on. It didn’t struggle as much later in the year, however. The bullpen was much better than the starting rotation in that it was simply bad. The Twins had the 10th most bullpen losses and 11th highest bullpen ERA. Most of the other (meaningful) stats (WPA, WHIP, etc) were around 15th. Much of the bullpen’s struggles were attributed to offseason acquisition Alex Colome, who was pitching out of the closer role early. Watching him pitch in 2021 was insufferable. Just take a look: Yeah…lets not bring him back please. As of right now, the 2022 bullpen looks like this: - Taylor Rogers - Tyler Duffey - Jorge Alcala - Caleb Thielbar - open slot - open slot - open slot - open slot The Twins have four slots to fill. Those slots could be filled with prospects, waiver wire pickups (no, they’re not bad by definition), and free agents. I think Jhoan Duran could pitch out of the pen at one point (if he’s healthy) as a long reliever, so he could theoretically take up one slot. I’m not a Dobnak or Jax fan, but one of them could possibly (possibly) pitch out of the pen. Questions for Discussion: 1. What do you think about the current state of the 2022 relief staff? 2. What do you think needs to happen for the 2022 relief staff to be competitive? 3. Do you think that these things can/will happen? Why or why not?

I was in utter shock when the Dolphins fired Flores. Truly and utterly shocked. They’re definitely going to regret that decision.

Not necessarily. He only makes $2M/year, so if he sucks he isn’t that much of a burden on the team. Not a Dobnak fan at all but he was injured last year, so maybe they could get some production out of him this year (if he’s healthy)

Welcome to TD!

Welcome to TD!

Looks like Harbaugh’s going back to Michigan. sigh…

I’m not sure about that. He might prefer Mond.

I think Austin Martin is more likely to make an impact than Gordon. Will be interesting to see how Rortvedt and Celestino do (although I don’t want to see too much of Celestino, because that would mean Buxton is injured)

That reason is that the Twins didn’t have anyone else to start there. Pineda was injured and Gibson/Perez were both awful at the end of the year. I’m not completely writing off Dobnak, but the Twins should not rely on him.

He was quite solid in the summer months of this past year before he got injured.

I knew about them and left them off of this write-up for a reason.

I don’t expect them to be the #1/#2 of the staff. The league might adjust and they might struggle. However, I think it’s fair to expect them to be able to hold down two of the 3-5 spots and they can fill in the top two via trades/FAs.

I think Harbaugh would work really well with Kellen Mond. The 49ers were a very run-heavy team when he was coaching in 2011-2013.

Well that’s one way to do it.

I’ll probably write a series of these, each edition addressing a different part of the 2022 team (Rotation, Bullpen, Infield, Outfield) Let’s start with the rotation. The Twins came into this offseason with a major need of starting rotation help. Let’s just say that they haven’t addressed it (yet). Their only signing so far has been Dylan Bundy, who as of right now would only replace Micheal Pineda in the rotation. If they’re going to have a competitive rotation next year, they need one or two more SPs. At this point in time, this is the 2022 rotation (in no particular order): • Joe Ryan • Bailey Ober • Dylan Bundy • (open slot) • (open slot) The Twins need two more starters. There has been talk of the Twins’ minor league system potentially churning out one or two pitchers who show promise in 2022, so one of them could potentially take a rotation spot on opening day. They may also swing a trade for a starter or find one in FA. There is also the very real possibility that Dylan Bundy doesn’t bounce back from a bad 2021: In that case the Twins would need three starters. I don’t think they should rely on Dylan Bundy, although they should keep him as a potential option. Who else should the Twins add? Well, as a mentioned above, they should look into signing Carlos Rodon, (if his price is reasonable, which it should be) and look to swing a trade for a starter. The A’s look like a good target, as apparently they’re planning to shed payroll this offseason, and they’re listening to offers for Bassit, Montas, and Manaea. The Twins also have prospects waiting in the wings, most notably Jordan Balazovic and Simeon Woods-Richardson. They could potentially pencil one of them into the opening day rotation. Focus topics for discussion below 1) What is the state of the rotation right now? 2) What needs to happen for our rotation to be competitive? 3) How those things can happen? 4) Will they happen?

Polanco should not play short. Simmons should not be resigned. I’m not sure what they want to do at SS but it better not be either of those.

Saying that Falvey and Levine openly choose to spend less money when more money is available is wild speculation. This has been a problem from Ryan to Smith to Levine. It can’t be every single ****ing GM. And yes, I believe they won’t break the bank in free agency as long as the Pohlads own the team. So blame the Pohlads. Not Falvey and Levine.

With that logic you’re trying to build a fantasy team. You’re ignoring a lot of things. The Pohlads have said they are willing to increase payroll, yet it never happens. Do you really think Falvey and Levine want to spend less money? I find that really hard to believe. If you expected them to go get Cole or Strasburg, you set yourself up to be disappointed. It was never going to happen.

Oh my bad. I didn’t see that That’s pretty funny